The Washington times., 1910-05-15
By JOHN GRANT DATER.



The report gave the average condition
Of winter wheat on May I, as s2-1, or Is
per cent better than the Apri! ! condi-
ton OF sos.
The improvement in condition was. of
course. the favorable feature of the crop
aspect, for the actual condition OF ST.
Is considerably below the average con-
dition Of the past ten years at this sea-
son. which is &5-I- The acreage and con
ditionS indicate Yield Of winter wheat
Of 2,455,o0o bushels This compares
with a harvest of az, 80 co.. bushels last
year which while not a bumper gleid,
and giving no promise Of considerable
surplus for export, which Is to be re-
GREETED. is ample for home consump-
ton. OF course, the hnsl outcome Of
and spring wheat is Yet 10 be heard
from officially; but. at the present time
there is asEurediy nothing n the situa-
ton which betokens a wheat crop dis
aSter. and the report shows clearly that
the recent estimates Of crop damage
were grossly exaggerated
International Trade
II Is possible. Of course. for persons
Uho wanl 10 look at the dark side Of
things 10 ind Something to srowl at
in The Government trade statement for
April. published today, fer u again
shows an excess OF imports over exports.
and this excess Is the first shown ia any
APRIL statement OF foreign trade Tor
thirteen years but compared with the
March showing. when imports exceeded
exports by SIS. 80 So, the adverse balance
Of April Is but a tTIfie- amounting only
10 SS53. $40 As to the actual ngures, cN-
ports during the month a-nguuted 10
sIS3,CS9 fnS and imports 10 sI33, 80, -. For
the tel months Of the fiscal year 20 q ate
exports have TIn I'D 10 81. Is, 1920. and
Imports 10 Sl,3ls,-5'. 81. leaving a balance
Of exports ia our favor o. Slot 80, 454
or course. this Is not a good showing
VIXEN compared with The excess exports
Of four. and five. AMI SIX hundred mil
lions 81 former years. cut II considering
this feature one must not oF CROCK two
facts, one. that the TerSency shown IN
April. as against that OF March. Is in
the right direction and the other. that
We have under negotiation. OF have con-
ciuded IN recent weeks. sales TO Europe
aCETegatinE fully 800. 600 .G1G of securi-
ties OF as wide a diversity as New York
city warrants, Chicago, Milwaukee and
st Paul debsrtUTes. Big -Four. Frisco,
and Sea board Air Line bonds, and Bal
timore and Ohio notes
Sales Of Bonds to Europe.
II Is. perhaps. unfortunate in eonnec-
ton with these sales and negotiations.
that some exagEeration has entered. and
that the announcement OF the most i'm
pOrtaEL transaction Of al. the sale of
100000 ST. Paul debeutlreS 70 Paris
should have been made premayUreIy.
tract rom the great importance 20 the
country Of the transactions ConSumuIar-
&c. ana those which viii surely eVentu-
ate French bankers move slowly I'm
transactions Of this kind. and there is
the highest authority for the statement
that the only DELAY. IN the official an
noEnceuent Of the St Paul transaction
IS a mere question Of IRA EziuE details
something OF the same kind occurred i'm
connection with the successful sales
some years ago. OF Pennsylvania bonds
and New Haven debentures-
Upon the previous occasion Of the
bone sales 20 Paris. as now, there vas
A disposition IN some quarters TO cay,I
~ ana crIticlse the rates at which the
companies negotiated The sales. but
that 3 the narrower view. The broad
view embOdies these features The sales
abroad are not indicative Of credit con
dluons which bear on the properties.
extent, Indicative OF conditions in the
country. credit conditions and other
CONDITIONS as well At an attractive
Price any OF the companies selling Sc
curltles abroad. could cell them here.
buJ this might have an adverse irlflu-
ence on other securities Of the C0rpe-
tons themselves. and those OF other
corporations IN the same general class.
and q might necessitate a shifting o.
& arrangement OF loans. and. IN the end
IL would fail IL the accomplishment Of
the chiefly beneficial feature. In other
words, a large security sale Al the uTeE-
pay no debt abroad. OF bring no fresh
money into the country which very i'm
portaHt matter is accomplished by the
foreign sales.
Lower Exchange; Easier Money
In fact, one can already note some
beneficial influence from the foreign
bond negotiations. even in advance Of
The actual contamination of the most
cousidera bic Of them all Demand sterl-
shipping point Of ass, few weeks
ago, 20 8S6S5, yesterdays closing figure.
and II has been even lower. OF course
with q sale Of securities TO Europe
that We can with heavy surplus ship
nents Of bTea d-stUffs. cotton, and meT-
chsndise- The latter, when shipped
are out OF the way. and are without
reclamation. paying a debt. creating 4
foreign credit, or bringing us fresh sup