The Washington times., 1911-09-10

| die of the week the market again en-
countered heavy offerings Of long stock.
Prices were sent back to the lowest
levels reached this year. The recovery
lad been caused in large part by the
covering of an oyerextendcd short in
| terest The buying for this account
had been urgently demanded by some Of
| the large houses through which plung-
ing professionals do most of their
] trading. A policy of common prudence
fmpelled the action. This wholesale pur-
chasing was In the nature of profit
taking. At its completion the bear
party was left very much stronger In
cash and the market technically weak
| er. This was the condition existing at
| the top Of the recovery. The strength
ened and encouraged bear element, on
finding the market specially vulnerable
to attack, put their lines out again and
| at the renewed evidences Of weakness
| that were disclosed long stocks came
| out In quantity. A feature of the trad
| ing was increased dullness on the rally
| and an enlarged volume Of business on
the decline. This, by professionals, is
looked upon as unfailing evidence OF
underlying and inherent weakness in a
| speculative situation.
Through Smoked Glasses.
News development for the week have
not been Of a kind to encourage or in
vtte new investment for public account.
Representatives of banking, railroad,
| and industrial interests have been out
| spoken In their expressions OF dissatis-
faction and encouragement They
| freely put themselves on record as find-
| ing little in existing conditions upon
which to build hopes of immediate i'm
provement. On the contrary, many Of
| them were distinctly bearish in their
views. There was striking unanimity OF
belief that politics formed the chief dis
| turbing factor of the situation, and
| that there could be no decided or per-
manent betterment Of business or stock
market conditions until political agita-
ticn ceased, and until the politicians
learned the lesson that disturbance and
unrest would prolong depression In every
quarter and accentuate hard times. This
| Is lesson which Is apparently hard to
learn, and II looks almost as though
| nothing but universal hungry stomach
will impress the truth upon the agIta-
tors. Important people In every branch
OF business activity are voiclng this SEN
timent with increasing vigor and direct
ness, and the alignment of the two great
forces of conservatism and radicalism
Is becoming more sharply defined every
| day.
A Hard Fight.
Wall Street is realizing that the prob
lem is one which cannot be disposed of
without long and hard fight for the
education of the masses ot people as to
what is for their best interests. The
leaders of banking and industrial forces
are strongly convinced or the folly of
going ahead under conditions as they
are now found, and that their only
course is to hold of until comparative
| quiet is once more restored, and they
can proceed with clearer judgment and
knowledge as to what must be encoun-
tered. Wall Street tried hard to ignore
| tariff, and. like the late General Han
matter as "a local issue" That atti-
| tude was maintained until it was seen
| to be no longer tenable. The abandon
| ment of. that comfortable position
caused quite a wrench, but II had to
that is being taken earnestly into con-
sideration.
On the Nerves of Capital.
The spokesmen for Wall Street and
the so-called interests are making
a great ado over the persistence with
which the Government and Congress,
through its various departments aud
committees keep on whackfng the
those who are entrusted with the man
agement of large affairs. They con-
tend that II is unsafe for men to be en-
gagged in business Of any kind on
large scale. and that the political pow
ers have an entirely mistaken idea in
trying to bring about relief by at
tacks of that sort. The storm of criti-
cism and assault which has been d.
rected against the interests with In
creasing force has most certainly got
.t-.- - L. H. ..lG Gr,a afafA
and industrial action. and they do not
attempt to conceal the fact that they
are feeling sore about 1t. Their grief
finds reflection in the stock market and
their refusal to allow the corporations
they control to spend money or to ex-
tend business. Their policy is a safety
play. Not only are they not embark
Ing in new enterprises, but they are
contra citing operations wherever pos
sible and getting strong In cash in prep
disagreeable developments that may
occur. 1t has always been the plan OF
John D. Rockefeller and his associates
to convert securities into cash when
preparing to engage in campaign OF
endurance. That Is being done on a
larger scale now than is generally ap-
preciated, and by most people. 1t Is
knowledge of this fact which Is at the
background Of much Of the gloomy talk
now INDUCED in by important people.
Prospective Dividend Reduction.
One of the topics most discussed in
stock market circles is the probability
of cuts in the dividends of several rail-
road companies.
According to the philosophy OF the
street. the market is discounting such
action and denials from high official
sources of any intention to reduce divt-
dends are received with callous tndiffer-
ence or open skepticism. Traders re-
fuse to believe that current prices for
Great Northern. st. Paul, Northern Pa
cific, Lehigh Valley, Baltimore and Ohio,
New York, New Haven and Hartford,
and perhaps one or two other systems,
mean anything else than lower rates of
distribution to stockholders. The con-
tention is that the tape speaks louder
and more convfncingly than officials.
Hence the very general belief that rail-
road managemcnts will be compelled to
hold back a Ian ger part of their earnings
than they are now doing. United States
Steel common does not escape the
prophecy of reduced dividends. The
nanagement of the corporation has
been much annoyed by the persistence
with which this kind of gossip is in
Obliged in. At headquarters the position
is taken that no. such contingency Is
considered as remotely possible. They
say in fact, that the question has not
yet been considered at all.
The trading public can sec no other
meaning to the low prices at which such
selling except an unavoidable and in
evitable scaling down Of payments to
shareholders. Admittedly, the margin
of safety between earnings and dis