Evening star., 1916-10-15
OF PEACE
IT,
RUMOR ON STOCK
Wall Street Accused of Favor
ing a Continuance Of
the War.
REIMBURSEMENT is INvoLv WE'D

street desire peace, or war? Many peo-
pie are attempting to answer this ques-
| ton by, the. action of the stock market
in recent weeks, and to argue that be-
cause stock prices declined simultane-
ously with the PRONUNCIATION of peace
rumors, Wall street desires a continue
Itfon OF the war i'll order to benefit
financially from the fearful carnage
which is Devastating Europe. Many
astute observers of market conditions
have confessed their inability to ac-
count for the sudden change Of senti-
ment which in a few minutes swept
away the prices Of leading securities
from s to 20 points and threw upon
the sales ,co,,nters such a 'deluge of
orders that q .fuil. million shares of
stock changed hands in single hour.
Seldom. II eSer, has greater excite
ment been Witnessed: on the stock ex-
change than that which shook that
institution to It's foundation Monday
morning and seemed to be a re-echo
of the thunder of the torpedoes from
the German U boats which were play
Ing SUCH havoc to merchant shipping
at the very Eateways Of the United
Wild Day on Change.
Monday mornings session was the
widest Hand most exciting since the
memorable May 3, 1901. when Northern
Pacific shares were cornered and the
rest of the railroad list buried beneath
an avalanche of falling prices Brokers
we're so busy executing orders at de-
cIining prices that sales were made In
various parts Of the exchange at
three or four points variation In price, |
and many tranaaetions were not Of
ficia1ly reported until many hours
after. 7 the exchange closed. Mathe- /
maticians figured that by Monday noon
market value of listed stocks as they
were appraised in last Saturdays
closing prices. Paper profits, which |
had been accommodating at very sat
-isfaetory:rate for period of six weeks
or more, were ruthlessly reduced to a
debit account. |
To what extent, it may be asked. have
the prospects fer war or peace been
responsible for this latest 'demonstra-
ton on the premier security market !
of the country, and while the popular |
verdict may assign this cause to the |
varying course of the stock market and |
thunder its disapproval accordingly. it |
must be said in all fairness that the !
course of business. and therefore of |
security values, Is not dependent upon |
the continuance of the European con- |
flict. America does not desire to bene- |
fit financially from the carnage and |
from a purely economic standpoint the |
coming of the day of peace will be a |
very desirable event for American COM |
merce and industry. |
Adjusted to State Of War.
The fact is that economic adjustments
have been made the world over to a
state of war Millions of men have
been drawn from productive pursuits |
to become consumers on larger scale !
than at any previous period. Just as |
the economic transition to war and dis |
order necessitated great confusion the |
transition to peace and harmony will |
entail an extensive economic readjust-
adjustment will also bring chaos and |
confusion in its train. Many people |
thought that the war would pc of short |
duration. and that II would cause but |
slight economic arrangement. On the |
contrary, 1t has involved the greatest
reassignment of economic forces that |
this world has ever known. and the |
end is not yet in sight. 1t is the fear |
OF the certainty of confusion accom- |
papyinE the economic adjustments TO
stable condition of security values in |
every part of the world. If this |
transition is sudden it Will not be un-
natural to expect turmoil in the |
this or any other country has never |
known.
Trade When Peace Comes.
II is certain that after the war
Europe. though she may still want a /
great many of our goods. will want
different things on different terms. But
whereas in war her wants were i'm
perative, regardless of price. in time
of peace she will be able to benefit by
the law of competition and will not
need 70 require her shipments on such
short notice Furthermore, we must
consider also the fact that the actual
productive power Of the European ma
tions has, through organization. new
equipment and increased personal eff
cheney, been enhanced to point much
in advance of the times of peace. l
Meanwhile, this country and every
part Of II must realize that Wall street
is not by any means shockproof and
while the business barometer may
point to fair weather on one day, it