Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-04-01
Passing Impressions Of Finance
By H. L. Bennett

|
The markets have weather signs
which their followers watch closely as
| the seafarer does the skies. Increase
| in activity as prices make progress,
either up or down, Is an indication that
! the movement will continue, while di-
minishing public interest usually means
the reverse. quite as much Importance
is, therefore, ascribed to the dwindling
volume of business on the Stock Ex-
change as to the fact that prices have
in the main lost ground. 1t is one or
| many reasons to believe we are pass
When world wide scarcity of capital
unloosed the forces of reaction In the
fall of 1912. 1t reversed u business situa-
| tion that was expanding despite clear
| indications of restrictive politics ana
| Legislation that have been only partial
| ly verified. Business men, plagued by
| uncertainties and harassing policies
| gritted their teeth and resolved to en-
| dure what they could not avoid. Much
| that was then uncertain is now known;
| the Wilson administration has shown
more kindly disposition to business
! had hoped from any administration
i within sight, and monetary stringency
! is In the past instead of the future.
Liquidation in many lines of business
has been completed, especially in Sc
curities. and altogether the situation.
| though beclouded in some directions, Is
| far sounder now than eighteen months
| ago. The way to make money in Sc
| curities with any reasonable certainty
| entering the constructive stage. the
| swing of the market will be upward
The man whose bearings are steady
| over the bumps is the one who Will
later realize the best profits from his
| Investments.
| eh- tbat trit area
| the first and labor one of the last COM
modities to reflect a change In the eco
nomic situation. Last week the Penn
| Central laid off about 10 per cent. of
| their hands and reduced the hours of
others. This is liquidation of labor
result of deplorable necessity, but
| the reasons for 1t are so well unler-
Istood that no one was surprised the
shrinkage of railroad revenues com,
PEELED it, and this has become an old
story. This is one way that the people
must pay the piper for their collective
| attitude toward the railroads through
| the Interstate Commerce Commission
| and taxation.
Fifty representative railroads report
ed for January a decrease in net earn
| ings of 25.S per cent. This loss was
| despite drastic efforts to retrench, and
Is the largest shrinkage since the panic
times of seven years ago. Expendi-
] lures on maintenance of way We're cut
over per cent, and those of equip
ment per cent, which contrast with
| 10 per cent larger taxes. News of the
day tells of curtailment In train ser
vice. on many lines, reduction in the
Panhandle dividend, and passing of the
dividend entirely on Railway Steel
Springs, so that labor has company in
it's misery. In actual fact, labor is but
a recruit to the ranks of those who feel
! the pinch of railroad conditions; the
investor was there first.
| thoughtful follower of the news
from Washington tells ME that the In
terstate Commerce Commission is more
| likely to impose charges on shippers for
tap line and other terminal services
| than to sanction an increase in freight
| rates. This might we'll be body blow
to some of the large industrials. such
as the Steel Corporation. for example,
unless. they, in turn, succeed in pass
ing the burden to the consumers. where
it would be so distributed as to be but
little felt. II the community at large
| were to be charged for railroad service
proportionately to the advance in COM
modities, natural and general economic
good would result. viii Washintonian
MtS ons bsHd wa
them with the other?
First among the great companies that
generate electricity by water-power to
list its shares on the New York Stock
| Exchange is the Montana Power Com
pany which took this step last week.
power for its mountain division and
furnishes the current used in the copper
mines around Butte. It's system. eX-
tending over the greater part of the
State, is a good example of the wide
range of territory brought within
tions by the development of; recent
years in the electrical art. The COM
mon stock pays per cent, and, sell
ing around so, is at the highest price
| reached The Is trle of the
per cent. preferred arourd 102. Until
very recently both stocks were quoted
ures, which seems =, indicate that list
ing stock is worth something to II
from a market standpoint. Collterally,
1t helps explain some of the. notable
bargain often found among unlisted in
vestments.
So far during 1914 increased or initial
dividends have been declared by about
dozen public utility companies. The
term public utilities" in an investment
sense includes lighting and electric
power and traction properties: Some
development have just been given out
by the Federal Census Bureau; these
are compiled at five-year intervals and
During 1912, electric operating COM
panies earned ssS0,o00.o00 gross. an in
crease of 1853 per cent. and 164.l6 per
1902 respectively, while the output in
lSilowatt hours gained 368 per cent. over
1892 and lS5 per s cent; s,sN,sI over 1907 In
ties have substantial basis.
Under the recently announced plan of
reorganization the American Water
comes again a water supply and public
utility system. 1t cuts loose from the
r tn tnat he Sebts
concerned, but the stockholders have a