The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-01-01
LYNDON DISCUSSES
BUSINESS OUTFLOW

the United States from a dear to
the greatest creditor nation the
world. The early stages Oh his |
process effected an increased de-
mand for the products of ouRIn-
dustry, and resulted in the larg *
port balances Of recent years.
The Wall Street Journal made 3e
statement in a recent issue thatR I
1924 the interest payments on "a
eign loans held in the United StatH
amounted to $3.50, 900, 00O We han
not seen the end Of the making d
foreign loans. and it is not desira
bic that we should. Payment OF tho
service of old and new loans may
for time be financed by further
credits. but inevitably they must be
made some time either in gold or
commodities. Europe is not willingly
going to send us any more gold. She
cannot without throwing her curs
rency into hopeless chaos. That les
son has been learned Consequently
the countries of Europe must create
a favorable trade balance for them
selves and our manufacturers may
look for the keenest competition both
at home and abroad. At present
production costs they are in poor
condition to meet 1t.
Credit May Tighten
IfE7URTHERMORE, the loans al
II r ready made to Europe and
- those in early prospect have
taken UP much of the slack in bank
ing reserves. We shall see in the
course OF 1926 steady stiffening OF
interest rates, and the end OF the
year may see real tightness Of credit.
Finally much OF the prosperity Of
1924 has been the result Of the I'M
provement in agriculture. That
was the bounty Of nature. Crop
failures in other parts of the world
gave cur moderately good crops az
enormous money value. Whether
that bounty win be granted us an
other year no one can forecast The
law of probabilities is against it.
however, so further expansion Of
the farmers purchasing power
should not be anticipated
Summarizing the situation then.
we begin 1925 with superficial con-
ditions favorable to steadily Inn
proving business. Sentiment Of
leaders is optimistic. the banking
situation is easy, money rates, while
rising slightly and likely to continue
to do so, are still far below normal.
production is increasing but still far
from booming, transportation is I'M
usually efficient, in short everything
seems to be set for full speed ahead
Business should be good certainly
for the first six months Of 1925.
Whether it will run beyond that de-
Ispends upon the foresight Of our
business and political leaders. Ger
tain it is that there are fundamen-
tai economic forces In the back
ground which sooner or later are
bound to come into action. What
their effect will be is difficult to
forecast. The chances are that their
immediate effect will be depressing.
The wiser heads among Industrial
and banking leaders are again urg-
ing a cautious self-restraint against
too rapid expansion. A jobber, gray
with the wisdom of long experience.
said to me this week: I've have
placed orders covering our estimat-
ed requirements for six months. All
Of our branches have been advised
that when these goods have been
sold, we shall buy only at the mar
ket and in quantities to meet actual
commitments" That is a course
which can be commended to all busi-
ness men in 1925, at least until we
have had an opportunity to ap.
praise the developments OF the next
three or four months.