Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1935, Page 59

News of Markets Pages 1 to 4 FINANCIAL AND CLASSIFIED he Sundwy Star Glassified Ads Pages 5 to 12 Part 5—12 Pages HIGHER COSTS CUT TRANSIT EARNINGS SHARPLY N MONTH January Income $35,323, Against $106,924 in Like Period Last Year. | OPERATING REVENUES UP, TRAFFIC ALSO MOUNTS Washington Stock Exchange Wit- nesses New 1935 Peak Prices During Week. BY EDWARD C. STONE. Total net earnings of the Capital Transit Co. in January amounted to $35.323.95. in comparison with $106,- 924.26 in January, 1934, a decrease of £71,600.31, or 67 per cent, according to | the monthly report made vesterday to | the Public Utilities Commission. The ‘ sharp slump in net earnings was due to the very much higher operating costs. Operating revenues were substan- tially higher, being $753.341.49, against $666,369.12 in January, 1934, a gain of $86,972.37. While this was an ad- vance of 13 per cent, operating ex- penses took a jump of 38 per cent, standing at $573.882.01, as compared vith $414,563.14 in the same month last vear, or an increase of $159.318.87. Operating expenses, combined with taxes and depreciation, totaled $674.- 597,61, in comparison With $514,846.17 in January of last year, a difference of $159,751.44, leaving an operating income for the month of $78,743.88, against the higher figure of $151.- 522.95 a year ago, or a falling off of £72.779.07. Non-operating income totaled $14.- | %35.11, up $1,454.48 from the January figure & year ago, making gross earn- ings, less operating expenses, taxes and depreciation, stand at $93,478.99, against $164,803.58, a decrease of $71,- 32459. The usual deductions from gross called for $58,155.04, compared with $57,879.32 a year ago, leaving the above-mentioned drop in net income of more than $71.000. All Operating Costs Higher. ‘The January traffic figures on the Capital Transit lines were highly sat- isfactory, showing substantial im- provement over the same month of the previous year. Total passengers carried on the street cars and busses numbered 16,609,170, against 13,582,- 136 in the corresponding month a year ago, an increase of 3,027,034, or 22.3 per cent. Officials point to the pas- senger figures as showing how “street car minded” Washingtonians have become. The increased operating expenses, which made such a hole in net earn- ings in January, were brought about by higher wages, an increase of more than 500 employes on the pay roll, the higher cost of power due to higher fuel costs and the large amount more power required with the additional cars in service The item of “way and structures” was $40,000 larger this year than last. As January, 1934, was only the second month of zonsolidated street car oper- ations, very little work on tracks had been started. A large amount of such work is now being carried out. There was a difference of $10.000. in the expense equipment in January this year snd a year ago. These items alone account for more than $50,000 | of the added costs which cut down the net earnings. The revenue passenger figures were among the best of any month since the consolidation went| into effect, the growth in traffic long ago having proved to be permanent The monthly report is the second in which comparisons could be made with months in previous years, as the mer- ger did not go into effect until the last month in 1933. Exchange Quotations Strong. In yesterday's trading on the Wash- ington Stock Exchange Potomac Elec- tric Power 515 per cent preferred stock sold at the strong price of 114. Capi- tal Transit stock remained firm, three 10-share sales taking place at 25%%. Peoples Drug Stores preferred is now being quoted ex dividend in antici- pation of the $1.63 payment due in a few days. Washington Railway &’ Electric Js also being quoted the same way, the recently declared $20 per share extra being due in a short time. | The closing bid for the week for this | stock was 300. which makes it the| highest priced issue on the local board. Several new high marks for 1935 were recorded during the week in se- curities listed on the Washington Ex- change. Perhaps the most notable recent move has been in Capital Trac- tion 5s, the bonds closing yesterday with 96 bid and 97 asked, peak prices reached in the last few days. Holders of American Telephone stock here read President Gifford’s annual report with great interest. About 379,000 of the 675,000 stock- holders are women and more than 100,000 are Bell System emplcyes. The average holding per stockholder 1s 28 shares. Holders in Washington have been highly gratified that the company has paid the $9 rate, ever if the dividend was not fully earned. | ‘The slignt upward trend in 1934 net earnings indicated national business improvement. NEW YORK BANK STOCKS FIRM DURING MONTH S8pecial Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 2—New York City bank stocks reached their best levels of 1935 during February, Hoit, Rose & Troster report. From the month's low of 46.26 on| February 6, the weighted average of 17 representative issues reached the ?ew 1935 high of 48.20 on February 8. The list eased off moderately, how- ever, and closed February 28 at 46.87, a level still 7.2 per cent above the 1935 low of 43.74 on January 2. DRY GOODS PICK-UP SEEN. NEW YORK, March 2 (®)—Dry goods jobbers, it is said, display more interest in Fall goods this week, al- though the volume of business placed is not substantial. Jobbers reported they were encouraged by the im- provement in demand from their retail accounts, ] Commodities Up MOST PRICES RECORD FUR- THER GAINS DURING WEEK. Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. LoTToN Paice F(weckiv) EAT PRICE (weexLy): L l i Hog Pric AT f“r'T"i" 4 J J e avsmag 1 NEW YORK. March 2 () .— Commodity prices+ were mostly higher this week. Cotton (middling upland at New York) was off 5 points at Friday's close, to 12.60 cents a pound, but wheat (No. 2, red, at New York) was s cent up for the week, at $1.14°% a bushel, and hogs at $9.55 a hundredweight were_highest since October, 1930. STAPLES REGISTER ADDITIONAL PEAKS Farm Produets Still Soar, While Other Prices Are Relatively Steady. BY FREDERICK GARDNER. Associated Press Financial Writer. Commodity price averages have been making new highs on a two-year up- swing as the second year of the New Deal draws to a close. Heralding a shift in policies toward inflation, commodity prices began to firm in the latter part of February, 1933, in the midst of the banking crisis and on the threshold of the New Deal's advent to power. The full force of the rise was not felt until after the dollar, in April of the same year, was unhitched from its gold peg and allowed to shift more or less for itself in foreign exchange markets along with the British pound and other “floating currencies.” In the interval, however, the char- acter of price movements has changed | markedly. The eve of the third year of the New Deal sees a few farm products rising sharply. in contrast with com- | parative steadiness in other parts of the domestic price structure. Moreover, the dollar, anchored to what officials call a “new mode! gold standard,” now rides the exchange waves in comparative stability against leading gold currencies, while Eng- land's pound has pointed sharply downward. Although no repercussions are aud- ible in the Capital yet, the current drop of sterling is causing uneasiness in orthodox monetary quarters, which fear it may lead to renewed agitation for a “managed dollar” and further revaluation. Inflationists and monetary theorists of various schools have been waiting out the current legislative impasse to WASHINGTON, MARKET MIRRORS INDUSTRIAL LULL BUSINESS ENTERS NEW MONTH WITH HOPEFUL QUTLOOK | Steel Production Goes Down but Demand Remains at High Level. AVERAGE DAILY OUTPUT OF COTTON CLOTH RISES February Dividend Payments Total $214,947,000, Against $214,412,000 Year Ago. BY RADER WINGET, Associated Press Financial Writer., National business stumbled last week into the final lap of the new year's first quarter. Some of the week's statistical evi- dence appeared to retard advances like ashes on ice, but long-term views of analysts were fixed on a bright ob- jective for the new month. Steel was notable. Production fell to 47.9 per cent of capacity from 49.1 per cent the previous week, but de- mand continued at a high level with steel makers expecting satisfactory orders for the second quarter to de- velop promptly. Automobile output continued the one major factor to which commen- tators could point with pride. Cram’s estimate on production for last week | was 83,899 units, against 82541 the | previous week and 71,510 for a year ago. Statistical Picture Foggy. But there again the statistical pic- | ture was a little foggy. Production was given by Cram as 336,000 in Feb- ruary, highest for that month since | 1930. The 1935 rate of manufacture has been ahead of 1934 in point of time, and a slowing down in the rate now is contrasted with last year's late start. | Electric power production was fa- vorable, with the week of February 23 showing a small actual decline against a greater expected fall. The total | was 5 per cent over a year ago. Carloadings remained practically unchanged for the week of February 23, from a seasonal standpoint. Ac- | tual shipments were 5 per cent under | the previous week and 3.8 per cent | under the same period a year ago. | The holiday accounted for the decline from the previous week. Lumber production continued ahead | of last year, with shipments and or- ders above output. Cotton cloth production, to which some analysts give considerable weight in the general business picture, was up on a daily average basis, what with | ruary 23. | Financial centers were satisfied | with February dividend payments, which totaled $214,947,000 for 629 { 579 corporations in February of 1934. ! Adverse Decisions Cited. Some conservative bankers, always slow to go on record, last week ven- tured that the Supreme Court gold decision gave reassurance to general business, but there were decisions ad- verse to the Government by Federal judges on wages and working condi- | tions under the National Recovery resume their campaign for higher| Administration and on the Tennessee prices, through one means or another. | Valley Authority that caused joy for The pending “omnibus” banking|some and gloom for others. bill, in the opinion of some observers, promises to be a focal point for the recurrent monetary battle. Supporters of- dollar revaluation credit the raising of the domestic gold price, as expressed in depreciation of the currency, for the first swift ad- vance which followed the shift in mon- etary policies after the Roosevelt ad- ministration took office two years ago. But the latest wave of price ap- preciation dates from the drought last Summer and its attendant shortage of crops. — 13 NEW BANK OFFICES OPENED IN 10 STATES Special Dispatch to The Star. CHICAGO. March 2.—Thirteen new banking offices opened in 10 States during the week. according to this week’s Banking Market issued today | by Rand McNally & Co. The bulletin also shows that there were fewer bank failures during the week than in any other week of 1935. Five new State banks, four new State bank branches, one new private bank and one new national bank branch are included in the report.| The new institutions are located in the States of Arkansas, Georgia, Towa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mich- igan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin. There were four changes reported due to mergers and consolidations and one due to change in title. Only two banks were closed and three branches discontinued. POWER EAR.NINGS GAIN. CHICAGO, March 2 (#).—The Central Power Co., which serves 46 Nebraska communities, today an- nounced its 1934 net income available for preferred stock dividends as $38,- Wage earners received with no | acclaim the forecast by Secretary | Wallace that food prices during the | first half of 1935 would be 11 per cent | higher than the last half of 1934. Statisticians and orators busied themselves with attempting to prove prosperity or bankruptcy for the Na- tion depended on whether the Federal Government paid work relief wages equal to or below the prevailing wage. Each side declared its evidence was conclusive, Business reports for last week by (Continued on Fourth Page) BUILDING STAGES SPURT IN JANUARY Gain Over December Amounts to 24.1 Per Cent, According to Hamilton Institute. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 2.—Building ac- | tivity in January staged one of those spurts which have featured the de- pression from time to time, accord- ing to the Business Conditions Weekly of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. The gain over the December volume amounted to 24.1 per cent, which was in contrast to the usual average sea sonal decline of 13.3 per cent. Both residential and non-residential con- tracts contributed to the expansion in January. There is nothing to indicate, how- ever, that this expansion was the be- ginning of a building revival. - With little prospect of an early reduction in building costs and with general curtailed, 1935 | the holiday during the week of Feb- | corporations, against $214,412,000 for | D. C, AND UNGERTAINTY Relief Bill Debate Watched. Overbuying Late in 1934 Is Technical Factor. BALANCING OF QUTPUT WITH DEMAND VITAL March Outlook Held Dependent on Restoration—Jobless Costs Rise to New Peaks. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 2—As the prices of speculative stocks and bonds have moved with the ebb and flow of business in the past year and a half, it follows that they should have re- acted this week on the indications that industry has entered another pe- riod of relapse. The vital section of the market has been that devoted to railroad securities, which have been under pressure as the outlook for these issues appeared to be less favorable than {in recent months. February ended with the average of all stocks lower | than in January, which month showed a decline from the level of December. The outlook for March depends en- tirely on how far business is able to restore the balance between pro- duction and consumption which was upset by the overbuying later in 1934 and in the first six weeks of 1935. In addition to what may be termed the temporary technical weakness of the business situation, the new factor causing a suspension of commitments is the legislative impasse in Wash- ington. How far is recovery to be delayed by the slowing down of Fed- eral projects while the relief bill is being debated? If the amount finally granted to the administration to spend for relief is whittled to less than half that originally requested, will this mean another extended sea- son of unemployment and curtailed demand on the part of consumers? Relief Costs at Peak. There are still over 10,000.000 men and women in the United States out of work. This is only a reduction of between 25 and 30 per cent from the high level of 1933. The relief bills of States end municipalities during the first two months of this year were the highest of the depres- sion period. They will be no lower in March. It is obvious that a crisis is approaching in this phase of the national economy and that it bears directly on the degree of industrial activity during the Spring and Sum- mer months. Another influence making for hesi- tation in business'is the cloudiness of the entire N. R. A. code system. This week two important decisions have been handed down by judges of Fed- eral courts overthrowing the opera- tion of this Government agency in the iron and sfeel and bituminous coal trades, Together with the earlier opinion of Judge Grubb in the T. V. [ A. casc, they point to the growing difficu’ties of the administration in projecting its program, to which there appear to be serious legal limitations. All of these incidents are in the nature of temporary checks to recov- 1 1 | the business world as the beginning of a forced retreat from the management philosophy of the New Deal. So it will require some time for those who are regulated under this program to adjust their policies to a change they believe is impending. Facing High Barriers. ‘The obstructions placed in the way of the administration’s march toward a new method of meeting economic and social problems may be likened to the situation of an army that has steadily pushed forward until it meets the highly fortified barriers at the enemy’s frontier. It can adopt a new kind of warfare or it may wait and see if those on the defense have the ingenuity to discover and put into effect a type of armament or a style of attack that will meet the require- ments of the day. The discouraging fact at present is that the capitalistic class remains unconscious or unmindful of deep currents of opinion that have cut new channels in the stream of our social and economic life and is intent on preserving what it considers its former rights. The facts brought out in con- nection with the income tax records of former Secretary of the Treasury Mellon instruct one in this type of philosophy. It is the fact that men 5o highly placed are unaware of the existence of a new social point of view that appals so many people. Trade Barometer Lower. The index of business again points downward this week, due mainly to the fall in iron and steel production, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 3, 1935, STNGY WITH THE WATER. WE'LL FILL VP GAIN AT THAT BANK NOTE PLAN T0 END IN I | Treasury Decides to Place Circulation System on Former Basis. | By the Associated Press. National banks were notified by the "I‘reasury today that thc privilege of | securing aational bank note issues by any United States bonds paying 3% per cent interest or less, would expire on July 22. The effect of the decision was to return national banks to the old basis | of their bank note collateral—naraely, | | bonds which bear the circulation privilege. These include $599.000.000 in 2 per cent consols of 1930, $49.- 1 000,000 in 2 per cent Panama's of | 1916-1936 and $26,000,000 in 2 per cent Panama’s of 1918-1938. | | The enlarged security base for na- | gress on July 22, 1932, for a three- ! year period Fathered by Senator Borah Republican, Idaho, the plan of permitting the use as bank note collateral of any Federal bond paving | 3% per cent interest or less was designed to expland the currency. In actual practice, Jreasury figures showed that not more than $§250,- 000,000 in national bank notes were outstanding. Bonds bearing the circulation privi- | lege are deposited by national banks | with the treasurer of the United | States. The banks then issue their own currency. National bank notes represent only a small portion of money in every- | day use. Out of more than $5,000,- 000,000 in circulating currency, latest figures showed bank notes contribut- ing only $827,000,000,000. CHEMISTS NAME ANNIVERSARY HEADS Manufacturers’® Committee to Join With Society in Celebrat- ing 300th Year in April. Appointment by the Manufacturing Chemists’ Association of a committee to co-operate with the American Chemical Society in celebrating in New to the lessened demand for electric | York during the week of April 22 the power and to a slowing up in the mo- | 300th anniversary of the founding of tor industry The drop in steel out- | the chemical industries in America, is Coca-Cola Lifts | Rate on Common By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 2.—Directors of the Coca-Cola Co. declared a quar- terly dividend of $2 on the common stock, it was announced today. This increases the annual rate to | $8. compared with $6 previously paid, not taking account of extras. The dividend is payable April 1 tc stock of record March 12 Coca-Cola Co.'s preliminary net profit for i934 was $12312,176 after charges, Federal taxes and preferred dividends, against $8,819,753 in 1933. COPPER AND ZINGC IMPROVE IN WEE Plans for World Copper Parley rage market value of $318 per $1.000 | and Zinc Control Pact Strengthen Quotations. ery, for they are being interpreted in | tional bank notes was voted by Con- By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 2—The tone of copper and zinc strengthened dur- ing the week, while tin weakened in sympathy with declines at London. Reports that an international cop- per conference, delayed since Janu- ary. would be held here next week stimulated interest in copper. This development attracted European buy- issued on the enlarged base. while at | ing at advanced levels in export quo- | present only about $140,000,000 are | tations, which are still more than 2| | cents a pound under the domestic | price of 9 cents for Blue Eagle electro- Iytic. American fabricators bought fair quantities, causing sales for the month RISE CONTINUED Mo aYear Basis Y REAITY BONDS Average of Eastern Secur- | ities Climbs 3.6 Per Cent During February. | Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, March 2—A further gain of 3.6 per cent in the average market volume of Eastern real estate | security issues during February, com- ipared to 44 per cent for the pre- ceding month, is shown by the Amott- | Baker Realty Bond Price Averages based on 200 issues selectively diver- sified with reference to cities, charac- | ter of properties and type of liens. These 200 issues now have an ave- bond, compared with $187 at the end | of 1932, $220 in 1933 and $294 in | 1934. The 3.6 per cent increase for | real estate securities last month com- pared with 0.67 per cent and 0.51 per cent increases in the Dow-Jones | averages for industrial stocks and | listed bords, respectively, and de- creases of 10.01 per cent and 7.94 per cent in respective Dow-Jones averages for rail stocks and utility stocks. Frice improvements in different cit- jes were markedly irregular with Pittsburgh’s 12 issues showing the leading average gain of 9.8 per cent and New York's 120 issues with a 4 per cent gain. Similar irregularity in price increases for different types of properties. we attribute in large part to investors exercising greater dis- crimination in the issues selected for | investment. The 31 apartment hotel | issues advanced 7.1 per cent, nearly BRTISH ARE SLOW 10 USE B FUD ASPOUNDSLUNFS Official Support Appears Late in Day at London. Plunge Is Checked. FRENCH CIRCLES FEAR NEW CUT IN DOLLAR Chamberlain Stand on Stabiliza- tion and Tardy Market Action Arouse Uneasiness. BY CLAUDE A. JAGGER, Associated Press Financial Editor. NEW YORK, March 2.—The world’s chief monetary measuring sticks were jumbled like jack straws today as the British pound fell to a record low in Paris and to the lowest in more than two years in New York. World financial and trade centers anxiously sought to learn whether it was merely a flurry in the foreign ex- change markets, or whether England had started a deliberate program of depreciation in search of a new ad- vantage in world trade. Reassuring word.came from London late in the day, in the form of reports from “The City"—London’s Wall Street —that the British equalization fund had at last stepped into the foreign | exchange market to halt the plunge of the British currency. The huge British fund, created to guide the course of the pound after it was catapulted from the gold standard three and a half years ago, shrouds its operations in greatest secrecy, but best informed financial circles usually have a fair idea what it is doing. And the reports from the city tended to set at rest fears in leading money centers that a “war” of depreciation between the pound and the dollar | might be engendered. Served to Depress Prices. The pound sterling is the most im- portant of the world’s money measur- ing sticks for international transac- tiens, and many economists believe that its decline in value after Septem« j ber, 1931, had a severely depressing effect upon price levels in terms of other currencies, and that it seriously aggravated the eccnomic depression in the United States and elsewhere. The United States attempted to even the score by depreciation of the dollar. So a further drop in the pound, Wall | Street authorities said, could scarcely | be viewed with equanimity. | The decline of the English money | unit was accompanied by a sharp rise | in the price of the two chief monetary metals—gold and silver—in the Lon- | don market. The British capital is the | chief free market for gold, and the iyellnw metal there touched an un- ! precedented price of 146 shillings 10! ! pence, equivalent to $35.37 an ounce. This reflected chiefly the decline in | the value of the English currency in terms of gold. | But silver, affected by other factors | as well, advanced in leading markets | around the wofld, rising a full cent in | New York to 577 cents an ounce, the highest in seven years. The pound declined 4 cents in New { York to $4.77':, making a decline of | some 10 cents in little more than a week and more than 16 cents since the first of the year. It has recently been | holding around $4.863s, its old parity | with the dollar before either was de- | valued, leading to hopes that the two | currencies might be definitely stabil- | ized at that level. | Paris Watches U. S. } Persistent depreciation of the pound, | it is felt in prominent banking circles |in Paris and New York, would even- tually force devaluation ¢f the French franc and related currencies. But | what Paris worried about most was | that the decline in the pound might i prompt a further devaluation of the | dollar. Substantially lower positions 'for both the pound and the dollar | would make the present level of the | European gold currencies untenable, it | was widely agreed. | .~ Among cooler heads in Wall Street. however, there was a pronounced opinion that the drop in the pound of February to come within 500 tons| double the average; 50 housekeeping | reflected nothing more than a for- of the code quota of 30,000 tons. Zinc advanced $3 per ton on re- ports that a number of smelters had reached an agreement to curtail oper- | jisy, have shown a net increase of 8.2 | | apartments 5.2 per cent, and 21 hotels 5.6 per cent. | Average market values of the entire | eign exchange flury, prompted by an | adverse turn of economic and political news from the British capital. The tardiness of the British equall- ations by 20 per cent commencing | per cent since January 1, which shows | zation fund in stepping in, however, March 1. no tendency away from the steady up- | together wtih the remarks in the Tin was quiet. with irregular price ward trend in prices that prevailed | House of Commons on Thursday of fluctuations in sympathy with Lon- don. Sharp declines abroad were fol- lowed by partial recoveries, but the domestic trade was inclined to with- hold purchases pending return of stability. Lead ruled steady, with fairly active buying reported from day to day. Antimony was quiet with no price change, ALABAMA-VICKSBURG DIVIDEND IS ORDERED By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 2.—Directors of the Alabama-Vicksburg Railway Co. today declared a dividend of $2.75 a share cn the capital stock, payable April 1 to stock of record March 8. throughout 1934. The following price changes have been recorded by the en- tire group since 1932: Year 1933 ......o z Year 1934 .. Y | January-February, 1935 | February, 1935.. SUN-CURED TOBACCO GROUP STILL IN DOUBT By the Associated Press. RICHMOND, Va, March 2.— Growers of sun-cured tobacco in Vir- | ginia, still in doubt as to whether they | will be given an opportunity to qualify for a crop control contract during the coming season, expect definite word from the Agricultural Adjustment Ad- % %o 6 6! 2% .6 % purchasing power | promises to be another year of depres- sion for the building industry. 610.36, compared with $9,517.64 in 1933, Climbing Food Prices Place Restaurant Owners in Dilemma put is now 10 per cent from the high point & month ago. Car load- ings reflect these and other relapses from recent buying levels. The January returns of the car- riers show the effect of an operating ratio that is difficult to bring into balance with gross revenues on ac- count of steadily increasing wages and the cost of materials. The state- | announced. ‘The members are E. M., Allen, New York, president of Mathieson Alkali Works; Lammot du Pont, Wilmington, Del, president of E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co., and George W. Merck, New York, president of Merck & Co. Science and industry will join in an exposition of chemistry’s development since John Winthrop, jr., first Colonial | ministration in Washington within a ! | few days, John R. Hutcheson, head of | the extension division at V. P. I, said today. Previously $3 semi-annually was paid. The road is leased to the Yazor & Mississippi Valley Kailroad Co., which is controlled by the Illinois Central. Loss of Cotton Trade Abroad | Chancellor Chamberlain, who said | the time was not yet ripe for stabili- zation, aroused some uneasiness over the possibility that the British had | embarked upon a campaign to re- \duce the value of the pound. It was well known that London would like | to see the pound lower in terms of | the dollar. ' Some of those Wall Street experts ‘who looked with deep suspicion upon | the lowering quotations for the British currency suggested that England { might be acting to cheapen its money at a time when it thought the United States would be unlikely to retaliate, 1 It was pointed out that the American | Treasury has a big volume of refund- !ing in the next six weeks, and pre- lsumlbly would not want to see the currency tinkered with until that is out of the way. o |MONETARY GOLD STOCK EXCEEDS $8,500,000,000 By the Associated Press. Monetary gold stock of the United States has crossed $8,500,000,000, al- By the Associated Press. HICAGO, March 2.—Soaring food prices place the restau- rant owner in a dilemma, the National Restaurant As- sociation says, but despite present high costs recent reports from all over the country in@icate a gain in gross sales over 1934, “Increases as high as 25 per cent are not unusual,” the association said, “but now operators are wishing that food costs weren’t going sky high so they could hang on to a small share as profits.” The restaurant owner naturally must raise prices when his own food costs are increased. However, the re- cent sharp advances in wholesale pricks have made the problem more difficult than that. Certain t00d items have practically doubled in cost within the past year, and the restaurant industry has been forced to resort to extreme methods to keep checks within the limits of the customers’ Trends toward more efficient man- agement and the elimination of waste follow in the wake of bulging operat- ing expenses in a restaurant, accord ing to the associaticn. For example, appearance of fish and sea food dishes as fea on the menu is an indication that an attempt is being made by the restauranteur to keep within his budget. The association peinted out that the featuring of sea food is the result of the fact that fish. unlike most other foods, were not affected by the drought and the Government crop curtailment program. ments of half a dozen have | Governor - of Connecticut, in 1635, shown st that rumors | mapped out a far-reaching program of m‘m% dheanvcelubeen current. | for the production of salt, iron, glass, Future adjustments in capital struc- | potash, tar, black lead, saltpeter, medi- ture to avold recurring periods of | cines, copper, alum and other chem- mrelluncd insolvency are not un-|icals. ely. The Government has about reached the polnt where 1 wil o Tong iend INSURANCE STOCKS SET t tems lts funds to, those raiad ewiems| NEY PEAK IN FEBRUARY volved and inflated bond mt»lsm(.lnunnuh to The Star. Eg;t n;!w!he chronic mm ;ruel‘ NEW YORK, March 2—Insurance suggesting ey ' stocks in the New York City market have to obtain further Pederal aid ' continued strong during February and :: !;an.rymto!:&l. '.hzo::h cheml::l:v:zl again reached a newfilns high, Hoit, in the railroad world this week was| “m“.e.,hw’i‘i"m',. of 20 issues the purchase of control of the long- | roge from the month’s low of 44.93 :nmm Minneapolis & St. Louis | on pebruary 6 to the new 1935 high m‘nmld by a group of eight compet- | of 4675 on h,:l;’u‘ry 21.“ 1 lines. The close ruary was wel (Copri_ss8; N7, Norih, dmeresn| pyaied at 46.20. A # Is Declared Serious Threat Special Dispatch to The Star. EW YORK, March 2—With N American cotton production years by 40 per cent and for- eign production increasing by 30 per cent, the United States is seri- ously threatened with the loss of its markets for this important commodity states the Index, of the New York Trust Co., in its current issue. The present program of the Agricul- tural Adjustment Administration is held responsible for this situation and opposition to the Government’s meas- ures is said to be concentrated on seeking elimination of the 12-cent loan which now seems to hold prices for American cotton above world mar- Liket lovels, 4 declining in the last three peri ‘While crop control has admittedly increased the cash income of cotton growers and caused a revival of pros- ty in some sections of the South, the organ of the New York Trust Co. declares that the drastic decline in exports may have far-reaching effects. Permanent curtailment of produc- tion, it is pointed out, would spread unemployment mnot only in the South, but in all industry, and would cut heavily into national income. “The importance of maintaining our foreign trade in cotton, not only in so far as it affects the cotton grower and the industries in the South directly dependent upon cotton growing, but as it affects the entire national economy,” the Index concludes, “renders the problem one of utmost < though purchases of the metal abroad for American account have diminished since the Supreme Court rulings in the gold clause cases. Comparative figures on gold hold- ings, as reported by the Federal Re- 27. .$8.524.000.000 8.480.000.000 7 438.000.007 RAIL DEFICITS HIGHER TRAN IN JANUARY, 1934 By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, March 2.—Railroad earnings statements for January is- sued to date indicate that class 1 car-. riers had a deficit in that month of approximately $20,000,000 after all taxes and charges. They had a total deficit of $11,799,000 in the like month last year.