The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-04


include thousands of estates and mem
bers OF the elderly well TO do people,
Trust companies insurance companies
and savings banks hold most of the
bonds and not little of the stock
The outlook is bad and the prediction
of Wall street is that 1t Is headed
straight for a reorganization Mr. Mel
len is making a big fight for his rep
utation and for the solvency of the
property. While Mr.. Morgan was alive
his personality and credit had a great
deal to do with the maintenance of
| credit and supply of capital. Mr. Will
liam Rockefeller is also bulwark, and
sc is Mr.. James j. Hill. who was large
ly responsible for the Mellen selection.
This was one of the cases when a Hill
| graduate" does seem to have panned
out to fullest expectations. The almost
certain decadence of the big New Eng
land system has been one of the fac
tors of depression in the big general
market and continues to be So
Selling for Boston
Tremendous selling of miscellaneous
stocks for account of Boston has been
a feature of the market for several
days. and some think for many weeks
Six months ago Tom Lawson had
newspaper pages predicting the down
credit for being leading figure in the
market decline. He prophecied big
breaks in New Haven, Steel, the Cop
Der stocks and singled out many other
issues for whose future he had gl, omy
thoughts. The course of prices has YER
ified his dolorous predictions and he
is credited with having made a colos-
sal killing" on the wholesale decline
that has taken place 1t Is also alleged
against Mr.. Lawson that he has figured
in the background for account of Stan
dard Oil interests There has been sig
nficant persistence in the claim that
Mr.. Rockefeller has been unfriendly TO
tine stock market ever since the boom
last fall and that he has been the wet
blanket over the entire situation. The
standard OIL party is believed to have
sold many hundreds of thousands of
stocks, and to have led off In the liqui-
dation of the securities of the sub
sidiary Standard Oil companies follow
ifiS the sensational boom in that list.
OF this allegation there is no direct
proof, but there never is direct proof
Of the stupendous operations of the eld-
er Vanderbilt and his intimate asso-
eiates. They are mysterious and in
visible lot of persons who prefer to
move in the dark and let the public
do the guessing. Very few of even Wall
streets greatest leaders know what is
going on at 26 Broadway.
In these days of mystery all sorts of
wild rumors find circulation and Gre
dence l have mentioned this fact in
several of my letters and have also
mentioned repeatedly the more than
suspicion that the elder Rockefeller
has been an active though silent factor
| In the stupendous liquidation that has
been proceeding almost without inter-
fuption for several months. The stree,
Is giving ear to stories about the Stan
Il gf,4I fAtI 4f..stx
the stock market but lacks proof of
a positive sort. The elder Rockefeller
could have let go of hundreds of thous-
ands OF shares without seriously cut
ting into his vast secret holdings of
RAILROAD and industrial stocks. His pride
received a terrible blow when Stan
dard Oil was ordered dissolved. He is
a long enduring hater and his pride in
his personal achievements is his weak
est as well as his strongest point. He
has for years been the most powerful
factor in the financial and industrial
world of America. In actual ability of
performance he outranked Mr. Morgan
at his death. fact clearly appreciated
by the so-called king of Wall Street
Just what part he has taken in the
Generalization of the stock mark ct
OF late will probably never be known
unless it should be as human desire
! to let the public have light on the SUBJ
: iect
Against High Interest
The railroads have finally rebelled
against paying usurious interest for
new capital with which to improve and
better their properties. They followed
, the lending bankers up to 5 per cent
8 and even a fraction over that rate and
then withdrew. The, transition from 4
per cent and ~ per cent to per
! I-cent was very sudden. although not en-
|, tirely unexpected. Many of the strong
est corporations in the United States
! stood the gaff up to the per cent
mark but that was as high as they
cared to go. Representatives of capital
had no money to lend below that figure
and for the time being financing on Il
large scale seems to have stopped. Com
raratively small borrowings are being
made and cases are mentioned where
the price paid is h and per cent for
short time accommodations-tha means
two years to five years. The money
situation is In very unsatisfactory
and unsettled condition. How it is goin z
TO work out nobody pretends to be
able to say with certainty. Candidates
for new capital have not given up.
however, and they are feeling the
changes as they develop, hoping for the
lest but fearing for a continuation of
the worst
The street is awaiting with interes. /.
authoritative announcement to the
plans of j. p Morgan & Co. Thus far
nothing definite has been made known.
There is more or less gossip about fric-
tion among the partners but nothing
definite has come to light and it is
altogether likely the stories have Nc
foundation in fact. 1t is not improbable
that some of the 150,000,000 average