FINANCE-PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
BY ARTHUR. W. KIDDY.
ON more than one occasion, when commenting upon the comparative stagnation of markets since the beginning of the year, I have attributed the fact to the very cautious attitude on the part of Haute Finance, and also on the part of prominent dealers on the Stock Exchange. That caution has undoubtedly found its justification during the past week or two in the combination of developments which, but for the sound technical position of markets, might easily have occasioned a slump in values. During this period we have had two days of panicky fall on the New York Stock Exchange, a threatened deadlock at Geneva, a fresh ministerial crisis in France accompanied by a record slump in the franc, and fresh labour troubles at home in the shape of the engineering dispute. In addition, Budget uncertainties, and appre- hensions with regard to the impending Report of the Coal Commission have also been factors calculated to create a disturbing effect on markets, and yet it might fairly be said that the net result of all these adverse influences upon Stock Exchange securities has been trifling.
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