The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-12
HENRY CLEWS'
 WEEKLY LETTER

sitieI1 in i1ztHfaat t4e1sa1 affairs has been i eeeupIed, so far as the gaited States 1 is concerned, with mere ar 1sss fruit 1 less discussion about the AdFlat4e very little prospect of an i'm mediate adjustment being appar- ently in sight. This long drawn dip Ionaatae negotiation has tended con- to eempIieaee the treaty situation in the Senate, and probably has not helped the latter in any ma teriaI degree but has rather retarded the prpgress of the treaty toward rat ification. The chance Of any satis- factory settlement seems te be wan ing and the evident prospects that the treaty viii be forced into the campaign as q temporary tsaae are apparently increasing hakA day to day.
 Money and E2uAAage Situation
 Ia eAese circumstances no material sznpzeveraent in financial relations between this country and Europe could be reasonably expected Least of all could such an adjustment be looked for wn4te domestic money con- dIElons continue unsatisfactory. The reserve ratio of the Federal reserve kygeeasA sEas slightly lsWer at tho open ing c1 the week and according to all accounts there has been no tendency to greater strength thus far, As one result a desire on the part of the banks to eat off new business and to limit tfaeir commitments was to be expected. That the banks are not vfll4reS to have the situation further azerapated IS indicated by the peg ginR of call rates at S-10 per cent. They had begun by reducing their advances for the support of European credISsS they are now continuing this policy but cnrtailtng their advances to domestic borrowers, endeavoring to eenffne themselves so far as pos sibfe to what are called "productive ,1sess' and to limit the funds which they grant to borrowers who desire to employ them in investment or speculation That under such condi- tiens, there is a great scarcity of time money at any price is naturally to be expected, The fact that exchange has held as stable as it has, sterling holding it's own and even advancing at one time to near S.62, while francs lire and other exchanges have been reasonably strong, has indicated to some that the worst is probably past in foreign exchange Particulars are lacking regarding an influx of gold from the other sides but it is under stood that arrangements are under way whereby $25o, o,eoo,o0o will be shipped to this country before next fall, mainly for the purpose of mak- ing provision for the $500, 100000 Auglo-French bonds falling due next October IS, This has naturally creat- ed a more favorable impression con cerning European finances
 Export trade figures continue to show very high returns, but II is now well established that they are nearly three months in arrears Foreign exchange operators know this and they have already discounted it
 Important Court Desicions
 An encouraging fact in the invest IIl ent situation is seen in the United States Supreme Court decisions hand ed down on Monday .asL in the case of the Government against the United States StSel Corporation and in the suit brought against the State of New York to determine the consti- tionaIity of the provision denying to non-res5dents certain exemptions which had been granted to residents In both cases the decision of the coErt has been on the sides of equity and conservatism
 In the steel case it affirns the de cisdon of the lower court by holding g that the corporation is not a '-trust'' but that its operation has been bene- ficial i'm many ways and that the dis solution of the concern might result in injury to the public welfare and to OUT foreign trade Important as the general principle is, the finding of the court that the corporation or any other like 1t, is to be judged on the basis not on what it might do but or {ry x-sn1 of the trust situation quite different to that which has prevailed in the past, and the decision of the court although rendered onfy on & major ity basis with a strong minority pro- testing is correspo1ading7y welcome IT the income tax case it was held thai nom-resiGGntS of the State of New York were emt4tHed t~ the same ex- ernptioDs as residents and that the provision of the law denying then. this exemption was unconstitutional A modification of the act to bring it in to conformity with the order of thl court is promised for the near future
 bat the principle is of significance Neither decision has been Of very great market importance except as .
 general supporting influence. but fr the Gatter Es5nt the findings of tht
 court S1aOmad be assigned no sEaal va1me.
 InSSE1n1e1aG Coalitions
 Tine TOamFn@ of business on the Ex
 change has falaGm off markedly dur
 ing fine past week, running at time
 onfy about 4@9. 9.eee Or soc DeG0 shares
 This has be&m aSae to the dSSeosseag
 ing conditions in na0nsy.
 TShe GaiAss of which much was ex
 peeaed as a result of the President
 action i'm signing the cailroad bf5I an4
 of the ysrg satisfactory measure
 taken by railroad administrators fo
 facilitating the EetnEm of the lines
 have proved a disappointment. Al
 though they were marked np at tn
 close of Last week. tzler@ has bee
 q fE5zetna$aEaS recession this weel
 which 1n some cases has carried tfa
 stocks of we'll known lines down
 or 3 points. This is attributable ii
 paEt to the HnfaRorabae banking an
 credit situation but it iS also aseriba
 bls to the fact that investors wan
 to know more about the actual futur
 of the lines before they commit them
 selves definitely to purchases, Fore
 casts of the probable investment valu
 of the rails are proving far too com
 plex for off hand or hasty formula
 ton. Much of the outlook in ta