Evening star., 1929-07-03
MARKET REACTION
SEEN BY EXPERTS
Two Financial Services Be-
IieVe Recent Advance Has
Been Too Rapid.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

NEW 1O1h, July S.-IWo we'll
known financial services intimate that
there is likely to be technical re-
action in the market.
Brookmire's maEes this statement:
Public prestige is not yet in evidence
to a large extent, and accordingly the
active stocks which have advanced have
been In stronger hands. Now some
further setbacks are in order. We
have had rapid rises in the merger
public utilities and in most chemicals,
ana an, these may recede normally during,
the next few weeks without greatly
unsettling the general list, as had been
feared"
Standard statistics says: "At some
time in the comparatively near future
a temporary setback in the general list
viii be entirely logical. Speculative
enthusiasm for shares of certain re-
Gently formed utility concerns appears
TO have run beyond all reasonable
bounds"
Both services feel that utilities partic-
ularly have moved up too rapidly.
In 51a trading days ending last Fri
day. the standard statistics index of 20
stocks in the utility group advanced
ia points. Compare that with an ad-
vance OF 2.5 points in the railroad group,
40 points in the industrial group, and
6.5 points in the stock group, COM
pr1slng 80 representative stocks.
During the last six years s45,803,-
100000 in securities have been issued
IN the United States. OF these more
than cne-fourth have been in the public
utility industry. In 1928 the total utility
offerings - 81 300, ,000, 900 - were twice
the 1928 volume.
Industrial issues were next, almost
one-fourth Of the total during the SIX
year period. But last years industrial
offerings - 5000 900 900 - exceeded
those Of utilities-nearly so per cent
larger than in 1928 and 1924 combined.
Municipal issues were third, with
six-year total of $8,185, 600, ,000-a big
figure, but only 18 per cent of the COM
bined offerings in the period.
These were followed by foreign gov
ernment and corporation financing in
$6,829, ,00o, 600.
Railroad securities came then, with
$3,741 ,000,0 900 for the six-year period.
More than $3.50, ,000, 900 went into
real estate securities, about per cent
of the total
Farm loans were next. In the six
year period they totaled $1,l42,000, 900.
1882 900 900 in 1923 to the low for the
period. $64,000,000 last year.
These figures were prepared by Stone
g. Webster g. Blodgett, Incorporated.
I When United States Secretary of
State, StinSon, announced that the
principle of parity Of navies should be
condition precedent to any conference
looking to army or navy reduction
throughout the world, he cleared the
atmosphere considerably.
So far as naval reduction Is concerned.
it hinges largely on the vexed question
Of freedom Of the seas" Until this
question is finally disposed of, it will
be dif1cult to reach any satisfactory
Wickham Stead, British editor, has
urged that Great Britain declare that
she will recognize absolute freedom OF
navigation upon the seas outside terri
torial waters except as seas may be
closed in whole or in part by interna-
tional action for the enforcement OF
international covenants"
This is one way to meet the problem.
"a compulsory arbitration treaty with
Great Britain and settlement as to
freedom of the seas would remove ex-
cuse for naval competition (between
United States and Great Brittany, !"
says Prof Charles A. Payne. "a naval
conference might then succeed" Prof.
Payne holds the chair Of history at
Grinnell College, Iowa. Recently he
won the Nations essay prize for the
best discussion Of what IS making for
war with England?"
With the principle Of the parity Of
nayies recognized by the United States,
the century-old unsolved problem Of the
freedom Of the seas" should take pre-
cedence In any disarmament conference.
No question has been asked more fire.
quently since 1921 in the farming sec
tions than this: What is the real cause
of the unsatisfactory prices Of farm
products in the last decade?
DR.. o. E. Baker, Bureau Of Eco
nonlics, United States Department of
Agriculture, answers by saying that
production has been increasing faster
than the population, while the per
capita consumption of the staple food
products has been declining.
Since the war, Notwithstanding low
prices received by farmers, the striking
thing is that agricultural production
has been increasing more rapidly than
at any time in 80 years, despite a de-
crease in farm population and q de-
crease in crop acreage.
DR.. Baker goes further and says that
the present farm population of the
United States Is sufficient to provide
| for the increasing need Of farm prod
ucts-for the next 10 years:
And farm population has declined
2,689,000 since 1922.
E. T. Scott, the grand old man of
English journalism, managing director
of the Manchester Guardian since 1872,
has decided to retire.
When Woodrow Wilson was in Lon
don before the peace conference In Sep
tember, 1918, he made q special trip to
Manchester to pay his respects to Mr..
Scott, whom he regarded as "one Of the
great men Of Europe"
Britain loses her most distinguished
editor in the retirement Of Mr.. Scott"
John A. Stevenson, Canadian corre-
spondent of the London Times, said. 1T
knew him well, hard worker-intel-
ligent-his first great fight was against
the Boer War. His uncle at that time
owned the paper, was a stanch imperial
ist and believed in the war. When he
died he left his stock not to Mr.. Scott,
but to others.
"Mr. Scott later began to repurchase
! it out of his own earnings, finally get
ting control of the paper.
Independence plus outstanding abil-
| ity seemed to me to be what made him
q power in world journalism. His place
son, e. T. Scott, who succeeds him, is
one of the abler Of the younger men Of
| Europe"
The new editor is As and was educat-
ed at Rugby. Oxford and the London
School of Economics. He has been on
the Guardian stair 10 years.
(Copyright, 1929. by North American News
paper Alliance.)