NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20407, 8 November 1929, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A SURPLUS OF SHOPS. "The question whether the number and variety of retail shops is redundant is one of considerable economic importance," says the Economist. "Too many shops with too much competition can bo as great nn evil as too few. An excessive number of shops means that each one has too small a turnover out of which to earn its fixed charges, and so means that retail prices rulo higher than they would under an ideal number. On the other hand, to have too few shops means public inconvenience, inadequate competition, and once more high retail prices due to tho existence of a partial monopoly. Clearly, therefore, tho whole question is 0110 of proportion or balance. There must be an ideal number and distribution of shops, which, if attained, would best serve tho interests of traders, producers, manufacturers and the general public. Retail prices might be lower, and possibly retail profits higher, if there were fewer shops in proportion ttf the population." ECHOES FROM SPACE. ■" The unconquerable mind of man is constantly finding new weapons for the conquest of its universe," says the Morning Post. " A year and a-half ago an Oslo engineer announced that, while listening to short-wave wireless signals emitted by the Dutch station PCJJ (Eindhoven), ho heard two echoes of each signal. One was, of course, the wellknown repetition of a signal after circling tho earth (in one-seventh of a second at a spcod of 186,000 miles a second), but the origin of the other echo, which occurred three seconds later, was unknown. A series of experiments and observations suggested by this discovery shows that the Eindhoven signals are echoed as though reflected by some obstacle 800,000 miles away, which is more than three times the distance of the_ moon. The most probablo explanation is that tho reflecting agency is tho stream of electrons issuing from tho sun, which causes tho aurora borealis and magnetic storms in our earthly cosmos. However that may be, the short wireless wave is yet another of those many eyes of tho mind, so to speak, which are dayby day revealing secrets of the world without — yes, and of tho world within. And so, nearer and nearer, approaches a demonstration of the truth of tho Socratic formula that virtue is knowledge." WALL STREET AND AMERICA. "It was only a few years ago—within tho lifetimes of middle-aged men—that Wall Street, a spicy blend of robust individuals, was a target for the nation's most virulent oratorical sharp shooters. By reason of the searching quasi-legendary prejudices accumulated by all respectable people, Wall Street stood for a good part of what was detestable upon the American financial scene," says Mr. Charles Murphy in the New York Outlook. "But that was yesterday. To-day Wall Street is the nation and Main Street is moro Wall Street than Wall Street ever was—or probably ever will be. Wall Street is a state of mind; 20,000,000 men and women—investigators and speculators—are its corporeal being; and the chattering tape that runs under the glass domes of 12,000 tickers, up hill and down dale, aro its hyper-sensitive nervous system. And in Harlem, Bangor, Denver, Sao Diego and Atlanta, men hang breathlessly over the'story it tells, and lustfully or bitterly decode its personal meaning. The public is in Wall Street, and Wall Street is in the public. And this merging of personalities has produced the most spectacular thing that this nation—or the world—has ever witnessed." THE STOCK EXCHANGE SYSTEM. Describing the mechanism by which thi3 huge volume of speculative trading in securities is conducted, Mr. Murphy says that in 1895 the Stock Exchange, with its 1100 members, maintained 112 branch offices, of which only 67 were outside New York City. By the end of 1928 these out-of-town branches had increased to 966. They now number well over a thousand. "Nor aro they restricted to the supposedly more speculative East." he continues. "Go anywhere in the country, look east or west, and you will observe, wherever there is a city of respectable proportions, there is at least one brokerage house privileged to deal, by direct membership or affiliation, on the floors of the great exchanges of Chicago and New York. An enormous intricate system of communication binds these scattered elements into a cohesive machine keyed to tho tick of the instant. Thousands of direct wires link these brokerage houses to the floor of the exchange in New York. People too timid to risk their own judgment and money in the stock market can now buy brains to invest and speculate for them. There are more than 450 investment trusts in the market, with a total capital of £600,000,000; nearly 300 of these gigantic groups have an average capital of £500,000. Seven years ago there was only one such company in the market, and it took it three years to peddle its £50,000 worth of shares. A few weeks ago an investment trust, capitalised at £20,000,000, had its total stocks oversubscribed many times. These companies, of course, invest in corporations, .and the extent of their new influence and activity can be judged, perhaps, by the recent prediction that an investment trust for investment trusts will soon bo formed." BRITISH MOTOR INDUSTRY. "Of all the things which have brought us consolation in the midst of industrial distress, tho activity of our automobile industry is the most conspicuous. It is ono of the greatest sources of employment in our country to-day, and, directly and indirectly, gives occupation to a vast number of wage-earners," Sir Robert Home wrote recently. In spite of severe competition British producers have made continuous progress and, encouraged by the measure of security afforded by the McKenna duties, have increased both their homo and foreign sales year by year. Now the industry has been alarmed by Mr. Snowdcn's desire as soon as possible to abolish all the preferences at present accorded to the produce of the Dominions and his apparent readiness to lose the preferences granted by thorn. "If this policy provails tho struggle which our motor-car manufacturers maintain, even now, with great difficulty in Dominion markets will become impossible," Sir Robert Horno declares. "They will not only fail to improve their position; they will inevitably lose tho groat part of the trade they have won and the country will lose tho employment which goes with it. . . . It would bo idlo to expect Mr. Snowdcn lo agree in principle with tho McKenna duties which ho has so often denounced; all (hat need be urged is that it would be hazardous at tho present juncture to interfere with them. Why disturb existing arrangements in an active and progressive industry which is providing so much employment ? Who will say with confidence that throwing Britain open to (lie free competition of American and Continental cars—carefully protected in their own markets—will have no detrimental effect on our position ? In our present critical state we cannot afford to run the risk of robbing a single man of a job."