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FINANCIAL AND CLASSIFIED he Sunday St Classified Ads Pages 5 to 12 Part 6—12 Pages PHONE EARNINGS INDICATE UPTURN | IN BUSINESS HERE Net Revenues for April and Four Months Far Ahead of Same 1930 Periods. CALLS DURING MONTH SHOW 7 PER CENT GAIN Junior Bankers to Visit City—Bond Club Elects—Echoes of Mutual Conventicn. BY RDWARD C. STONE. Net income of th: Chesapsake & Potomae Telephone Co. in April, to- taled $179,902, compared with $125,647 in April, 1930, according to the monthly statement just Aled with the Public Utilities Cvmm!sslon. This is a gain of $45,255 ove the same period last year. An increase ‘n the number of telephone calls made in April is a's> reported, | indicating greater local business activity. | Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone operating revenues for April amounted | to $785.844 against $740,501 in April, | 1930, while total operating income after | the deduction of tax>s and uncollect-} ables $207,405, compared with $157,284 in tae corresponding month a year a3o, the report shows. Telephone operating revonues for the four months ending April 30. rmounted 1o $3,050,355, as compared with $2,867.- 072 for the same period last year. Total operating incomes aft:r daducting taxes and uncollectables for the first four months of this year amounted to $735,- 816, as compared with $550,513 for a similar period in 1930. Balance net income for the first four months amounted to $590,505, as compar>d with $437,548 for the same perod last yeer, an increase so far this year of $152,957. More Telephones in Use. ‘Taxes during April 858406, which was en increase of $8,280 over the month of April last year. Taxes for the firct four ‘ronths of the year were $222,195, an increass of $33,340 for a similar p:riod in 1930. iaplt:l exn:n.fi;:;esmfg‘ new plant and equipment e’ company’ system in the District of Columbia for were 171814 telephones in ton on April 30, 3,334 having ashing! been added to the system since January | tele made . Increase Junior Bankers to Visit City. t_200 delegates to the*national Banking, which epens in Plltsparth on . Whic] on Jun: 8, will be the . of 'Washing- ton Chapter on , June 7. S, o R e end. Tennessee. g ggig Annual Meeting. Following the election of Lawrence M. Proctor, president; T. Baker Rob- of the Bond Club of Washington at the Manor Club Pridey. Three members :vera tled for golf honors—E. Percival decided the winner. The second prize z:ncto to Hubert P. Young of Gillet In 'the putting contest, Earle F. Amick, Riggs National, took first prize 2nd Dave Thompson, s guest, second. E P Dum of cAuchincloss, Farker & Redpath, won the ping-pong contest, with D. P. Roberts of Acacla Mutuai Life second. James H. Lemon, James M. Johnston & Co., captured horseshoe pitching honors. After the Stock Ex- | change session, Sidney T. Thomas, Gillet & Co., was presented an auto- mobile; Thomas W. Brahany, E. A. Pierce & Co., a moving picture camera end A. W. Howard, Foreman’s Insur- aps: Co., a set of golf clubs. It was voted to change the by-laws 80 that the annuzl meeting can be :mld either in May or June in the fu- ure. Financial District Comment. 1t was announced yesterday by F. P. H. Siddons, general chairman of the Distilct Bankers' Association conven- tion to o 2eld st Hot Springs in June, that reservations to date have been as Jarge as th-y were last year et the rame time. This is considered highly gratify- ing by the bankers, as the sttendance last year was the larg:st on record, The first hot w-ather is certain to st in the annual meet- program has been extended 7 John Poole, presigert of the Federal-Amercan Na- tional Bank & Trust Co., for a com- imittee which has been working for a long time cn a matter of special in- terest to the association. The routine reports will also bring out important informaticn on local banking and eco- nomic conditions. ‘The national convention of Mutual Savings Banks brought many distin- ginshed bankers to Washington. While there are no mutual savings banks here, fnany of their problems are common to all banks. The address by Julius Barnes drew unusual comment. Per- haps his most startling statement was that President Hoover had told him of 70 qualified men declining to serve on the Tariff Commission because “they would not expose themsclves to the Gisparagement of senatorial confirma- Support of the railroads’ efforts to increase ""l:““' favoring | WASHINGTON, D. €., SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 1931 Knows Finance BANKER CAPTURES ESSAY HONORS. BERNARD 1. BOUDREN, Who won' the annual contest open to students in_the American Institute of Banking. He is an_ assistant cashier, of the Riggs National Bank and man- | ager of the Seventh and I street| branch. He will attend the D. C.{ bankers’ ccnvention at Hot Springs as ! a reward for his ability as a writer.| —Harris & Ewing Photo. | THO WEEKS L0SS HALTED BY MARKET Bonds Clese Lower Period Despite Better Prices for Rails. | | for| By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, May 23.— The sorely | battered railroad securitics responded to strong tonic in the securiti:s market this week. A fortnight-long decline in the stock market was halted, but a decisive re- bound falled to develop. Bonds, with the exccption of the gilt-edged issues, ended the week somewhat lower, al- though the recovery in the railroad lierss toward the close of the period im- a decidedly ~ improved tone ighout the investment market. e rail stocks, as measured by one widely used price average, reacl the lowest general level since 1922,in an | extremely weak market on Monday, but advance rumors of the Thursday meet- ing of Easiern executives to launch a for . revision of freight rates 9 help the rail equities the next Gay, end they accomplished substantial Tecovery therzafter. Level Little Changed. ‘The general level of stock prices, as measured by price averages, was little changed after the sharp decline on Mon- day, as recoveries in the rails tended offset declines elsewhere, as a trickle liquidation went forward in selected during the entire week. The index of 90 representative issues ‘the week with a net loss of about ts, and only a fraction above the Jow recorded on Wednesday. dwindled to unusually small as the week dr<w to a close. essively cheap money policy Reserve resulted in sub- stantlal reductions in interest paid on| bank deposits of various descriptions. { The New York Clearing House at last cut the rates which member banks may pay on crdinary deposits from 11; to 1 per cent. Vi reductions in rates paid on time and thrift or savings de- posits were re X Sterlirig exchange rose to a new high for the year, close to parity. The re- ported London selling in the New York Stock Market, however, fafled to de- velop into any financial difficulties in London when the bi-monthly settle- ment day arrived on Thursday, and uneasiness on that score vanished. While it was confirmed in brokerage circles that there had been liquidation in this market by London, it was also reported in usually well informed circles that British and Scottish investment trusts were buyers around the low level. The strength of sterling seemed to reflect th> cheapeninz interest rates here as much as anything. Fear Conditions Abroad. Wall Street was interested in the! annual meeting of the Bank for Inter- | national Settlements, and particularly its rejection of a proposal for the ex- tension of large medium and long-term credits to needy countries. A similar | plan was understood to have been pro- posed by Gov. Norman of the Bank of England during his recent visit to America, but to have been rejected here. Wall Street in the main still feels | | that political conditions abroad are in- | cufficiently stable for the extensive granting of long-term international credits, {EATON AND ASSOCIATES FILE ANSWERS TO SUITS | By the Associated Press. CLEVELAND, May 23.—Cyrus S. Eaton, Otis & Co. and Continental Shares, Inc, filed answers here today asking dsmiseal of several suits which charged they had engineered stock transactions unprofitable to Continental, i and which asked restitution, i - Plaintiffs in the suits were Charles | | 1 Wachn-r and Sigmund Korach, minority stockholders, and Paramount Ccal & Coke Co. In the answers, Eaton also denled {that he had direct-d Continental’s | | 2cczptance of the deal, and his denial as ‘echoed in the answer by Otls & 0. Otis & Co. further said concerning one action involving approximately $3,000,000 that Continental paid_only axbat was due and owing” and suffered no . . Commerciel First National | *anhattan Netional City Puol ankers' .. rookiyn Tr MARKET AVERAGES 40 POINTS BELOW THREE MONTHS AGO Fewer Than 20 Listed Com- mon Stocks Now Selling Above $100. COMMODITIES GO LOWER AGAIN DURING LAST WEEK Outstanding Leadership Seen as Greatest Need of Wall Street at Present. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE, Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, May 23—There has been little cheer this week for those who hold securities. The fall in common stocks and in junior bonds continued until the averages for the former reached a level 40 points below that at which the present monotonous decline began three months ago. So extreme has been the deflation that fewer than 20 listed conmon stocks are now quoted above $100 a share. By far th: greater number of issues and the major part of the daily transactions are in shares under 50. During the week the average return on junior stocks was approximately 81 per cent, while so abrupt was the col- lapse in railroad issuss on Monday that substantial members of this group were quoted at prices yielding from.9 to over 16 per cent. Drive on Pivotal Shares. With the liquidation that has taken place and the adjustment in prices of stocks to earnings per share, there is evidence that certain groups of stocks and individual issues. in these groups are breaking away from the general drift of the market. The professional element centers its attention on stocks t are in the “blue chip” category and relentlessly drives them down from day to day. Wall Street has been com- pelled to think of stocks like United States Steel, American Can, Western Union and Ingersoll Rand as being be- low 100, rather than in the higher realms of value to which it had becore | accustomed in the past five years. It has also been forced to associate Ameri- can Telephone & Telegraph with a fig- ure of about $165. A large portion of its 580,000 shareholders have invested in the property since it sold around $150 a share in 1927, and now a few between the levels of $200 and $300. Values as expressed in quoted prices have, in many instances, more than accounted for all of the economic, po- litical and financial circumstances by which they are surrounded. When as much as 50 per cent of the list of jun- for shares has descended into the price area obtaining today, it is a fair wager that the stotk market has taken the worst of its medicine and that, while it may not improve for a long time, it has witnessed a check to the disease from which it was suffering. Commodities Go Lower. TInability to buy because of reduced wages or reduced income from invest- ments and unwillingness to buy owing to lack of correction of retail prices to prices at wholesale finally get back to the general average of commodities, which this week has fallen lower than ever. The Pisher index is now nearly 29 per cent under that of 1926, Cotton has sold this week lower than at _any time since 1915. The latest Sears-Roe- buck catalogue reveals the fact that many rrlr.u quoted are no higher than those in the Spring of 1913, when the cost of living was regarded as rela- tively low. Department of Labor statis- ics indicate that in April retail prices of food declined 2 per cent and were 18 per cent lower than in April, 1930. This includes the decline in the store prices of meats, which are said to be from 25 per cent to 40 per cent below those of a year ago. All of this provides some compensa- tion for those owning shares in the hundreds of American corporations that have reduced or passed their div- idens or for those having bank depos- its on which rates are steadily being cut down. Interest rates on thrift accounts as well as on checking accounts have been reduced in many parts of the country, with the likelihood that this movement | will spread throughout the Summer. It is expected the funds affected by lower interest payments will be transferred from the banks into securities. This, at least, is the hope. It is not likely to be realized. however, unless there is strong evidence that business is im- proving and the margin of safety for bonds is increasing. Cheap money is not the panacea for a declining market in secondary corporation obligations. On the other hand it forces government and munieipal loans to extreme levels. | Market Needs Leadership. What the market most needs now is strong leedership. It has been allowed to drift along and to take knocks from every quarter. High-grade stocks have been permitted to scll at ridiculously low prices. Wall Street asks, “Why doesn’t somebody say something?” Of greater necessity is it for somebody to do something. ~The unwillingness of men who in previous crises have as- sumed a responsibility as bankers or captains of industry to do so now and the many petty jealousies and personal prejudices that have grown up during the period when ambition for power and great size in corporation measure- ments was dominan!, has left the market without a guide or a sponsor. This, latterly, has destroyed much of the faith that a great body of investors had in securities until a few months 2g0. Before conditions in Wall Street ean correct themcelves some individuat there must be recognized and accepted 25 tie leader of all factions. His arrival on the scene with the resources which he could command would mean the im- | mediate and, precipitate departure of the gang ol “guerillas” who have been sniping prices of all classes of worth-' while securities in the last eight months. (Copyright. 1931.) ! NEW DIRECTORS LIKELY FOR MILLER CONTROL Special Dispatch to The Star., STAUNTON, Va., May 23.—The an- nual meeting of stockholders of the Miller Train Control Corporation, called for May 27, at the home office of the corpany here, is expected to be of more th:\n un:g mzercnhv ccording to a statement made tod: by Vice President H. B. Miller, it .li expected that a number of changes will ntral Hanov . be made in the personnel of the board HEAD OF MARYLAND BANKERS)| IS VETERAN OF LONG EXPERIENCE Webster Bell, Now 55, Began Carcer at Age of 19 Years. Was Credited With Halting Serious Baltimore Run Last Fall. Special Dispateh to The Star. BALTIMORE, May 23.—Wcbster Bell, who was elected president of the Mary- land Bankers' Association at the annual meeting in Atlantic City Thursday, is one of the best known bank prasidents in Baltimore, being president of .the Park Bank, which was the fiat bank herc to initiate Christmas saving funds. r. Bell, who is 55 years old, is & na- tive Baltimorean and started his bank- ing career with the Naticnal Union| Bank when he was 19 years old, and re- | mained with the National Union until i he accepted the presidency of the Park | Bank in: 1903. Bank’s Expansion Rapid. ‘The Park Bank was started in 1901 with a capital and surplus of approxi- mately $100,000 and under Mr. Bell's guidance has rapidly expanded, the| total resources as of December 31, last, | being $8,039,229, with a capital stock of | $700,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $690,658. | Mr. Bell has always taken an active | |interest in national banking affairs. Following the collapse of the Ch&l-i peake Bank last December, while ru-i | mors started a two-day run on the Park | | Bank, all depositors were given their| ! money as demanded, many of them| | walking out of one door and into an-| other door of the bank where they re-| WEBSTER BELL. DEMAND GROWING FOR MORTGAGES Dealers Say Investors Are Turning Away From Com- mercial Banks. By the Assoclated Press. NEW YORK, May 23.—Officers of | FOREIGN BUSINESS REMAINS CONFUSED AS BONDS ADVANGE Stocks, However, Go Lower Due to Political Worry Over Geneva Parley. COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC DROP TO RECORD LOWS Encouragement Found in Trade Figures Showing Larger Raw Material Imports. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, May 23.—Cable dis- patches to the Business Week give the following survey of business abroad for the week ending May 23: ‘The business picture remains confused and uncertain. Although exchanges are steady and bonds have risen- strongly | where influenced by the bank rate cuts, stocks have slumped conspicuously. In England, particularly, the boom in gilt- edged securities contrasts with the de- cline in stock levels, which now are con- sidered unprecedentedly below their intrinsic worth. A European-wide rally was progressing Wednesday, but it re- mains to be seen whether or not it will | last. ‘Weakness is attributable to the com- deposited the money they had just drawn. The credit for having stopped the run is given to Mr. Bell, who not only | posted a notice on the bank door that all depositors would be paid in full on proper identification and on the first day even went so far as to keep the bank open for two hours after the legal closing hour. In this way he restor:d confidence in the bank and on the sec- ond day less than 50 depositors drew out their money and approximately half of them redeposited. Other Officers Also Elected. J. A. Walton, president of the An- | napolis Banking & Trust Co., was elect- | ed vice president. Other officers named | at the closing session of the blnk!{l'l annual convention were: | William Marriott, Baltimore, Western National Bank, re-elected treasurer; James W. McElroy, Baltimore, First Na- tional Bank, re-elected secretary; mem- bers of the Administrative Committee, Tasker G. Lowndes, J. H. Cunningham, Irving T, Kepler, Willlam 8. Hill, W. B. Cooper, William 8. Gordy, jr., and L. 8. Zimmerman. COTTON PRICES DROP T0 RECORD LOW MARK Market Closes Barely Steady at Net Declines of 23 to 24 Points. | By the Assoclated Press. NEW YORK, May 23.—Cotton broke into new low ground for the season to- day. October contracts sold off to 9.33, or 25 points net lower, and closed at 9.35, with the general market closing barely steady at net declines of 23 to 24 points, The opening was steady, 6 to 8 points lower on overnight selling or- ders, encouraged by expectations of rising temperatures in the South over Sunday. There was considerable cov- ering and trade buying, which ab- sorbed the initial offerings, but the selling continued and became more ac- | tive as the stock market showed signs | of weakening and the officlal forecast | encouraged the expectation of improv- ing weather, Some stop orders were uncovered dur- ing the progress of the decline, with Southern and Wall Street selling be- coming more active. Later in the morn- ing July broke to 8.96 and December to 9.54, or about 35 to 40 points from the high price touched on the rally of Friday morning. Closing quotations were 2 or 3 points up on some of the | later months. The combination of better weather news with the continuance of unsettled conditions in the stock market was considered chiefly responsible for the selling. This was supposed to include further liquidation of old long ac- counts, as well as reselling by some more recent buyers for an upward re- action. Houses with Southern and Wall Street connections were particu- | larly active on the selling side of the market, while the trade was said to be the best buyer. The demand in-| cluded considerable buying by brokers | with Japanese connections. Liverpool was closed for the Whit- suntide holidays and will not reopen until next Tuesday morning, so that there were no cables to influence senti- ment here either way. The day's trading included further switching from near to late months, particularly from July to March, but while differences widened out slightly early, they showed very little change at the close. The amount of cotton on shipboard awaiting clearance at the end of the week was estimated at 70,- 000 bales, against 72,000 last year. High. Close. 917 8.99-9.01 9.85-57 9 9.97-88 | July ... October '\ December January March . BUILDING ASSOCIATION | PREPARES TO EXPAND The Perpetual Building Association | has acquired the four-story brick build- | ing immediately west of its location at | the northwest corner of Eleventh and | E streets northwest to permit expan- sion of its present office. The building will be torn down and on its site officials of the building asso- ciation expect to erect a stone addition as high as and conforming architec- turally to their existing stately office building. The property is 25 by 100 feet in dimensions and will afford the build- ing associaticn office an increase of 40 per cent in floor space. The association, assets of which are now in excess of $25,000,000, is the twelfth largsst in the United States Building & Loan League and the geventeenth largest in the country, organized in 1881. DIVIDENDS DECLARED, ofldu'ecw‘r:” and ‘:&un. t was po out that the of president had been vacant .m::%e‘: death of J. N. Garber, last March, and a prominent Washington man would likeiy ‘e elected 4o this position. . General Electric Co. has declared the regular quarterly dividends of 40 cents ollm‘ lcm&n:m ;:l on s stock, both paya! to .rm of record June 26. h \DEMAND BALANCE RATE prominent mortgage companies sald to- | day investors, discouraged by the low frztum being paid by commercial banks | on deposits, are displaying revived in- | terest in guaranteed mortgages and cer- | tificates. “ Several reported that the demand ex- | ceeds the supply and predicted that the mortgage market may come down by Midsummer to 4'; per cent. They said | the prevailing rate is from 5% to 6 per cent. Mortgage companies officials said that they have uncomfortably large supplies of cash and that they cannot get suffi- clent mortgages to sell or deposit against sales of certificates. While the demand is insatiable, they said that the business depression has operated to restrict the supply of new mortgages. Some of the large companies report they have not been encouraging new projects in New York, believing it to be overbuilt. ‘Those who were interviewed were vir- tually unanimous in attributing the satiable demand for mortgages from in- dividuals to the vagaries of the stock market. They said that presumably the inquiry came from persons who in more ggn‘;-l times would be buying shares or nds. Further light on the mortgage situa- tion is thrown by the statement of the New York State League of Savings and Loan Associations showing the total loans by its members in April reflected the month’s business this year. The aggregate was 1,822 loans for a total of $5,391,241. GRAINS DROP BELOW LOWEST FOR SEASON Better Weather Forecast and Slow Foreign Demand Send Prices Down. By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, May 23.—Grains and vaixlum alike today dropped to be- low the season’s previous bottom level. Anxiety about frost damage to Win- ter wheat Southwest faded away to & large extent. The outlook was for im- proved molsture supplies in the Spring Wwheat belt Northwest. Export demand for North American wheat was almost at a halt. July wheat and July and Stptember corn outdid their 1931 low price records, with lard also at a new low for the season. Wheat closed irregular, 13,a1% lower to % higher; corn, 1%al3, down; oats, Yaads off, and provisions at 12 to 20 cents setback. uly .. Beptember cember OATS May (old) July ... Beptember December RYE- July Septembe December a1 CUT TO 1-2 OF 1 PCT. | By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, May 23.—The Informal Committee of Bankers regulating in- terest pald on foreign deposits has re- duced the rate on demand balances from 1 to one-half of 1 per cent. The new rate does not apply to the balances of foreign central banks or of foreign governments. The same com- mittee on May 15 reduced the rate on foreign time deposits from 2 to 1!5 per cent. The new demand rate is the same as that paid on domestic demand deposits by member banks of th: New York Clearing House which was estab- lished on May 19. ‘The low interest rate at once diverted attention to sterling which rose to $4.869-16 for cables, a new high for 1931, indicating the transfer of some funds to London. At that figure the quotation is only slightly below the par value of $4.8665. EXTRA OMITTED. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad has omitted the usual extra dividend of $1.50 on the common stock due at this time. The regular semi-annual divi- dend of $3.50 on the common has been | & declared, payable July 10, to stock of record June 12. - CORPORATION EARNINGS. NEW YORK, May 23 (#)—Per share earnings of corporations reporting this week, with comparisons with last year, include: . ;nunlh March 31— ‘American’ Petrol.' & L_Alr Transport 19 0% 3 .02 2. .{in - Austria | bination of political uneasiness center- ing in Geneva developments, the reper- icuulon of Wall Street pessimism and local depression factors. The latter is | applicable especially in Germany, where the fiscal deficit !s now estimated to ex- | ceed 300 millions, or equal to the deficit vgfn :dnrly all the rest of Europe com- Commodity markets are very irregular. Copper has dropped to the lowest level in 35 years, lead to the lowest in 28 years, and zinc to an all-time low. Tin rose on further restriction proposals, but subsequently partially relapsed on fears of the release of stored stocks of low- grade metal. Wool is weaker. Jute has again afi:znlt:d, S';I;oxh tl"lel'e is a 25 per cent crop ge in prospect. Cotton has entered new low ground. Rubber alone has shown indications of | natural resistance, while wheat has con- tinued steady on continental and Oriental buying. Trade Figures Improve. Some encouragement, however, is to be drawn from April trade figures, which reflect larger imports of raw ma- factures. Slow redistribution of capital continues. Retall sales are holding up surprisingly, and it appears current pro- duction is passing more rapidly to con- sumption. But the fact remains that conditions lack vitality and confidence. A new depression phase seems to have , namely, in the scaling down of related values in retail prices, wages and security values, toward levels al- ready established by the Erimny com- modities. It is not surprising that re- nce to this phase of deflation has caused large-scale wage strikes, momen- tarily in France, Sweden and but to be expected thrqughout Europe during the Summer. The prospect, apart from seasonal pick-ups, 1s in- creasingly one of protracted basic re- equilibration and stabilization, and probably it will be months before the foundation of consistent recovery can be' expected. To be featured from the point of view of events of the week is the sec- ond tin restriction conference recom- mending a further 16 per cent cut, the opening of the London wheat confer- | ence, where the American view of over- the minority | against views not of overproduction, |but of underconsumption attributable | primarily to tariff disruptions of normal distribution, and to the opening of the sessions of the League of Natlons, at which attention centered and was focused on the general uneasiness in connection with the Austro-German Anschluss proposals. Consent of Austria and Germany to submit their program to The Hague Court for pronouncement on' its legality has greatly relaxed im- mediate fears that the European po- | litical situation was heading to a show- down, though it is not to be forgotten that the issue actually is only deferred by this action. Austrian Crisls Eased. Meanwhile, the threatening situation arising over the Credit- anstalt crisis and government efforts to prevent its collapse has likewise greatly been eased through the consent of the League’s Control Committee to further the 20 million dollar Austrian govern- ment foreign loan. That which is most notable in the general European situation is that at no time since the war has the Euro- pean structure arbitrarily imposed by :he Versallles treaty been more in a state of flux. At no time has the hegemony of France and its allies been more threat- ened than by the Austro-German initia- tive to burst tirese artificially imposed restraints. Unless Paris and Berlin are able to revive a mutual Locarno spirit or unless reparations burdens are lightened, it is entirely possible that the pent up explosive forces in Ger- many will seek an outlet either through Austria to the Balkans and the Near East, or towards Russia. It is regret- table that this moment the only ity to reconcile the Pranco-German viewponts—Briand—is on the eve of resigning his position as leader of French foreign policy and guiding spirit in the stormy inter-European council chambers. Bonds Strong in London. London reports business is not good. The sharp rise in tin prices which fol- lowed the news from The Hague that representatives at the world tin con- ferences had agreed on a further pro- duction cut of 16 per cent, was short- lived. On the stock market, industrials Only the demand for gilt- edged securities is booming and this following the cut in the rediscount rate to 213 per cent (lowest since 1909), and ’r‘r.uh rumors of a pending conversion ue. Business in Paris is maintaining the slight tendency toward improvement nt during the last three wovks. For the fourth consecutive week regis- tered unemployment is down, this weel a full 2 per cent. On the other hand, 100,000 textile workers in the Roubaix district have gone on strike and another millon are likely to be affected. In Berlin, suspense over the Austro- German issue, and the pending ruling of The Hague tribunal, combined with | the strong financial anti-union pressure re factors of uncertainty business in the next | Service P drastic 7% ' measures expected to be promulgated in 33, 16 36.76 an emergency ‘ dceree by the end of May. R ¥ terials and better exports of manu-| Frenchman who so far has shown abil- | oony Insurance Head LOCAL ORGANIZATION HAS ANNUAL ELECTION, DAVID S. BETHUNE, Just chosen president ,of the District Life Underwriters’ Association, succeed- ing John H. Snyder. He is agency manager of. the Equitable Life Assur- ance Soclety, a native of Arkansas, and startzd his career in the cattle business. Coming here in 1929, he has taken un- usual interest in the local association of underwriters.—Harris & Ewing Photo. REALTY SITUATION . STUDIED BY BANKS Mortgage and Insurance Companies Also Ponder Decrease in Values.” | ' l Special Dispatch to The Star. 4 AS CITY, Mo, May 23.—Just what is to be the outcome of the realty situation during the coming year is being seriously discussed by | banks that hold considerable acreage and by mortgage companies and repre- sentatives of life insurance companies that are large lenders in the interior. Prospects Gloomy. ‘The great decrease in corn belt land values has been serious to every finan- clal interest and seems unlikely to show any material improvement for & long period ahead. Iowa, where the land boom ran rampent, registered, accord- »13 ‘to Federal reports, a percentage value per acre of 98 this March, com- with & pre-war 100 and with 213 1920. Nebraska, which rose to 179, is 106; Missouri’s 167 is 79; Kansas, where the average value was $80 in 1920, ;‘elm' at $50 “;‘nm. Thefeinun corn_beit is below. the pre-war figure. As these f;um nclude’ improvem-nts, it means a small margin for the loans made five or more years ago. Every failed bank in the farm States was carrying real estate, taken in the process of its loan making. In many instances its burden caused the failure. These lands are mostly yet held, while the insurance companies and mortgage companies have ds of farms taken under foreclosure. loans were made on as high a basis 60 per cent of the appraised value, g= erally a 40 per cent limit was fixed. In this latter instance the loans are safe; if a high rating was given, the farmer may tiaink he has made a good sale and move out. Renewals Reduced. Strict limits, with a general indisposi- tion to extend loans, have materially cut down the renewals. Some leading insurance companies have withdrawn from the field and make no new loans. But the farmer must be financed. Un- der present conditions he is unable to pay the principal—indeed, he is strug- gIng to keep up the interest—and he has no added increment to his realty value as a further collateral. The old- time procedure of transferring current obligations to capital loans and thus caring for bank obligations is impos- sible under today's conditions. Ap- parently a heavier burden must be placed on the Federal Land Bank in taking over loans that cannot be re- newed elsewhere and in making any new accommodations. (Copyright, 1931) Trade Trends By the Assoclated Press. Aircraft.—Production of airplanes in the United States during the first quar- ter this year showed an increase of to a total of 672. The number of planes built for domestic civil use was 342, an increase of 89 over the preceding quarter. !~ Copper—Very little business in cop- |per was reported at the close of the week. The price held unchanged at 8% cents a pound, delivered, in the domestic market with buying light. There was no foreign buying because of the Whitsunday holidays abroad. Yead —World output of Tefined lead amounted to 131,926 short tons in April, with 145489 tons in March and 153,779 tons in April last year, the the American Bureau of Metal Sta- tistics reports. Petroleum —The average prices for crude oil at 10 representative fields were unchanged last week from the preceding week at 83.0 cents a barrel, - | compared with | barrel last year, and Drug Reporter. the refineries also was unchanged at 4.187 cents a gallon at four principal re. centers, compared wil .49 cents a gallon & year ago. Silver—Bar silver sagged in both primary markets at the close of the week. In New York the drop was five- eighths of a cent to 261; cents an ounce and in London the decline was fiv-six- teenths of & penny to 12 5-16 pence. Steel.—Operations of steel mills the Youngstown district next week will k | remain unchanged at 41 per cent of rated capacity. Activity of Republic be at 45 per Steel Gnrfinthn will cent, & gain of 1 cent. NET SHOWS GAIN. NEW YORK, May 23 (Special) Eastern Shore Public Service Co., op- erating subsidiary of Seaboard Puhnt‘: Teports gross revenues of 12 months ended $1,778,483 for Net earn- nted to and net e Co., $1,912,999 fon, March 31560 ing %5 inco 401, m od a year eclation, ), to $719,3! ‘was $426,149, compared §o $392,~ While some | 8 large percen | discovered, however, 87 over the final quarter of last year | in|idly built at IBAKER AND BARUCH DISAGREE ON PLAN FOR PRICES IN WAR Former Secretary Declares Advance Preparation Was Utterly Useless. INDUSTRIES BOARD HEAD WOULD PREVENT PROFITS China Making Bid to Enter Steel Industry With New $100,- 000,000 Mill. BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR. NEW YORK, May 23 (NAN.A).— B. M. Baruch, who acquired a fortune in the Street before President Wilson made him chairman of the War Indus- tries Board, wants the Government to Ireeze prices” at the beginning of the next war and thus save at least 50 per cent of the war profits. “In modern warfare administrative control must replace the law of supply and demand,” said Mr. Baruch, ad- dressing the War Policies Commission. “To measure inflation of price and profit, we must have some norm. obvious norm is the whole price struc- ture as it existed on some antecedent date near the declaration of war. “That determined, we need a method of freezing the whole price structure at that level. The obvious way to do this is simple: By proclamation to decree that every price in the whole national pattern shall' be of that determined date, and it shall be the maximum that thenceforth may be thing—rents, wages, Such a system would reduce the cost of war by 50 per cent, eliminate war profits and inflation, conserve the country’s re- wun;e.g and preserve the morale of its o ewton D. Baker, President Wilson's Secretary of War, puts “thumbs down" | on the Baruch plan. He doesn’t like it, and he told th: War Policles Commis- sion that it would not work—that it would hurt, not help. “Laws passed in anticipation of war hampered more than helped the prose- cution of the World War,” he said. But Mr. Baker's first assistant in the last war—Benedict Crowell—has come out strongly for the Baruch plan, in spite of his old chief's objections, “I don’t see how the Baruch plan can be improved upon,” Mr. Crowell says. heo?:k thing tu {ceml.n, 'g. profits can en out of war, danger of war will be reduced. = Bonuses Private Business. “How many companies have bonus systems which the stockholders have not approved?” asks A. R. of Ilinals. No compilation has ever been made. Heretofore many executives of m corporations have considered own private business. But are growing more insistent on know- ing all the details of the business in ;v’mchYuLexgmm:ng is Xnve’-swt ‘The ew Yorl ck Exchange is likely to rule that all such subjects as bonuses E:.m 10 "executives must be made own in the future to the Stock Ex- change. genes tage or!u&e It is quite ican companies provides for bonuses to tgoelr executive and often to employes, ‘The most conspicuous recent bonus example is that of Gerard B. Lambert, newly elected president of the Gillette Safety Razor Co. who is to receive a bonus 1ather than a salary. ‘The Lambert proposition, which the stockholders will vote upon on June 10 next is this: If the Gillette Co. earns less than $5 a share, or $10,000,000 during any year, the new president will receive no compensation. If it earns $5 a share Mr. Lambert will receive 20,000 shares of stock. If the earnings move up to $6 then another 20,000 shares will be given him. It is conceivable that under such a plan, if the earnings reached $6 in any g;-;o l\goro Lambert’s bonus might reach Threat to Pulp Industry. ‘While the Canadian minister of lands and forests is busy assuring the jobless thousands of Sturgeon Falls, where the Abitibi Co.’s pulp mills shut down, that the government hopes shortly to start things going again, a new threat to the pulp industry in the North is sounded by Dr. Charles A. Herty, chemist, at the New York Chemical Exposition. A way has been found to make clean white paper from the vellow pine in the’Southern part of the United States. This pine was formerly regarded as use- less for making paper because of the large percentage of resin. It has been that the trees tested in the past were too old. All the resin, practically, is contained in the heart wood, which does not develop until the tree is about 25 years old. Trees under that age contain but 1.3 per cent resin. The Canadian ce now employed for news print fourths of 1 per cent, and the differ- ence between ucxl:‘e tv{oduedun:;npomm for paper-mal ndeed, the paper exhibited by Dr. Herty, although pro- cessed with sulphite in the ordinary manner, seemed every bit as fine-look- ing and firm &s that now used. There are today about 150,000,000 ecres in the South ideally suited for growing these trees. This turn of af- fairs may spell the development of sn- other major industry in the South. China to Produce Steel. China is making a bid for a rank in the production of steel by the erection of a $100,000,000 steel mill at Puke Steel imports into China average at present around 500,000 tons annually. This figure is due for & tremendous in- crease as soon as the government em- barks fully on the great railroad build- ing program which the Oriental re- public sorely needs. Few people are aware of the fact that during the récent civil war China continued wmmplnm “'?'- velopment to @ 1 Many hundreds of miles of tracks were lald dowa, especially in North China and Manchuria. The gigantic steel plant being h’:&; Russia, also comes to mind., Here is & new and formidable possibiiity of com- .)’)eu:l‘uon from Asia in the steel in- ry. (Copyright, 1931, by North American News- peper Alliance, Inc.) NEW YORK CLEARING HOUSE. NEW YORK, May 23 (#)—The weekly statement of the New York c"‘i“o’t‘anl. Roulu m:.:llndlvuefl profits, surplus an $1,247,148,000, unchanged: demand deposits (a o 000 5 time (a $20,899,000 decrease. ending today, $5,816,! ings week ended May 1