The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

effort is being made by the large com
 panies to hold prices. They think they
 will be able to do so. Consumers very
 clearly think otherwise.
 If prices should break the decline will probably be more drastic than 1t was
 two years ago when there was an open market and the big steel corporation
 gave independent competitors an object
 lesson which will not be soon forgotten
 as to what could be done in the way of
 cutting prices. Whether the great pro-
 ducing interests will hang together on
 this proposition and succeed in maintain
 ing their position Is an issue of highest
 mportance in the stock market and the
 outcome is being watched with uncon-
 cealed anxiety. Incidentally the big Steel
 Corporation will not earn much more
 than S140, 900 net instead of $20OO0O,0 ,0OO.
 The catalog of trouble began in Janu-
 ary and heavy liquidation of stocks was
 witnessed the very first month, railroads
 breaking about 10 points and industrials
 about points. No particular excuse was
 offered for the selling. but a great mass
 of stocks was just naturally spilled out.
 Another decline of to points occurred in February. March and April witnessed
 gradual recovery of about two-thirds of the ground that had been lost. The early part of May the market was rather strong in tone, but as summer approacheo weakness supervened.
 Then came that momentous Wicker sham injunction which stopped the rail- roads from putting into effect ,OO( raise in freight rates. This movement caught the railroads unawares and was in the nature of an utter surprise. That injunction was in reality the most inn portant event of the year, marketwise But for 1t the railroads would now be better off by $5.000,0O0 to $6000,O00 month in their earnings, and that might have spelled prosperity and booming conditions instead of depression and lack of conf1- dence in the future, which is now the pre- vailing disorder in the business world. This lightning bolt struck the market situation about the first of June. At thai time the average price of railroad shares was $120, and the average price or indus trials $9o By the last week in July rail roads were below $106 and industrials be- low STA. Several causes besides the Wick ersham injunction contributed to the semi-demoralization in June and July One was the attitude of illy-concealed un- | friendlness as shown by the representa- tives of the all-powerful Standard oil in terests This element had maintained fol | good while that the market could not | be expected to permanently improve untl | the Spreme court Qeclueu the StdHudTu | oil case, upon which hinged the right ol that company to do business under its present form of organization. About this l time the Mighty Hunter returned from his devastation of darkest Africa an6 after silence of seven days proceeded tc stir things up along the old familiar lines That gave the market a jolt and still fur 1 ther unsettled affairs.
 1 Not long after the Fourth of July, tho street began to hear disquieting talk O. trouble" Trouble, according to thu Wall street interpretation, means tha
 somebody is in financial straits. in thi' case 1t proved to be an ambitious syndi cate of English and American capitalist l headed by Messrs. Pearson and Farqu har, who hal loaded up heavily witt Rock Island and the anthracite coa
 stocks This syndicate was forced t liquidate and before the process wal
 completed. the lowest prices of the yea were made in the general stock market l Union Pacfc broke to 1924, a loss on tn
 year of 521k; Reading went to 1So7s, los of 41ss; Steel struck 61h, almost 30 point
 below the price of January B. and 33sz un der the record price of last year, when
 touched s4M for a moment. The breal ] might have gone further. but for tn