Milford chronicle., 1952-04-04
W0ON8
AGGRAVATINC THE FVTS

Shortly after former Governor AHnall be-
came the nations new price stabilizer, he
said on radio program, 81 favor decontrol-
ling every industry as fast as it can be done
without hurting the country" He emphasiz-
ed his point by adding, 81 hope we can soon
dO away with all controlS-the quicker the
better"
This is a refreshing point of view-par-
tlcularly in the light of the fact that past
OPS policy has been to seek more and more
power, and more and more controls. whether
there was any justification for them or not.
This has, In case after case, discouraged and
disrupted the normal, efficient processes of
production and manufacturing. Equally i'm
pOrtant, it has seriously interfered with the
normal functiOning of distribution. Retailers
OF every kind and size have protested OPS
hlgh-handed policies and rulings. In some
Instances, OPS has actually threatened wide
spread destruction of retailing as we know
1t. This was especially evident when OPS
tried to subject retailing to profit control by
demanding that stores absorb cost increases
about which they could do nothing. Only ac-
tlOn by Congress prevented OPS from
bludgeOning ahead in this direction.
The whole recorded history of man is
strewn with the wreckage of the great civil
iZationS which have crumbled under price
controls; and in 40 centuries of human ex-
perience there has never been-sO far as we
can dScOVer-a single case where such con-
trolls have stopped, or even Curbed for long,
the forces Of initiation. On the contrary, they
have discouraged production, created short
ages, and aggravated the very evils they
were intended to cure. That happened in an
cient Rome and, over the centuries, in Eng
land, France, and elsewhere. 1t can also
happen here.
WHY STOCK PRICES CHANGE
AS everyone knows, the prices of indus
trial stocks, as listed on the exchanges, tend
to change from day to day. Some times the
variance is subStantial-at other times il
is slight. And many wonder why this should
be so.
The answer is that stock is much like
any other piece of property. It's going worth
is simply the figure at which one group of
people is willing to sell it and another group
is willing to buy it. In a word, the price
goes up and down in accordance with the
sound old law of supply and demand. II
demand is greater than supply, the price
generally rises. Ii the reverse is true, the
price generally declines.
A similar situation exists in the case Of
homes, land, crops and about everything
else that is widely bought and sold. The
price always represents meeting of minds
between would-be seller and would-be pur
chaser. Individual judgment of worth is
the determining factor.
So there's nothing at all mysterious il
the fluctuations in prices that take place il
the stock markets. They are natural, in
evitabe, and desirable And stocks do Offer
one advantage that is true of few kinds oil
property. The current price is always
known. There's no guess work involved OF
either side. All anyone has to do is tele
phone broker and ask what the quotation
is that day.
To repeat, stock prices are governed by
the same forces that determine property
values of all kinds.