New Britain herald., 1919-03-29


 and must in some w lied. | Foreign countries cann> Co al- low their exchanges to In un- duly lo* quotation, and Sterling has already been quoted for checks as low as $4.58, while francs have de- clined to 500 francs to the dollar. and. lire, according to some quota tions, to 500 fire to the dollar. This inevitably means the opening of large foreign credits in the United States and the offering of securities in this country. It foreshadows a very strong ,' demand for American capital, and points in all probability to strength and activity in the stock market. That the New York market must, for a time at least, occupy the position of world fnancier and world creditor is still the opinion of somo of the ablest financial minds. Temporary disturb ances of security values, the f1uctua- tions in the value of foreign issued bonds and stocks where no provision is made for the payment of 8 stable l interest return in dollars and other shifts and changes in the local sell Ing prices of such foreign securities ] may bo expected, and will continue until some stable and aemi-permanent 1 basis of exchange 1S arrived at 1 through arrangement for regular and 1 adequate financing such as has al- !! ready been described. The war fl. 1 nance corporation has already made l preliminary arrangements for the ap- 1 rlicatton of the billion dollar credit 1 allotted to 1t by congress for the l support of our export trade and may l prove to be powerful factor in 1 bringing about 8 more stable situ- ton. 1
 Domestically the most promising financial event Of the week has beep ] the definite tablishmcnt of arrange 1 ments with the finance corporation, l and incidentally with the banks for 1 the financing of the needs of the railroads. Congress may be expected l to meet early in May, and this leaves probably not more than six weeks to 1 be bridged over by the temporary plans now projected. This should not be difficult and success signifies that | there will be no serious interruption to purchases of supplies and equip ment. The outlook has had it's due effect upon the quoted prices of 1 railroad shares and Of equipm ent stocks as we'll. Tn reaching basis of agreement for temporarily stable prices on the chief steel products the 0tctl lIltAll uIttcLulGIS lttVe Iakcn at ! least a tentative step toward facili- tating the resum ptiOn of business on ] a normal basis. There are predic- tions that these prices may not prove to be great mulators of trade, ow- ing to the fact that la"ge portions of the community believe further reduc- tions must be had before a profitable footing for operations can be arrived i at. This remains to De seen.
 If the government will, as it eyi- dently intends to do, begin purchas- l ing on behalf of the roads, the navy and the army, and the public service generally, upon the new price sched- ule, it will itself set a powerful ex- ample which should have an import ant effect in maintaining the quota ton, not only of railroad shares but also of metal stocks and, through in- direct influence, of many other issues as well. The notable strength of 1 United States Steel and other shares during the past week has shown how the market views the prospect.
 Politically the outlook for the next 1 few weeks is decidedly uncertain. Hopeful factors are found in the strong inunations from Paris that a treaty will be concluded and brought back to the United States early in April. There need be no positive ex- pectations on this score, however, since diplomatic procedure is notor- iously slow. Events in southern Elu- rope are such as to necessitatc prompt action and, while they are in them selves diScOuraging, indicating as they do a continuous prospect of dis turbance, vigorous measures are evil dently being concerted for dealing