New Britain herald., 1921-10-29
WEEKS REVIEW AND IMMEDIATE OUTLOOK.
Henry CleWs, New York Financial
 Expert, Gives His Opinions
Especial to The HeraId.)

New York, Oct 29-The nearer approach of the Arms conference at Washington, and the increa sing cer- tainty that that conference will necessa rily deal with financial ques- tions is the most important factor of general significance to the market now on the horizon. Not only the revision of our tax system, but the whole problem of the funding of the international indebtedness may be largely influenced by the outcome of this meeting. It has become a fac GOT in the financial situation which must, be ranked as of first inpor- tance.
 i Railroad Strike Averted.&
 The calling off of the threatened railroad strike is a great moral vic tory for the government and is of course good for the. railroads as well as the whole country. Those in position to know, however, have felt that there could be no other result for the reason that a number of af- iliated unions were not in sympathy with the walkout, public sentirn ent was against 1t, and the great number of people out of employment ren- dered the success of the undertaking very doubtful at the outset. This situation has of course been well un- derstood by the union heads, never theless, they deserve credit for dis playing good sense in rescinding their strike order, notwithstanding that, it was delayed until the eleventh hour So far. as the roads are concerned, l, however. it still leaves open the mat ter of flower freight rates, which the railroads under present eonditions can i'll afford to make so long as operating costs continue at their pres ent high level, and these can only be materially reduced by a further readjustment in wages which the Labor Board apparently is not in- clined to sanction for some months to come. Pending the decision, not merely of the strike, but of the wage and rate situation of the roads it is not strange that the general public should have held aloof from the market and especially from railroad securities, fearful of the consequences of the controversy.
 General Business Undistnrbetl.
 It is gratifying to note that gen eral bustness has been sbngularly little disturbed by the strike pros pects In some parts of the country there would seem to have been an effort to produce and ship rather more largely than would otherwise have been the case had there not been 8 prospect that the movement of freight would be "tied up'' Ut the end of the month. Business, how ever, in not a few branches is still showing the continued results of the depression. The quarterly report of the United States Steel Corporation. although exhibfting an improvement for September over the preceding August and July, is a favorable fac tor, notwithstanding that the com bined figures are bad when com pared with previous quarters of this year. The showing made by Central Leather may be regarded as a mod crate improvement. In the oil in- t7estry MeNcan Petroleum's large reported earnings have naturally been taken as helpful element, Continued firmness on the part of the copper shares has been an en- couraging phase of the weeks de- velopments, although it is still un- certain just how much real improve ment has taken place in the copper .buEness itself. Excellent reports