Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-03
VALUES
|. FOR STOCKS URGED
Business Man Urges Prohi-
bition of Short Selling
for Year.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

/
NEW YORK, September 3-"Frankly,
| do you believe the stock market, with
its frequent ups and downs today has
| any real effect on the business of the
country?" asks r. T. of California.
/ had been discussing this matter
/ just before r. It's letter arrived with a
well known business man whose net
| gain in the stock market in the last five
/ years has been rer Jrted in eight figures.
This business man believes that while
| the crash of last Fall did bring disaster
| to both poor and rich alike, few have
| idle funds today to buy stock. The re-
suit is that the bears can depreSs almost
| any stock exchange security by offer
| ing large blocks of stock without fear
of being unable to cover their sales at
lower prices. So every time there is
i dip in the market quotations, people be-
! come convinced that bad times are
ahead and strict economy is practiced.
AS a result the buying of absolute
needs is the order of the day"
When I asked him how he would
meet this problem, he replied:
ut is a vicious circle, and In my
opinion the bear operators OF the New
York Stock Exchange are largely re-
snonsible. It is estimated that about
o0O 600 shares of stock have been bor-
rowed by the shorts to deliver against
sales. The sales of stock, which the
shorts do not own, in the absence OF
public buying enables that crew to de-
nress stock prices almost at Will ana
make huge profits, while destroying pup
lie confidence and thereby UNDERMINING
our industries and business generaliy'
.But what can be done about II?
ssI believe that If Congress enacted
law making it illegal, for a period not
longer than one year, to sell securities
NOT actually owned by the seller, secu-
ritv values would be stabilized, pubic
confidence restored and increased de-
mand for commodities would restore
production to normal and unempioy-
ment would be thing OF the past
within a reasonably short time.
There Is much merit IN sucn sus-
gestion.
Standard Wage System.
William Green's Labor day address
conferred about two problems-uhenl-
DIovment and old-age pensions.
In the field of unemployment, tne
president of the American Federation
of Labor proposed to American business
men that an annual wage system 1or m
dustrial workers should be developed as
a vital factor to relieve business de-
preston. ,,.,,
"Steady. continuous employment, with
an annual income for wage earners,
said the labor leader, would largely
eIiminate the social evil of unemploy-
ment" and the resultant economic con-
fusion. -.
Old age pensions-millions OF woroS
have been used talking about inns sup
1ect. but little has been done IN the
United states about the growing dis
elimination against workers after they
reach the age of 40 or As by large IN
dllstrial enterprises.
"As forced retirement is imposed upon
workers 20 years in advance OF assumed
physical incapacity then retirement an
nuities must be provided to Adequately
meet such situation, through tne lees
islatiye enactment OF practlcal ana
comprehensive retirement plan" accord
ing to Mr. Green.
Frank Morrison, secretary OF the
Federation, advocated much OF the same
program at Baltimore.
George L. Berry, vice president Oh
the organization, attributed slow busl.
ness conditions to the intervention Oh
labor-saving devices, 1.-The extraordinary
ingenuity in financing business" which
has created a complex economic sltua-
ton" and the postwar arrogance OF
American business, whic. hhaS reduced
export trade" Mr.. Berry is not one
of those who believe prosperity lis just
around the corner"
Unemployment insurance undoubt-
edly will be a major subject before
many State Legislatures and Congress
this Winter.
Financial Imperialism.
DR.. H. Parker Willis, New York
editor, kept up his fire against 'finan-
| cial imperialism" in a Paris interview
while on his way to Rumania, where ne
has gone on a financial mission.
1.-The gold movement to France" said
| the New York editor, must be ex-
pected to go on. France is wise in in
| sisting on the continued transfer OF
| gold and refusing to participate in the
| grandioSe schemes in retaining gold IN
| Great Britain and the United States
subject to 'earmarking. French
| banks, by conserving an outstandingly
good economic position, will be able to
| place France in an even more positive
| position of command and above all, but
| free of financial Imperialism, originate
! ing in other countries, with regrettable
results elsewhere"
/ The Federal Reserve probably has no
more insistent critic than this Columbia
University professor He was secre-
| tary of the first Federal Reserve Board
and one of the organizers of the Federal
Reserve System.
But the inflationary movement, from
| 1922 to 1929, DR.. Willis violently OPP
posed, with every resource at his COM
mand.
/ He had plenty of opportunity to say
| "I told you So" after the crash, but his
writings since that time have been re-
markedly free from any such boasttul
| spirit.
It costs about $42o for any japanese
| business man to get telephone IN
stalled in Japan.
The demand for telephones in certain
| cities of Japan has been so strong that
| the government each year holds lot
| terry and the holders of the lucky num-
bers receive the privilege of having a
| telephone upon the payment OF about
| $420. Last June, 766 applications were
received in Yokohama. When the lot
| terry was completed, 800 persons won
| telephones.
The only other method Of obtaining
| a telephone requires the services of one
of the six licensed brokers in the city,
the payment of sum fixed by the gov
eminent, $424, and the premium de-
manded by the licensed operator.
If you get telephone through a
broker, you pay an additional fee OF
1886 for putting 1t in your house or
Office, and thereafter you pay about a
cent and half for every local call made
over the wire as we'll as for the stipu-
lated toll charges outside of the Yoko-
| hama area.
The government, however, announces
I, that the public trading of telephones on
the market is decreasing, since the user
must wait three months for an inStalla-
ton. The cost Of waiting is not worth
| the difference in price between the gov
| eminent figure and the broker amount.
Still it's novel scheme at that.
| (Copyright, 1880. by the North American
Newspaper Alltance.)