The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-13

outcome of the antitrust crusade in its
 various forms will be to further intensity
 the prejudices and hostilities of the
 masses against organized business. They say that no permanent improvement can
 be looked for until the politicians are sup-
 pressed It is Just dawning upon the gen.
 erals and coonels and majors and cap
 tains of high finance and industry that
 the indictment not only applies to them, but that it Is working infinite damage and loss to the multitude of stockholders and copartners in American enterprise. That feature has been mentioned frequently in these letters and the point Is being fur
 ther emphasized by serial publication Tn one of the leading financial newspapers of lists of stockholders in leading corpora tions.
 The serial has now reached the stage where it shows that POS corporations have sgd, 900 stockholders. Before 1t is completed the showing will be at least 100000 stock holders, not including the ownership in about 15,0O0 banking institutions, and the thousands of mercantile and manufactur- ing establishments which have adopted
 the corporate form of doing business. It lis therefore seen that there is plausiblity to the contention that the raid against conspicuous managers of large corpora tions is in reality an assault upon the pocketbook of millions of individuals
 who really own the properties under at- tack.
 It is unquestionably true that power
 full hostile sentiment has been aroused
 anew against Wall street and Wall street
 methods and that politics is in the main
 responsible for the development. This statement can be made with entire accti-
 arl fA vie
 wrong of the movement. It may be that the campaign now under way is entirely justified and that the ultimate result will be an insurance of better protection for the public against the wiles and in- trigues of high finance. It Is quite possi- ble that this is the correct view 10 take of the matter, but the fact remains that the consequences so far as revealed rave been & big break in security prices, With a strong probability of still further im- portant shrinkage in quotations. froH present appearances 1t looks aS though
 the decline which has already taken place is only the beginning of further and more important liouidation and loss In prices. Railroad earnings are lean in comparison with the past Railroads have taken on bonded obligations within the last year which put $50,O00,0 GOO annually In interest charges ahead of the stock more than they had to pay up to F months ago. If none of this bonded indebtedness had been
 added to the railroad capitalization, roads would have had hard time keeping up the present payments. As matters HOW
 stand the outlook for dividend malnten- ance through the coming year is distinctly | had. Stock prices are high at present, even allowing for the decline which has already occurred. A further readjustment toward lower levels Is altogether proba- l hle. There Is no great danger of. panicky sl,mps for the banks are full of money and in a position to finance the situation through any reasonable shrinkage in
 values. and that without demoralization l Atchison's announcement of a purpose to ask stockholders at their October meeting to authorize another issue of s1op.-
 GOO, GOO in stock and $10o. .OOO,OO0 in converti-
 ble bonds Is regarded as untimely Atchi-
 son may need the money to carry out ex- 1 tensive plans for expansion and hetter-
 ment, but the time for such tremendous
 financing is looked upon as most inop-
 perfume.
 l The death of MT. John w. Gates is re- gretted in Wall street, although he was never taken into full fellowship in the Wall street multimillionaire association. His ways were not the ways of the Wall
 street aristocracy of money. He was nev- ertheless recognized as man of rugged Ipersonaiity and of amazing resources and