Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-10
PUBLIC STILL WARY
Incipient Stock Market Booms
Fail as a Bait.
CANNOT HOLD HIGH LEVEL
Lacking Support From Outside,
Quoted Values Soon Sag.
SOME ODDITIES IN PRICES
Ticker Shows Price List Badly in
Need of Readjustment-Talk of
Cuts in Dividends.
By w. G.. Nicholas.
Special Correspondence of The Star.


NEW YORK. September .. 1911.
The public does not come into the mar
ket at current prices and the volume of
transactions on the stock exchange has
decreased from 100000 shares a day
to between 100000 and 10000 shares
daily. Early in the week prices recover
ed somewhat from the lowest levels
reached two or three weeks ago, but the
rally did not hold and before the close
of the week the lowest range of the
year was established. The buying was
mostly by the bear contingent. willing
to convert paper profits into cash. This
has been going on for week or more.
and although new short lines have no
doubt been put out on the rally the
short interest has been greatly reduced,
leaving the market in a technically weak
er position than it has been for some
time past Earnest effort is being made
to have it appear that general business
conditions are improving, but the weight
of testimony appears for the moment to
be on the other side.
Bankers and railroad presidents as we'll
as captains OF industry are handing out
pessimistic interviews regarding the
future. They are very gloomy over the
opinion that there can be no permanent
recovery until the politicians realize the
mistake they are making in "harassing''
the great interests. Representatives. of
these great interests try very hard to
make it appear that business is being
prosecuted and bludgeoned by malicious
or brainless agitators and that when the
people realize they are being imposed
on, they will rise and cast out their
wicked advisers. Apparently it does not
"a frfn ctc, I,of ,>~1,
ticians may be closer to the masses of the
people than Wall street can hope to be,
and that the politicians are really follow
ing orders instead of leading.
Enormous Business Volume.
Cnquestionably an enormous amount OF
business is being done In the interchange
of commodities, its transportation from
one point to another and in the exporta-
ton of our products, but there is moth
ing like the boom which people would be
pleased to see. The country Is down to
bedrock. 1t is practicing economies where
ever such a thing is possible. and is
saving money instead of spending it.
This statement may be hard to under
stand by the great multitudes who are
barely making a living and cannot SAVE
anything. yet it is nevertheless true that
at the elimination of every long period
of depression there is more free money
available Tor investment than at any
other time. When people get sick and
tired of keeping their surplus money idle
they look around for a place to put 1t
where it can be earning something. They
are all seized with the impulse at the
same time. OF such conditions apd cir
cumstances booms are born. There are
no indications of this thing happening in
the immediate future. There is still con-
siderable margin left between the sit
uation as IL is now found and really
hard times.
There will have to be considerable re-
adjustment of prices on the stock ex-
change before things are evened up prop
erly Several stocks are conSpicuousiy
out of line il we are to assume that pre-
yailing dividend rates are to remain un-
changed. There Is in harmony in lSi for
New York, New Haven and Hartford an
per cent stock and in per cent stocks.
like Northern Pacific, Great Northern
and st. Paul. selling at us, 12i and 1l6.
respectively. while Amaigamated. paying
> Fer cent dividends. is held around 10:
Union Pacific. a 10 per cent stock, BRING
ing ITO; Steel common commanding 20.
and in some OF the non-dividend Things
selling in the market at fancy prices.
comparatively speaking. Clearly, stock
prices are sadly out Of line. In this re-
spect there is nothing on the list quite
as misshapen as New Haven. There Is
talk OF a dividend reduction being or
dered at the next meeting OF the board
of directors. September II, but this IL
earnestly denied by insiders. The ta!k Is
of a cut to . per cent, and the tape is