Evening star., 1923-01-27
BY STUART r. WEST.

- NEW YORK. January 27-The same
conflicting movements have occurred
In the markets of the world In the
last week as in the week before. The
value of European continental cur
rencies has continued to depreciate
with the unfolding OF the French
program in the Ruhr. Along with
this French and Belgian public securi-
ties have kept on with their decline.
and the external dollar loans of
France have sold on the New York
Stock Exchange well below the lowest
on record.
The security markets. on the other
hand, have remained calm and on the
whole have gained ground. This Is
true OF London as well as New YORK
1t is plain that whatever possibilities
may be conjured up as the result OF
the French attempt to collect In
demnity claims by force and the en-
suing German resistance. holders OF
stocks and bonds are not disturbed
over the prospect.
Low Price Of French Bonds.
The low selling prices of French
government bonds may not. In the
end, prove to have been Significant.
but at the moment, 1t must be ad-
To be sure Anglo French bonds, guar
anteed Jointly by the two govern
ments, sold well below the present
prices Of the two French external
issues dealt In here. and Yet substan-
TALLY were paid off at par. But their
decline occurred at a time of serious
financial crisis. when all securlties
of whatever rank were being thrown
over by hard-pressed corporations ana
individuals.
mi.
at their present heavy discount under
conditions where the INVESTMENT
market Is showing almost unexampled
vitality. where industrial companies.
Mnieh .S9 any azure are able
float their securities on less than
6 per cent basis, and where even new
offerings of industrial stocks are
snapped up with such eagerness that
the subscribers receive only small
nercentage of their applications.
Therefore the present prices OF the
French bonds cannot be regarded in
any other way than as serious re-
| Election upon French credit: Iney
mean that the international banking
community Is decidedly skeptical over
the outcome of events In tne rum
That community does not share the
confidence expressed in official quar-
| ters in France that the Germans VIII
yield to French coercion.
Compromise In Hoped For.
1t would be hazardous in the ex-
treme to venture a prediction as 10
the outcome of the situation across
| the Rhine. The best to be hoped for
| Is that some sort of compromise will
| result, under which, with an Impair
tial commission as umpire, the Ger
mans will resume reparations pay
| ments in return for French evacua-
| tion of the territory lately seized.
But even this result would mean
very substantial lowering of the sums
! which Fra ance originally hoped to
collect, and the deficit would have to
| be made up by increased taxation and
| by new French internal loans.
| Some observers, as yet unconVinced
by the extraordinary composure OF
the security markets during the crisis
of the last fortnight, maintain that
| in the end our business and financial
situation must feel the effect of the
troubles abroad. They have. however.
nothing but the vaguest idea OF how
this is going to happen. There Is
some wild notion of one nation after
another falling. after the manner Of
a house of cards.
Nations VIII StiH Produce.
1t does not seem to occur to those
people that America, and for that
matter Great Britain, can only be
/ hurt through foreign trade. In the
extremely unlikely event of a general
state of bankruptcy among the con-
l tinental nations that were par
| Elephants in the war 1t would still be
true that those nations would not
cease producing The German mark
| may sink to the level of the Austrian
! crown, the French franc may have a
further indefinite depreciation. But
Germany and France will continue
! to turn out goods that they can sell
| to the rest of the world. that they
can exchange for food and raw ma
terials. Consequently they will have
| a certain buying power In the Amer
lean and English markets no matter
| what happens.
China. Mexico and Turkey, all at
times, have been unable to meet their
obligations. They have been virtually
bankrupt. But this has not affected
the productive capacity Of their citi-
zens. They have maintained a trade
with the rest of the world which, al :
though less than 1t would be II their
credit were normal. has still consti-
tuted very respectable total.
New Offerings Easily Absorbed.
The bond and stock markets closed
| the week in very much the same shape
t. I, I, sNt,