The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-05-24
RAIL- Y
FROM BONUS
BREAK
All Declines From Tuesdays
Opening Show Strong Re-
!" covery During Week

i
NEW YORK, May 24.-Tha no.
litical situation in washington war
by far the most inportant factor
IN STOCK market operations in the
past week.
Declining abruptly on the news
Lnat the Senate had overrlden Presi-
gent Coolidge's veto Of the soldiers
bonus Dill, the market experienced
an almost immediate reversal Of
treno. FIRST on the realization that
the insurance feature Of the bill
Would spread its cost over twenty
years and business would suffer no
narqsnip and second on the i'm.
proved outlook for tax reduction.
fAne latter was due to the agree
ment reached by the Congressional
conIerees to eliminate or modify
certain provisions, notably, the
Jones graduated corporation tag
ana the publicity clause.
Inc closing sessions Of the week
however, witnessed a more reserved
attitude on the part of Wall Street
SPECTATORS due to increasing doubt
the s,S1 the President would sign
Bears Unsuccessful.
Inc most curios feature OF the
Dreak which resulted from the mass.
ing or the bonus bill was the fact
thar virtually all Of the dacIina
occurred at Tuesday morninr's
opening and that In spite az Sa.
Eermtned efforts by the bear CON.
tlngent no further downward nro.
gress could be made. ObviousIv
the maneuver Of that element IN
ohtering down stocks sharply at the
outset was based on the hone that
general liquidation might he nro.
voked. an experiment in which thew
utterly failed. This Indicated that
the process Of liquidation has long
since passed and that stocks are n,
relatively firm hands; also that the
market, In its rvcent decline. has
been discounting the business re-.
action and the turmoil In Wash.
AS regards general trade It be-
comes increasingly clear that the
country has to deal with a noder.
ate setback in practically all lines
OF endeavors. Signs OF better things
were not lacking but this improve
ment was noticeable only in spor.
aoic instances, like in scrap iron
ana petroleum products. Produc.
'Ion In general was still declining.
Production Declines.
The pace Of the decline, however.
was slackening which was natural
considering the radical reductions
wnlch already have taken place. The
steel industry. for example, was said
10 De operating at around so Der
cent or capacity, a formidable drop
compared with IS per cent two
months ago. From almost all other
important industries especially auto.
mobile, coal, textile. copper, rubber,
advances have all been OF the "a ma
lugubrious tenor.
Still, the financial, commercial
and industrial situation was not
without its bright aspects. Car
load1ngs, a sure index to trade
volume, made a favorable showing.
Dig retail buying was reported, un-
employment was confined largely to
textile districts, money continued
cheap and the trend was toward
lower living costs.
From a stock market standpoint
the most encouraging feature Of the
weeks trading was the persistent
buying of investment rails and sea.
soned dividend.paying industrials
with big equities behind them, nota.
bly, public utilities.
Rails Firm.
Among the individual movements
those in New Orleans, Texas and
Mexico, were most CONSPICUOUS, this
issue advancing sharply on the dec.
laration of a 161s per cent extra
dividend Oil shares made a very
good showing on the news that
Humble oil, Standard Oil sub
sidiary, had cancelled its recent re-
duction in crude. .
The trend in the principal com.
modify markets, cotton and grains,
was toward higher levels, the for
mer being influenced by the strong
statistical position Of the railway
product, unfavorapIe crop reports
and larger exports.
Foreign exchanges were unsettled
the greater part Of the week.
French francs sought steadily lower
levels due to the uncertainty as to
the prospective governments at
titude regarding the Poincare re-
forms especially in regard to taxa
ton. The decline was halted how
ever, following receipts Of Paris
cables, telling that the new leaders
c0u aidarad balancing of the hUdYAt