The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-14
Uncertainty
ABOUT BONUS
HITS STOCKS
BY STUART P. WEST.

BI SIUAhL Is uE6ls
wall Street, New York, Feb. IA
the grain market and the foreign
Exchanges furnished the important
accidents in the general financial
and business situation today. The
s,ock market and the bond market,
zoo we're held In check by the I'M
certainty of the soldier bonus leg
islation and speculation as to what
form of financing would take,
should such a measure pass. But
there were no such deterrents in
tbe other markets. The grain trade
vas divided in interest between
further damage reports at home and
great strength in wheat prices
abroad. While New York was clos
I'd for business yesterday, Liver
nool was bidding up wheat quota
lions easily and Immediately at the
onening this morning there was a
violent rush to buy, which before it
was checked at all had carried the
Nav options another cents in the
hushel and the total advance in less
than three weeks of 20 cents.
The English attitude toward the
wheat situation has been Influenced
powerfully by the improvement in
highlands own position in the for
eign trade. This strikingly Illus
trated again today in the close cor
respondence between the wheat
movement in sterling exchange.
Sterling had receded in the latter
half of last week 6 cents in the
pound from its highest 1t made
the greater part of this reaction
ND at a single bound this morning.
This advance was the more inter
esting in view OF the further state
ment of the British treasury head
that the restoration of a free mar
ket for gold was not far off. 1t
now appears that this statement
referred not to the resumption of
gold payments in England gener-
ally to settlements in the export
trade. In other words, no further
obstacles would after a short while
be thrown in the way of settling
adverse trade balances in gold.
1t. was an unimpOrtant day in
both stock and bond markets. The
to q government bond issue to &C
complish the soldier bonus fund
had no effect on either Liberty
bonds or the investment list in gen.
eral as might have been construed.
Either it meant that such a pro-
posal was deemed to have little
chance in face OF the disapproval OF
the president and the secretary OF
the treasury or else it indicated
confidence that such an issue put
out piecemeal would be readily
snapped up in such an investment
market as we now have.
For the first three-Quarters OF
the session the movement in stocks
was rather indecisive. Prices were
; higher as a rule, but there were
some notable exceptions and trad
ing continued to feel the restriction
Of the uncertainty at Washington .
In the last hour word came that
the president, while opposing the
raising of soldier bonus money by
an issue of bonds, was equally
against the special taxes proposed
by the ways and means committee
This was interpreted favorably and
dealings became brisker with a
general advance in prices. Rail
way shares, both standard dividend
payers and low prices speculative
issues, were consistently strong
throughout, and many of them went
through their best previous figures
Of the year.
Wall Street, New York, Feb. IA
-lnasmuch as Great Britain has
ceased to be a debtor to the United
in fra a
announcement by the chancellor OF
the excheQuer is of little practical
Importance for the present ex-
| change marekt 1t is more thar
ever clear that the supreme inf1u.
ence back Of the ADVANCE in sterl,
ing is that the British purchases OF
American merchandise have faller
50 low in value that what debit
there still is in this trade is more
than outweighed by non-commercia
credits. The British board o.
trade figures for January, with theil
excess imports of only 13,342,0O(
pounds as against nearly 100000
/ pounds in December and monthly
average during 1921 over 32,700,GO(
pounds had made this sufficiently
PLAIN. But more testimony OF the
same sort appeared in the prelim
mary figures of our own exports
and imports last month. The ex
port total of $279, 700, 900 was the
smallest for any month in six ant
half years and the excess of ex
ports over imports which in Janu
sF, 1921, was nearly $446,000,00(
swlndled to the paltry total o.