The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-02
NICHOLAS WALL STREET LETTER Politics Factor in the Stock
 Market TOSS IS IN THE RACE Spirit of Hesitation Noticed in Busi- ness Situation-Rockefel on Witness Stand Proved to Be
 Master of Men
TOSS IS IN THE RACE
By W. c. NICHOLAS


 market until the conventions meet and possibly afterwards. in aggravated form. Wall street has been trying hard to make it appear that the stock market had become indifferent to politi- cal influences. It was all a pretence
 The street cannot accustom itself to that attitude. There is no getting away from the fact that the uncertain ties and complexities of the campaign will be live factors in the stock mar ket situation. The upward price move ment halted when it became evident that Mir. Roosevelt was making head way and 1t has become more uncertain as his successes continued, and he be- came the live if not the dominating
 influence. Trading in stocks is now on a basis of points to points below
 the high level reached at the culmina-
 tion of the bull movement about a
 month ago. During May there was
 sharp recovery from the reaction level of about three weeks ago. but prices do not hold and talk as you may, the element of investment and speculative
 confidence is lacking Not as many
 holders are liquidating as might be sup posed but there are fewer buyers and
 such as there are, apear to be in no
 hurry. They do not buy on the bulges
 and are slow on the reactions, bad sign, 1t is so regarded by the veterans
 in the game. On the rallies the mar
 ket invariably gets dull. It is on the
 breaks that periods of greatest activity are seen--another bad sign.
 Discussion in the street and market
 wise is concentrating on the possible results of the Chicago convention whether Roosevelt will be defeated and if so whether he will bolt and what the
 consequences would be if he should do so. It is being taken for granted by the rank and file in the financial district that MT Taft cannot be renominated, although the official announcement by the chairman of the ruling sub-commit- tee of the national committee, that the members of both of those bodies will refuse to be bulldozed or stampeded by Roosevelt tactics opens the eyes of many to the possibilities of resisting the whoop and hurrah of the so-called Roosevelt mob. It is beginning to be recognized that it is one thing to or ganize a. mob, and quite different proposition to disorganize selected company of trained, experienced, and seasoned captains and field marshals and generals of politics. The commit tee headquarters in Chicago will be the center of the stage for the next fort night, so far as Wall street news goes. It is also a matter of importance in current Wall street discussion of the political prospects to be able to form an intelligent Idea as to the force, in tensity and endurance of the opposi- ,ion to MT. Roosevelt in his own party in the event of his nomination. The point most talked about in this connec- tion is whether there would be third ticket put in the field by anti Roosevelt stalwarts, even as the gold democrats nominated Buckner in 1896, or whether the protest would take the form of a square vote against the Rough Rider by support of the democratic candidate. It is an interesting proposition and very far from being academic. Hun dreds of thousands of earnest republic ans who feel that Roosevelts re-elec- tion to the presidency would be danger ous to the republic are very certain to find a way of making their influence felt solidly in determining the final re- suit.
 The organization of campaign for delegates to the democratic convention by Governor Foss of Massachusetts in troduces a new and interesting feature into that situation. It is felt that neither Wilson nor Clark can command a united democracy and that diff ferent man must be found before there can be any certainty of success in No- vember, especially should Roosevelt be the choice at Chicago. Governor Floss has some very able and experienced politicians and good business men on his staff of friends, and they believe the psychological time has arrived for pushing him to the front. The machin- cry of publicity is already being utfl- ized to make the people acquainted with the many virtues of the Mas sachusetts governor.
 The business situation remains about in statu quo. There, too, is to be ob- served a spirit of hesitation. The really big people of the industrial world seem quite content to hold back and await de- velopments, meantime feeling pretty good over the gradual improvement in trade and the very moderate profits they arc getting In many of the divisions of ac- tivity, where the winnings were fabu | lously large in boom times. Our popula- | ton is increasing and it keeps the ma chinery of business in fairly swift motion to provide for the wants of our hundred million souls Meanwhile, savings are accommodating and more capital is bling | up for the development of our national | resources. Since the beginning of the | year more than $l 000, ,000000 in new bonds | and stocks have been issued and in the | main subscribed for. A good share of this has been for expansion and enlarge ment of existing facilities for the handling | of passengers and freight in one form or another In the city of New York alone provision has been made for the expenditure of more than s250000,0O0 in subways and additional street car lines. ] In nearly every big city in the country 1, the railroads are enlarging their termi- l nals for the better handling of traffic We are becoming more o~ilized every day and that is something that calls for huge aggregate expenditures. To keep up with the times costs big money. The American people have it, and even though times are said to be hard cash is forth coming in any amount when 1t is needed.
 For instance, it costs an enormous sum of money annually to maintain our rail- roads: nearly if not quite s100.O00,000 goes into new ties. About 3200 ties are laid on every mile of railroad, and there are 260.o00 miles of roads This calls for S32,- 0D0o00 ties. The life of a tie is about seven years, and the annual repenish- ment is therefore about 720.o00C00 ties. which cost from co cents to s1 apiece. A few years ago ties could be bought for from 4O to 50 cents each. We are ap- preaching the day when the bulk of our wooden ties will have to be imported, and some of us will live to see steel ties re- place wooden ties on all our main lines The gap between cost is narrowing every day. Ties are only one item in the many