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Show GERMANY IN DESPERATE FIX French Financial Circles Worried Over Question Of Reparations BY STTTART P. WEST Special Corrt'spondont of The Stond-ard-Kxnminor. (CopTlKhi, 192:', by The Standard-Examiner.) Standard-Examiner.) NEW YORK. July S Thf moat significant occurrence of the past week. In Its bearing upon the world outlook, was the persistent decline to new low levels in the alue of the German mark and the equally persistent per-sistent fall in French exchange With all that may be eald for the improvement improve-ment in Franco's economic position, the approximate balance achieved between be-tween Imports and exports, the steady Increase in her home induvti .os and the virtual disappearance of the unemployment un-employment problem the big thing for French finances Is the question of German reparations. Within the next few days. Germany will make known whether sho can meet the July Installment of 50.000.- 000 marks, or whether she must ask for a postponement Even within the past month, the Gorn;in P&JW circulation has risen 15,000,000.000 marks, and thlj Is undoubtedly un-doubtedly a desperate measure, put forlh lo gel the necessary paper to meet the payment. It is possible the i-l nations may i. BQUSced out, but it is very certain mat noto Inflation as a means of providing gold for Indemnity In-demnity payments is an cxped-lent which cannot be pursued much longer. Whether it. is this month, next month or thereafter. Germany will have to confess her lnahlllty to meet the cash d mands of the present pres-ent reparations schedule. 1 KI ACII CRISIS WAS AVOIDABLE When this happens France will face an enormous deficit in her extraordinary extraordi-nary budget, which the German indemnity in-demnity had been counted on to cover. To push on and seize the Ruhr might be the proper political play, but it would not solve the financial fi-nancial dilemma The French government gov-ernment will have brought this crisis upon the country It could have been avoided had th French representatives representa-tives at the Paris conference of bankers a month ago not held out against all the rest, and refused to make concessions that would have enabled Germany to find the mean? to support an international loan. What financial opinion throughout the world thinks about the situation is shown by the decline of the franc from above 9 cents to below 8 cents during the period since the disruption disrup-tion of "the gathering" at Parle. Confronted by tho alternative forth for-th f expanding her already enormous national debt, of enforcing the so-called so-called penalties with what she knows to be the vain hope of "making Germain Ger-main pay' or of modifying her attitude atti-tude so as to make possible a German Ger-man loan, it is hurd 10 believe that France would not choose the latter ( ourse. BRITISH BUSINESS IMPROVING. The threat of a German financial breakdown has had curiously little effect upon the outside markets, with the exception of the French exchange and French government securities, which for sometime past have been inclined to sag. Sterling exchange has stood up remarkably well a fact which fits in with the latest trade reports from Great Britain, indicating indicat-ing that the settling of long standing stand-ing troubles with the stationary engineers, en-gineers, the decrease in uncmploy-n uncmploy-n and the sustalnod improernent .n the foreign trade have produced u decidedly better feeling In English , business circles. K ; K W IT CH J BY strikes Our own markets have boon similarly simi-larly indifferent to the financial troubles trou-bles of Europe The strike of the railway shopmen, doomed from the first, 19 already on its last legs. Xo progress has been made toward settling set-tling the coal strike, but the government govern-ment has given plain assurance that before it comes to a shutdown or mills and factories for want of coal and bofore the public have to seriously serious-ly face a winter shortage, the government gov-ernment will Intervene and If necessary neces-sary take over the operation of the mines. Relying on this being doue. If worst comes to worst, neither the business community nor the btock market uro allowing 'tself to becorao alarmed at the deadlock between operators op-erators and minu worker COPPER AM) SUGAR I P. The trade news of the week has been generally favorable. In two quarters where response was most reluctant to tho general turn for tho better the copper market and tho sugar industry prices have risen ris-en and tand now at the hlsrhest of the year. The sugar companies, producers pro-ducers as well as refiners, are ones more able to operate at a profit Tho same is true of the copper producers produc-ers and th- smelling concerns. Thu steel trade is more afflicted than any of the rest by the uncertainties of tho fuel supply, but even hero ther.-has ther.-has been no curtailment. June was the largest month of the year so far In pig Iron output, which meant that it was the most active month in t h . steel trade generally. Tho epoculatlvo cotton market undoubtedly un-doubtedly overdid things in Its advance ad-vance following the government estimate esti-mate of eleven million bale crop the first of June. Still It is a fact oi much importance to fcas whole business busi-ness situation. The cotton producers produc-ers are getting higher prices even than during last February's boom, when the full extent of last year's shoit crop became known. STOCK MARKET ON SOI ST3 BASIS. The stock market has borne out the analysis of its position mudo a week and two weeks ago; namely, that the decline which occurred during dur-ing the first half of Jun- was the reaction re-action of Intensive speculation during the spring, that this reaction was thorough enough to accomplish its corrective purposes, and that the market hau ueen restored to a sound position. Tho now high prices for I B number of the railroad sliaros have i'C-n a logical accompaniment of the satisfactory' settlement of wage roto question, of the extraordinary car lo idlnfffl which even with coal shipments ship-ments hold down by the strike, ro well up to the highest of recont years and of the favorable showing in current eurnlngs. nn |