The Washington herald., 1911-01-24
" Bear Capital" Made Out of
Attack on Steel in House.
MEASURE NOT MUCH FEARED
Financial interests Do Not Believe
Congress Can Begin Prosecution
by Simply Resoluting-On Publfcn-
ton of Report Cotton Prices Break.
Advance in Wire Products.

for the decline in the STOCK market To-
day was in all probability the fact that
certain speculative interests that took
profits freely last week on their stocks
accumulated for tie rise were moder-
ately DESTROYS of seeing fall in the
market, on which the same stocks could
be bought back.
There was, however, an effort to make
as much bear capital could be out
of the news from Washington that the
Committee on Rules in the House of
Representatives has granted hearing
that for several days had been delayed
to Democratic member from Kentucky
who was anxious to get reported to the
House a resolution asking the Attorney
General to prosecute the United States
Steel Corporation for '.monopolistic"
practices.
1t is, of course, altogether doubtful
that any such resolution will ever emerge
from the House committee. or that, even
if it did, and the House of Representa-
tives asked the Attorney General to be-
gin a prosecution of the kind referred
10, that the Attorney General would heed
the request Corporations in this coun-
try are not prosecuted in the courts to
suit the pleasure of national or State
legislatures.
Selling Movement Begun.
The incident did. however. really pro-
woke to-day a certain amount of selling
of stocks. although. strange to say. the
selling was most noticeable in the shares
of other companies than that of the
United States Steel Corporation.
The market was also unfavorably af-
fected by "A break in the marlborough
Metropolitan issues. variously described
as being due tn bid announced Sunday
of an independent company for the privi-
lege Of building the new subways, to
liquidation for the account of a deceased
capitalist. and to the discovery that the
annual report of the marlborough, lately
published, did not take account of an in
terest charge of s6,O0o0.IG of the COM
pany's outstanding notes.
The omission was. of course wholly
unintentional: but it appears that the
company's reported surplus of 5000
would have been changed into a deficit OF
a much larger sum if the mistake had
not occurred.
There Were development to-day of an
Immensely favorable importance which,
us might seem, the stock market was in
clined to regard but little.
Advance in Wire Prices.
One of these was the advance of 81 a
ton in the price of all wire products made
by the American Steel and Wire Corpora
ton, one of the most important SubSid-
iHrieS of the United States Steel Corpora
ton, and followed by all the other indie
PENDENT wire producing companies. No
doubt the advance was not great. but it
certainly shows that there is picking
up in at least some branches of the iron
and steel business. and il is truStworth-
lily. although privately. stated that in
fact steel prices in general are more firm
" held at the moment than they have
been 1T any tim" since midsummer
Again the price Of cotton broke heavily
upon the publication of the governments
report Of the amount Of cotton ginned in
the present season. previous to January
&c. According to the government figures
the quantity thus turned out was II 81 ll5
halts. If during the rema inder of the
season the sam" percentage of cotton is
Cinned that was turned out d year ago
the total output of the crop will he in
the neighborhood of 1l,60.00O bales a fig
ure considerably in excess of the govern
mcnts last official estimate of total
crop.