Evening star., 1932-02-07
FOREIGN BUSINESS
| CONTINUES SPOTTY
| DUR|NGLAST WEEK
Cotton and Rice Prices In
crease as Result Of
War Scare.
BRITAIN REPORTS GAIN
IN SOME TRADE LINES
German Sentiment Depressed by
Impasse in Attempt to Settle
Reparations Problem.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 6.-Cable and
radio dispatches to The Business Week
give the following survey OF. business
abroad for the week ending today:
Far East-"War" stocks had q small
boom in New York. The yen went
down. So far no move has been made
to block the port of Shanghai, but bus
iness is suspended because of the tense
ness Of the situation. Chinese banks
are closed. Silver is selling at pre-
MUM. Cotton shipments are continu-
ing in large volume. Orders for auto
mobiles and various machine products
are above recent low records. The war
scare closed the Toxic Stock Exchange
for one day, but it reopened strong later
IN the week. Rice prices are up.
London-Business is generally ur-
changed. The goods inquiry in various
lines continues. The whole country is
awaiting debate on the tariff scheme.
The China situation has f1attened stock
markets, but bidding on steel, chemical,
and airShip craft issues was up Silver
and cotton also went at slightly higher
prices, the former on the expectation
| that there would be large purchases to
pay troops. Stock markets were further
depressed by the failure of the Aus
trallan government to meet commit
ments for the state of New South Wales
despite the obligati ton of the Federal
government to honor state debts |
Cotton Strike Postponed.
The Lancashire cotton strike has been
postponed until Monday, pending fur
ther negotiations between workers and
owners the
Danger Of stoppage is serious
Paris-With the exception OF some
slight Improvement in the iron and
! steel industry the general business
| trend continues to be one of decreasing
| activity and rising unemployment. Ac-
! cording to the industrial census at the
beginning of January plants employing
l0O or more workmen suffered a l3per
cent, decrease in the total number Of
employed workers over the figures for
/ last year. and three-fol increase for
those employed on part time. They nov
are 50 per cent of the total.
The Far East conflict is viewed To-
! cally as having little effect on French
interests. Nevertheless. sympathy has
all along been pro-Japanese. Temper
| mentally the French are more akin to
| the Japanees than the Chinese. Fol-
lowing the Chapel episode in Shanghai,
however, the fear that concerted Anglo
| American action would leave France
isolated led the foreign office to issue
instructions promptly for diplomatic
and military action in collaboration
with the powers
In Paris it is rumored that the
Hotchkiss Machine Gun Works is work
ing night and day on japanese orders
Ruf11ors Of private credits for Japan
nave not been confirmed. Direct credits
are improbable, but credits by French
llrmS working on japanese deliveries
are not unlikely. since a French en-
bargo on arms shipments is altogether
improbable
Berlin.-The impasse on reparations
and the Far Eastern war clouds coupled
WIN growing domestic worries. have
tended further to depress German busi-
ness sentiment this week.
Devaluation Rumors.
Business and the public have reacted
/ win extreme nervousness to the fresh
| rumorS OF devaluation OF the mark and
also to infiationist banking reform
plans. The government statement en-
phatically denies such plans. while
Ieadlng business associations and
monthly bank reports are earnestly
warning against unconsidered currency
| experiments.
Steel continues to be the point Of
IeaSt resistance. Declining tax and
railroad receipts contribute to the
cheeflessness. The money market Is
easy, with the private discount now be-
low the official rate, rousing fresh hopes
OF en early cut in the rediscount rate,
The Bourse Committees and stock
brokers' have started new campaign
1or reopenlng the Berlin Stock Ey-
change, claiming that most of the old
arguments for keeping it closed have
now been superseded and the present
situation Is injurious to investors and
oanks. Berlin now expects the move to
De made by the middle of February. AL
though transactions will still be subject
to restrictions
The Soviet trade delegation in Berlin
has just released its December trade
hgures revealing that Russian orders
placed In Germany in that month to-
tailed S5,839,000. This brings the total
for the year to more than s22i .ooo, 600.
Inasmuch as Germany can grant no
additional credits, future business Is
likely to be much smaller.