The Washington times., 1919-08-29
.Boersioner's
Comment
on Business

Much may Be said IN favor Of an
accommodations between capital and
labor, as these are represented by the
STEEL and by the railway businesses.
The. most cogent Is that Mr.. Gompers
and Mr.. Wilson are, so TO speak, In
timAtes. The former Is a profound
admirer, Of the, latter. he viii go to
extreme lengths TO. aid In fulhliing
q Presidential plan. Another Is that
All OF the skIlIed and some OF the un-
skilled workers In the United States
steel Corporation are. stockholders,
about T5,O00 in all, who Joined the
corporation es part proprietors as far
back as 1904
Vet the friendship of Mr.. .Gompers
for Mr.. Wilson and stockholderships
are not. Il, be too confidently counter
vailed against q general labor situa-
ton sprchafsed with unrest and dis
content: against the fact OF a strike
vote; against Mr.. F9tzpatriok's an
nOuncement that at the expiration OF
the time limit the decree OF the em-
ployes will be enforced; against Sec
retary Lanes warning.
Obviously, the. steel corporation,
for one among the threatened enti-
ties, is prepared for the worst. Mr..
Gays words and attitude are plGinly
indicative OF that: they connote a
confidence Impaired by a phenome-
nally powerful financial position and
perhaps also by enough loyal hands
to assure q fair degree Of operation
capacity.
tion must be different Much. per-
haps everything. viii depend upon
how far employees viii sc IN acqui-
escing In President wilson's appeal,
fortified BY Mr.. .Gompers, letter Of en-
doFsement.i
Internationally, the feature OF the
week Is the reduction BY the Bank Of
England Of the rates on foreign ball
ances from AZ to per cent.
On the face of IL. the action Is de-
cidedly inimical to the English pound
in America, as was immediately
shown by a sharp decline In sterling.
The move of the banks. governors Is
not clarified by the maintenance OF q
in the Bank of England By British
joint stock banks.
This rate and the one on American
deposits have been allowed pur-
suant to an understanding between
the chancellor Of the exchequer
and the Bank of England; that Is,
the British government has been and
continues to be permanently cooper
atfve IN all important actions Of the
Bank Of England.
Large and numerous foreign ac-
counts in London aid by that much
the sterling exchange market Fur
ther, claridcation is not afforded by
sales here Of British treasury bills
on a 8 per cent baskerville the gov
eFnment bank will pay only 8 per cent
for foreign deposit money in London.
It would seem, superheially at least.
that John is content to continue the
buck to Sam exchangewise; so that
whatever contrivance was operant to
stiften sterling from Monday after
noon to today noon must have been
OF American. not Of British. device.
One Of the several minor coinci-
.dences Of this circumstances y the
fact that interest coupons Of numer-
Gus foreign government bonds and
other securities are payable In Amer
fixed rate. Of exchanges for the pound
based on the normal level ruling be-
fore the war.
In instance. the per cent tax-free
income bonds Of the UNDERGROUND
Electric Railways of Eoad 3b.F : "a The
dividend on these bonds was returned
to a per cent basis, free Of tax, in
March last. Interest COUPONS are
payable March and September in Lon
don or In Amsterdam at the fixed rate
of exchange OF 1912 forms. or in New
York at $4.S6 % for Fl sterling. The
Az per cent bonds OF 1899 of the same
company carry the same right
Under present conditions a holder
of, say, Fl, 900 of the per cent bonds
can get in New York $146 for a per
cent half-yearly coupon, and then, if
he exchanges into sterling at the cur
rent rate he gets E34, inshead Of the
$50 which he would receive IL he ac-
cepted payment in London. Thus the
right to cash sterling interest coupons
in New York at fixed rate is an at
tractive feature. and, of course. the
lower the exchange falls the bigger
the advantage.
The same applies to the other coun-
tries where the exchange is against
London, although, excepting Argen-
tina and Spain, the difference in these
cases. Is not very considerable. In
the case of the Underground income
bonds, IL the coupons are to large
extent cashed in America a substan-
tial loss on exchange must be met by