Evening Star Newspaper, March 23, 1930, Page 71

News of V Markets Pages 1to 4 Part 6—12 Pages EXCHANGE IS READY FOR MOVE TO NEW QUARTERS TUESDAY Handsome New Offices in Washington Building Will House Trading Agency. LOCATION IS CONVENIENT FOR BROKER FRATERNITY Modern Equipment to Facilitate| Growing Business of Organization. BY EDWARD C. STONE. Tuesday will see the ushering in of another epoch in the interesting history of the Washington Stock Exchange | when the regular trading session will be held in the newly selected quarters in the Washington Building. After tomorrow’s session all furnishings in the building owned by the American Security & Trust Co., where the Ex- change has been located for eight years, will be moved to the new home and piaced in order before time for the next day’s business. local bonds and stocks, will be left to its fate, as a splendid new tion board has already been in- stalled and all the listed and unlisted local securities placed in their proper on. The new board is larger than old one, lighted by the same method @s is used on New York Stock Exchange boards, while space at the right has new method will prevent any mis- between members where ndings there are several bidders for the same Found New Home Iso had and decorating he Washington ¢tlse trading room in Building. stock at the same price. ,;" Quarters Most Attractive. new Exchange quarters most nttractive and convenient. o The location is ideal for the members. On the sixth quota- the long wall opposite tween two of the win- platform on which the will preside as he calls off and skillfully conducts the ween the members. the visitors have been pro- west end of the room near the east side is taken telephone booths, - desk. and assistants wh: an , 88 well as look g business and growing of the exchange is clearly re- e e g y lans d.:. the American is vice president; C. president of the Dis- trict National Bank, has long been sec- reiary, and James M. Johnston, head ot An investment company by the same pame, is treasurer. . J. Gockeler, Foraker, James M. Green, J. Hendrick,” Edward L. Hiliyer, Willam B. Hibbs, Willlam D. Hoover, Charles E. Howe, Charles Jacobson, O. H. John- son, James M. Johnston, Edward B. McLean, Edward O. McDonnell, W. W. Mackall, L. W. Morrison, Frank P. Morse, James O'Donnell,” Albion K. Parris, John Poole, Frank Pryor, Myles H. Quail, Lawrence A. Slaughter, Wil- Yam W. Sapid, Eugene E. Thompson, i L. Thompson, Benjamin Thoron, ©. Walson, Ennals Wi n, G. W. Weber, John F. Milton Westheimer. Exchange Founded in 1881, Alblon K. Parris, historian of the exchange, says that the ization ‘was founded in 1881. Se attempts were made previous to that time, but all fafled in a short time because of the lack of support from the banki interests and the small number of se- curities list ¥. The first meeting of those connected with banking and brokerage matters on October 24, 1881, was held at 1429 P street. At this gathering plans for another meeting on October 26 were made and this became the real date of the founding of the exchange. The president was George H. B. te, then cashier of the National Metropolitan Bank and father of the resent president of the same bank. gl. D. e, of H. D. Cooke & Co., was chosen vice president; Jacob W. Kerr, of the National Bank of the Republic, treasurer, and A. E. Bateman, secretary. ‘When the first day's session opened there were 34 securities on the list. Roster of Exchange Presidents. ‘The presiding officers of the exchange since organization are as follows: George H. B. White, 1881-1882; Charles C. Glover, 1883-1890; Charles J. Bell, 1891; William B. Gurley, 1892; Ben- jamin P. Snyder, 1893; Albion K. Parris, 1894; Frederick C. Stevens, 1895; Lewis J. Davis, 1896; John T. Arms, 1897-1898; ‘William B. Hibbs, 1899-19°1; Willlam A. Mearns, 1802-1903; rles P, Williams, Number of Income Tax Returns May Reveal Increase Total Amount Collected Expected to Have Influ- ence on Trade Outlook. BY J, C. ROYLE. Reports to the Treasury Department, while far from complete, indicate that more persons filed income tax returns jecture and must be for some since only the first five days’ figures from the Internal Revenue Bureau col- rs have mzm‘"g-hu' v A spirit of owever, o re mélrclu ‘Treasury ments will not reach this amount. At they feel that the reduc- ts | been accumulating long lines of stock | finy When the reports are fully tabulated the public will be able to judge just exactly what effect the Wall Street crash in stocks had on the country last Fall and Winter. Secretary Mellon is known to believe that the effect of the expec logical effect on the general busi- ness situation. If the figures show an increase over the estimates made pub- lic before March 15, the effect on in- dum and business in fienenl unques- tionably will be favorable. The Federal Reserve Board has com- pleted the compilation of its report for 1929, but has not made it public. This undoubtedly will give a review of the happenings during the stock market ex- citement, but it is extremely unlikely that it will draw any conclusions from those facts. It will in all probability confine itself to a straight statement. This is the more likely because it is certain the report will be attacked by Senators and Representatives opposed to the board policies. Questioning before the House com: mittee in connection with proposed banking legislation has already given the board an indication of what it can expect. These questions have been di- rected at the possibility of a few of the big bank consolidations controlling the activities of the regional Federal Re- serve banks. Treasury Aids Mergers Controller of the Currenry Pole tes- tified that the First Bank Stock Cor- poration and the Northwest Bancor- poration could easily control the elec- tion of the two directors chosen by the banks in group one of the ninth Fed- eral Reserve district, which centers in Minneapolis. He added that the North- west Bancorporation could perhaps do 50 alone, and that the two groups could chosen in the banks of group two and the ninth district. He pointed out, however, that there would be no likeli- hood of control of such elections in the case of branch banking. While the position of the Treasury toward the merging of banks into large systems seems favorable, these mergers and consolidations will meet severe op- position when they are discussed on Capitol Hill. There are groups in both the House and in the Senate who are consistently opposed to big mergers of any sort, whether they take the form of bank or steel consolidations. (Copyright, 1930.) 1904; Williama B. Hibbs, 1905-1906; ‘Thomas L. Hume, '907-1908; William J. Flather, 1909; William B. Hibbs, 1910; Benjamin Woodruff, 1911-1914; Allen E. ‘Walker, 1915-1916; John L. Edwards, 1'17-131{; William Bi.zsfllb;:.s Ulhi; Eugene Thompson, ~ +_Jol Ed , 192 Charles Carroll Glowr, " jr., 1027-1928: George O. ‘Walkon, 1929-1930. Just the other day, in connection with preparations for moving the records and other things in the old safe, a list of the charter members was unexpectedly brought to light. Heading the list was the signature of Charles C. Glover, a glant in the financial district for so many years, and still chairman of the Riggs National Bank’s board of direc- Jtors, although forced to be inactive on secount of iI'-~ss. LARGE BELT OF LIGNITE IS REVEALED IN TEXAS By the Associated Press. l':'amm‘u}, m.k March '2‘2.—1‘);; velopment of ite may give Texas farmer a chance to reduce his cotton acreage. Surveys indicate that a broad lignite belt extends from Laredo, on the Mexi- can border, to Texarkana, in the north- east corner of Texas. It may cover 30,000 square miles, nearly one-fourth of the area of Texas, It is estimated to contain approximately 30,000,000,000 tons of lignite. Growth of the lignite mining indus- try_has been slow because the coal has . héfh moisture content and slacks rapidly when Bhlr!nedfi i control the election of two directors ! FINANCIAL AND CLASSIFIED h WASHINGTON, D. C, DE LASHMUTT'S RISE IS RAPID ~ IN DISTRICT B UPTURN IN STOCKS 1S STIMULATED BY EASY MONEY RATES Averages Pushed Higher Dur- ing Week, Despite Meager Trade News. DISCOUNTING OF SPRING TRADE REVIVAL IS SEEN Action of Market Believed Due to Expectation of Better Business. BY CLAUDE A. JAGGER, Associated Press Financial Writer. NEW YORK, March 22.—Speculative enthusiasm was whipped up to & new pitch of intensity for the post-Autumn crash period by a deluge of funds into the money market during the past week. Bears continued to seek out iso- lated weak spots with considerable suc- cess, but the aggregate price level was lifted to new high ground for the re- covery, and the volume of trading ex- panded markedly. Sales on Friday ex- ceeded 4,600,000 shares, the largest day’s business since December. Business and trade reports continued rather cheerless, and the stock market appeared to be discounting expectations rather than accomplished facts. Never- theless, these expectations grew steadily mare confident. Money rates dropped to the lowest levels in years, and Gov. Young of the Federal Reserve Board, in an address in Washington, left no doubt that the reserve system has-adopted a mmve policy of cheap money to revive iness. While easy credit conditions cannot be expected to cause an imme- diate upswing in business, they are re- garded as greatly enhancing the long- Tan| Course of Money Rates. The New York Federal Reserve Bank made no further reduction in its redis- count rate of 3); per cent, but the Bank of England cut its rate from 4 to 31,. Call money renewed on the Stock Exchange as low as 2 per cent on Thursday, the lowest in nearly six years. On Tuesday and Wednesday it was available in the outside market as low as 1% per cent, the lowest since 1917. In March of year, loans ranged from 6 to 20 per cent. At the end of th> week there was a sudden stiffening, carrying call mcney to 4}; per cent, but this appeared to be due to tem- porary factors. Both the 2 per cent rate of Thurs- day and the 4%z per cent rate of Friday appeared to be temporary exaggera- tions. The extraordinary drop in rates was accentuated by the credit released by the treasury overdraft in connec- tion with its quarterly financing. The overdraft was eliminated om Friday, and banks were unwilling to place funds for employment over the week end at the prevailing low rates, causing time, | & momentary scarcity of: funds. Com- paratively reasonable money is expected next week. The weekly brokerage loan figures disclosed another sharp advance, amounting to $121,000,000. The con- tinued gain in the loan total during the last few weeks is regarded as re- flecting considerable pool distribution, but there is much disagreement among observers as to whether it indicates any serious weakening of the market's posi- uion. It is argued that powerful oper- ators, finding carrying charges down where dividends will pay them, have repared to hold on margin, and are S money remains them as long as cheap. Shifting of Loans Seen. Also, with call money much cheaper *han bank loans against security col- lateral, there has undoubtedly been a shifting of oank loans into brokers’ loans. ‘Through Friday the price index of 90 leading shares recorded an extreme gain for the week of 7.7 points, which carried it to & new high level since late October. This gain was reduced 2 points by heavy week end profit taking today, however. CAPITAL TRACTION NET LOWER IN FEBRUARY Slump in Passenger Traffic Again Keeps Revenues Under Same Period Year Ago. Net income of the Capital Traction Co. for February totaled $31,103.32, against $35,768.74, a falling off of $4,- 664.72, according to the monthly report filed with the Public Utilities Com- mission. Operating revenues amounted to $327.903.36, against $330,766.14 a year ago, or a slump of $2,862.75. Operating expenses and taxes required $267,227.85, against $266,261.51, a reduction of $966.34. Operating income totaled $60,675.51, in comparizon with $64,504.63 a year ago, a difference of $3,829.12 on the wrong side of the ledger. The explana- tion of the above mentioned small fall- ing off in net is due to the drop in revenue passengers for the month. The report shows 4,359,217 pasengers were carried on the company’s lines, com- pared with 4,454,794 in February 1929 or a loss of 95577 fares. ‘Total net income for the first two months of the present year is given as $70,853.65, compared with $75,847.09, a decline of $4993.44, the figures re- calling the particularly good showing made in January. Seeadl o oE UTILITIES FIRM STARTS CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM Public Service Electric & Gas Co., principal operating subsidiary of Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, has started construction work on two new substations in Newark and North Ar- lington, N. J., to be built at a cost of $1,150,000. These improvements are part of the 1930 expansion and im- provement program, which calls for an expenditure of $27,000,000 for the elec~ tric and gas division alone. The sub- stations are being built by Public Serv- ice Production Co., a subsidiary of United Engineers & Constructors, Inc. The initial capacity of the two new substations will be sufficient to meet the demands of the territory which they | will serve for the next 10 years without |any further extensions to the building. SILVER QUOTATIONS. NEW YORK, March 22 (#).—Bat sil- ver 43%. Mexican dollars 332, Vice President of U. S. Sav- ings Started His Career in Baltimore. Has Varied Financial Inter- ests in Local and Near- by Institutions. One of Washington’s most capable bankers, who happens to be outside of e heart of the financial district, is Wmlfihlt De Lashmutt, vice president and ler of the United States Sav- ings Bank at Fourteenth and U streets northwest. Mr. DeLashmutt is extreme- ly active in this institution which pays the highest dividend on its stock of any bank in the National Capital. His career reveals nothing but hard work in the banking fession. Born in Prederick, Md., April 18, 1881, he attended the public schools and was graduated from the Charlotte Hall Military School in 1900, attaining the rank of captain. He had a leaning to- ward finance and obtained his first position with the National Mechanics Bank in Baltimore, where he was em- ployed from 1901 to 1906. By his ability and wide reading along financial lines he pushed himself forward rapidly in the Baltimore institution. Coming to Washington in 1906, he became cashier of the Fourteenth Street Savings Bank, which was then located across the street from the United States Savings Bank. In 1012 this bank was sold to the United States Trust Co. and ted as the Fourteenth Street Branch, Mr. De Lashmutt being made manager. Local banking history was written pretty rapidly in those days, and in 1914 the United States Trust Co. was taken over by the Munsey ‘Trust Co. and the branch sold to the United States Savings Bank. ‘The consolidation resulted in the WILLIAM R. DE LASHMUTT. —Harris & Ewing. election of Mr. De Lashmutt as cashier of the combined institutions. Several dent and today performs the duties of both offices. with affairs in Maryland. Some time ago he believed there was a good fleld for & bank in Damascus, so he or- ganized the Bank of Damascus in 1921 and is still president of it. He is also president of the Continental American Finance ration and chairman of section 4 of the Chevy Chase com- munity organization. Deposits of the United States Sav- ings Bank were around $2,500,000 on the (ast controller’s call. When Mr. De Lashmutt joined the bank’s staff at the time of the consolidation, deposits were between $800,000 and $800,000. ‘The last sale of the bank's stock was made at $600 per share. GAININ COMMODITY PRICES REVEALED Price Cutting Stopped During Week and Most Groups Advance. BY H. C. McGILL, Editor McGill Commodity Service. AUBURNDALE, Mass., March 22 (). —Price cutting stopped suddenly last week, and the commodity price level is slightly higher, the first definite up- turn in many weeks. Last week, out of 15 individual commodity indices, 7 groups advanced, 6 were unchanged and 2 vere slightly lower. Business activity held about 5 per cent under normal. The upward mo- mentum so pronounced a month ago has been followed by a definite side- ‘wise movement. All Commodities. Higher quotations prevailed for agri- { cultural products, live stock, building i materials, non-ferrous metals, paint materials, textiles and vegetable ofls. Industrial Prices. A survey of raw material inventories compared with last October, when ancial collapse took ‘place, shows an increase rather than decrease. Agricultural Products. A favorable rebound was registered during the past week. The Farm Board is still considered a handicap in nor- mal distribution of agricultural prod- ucts. The carry-over of American and high, in view of theoretical world shortage. Textile Prices. Largely due to the 1*-cent increase in cotton, these prices were higher. Egg card sales in the Far East estimated 4 per cent her than & year ago, inting to another large silk crop. Non-ferrous Metals. Bllver and tin were slightly higher. To date the sharp cut in raw material production of all non-ferrous metals is | not_excessive enough to reduce inven- | tores. | No change was shown except in | nails, which advanced moderately. Total building should show a marked increase during the second quarter, as large capital expenditures by the rafl- roads, utilities and Federal, State and city governments are expected to ma- terialize. Other Commodity Groups. Industrial, chemicals, hides and leather, ferrous metals, paper and coarse textiles held steady during the t week. The two which were slight- y lower were llv: w?ck l;‘ld m!!l. Most important price changes: = X week. 89 83 981 8. 1 8. All commodit Agricultural Livestock Fuel BUILDING RECOVERY TO BE ENCOURAGED Conference Will Discuss Methods of Making Credit More Easily Available. | . | Representatives of the construction Industries and mortgage and finance concerns will meet in Chicago March 27 for the purpose of discussing ways and means of making capital more readily available for prudent building activities during the early Spring. This announcement was made here today by Fenton B. Turck, chairman of the building survey conference organ- ized to stimulate all kinds of construc- tion work in furtherance of President Hoover’s business stabilization program. “The Chicago meeting,” Mr. Turck said today, “will concern itself primar- ily with encouraging prospective build- ers everywhere to their opera- tions a little earlier than usual this year. Operations started in the next 60 days will greatly help the employ- ment situation in the construction in- dustry. We expect to be able to secure the co-operation of real estate dealers, financial organizations, building and loan associations, insurance companies and other organizations interested in the construction industry. The easier zngtguw& money market is sure mal arger volume of capital -vsun; for prudent con- struction plans, Canadian wheat will prove unusually | BANK CONVENTION WORKERS NAMED | President Waller Announces List of Committees for An- nual Gathering. ‘Wilmer J. Waller, president of the District of Columbia Bankers Associa~ tion, yesterday announced the complete | membership of all special committees | arranging for the coming annual con- vention to be held at Asheville, N. C. in June. The make-up of the general convention committee has already been published. ‘The personnel of the special com- mittees includes many members who have already rendered the association much service. Some are past officers of the organization, many having been president. Others have been committee chairmen. . Of the 11 members of the program committee, 7 are association past presidents. The personnel of all these | committees follows: Chairmen and Members. Program committee—L. A. Slaughter, chairman; H. H. McKee, vice chairman; Howard Moran, Joshua Evans, jr.; John Poole, W. W. Spaid, E. J. MoQuade, L. P. McLachlen, R. V. Fleming, V. B. Deyber and F. G. Addison, jr. tion.—C. H. Woodward, chairman; T. J. Groom, vice chairman; Maurice Otterback, Dr. F. E. Farrington, C. B. Lyddane, C. D. Ratcliffe, J. Frank White, C. F. Jacobson, Frank Stetson, B. A. Bowles and E. L. Hillyer. Hotel committee.—L. E. Schreiner, , vice chairman; . L. Schreiner, R. H. Lacey, Thomas | P. Hickman, Fernando Cuniberti, Bertram Chesterman, W. R. Lewis, J. D. Howard, W. R. DeLashmutt and J. D. Leonard. Entertainment—W. W. Spaid, chair- man; J. Frank White, vice chairman, John M. Riordon, F. H. Cox, T. W. Brahany, J. T. Exnicios, John R. Waller, J. A. Soper, Frank Harman, jr, H. G. Hoskinson and Fred MacKenzle. Other Special Committees. Sports—Robert 8. Stunz, chairman: | Ezra Gould, vice chairman, Bynum | Hinton, R. P. Barnard, C. B. Asher and H. T. Shannon. Publicity—Charles H. Doing, chair- man; Robert L. Flather, vice chair- man, Eliot H. Thomson, Aubrey O. Dooley, Richard Hatton, Thomas M. Cal and Edward C. Stone. Ladies’ committee—Mrs, Wilmer J. Waller, chairman; Mrs. L. P. Lachlen, vice chairman, Mrs. E. Quade, Mrs. A. Pope, Mrs. R. leming, Mrs. George O, Vass, Mrs, F. P. H. Siddons, Mrs. L. A. Slaughter, Mrs. W. W. Spaid, Mre, C. H. Woodward, Mrs. L. H. Schreiner, Mrs. C. H..Doing and Mrs. Robert S. Stunz. MERGENTHALER LEADS ON LOCAL EXCHANGE Peoples Drug Stores Preferred Also Quite Active in Week’s Final Trading. | Merganthaler Linotype, selling ex- dividend, was the most active stock on the Washington Exchange yester- day, with Peoples Drug Stores preferred us:‘ ncnv:,hus-lu u‘(‘oltlo\v: ergant ler 101 /ype—l at 106%, 6 at 106%, 10 at 1063, 10 at 106%, 1 at 1067, 5 at 107, 5 at 107, Peoples Drug Stores pfd.—5 at 105%, 5 at 105Y, 10 at 105'%, 10 at 1055, 1 Estate Mtge. & Guar. pfd.—80 at 7. Security Storage Co.—10 at 115, The Carpel Corp.—55 at 25. Washington Rwy. & Electric 4s— $1,000 at 87, $1,000 at 87. 1o§f’t°mw Electric 512% pfd—17 at - Riggs Natlonal Bank—6 at 525. Potomac Electric 6% pfd.+-2 at 1113. In connection with Peoplés Drug pre- ferred, it is interesting to note that the common stock on the New York Curb has been jumping around very freely recently. On Friday the stock gained 10 points, reaching a high of 64 and clos at 60. It closed in New York yesterday at 56%. Towa Fears Whitu Grub. JOWA CITY, Iowa, March 22 (#).— The State Coliege entomology depart- ment has notified Iowa farmers be prepared for a heavy infestation of white grub worms, & parasite preying upon all crops. ¢ Sunday Star SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 23, 1930. PROSPECT OF CROP BETTERMENT AIDS BUSINESS IN SOUTH Rainfall More Important to Farmers Than Drops in Money Rates. DEFLATION EVIDENT IN SOUTH AND WEST Texas and Arizona Declared on Eve of Industrial Revival. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Special Dispatch to The Star. LOS ANGELES, Calif, March 22— yeats later he was elected vice presl; What most impressed Wall Street and the other financial centers of the East He has always kept in close touch | this week was the drop in domestic money rates and the decline in the rediscount rate of the Bank of Eng- land. To the Southwest and lower California, however, the fact of great- est consequence to their business life was a rainfall of from 2 to 3!, inches which extended over wide areas in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and in this State, supplying much-needed moisture at the season of the year when it will do the most good. So while the security markets have been boo; and averaging prices making new “highs” under the favor of an astonishingly easy credit situation covering oo"ll:urtllmlo-m ggfl:‘.mnt-tm paper, sentiment an i - uonotmevmmmhng:n cheered by a better outlook for the crops, especially in the semi-arid sec- tions where water is regarded as equivalent of gold. Real Estate Deflation. ‘Treveling south and west through the country one finds in most places lingering evidences of deflation of local situations, usually in real estate, or of the effects of the stock market panic of last November. er these have produced rather serious conditions, out of which cities and towns slowly are working their way with signs of im- vement since the first of this month. r instance, New Orleans has at pres- ent a degree of unemployment that presents a problem to the local govern- ment and business men, who are try- ing to correct it. Conditions there are the result more of local than of national disturbances, including the prolonged street car strike, overbuilding of homes and apartments, and some indiscretion in the banking world in the way of pro- mrmn% local securities—all of which has affected confidence, so that mort- gage money is ‘almost unobtainable. The New Orleans Stock Exchange is said to be the only one in the United States that did not increase its turn- over in 1929. In Northern Texas, development at too great speed for a number of years resulted in a state of stagnation, espe- cially in the bullding industry, long before the break in s or the de- cline in cotton occurred. As one goes from place to place, it is interesting to find how commonly the market situa- tion has been made the excuse for poor collections, falling off in retail trade, inability to borrow at the banks or of loan associations, and failure to meet Community Chest quotas. Undoubt- edly it has pitated financial troubles that ht have been post- poned had there been no Wall Street crash, but it has everywhere been a convenient argument to use with bor- rowers, and when there had been un- settlement of confidence because of local weaknesses it was the final factor that caused such banking trouble as at Fort Worth and the investment com- pany failures in San Antonio. As land as an investment plays a | much more important part than se- curities in this part of the world, the deflation of city real estate is of finitely greater hurt to communities than the shrinkage in stocks. Florida is held up as a State that went mad on land values, but investigation will prove that her example was followed to a considerable degnee by nearly every metropolitan and suburban area from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is as difficult to move real estate in Los Angeles today as it has been in Miami since 1929. Here and there building permits are showing gains over a year | railroad bonds stood at 95.45, compared | bo: ago and compared with January or February. Housing Facilities Overbuilt. Easier money in Wall Street is a long time in thawing out the markets that deal in mortgages rather than in , | stocks and bonds, and while there is a l'.rmx will in Washington to “sweeten” the situation with low rediscount rates, the difficulty is with overproduction of housing facilities. This will take some time to correct. For over 20 years the writer has made frequent visits to Texas to in- assified ds Pages S to 12 CHARLES C. GLOVER, Whose name heads the list of Washing- ton Stock Exchange charter members ht to light this week a8 the ergariitation’s Teosrds were pro- pared to be moved. Mr. Glover, who is chairman of the board of directors of the Riggs National Bank, has been con- fined to his home for a long time on account of iliness. INVESTMENT BOND MARKET IMPROVES Rise in Prices During Week Accompanied by Larger Sales Volume. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 22.—The prog- ress of the investment market during the past week is best measured by giv- ing a few On the Stock Ex- figures. the | change, bond transactions totaled close week and $47,160,000 in the same week of 1929. On Thursday the volume was the heaviest mn four years. The aver- age of 50 bonds, representative of the whole list, rose to 04.80, against 91.33 iwo weeks ago. The immediate cause for this, of course, is the fact that money is cheaper than it has been in five years. A con- tributing cause is that large sums of money have been held out of the mar- ket awaiting favorable conditions, and the market is now getting part of the reinvestment demand that normally should have come its way in January. ! Rate Changes. ‘Time money dropped below the 3%, i per cent level for the 90-day term, as a result of the dropping of the New York Federal Reserve rediscount rate the previous week and eight consecu- tive drops in the acceptance rate since the beg! of the month. Then the Bank of d lowered its rate to 3lg per cent on Thursday. Another cut in the New York rate was indicated, but the Street feels that if it may not take place just now. Another factor that aided the rise in prices was that for the first time since bonds, especially high grade municipal and other legal descriptions. Despite the slowness with which new offerings were moved in the past quarter, the first few days of active bond buying cleaned the dealers’ shelves of every at- tractive offering. Quick to realize the market and picked up second grade de- scriptions to hold for a profit. Investors not able to buy just what they wanted for their portfolios turned to the higher yield types. Foreign issues are brought out and marked up. Life insurance companies and savings banks both were iarge buyers, | The net result was that bonds of all | classes advanced to their highest levels of this year and at the end of the | week were approaching their high levels of 1928. Many issues, as a matter of are quoted now on a basis comparable ;/,i;g the strong bond market of Effect on U. S. Issues. For example, the eight active long- term United States Government issues closed the week at an avel of 104.628, against 104.332 last and issues were most sensitive to the. lower- ing of the rediscount rate and by their behavior at the end of the week pointed to a further rate cut. Ten high-grade with 9446 last week and their best price in 1929 of 95.03. Many popular public utility issues | touched par or better for the first time since 1928, but the average of ten of id not quite reach the 1928 level, last week and the 1929 high of 100. The advance of the junior railroad bonds brought a group of them to an average of 90.71, against 88.3 last week, and ten semi-speculative industrial is- sues reached 87.12, compared with 84.2 a week ago. This last group is the only one that is still far below its vestigate raflroad and agricultural de- velopment there. given a per- spective of value in appraising present conditions. In the earlier days there was a great deal of railroad building in progress, particularly by the Prisco, whose lines were projected into the Rio Grande Valley, where now the Mis- souri Pacific and Southern Pacific con- trol the traffic. Then came the break- up of nearly all of the Southwestern roads, and, after the reorganization of 12 and 15 years ago, & reapportionment of weak independent lines to more logi- cal sponsorship. Of greatest importance was the de- velopment of & new physical standard for the entire railroad group in this territory. This is the greatest change one sees now in traveling over the ‘Texas roads. The second phase, and the one-that is now causing the most discussion among men, is the fight for traffic, as physical conditions and facilities have been equalized, and the strategy employed in the contest. This is evident as one studies the move- ments of California, Arizona and New Mexico products from the originating territory on the Southern Pacific to their destination at Mississippi River points. Just how this will be affected by the proposed transcontinental line under Van Sweringen sponsorship re- mains to be seen. If the Interstate Commerce Commission believes what it !I};l in 1%: om“el:lu:mme‘ n:, ‘:o p‘o’xp not permit a of such pi b tions, and if financial history is a guide, such an unco-ordinated and un- manageable organization would fail. ... (Copyright, 1030.) Flowers Need Good Beds. COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 22 (A).— A well pre| bed will amply repay the flower raiser for extra work, says Victor H. Ries, extension floriculturist of Ohio State University, He advi that be ulverized and ferti- lizer added it. high level of 1929, which was 96.02. Industrial bonds, apart from foreign credits, reacted more widely than did the rest of the list to the forced selling stock market | prac activity continues on its upward course | fi 1928, there was a hint of a scarcity of | OIL CASE WILL SET EXAMPLE IN PRICE REGULATION MOVE Action Against California Companies to Test Mean- ing of Sherman Law. TRADE PRACTICE CODES ARE INVOLVED IN SUIT, Result of Action to Influence Fue ture Policies of All Cor- porations. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR. Spectal Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 22.—When the Department of Justice decided to file sult for violation of anti-trust laws against the California oil groups, a civil and not a criminal action was Oftentimes such actions carry a doubles barreled approach, in that the Governe ment files both civil and criminal charges. Usually civil actions are taken only in cases where it is felt that the lead= ers have not deliberately or with ine tention violated the law. the companies operating in Californis are very large—had already entered into an agreement to co-operate under a code of rules which had been worked out by the trade practice conference, The code itself contained agreements calling for posting prices at the ree finery, with a further provision that those prices be adhered to. What are the legal consequences, therefore, of such agreements? The Department of Justice in this case contends that they are a pure violation of the anti-trust law in that such prac- tices indirectly set the retail price. The oil companies themselves deny the ch‘mu. So the matter goes fo the courts. The whole subject of trade practice conference codes and anti-trust legisla- tion will receive a thorough airing be- fore this case is closed. Shipping Business. Robert Dollar of San Prancisco writes that conditions are excellent in Ih:e shipping blulnau” 'ld'hu?s business veteran, approaching 90, not inti- mate whether or not he is about to make another world tour, to drum up more business for his allied companies. From the tone of his letter no drum- ming up is needed at the moment. “Can’t complain at all. Business is excellent with us,” says Capt. Dollar. The outlook for American shipping locks more favorable now than at any t‘gm since 1920. ngl}let it is tr\lw th;: e excess tonnage up during tI war has continued to depress rate schedules, the lus of available shi 18 slowly ‘béing eliminated and will tically a thing of the past within ive Still, the Department of Commerce has recently eomt:fled figures to show 'that - the -greatest percentage of idle ships - -are American owned. ‘They amount to about 68 per cent of the .world’s. total.. blems, outside of The two . major -excess .ships, which make it difficult shipping interests to com- vessels sue for American situation, speculators came into the| .. -2. Greatar. .cost of constru vese Lo cting costs are .estimated at 50 to 60 per_cent . higher than in foreign During 1 a total of 126, tons in merchant vessels was built and launched in the United States. This Tepresents an increase of 38 per cent lover 1928. For this year the prospects will be better, with about 359000 tons &in | fact, topped their best 1929 prices and | of it early o their 1920 high level of 103.882. These | the Electric Charles E. Mitchell, chairman of National City Bank; Thomas W. vle:ra. prelN ldegt of !hemm of Monte clair, New Jersey; R ‘hairman of the standing at 100.03, compared with 98.97 | Woodin, & Co.; Samuel W. Reyburn, president of Lord & Taylor, and Clarence M. Woolley, chairman of the American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corporae ‘Nearly all these men have been lead- Seectad ‘hecanse "o thei saneian e use o their own fleld. S * Mr. Case, the new chairman, started of last Autumn and have been the last | hjs husin group to come back. Foreijgn bonds, having advanced strongly and steadily during the past month or five weeks, naturally did not so markedly, but & group of them reached an average of 100.71, compared with 99.75 the previous week and the 1929 high level of 101.98. New issues during the week did not bulk large enough to have an appreci- able effect on the market's rise. The total was about $210,000,000, compared with $175,000,000 the previous week. However, it is interesting to note that $95,000,000 of the week’s flotations con- sisted of foreign bonds. The City of Helsingfors (Finland) issue, successfully | but marketed on Wednesday, was the signal for the release of a number of foreign dollar credits. The most important item was a $40,000,000 Royal Dutch Petroleum issue of 4 per cent deben- tures, with stock warrant options. These debentures were offered at 89!, and at once advanced a point above the offer- ing value. Another interesting foreign offering_was $20,000,000 Rhine West- phalia Electric Power Corporation 6s, put out at 93. An outstanding issue of the same company of comparable term, coupon and stock option feature, declined 2 points to meet the price of the new debentures. (Copyright, 1930.) —— Course for Tree Trimmers. MADISON, Wis., March 22 (P).—A three-day course in tree-trimming 1s offered in March at the University of Wisconsin. Tractor-Farmed State. SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 22 (#). —California farmers operate 848 tractors. neid, commercial banking Federal Reserve 13 years aga. . bl Instaltment Buying. it of ‘{nstallment buying? Ma; zine articles and books have been w:lt ten on both sides. Many conservative thinkers still ques~ tion {ts soundness in the business world. To irchase articles of consumption without full payment is still considered by them “a sure path to the poor house.” Purchase of productive goods on the installment is bad enough, not so bad. Arthur Fertig, New York auditos, rises to say that in the final analysis it depends upon the skill with which the machinery is used, whether it will work or not in any particular business, The annual volume of instaument sales in.the United States exceecs tne combined volume in the rest of the world. Its total in the United Htates now is above $10,000,000,000 a yenr, about 9 per cent of the total hnval naticnal income. So a far-reschihg credit revolution has taken 8. “Even in times of depression, »o ine stallment retailer looks fondly s sui- cide. If new buyers grow scarce, theve are always collections coming in,' suge sesta M. Fertly. i installment buying good Who knows yet? o 2 (Copyright, 1! by l:rh American News- . r nce.) * Miners Plant Gardens, STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 23 (). —Sixteen hundred miners employed by a coal company will compete this