New Britain herald., 1919-08-23
MARKET AND REAL ESTATE REVIEW

no reason for indulging in pessi-
 mistic forebodings. As just said, the period of reconstruction is proving more disturbing than the war itself; yet there is one great and encOur- aging compenSatiOn-reCo ucdOn means progress, but war is hell v l The first justities hope, the second l plungeS the world into despair.
 l Cause and Future Bfcct or the Present Low Value of the Dollar The high cost of living, the neces- 1 sity of helping to provide food for the ] rest of the world, the big wages paid to all who were engaged in manu- l facturing goods and munitions dur l ing the war the scarcity of unskilled l laborers due to so many of that class IreturninG to their home countries in Europe since the war ended and the demands of railroad employees, me- ! chanics and skilled labor of all kinds 1 for higher wages, have naturally
 lessened the purchasing power of the
 dollar; and has still more lessened
 the purchasing power of foreign l money. Workmen of all degrees are
 demanding that railroad and indus
  higher pay but a share of the profits and a voice in management. This problem is most difficult one to solve and will require great wisdom ; for it's settlement. Today the United
 states is the money and supply cen- , ter of the world and it will be for a 1 long time to come owing to the bil- 1 lions of money we have advanced to ] other nations Tie outcome is diff | cult to even guess at as there is no 1 precedent in history with which to 1 base a comparison. The best way for 1 employees to gain an interest in the 1 profits of the railroads with which | they are connected, which they are now seeking to obtain, is to adopt the same system that the United States 1 Steel CorpOration has for it's em- 1 plOyes, that is, to make a purchase of ] the securities of the various proper ! ties with which they are identified. 1 Then they become vital partners.
 That is the only way I can conceive , of that will enable them to achieve their ambition, and it is a perfectly feasible and legitimate way. The
 quickest and most effective way to put an end to the present strikes is
 for congress to apply the provision of i the sherman dlllI-lI uSI lotW III 1Cle1- ton to the formation of combina- tions, for, when employees strike, they
 certainly operate in restraint of l trade. If the power to strike were ( taken from labor and it was super
 seded by boards of arbitration, all ] questions between capital and labor ! could be amicahly settled without creating the unsettled conditions that i now prevail
 The Fall in Exchange.
 The exchange situation is growing 1 more and more difficult; and rates i have declined to new low records ow- | ing to the great pressure of com 1 mcrCiHl bills, especially grain and cot 1 ton. Sterling has fallen over 1 4 per 1 cent; francs, 35 per cent; lire, A l per cent, and marks nearly 80 per l cent. Our export trade is already 1 feeling the deadening effect of this great impairment of buying power; ' and unless some effective form of relief is found, serious injury will l follow 10 our trade and shipping. If 1 Europe does not soon obtain the sorely needed credit, reconstruction ! abroad will be halted and turned into industrial and political cahos the ill 1 1 felt over here Little progreess seems to have been made at Washington
 with the Edge bill, which permits the formation of American corporations to finance foreign trade. But the 1 American Bankers association is en-
 deaVoring to awaken public opinion
 to action upon this problem, which is vital to our foreign trade as well as
 to European reconstruction, upon
 which our continued prosperity large . ly depends. One prominent foreign
 financial authority has suggested the
 formation of a cooperative lnterna-
 tional pool for the support of interna-
 tional credit. His plan is for a loan
 of f5,00O, ,O00 issued to investors
 in all parts of the world and guaran-
 teed by all the interested govern
 ments. 1t is proposed that the United
 States guarantee f1,OOO,0O0,O0
 Great Britain E1,000, 100000, France
 G50O, 100000, the remainder to be di- vided between Italy, Russia, Japan, Belgium, Greece and several of the i neutral powers. The rate of interest proposed is per cent. net, the
 bonds to be free of taxation. The
 plan has decided merits, for it is
 simple, would be backed by the ! Wea tn Of practlcallV the clVlllzeu world and would undoubtedly follow
 as matter of self-interest, and
 there is no doubt that the bonds
 would be quickly taken. The chief
 obstacle as a practical matter would
 be securing the necessary interna
 tiOnal cooperation.
 Reversal in Foreign Trade.
 The foreign trade returns for July
 were remarkable. Exports dropped
 to S57O,0OO,OO0 or S350,000,000 be-