Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-24
SIGNS OF TRADE RECOVERY
OBSERVED BY OWEN D. YOUNG
Business Situation More Sensitive to I'm
provement, He Believes-Whitney
Explains Exchange Influence.

Dairy Products are examples familiar
to every one. It has been remarked that,
financially speaking, the farmer needs
more partners and fewer creditors. If
shares which represented his indis-
pensable work as an agricultural pro-
Queer could be created. they might prove
highly beneficial in farm financing.
Nevertheless, the farmer has derived
very great indirect benefits from the
development and operation of stock ex-
changes. In marketing his produce the
farmer Is, after all. Just as dependent
upon eff1cient means Of transportation
as the miner or the manufacturer
Without our present-day railroad sys-
TEN, in whose financing the market for
shares and bonds has so long played an
indispensable part, the American farmer
would Of necessity be forced into a con-
dition Of life closely resembling that of
the peasant class abroad. 1t must also
be realized that the American farmer
of today has, like many other producers
| in the country, adopted labor saving
machinery of many sorts.
To-day he employs machines to shell
and grind his corn, to harrow his land.
to reap. shock and thresh his wheat, to
cut silage and to hoist hay. On the
dairy farm he uses milking machines,
separators and other such devices The
tractor have everywhere been pressed
into his service. In the past few years
the extension Of our electric utility sys-
tens has likewise begun to place COM
mercial power at the farmers disposal
Thus, the American farmer of today
has become in reality an agricultural
engineer, employing machines and la
bor- saving devices of all sorts and need
ing such raw materials as chemical
\ al
and electric power. 1t Is characteristic
of the progressive attitude Of our farm
ers that they utilize the radio to keep
themselves in touch with weather re-
ports and with the markets and prices
for their produce.
eff the facilities Of the security mar
ket on the Stock Exchange have assisted
machinery manufacturers Of this coun-
try to obtain capital needed in the work
Of mass production, they have resulted
indirectly also In providing many IA
cilities for the farmer as well as the
city dweller. This is one very important
reason why life on even the small
farms In this country more closely re-
sembles life in our great cities than In
any other country in the world.
Our Standard of Living.
THE material test Of any society is,
after all how far 1t can create wealth,
and how broadly 1t can share it among
every one. American business men have
| long and rightly considered a high
standard Of living in this country to be
the supreme general aim. It may seem
somewhat out of place to speak of high
standards of living in the face of wide
spread unemployment. But we must
remember that even recently the
standard Of living in the United States
is actually much higher than that which
has ever prevailed in any other coun-
try. even at the height of prosperity.
Moreover, we all know perfectly well
that depressions do not last forever,
and that the halt of a few months
should not discourage us concerning an
improvement in American standards of
living which has gone on steadily for a
century. In the present depression, a
splendid effort has been made by al
most every one to maintain employ
ment, and this effort-so new a factor
in the business cycle-will inevitably
make its weight felt in maintaining
consumption.
Stock Market q Mirror.
"There has been much controversy
recently as to whether the stock mar
ket does or does not forecast business
conditions. But the public. with q sure
instinct for practical truth, has little
doubt that it closely reflects them The
interest which the American public has
shown in stock market prices cannot,
therefore, be attributed simply to q
desire for speculative profits. For the
market on the Stock Exchange holds
up mirror where contemporary
American civilization may view itself
Not a significant business development,
nor an important happening, but what
Is speedily reflected in its sensitive
surface.
Sometimes the stock market Is
spoken Of as If it were all bottled up
in building in Wall street Actually
1t is a creation Of the whole American
| people. and it responds to those strong
human motives of hope and fear which
sweep through American public opin-
ion. The course of its prices cannot be
expressed in any single formula They
reflect not only the trend of business
affairs here and abroad and the deci-
sions Of foreign chancellories, the as
surance of peace and the shadow of
war, the existing statistics of trade
and the changes in legislation here and
abroad by which the modern world is
governed. Ramifying in all directions
| into the daily lives of countless creators,
dealers and holders of securities, the
stock market constitutes a supreme
| life. It is a living, pulSating mechan-
ism by which the savings of the thrifty
everywhere stadily pass into a practical
effort to realize the dreams of science,
invention and national well-being."