Carbon County news., 1937-10-01

i been undergoing
ood case or bad case Of tn
Jtters jitters. It ha
been several year
: since those dealing in money ant
shares Of stock have been so un
! certain as to the future and thi
uncertainty obviously is the cause O
the jitters among all people whit
dabble in the stock market, whether
the dabbling be small or large, OF
, margin or for cash.
1t seems proper time, there
Tore, to examine the picture an6
ry to see what lies beneath. And
, let me hasten to say at the very out
set that anyone who makes a posi-
i've statement about the securities
market these days must be either
a fool or a superman-and 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 f1uctuation 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 fiuctu-
ations 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
rmanimity 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 a sick
ening feeling to those who must
buy raw products. Bankers and
sound investors as well 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
stock market investments.
A dozen other illustrations could
be given to thus illustrate the point
and show why
Black Case Wall Street can.
InUoIUed 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. It 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 a 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
MIR. Black sits. If they entertained
that fear before, undoubtedly the
tear is deeper-seated and more
widespread now that Mr.. Justice
Black has been publicly accused of
holding life membership in the Ku
Nux Klan. Certainly the expose of
he typhoon that is swirling around
he head of the new associate JUS
ice cannot have any soothing eff
ect upon the minds of those busi-
less men who, as corporation exec
1tives, are trustees Of vast sums of
he peoples money. Undoubtedly,
1nless Mr.. Black can prove that he
s not affiliated with the Ku Klux
<lan, few litigants will tee1 safe be-
ore the Supreme court.
Then, there comes the resignation
# James M. Lands as chairman of
he securities and exchange COM
mission which regulates operations
# the great stock exchanges. Mr..
Iandis has been regarded as rather
air, rather just, in his dealings re-
ating to stock market operations.
lis retirement to return to pro-
essorship in Harvard, Of course,
pens up the question as to his sue
essor. This is to say that most of
he financial world is hoping and
,raying that the new chairman will
lot go off at a tangent; that he will
void extreme radicalism and that
e viii not blame the whole fnan-
ial structure for the crookedness Of
part Of it.
Thus, it becomes easy to see how
his minor factor may have weight
nth some individuals dealing in | .