The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-11-20
'|WATSON'S WEEKLY
 MARKET LETTER


 devslopments the market for secur- ities. having passed through a deluge of liquidation, relieved of many weak spots, restricted by new rules directed against the enemy, has assumed waiting position, moving in a narrow CT range The Italian crisis, the Rus slan revolution revival, British and French Cabinet disturbances, the pendfng railroad rate decision and new trainmen's wage demand, are ccntfibuttng their quota to make dis cretion the better part of speculative va1or. The investment community wants to be treasured. Conservatism is therefore unusually desirable in market Activities. The new rules or the stock Exchange relative'to short sellfns are having a tendency to sta b<lfze values, and>also show that the wiseheads of that body are on rne, alert
 MT. Thorne may be a very able and clever lawyer-but in his appearance bsfbre the Interstate Commerce Com mission he apparently represents. cii- enta who retained him to oppose tf1e nranting of any relief to the eve bur doned railroads. The roads are the country's great necessity, the greatest kbubiness of the country; and now, when the government is extending aid literally and freely in every direc- ton where the necessities of war are involved, why not grant them to the carriers which are the transporters of all war munitions, grain supplies and the many other things that must Jbs nant to the seaboard for shipment to our soldiers at the front and to the Allies who are fighting our light for Life, Liberty and Civilizationf Don't let any spacious argument stand in the way of relief, and at cree. Do it now, MT. Commissioners of Interstate Commerce..
 Why would it not be a good thing for the I. s. c, c. to call the atten- ton of MT Thorne who is demanding fer the shippers that rate increases bc mot granted--the fact that 170.000 conductors and brakemen are de- manding wage increases of more than Ia hundred million dollars, and make the pertinent inquiry of MT. Thorne: f"Who is to provide additional wages ?" Our railroads the major fty of them-arei nearly bankrupt. There are few exceptions. The stock and bondholders of a majority Of them have seen the value of their holdinsx cut in two. They have seen this Tremendous depression affect the holdings of savings banks, insu ;ance compaaies, trust companies, national and state banks all suffer by uuex- ampled declines in quoted values; and it is up to the versatile, active and able President of the United States and his Interstate Commerce com mission to grant the demand of neces- sities for the railroads. Suppose the -1-s-- ( he the people who. will pay. And the people want the facilities; they want the service; they want their invest urents protected by: the government; they want these great transportation interests fostered and encouraged by it. Do it now, MT. President! Do it now, Mir. Commissionersl
 Why does not the government fol- low the example of Great Britain and guarantee the railroads the same rate Of dividends. they were paying at the beginning of the war? We do not be- Heve there will be any railroad strike
 but the railroads must have help.
 President Req of the Pennsylvania Railroad declafed before the Inter state Commerce Commission that any aid offered to the transportation com panies by the government in the way 0L IO8O8 WOulQ DO mOSt W0ACOIn0s making the statement, however, that assistance of this kind would have to be in addition to a 15 per cent. ad- vance in freight rates. Howard El- 1ioff testified that even were the New Haven divested of all it's unprofitable investments a substantial raise in freight rates would be imperative to enable 1t to provide proper facilities. The sworn testimony of these trans portation gains shoud carry great weight
 Great hope is entertained that the speech of the President of the Uni- ted States to the American Federation of Labor Convention at Buffalo will result in satisfactory solution of the labor strike question. His appeal for co-operation brought gratifying ap- pIause from his audience. Those who read his address must of necessity be impressed with the tremendous issues need for everyone to do his bit with energy and force.
 America is gradually awakening to 1. the great task before it, In this con- nectfon the American Defepse Society says "Great Britain, with a popula- ton of about 50,000,0oo, and France with population of some 40,000, 900 have already contributed approxi-
 mately 5.000,O0O and 5000, ,000' mer respectively. and have borne the bur den of the struggle for more than fhree-years If America should scn6 even 10, 000. 900 men from its popu- lation of over 100, 100000 it would not, fin our judgment; be doing more . than an equivalent share. For. Amer ica. to- send an overwhelming force should also hasten Germany's rean- zsffon of the hopelessncss of hel cause and materially shorten the war The more men we send the fewer vii
 be slain"
 , { Speaking as a loyal American c'ti
 zen of German descent, Otto H. Kahn one, of the leading ffnanciers, voice
 his feelings: ITO defend the very foundations of liberty and humanity the very groundwork of fair ds:lins
 between nations. the very basis o-
 reaceabie living together among tnS
 peoples of the earth against the fierc, and brutal onslaught of ruthless law
 ess, faithless might; to spend the lives
 and fortunes of this generation s;t that. our descendants may be free
 from the dreadful calamity of wal
 and the fenf of war, so that the, ener
 gies and billions of treasure now de
 voted to plans and instruments O
 destruction may be given hencefortT