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Show Cummins Makes Speech in Support of Amendment to Tariff Bill Proposing 10 Per Cent Tax. WASHINGTON, Sept. 1. "Short selling" on the Now York stock exchange, ex-change, the Chicago Board of Trade and on cotton, produce and stock exchanges ex-changes generally was attacked by Senator Cummins in the sonato today as one of tho "greatest- vices" of the day and as "a menace that threatens the industrial and financial strength of tho country. " Supporting an amendment he had offered of-fered to tho tariff bill, proposing a 10 per cent tax on all trades whore the seller did not actually own the property prop-erty sold, Mr. Cummins, backod by several other Republican senators, delivered de-livered a vigorous criticism of stock and produce exchange operations and urged that congress' do its utmost to discourage or prohibit fictitious trading, trad-ing, which ho characterized as "gambling." "gam-bling." Tho Cummins amoudment was offered of-fered as a substitute for the cotton futures tax proposed by Senator Clarke of Arkansas, which would impose a tax of one-tenth of 1 cent per pound on all trades in cotton for future delivery. deliv-ery. Senator Cummins insisted that it was moro important to restrict and prohibit fictitious trading in securities and gonoral produce than simply to rogulato cotton trading. Referred to Committee. Tho entire question of "futures" finally was referred back to the senate finance committee for further consideration. consid-eration. Transactions on the 2sfew York Stock exchange for 1912 were cited by tho Iowa senator to 6how the extent of tho "gambling," which he declared was breaking down the moral fiber of the business community and saddling immense burdens upon the public in tho way of fictitious values in stocks. Tho sales of stock of some railroads and industrial corporations, he declared, had been from ten to ns high as twenty-five times the entire stock issue of the road, while but a small proportion of stock actually had changed hands. "Most of the sales on the New York stock exchange are fictitious," he said. "Thousands of men have been wrecked in fortune, and their moral fiber broken brok-en down by tho methods employed, Tt haa been the chief factor in imposing on the people a great volume of watered wa-tered stock upon which they must pay dividends for years to come." Watered Stock. "One-half of the railroad stock in the country is water, at least it was at the time it was issued. More than half of the stock of all the larger industrial in-dustrial corporations lias no foundation in valuo. It represents the immoral disposition and tho marvolous audacity of the men instrumental in putting it out. Thcso stocks, with tho burden they impose on tho public, novor could havo boeu foisted on the public but for this method of short 6ales." Senator Cummins declared the stock exchange should bo restricted to actual pales. "As it is now, it is not a place for the transfer of actual commodities," commodi-ties," he added. "Tt is a place where experienced and reckless and unscrupulous unscru-pulous men balance their wits. It is a place where raon of great mental capacity, ca-pacity, and audacity as well, fight a battlo of supremacy, employing not the means which ought to influence the prico of commodities, but every moans which may tend to affect the prico of things in which they nre dealing." He declared the old Louisiana lottery lot-tery was a "pink tea compared with this org' of vice," roproseuted in the stock exchange. "Fictitious" trades in Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific, United States Steel, American Beet Sugar, Americau Can and many other corporations were cited by Senator Cummins ns showing the extent of what ho termed the "gambliujr operations." Senator Cummins took up the history his-tory of specific stocks to show the in-fluouce in-fluouce of gamblers, who sought only their own advantage on tho stock exchange. ex-change. His figures covered the 3'ear 19 11, "The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe had $16S,-130,000 of stock listed on the exchange," ho said. "At the end of the vear its stockholders had changed but "littlo, vet 102,000,000 shares had been 'traded in.' "The stock of the St. Paul road was listed at $116,348,000, yet tho trades amounted to $.140,277,000, and the price ranged from 09 to 1170s a share. "There was no reason, for this fluctuation, fluc-tuation, there was but little change in ownership." declared Senator Cummins. Cum-mins. "The Reading road's capital stock amounted to $'12.4SO,000," ho continued, "yet tho trades were twenty-five times that, or over $1,1M,000,-000, $1,1M,000,-000, Stock oxchange brokers pretended pretend-ed to sell three times the entire capital capi-tal stock of tho Lehigh Valley rond, and passed back and forth $119,000,000 of Great Northern stock, when there was but little chango of ownership." |
