ELECTION UNCERTAINTIES.
Finally, we come to the important . factor of the unsettlement and uncertainty engendered by the prospect of a General Election. If examination were made of the general course of securities during the past five_ years of the Conservative administration, it would be found that there has been a general and remarkable advance lrnrining into many hundreds of millions of pounds. In a word, if trade has been depressed, so far as certain industries are concerned, general confidence has been maintained, and it is not altogether surprising. therefore that on the mere possibility of a change of Ministry the Stock Markets should be perturbed and that prices of investment stocks should have fallen. That is not to say that a Labour Administration would necessarily bring disaster, because experience has often shown that office brings with it responsibility and a sense of patriotism not always displayed in a Party when in opposition. :If, however, there should be apprehensions in many quarters with regard to the possibility of a Labour Government, it must be remembered that such appre- hensions are, to some extent, warranted by the extra- ordinary programme which has been placed by the Labour Party before the country. A programme which has suggested interference with if not actual State control of the banks is certainly not calculated to impress favour- ably the holders of British stocks.
Previous page
