Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-10-07
Washington. Street and the
securities market generally have

Washington.-Wall Street and the
securities market generally have
been undergoing a
Bad Case of bad case of the
filters filters. It has
been several years
since those dealing in money and
shares of stock have been so I'M
certain as to the future and this
uncertainty obviously is the cause of
the filters among all people who
dabble in the stock market, whether
the dabbling be small or large, on
margin or for cash.
It seems proper time, there
fore, to examine the picture and
try to see what lies beneath. And,
let me hasten to say at the very out
set that anyone who makes posi-
tive statement about the securities
market these days must be either
fool or supernatural thus far
the supermen who have lived on this
earth number only one.
But that fact does not destroy the
value of an examination of a con-
dition which exists as a fact. In
deed, think review of the various
factors and influences at work now
can provide Qualification of gen.
eral conditions even though it may
fail utterly to show why men and
women act as they do with respect
to stock market investments.
First, it should be said that Wall
Street, as the term is commonly
used, is not unanimous within it.
self. The violent fuctuation of mar
ket securities in the last several
weeks might easily be said to be
due to the war crises in Europe and
in the Far East. Only, those fuctu-
atoms are not traceable to war con-
ditions. Rather, the war conditions
are used by some individuals as an
excuse-an alibi to themselves be-
cause they fail to fathom the vari-
GUS influences and factors now at
work.
I said that Wall Street lacked
unanimity within itself. That is true
because within Wall Street there
are all kinds of selfish groups oper-
ating. For example, an influence
like imitation is highly pleasing to
the brokers and dealers in shares
while the same influence frightens
bankers and likewise gives sick
ening feeling to those who must
buy raw products. Bankers and
sound investors as we'll as tax pay
ers generally would be quite happy
to see the Federal Treasury's budget
balanced because if that were done
there would be a much greater
sense of security, of safety for those
investments.
A dozen other illustrations could
be given to thus illustrate the point
and show w by
Black Case Wall Street can
Inuolued not agree. They
do not show, how
ever, why there is so much uncer-
tainty and why the bulls or the
bears have been unable to adjust
themselves to the future probabili-
ties. The reasons, therefore, must
lie deeper. 1t is possible that the
appointment of Hugo Black of Ala
bama as an associate justice of
the Supreme court of the United
States has had more effect on the
business world than any of us real
ize. I have heard number of cor
poration executives say that they
hope they will never be involved in
litigation which will carry their cor
porations before the court on which
Mr.. Black sits. If they entertained
that fear before, undoubtedly the
fear is deeper-seated and more
widespread now that Mr.. Justice
Black has been publicly accused of
holding a life membership in the Ku
Klux Khan. Certainly the expose of
the typhoon that is swirling around
the head of the new associate JUS
tice cannot have any soothing eff
feet upon the minds of those bust
ness men who, as corporation exec
utives, are trustees of vast sums of
the peoples money. Undoubtedly,
unless Mr.. Black can prove that he
is not affiliated with the Ku Klux
Klan, few litigants will feel safe be-
fore the Supreme court.
Then, there comes the resignation
of James M. Lands as chairman of
the securities and exchange COM
mission which regulates operations
of the great stock exchanges. Mr..
Lands has been regarded as rather
fair, rather just, in his dealings re-
lating to stock market operations.
His retirement to return to a pro-
fessorship in Harvard, of course,
opens up the question as to his sue
cessor. This is to say that most of
the financial world is hoping and
praying that the new chairman will
not go off at tangent; that he will
avoid extreme radicalism and that
he will not blame the whole finan-
cial structure for the crookedness of
a part of it.
Thus, it becomes easy to see how
this minor factor may have weight
with some individuals dealing in
corporate shares and bonds. Will
liam o. Douglas, member of the
sci L. IL