The Washington times., 1922-03-19

Standing the proooooo g . uunr
q irritakins sismsats in The iegisa-
tive situation, finAncial conditSons
continue TO ~ On the whole encous'
aging and eptimistio. The most help
full deyslopmant that could occur u
the present time would b the en0ing
Of the bonus mon6ee. which y etul
present - q DEPRESSING 1Actor. 9es-
tiuony OF Secretary N0llon and Gov.
srnor Harding before the WAye ana
Means Committee during tbs past
week has asnin emphasized the dan.
ger to be expoCted from the actual
epplicat1on Of any bonus plan on the
present basis. This warning " par
ticuIarly noteworthy In Wow OF the
state Of thineu described by the
Controllsr Of the Currsncy. VINO
urged that banka, already overbur-
densd with frozen loans. b given .
better opportunity 70 recover ana pe
freed Of the danger which would
accrue 70 them from practically COM
pulsory discountinG Of "adtusted
compensation certificates"
0as Dscis1on CeaflFnnsl
The action OF ths euprsms Court
In the case Of the Brooklyn Union
Gas Company. on March ~. fu!ly
confirmed the opinions which the
market had drawn from the Consoh-
dated Gas decision Of Q week earlier.
and naturally led TO further up
ward movement In gaa stocks. The
reflex effect q the eAs Decision upon
other public utility shares y str1k-
inEly seen In some OF the unlisted
issues, where there has been marked
increase OF values resulting from
confidence that better times are In
store an q result Of falling sxpenses
and better assurance ~ to remuner-
Alive rates. Among the rails. the
threat OF q strike In the hard ana
soft coal regions has naturally AZ
fected some Of them unfavorAbly,
but In the majority OF cases the
earnings developments ~ well a. the
Improved attitude Of public authori-
ties, has tended to strengthen con-
fidence and raise prices. II u stu
to be seen whether the Railroad
Labor Board Win b able to reconcile
the differences between employers
and employees IN the transportatSoo
field with regard to the proposed
reductions Of pay which have been
under consideration. Prospects, bow.
ever. for the coming season are IN
deniably good, and are improved py
the apparently favorable outlook ior
q large acreage planted to staples
and likely to give rise to heavy ton
nagss Of freight.
Coutinued Growth d Prsductaon-
The continued increase In the total
volume Of output At the steel mills
IL reflected in the higher figures fog
ingot production and in reports OF
growth In the percentage OF plant
capacity at work In the principal dis
tricts. A coal strike. II long con-
tinued. might, OF course. cause q set
back, but, ~ figures show. good nd.
vance stocks of fuel have been &C
cumulated at many points. Better
values for copper Issues reflect the
declining surplus supply and slight.
ly increased price Of the metal a. well
as the much enlarged dAmand for II
In building and the better condition
Of export trade In that article. There
has been . decided upward swing IN
the volume Of building permits 10
sued, over and above the increases
already noted during the earlier
weeks Of the year. Productive ca
pacity in automobiles. particularly
In the truck Dr2ncn OF inc Ouolneeo,
IL even moro fully employed than
heretofore, q fact which accounts for
the better prices Of motor shares.
Equipment companies continue to
keep far ahead of last year In their
volume Of orders. and are now re
ported practically back to normal
All this accounts for the showing OF
better earnings that n being made
in a number Of quarters. Passing OF
the dividend by Crucible Steel and
the action Of the Great Northerr
directors in defsrring action has Civ
en- the market Q slight chill. but one
which seems only temporary.
Forclgn Trade and Exchange.
February export figures show q
still further decline Of our so-called
favorable balance. ths amount due
VI over and above our debts for ths
months business falling off - com
pared with January. The months
excess of exports. however, was still
$4,000 900. Changes IN our trade are
ss>ss>e~e~ssesss~sss~~ssssss~~~s.