Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-30

diate cessation of hostllltIes u Il
IubatlNe OF the Stock EXCHANGE ,,,.rt. -.
mat W recognized on all hands tb.t ttss
sn"l dHeount approaching events tnrtrsd
s W. aWe'''nE thslr actual and formal devci-
opnent Whether the formal German nrt,
asklng Washington 10 transmit suQrastt,p.
Tor a peace conference to tho Atites IL F,
sign ot exhaustion aud a desire To can't
taiize ne a last reTort conccdedlv bruIinr,
WN.sary victories or whether % IL prs.
ss,,n,naty TO new campaign of submarIn,
lIlkuuulncss. az reault OF which the
United States can hardly fail TO be drawn
INTO the war at the eleventh hour, does
not appear to be regarded ne of material
Importance by tho financial district IL iq
EVWclent that Washington has taken "a
LgIWaru step IN the interest Of peace from
which II may hardly be expected 10 re.
treat
The note sent by President Wilson Z, all
the bollIgercnt Governments asking thAt
peace soundInEs" be taken In order tb1f
the unal aims of the war ~ viewed from
aii sides. may be obtained was not an
overnight development Tho President
himself takes pains TO deny that hia own
action was influenced By or had nnv com
necilon whatever with the initial step ror
peace taken by the German Chancellor
However u seems reasonable "a suppose
that the German action did not M any
rate rctnrd the President. since ID ,yas ea
obviously IN line with hin own Views Mr.
Wilson's note may quite readily be con.
Siderod "a but q single link In a chain
Of developments that In the light or hind.
sight will come promptly Into view.
RECEIVE BOARD 'wARNrNt,"
Not the least important OF these various
links was the warning" given BY ,he Fci.
s.al reserve Boarc IN the closing Caya of
november 60 the national banks OF the
country urging that caution be yxcrrIra,i
In dlscountlng unsccur,d ahort-tsrrn trna,.
ury hllla % foreign coun,rles Inaamueh ma
only AngIo-Ftcncn bills were being offered
ana as there was very slight likelihood ~
any offerings OF considerable nmaun,s ON
Dohalt OF the Central Powers. the warning
to that extent IL regarded as algnincant In
the Wall street diStrlct This action In
connection with the threat OF cmbRrgoss
upon exports OF American products grsrna
10 suggest the possibility OF a shutting
down on American supplies 20 the Allies
MS n possible nducement 20 take n more
0pen-mndcd View VI Gcrmany'a proposals.
Thus at this particular stage there seems
announcement 10 believe that aside from
the evident disposition OF tho Central
Powers In the direction OF an carly peace
there Is to DO expected from now on a
systematic effort on the part Of washing
ton to bring about such a result not for
getting similar efforts that are under way
definite form among European neutral
countries
Hence the year s ending In wall street
with a widespread belief that Il is the con-
ditions that will follow peace and not those
that accompany war that Will constitute the
problem TO be met frankly tn 1917 What
the problemSwill be Is matter that IL re-
sponsble for wide divergence OF opinion
All thoughtful persons will agree that there
is to be no overnight resumption In bell
llgerent countries OF Industrial activity
that will permit huge supplies OF manufac-
lures 70 food American markets or to food
Mt lower prices foreign markets that Amer
lean manufacturers have 80 freely entered
as n result OF the wars cxgencles
But here again must be considered the
fact that Wall street discounts instead uf
awaiting important happenings. Europe
will need and badly need the gold that II
has found necessary to send TO this country
during the last two years to check dcmor-
allzaton In tho foreign exchanges
Complete figures Of our foreign trade for
the year 1915 will not be available for a
fortnight or more, But the November totals
make II possible 20 get an idea OF the
general result as indicated by our ao-cailod
foreign trade balance. They show that the
value OF our exports of merchandise over
mporta for the entire year will exceed the
sum OF $4,000 600 coo. the bal
ance OF exports up TO the close Of Soyem-
bor having already exceeded s2.774.0O0 900.
representing our bin rendered 10 foreign
countries,
As offsets to these remarkable figures has
been the large excess or Importations Of