Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-29
STREET TAKES REST
Passes Through Trying Period
and Needs Relaxation.
LOOKING TO COMING YEAR
Approximations That Estimates May
Not Be Filled to the Limit.
STAGNANT DURING PAST WEEK
Nobody Seems to Care Either in, the
Buying or Selling of
Securities.
DURING PAST WEEK
BY w. g. NICHOLAS.

NEW YORK, December 2S.-This is one
Of the times that Wall street is glad to
. have stock market rest. The street has
gone through trying period and needs a
rest. Things have been happening to real
ly disturb men of affairs In the financial
world-the men who are behind big bust
| ness and have been made through choice
and circumstances virtual guardians as
well as directors Of the great business or
CARNATIONS. They feel more than a sense
of personal responsibility.
Everybody would like to look forward
with a feeling of mistaken confidence to-
ward the developments of the next year,
but there are many features and condi-
tons which give rise to apprehensions
that rosy estimates may not be filled to
the limit. There is an underlying uneasi-
ness lest rampant politics might check
business progress and throw the country
back instead of moving it forward. 1t is
also unlikely that the legal points Of vital
Importance in corporation affairs will all
be settled by the Supreme Court. A mass
of fresh litigation against the large in
terests has been started within the last
few months and must go through to the
end. No doubt when the relations Of cap
ital to the public are more clearly defined
the machinery of business will run more
smoothly and to the better satisfaction
and profit of the people. Until then ele-
mentS of uncertainty must remain to dis
turb and unsettle the minds of the men
who are responsible for the management
of railroad, industrial and commercial en-;
terpriSe. Young men grow prematurely
gray and middle-aged men prematurely
old in their struggle to successfully carry
the responsibilities they have shouldered
and that have been imposed upon them.
All of this tends to MAKE the stock mar
ket situation uncertain. and to fill the
mind with doubt where there should be
certainty and calm confidence.
Money Outlook Satisfactory.
The feeling is strong that it will not be
safe to take a fixed market position until
the middle of the coming month, Janua-
ry. BY that time the huge dividend and
interest payments, amounting to more
than $2JO.OOO.OoO. will have been diffused
among investors, and the tide of capita.
will have set in strongly toward the fiscal
centerS, thereby rec. uiting the supply OF
large capital which vii. be needed in the
program of high finance during 1913. The
stress for money with which to move the
crops Is over, and the money situation
has already eased in that quarter. Alto
gether, the outlook for money is salts
factory, although the country is under
high p; assure for the development OF it's
resources. and 1T will. probably pay high
rates without interruption. In the
broader sense, this Is very wholesome
condition. 1t is strongest testimony Of
the intense business activity of the peo-
pie. 1t is a living manifestation of the
prodigious force that underlies a pa
triotic nation. possessed of boundless am
bition and a desire to make the most Of
opportunity.
The market this week has been stag
nant. Nobody cares to do anything
either in the buying or selling OF securi-
ties. Prices are neither high enough nor
low enough to stimulate speculation until
the, sky clears somewhat. The settle
nlent of the Union Pacific-Southern Pa
cific merger case Is one of the matters
upon which the street is giving a great
deal OF attention. The problem may be
settled peacefully. and before the close
of the Taft administration. but there are
elements which may give rise to end ess
and costly litigation. 1t is no easy mat
ter to disentangle two properties that
have been SO closely blended for ten
years as these two Hartman roads. and
the question of redistribution of the
assets upon an equitable and satisfac-
tory basis taxes the ingenuity and know
edge of the leading minds in the financial
world. 1t is barely possible that there Is
poison in the background and that it
will be to the malicious interests of GER
tam parties to stir up and pro'ong the
contest. This is one of the points that is
giving the big men of the street serious
thought. and they do not see their way
clear. Several hundred million dollars
are involved. and If the distribution of
assets and equities is not speedily settled
immense capital may be tied up to the
embarrassment of all of Wall street
This is not idle talk but is a serious
proposition. and is so recognized by