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Show MONEY & ' MARKETS By James McMullin Tfca TaWeram'i Eiclutive Obierver Alee W.H Street NEW YORK Widespread reports re-ports have soothed the public Into fading of security about toe rail labor situation. The lmpres-sion lmpres-sion baa been created that serl-ous serl-ous railroad atrlke la Impossible because of the complicated procedure proce-dure required under fsdsral mediation medi-ation laws. There can be no atrike before November, It la true. The federal mediation board la now on the )ob and hopes to bring about an agreement between managements and brotherhoods this month. If It falle as It probably will, because be-cause of stubborn resistance to compromise on ths management aids the next step will be for the president to appoint a fart finding find-ing commission, which will have 30 daya to investigate and report. Then another 80-day period must elapse before a strike csn actually be called. The Important point consistently consis-tently overlooked la optimistic discussions dis-cussions Is thai neither party to the wage dispute la bound to ac-cspt ac-cspt the recommendations of either the mediation board or the fact finding commission. The managements are perfectly free to reject compromise proposals and there's a good chance that they will. High rail executives are sin-cerely sin-cerely convinced that they cannot can-not grant further wage concessions conces-sions without running the roads into bankruptcy. If they continue to balk, the brotherhoods will have no choice but to strike. e o On the other hand, there la a potent factor working behind the acenea for rail peace which may break down the managements' tubbornnesa. If a major rail atrlk doea develop, de-velop, the resultant paralysis will be a matter of grave concern to federal and state authorities. Large cities notably New York-will York-will be threatened with slow starvation. star-vation. Th United States mails will not go through. Maximum mobilisation of other forms of transportation planes, trucks and water carriers cannot bei gin to fill the gap. Under aurh circumstances, the question of government ownership owner-ship of railroads would certainly become acute. Many rail and financial leaders are so frightened of this at heart that they may give ground at the critical momentground mo-mentground they have sworn not to yield rather than risk the public ownership calamity. That fear is frankly ttie best hope of a peaceful solution. see Th steady influx of Japane.se 'gold to the United Htates over f 150 000,000 in the past few months raises the important question of how much gold Japan has. Ths answer may make a big difference differ-ence to us. Neither government officiate nor private bankera have any dependable information. The Japs are guarding their secret well. It Is generally assumed that thia gold supply is small and will soon be exhausted. But the western west-ern world could be fooled about ' that just aa Germany fooled her enemies in 1014 with her gold reserve re-serve in the Bpandau tower. For months, until recently, unwanted un-wanted gold has been piling up in this country mostly from British sources. It became an expensive and harassing problem for the U. S. treasury and threatened to throw our economic and jnonetary machine out of balance. Britain was finally persuaded to cooperate cooper-ate in checking the flow. The little brown brothers undoubtedly un-doubtedly know that another gold rush to our coffers could be distinctly dis-tinctly smbarrassing. It's a safe bet that thia won't deter them if they have enough metal to keep on shipping it. Japan is out to challenge the world, and It wouldn't hurt her ultimata objectives objec-tives any If shs could upset our monetary applecart or even Jiggle Jig-gle it a bit. a e In ordering all contracts with steel corporations dated to end March 1. l'.'.IS, spokesmen for the steel workers' organizing committee commit-tee indicate they might use the threat of a general strike In steel to bring around recalcitrant "Little "Lit-tle Steel." While most observers regard thia aa an idle threat, It is nevertheless never-theless possible that the S. W. O. C. high command intends to play one steel company especially U. S. Steel against the other. C. I. O. leaders know that Tom Glrdler. Republic chairman 'and spokesman for "Little Steel" during dur-ing the steel strike, is not overwhelmingly over-whelmingly popular among his colleagues in the American Iron and Steel Institute, having just squeezed into the presidency of that organization by one vote. Whether or not they intend to bring pressure on Mr. Girdler'a fellow magnates to bring him around to signing up with th R. W. O. C. remains to be seen. In view of internal friction In the industry. in-dustry. It might not work If they do. a Alfred E. Bloan of General Motors Mo-tors returned from Europe last week and aadly prophesied that ' higher prices for 1938 models would cut automobile sales. New Yorkers familiar with ths auto business fail to share Mr. Sloan's gloom which is also contradicted con-tradicted by experience. They point out that a vast majority of sales are on an Instalment basis, with the old car covering most or all of the down payment, and that a price Increase of less thsn (100 spread over 12 or It or 2S months Is so painless that the average purchaser doesn't even notice it. Comment runs that perhaps Mr. Sloan is wishfully thinking that a business slump even a severe one would be a cheap price to pay for getting rid of hia twin aversions the C. L O. and the new deal. e e e Recent ' new stories tell of greater attendance at the nazl museum of "degenerar art" than at the museum of officially approved ap-proved art. Both are In Munich-Qualified Munich-Qualified New Yorkers who lately visited both say the "degenerate" "degen-erate" collection contains at least a few good pieces, while the official offi-cial exhibit is unanimously mediocre. Copyright, McClure Newspaper Syndicate |
