Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-18
PEACE ASAFACTOR
IN STOCK MARKETS
Wall Street Recognizes That
Start Has Been Made
to End War
MUST GAIN OBJECT FIRST

Special Correspondence Of the Evening Ledger
NEW YORK. Aug. 1s.--The interpreta-
| tion that the peace proposals from Rome
| have received in Wall street has been more
or less uniform. There is no attempt to
| minimize them.
| Wall street recognizes that n start--but
| only a start--has been made toward peace.
| The consummation of that desirable de-
| Nelopment is well in the distance. 1t is
essential that the war be fought out until
it's proper objects have been reached and
| until n renewal after breathing spell is
| not among the probabilities.
Thus peace once again has entered as one
| Of tho controlling factors IN the general
| market for securities. If the Central Pow
| ers are willing to conclude treaty on
the terms suggested by the Vatican. nego-
| tiations plus the tide of battle, which, de-
| spite Russia, has definitely turned III
| favor of the Allies, will mean that further
| concessions will be made. 1t IS not to be
| forgotten that while no little grumbling is
| heard at home here ut delays. etc, still
| American ingenuity is making monumental
| progress in throwing the full influence of
| the country's wealth and strength into the
| contest
Fortunately, these preparations are under
way before the enemy has had opportunity
TO strike at our unprepared position Every
day viii make his task more difficult. lie
already has failed i'm his submarine warfare,
since he was unable to prevent food supplies
reaching the United Kingdom before the
new harvest. Bringing Britain to its
knees" by starvation !s no longer possible
since ample time is available for prepara-
tions for food importations on Il scale that
the C-boats cannot seriously impede. The
fact that American crops are so bountitul
is certainly a factor in this food situation.
| and the further fact of the intensive and
unlimited shipbuildng program means that
| the food will reach its destination. Still
| further, the food embargo completely shuts
| out American supplies that admittedly had
| been leaking through the neutral countries
| to the enemy. All these things the Central
| Powers recognize, and all will have :nfiu-
| ence in the peace movement that appears to
have SO openly started.
| INFLUENCE OF PEACE
! AS to the technical position of peace as a
market influence it is difficult to find agree
| ment in the financial district. This Is
| feature that has changed repeatedly since
| the war began when the contest started
three years ago worldwide financial, com
| mercal and industrial generalization
ensued Germany was convinced that 1t
would be a war that would end in few
weeks and very few outside of trained
military circles expected 1t would last as
| long as has been the case.
This phase of the peace influence soon
| changed. American manufacturers began
to receive orders at prices showing fabulous
| profits from what have now become, 10
quote President Wilson, 'our associates in
the war" Securities of industrial corpora
tions began to have a greatly increased
value and a boom affecting all national ac-
tivites set in that had never previously
| been eQualcd
We repurchased something over $4,000
900. 900 of this country's securities from
| InTOnp1n holders thrnnlrh ntihliplv
offered bond and note issues we lent a SINH
lar amount to foreign countries and punici-
paities, This represented broad prin-
ciple actual accumulation Of wealth
drawn out of the remarkable prosperity
which had been wonderfully aided by the
fact that our farms had produced crops OF
unheard of volume and had been sold at
phenomenal prices abroad. Our mines as
well as our factories had likewise produced
overwhelmingly and their products were
sold at almost their weight in gold.
| In this way war became a publish"
| argument; peace was bearlsh because II
meant a sudden cessation of all this won
derful activity. When it became evident
that the United States could no longer keen
out of the world struggle the first tendency
was to look for even greater activity The
argument was freely heard-and was espe-
cially emphasized by no less an authority
| than the Secretary Of the Treasury-that
| with the many billions that our own Gov
| ernmeht was preparing to spend, there must
| sweep over the entire country a constantly
| growing wave of prosperity. Hence peace
| from the market standpoint was a depress-
! ing influence; war meant boom and in
| alton in which prices OF securities, espe-
| cially the industrials, were to participate
| actively
But the final phase of the technical mar
ket influence of peace seems to have been
| reached. Every one knows that we are
| to have tremendous Industrial ACTIVITY
that, in fact, the full power of the Govern
| ment will be utilized to see that every inch
| or every pound that our factories can pro-
| duce will be produced. But right here stems
| in demand on the part of the Administra-
ton for patriotism at the expense of profits
"a division rather than unification of
these two items
| FARMERS ARE ENCOURAGED
| The farmers are to have n guarantee of
| sufficiently high prices to encourage them
| to make the ground produce as il has never
| produced before. But with the industries
| 'profiteering" must be stamped out and
| patriotism must be the first consideration
| Contracts for war supplies must be taken
| alike for our own Government, for our
! Allies and for the general public at iden-
! tical prices if the Administrations plans
finally are carried out. Prices are to be
fixed by governmental Investigators they
| are to be Just" according to President Will
| son. and must not be excessive.
There is another phase of the peace in
| nuence that is not so depressing a feature
| in connection with the price level of Sc
curities. This is the fact that a peace
| agreement would promptly terminate the
| huge expenditures for war supplies. In
| turn this would mean a corresponding ter !
| mination of the Governments war borrow |
| !ngs Secretary McAdoo has advised con- |
gressional leaders that ii will be necessary |
| for them to authorize at the current session !
| of Congress and at the winter session of |
Congress an additional $4,000, 900 900 for |
war expenditures, including further loans |
| to the Allies This is in addition to the |
| ST, 1000, 900 900 IN bonds and the $1,000
| 900, 900 in certificates of indebtedness that |
| already had been authorized and the $4,000 |
| 600, 900 war tax bill which is pending in the |
Senate.
The record of the June offering of the
| Liberty Loan indicates that the great ma |
| jority of the bonds went to comparatively |
| small holders. To these the taX-exempt fea- |
ture has slight value. On the other hand, |
the millionaire class, whose incomes are |
subject to the high SupertaXation. make the |