The Washington times., 1911-04-16

NEW YORK, April Is.-wall Street
expected nothing Of a business week
shortened to four days of stock trad
Ing Immediately preceding a triple
holiday, and, in consequence, the fnan-
cial district was not unprepared for
the meager dealings which resulted on
the exchange. AS the trading element
viewed the situation, the three days
suspension was, in itself, like a large
| black pit, planted thick with sharp
| ened stakes at the bottom in the form
Of a possible adverse decision by the
Supreme Court tomorrow in the Stand
ard Oil and American Tobacco Com
pany cases.
To take a financial leap into the dark
such as this, with the prospects Of be-
! Ing impaled as a result. was too much
for even the stoutest professional
heart. Traders might have ventured
had they the holidays alone to con-
slider. or they might have ventured had
they only the possibilities of the court
cases to deal with, but they could not
ignore the two combined. In conse-
quence. they gave up all but a pre-
tense Of business. The market shriv-
eled UP after Tuesday, and prices for
the entire interval merely ratified
around, like a dry pea in its pod
1t Is by no means surprising, all
things considered. that the low records
of stock dealings, heretofore estab-
lished during the present dull move
ment, should have given way to new
low records during the week. The
financial district, however, accepted
the situation philosophically. Brokers
have ceased moralizing and theorizing
upon the reasons why the public has
deserted Wall Street, for the explana-
tion is self-evident. OF course, they
do not like the apathy, and for many
Of them II Is a very serious matter,
but recently they have been watching
progressive record breaking duIlness
with a sort Of admiration.
New Low Records.
In fact Wall Street appeared rather
proud of the occurrence when they were
Informed that Wednesdays meager total
of 106,267 shares established April II,
1911, as one Of the three smallest bust
ness days In fifteen years. With the
exception Of July 8, 1908, and March Ii,
1904, one has to 60 back to May 16, 1896
to find the equal Of Wednesdays low
record, and Thursdays total was only a
few thousand shares more. One of the
hard features about these dull days on
the exchange rests in the fact that
every one knows that brokers cannot be
making money. OF course, when things
are active individual brokers may not
be making money, but they can pretend
they are doing SO. and this is impossible
on very dull days when every man with
pencil and paper can figure out the gross
amounts of commissions received and
the meager sum into which It is reduced
when subdivided into LOO equal parts,
not counting partners.
Although the stock market week was
barren of results, the news developments
of the interval were unimportant and
very many Of them were of a generally |
favorable character. It Is not well to |
lose sight of the improvement in funda- |
mental things, even though, in conse- |
stock market of the present feels no |
beneficial influence from them. There
were four statements, for instance, of |
Importance to the country
as whole, and to the country's indus |
try. as. for instance, the Governments !
first crop report for the season, the in |
trade. statement for March, |
the untitled orders of steel, reported by |
the leading producer on March 81, and \
the report on surplus railway equipment, |
all Of which were subject to a favorable 4
Less Idle Equipment.
To begin with the aforementioned Of |
these statements, namely, the report on |
equipment, it is gratifying to
learn that between March Is and April |
/ the number of idle cars was reduced
by 1874. This is very good showing
for fifteen days, and 1t seems to indi-
cate that, despite the economy that has
been forced on the transporting lines
by the action Of the. Interstate Com
merce Commission in vetofng the freight /
rate advances, that the railways are
going to transact business. At the /
heighs of the crop-moving season, or in
1910, the idle equipment In the
was reported at 49, ,735 cars. This /
Increased unfit March 10, the number of