The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-01


 uary, good sign that the reckless exploitation of our resources is be- Ing curtailed and the market becom- Ing more stabilized. Even coal men look for better business as the season wears on and the time when buying can be no longer postponed comes nearer The American Woolen com pany's opening of spring fabrics, at prices mainly unchanged from lasE year, was entirely successful, demand
 in few lines reaching record pro. portions,
 Taking High Grain
 In the grain markets rash enthu- siasts are talking of g wheat aud higher prices before the end of this crop are widely expected Sugar Is again higher for both raw and re- fined the latter having sold at 6 cents per pound and the Cuban crisis is in consequence becoming daily less acute as the large stocks held there find buyers despite the predic- tions of the pessimlsts.
 Cotton futures are somewhat lower on speculative short selling inspired by an alleged improvement in the crop outlook, but the war finance corporation Is broadening it's aid to exporters and in cotton as in sugar 1t may be that the weight of the sta- 1 tistical surplus has been exaggerated. Certainly there is no prospect that the growing crop of cotton will be in excess of the worlds reviving con sumption and those who hold the residium of the present supply will probably continue to hold it for some time yet.
 Tariff Sidetracked | The tariff bill having been passed on to the Senate, seems likely to be sidetracked at least for the present. | as President Harding is urging that , prior consideration should be given to the much more important matter of tax revision.
 1 The weeks statistics indicate that the volume of trade is well main tained. The National Association of Manufacturers predicts that July ex- ports will show an increase over June in several of the more impor- tant classes of goods and more for eign buyers are arriving in the | United States. Bank clearings for the week as reported by Bradstreets are 22.S per cent under last year which indicates trade fully up to last year when the decline in prices is considered.
 The credit clearing house shows more buying. less indebtedness and better collections in July than ir June and the improved status of af- fairs generally Is thus summarized by the American Exchange National bank of New York in circular which says: More progress towards the realization of plans for the compost tion of the affairs of the world on A basis Of sanity and common sense was made in July than in any month since the armistice was signed. The | progress was really stupendous in it's significance"
 The market for foreign exchange Is slightly lower, reflecting. so 1t is claimed, Germany's gradual accum- ulation of dollar drafts" against the next pls reparation payment to be made November 1. This is however. con1ectural for as previously stated the speculation in exchange is euor- nous and no one can guage the sig. nlrcance of the daily Fluctuations. It has been reported and denied that the treasury department is trying 10 control or suppress this speculation. Jsp's Promise
 Japan's promise to attend the dis armament conference assures that this momentous gathering will he held and upon the action there taken the future Of the worlds civilization
 
 time the sore spots in Europe appear to be rapidly healing In Turkey. Greece and Silesia there Is still some suppuration, but elsewhere the wounds of the war are gradually be- coming scars that will it is to be hoped, serve to remind men of the horrors of war without reviving it's enmities.
 From Germany the reports are conflicting. Some say that in the travail of war German industry has been bore again and will shortly overwhelm the world with cheaply manufactured goods, but as most of the raw material out of which these goods would be made must be im- ported it Is to be doubted the worlds fear of German competition is entire- ly warranted.
 British trade is improving and the London stock exchange is almost buoyant as result of the reduction in the bank rate and the hope of still cheaper money that 1t has inspired The same statement is measurably true of France as the bank rate there has also been reduced to 51a per cent On this side of the Atlantic Me = ico Is still an unsolved problem upon which the news of the week does not shed much light The stateman who can find way to reopen Mexico to American capital and enterprise without affronting the Representative egotism of the Mexican people will do a great service to both countries and may initiate the next great boor1 in American business. The reestablish- ment of orderly government In Cuba after the Spanish American war was the occasion of great business re- l vival in the United States and the settlement of the Mexican question might work a similar change in our | psychological condition. Such d change would seem to be the one | thing necessary to the better feel- ing that Is the inspiration as well as the product of better business in this country.