Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-01
WEEK BRINGS EVIDENCE
OF BETTERMENT IN U. S.
BUSINESS CONDITIONS
By WeIls-Dickey Co.

character with further evidences com
ing to hand of a steady improvement
in business conditions in all sections.
On the other hand the foreign situation
is immensely disturbing. Settlement of
the present crisis in the Near East will
require all the finesse of diplomacy
which European politicians can boast
England has made her position perfect
ly clear and it seems likely that the
Turks will not be quick to overstep the
perquisites for peace laid down by
Great Britain. There is also little
likelihood that the Turks will accept
the concessions which the British so
far a been willing to make.
With the abdication of the Greclan
king and the control of the Greek ma
ton practically in the hands of three
generals determined upon continued
Turkish attack in Thracian territory,
another disturbing factor is introduced
whose influence it is yet difficult to
measure. What the immediate out
come of the Near Eastern difficulties
will be remains an open question, but
it does seem improbable that any ex-
~tensive clash of arms will result. The
dispatching by the United States of
ESh 1tENl 70 AC ANb Va ~
ton is an indication that the United
States may play an important part in
upholding the British position, for as
Secretary Hughes said the other day
our country is determined that the in
ternational lanes opened by the peace
conference shall not be disturbed.
The failure of the bonus bill to pass
both houses over the presidents veto
seems to have disposed of this question
for some time at least. While there
are naturally two sides to the question,
it must be admitted that Harding's
clear statement of his stand was a
constructive effort of the first order.
The bonus bill as drawn was open to
much legitimate criticism, primarily
because it called for a vast expendi-
ture of money without providing any
means for raising it. Another devel-
opment which presages a better bus
mess future was the consistent prog
ress made by the railways and their
employees in smoothing out their labor
difficulties. The railways are well
equipped with shop forces, probably to
the extent of about so per cent or IS
per cent of normal. OF course, this
does not mean that an 81 per cent eff
cheney has been obtained. A lessened
production is always one result of
strikes because new help cannot be
trained quickly. While most types of
rolling stock have been kept in fair re-
pair, even with the lessened shop pro-
d%uction, it is doubtful if the railways
will have sufficient cars to handle the
increasing fall traffic, nor are they
likely to have their motive power in the
best operating condition. The general
situation, however, so far as the rail
ways are concerned has undergone a
substantial improvement so that a thor
oughly optimistic view is justified.
Figures as to exports and imports
for the month of August indicate a sub
stantial increase over the months pre-
viOus and show a larger volume than
during any other month for the past
two years. Exports on the other hand
were approximately the same as those
of July, although well under the Au-
gust figure Of last year.. The increase
in imports undoubtedly represents q de-
sire to get goods into this country
ahead of the new tariff regulations and
for that reason does not reflect an ac-
curate normal condition. Thus far this
year exports have amounted to S2.424,-
100000 and imports to S1,900,000, so
that the excess of exports to date is
approximately S524,000.0 900. The flu
ture of our export trade depends to a
large extent upon the future of Eu-
rope. In many lines there has been an
active export business with other coun-
tries and some large exports have gone
TO Europe, notably, raw materials.
The governing force in our foreign
trade today lies between the power of
foreign countries to make purchases
here and the standard Of living which
IS being maintained in those countries.
There is little question that living con-
ditions throughout Europe are on q
much lower plane today than they were
before the war. Labor is not enjoy
ing many Of the privileges which it had
IN years past and is willing to work
for wages out of all proportion to what
would have been demanded a few years
ago. The natural result of all this is
a substantially decreased cost of pro-
duction which enables European coun-
tries 10 compete most favorably in
world markets. Our present tariff leg
~islatiOn has been designed primarily to
prevent the dumping of foreign goods
on our markets and to allow our man
ufacturing capacity which has increased
substantially during the war to operate
nearer to capacity. If these increased
manufacturing facilities are to be
brought to full operation they cannot
rely simply upon a production for our
home markets, but must also develop
export outlets for what they produce.
The noteworthy development in the
bond market during the past week was
the further increase in the amount Of
new offerings, the bonds representing a
wide range, covering municipals, indus
trials and public utilities. There con-
tinued to be an easy absorption of these
issues, which is a situation that may
continue for some time unless more Sc
rious difficulties arise in the Near
East. SO far as old line issues are con-
cerned the pond market has been some
what reactionary. There is naturally a
limit TO which bond prices can go and
as prices have gone up as a result of
constantly cheapening money, yields on
! these securities have been gradually ap-
proximating their pre-war levels. AS
this point is being reached there is nat
urally a slowing down in price changes.
1t is possible too that the likelihood of
of Il large government offering later In
the year has had its affect, particularly
among the Liberty bond issues.
The demand for municipal bonds
was strong and prices remained firm.
The large aggregate of new offerings
which came out during the week
helped somewhat to satisfy the mar
ket's appetite for securities of this
class. Joint stock land bank and fed
eral land bonds, which enjoy total ex-
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