. RISE IN COMMODITIES. .
Inasmuch as these measures did not seem to have been immediately accompanied by certain needed reforms in the national finances, their effect upon the financial and general community was not immediate, but gradually their influence has been felt and when, possibly as a result of artificial stimulus rather than natural causes, some of the leading commodities, such as metals, wheat and rubber, began to rise, imagination was quickened as to the - possibility of an early revival in trade, the effect of which- might be to transform the whole financial atmosphere. For a week or two now the rise in commodities as well as in securities has made progress, and it is not difficult to see that if this rise, can be maintained certain forces may- -be set at work having far-reaching _effects.. A moderate further rise in the price of sugar, for example, must give a new lease of life to Cuba, and that again 'would favourably affect other interests, and in the case of commodities such as grain and wool, it would . be difficult, of course, to exaggerate the good effect of the rise in price upon the ability of countries such as Argentina and Australia to effect their external payments.
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