Evening star., 1915-11-14
FINANC1AL-LOCAL AND OTHERWISE.

Isponsible for better business can
scarcely be questioned, as the odd lot
} broker would then receive his reports
promptly and would not be subjected 10
a suspicion that he was being MADE
victim of market fluctuations IN the
final reports on his orders.
In times of only moderate specula- :
ton there would be thousands of ten
share lot orders, compared with the
number now placed of 100-share units.
Seaboard Air Line.
A special meeting of the stockhold-
ers of the Seaboard Air Line railway.
to be held in the office of the company
in Petersburg, Va, tomorrow. marks
the elimination of a movement which
has brought about the consolidation of
two great railroad properties in the
south the Seaboard Air Line and the
Carolina-Atlantic and Western rail
way. By the acquisition of this 33l
miles of railroad and the construction
of eighty-ffve miles of new railroad
between Charleston and Savannah, now
under way, the Seaboard Air Line
Railway Company gains entrance INTO
two additional important south Attain
tic portS-Charleston and Georgetown
and gains lowgrade main line from
Hamlet. n. c., to Florida points via
Savannah. procuring to the Seaboard
great economies in operation and put
road extension which has been made in
the south since the outbreak of the
European war-the eighty-five miles
now being constructed between
Charleston and Savannah. The COM
pletion of this link, now rapidly under
way, give the Seaboard by far the
shorter line from the east to Florida,
and puts it in a commanding position
for Florida travel and traffic from the
east.
| 1t is understood that the Seaboard
stockholders meeting will ratify the
proposed plan. which has already been
ratified by the stockholders of the
lCarolina-Atlantic and Western rail-
way. which becomes part of the Sea-
| board Air Line railway system.
A very large percentage of the total
capital stock of the Seaboard is al
ready in hand to be voted by proxy at
New York Stocks.
The last week has witnessed a very
heavy break in certain issues of indus
trial stocks and satisfactory recovery.
! In this city the brokers took occasion
to warn their customers of the impend-
ing smashing of values in motor stocks
and Baldwin Locomotive. and succeeded
very generally in getting their custom
ers out without serious losses
| Rarely has Washington taken SO much
! interest IN Nall street, since lne SOO0
old days when the lawmakers watched the
ticker closer than they should have, and
speculation was rife
| Thousands of shares have been taken
| out of the market and locked away in
vaults.
! The end of the bull movement is not
| in sight, as one may judge from the
steady buying of the last few days. Money
| is too plentiful and seeking investments,
while the interests that are supposed to
! do oT1lf he str h..vn hnnr 1N1
! active in making sales of their securities,
many of which they have held for years
; to get out even on, and may be expected
| to begin buying between now and Christ
mas.
| Serious efforts have been made by in
terests to revive the railroad stocks, but
| with only partial success. They have
stimulated some investment buying, but
have not been able to draw the specula-
, ton from industrials to railroads
| 1t is admitted that the latter have
| made, and are making. good gains in
earnings, compared with the thin months
| of a year ago; that they have learned
an excellent lesson in economies in opera
| ton; that the harvests are large and all
! that.
! But the railroads have had hard going
to make both ends meet. and will be
years in recouping from legislation and
regulation to which they must conform
| Industrial activity is something that
! is likely to be kept up-something that
can be seen. The bubble of enormous
profits has bursted but profits are still
large enough for satisfactory dividends,
and prices cannot be legisIated or regu-
lated save by the parties to the contracts
| J.. S. Bache & Co.'s Views.
! J. s. Bache & Co. say in their circular
| of the 18th instant:
The reaction this week in the stock
| market is part of the movement to
restore Il one-sided market to an euui-
| librium. to which we have before called
attention. 1t is also seasonal Every
q, year except one, for Twenty-Five years
has seen a reaction of more or less
| Importance in November or December.
ana IN every one IF those twenty-four
Years. a reason has been sought and
many given, all different
The market is now less one-sidsd
out stlli not fully at equilibrium be-
| tween the war stocks and the railroad
ana Ordinary industrials When that
equilibrium is fully restored we should
magnitude. ~
The legitimate movement in war
| STOCKS VIII be resumed tafter they have
settled down to uninfated prices) when
actual earnings of great Importance he
gin 70 be published. we think eventu-
ally they will be.
IL; IN the meantime, on moderate reac-
tlons, good bonds, railroad Stocks and
steel stocks if bought and held n few
months should prove highly profitable
| some OF the low-priced and medium,
Dolids are also worth considering The
petter railroads had four or five noints
Iaa'ahce from stagnant levels and some
oi tnem nave since receded a point or
more; we refer to stocks like South
ern Paclnc, Great Northern preferred
Atchlson. Norfolk and Western. Union
naclnc, Baltimore and Ohio New York
central Northern Pacific. etc The
growing grow transportation. incident to a
earnings. and on higher earnings stncL
prices advance. The lower-priced non
dlVidend rails should feel this move
inent ACKNOWLEDGEMENT stocks &c
ERIE. southern railway, Kansas civ
lt'outnern common and preferred (the,a
Peake ana ONO and Chicago and Great
western common and preferred"
Clews on Congress.
Henry Clews closed his weekly letter
with the following:
| In about three weeks Congress will
open and a new set of issues will be
pressed upon public attention The at
tacks upon capital which have contin-
ued for over twenty years have about
spent their force. Many of the old
and this form of political enterprise is
rapidly going out of fashion, particu-
larly since its injurious effects became
so apparent to all concerned The war
Will undoubtedly make a strong i'm
preston upon our political life. Eff
forts will probably be made for read
JuStment of the tariff, especially where