Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-01-10
Bearish Trend in Wall Street,
Despite Easy Money, Shows
Commercial Needs Foremost
WORLDS NEEDS PRESSING
Stock sales today OIL the New York
EXCHANGE. as ccmDi'ed by the Evening
Sun, totalcd Assoc shares.

alone. 1t might be supposed at first
blush that q development such as agree
ment between the Senate and House
conferees on the railroad bills to con
tinuc the standard return for period
of six months following return of the
roaGs to their owners. would stir rail
road shares into some show of anima
ton. Tho fact is. however, that the only
thing which counts is the final form of
the bill which shall issue from the
conference. and until it is apparent
beyond peradventure what that form will
be, little interest in that quarter can
bo expected.
Trading from the outset was obvious
ly professional in character and mainly
confined to covering operations against
next weeks possible results as to clari-
fication of the treaty situation. The
steels were again the most consistently
strong features with gains of frac-
tion to 2 points or more. Baldwin ar"
American Locomotive made very good
showing also The motors and oils ad-
vanced moderately. Strong spots were
numerous throughout American Can
American International. American Su-
matra Tobacco and others going for-
wa"d steadily in rather limited trans
actions.
The trading element in Wall street
this week was bcarish, notwithstanding
the prevalence of relatively easy money
conditions. The reason was simple
enough. Stripped of unnecessary YER
biage. the fact may be BADLY stated that
business and commerce in 1920 is GO
ing to consume the bulk of banking and
investment funds.
Bankers have known this all along,
and now it is beginning to dawn upon
the speculative public and traders alike.
not in a vision of vague perspective, but
as bold stroke across the canvas of
the world picture. The eve can no
'oneer dodge it and the brain must
,erforce record it.. 1t is the keynote
of the existing situation and bids fair
TO continue SO through a good part of
the new year. in the oninion of that
portion of the financial community
which thinks with some degree of de-
tachment from momentary, and it may
be factitious developments.
In other words. a world bent to it's
knees by war requires the prop of
money in order to regain it's feet, not
money as an end in itself, of course, but
rs term in which commodities are ex-
pressed. Five years of fighting, de-
struction and wastage thrust the world
hack a generation or more in material
sense. The lort ground is being re-
t"aced laboriously The problem of
1920 is to accelerate the process of re-
covery. and Europe is looking to the
United States to take the lead in the
solution. 1t is not matter of charity
but of good business. International
commercial intercourse long since de-
veloped TO the point where no pro-
gressive nation is independent of an
other. 1t is not at all conceivable that
prosperity on this side of the Atlantic
"an be thing apart from continued
depression and groping for an industrial
foothold on the other side.
Minor Requirements Must Yield.
1t is regarded. therefore. as a fore
gone conclusion, arrived at after con-
siderable travail, that minor concerns
should give way to major to the end
that ultimate well being may be rea :
lized on sound economic basis that
is to say. that the tying up of funds in
various forms of speculation, whether
securities. real estate, cotton, leather
and so on, is detrimental to progress in
that direction. Banking interests urge
the direction of funds into Industrial
channels in order to speed production
and thereby temper the high cost OF
labor; they also urge the necessity OF
providing funds for the railroads whicl,
are shortly to be returned to theil
owners with many of the scars of wal
still upon them so that transportation
may meet the needs of the enlarged out
put of commodities and then they
must find the means of financing credits
to foreign nations. not to enable thost
nations to get what they could not
| al, hnx, but fn Iun
opportunity of producing that they may
pay for what they buy in the only pos
siblc medium, goods.
Lower rates for money in the cur
rent week were sensational and bort
| little relation to the question of th'
larger supply and demand, present o.
prospective. The turn of the year, will
the heaviest of financial burdens dis
posed of for the moment, released funds
throughout the country. Some of thost
funds found their way to New York anC
had the effect of depressing the loanins
rate. But there was nothing to indi
cate that the source of supply WoulC
not dry up quickly should speculation il
stocks on that score revive to any
menacing degree There was no othe
way to account for the lethargy of th
stock market with call money ruling n
6 per cent. Governor Harding, of th
Federal Reserve Board, reiterated
views which clearly expressed the at
titude of the reserve banks. Bidding o
member banks for deposits was de
precated as inimical to borrowing rate
for commercial purposes. The week
in truth, closed with call money ut II
per cent after renewals of 6 and I pc
cent through most of the period.
Foreign Exchange Is Set Back
The foreign exchanges were doini
very we'll in holding their own and in
deed in making. some progress towar'
recovery when they were set back aney
by the statement given out by Mr.
Hoover, who took direct issue wit
the views attributed to Sir Georg
paish, the British publicist, now Wis
iting the United States 1T Woui
seem, however, too stern an interpre
tation was placed on the statement
ANY amount of credit which this coun
try would be able to extend to Europ
would not meet her needs IT, as Mr.
Hoover said, Europe wants to Great
! prosperity overnight out OF the ashe
of five year war. But II is scarcel
to be denied that the United state
| will stand ready to extend credit III he
own foreign trade interest at least, an
that should gradually tend TO- restor
: the exchanges to something like thei
former value or at any rate so tar
: each nations own deprecated cur
rency will permit. The decline in tn
exchanges after the armistice wa
signed seemed precipitate because the
had long been pegged' Recovery ca