The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-30

congress between now and March 1. After , that the country will be either Tree from new iegislation througnout tne year or will, as 1t should. receive tax relief and reform from a brief special session of the reconstructed and con Rervative federal legislature. Any < changes which may be made in Presi- dent CooIidge's cabinet can be counted upon to strengthen, not weaken pusi- ness confidence. .
 sorne uncertainty naturally Is and will be felt over developments in the high reaches in organized labor. sam uel Gompers has been succeeded as president of the American Federation of Labor by a recognized conservative, William Green, but apparently this se- lection is regarded as temporary. The sxuecfafion is that the radical ele- rnents will work very actively Tor the election of radical next october. Meanwhile, however, there IS no great reason to fear widespread labor disturb ances, provided employers do not pro vide substantial cause.
 VIII business and financial leaders provide cause for labor disturbancesf
 To be more specific, will they ern- bark on undue marking up Of prices, thus raising the cost--of living and thereby fostering demands for higher wages in many directions? All that can be said is that so far there has been no indication that such a course will be followed. Bankers and leading business men have learned that violent inflation leads to equally violent defla- tion which hurts banks and business as well as workers.
 America now has so much 'regula- tions that the attitude of regulatory bodies is an important consideration. A erPQ Q majority of public utility as well as other large corporations have mended their ways and are now seriously anx- ious to please the public. Also, there has been such widespread investing in ~nttlity and other securities, that regu- lafory bodies hesitate to adopt tactics which formerly would have been re- garded by them as successfully playing to the gallery.
 The wheel 6f fortune having of late , been spinning merrily in favor of our agricultural population, clamor for drastic, economically upsound legisia- ton has died down. The financial and business world, therefore, has ceased to worry over possible disturbances from this influential source.
 The international prospect cannot be viewed with the same tranquility. The French accusation that large hidden stores of weapons of war have been mccartney in Germany is sample of the kind of unpleasant incident which is liable to crop up at any moment and at almost any point in Europe. Conditions are still far from being def initely settled, not only in central Eu- rope, but in eastern Europe, in China, and 1t might be added, in Japan, In India and in certain parts of Latin America.
 Greater progress than ever before has been made in paving the way to- many and the nations principally con- cerned in receiving reparations. There, as here, much will depend on the hu- man clement
 The action of the security markets reflects unusual optimism over the gen. eral national outlook. The average quotation for representative stocks dealt in on the New York Stock Ex- change, reached, toward the end of the week, a new high mark for the cur- rent year and for several years while corporate bonds also held strong.
 The stock market has demonstrated a breadth and buoyancy unsuspected by many professional speculators.
 The indisputable fact is that ever since November 4, there has been much quiet purchasing of securities by nearly all classes throughout the whole coun- try The absorptive capacity of the public has been phenomenal,' as proved by the assimilation of not less than $4,000,0 100000 of security offerings dur VI l.