The Washington times., 1937-10-15
What's Wrong With the
Stock Market?

Since about the middle of last July the American
stock market has been suffering decline, prices in
many cases sinking to levels which financial writers
call fantastic in view of the earnings and
1,-o prospects of the businesses back of
them. What is the matter?
Speakers at the American Bankers Associations
nual convention at Boston this year blaming Presi
dent Roosevelt and his New Deal. We can't see any
thing in this argument
The stock market moved upward for three and one
half wears with this same Mr.. Roosevelt in the White
House. Nor would he have such souring effect
the British, Canadian, French and German markets,
which nevertheless sinking in step with our own.
Scientists long ago discovered that an iceberg
floats about ninetenths submerged and unseen and
about one-tenth above water. Sigmund Freud,
,-., modern psychologist, discovered
" that the human personality is SINH
0"O'O'0 lar-that the conscious mind is only
sort of reflector or transmtter for childhood hered
itary impulses memories and preudices stored up in
the subconscous.
We've come around to the feeling that the stock
market is like the human conscious mind that it is
barometer for vague unknown and at present unmeas
urable lunches and expectations astr in the subcon
scous mind of the nation We don't think the bankers
and stock market operators can read the market any
better than anybody else.
Certainly they couldn't in 1929 In that year we
had Charles E. MITCHELL leading banker, coming home
from Europe in midsummer and assuring that every
thing fine. Mitchell echoed by Mister Wiggin
remember hm?-what man-and what bankerD.
Mr. Hoover, the late Mr.. Mellon the late Ogden L.
Mills and similar autborities' assuring that
prosperity with to stay After the crash, to
assure the rest of us, John D. Rockefeller and his
bought common stocks in public, and Richard Whit
ney Morgan mouthpiece, bid POS for Big Steel.
Yet the crash came. AS see it, the subconscious
mind of the nation knew that the prosperity-eternal
yarns were hollow and that something had to break
And as we see it today there fears in national sub
conscious minds all over the world that something ter
rible is imminent
Our own bunch is Everybody is privileged to have his
hunch) that the present market filters around the
world be charged up to Premier Mussoni of Italy,
IT, Ill.,. Mr.. Mussoini refuses to pull his ''vol-
1x-o1..:o unteers" out of Spain On the contrary,
he is sending more, including his aviator
son, Bruno. From private sources which we trust
near tnd rance DeeVes ne is planning TO raD FRANCES
African colonies his next step next but Ger
taint his actions indicate such scheme-his everast-
ing talk about ancient Romes gories and possessions
his recent shift of important troop units to Lbya and
so on.
We can't see France England yielding control of
the Mediterranean and North Africa to Mussolini
without battle. If such showdown comes, it may
easily mean the downfall of Europe in world shaking
And shall be hit by that war, economically at
least.
Such fears are reasonable. "America actively en-
cages in the search for peace the President says And
if the search for peace is not successful the world as
stock investors and all the rest of us have known it.
will be in danger of coming to end It is hard
for anybody to feel bullish with such calamity in
prospect
ork News)