Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-01
By STEWART r. WEST
peeiai correspsndsnt Of Great FaIIs Tribune
ta,v rht 1921 NV Tha tsrest EaIfx Trfhuue.

Special Correspondent Of Great Fslls Tribune
Copyright. 1922 ny The Great Falls Tribune.
New York, Sept. 3O.-On the face OF
things, the threat of another war grow
ing out of the Turkish ambitions for
the recovery of Thrace, the Greek rev.
olution and the determination Of Eng
land to retain the fruits Of the allied
victory would seem to have been the
overshadowing consideration in the fl
nancial situation during the past week.
The practical view is that it simply has
fitted in with other influences which
by themselves would have caused the
same series of changes in the various
markets. Apparently it has been a
greater factor in the sterling exchange
movement than anywhere else and yet
the decline in sterling of 13 cents in
the pound below the high of a month
ago, easily could have resulted from
customary pressure of commercial bills
drawn against purchases of our grain
and cotton.
Professional Wall street is unani-
nous in saying that the stock market
would have had to go through the ad-
justment it has, regardless of the out
side news
Effect OF Governmen Financing
The political troubles in Europe have
added to the restraints upon the invest
ment market. but the real reason why
bond prices have been slipping for the
=. last fortnight is the uncertainty re-
garding the Forthcoming United States
government loan. Wall street sees in
this the first of a series of similar
transactions, the object Of which will
be to fund the $4,000 600, 900 short
term obligations falling due within the
next 10 months into a longer term Sc
eurity.
This new bond will actively compete
with the present Liberty loans and with
the other high grade investments in
general. Presumably it will be issued
on terms that will make the competition
with other similar securities favorable
TO the eide of the treasury. This is
what the bond market has had in mind
for the last two weeks and the result
has been a steady il not hurried selling
pressure which has brought prices down
substantially from the top.
The stock market as a guide to gen.
eral conditions has been of very little
significance. 1t has been an affair Of
rival groups of spectators endeayor-
ing to try put the position within the
market itself. Over a good part of the
list the campaign for the spring and
summer had exaggerated the legitimate
Improvement in values. The purpose
of the reaction which set in immedi-
ately after Labor day was to correct
this.
Whether this reaction had run far
enough was the question in dispute at
the close of the week The most that
could be said was that the professional
efforts to force prices down were en-
countering more and more opposition.
There was a well defined suggestion in
the market Of the last few days of in
~terests which had distributed stocks a
month ago taking advantage of the
weak spells to get them back.
Easy Credit Forecast
The fundamental motives in the Wall
street situation are based as they have
been all along, on confidence of at least
a moderate degree OF business prosper
ity during the coming yea and assur-
ance that with the addition to the coun-
try's gold stock the banks can readily
take care of increased mercantile de-
mands and have an abundance left for
the granting of credits on easy terms
to other classes Of borrowers.
With satisfactory earnings and low
money rates, It is felt that there is no
reason for any downward movement
other than the reactions which are
bound to occur after periods of active
speculation like those of last May and
August.
The fact that the markets Of the
world have not been more sensitive to
the crisis in southeastern Europe
means either that they do not believe
that it will lead to actual hostilities or
that they feel the result will not be so
very serious should there come a clash.
There are, of course, all sorts of vague
possibilities connected with an eruption
ut the D~ardanelles. But the fact Is
that no matter what may be said for
the fighting qualities Of the Turk or
whether or not the threats of soviet
Russia are worth considering, the only
European country with financial re-
sources able to carry on a war is Great
Britain.
German Policy Unchanged
The initiation of the German note
currency has so far shown no signs of
subsiding despite the six months post
ponement OF ~reparations payments in
cash. Quite possibly the latest reichs-
bank statement was not conclusive tes-
timony on this subject. 1t may take
another week or so to establish wheth-
er there has been a change in the Ger
man attitude. But it is disappointing
on the evidence in hand that the relief
afforded the Germans by the tempo
rary suspension of this lyme has
LONG AND SHORT TERM n,