OCR Text |
Show I:st C.nici Is TiittLe D:ttom Has now -Been r.ccc'.::J ia Great Wall ; direct' Slump. NEW TORK. June 12. Shrinkage of over three-quarters of one billion dollars v In the value of the most prominent "of .the active stocks is the startling tale ctf ; the market's slump In the last six '.months, - The total paper losses, many of them, unfortunately too real, will faslly carry the total sum far past the , one bIKion-mark. Unknown agencies began to workHo-. workHo-. ward the reduction of values in the market mar-ket not long after the new year had fairly fair-ly begun. Overcredita and a public sa-. sa-. tution of stocks caused the gradual shrinkage in values and then the fabric I began to disintegrate, as a pile of bulld-I bulld-I ing. blocks does when the bottom layer is loosened. ( i Bottom Keeps Dropping Out. ? I ' Banks held a tight grip upon the sltu-' sltu-' atlon, gradually applied pressure,' and , the bottom has been falling out of the - market ever since. No one knows wheth-: wheth-: er the bottom Is yet reached, but most market observer believe that the bot-. bot-. torn Is either near or at hand. Good .crops, renewed confidence and assurance '.of a-continuation In power, of the dom-;-: Jnant, national, party will assist In,' re; ; viving what now appears to be a very sickly market, ' ' , ' - ' ' Many contend that th.e banks And the public haye merely been squeezing put the. water of overcapitalization and that the securities of the country are being placed on a much firmer basis than they .- .have. been. They contend that it will . mean much for a sound financial situa-r situa-r tlon during possible trying times of the . future. - Hailroads Lose He&Tlly. ; The havoc wrought' among the rall-, rall-, road shares is something unprecedented. .. Pennsylvania has been one oO those most V severely hit, and yet the system . is de-' de-' clared by railroad experts to be In much ''superior condition today to handle an enormously increased tonnage. .Prior to - the first of the new: year the losses of the company by reason of freight congestion con-gestion reached into many millions and . the congestion figured prominently in . the net earnings. Whero Gould Breaks In. - Since then the figures have shown a surprising change and the heavy drop Is attributed to the supposed dissatisfaction dissatisfac-tion over the new stock issue and to the , reported attack of the Gould and Rockefeller Rocke-feller interests upon the securities on the market. "J The attack of President A. J. Cassatt 4. in ruthlessly ordering the destruction of XWestern Union poles and wires also -disturbed the confidence of the general ' public, as well as the financiers of this country and Europe. The drop in value . of the Pennsylvania stock is over J$5, . 000,000. Standard Oil 'and Steel Trust. ' . r The 'Standard Oil' company was not - spared, however, and its drop in less than six months has been over 171,000,- ' 000. Northern Securities has forged to l the front as a leader of the downward course and its slump of over $78,000,000 is attributed largely to the aggressive, skillful and successful attack of Attorney-General P. C. Knox upon the com- pany's supposed violation of the Sherman Sher-man anti-trust act. United States Steel has figured as one of the large losers, but compared with the capital of the other heavy losers the shrinkage is really light. It is the enormous capital of the steel combine . which makes the total reduction-of Its secoritles reach over $32,000,000. New Tork Central is one of those that has ' tumbled from lofty heights, its loss having hav-ing been nearly $36,000,000. . Pullman stock has dropped $18,000,000. and Union . Pacific has slid off over $22,000,000. Baltimore Bal-timore & Ohio is one of the leaders, its . shrinkage, having been $18,000,000. St. Paul is in its class, while Southern Pa- ciflc, beoausef inner troubles, shows ' over $31,000,000 less value, today Aha n It , did when E. H. Harriman was carving his New Tear's turkey. Bottom Has Been Reached. . No one sees any particular alarm In the situation, although the immediate future is not regarded with any mirth. Much depends upon the crops and the settlement and prevention of labor trou-vbles. trou-vbles. These, however, are not expected to disturb the prosperity of the country. ,J The stock market alone will balance and ji'obble; and be uncertain as the situa-tions situa-tions improve or grow worse. |