The Washington times., 1922-10-16
EHrsHs#~ BUSY NESS, AND FINANCE
FINANCE
AND
RUsiNEss 'i1
By b. O. FORBES.

| hodub are uciHB OiLeTcu thS
largest volume of traffic in their his.
tory.
The cost Of living has turned
| upwards.
Wages are rising rather than
falling.
Postal receipts-a significant ba-
| rometer - are increasing substan-
TALLY.
Farmers are realizing good prices
| for the food animals they are now
sending to market.
The South is turning cotton into
l cash on profitable terms.
Wheat prices have kept up some
what better than widely expected.
The ratio Of bank reserves to de-
| posits last week fell almost per
cent and is now only per cent above
a year ago.
Gold is being put into circulation
very freely by bankszindicating
that higher rates for money are
aimed at.
Call money in New York last
week rose to 6 per cent, and other
loans were made at firm rates.
Bank loans and discounts are ex-
panding materially.
| Fewer new issues Of securities
are being floatedSess because Of
the dullness Of the markets edge
than because most large corpora
tions have already covered their
capitalistic requirements for quite
some time to come.
| Stocks quoted on the New York
Stock Exchange again touched a
new high average level last week.
Bond quotations have moved
down from the years high point.
Excitement over events in Turkey
vanished as suddenly as 1t appeared.
German marks continue to sink
to new low levels and threaten to
| continue to decline until a final
crisis is reached.
Britain's payment of her first
$50, 100000 interest installment on
her debt to us, following Reginald
McKenna's emphatic declaration
that Britain could and would pay
us all she owed us, has strength
ened confidence in sterling ex-
change.
Gratifying progress is being
made in reducing the danger Of a
coal famine. Production and deliv-
cries are improving, and prices, at
least in certain quarters, have de-
clined quite sharply.
The preference accorded the ship
ment OF coal Is, naturally, interfer-
ing with the distribution Of other
products, notably iron and steel.
| Reports like the following, from
the st. Louis Reserve Bank, are
typical Of many received from diff
ferent parts of the country: Sew
|eral Of the leading lines report
sales the largest so far this season
and well in excess Of the corre-
spending period a year ago. The
demand for commodities holds up
well, and the same Is true Of the
purchasing power Of the public.
While buying Of merchandise con-
tinues very largely on an immedi-
ate delivery basis, there is a grad.
ual and steady growth Of orders
for forward shipment.
| THE recent upward trend in
prices Of many goods for common
i consumption has had a tendency to
stimulate purchasing by retail mer-
chants"
In short, favorable developments
greatly outnumber and outweigh
unfavorable developments.
1t should be distinctly under
stood, however, that no boom is
| under way or within sight And
this is well.
To my mind. one Of the most
serious dangers to be guarded
against is the possibility of undue
and unwarranted marking up Of
prices. A good many elements con-
ducive to foolish initiation are gather
ing.
| Surely, however, the lesson of the
1919-1s2O boom and it's subsequent
collapse will not be thus soon for
| gotten even by the shortsighted,
voracious business men and business
| concerns. The very worst thing that
could happen would be the tanning
of wild antics during the next few
months.
Were a boom engineered this
Winter or next Spring 1t would
probably be short lived and II Ger.
tainly would bring in it's wake con-
sequences disastrous alike to those
who iIl-advisedly sought to fan It.,
to labor, to the general public, and
even to the foreign countries doing
active business with us.
This is preeminently a time for
prudence for moderation. for far.