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Show WAVE OP PROSPERITY FOR ENTIRE COUNTRY FORECAST Unsettled AAarket Has Little Real Significance, Financiers Believe; Security Prices Firm. perts, is now so large that private enterprise en-terprise can hardly expect to cope wi th it, and therefore government en -opera -tlon, if not initiative, will be necessary. Prosperity Wave Coming. Increasing prosperity in t ho United States during the next two and a half years is predicted by Harris, AYinthrop & Co., in a summary of a report on business busi-ness conditions just completed from opin- i ions sent 'in by 1979 men of affairs in I answer to a questionnaire relating to the present business situation. Thirty questions ques-tions were submitted on each question -I naire. In brief they covered the supply I of money, t-he distribution of labor, the crop outlook and the prevalence of social and industrial unrest. Questions also were asked as to the opinion on the league of nations, operation of the railroads rail-roads by the government and reconstruction reconstruc-tion loans to Kurope. Generally speaking the report on business busi-ness conditions may be regarded as a counsel of optimism. It is evident that credit is in abundant supply throughout the country, that savings bank deposits are increasing despite the high con of living, that crops on the whole are above the average, and that in two cases out of three the returning soldiers are going cheerfully to work as employment is offered of-fered them. The report is remarkable, coming as it does only eight months after the end of the war. Few Facts Adverse. As against the cheerfulness that inspires in-spires the report there is found only a general deficiency of labor, an unwillingness unwilling-ness to accept further advance in freight rates, and the general prevalence of speculation spec-ulation that goes with prosperity. From a total of lt'f.0 correspondents reporting on the subject there are 71'9 who find indications of Bolshevism or radical socialism present or prospective. By a large majority the people seem to favor a league of nations, but they are divided as to whether i t shall be the president's or the senate's league. Few-feel Few-feel that the creation of such a league would affect their business unfavorably. Opinion appears - to be evenly divided as to the permanence of the present prosperity, pros-perity, and the high prices and wages incident in-cident to it. A period of two and a half years in this changing country is regarded re-garded about as nearly permanent as we can gel in business relations. NEW YORK. Aug. 31. A smaller volume vol-ume of sales of securities on the New York Stock exchange has no further significance sig-nificance than as reflecting the unsettled condition of the speculative markets during dur-ing the period when great decisions hang in the balance. It is Wall street's maxim to sell when the good news is out, and likewise to buy after the full effect of bad news has been felt; but in periods of uncertainty the movement of stocks is always considerably reduced. 'But this does not by any means indicate indi-cate weakness in the price lists, for, as a general rule, stocks have held more firmly than during any similar period in recent months. This has confirmed the conviction convic-tion of many astute traders that stocks at present prices are on the bargain counter, coun-ter, and that the tremendous volume of home and foreign business that American corporations will be called upon to transact trans-act in the coming period will increase enormously the value of the stocks of industrial in-dustrial concerns in this country. A revival of interest In, and of public demand for. the low priced railroad shares was a feature in this week's dealings which helped to -stabilize the weaker sections sec-tions of the market. Investment houses of the highest repute, and with a reputation reputa-tion for conservatism, have long been calling attention to the unusual opportunities oppor-tunities for profit offered by the low priced railroad issues. Though nondlvi-dend, nondlvi-dend, many of these railroad properties have undergone excellent development during the war period, both in the matter of improving their physical property, and In the diverting of business that was heretofore here-tofore handled by other roads. Rail Shares Stable. Ths is well illustrated in such lines as Southern Railway, Western Maryland, Wabash, Erie and Missouri Pacific, the last of which is now considered as one of the most attractive of the low-priced railroad stocks. The property Is in excellent ex-cellent physical condition, and the present management has done much to restore its old prestige in the territory served. It has gained in operating efficiency while being reinstated financially. Other leaders in the recent advance in railroad stocks were L'nion Pacific, Southern Pacific. Reading and Atchison, The buying movement., was accompanied by several reports, one to the effect that a plan has been agreed upon for the return re-turn of the railroads to their owners which has the approval of officials of the transportation lines. Tt was also rumored a freight rate increase will follow a settlement set-tlement of the railroad shopmen's strike, which Is regarded as assured, as a result of the conference held at the AAThite house between President AVilson, Director Direc-tor General Hines and a representative of the railroad men. President on Wage Cycle. The statement of President AVilson to the railway shopmen embodies the best in economic thought on the present day problems, and is a clear indication that the policy of the administration will, in future, be to insist on the rule of reason" rea-son" in settling questions which affect the welfare of the whole country. The business of the government, he declared recently, Is to take counsel for the average aver-age man as against class favoritism. The whole matter of the prosperity of peoples runs down into the great body of the men and women who do the work j of the world. It is therefore the chief concern of the president and his advts- I ers to consider, not the specific demands of a small percentage of organized workers, work-ers, but the general welfare of the whole community. It is, of course, to be regretted that official recognition of these principles has come so late, after a great deal of harm has been done. It is next to impossible to reduce wages after they have been placed upon a higher scale, but it is recognized rec-ognized that eventually some downward revisions will be absolutely necessary if any progress is to be made in readjusting readjust-ing prices to something approaching the prewar level. Production Remedy. j It profits wage earners nothing if their increased wages buy less goods. They would be better off if lower wages bought more goods, and that can be accom-I accom-I plished only if the nation as a whole is ready to produce more and to exercise economy in consumption. AA'e have already al-ready shown our ability along these lines, and the results have been seen in definite defi-nite assistance rendered to our European Euro-pean allies during tbe winter of 1917. Much less effort would solve the present j high cost problem in very short order. I The exchange rate on pounds sterling has declined almost to the point predicted predict-ed a few months ago by a famous London economist . who said that in compara- ttvely short time the pound sterling would be equivalent in value to only four dollars dol-lars of American money. Having reached ! that point, financiers on two continents i are wondering how far. the decline will i continue before the natural demands of I husiness operate to restore exchange mar-! mar-! ket conditions to a normal basis. Exchange Declines. Tt is almost out of the question to consider con-sider official government action in England Eng-land or America. The British government govern-ment has shown very clearly that for the time being it will follow the policy of hands off. for the double reason that it is opposed to any increase in its external debt, and that it is discouraging the im- portation of any commodities that can be produced at home. It will gladly sacri- f;ce in other directions in order to stim- i ulate home production ; and British exports ex-ports are helped, and not hindered, by the adverse exchange rate. j Perhaps never during The. lat fifty years has America been so unfavorably j situated in the matter of extending its' foreign trade, and never has the neces- j sky of suppiying foreign markets been s. great as at present. T'. e exchange problem. i'i t'-c. o"i:,;oii of banking e:.- |