Evening star., 1931-12-17
STOCK PURCHASES
NOW At LOW EBB
Recent Attempts to Support
the Market Have Been
Failures.
BY CHARLES F. SPEARE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

NEW YORK, December 1.-THE
om1nous fact in connection with the
prolonged and ruthless decline in the
market value of bonds and high-graoe
stocks is that nothing is being done to
check 1t, and that the absence of sup
port from those who might be expected
to render 1t in this crisis gives the i'm
preston TO the country at large that the
important banking and corporation in
terestS see Justification for what is going
on in the market place.
EHortS 10 develop a sentiment In
FAVOR OF creating a banking consortion
10 zeal with the situation have not been
successful. Separate and small groups
have tried at different times to arouse
sentiment In favor of placing sub
Stantiai amounts at the service of the
market. They have not been given
much encouragement The answer To
every appeal OF this sort has been that
to attempt to uphold any one stock or
group OF stocks or bonds would wreck
the financial standing Of those who un-
dertoOk 1t.
No Protest on Decline.
There Is no answer to this, because 1t
mas not been thoroughly tried Some
corporations have supported their own
securities for while, then left them to
take their own course. There are those
VINO still insist that moderate amount
OF buying power placed in markets of
small proportions would avoid the daily
lo 10 10 point Shrinkages that occur
in highgrade bonds and preferred
stocks, where offerings are of practically
nominal proportions.
The absence Of practical assistance Of
this character is no more conspicuous
than the unwillingness of leaders in the
financial world to defend the credit
status OF corporations whose securities
they have issued in large volume in re-
cent years. There has not been in re-
cent months one prominent voice raised
IN friendly note in behalf of invest
ment securities. This Is in contrast with
the amount of dope" that was yocally
poured out to receptive buyers in 1928
and 1929 and the volumes of market
literature that were distributed over the
country recommending, in almost race
track terms, the purchase Of issues that
To-Day have deprecated rs to 80 per
cent from their 1929 level
So impressive is this silence that as
conservative a person as Alexander
Dana Noyes, the veteran financial edi-
TOR OF the New York Times, in his lead
AAA6 a. IASiS ytSItIOdy SAID.
1t would seem to be time that men
OF responsibility in the financial world
should speak out publicly as to the
truth and actual significance of the
present investment market"
There are legitimate ways In which
the public could be helped to preserve
Its morale and to prevent the spread of
the hysteria that is running the credit
both OF corporations and of banking
institutions.
Dumping of Dollar Securities.
There is no particular reason. for in
stance, why this country should now be
compelled to be the dumping ground
for all the securities in dollar form that
Europe continues to send here. Great
Britain, in similar crises, has taken an
arbitrary stand against wrecking her
own credit by preventing international
An embargo could be placed
against the receipt of securities from
foreign holders. 1t might not be ira
ditionauy correct or even dignif1ed for
the to 10 banks and investment firms
that issued the great bulk of the Secu-
rites between 1925 and 1929 to state
publicly that they still had some faith
in them. But dignity and tradition do
not have any place in condition such
as now faces the country. The future
respect Of TIE investing public for the
and distributors of securities
rests on the degree to which they show
some faith in them from now on.
Another method of helping the in
vestor could readily be employed to
advantage at this season, when the
largest number Of requests for proxies
and dividend checks and earnings
statements go out to shareholders.
Where a situation permits it-and
there are hundreds Of them-manage-
ments might express note Of conf
dence in their own securities and back
this up with more than formal state
ment OF earnings and showing Of
balance sheet position. If. after this,
the stockholder feels that he IS more
impressed by prices on the ticker than
facts which show the unreality of ticker
prices, that is his weakness. The cor
poration has at least done its duty to
its stockholders.
Wall Street Inertia.
The inertia in Wall Street and the
lack of leadership there, at a time
when there should be concerted effort
to prevent a continuation Of a running
market process. is something that the
country at large cannot understand or
comprehend. 1t increases its belief that
Wall Street as the real barometer of
business conditions and as a leader In
the international money market has
had greater prestige in the past than
its record entities it to possess.
Copyright. lss1D