FINANCIAL NOTES.
Without going so far as to endorse the lurid descrip- tion of the situation given by Mr. Lloyd George to the Press, in which he describes the Western skies as "black with the flight of capital seeking safety beyond the Atlantic," it is a fact that, with the reassembling of Parliament, anxiety as to the probability of a Labour or Socialistic Government has produced a considerable effect both upon the Foreign Exchanges and upon Public Securities. This, however, is no more than might have been expected, and only a week ago, when speaking of New Year prospects, I commented upon the certainty of some such developments. Matters have not been improved, however, by the panicky tone of the Rother- mere Press, which seems utterly unable to perceive that to overstate a case is always to win sympathy for the "other side." Naturally, the City is foremost in appre- ciating the grave dangers attending a Labour Govern- ment, but it also is very much alive to the necessity for acting constitutionally at the present juncture, while it is recognized that the only real safeguard for such matters as the sanctity of property and everything which makes for national prosperity and public security is to be found in the enlightened opinions of the entire community. Therefore, the City for some time past has been compelled to adopt the view that matters may have to be somewhat worse yet before the public realizes its grave responsibilities when a General Election is taking place.
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