New-York tribune., 1921-06-13

filled. The confidence and Willingness
to take risks, which normally cement
the processes of business, were lack
ing, and dislocations resulted. Depres-
sion unfortunately sometimes makes
the entrepreneur inefficient.
The temporary stringency of call
money rates was hardly as important
depressing influence on the stock mar
kct as some brokers thought while
the rate was as high as 7h and per
cent. When it receded to per cent
Friday, the decline, due to other fac
tors, persisted.
The tendency in the Wall Stree.
credit market last week was toward
somewhat easier conditions From an
opening of ia per cent, which was
the high for the period, the call loan
rate had receded to 6 per cent by Fri
day. In the outside market borrowers
were able to arrange demand loans at
54s per cent. One of the causes of
use temporarily Of funds paid in on
French loan subscriptions in The call
loan market. Then the weekly state
ment of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York disclosed strong drift of
funds to this center from the interior
OF the country. Incidentally the local
reserve institution reported extraor-
dinary Improvement in its position and
has the largest gold cover against it's
note circulation in several years. The
commercial paper market holds on a
per cent basis for the general run of
business.
Sterling and Continental exchanges
last week acted like toy balloons, rising
moderately and then being sharply
tugged down, as when. a child pulls
the string tied to balloon The mod
crate spurts were in the nature of
speculative rebounds, as natural as the
ascension of the lighter r-than-air bal
looms. The force that carried them
down is less simple. The breaks we're
results of the interplay of forces. The
dynamic push, however, clearly came
principally from the operations of the
German government in the interna-
tional money market in connection
with reparations. Ten days after $37,-
$4,000 had been paid to the account of
the Reparations Commission at the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
another installment Of S14,30O,0O0 was
deposited here on Tuesday. Efforts to
accumulate dollars for this purpose
by the sale of sterling and European
bills upset the stability of the foreign
exchange market. The initiative of the
declines was taken in London. The
ovid appetite for dollars would have
affected quotations under any circum-
stances, but not so ruthlessly as has
been the case if the European ex-
changes had not just emerged from
months of rising quotations.. On the
closing day of last year sterling cables
were quoted at $3.50, at the peak of
eAiC 4dlAy Oli 10 dC paw 5-IO ana
last week slightly below $3.50 at the
m oments of great depression.
The Chamber of Commerce of the
United States has embarked on an
other attempt to ascertain the view of
it's membership regarding taxation.
The referendum last winter was in
conclusive, and the directors recognized
this by ordering another vote. The
purpose Of the new balloting, in which
1,400 business organizations are par
ticipating, is to determine the ma
tional chambers position ON the form
of levy which might be used if needed
to replace revenue lost through the
suggested repeal of the excess profits
tax, to determine an attitude with re-
spect to the continuance of the war
excise taxes and to get a reaction as
to the form of taxes that might be sub
stituted for excise taxes if the rev.
enues now derived from them have to
be replaced.