New Britain herald., 1919-01-25
Henry Glen
Weekly Letter
Especial to Herald.)

ties Unsa tisfactory relations be-
tween government and cOrpOrat1onsi
adjustment of industry to peace pa
sis; continual decline of commodities;
unsatisfactory labor conditions, ana
delay il peace negotiations, all con-
tributed to a lowering of general con-
tidence and q weakening of security
values. Such difficulties are the nat
ural sequences of a terrific wal ana
will require time for solution. In one
form or another they will be with US
for months to come, and the process
Of reimbursement must be accomplish
ed step by step. If the change De or
derby and not violent, it will be
gain to all concerned; for business
could then work upon more stable
foundations, and labor will find relief
in a gradual reduction in the cost or
living.
There has been much delay in start
Ing the peace conference, upon which
hangs the future of the civilized
world; but the outlook is for real
progress during the next few weeks,
necessary preliminarieS being about
completed. Anarchy reigns in Rus
STA and seems destined to end only
through exhaustion, unless some So
luton can be reached by hearings
granted at the peace conference.
Germany appears to be reaching more
settled conditions. The recent cleo
ton was a decided victory for the lib
erals. or midway between the con-
servatives and radicals, indicating
that the mass Of Germans still believe
in steady progress backed by strong
Capitalization of government
Our railroad outlook, while dis
quieting, is hardly as bad as feared.
The appointment of Mr.. Hines as di-
rector general met with general ap-
prevail because of his ability, expert
ence and high reputation. There is
also a belief that congress will not
act hastily upon railroad affairs;
while the disposition to give the rail-
roads fair play is growing more in
evidence. Moreover, there is no gen
eral desire for public ownership, nor
any real demand for extending gov
eminent opera ton for another five
years. The true solution of the rair-
road problem would be private own
ership under wise public control, with
due regard to compromising the roads
for losses incurred by their seizure
for war purposes. We are esta blish-
ing a big merchant marine; but con-
ditions are chaotic in this industry
adopt any safe or permanent policy
as long as the government continues
its present Threatening building oper-
atoms. No government ever made
such a colossal failure or wasted such
immense sums of money in business
enterprise, in the attempt to turn
out ready made merchant marine.
Such an attainment is impossible and
the sooner the government stops this
useless waste of a billion or more the
better for all concerned.
1t is now expected that the next
bond issue will be in April and the
amount $4,000, 100000. Public off,
Gals and public opinion are united in
recognizing that this loan should, be
hoated upon business methods and
not by historical appeals to seati-
ment The latter would not likely ue
as we'll received, now that the war is
over; also because personal incomes
have been seriously reduced by tan
es, smaller profits and the high cost
of living. When the loan is issued
Secretary Glass will have to depend
considerably for success upon finan-
cial institutions and wealthy ildivid-
uals, Besides it is a foregone con-
clusion that more liberal terms will
be offered than in previous loans. IL
order to meet conditions Of the
money market
Commodities are on the decline
Progressive merchants believe that
the sooner the country settles down
to a lower and moro normal basis,
the better Cotton, cotton fabrics,
wool, woolens hemp, rubber, coffee,
sugar, butter, eggs. steel. copper,
hard ware, etc, are all selling consid-
erably below war prices and threaten
to go still lower. The fall naturally
causes hesitancy, since buyers await
more settled conditions, but the move
ment within reason is wholesome and
is surely paving the sway for renewed
activity later on. Thus far the de-
cline has been mainly confined to first
| hands, retailers refusing to surrender
any of their extra. profits until forced
| by competitive conditions. But tnev
| too, must yield to the inevitable law
| of supply and demand. Buying pow
| ers Of the consumer have been seri-
| ously curtailed, supplies will soon be-
gin to accum ulate and retail prices
must follow wholesale prices ere lo2g,
| thus bringing down the high cost OF
| living which is at bottom of much OF
| present discomfort.
Food however, remains excessively
| high which is difficult of explanation,
| in view of general abundance in the
| country. Cereal crops were large but
| prices remain high, partly because of
! government price fixing which had
| set values upon the high level in or
! der to stimulate big crops. Now that
| the war is over, congress should re-
| peal the law which guaranteed the
! farmer $226 per bushel for wheat;
| at least on the spring wheat crop not
vet sown The price of meats con-
tinues high, in spite of the fact that
the number Of food animals is almost
equal to last years supply. which was
| the largest on record. 1t is useless to