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Show CONGRESS 15 TiRi POR WAR AND BUDGET FOR VICTORY Stock and Bond Market Quiet; New Railroad Problems; Excuse for High Profits Removed; Re-moved; Nation Down to Work. By V7. S. COXJSrNS, Editor The American Eanker. j i n-.-. S. T'ne s-'-cord j -,, (ho ity--i -:th confess, j v;-:. ;. r.mver.ed on Monday of this ' ve;k, wil! be rr.ost distinctly a war ron:rro:-s; and while as a cn- ei:il rule YVaH rrCf;t has always regarded the opening 1 conffi'ow a? o:.e of the bip- i-est b-nr fa.tor with wr.i'-h it has to 'ontr-nd. there are evidences that tins fef?ltji! does not exlt on s'-'h a large hcale tndav as formerly. Tne exp-M-i-mkcs of iltf pt six months have cre-;,i-d a n. v: n.nt of univ'Tsal ur.dei-M'in.ii'1-- of lit- proM.-m, the viewpoints of the p.-ople of thif. rent s.-lions of tne countiv, and a. dsii.; on trie pa;-t of all to .uthordiiute personal ambitions mil to nnite for the amnion Kood. Tlie imancial iHj.d-r froni Wall street has hcen ouch-in;- elbows with the amateur politician ftmn IhhKvihc. ami trom thia contact has developed ii "d'-ecnt i esT-'Cct t"i- tne opinions nnd nspirn tions of .-;ich oilier. I'erhaps never In the history of the tmnitrv h;is a cormrevf, been brotmht to-i,'nther to-i,'nther w it h a f-enniiie desire to carry out the desirus of trie national executive, to accept his interpretation of t lie world e-isl.s and io adopt the policies stifrested i,,' him for the conduct of the war lor d.-nio-r-ay. The skill and wisdom of President Wilson in matters of the war ftrat rocouized be nur Kuropean allies havrt place. 1 1dm In the first position a the strategist eKtrnordinary of the allied .a use. The president has enlisted the svmpathy nnd co-operation of men of all grades and elasses of ixilitical Icanmt;-, and will most siicoc.'sfully mobilise the ! i e:;ottr.;es Of the , oLintry in the struggle jaalnrtt Hie world's greatest enemy. Regulation Implied. Tiie only part, of Prrsid.-nt Wilson's mej-.ae whieh caused urienainess in all street was that whh-h surliest ed further developments alone the line of price-fixing. While the common interpretation of this price-fix ins is in its relation to products prod-ucts and commodities still exempt from government ron'ilnou. It also implies fur-t fur-t thcr ctirtuilnient of profits in certain in-,!......!,. in-,!......!,. ii-l.T cik-Ii n statement should cause hysteria in either the stock markets or in industrial centers is not j clear, since tills is not the. day for proflt-' proflt-' making, but for the wholesnle dedication of men and materials to the service of tho country. Kven with nit the "sacrifices" "sacri-fices" which the past year has entailed. olTiciiil statements from Washington sliovv that nearly spoil Americans were during that period added to the roll call nf milliomiires. Enormous profits have been inn do from the war trarlc during t he past three years, but these profi ts have come from across the .vea. Cur entrn nee into the war has removed t he excuse for hiph profits in the 'future. "Recent "Re-cent experience has convinced me that the eoiiRTpss must 0 further in authorizing authoriz-ing the government to set a limit to ! price?." suid the president. "The law of supply and demand, 1 am sorry Jo say, has iieen replaced by the law of un-restrn un-restrn ined selfishness. While we have eliminated profiteering in several branches of industry, it .still runs impudently rampant ram-pant in otheis." For Long Struggle. Those who looked lor any evidence of the possibility of an early termination of tho war in President Wilson's address had little to encourage them. Mr. Wilson has reiterated his decision to stand for no solution short of complete victory and the utter annihilation of Prussian ism, and, judging from present Indications, Ids ta-sk will not be axjcomplished in a week or a month. A few years ago we heard with consternation con-sternation the report of congressionaJ appropriations ap-propriations in on amount up to one billion bil-lion dollars. Todav we are greeted with a budget of $15,504,857,839 for the, fiscal year ending June 20, 1919, and realize not only the necessity for the spending of suc'h a vast sum of money, but also the ability of this country to bring this sum together when needed. The budget calling for such an amount was submitted on Monday by Secretary McAdoo, and the probabilities are that the estimates which It contains will be Increased rather than decreased as the session proceeds. It Is not unnatural that the stock market mar-ket should display a spirit of hesitancy at a time when grave uncertainties exist at home and abroad. Trading In securities has been reduced to a minimum, and whatever movements are to be seen in the markets are almost entirely the result ri' nrni'eiti'dnnaJ onernt.lon. Thus on the opening day of the week the total stock sales on the New York stock exchange were but a quarter of a million shares, as compared with a normal market of one million shares at the corresponding period last year. Experts Conservative. Bond experts are equally conservative in speaking for publication on the bond market. The anticipated flooding of the market bv government bonds will dam up the sources of absorption of industrials indus-trials and municipals, as well as employ all the bond-selling agendas that would otherwise bo engaged in their own enterprises. en-terprises. The two Jssues of liberty bonds are still selling below par. to the great dissatisfaction of manv subscribers subscrib-ers whoso allotments are still only partially par-tially paid. However, it is hoped that they will take a philosophic view of the situji tion. llistorv shows that the most advantageous advanta-geous time to buy the bonds of any government gov-ernment is when that government is at war. Such bonds always rise in value when normal and stable conditions have been restored. British consols, for example, ex-ample, which, before Napoleonic wars (179:;-lSU, sold at 07, declined to 47 during dur-ing the war and rallied to 84 a few years afFer the close. Ihiring the same relative rela-tive period French 5 per cents started at 71 declined to 7. and rallied to 5. United States 6 per cent bonds prior to the civil war ( (lSG1.-65. passed current cur-rent at par: during the war they declined to S3, and a few years niter the close Kit the war were in big demand at 121. .All Affected by War. 1 During the Franco-Prussian war (1870-! (1870-! 71 French 3 per cents sold at 75; during the progress of the (short) war ! they declined to .V. rising in one year i after Deace was decbred to SO, and in a 'few vears to S7. "British consols were ' simiUirlv affected during the Poor war, j ?nd Russian government bonds during ; ; the Pusso-Japauese war l-'rom those comparisons it will be seen 1 i that t'ne average rise in the market, valuation valu-ation of government securities during the ladiustment from a war to a peace basis 1 nat been "$ points. Should the flurtua-i flurtua-i tion in British and American government I ;ssues be but one-third oT that amount j (which manv authorities now venture to predict 'k it is easily apparent that the possibilities for profit in such a sterling ! sceurif- as a government bond will be i great er and be' tor than many or most of "the snceuhi t ivo ventures t: at depend I for t-eir nresent rating snhv upon the con ' i iv n nee1 of the wa r. In vectors who :!;row a;ty the opportunity to have their t swrp'tis fund li-tcke-I up in the safest i-ii-urHv whirl the world offers, and who t:;ppree:afe the fact that such funds are, ;'n addition, heiphig in the prosecution of i the war in defense of liberty, should re- neni in haste "and reconsider. There is vet time! ! Railroad Problems. Prior to the ent ranee of the Tiv tc--' States m'i the Kurnp.an war. the i.nl-io,id i.nl-io,id problem v. ;is purely and distinctly a fhKinci:il one. t:- external evidences of which wore a scries of -on Hi-ts bel'.pen trainmen and railroad managers over the ouc-rioti of wasc, arid of arguments between be-tween Uie managers and governmental supervisory nsonoiHS in -.v.t'.'-r o. I freight and pa-enger rates. 'I're r.iiiiads i rdeauod in effect that the r:i:.g eost of living, as expressed in higher wages and increased cost of supplies, left on.y i nu'-.-es for the roads, namely, highi lates or bankruptcy. And It is true that; tardiness of the Interstate commerce com- ; mls.don to permit the application of rem- . tdv number one. has so complicated, financial conditions for the roads that to- t dav a larger mileage than ever beore is i in "receivers' hands, and most prime rail-; road stocks have nedmed to a shadow of their fomer selves, t We are now in ihe midst of the ptol lems introduced by tii entrance of this: e-ouptrv into the war, and the consequent t Inordinate demand for tonnage incident io the shipment of troops and supplies. There is an almost intolerable congestion of tiaffie. especially in eastern territory, and apparently tiie re is no adequate way of relieving these conditions which are complicated com-plicated by the increasing volume of the preference shipments of various departments depart-ments of the federal government. As might havo been expected, the traffic has been aecumulating so rapidly that as time ;;oes on the over burdened roads are falling fall-ing farther and fanher behind. Unequal to Tasks. It la obvious that as now constituted the trunk lines and their branches and subsidiaries arc wholly unequal to the task that confronts them in this emerg-er,( emerg-er,( y. There is but ono apparent solution of the problem, and that is the operation of the roads by the government. This solution has been suggested by many who mav be supposed to speak wirh authority when they are discussing railroad questions. ques-tions. In this important matter, it seems logical logi-cal that we can apply some of the methods meth-ods used with such good success by Great liritain in the early days of the war. The government immediately after the declaration decla-ration of war, took over all the railroads of 'England, guaranteeing to stockholders the maintenance of the previous year's dividends. No changes were made in the local management of the various companies, com-panies, but one government expert was given supreme control oer tho operation and movement of ah lines. Plain warning was given to the general puhlie that the ordinary traveling facilities prevailing In peace times were not guaranteed: guar-anteed: such facilities as dining cars and sleeping cars, frequent expresses and. minimum fares were soon taken from the schedules, and an Increase of 50 per cent In all fares declared operative. One of the most interesting stories of the whole war is t he signal efficiency of linglish ml! roads under government control. |
