Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-03-14
GOSSIP OF
THE STREET

Movements in the foreign exchange
market continue as mystifying as ever.
Inc presence Of violent counter cur
rents has served to Increase the mys-
tery Aside from the general theory OF
tore'gn government manipulation and
speculative operations based upon po-
litical developments. dealers are much
at sea as ever in endea voring 10 dag
nose the ever growing interesting situs-
ton.
In some quarters there was re-
sumption of suggestions that this coun
Try should remit al least a part OF the
debt owed by the allied countries. A
| contention il made in support Of this
| theory that every dollar Of the principal
or the loans was spent in the United
states TO pay for commodities purcha sed
| here by our Allies. Also that none OF
the money left the United States and
that while the legal obligation to repay
thc deDt ~ clear. II is equally clear that.
as n practical matter, the government
OF the United States recovered in the
| iorm OF income aud excess profits taxes
ABOUT ~ per cent Of the amount loaned.
| IL is claimed that I'VE should brenk
down the wall Of high exchange. which
mas prevented people in Europe from
| buying our surplus products. and
thereby enable us TO enter into profit e
able trade relations with them.
| These theorists urge that this could
be accomplished at once by making the
release OF our loans conditioned upon
our debtors agreeing TO use the credit
| which they would obtain TO place cS .
change at figure much more nearly
normal than it is now. These theories
have been seriously advanced by some
OF the most prominent international
bankers. particularly those most largely
interested in French trade.
Scalpers in Bond Market
While il has been general gossip in
Wall street that bond deal are heav.
lily loaded up with securities which the!
have been unable TO sell. some Of TIL,
leading interests identified with the
trade take umbrage at such assertions
II is true that some Of the more re
Gently offered securities have not gon,
well with investors. but the results il
the main have been of a satisfactory ant
gratifying character. One of the short
cominzs in the trade has been the nc
tivities Of ''scalpers." In other words
to subscribe to a much larger smount o
securities than they have sold or I'm
der ordinary conditions were able +,
sell. quickly realized profit through
their riding activities. and. as q re
suit. when the demand for securitie
eased up to some extent many OF then
found they had taken on obligation
which were quite beyond the limits 0
their finances.
1t was said that some Of these popu
larly termed "sharpshooters foun
occa sions where they had oversteppe
the boundaries Of their financial re
sources as well as their ability to sue
Cessfully place the amounts of hecuri
ties asked for from managers Of under
writing syndicates. One prominen
banker said that he hoped the expert
Cnce gained by some Of these unscru
pulous and scheming individuals woul
prove of value to them in the future
particularly as developments of thi
character are not such as to promote
truly healthy condition in the trade.
Freight Tonnage Still Light
Officials of railroads operating eal
. from Chicago and st. Louis repoI
! about the same total volume of busine.
as the previous week. with gross ton
mage running 10 to 10 per cent less tha
a year ago.
The coal movement continues to ri
much short of II year ago. the result
smaller needs for industrial concerI
and lighter fuel requirements. AS til
item is a big one with all of the easter
roads. it is Il material factor in cuttir
into the total shipments. Lumber ar
building supply materials also are OF
? fered sparingly. and the shipments fro
, steel and iron centers show no improve
ment.
. There has been larger movemer
of corn east to the seaboard. which hf
! helped bring up the total tonnage
= some extent. the export movement beiT
. Of fair proportions. General merchar
: disc continues to- fall materially belo
. a year ago.
Oficials of southern roads report tor
! mage II to 10 per cent short of 1920
the corresponding period. There is n,
much let up on the grain movement I
! the gulf. corn increasing and whet
falling off slightly but the coal move
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