Evening star., 1924-02-02
by STUART p. WEST.

/ III STUART II. wEST. ~
Special Dispatch to The Star. ..-,
NEW YORK, February 2.-The
more important incidents In the
financial situation tho past week
were the continued speculative ac-
tivity on the stock exchange. the
turn, for the better In the wheat
trade. tho sharp recovery In the for
eign exchanges.N especially sterling.
and the increase in the United States
Steel extra dividend accompanied by
a strikingly favorable report for the
final quarter and full twelve months
of 1923.
Comment upon the Steel Corpora
that the subject need not be gone
INTO again at length. But two i'm
pressions are quite strong, first, that
the heads OF the steel industry look
for good business through 1924. and.
second. that here Is further proof Of
simism last summer.
Recalltng the predictions Of long
continued depresston at that time
along with the discouraging accounts
from supposed steel trade authorities.
and setting these beside tho 1871 per
United States Steel common stock.
one gets better idea OF tho untrust-
worthiness OF the present day market
as barometer OF business condi-
tions. :.
Outlook Better for Wheat Farmer.
The advance in wheat undoubtedly
reflects confidence that the wheat far.
mer will get better prices for his
product this year than last, and this
Is the only way possible, namely
through producing. less. The fall
and II Is reasonable to suppose that
the northwestern spring wlTeat rails
ers Will do the same, devoting more
OF their soil to other crops. II this
condition where domestic output will
be brought down somewhere near
domestic needs, and where there will
no longer be dependence upon for
eign markets in which competition
has to be faced with low-cost produce
erS.
Cotton Presents Interesting Situation.
The cotton position is quite as in
teresting as that in wheat. Unless
mill operations are curtailed a good
deal more than they have been so
next six months in finding enough
cotton to 60 around. This Is why a
ready demand springs up every time
prices go on at all and why south
ern holders Of the staple are in no
hurry to sell. But the remarkable
futures representing tho new crop.
Cotton deliverable in October is
selling above 2S cents a pound and
cotton deliverable in December is
selling above 81 cents q pound. de-
spite the expectation Of q very large
incrAa Ga
yield. For three years running the
cotton crop has been short on ac-
count OF the unfavorable weather
conditions and on account of insect
haps has never occurred before in
the history OF the country. The odds
are wholly against their continuing
through still another season.
Textiles Fail to Share Prosperity.
In cotton goods producers and deal
ers have not succeeded in passing
on higher labor costs and the much
sumer They have had to reconcile
themselves. for this season at least.
to small profit margin. Precisely
the same condition exists in the,
woolen industry. The price OF wool
labor. and the slight increase In fall
schedules announced during the last
few days 10 quite inadequate to cover
these extra expenses. The textile
Ss nosa are wsen sesaRy S srHP%Sn %
country 10 spoken Of The clothing
making branch is another exception.
and still another 10 the tire manu-
facturers. who are finding that. de-
a maximum there are too many COM
petitors In their line OF the business.
steriing's Remarkable Comeback.
T.
ling exchange has demonstrated that
there was nothing wrong with Great
Britain's financial position, but that
the decline Of the last month or so
was chiefly due to q political scare.
British exporters had been retaining
over here in dollars. instead OF call
ing for remittances involving the pur-
chase OF sterling. This melnth 4
weakened demand. At the same time
there was . good deal of conversion
song on , Of Isn,on, London balances al. into
of dollars and the sale OF sterling.
Hence. the selling pressure was ab-
normally increased.
But these two processes-the hold
ing back OF moneys due from other
countries and the export Of British
ceased as tho financial community got
used to the new labor government
and saw that II was not likely to DO
anything radical. The upshot was the
violent rebound which has been seen
in sterling rates during the last week.
French Financial situstion Improved.
The French position will be very
much improved IL 1t becomes reason
ably certain that the program of fiscal
reform will go through. A 20 per
cent tax increase, plus a pairing down
OF expenditures for reconstruction,
Is expected to balance the extraordi-
nary budget with comparatively
slight help from fresh internal loans.
This puts France on the right track
financially, because 1t no longer
makes her dependent upon the very
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