Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-18
Weeks INCIDENTS
VERY DISTURBING
Financial Community at Loss to
Satisfactorily Analyze Con.
fusing Situation

New York. Dec. 1s.--Tbe Evsr,u.
Sun, In it's weekly financial review IA.
day. says:
The arrival Of a small corporation I,
the bankruptcy court, the failure ~ An.
moderate sized stock exchange hous.
the passing Of several dividends ana
the deferment Of still more. tho an.
nouncement Of wage reductions yar,ahlr
effective between now and tho m;dd,.
or January, and the dificuities which
some business men and individuals =,
wealth encountered in raising fnnSs
with which to pay the last installment
OF 1913 federal taxes, were incidents
OF week replete with dis1uietins
symptoms OF industrial and commercial
unsettlement. They were Incidents N
character. calculated directly to In.
huence sentiment of the general public
in and out of Wall Street and one
coralngiy, to impair buying power. Tn.
were estopped from taking full advan' '
tage of this situation by the Technical
position within the securities marta.
involving a large though possibly ovS,'
estimated short interest. There wa,
mus created state Of affairs which
nindered constructive movement NJ
Importance and limited the scope oi
RAIDS on values. resulting in curtailsJ
transactions and relative STABILITY
In this condition of things thc 6ro,
clai community was somewhat Mt n loo,
satisfactorily to analyze both the nresSns
and the immediate future. Oninion
seemed TO favor the view that the msr'
kets were likely to stagnate for several
months into the new year, The prosnert
was deemed to point to more business
casualties in the first three months NJ
io<l than to fewer. since there Is yet
TO come the readjustment of prices on
the part OF the retail lcr in conformity
with the concession already granted hy
the manufacturer and the wholcsa,er
The holiday trade so confidently relied
upon to MD the merchant in disposing
OF high priced Inventories has moi
wholly met expectations in that 70.
spect. For months the consumer hss
had before him the spectacle of dcclin
ing prices without the opportunity OF
coming in contact with them. His re-.
| luctancc to buy extensively has not
therefore, been overcome. The stores in
deed have their crowds Of potential buy.
ers who. apparently. are content 10
confine their attention to the lighter
articles of Christmas suggestion. The
buying of articles of utility bids fair
to be postponed until it shall be seen
what the new year will bring in the
way of concessions; in other words
there are scant indications that the con.
SumcrS' strike has been materially
abnted.
There was heavy selling of stocks At
the beginning of the week, occnsionpd
by the desire to establish losses against
the income tax for 1920 and by the ne.
ceSsity to get in funds for payment Of
the fnnl installment for 1919. That the
latter motive was very vital one was
established by the inability of many to
meet the payment on time. This ex.
traordinary situation served to cmpha.
size the highly unscicntific qualities Of
the existing federal tax laws. 1t will no
doubt do much to crystallize sentiment
on the subject and perhaps pave the
way for revision when the new Re.
publican Congress cOnvcncs after March
A. This Is one of the hopes on which
those who ore guided by the longer out.
look rather than by the present surface
manifestations pin their faith in ulti.
mate solution of the country's economic
problems. The process of dcflation has
been pretty thorough. more thorough.
in truth, than many believe to have been
for the good Of mercantile and indus
trial and agricultural interests. A
conviction frequently given expression
was THAI present abnormal conditions
will not permit Of too drastic dehatOn
lest undcServcG hardship be visited upon
those interests directly and oil the peO.
pie directly or indirectly, MS the case
may be. Whether il were better to
suffer the extreme hardships now and
establish basis for starting all over
again or to ease the reimbursement and
protract the period of reconstruction
was n nice question which found dis
putants on both sides.