The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-04-07
STOCK CHANGES IF PRESENT WEEkNOT' BELIEVED WIT ALI
Country Finds Itself in Sound Position, Expert
 Asserts
By WALTER E. BROWN, Editor New York Commercial. Special Dispatch to The AEe-HcrRld.

Editor New York Commercial. Special Dispatch to The Age-Hcraid.
 NEW YORK, April 6.-Just be- cause there have been a few reactions of relative unimportance in the stock market, there is no reason for assum- ing that the country is going to the dogs. As matter of fact these changes have been based upon an eT- tirely false theory, while if these alarming surmises were circulated for the purpose of impairing confi- dence. they have overshot the mark and have only served to emphasize the sound position in which the country finds itself today industrial ly, commercially and financially What has been happening in the stock market is unimportant, not only from the standpoint of actual variation of price levels but in the larger or eco homie sense The big fact that stands out and overshadows everything else Is that the country is prosperous and that it is likely to continue over considerable period of time.
 No Fear of Rate Advance.
 Fears have at last been set at rest that the federal reserve was likely to advance the rediscount rate as d controlling measure against specula- tion. As has been steadily pointed out in this correspondence. condi- tions were not such as to call for any such drastic action, while even if the rate should be advanced another notch, there is no reason why it should be accepted as an emblem of aisaster. On the contrary, it would be mark of security designed to prevent that imitation which, if car fled on, would prove the undoing of the prosperity we are now enjoying. But there is no imitation nor are there any gathering signs of distress. Those who are best qualified to say so have said it. Men like Secretary Hoover and Secretary Mellon have given us their assurance that condi- sions are sound. Neither of these men are politicians. nor are they to De classed as demagogues. They are conservative thinkers and students of conditions and they have at their disposal all the resources of the gov srnment for obtaining first hand in- formation.
 Apply Plain Thinking.
 But it is not necessary to go into such high quarters to determine whether or not we are upon sound basis and likely to remain so It is simply necessary to apply little plain thinking. a little common sense. to conditions which are known to ex- iSt
 Industrial conditions are in the best position they have ever been in
 
 cent basis to 100 per cent basis, and during that period there has been only one advance in the redis- count rate. Inventories are being kept down. They are being held in check voluntarily by manufacturers and they are being carefully watched by bankers who have no desire to again go through the experience of liqudating loans through the sale of collateral. There are no accumula- tionS by retailers of merchandise or consumers of manufactured articles. This is the first sign to be watched for. It indicates, and the fact has been verified, that both wholesale and retail supplies are being steadily absorbed. There are no accumula- tiens for speculative purposes. be- cause the current consuming demand is too heavy to permit it.
 At the same time fears of advances in commodity prices have been over drawn. It is true there have been some such advances but Dun's Index for March shows gain of only l per cent, while Bradstreet's, based upon a somewhat different method of calculation, reports d slight decline It is true that prices now average 20s4 per cent above the low point of 1921, but this is overshadowed by the decline of 64 per cent in the II months preceding. and which repre- sented the period of drastic deflation