The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-05-10

With the go7 eminent and especial
ly congress. rerststIng IN acts that
can only promote business panic,
with statisticiaSs as Wall street pro-
claiming panic Ia thousanc4s OF CIR
culars. with daily proof tina every
body is equally guilty OF preflteering
AID with Americas foreign trade Dc
ing rounded UP by her torHet allies,
1t Is no wonder mat the stock mar
ket has hesltated- The pGohc mas
haen selling stocks continuously since
the panic of last November. The
panic OF February persuaded the
public to sell still more. Transactions
on the floor OF the exchange nave
been reduced tc less than 100000
shares a day OF real business. If the
purely speculative trades ara counted
out.
Rich men hold the stocks and they
have taken thtG with some misglH-
ines. Prices ht*c ceased tie have any
relation 10 value The market is III
condition to SWING widely rs either
direction. according to the Impulse
given TO it by public sentiment when
is now all powerful Which dlFec-
ton the swing Will be seems at the
moment a pure guess The only rea-
son for believing the next important
movement viii be upward is that the
pLDllc Is uSG8tlS NLti4S 4f' 10 @-7'-
mate OF market moves
Under such circumstances anything
that interferes with the machinery
OF the stock market acquires unusua!
importance. The special tax pro
posed in congress to pay the soldier
bonus is the mcst serious bow ever
aimed at stool. exchange and the
most unfair ona, II is inspired more
by desire TO punish the exchange Tor
its neglect of Cuty to the investing
public than fot any hope % raising
revenue.
1t is blow that is mad hard 20
ward off. because OF the neglect of
the exchange governors. Tie eN-
change has enjoyed a monopoly OF
the business in certain stocks, In re
turn for which the public is entitled
to protection. Rut the governors
seemed anxious only to protect their
own members
BY writing off 90 per cent from all
nrices in his store, John Wanamaker
hiss called public attention TO. the
La ge profits that retailers Eave been
getting The average retailer has 10
get a profit of thirty per cent above
wholesale prices in order to pay run
ming expenses an6 deliveries
Taking all classes OF goods the av-
erage retail price is just about double
the wholesale j HtItkDtt ia aNts sts'4
be marked down 20 per cent and still
leave a large margin of profit. BY
starting this reform Wanamaker has
done a public service and has crown
ed his stores with thousands of GUS
toners. The crowds at Wanamaker' :
are proof that vast unsatisfied de-
mand exists fc- ordinary necessities.
There can be no commercia' panic
until production overtakes demand
unless such Ianic IS deliberately
forced by the government. ExtraV-
agance of the government and gro
tesque taxes are the surest instrument
to use in panic making
The banks have made il clear 10
the government that they can Hnahce
the stronger railroads il tho govern
ment will help the weaker ones by
extending the life of the revolving
fund The freieht cars of the coun-
try are used To only fraction or
their capacity even when tn railroad
workers condescend to operat- them
che roads need terminals and
switching facilities for quick un-
loading fully as much AZ they need
additional cars. With bette locotno~
tives, freight trains could be speeded
mp and in. that way the efliElency OF
the cars could be materially ihcreas-
ed The shippers of the ch&Gtrg are
beginning to realize that IN REFUSING
to pay rates that would enable the
roads y operate efficiently they are
injuring themselves more than they
are injuring the roads. Therefore an
early advance c. freight rates seems
assured
The general public is hes Inning To
realize the supreme court sroke the
truth when it said stock dividends