The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-11-18
The World of Finance

such as the railroads, telegraphs, shipping, etc., control will last for months to come, and the period may be extended if public opinion and Congress so decide. Food control may also last for an indefinite period, owing to worldwide scarcity and ne- cessity for the United States feeding the world to the best of it's ability | Large populations in Europe are on the brink of starvation, and MT. l Hoover, who goes abroad as interna- tional food dictator, intimates that we may be able to furnish 20 million ! tons of food this year for Europe against million tons the year be- fore the war. Without some such restrictions as are being imposed, there would be such an outbreak of speculation and high prices as to pro- yoke worldwide disaster and subse- quent panic. The control of certain necessities provided by nature, such | as coal, oil, etc, may also remain un til scarcity disappears and ordinary econmic forces resume their sway.
 
 easily soar to very high prices which. | combined with scarcity, would in- | f1ict much suffering. The ol indus l try has been under severe strain ow- ing to war demands and heavy gener- al consumption. A tremendous in- crease in production is already plan ned for after-the-war, and will un-
 doubtedly be rapidly pushed to com
 pletion. The shipping situation does not warrant an immediate discarding
 of artificial regulation; neither our | own government nor the British
 seeming disposed to surrender control
 for months ahead, despite the strong
 protests of shipowners and manag
 CTS. To suddenly abandon regula-
 ton of sea transportation might I create endless confusion, excessive speculation and enormous advances
 in freight rates. Even construction
 of new ships Is to be continued with
 out any letup by both nations, the
 United States government having
 funds to continue building up to the end of 1920, when the 16 million |. tons programme will be completed.
 The War Board has decided to con- , t1nue the control of steel prices and to make the coming transition as gradual and easy as possible. In the . textile trades there is already a slow ing down movement in progress. While no cancellations by the gov ernment are reported, orders are be- ing revised" and it Is known that Federal. orders will be lighter than expected two months ago. The
 government price-fixing activities are already under discussion; yet here also the danger of letting go too soon as well as the risk of dangerous speou- laton is too well understood to per init immediate withdrawal of gov ernmeut control. It Is true that
 both producers and distributors are I becoming exceedingly restive under . current restrictions, especially as the 9 patriotic motive which was so strong ' 8 factor in their early adoption i' 0 now subsiding, and the desire fol = commercial freedom consequently be. = comes daily more pronounced. For. I tunately the War Industries Boart = has declared it's policy to be for grad = ually lifting various restrictions with a view of bringing about a. Q promptly as possible return to nor. s nal conditions"
 5 One of the most necessary govern T ment policies is economy. Enormou s and often unnecessary expenses wer' u unavoidable while The. war was il
 progress. Now that these are over an effort should be made to eliminat l. all unnecessary outlays and to initiat y every reasonable economy. Tn e burden of taxation Is tremendous l. sapping the very life blood of indus 9- try. Treasury experts figure that taxe 't are likely to run as high as 4 billions 't compared with about l billion befor n the war. Interest on our foreig v. loans alone is nearly billion, an l. something like 8 billions will hay l. to be raised by special taxes. As a > least one more Liberty loan is antici 0 pated, and other heavy war demand k must continue, every possible re I'd straint upon public extravaganza y highly necessary. Secretary Mo B. Adoo, also Secretaries Baker and Dan = iels, of the War and Navy Depart
 ments, have already issued impoI
 tant orders for retrenchment in e1 2 pendItures under their respective cor M trol. The new revenue bill is sti in the Senate and will probably UT
 dergo considerable revision befo1 en emergence.
 on There was considerable Equidatio re on the Stock Exchange and a const d* quent fall in values, partly due to tt . opinion that peace had been pral in tically discounted On the decur ed there was fair buying in spite of a
 unsettled undertone. War shar,
 naturally suffered most, especial
 steels; the railroads and peace il
 dustrials displaying good resistanc IT. Money continues firm and vel Ire scarce, especially time loans, whic ,le gre upon a 6 per cent, basis. IT
 supply of funds is being artificial Q regulated, and 1t may be six weeks
 more before money returns free . from the interior. Local bankers a
 conserving credit and endeavoring
 restrain imitation of commoditie
 which continue upon a much high m level relatively than securities. n- Chicago Board of Trade Hiembe
 ship of the estate of the late A. Stan y6s Cord White soId For s6 n6h