The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-12
STOCK MARKET |S WITHOUT SPARKLE Campaign Is Proving Very
 Disturbing Factor 
 LEADERS HESITATE
Reaction Following Altered Political Conditions Carried some of Big
 Stocks Down Many Points E. in Few Days
By w. c. NICHOLAS

By w. G. NICHOLAS
 New York, May 11.-lSpecial. )-The sparkle has been extracted from the stock market. The bulls and bears are sti1i doing business at the old stand
 but there is less enthusiasm and less excitement than when prices were 4 to l9 points higher. There is no fzz or bubble. It is plain dealing in securi
 ties at a lower temperature. A notable feature Is the open change of front or the part of many big traders who were conspicuous on the bull side down to very few days ago. One very important operator who was looked upon by many as the reN leader in the bull campaign announced to his friends this week that conditions had changed so radically that he was compelled to adopt a diff ferent view from that which he had en- tertained while he was putting prices up and helping along an era of prosperity There is no doubt that he had done the best he could to restore confidence and that his part in the proceeding was very influential. This man, to whoIi reference is made is only one among many of almost as great calibre-men who think and act on carefully formed judgment.
 One of the moving causes of the 10 week bull movement in the stock mar ket was a conviction that the national II political campaign would be a quiet or
 derly affair and that the business in- terests would not be seriously disturbed | on account of it. Within the month the political situation has undergone a re- markable transformation. The stock market feels as though 1t Is in the throes of nghtmare-that it Is an un- willing and amazed witness of the spec Ntacle of Roman mob, wildly applaud ing the brutal exhibition of a gladiator maltreating hig fat victim, kicking lhim around the ring and beating him l to pulp. It has injected into the bust ness situation a factor of tlmidity This alarm is not confined alone to the weak, but disturbs the mind of the conserva- tive and thoughtful. The wonder is what the finish will be, and what new phases the undignified performance may | yot assume to aggravate already dis tnrl cd sentiment. Men do not talk with | that confidence in the future which was a striking feature only very short | while ago.
 The reaction which followed real izat4on of altered conditions carried the prices on some of the leaders down many points in few days. By the middle of the week, Steel was off points, Reading and Union Pacific SK lpoints, Missouri Pacific 8 points. Anal garnated Copper and Shelters nearly | points, St. Paul and Southern Pacific 1 points, Erie Atchison, New York Gen. tral. and other stocks of the quiter kind, down from to 5 points. From | this low range there was a rally, and the market assumed quieter tone, al- though as stated in the opening para .fcl, ,1a ahsence of enthusiasm and the visible presence of coldness and indifference So fixed in their minds are many infiu- ential traders that the immediate fu- ture holds no prospect for them of i'm provement, that they are making prep arations earlier than usual for their summer vacations. Those who have the II money to spare and are so situated that they can absent themselves from bus Iiness, intend to escape from physicai lcontact with the annoyances of long land nasty political campaign-such as lseems to be in store
 There is found in the manufacturing and financial centers that same wide diversion of opinion as to present condi- tions and outlook for steel and copper l-both their products and stocks. Tho steel mills are doing more than ever lbefore on record and Pittsburg. Chicago
  nouncements every few days of ad- vance in the price of goods Consum- CTS say they have no difficulty in plac- ing orders at the old figures and that the marking up process Is deception intended for effect upon the public. and | particularly that part of the public which deals in industrial shares. Wall street is in grave doubt as to which side to believe As between the two. it leans to the Idea that the steel makers are doing a little bluffing. and that tho facts do not justify the claims that are lbeing made that within the next few weeks net earnings will have increased very substantially as a result of the higher prices obtained. One authority is quoted as predicting that within 90 days the Steel corporation will be earn ing at the rate of at least $35000.000 a year more than at present; and also Ithat the independents will be sharing in the improved conditions. These claims. together with the fact that they are well supported In the stock mar ket, have their effect on speculative sentiment.
 At the same time there is a hard lheaded and irreconsilable element in Wall street. infexibly opposed to the theory of borrowing money to pay div lidenJs, either by direct issue of new bonds, or by digging into treasury re- lserves. They think the policy is un- sound and is unwarranted gambling
 with the funds of the corporation. They lirsist that the management of a cor lreration has no more right to bet the lco,npanys surplus by paying unearned dividends than 1t would to stake the lsum on the throw of the dice. Such motions appeal to the Tive ones" as lold fashioned and out of date. They lbelcng to the era before George W.
 Perkins and Judge Gary abolished com lpet,tion Them was good old days lbut not in harmony with advanced Views of corporation management now.
 The street has become inured to tho troubles of various groups of labor
 union men in trying to compel advances
 In wages Riots in the coal regions, de-
 ma nds upon the railroad by locomotive lhremen, supplemental to those made by the engineers, and threatened strikes n iother lines of industry, are only referred
 to casually these days. The tremendous
 losses that have befallen the people of the lower Mississippi valley are not IS yet appreciated in the east. True, the stock market took a little fling at IT, ] liRois Central. but if is fashionable u l yallop that poor stock when the oc- casion is inviting. The actual damage ff, Hna 7e