Evening star., 1921-04-16
ABRUPT CHANGE IN FINANCIAL
SENTIMENT FEATURES MARKET
Shift In British Labor Situation and I'M
proved Local Conditions Are Lifting
~ Factors In Stock Trading.

anything savoring OF the obnoxious
Plumb plan of August. 1919.
1t is a decisive step away from the
idea of Capitalization leading event
ual1y to government ownership. 1t is
a return of operating conditions to
the old regime where each company
treats with it's own employees and
can bring to. bear upon the wage con-
troversy the special conditions in it's
own particular field. OF course. it will
not do to be too optimistic and look
for a universal settlement Of all wage
disputes in the near future. But we
! may expect to see between now and
July ] one road after another reach
nature with it's men. The labor ele-
ment are told that they must not de-
lay in these conferences under penalty
OF the time before abrogation being
shortened.
The carriers are warned on their
a postponement of the abrogation
date beyond the 1st of July The
whole. inference from the action of
the board is that it proposes to use
it's influence to expedite a solution
OF the wage problem through en-
ployers and employees getting to-
gether and settling their differences.
as 1T were out of court This has
meant in the past a settlement by
compromise under which each side
SoiitS uo" CDUSlOeTdOly from llS
maximum demands. Along with the
partial reduction in wages thus in
dicated and along also with the re-
moval of the burdensome and un-
economical provisions of the national
agreements. there will be a down
ward revision of rates in line with
what everybody from the President
down sees to be necessity.
Situation on the Mend.
With the railway wage question
on the road to adjustment. with the
steel industry an accomplished fact,
with the worst possible railway earn
ings statements a matter of record,
and likewise the worst Of the quar-
terly industrial reports no longer in
doubt, with so many dividend reduc-
tionS and paSSingS out of the way,
Wall street can reasonably feel that
the bad news is pretty we'll exhaust
ed. This does not imply an immedi-
ate sustained advance. but it does
fit in with the indications of the
stock market itself that the low
situation is on the mend.
The continued heavy inflow of for
eign gold-a most remarkable move
ment because it arises from all parts
of the worlds a feature Of con-
stantly increasing Importance. 1t is
duuluS TdplOtS 10 Dduh reserves ana
is an even more potent factor than
loan reduction in driving upward re-
serve ratios. There is no idea, Of
course, that this enormous accession
to the country's gold supply will
force the hand of the Federal Re-
serve Board. which does not propose
to make it easier to get credit until
defation has to its mind been thor
ough. But this much is certain that
the reserve ratio of the federal sys-
tenn cannot go on mounting week by
week the way it has been without
making the present scale of redis-
counts look altogether artificial
Some saw in the reduction of the
Boston rate on commercial paper to
6 per cent this week a prelude to
similar action on a broad scale. This
may or may not be correct infer
ence, but the time in any event for
a general lowering of federal reserve
rates cannot be much further of.