The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-03
IN FINANCIAL CIRCLES

New York, April 3-As stock mar ket factor. it Is hardly possible to ex-5 asgerate the importance of the de. cision to be handed down by the In terstate Commerce Commission in the application of eastern railroads for five per cent increase in freight rates. The decision. be it in favor or against the roads, is certain to have a, far reaching effect, not only as regards the railroads concerned but also on the affairs of steel, equipment and oth- .er concerns whose prosperity hinges very largely the prosperity of the railroads The thousands of workers forced into id1eness as a result of rail- road retrenchment contribute a fur ther serious phase to the situation. Tn the event that the decision is fa- vorable to the roads a large number of the men laid off will doubtless be taken back. for with the certainty of larger revenues projected, improve
 ment and extension work can be car
 ried to completion Within the last
 fortnight sentiment in financial circles fhas indicated a somewhat more con
 fdent feeling regarding the outcome of the case. Stock market observers report that there has been quiet ab- sorption of the stocks of many of the roads concerned in the petition, and that the accumulation is based on the expectation of 9 favorable decis- ion.
 The steel market. continues depress-
 Cd, and advices from steel mill centers indicate that there has been slow ing down in mill operations The inn
 mediate cause of this is lack of speci-
 dcations, and there is likely to be
 a further material lowering of actfv- ity within the next fortnight, un- less the volume of buying should show unexpected improvement. The sit uation is quite as bad abroad, as prices are declining and production falling off Steel nanufacturers with close foreign connections shy that there has been a slowing up abroad of all Econcerns engaged in metal manufac- ture.
 Notice of abrogation of contract has been sent by the United States Ex- press Go to all railroads over whose is being operated. The stipulated dateR of abrogatfon are yariously, April 30. May 31 and June 30, according to the contracts If all abrogations are final
 1y accepted by the railroad companies on the dates specified, United States Express will cease operations as a transportation plant on June 30, next For the year ended December 31 1913, The Long Island Railroad had SIP, ,204,738 gross as compared with $11,- 186,656 in 1912 Total income was $3,- 422, ,537 against S,607, ,179. After inter est, rentals. etc, there was a deficit
 for the year of ss77, ss5 against s2s2. : 690. The profit and loss deficit now
 stands at $5,451, ,966.
 The proposed transfer of control of Missouri Pacific Railway from the Gould family to the Rockefeller inter ests will not take place according to present indications. N Negotiations to- ward this end have been entered into
 but these have now been broken off
 because of inability to agree on price
 and other considerations. One of the
 reasons for failure to carry out ne- gotiations it is understood, was the
 belief that the control of the railroad
 under present conditiops was more of a liability than an asset.
 Copper producers have been com
 blaming of the lack of interest which consumers Of the metal, including the Connecticut Valley brass manufacti1r- CTS, have taken in the copper market
 Their purchases have been next to nothing, leaving the bulk to be ex-
 ported According to reports hefe | the brass plants are running about
 five days a week which is an improve
 ment over conditions of a month or
 more ago.