Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-07
REALIZING HELD
| MARKET IN CHECK
kveek's Constructive Develop
ments Indicate Rapid Progress
In Readjustment Program

New York, May Z. - Considering
n. continued profit taking and the
ro,sht of these sales of the pre-
r,dins session, today's stock mar
t.t gave n very good account Of IT.
~, II was the first real test OF Its
,b,orption capacity and came through
n. ordeal well. Compared with the
.orancy of the immediate preceding
'.;ons the days brief operations were
si,oaether listlcss and colorless. The
Ill NJ the transactions represented to
large extent the week end evening up
~ the professional element. Price
tnovement was irregular, but fuctua-
Jors with few exceptions we're narrow.
Some effort was made to force reac-
,ion in the motor group on the reports
n further cuts in car prices, but the
,aorsment met Indifferent success. Of
..,t,nv this was the continued strength
a tbe low priced rails. AS result most
~ me ground lost in the early dealings
wss retrieved In the second hour and
M Tho last half hour n distinct hard
c,;nr tendency developed.
THE first strong sunshine Wall street
h,s seen in many long weeks broke
through the heavy-laden speculative
sties this week and did much to dis
Jnate the gloom pervading the market
world for some time. In the weeks
interesting developments we're supplied
tbe first genuine and convincing signals
of A material and permanent change for
tbe better IN fundamental and eco
nomic conditions. Concrete testimony
was presented by these different hap
penings, demonstrating not only that the
- ,.l att Nsnn IA
rafely passed, but there we're also many
reasons for believing considerable i'm
provemrnt had taken place. More en-.
coursging of these we're to be found
In the reduction Of the rcdiscount rates
br the New York and Atlanta Federal
Reserve Banks, which followed closely
on the heels of similar actions already
taken by number Of the leading Eu-
ropean banking centers and also by the
Boston Federal Reserve Bank.
The action Of these federal institu-
tions was given stronger colOring by
reason of the supplementing encourag-
Ing statements concerning the financial
situation given by the secretary Of the
treasury and the governor of the Fed
eral Reserve Board While this must
not be taken to mean to imply the
country Is about to enter Immediately
into an easy money market situation, II
does fOrcshadow more comfortable
condition for commercial and business
interests II also can be accepted ns
convincing proof of material progress
In the credit deflation. 1t also may
mean the period Of money tension has
passed. 1t is recognized. of course.
with much lessened business activities
there is corresponding less demand
for funds. But, on the other hand.
great encouragement Is to be derived
In the Supposition that the weaker ele-
mentS have been sufficiently strength
ened to avert the feared embarrassment.
In addition to the clarifying of the
troubled monetary situation, there were
introduced many constructive develop
ments attending the industrial and la
Dor questions. The announcement of
the 20 per cent wage reduction BY the
United States Steel Corporation and the
acceptance by the employees was re-
ceived as an indication of radical
chang" In the temper Of labor. BESIDE
lending hope of a similar Conciliatory
spirit on the part of the railroad work.
erS, the incident was regarded of far
feachlng influence in that IL presuged
on anicnble and quick adjustment of
lhe labor problem, which only recently
was regarded as the hardest nut to
crack In the dctlationary process.
With these combined constructive
factors 1t was not surprising q relight-
Ing OF the speculative fires should fol-
ow' There was naturally considerable
manipulation on the part Of the pools
anu other speculative combinations. bur
the very fact that conditions warranted
revival OF activities on the construc-
i've tior was alone encouraging. II
~, IHl 700 soon to determine as to
whether IA major forward movement bns
started as the crucial test of the mar.
kets absorptivc powers il vet 70 come