Great Falls tribune., 1922-02-19

F, certain that this general trend is an
| indication Of decided improvement
in the foreign situation, which improve
| ment may even have taken place far
in excess of the extent indicated by
| current quotations.
Bonus Factor Disturbs
As opposed to this favorable tend
ency there is decided retardlng fac
| tor in the local situation in the way Of
| soldier bonus legislation. Without tax
| ing issue either one way or the other
| 1t must be said that the prospect OF
raising large sum Of money for SOL
dier benefit is necessarily disturbing
| factor, especially so long as definite
plans for securing the money have not
been crystalized. A variety of meth
DDS of procedure have been suggested
ranging all the way from tax on the
transfer of stocks to tax on lndivld-
ual checks. Of course, it is not certain
as yet that this bonus legislation will
! become reality. 1t is not so much
the method for raising it which is the
the amount of money involved as it is
important point at issue. Any tax plans
designed to provide soldiers bonus
!. revenue certainly should be such as to
produce the slightest possible disloca-
ton in the business situation.
One Of the constructive factors OF
the week was the announcement of the
treasury department calling for the re-
demption of the Victory 81 per cent
I, notes due on June Is. This is the first
of a series of refunding operations
which will ultimately be undertaken by
the treasury. In the case Of the tax
exempt 334's the notes to be redeemed
amount to about S400, 100000. Through
the sale some days ago of 5000, 100000
of Az per cent three year notes the
return to the treasury was about S4W,-
100000 in cash and OO.OOO,O0O in
Victory Az per cent bonds. The amount
of cash received, therefore, concldefs aef
practically with the outstanding 3A
Victory notes. The actual completion
of this transaction means that the
treasury by June 15 will have retired
5000, 100000 of the entire Victory is
sue. AS result Of these refundlng
operations the entire Liberty and VIC,
tory bond list has shown substantial
hardening, a number of issues having
advanced as much as several points.
Northwest More Optimistic
Indications of fair shortage in the
worlds grain markets which have been
developing during the past few weeks
have been a decided bullish factor In
the grain markets all over the world.
Cash wheat in Minneapolis rose about
10 cents during the week and every
advance seems to be entirely firm.
Farmers, as a result, are more bpti-
mistic as to the prospects for 1922
since the market took this decided up
turn. Exactly what immediate benefit
the northwestern farmer will reap from
the present situation is uncertain be-
cause there is question as to the
amount of wheat he still has on hand
available for sale. Market records of
the Minneapolis exchange for the years
1920 and 1921. the former of which
was one of rising prices, while the
latter was one of falling prices. show
surprising uniformity in the flow of
grain to central markets. If this may
be taken as a fair indication of the
situation then it seems almost certain
that the large percentage of the farm
ers' 1927. crop has already been mar
keted and that the rise in grain prices
will have to be permanent throughout
1922 in order to give him material
compensation.
The Bond Market
The week in the bond market started
off with slight reactions throughout
the list but during the latter days ex
hibited a decided strengthening. par
ticularly in the foreign, industrial and
railway lists. The rapid improvement
in the continental exchange was a de-
cided stimulant to interest in the for
eign issues, particularly the United
Kingdom SIS of 1922 and 1929. both
of which are exchangeable at definite
rate for sterling and franc bonds. New
offerings of the week while not large
were swelled to normal volume by
three large issues, the rapid absorp- |
ton of which in each case exceeded
the expectations of the syndicate man
ayers. The $30,00O,O00 Great North |
ern railway general 5ia's offered on
5.75 basis were heavily oversubscrib
ed as were also the $75,ooO0OO federal
land bank 5's which were offered on
4.s5 basis. Industrial and municipal
financing were both unusually light for |
this period of the year and seemed
to indicate that new financing in these
fields is due for somewhat of slump
Prices, however, are firm and there has
continued to be fair volume Of trans |
actions.
e~r,-u DErrcD IA 1000