FEARS OF INFLATION.
Consequently it will be seen that holders of gilt-edged stocks who had hitherto been content with a low interest yield because of the greater safety of the investment have been hit on all sides by influences such as the high income tax; the high Bank: rate and the probable rise :in the cost of living to an extent prompting_them to slesire,to obtain a higher yield on their shares. It is possible, too, that foreign selling of these high-class, but low interest-yielding stocks, has also been- accentuated by fears- lest currency depreciation in England should become really severe as was the case in certain other countries some years ago which were not on the gold standard and which, moreover, indulged in an orgy of inflation. These fears, of course, were only so far justified by the fact that the first effect of our going off the gold standard may be to increase the difficulty of balancing the Budget for the current year, thus increasing the temptation offered by measures of inflation. Fortunately there is every reason to believe that such temptation will be steadily resisted, in which case the depreciation in the pound will be limited and May even only be temporary.
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