SATURDAY BUSINESS SLOW ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 326, 20 January 1932, Page 6

SATURDAY BUSINESS SLOW ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE.

A London Letter.

The Covent Garden Syndicate Has Ideal of a National Movement.

A long enough interval has now elapsed since Saturday business was resumed on the London Stock Exchange to enable an estimate to be made of the effect of this departure. 'The Exchange resumed on September 19 the practice of opening on Saturdays which had been discontinued since the early days of the war. This proved a most inauspicious date, since there was a great slump in prices, and it proved to be the eve of the abandonment of the gold standard.

'INHERE WERE many misgivings on the part of stockbrokers, for there was itot the business <to justify the course,- which was regarded rather as a “ gesture to the nation ” and proof of the willingness of the members to forego their week-end holiday. It has been found that the Saturday opening has transferred some of the Monday business to Saturday, for Monday was formerly the heaviest day of the week for dealings. At the beginning of August, for instance, the average number of markings of Stock Exchange bargains was 4000 on Mondays and 3800 on the other week-days. Last week, on the other hand, 4117 bargains were recorded on Monday, while on Tuesday the number was 4354, and on Thursday 4400. On the previous Saturday (November 21) the number of dealings was 1852. It will be seen that the number of Saturday dealings was small compared with the other days of the week, and that the position of Monday has been reversed compared with the period before the resumption of the Saturday opening. Another effect is that, owing to the small number of bargains transacted on the Saturday, the markets on that day tend to be extremely sensitive. Prices move upwards or downwards disproportionately to volume of business or on sentiment alone. Some brokers argue that this works disadvantageto the public, particularly where investors have selling limits. On the other hand, of course, investors who have buying limits may be enabled to buy more cheaply. Lady Snowden’s Opera Scheme. The ideal of a national movement for grand opera is still cherished, and Lady Snowden, who has accepted the chairmanship of the Covent Garden Opera Syndicate, undeterred by previous lack of success in that direction, intends first to make an effort to bring all existing grand opera enthusiasts into one fold. She says she has the good will of Sir Thomas Beecham, and is not without expectation that he may help to develop her project. Much ground has first to be tilled in preparation. At present the company controlled by the syndicate is touring the country. Its stage requirements are so large that only a few provincial cities have theatre accommodation for its performances. Wherever it goes, Lady Snowden and her helpers are going also, to stir up local interest in the plans she is maturing. Largely the problem is one of finance. The cost of the ten week’s season at Covent Garden and the tours in the country absorbs the whole of the Government grant of £17,500 (promised for five years) and the British Broadcasting Corporation subsidy of £7OOO. Times are bad for getting subsidies from private individuals, but Lady Snow-

den declares that if more box office support could be secured from the public, it would be possible to put a second and smaller company “on the road ” to visit smaller towns and so make a beginning of a really national enterprise. At the moment the future of the Covent Garden Syndicate is uncertain. It is planning a ten-week international season at Covent Garden next year and spring and autumn tours in the country, but without an increased revenue it cannot develop its ambitions. The syndicate does not function for profits for shareholders. Its double aim is to keep grand opera alive in England, and to keep British musicians in employment. The travelling company is all-British, and only a limited number of foreign “ stars ” will be engaged for Covent Garden. The Rebuilding of Dublin. The Irish Free State is slowly recovering from the effects of the troubled times following the war, and placing its house in order. This autumn the Four Courts in Dublin are in use once more. This block of buildings was more seriously damaged than any other building in Dublin during the fighting, and the reopening of the Courts marks the virtual completion of the long and costly process of restoring the city’s damaged buildings. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent by the Free State Government during the past few years in removing the traces of the civil war. The most ambitious single task was the restoration of the Custom House. This cost £300,000. Considerable damage was done to the buildings in O’Connell Street/ and only the shell of the post office and several other important blocks was left standing. These have nearly all been restored, and a large extension of the post office is in course of completion. Apart from this work, attention is being given to the question of civic improvements. Dublin possesses a large number of fine historic buildings and a network of wide streets, but there are also extensive slum areas, and until the Government introduced its Housing Bill the authorities had only limited powers to make improvements. The enormous increase of motor traffic is focusing attention on the need for adequate parking accommodation. The City Council is considering an ingenious proposal to cover over a length of the River Liffey in the centre of Dublin on either side of O’Connell Bridge, and to use the space for a central omnibus station and car park. The proposal, which has the support of the Dublin City Improvements Association, is the most ambitious town-planning scheme which has come up for serious discussion. Fifty feet of water would be left open in mid-stream, but the rest would be covered by roadway, and on each side of the river there would be a boulevard with cafes and shops. Architects have expressed the belief that the scheme would be feasible, and it is claimed that the revenue from cars and buses, and the rents from business premises, would ultimately defray the cost involved.