Atlanta Georgian., 1912-05-11
WALL STREET IS
LOSING IN. ESPRIT
Things Are Not Going Well
Enough to Maintain Re-
cent Exuberance. s
BY 2. c. FORBES.

-4 BY 2. c. FORBES.
NEW YORK, May 11-WaH Street Is
losing some of its exuberance. Things
have not been going we'll Agriculture,
trade. politics all have gone awry Spec
ulation. too, has failed to boom according
to the manipulators' schedule And in
vestment is not reviving as per earlier
hopes Rainbows were seen a month or
two ago. but rain has again begun to
fall rather heavily. Hence umbrellas are
being put up
Nature and man have combined to
bring about the setback.
The unprecedentedly heavy foods over
a wide section of the country have in
fiicted incalculable damage At first the
cheerful view taken was that the mild
flooding would enrich the soil, and thus
lead to luxuriant crops of cotton and
grain. But the water refused to fall In
stead they have mounted higher and
higher until all known records of the past
have been eclipsed Nor is the end vet
assured. Consequently quotations on the
produce exchange and the cotton exchange
have scared. Automatically this should
have sent prices of stocks down; but Wall
Street.-The speculative section of it at
least--was working for a higher range of
causes we're repelled. Since then the
stock market has reacted quite severely.
Would it interest the public to learn
the financial community's reading of the
political outlook? Here it is from the
fountain head:
The nomination of President TAFT was
taken for granted until last month. when
Mr. Roosevelt began to display extraordf-
nary strength in several important states.
F1nanciersa set their. wonderful invisible
machinery al work to test sentiment all
over the country From SO graat a se6-
tion Of the West came reports indicating
that Mr.. Roosevelt would be supported
tooth and nail that forecasts had to be
revised. At this moment capital Is not
certain what will happen Every dav
brings weakening of the confidence that
Mr. Taft will be chosen, although all hope
has not been abandoned Curiously
enough, interests who have denounced the
president as, to use his own phrase. "a
man Of straw" would have preferred to
see him selected, chiefly on the axiom
that IT is better to bear known Ills than
fly to unknown ones Within a fortnight
the outcome of the Republican, convention
it is believed Wilt be- tolerably certain
=
the Democratic candidate in case Mr..
Roosevelt runs? William Jennings BRYAN.
This may sound as Joke, but it isn't
Aggravating the agricultural and politi
cal uncertainty is the recurrence Of
doubts over business prospects DO you
see these trunks of samples" asked the
head of one large establishment. 'Itets
cheaper to keep them here and the sales
men also than to pay their expenses IN
travelling over the country in a vain
search for orders The incident is not
isolated About the end of the first quar-
ter of the year optimism was returning.
Spring weather. it was cheerily explained,
would work wonders. But. the weather
proved disappointing and so did industrial
developments. 'distinet psychological
change crept ever the financial and mer-
camille communities. Labor troubles were
not responsible in any large measure. 1t
would not be untrue to say that the IT,
tanic disaster had . more poignant effect
People became pessimistc The bright
spots in the situation appeared to grow
less bright and black spots, previously
overlooked, were noted.
Then the Steel corporations quarter
ty earnings were keenlS disa ppointing
"a rust to- encourage Short selling of the
shares preparatory to a killing among
the bears, said some. But that view
no longer obtains. The iron and steel in
dustry, 1t is now generally acknowledged
is not well off. Production is heavier
than at any previous period in Americas
history. 1t threatens to continue in ex-
cess of actual consumption Prices are
low, and if plants are maintained at full
capacity the possibility of raising them
permanently will be remote Moreover,
the, railroads are not rushing into the
money market for new. capital, as invest
ors are still timid. $3.50.
All this, fear, viii convey a more de.
pressing impression than is intended
The situation is not bad. only it is not
so good as was hoped with confidence it
would be ere now When the political
'caldron cools, when the floods subside,
when the sun shines longer and stronger
and all these developments must come
the unsettlement now prevailing will no
doubt vanish and courage will again d.
rect the helm.