Evening Star Newspaper, April 7, 1935, Page 69

News of Markets Pages 1 to 4 Part 5—12 Pages HOLDNG CONPANY NEASURE SCORED BY TLIY LEADR Fogarty Makes Plea for North American Based on Past Record. DECLARES RATES FAIR AS CHARGED BY UNITS Peoples Drug March Report| Shows 7.4 Per Cent Sales Gain Over Year Ago. BY EDWARD C. STONE. Stockholders of the North Ameri- ean Co. have received a detailed re- port of the vigorous plea made by President J. F. Fogarty against the abolition of holding companies as proposed in the bill now before the | House Committee on Interstate and | Foreign Commerce. The statement is of special interest to the Capital as the company hasi a controlling interest in the Wash-| ington Railway & Electric Co. and the Potomac Electric Power Co. The | utility official declares that criticisms | made egainst holding companics in | general are no i North Americal its past record. The North American Co. is 45| years old and entered the Washington | utility field in 1925. The company | does not conduct a management, engi- | neering or construction company, the president says, but its officers end staff take an active part in the affairs | of the operating companies to im- prove the service, lower costs, study rates and push merchandising sales. | The parent company also conducts ell bond financing, the subsidiaries getting the full proceeds of the sales. In his plea for the future of the company, he states that in the last! five, years residential electric rates have been reduced until users no are saving about $4,500,000 a year. In 1934 the subsidiaries had to pro- vide for taxes chargeable to electric operations an amount equivalent to| 15 per cent of the revenues of that department. Without these taxes, substantially lower rates might have! been charged. W. R. & E. Status Explained, t justified against the | n Co, in the light of | Gold in Flight DECLINE OF SMALLER EURO- PEAN BANK RESERVES SHOWN. - GOLD RESERVES OF LEADING POWERS PERCENTAGE OF GAIN 08 LOSS AN, 1934 # FEB.1935 NEW YORK, April 6 (#).—Con- tinued strain on smaller gold bloc countries of Central Europe, which caused Belgian devaluation this week and prompted heavy selling of Netherlandic and Swiss cur- rency, has been pulling gold from their central banks for more than a year. Chart shows decline in reserves of all principal gold-bloc countries but France. Part of gold has gone to France, but a larger share to the United States, which now has some 38 per cent of the world’s monetary gold supply. —Copyright, 1935, A. P. Wirephoto. TREASURY LOWERS AVERAGE INTEREST Rate Drops to 2.85 Per Cent, but Annual Cost Soars to $798,355,700. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, April 6—Refinancing operations of the United States Gov- the latter part of 1933 by the calling for redemption of a portion of the outstanding Fourth 4% per cent Liberty | bonds and continued to the end of March, this year, have brought the average interest on the public debt to | 2.85 per cent. This is the lowest since | | 1916, or just before the entry of the)calm. France is not reassured by the Bpeaking of intermediate holding ynited States into the World War, ac- | FINANCIAL AND CLASSIFIED he Sunday Star WASHINGTON, D. C, BRITAIN IS AFRAID FUNDS MAY FLEE DUETOWARTALK Leaders Believe Outflow Across Atlantic Would Depress Markets. EVENTS ON CONTINENT SLOW UP TRADE PACE Paris Calm on Money Situation, but Is Not Reassured by Diplomatic Parleys. | Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, April 6.—Cables and radio dispatches to Business Week give the following survey of bus.ness abroad for the week ending today. LONDON.—"“Two things now affect Britain—the international situation, | with Hitler in the ascendant and the | coming budget, which will be ‘opened’ |on April 15. Main business fear is that war danger will drive gold and funds across the Atlantic, and cause bad markets in London. “London continues to believe this week that the Belgian devaluation move is merely a prelude to the abandonment of gold by Holland and France. tate a currency war which would un- | settle business to the point where all European nations, at least, would be willing to co-operate in a stabilization conference. “Economic recovery has been slowed by all these developments, but it has not been halted. Iron and steel producers, and the brick industry. are worried by possible in- tensification of Belgian competition following devaluation. Encouraging note this week was the announcement by the London & North Eastern | Railroad of an order for £500,000 for new rolling stock and electrification.” French Reaction Brief. | PARIS—“French bonds were down, w ernment, indicated on a huge scale in| stocks up, on the first news of de- | | valuation in Belgium, but the reaction | was only temporary. Paris is fully aware that the economic situations in the two countries are different. Though franc futures are at a dis- | count, Paris is again comparatively | calm as far as the monetary situa- tion is concerned. “Diplomatically, there is no such first week's displomatic parleys fol- companies, President Fogerty says the cording to an analysis by And:e“]&lowmx the Hitler bombshell. All at- “Washington- Reillway & Blectric Co., a direct subsidiary of the North American Co., was at the time of its acquisition in 1925 an operating as well as a holding company, but since December, 1933, it has been only e holding company, and far legal as well as practical financial reasons cannot be dissolved at this time.” Ware & Co., Inc, Government bond specialists. “The outstanding interest-bearing debt of the Government on March 31, last. was $28,042,870,220," says the analysis, “on which the annual inter- st averaged $798,355,700, equal to & rate of 2.85 per cent. “This compared with a cost of $827.- tention now focuses on the Stresa | conference, though there are small ! hopes for any striking results. 1 Reich Isolation Grows. BERLIN.—“Germany's isolation is more complete this week than last. If | London has made no definite new | agreements with France and Russia, the British are at least pushing peace In connection with State regulation, 094,200 on a debt of $27,944,038,000 at| plans along lines inimical to Germany. @ point which has been often referred -he end of 1934, equal to a rate of 2.96 | to during the hearings, it is stated that per cent. Stated in another way, the | “In addition, the move by Belgium | definitely to devalue leaves Germany Washington has had such regulation interest-bearing debt, in the three'in a more hopeless position than ever for the last 22 years. Speaking of ac- moaths, was increased by $98,832,000 ’ in world exp;’n mupf:m. counting practices, Mr. Fogarty says the firm meets all the New York Stock ' by $28,739,000, largely because of con- | developments. Exchange requirements, also mails quarterly earnings statements to all stockholders. When the P. W. A. began urging while the interest cost was reduced versions into lower rate securities. “At the close of the 1915-16 fiscal vear (June 30, 1916) the public debt (interest-bearing) of the United States “Business has reacted to all these Import restrictions | have been tightened. Public expendi- | tures have been reduced. The German | railroads have even found it necessary | to cut their monthly expenditures for application for Government money for ' agg-egated $971,562,590, on which the | rajl in half, despite the fact they are building municipal plants, stockholders began to express concern. When the T. V. A. started activities there was a cecding year, the first of our entrance | anrual interest charge was $23,084,635, equal to 2.376 per cent. In the suc: lanned by the government ‘as a part of the program of reducing unemploy- ment. February retail sales were only good deal of selling of North Agherican | 'nto the World War, the rate increased | 3 per cent above the comparable pe- holdings, 22 per cent of these sellers to 3.12 per cent, represented by an | riod last year. Security markets are laying their action to the Government anmnual interest charge of $83.625482, | stagnant.” activities. ‘Turning tc rates, Mr. Fogarty told the House Committee that for the year on a debt of $2,712,549,476. The rate struck a peak at 4.39 per cent on June 30, 1921, when the public debt | GOLD FLOWS TO U. | S. | 1934 the average residential rate of amounted to $23,737,352,080, and on | $20,000,000 Cargo Reaches New York, North American Subsidiaries was 3.85 which the interest was $1,029,917,903, | cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 4.41 cents for Baltimore, 4.36 cents for Hartford and 5.66 cents for Boston, service in these three cities being furnished by independent com- | panies. Shows Size of Investments. In backing up his claims of destruc- tive effects which he said the bill would have on investors, the official said “total holding company invest- ments in the North American situa- tion on the basis of their asset values are about $372,000,000 against which there are outstanding ! the hands of the public senior holding company securities of about $155,000,000, leav- ing a net asset value of North Ameri can common stock of more than $216.- | 000,000 or over $25 per share. Before | distribution can be made to North | American common stockholders, these senior securities must be retired. This would require about $160,000,000 of cash and would involve, first, the sale | of a very large part of the holding company investments in a market which is now badly disorganized with ‘Yespect to public utility stocks and, second, the redemption of these senior | securities at a premium of about $3,- 500,000 in excess of their par or face amount. “In this* connection, I might add | that in the interest of conservatism in | these computations I have assumed that holding company preferred stock | would be paid off at par in dissolution, | even though it is unlikely that the | preferred stockholders would vote for dissolution if by not doing so they would obtain a premium on the re- | demption of their holdings. Based on ; the total asset value of $372,000,000, it | would appear that the sale of about 43 | per cent of such assets would be sufficient to retire all senior securities, | but this would be utterly impossible at the present time, and cle situatior ‘would be worse if this bill were passed and all holding companies were com- pelled to dispose of their investments and dissolve,” Mr. Fogarty concluded. the largest on a fiscal year basis.” FAIR PROFITS SEEN IN TRADE OUTLOOK Fairbanks-Morse Head Not Wor- ried by Taxes, Wages or Price Moves. Spectal Dispatch to The Star. CHICAGO, April his belief in a hopeful and encourag- ing immediate and more distant future for American Col. Robert H. Morse, president Fair- banks-Morse & Co., declared in a current magazine article: “I do mnot believe that manufac- turers will be taxed out of existence nor taxed out of the opportunity of making a fair profit. I do not believe that labor agitation will bring about wages so high that our markets will be unable to pay for manufactured | goods. “I do not believe that any of the many pension and unemployment compensation schemes or other radi- cal remedies will be enacted in a form that will choke the life out of business.” In American Business for April, Col. Morse wrote: “I believe that we are now facing a ground hog case, and that America must, and will, come to its senses.” 6.—Emphasizing | manufacturers, | $30,000,000 More Expected. NEW YORK, April 6 (Special).— ‘The steamship Statendam arrived here today with $20,000,000 of gold from Rotterdam. Within the next week other Dutch boats are expected to bring about $30,000,000 here from the reserves of the Netherlands Central Bank. This drainage of gold from Holland, in which Britain, France and Amer- ica are the chief participants, has caused the guilder to break sharply in the exchanges and led the Dutch Central Bank to lift its rediscount rate from 215 to 3!z per cent. ‘Will Holland be forced off gold? Will she be compelled to devalue the guilder? How would these steps | affect American importers and ex- porters and consumers generally? gold or devalue guilders remains to be seen, but the present flow of the yellow metal and the violent swings of exchanges hit international trade, and American business in particular, since the Dutch colonial possessions supply us with some of our most important basic raw materials, such as rubber, tin, vegetable oils, tan- ! ning materials and kapok. (Covyright. 1935.) FORM AIRPORT COMPANY. BALTIMORE, April 6 (Sfecial).— Robert Martin of Washington, Ed- ward Wynkoop Stitt of Bladensburg over, have incorporated the Capitol Airport, Inc., to operate an airport field at Bladensburg, Md. The capi- tal stock consists of 2,000 shares of common stock, par value $10 each. Peoples Drug Sales Higher. | Sales of Peoples Drug Stores, Inc., in | March totaled $1558299, against | $1,450,922 in March, 1934, an increase of $107.370, or 7.4 per cent, according | to the monthly report out yesterday. | First-quarter figures were also report- ed, sales totaling $4.453,338, as com- | pared with $4,023,175 in the same period in the previous year. This is a gain of $430,163, or 10 per cent. Sales for February revealed an increase of 14.2 per cent over the like month last year. Three closed Washington banks are to pay further dividends soon, Re- ceiver Norman R. Hamilton announces. The Northeast Savings Bank will pay 10 per cent and the Washington Sav- | ings Bank the same percentage, be- | ginning next Wednesday, while the Potomac Savings Bank will pay mzl per cent some time in May, By the Associated Press. HICAGO, April 6.—Total or- ders for vitreous china plumb- ing fixtures in January apd February were more than the grand total for the corre- sponding periods of both 1933 and 1934. indicating an upturn of the business in 1935, leaders of the in- dustry said today. Vitreous china plumbing fixtures represent a substantial portion of the bulk of the industry’s products. These figures were reported to the United States Bureau of the Census. For. the first two months of 1935 net new orders for these fixtures were 485,206 pieces, as compared with 144,163 pieces for the first two months of 1934 and 160,823 in 1933. Commenting on the substantial business increase shown by these fig- Plumbing Industry By Sharp Upturn in Orders Cheered ures, the Plumbing and Heating In- dustries Bureau said the increase in the activity of the plumbing industry is due to modernization work created by the Federal Housing Administra- tion’s program and also to the unprec- | edented low prices. | Some types of staple plumbing fix- | | tures are selling for less today than | at any time in the last 20 years, the bureau said. The price index number, for ex- ample, of a 5;-foot recessed bathtub, | which in 1914 was 97.1, rose to 112.1 i in 1920 and 100 in 1926, and dropped to 85 in 1928. It rose from 619 in 1932 to 65 in 1933, but dropped to 55.1 | in 1935. The institute said increased activity is expected in the Spring months when the Mortgage Administration | gets fully under way. \ This is expected to precipi- | Whether the Netherlands will quit | and Robert W. McCullough of Land- | INDUSTRY PLAGES FAITH IN NATURAL RECOVERYFORES Taylor and Young Scorn “Quack” Notions Born During Depression. SHIFTING PERIOD FAILS TO DISTURB COURAGE Business Refuses to Surrender to Soft and Flabby Thinking Despite Rapid Changes. BY J. G. DONLEY. | Special Dispatch to The Star. | NEW YORK, April 6—Everybody has seen a store, with the front torn out and rough boards up, flaunting the sign, “Business going on as usual during alterations.” World business |is pretty much in that state today. | It is not a hopeless situation, but it | is _difficult. The greatest tribute that can be | paid to the business man is the plain fact that he is trying to carry on during alterations in world currencies, in the balance of European military power, and in the very rules of the game of business itself. Such courage, it would seem, is | destined eventually to come out on | top. It is most significant that busi- !ness has come through hard times | without surrendering to soft and flabby thinking. As Myron C. Taylor, chairman of the United States Steel | Corp., put it in his address to the annual meeting of stockholders, | American industry has “weathered the | storm without surrendering its faith.” “The forward movement already be- gun Mr. Taylor said, “is plainly gathering impetus, and it should, when it advances, sweep away all un- | sound policies which our great pros- |perity in the past has engendered |and many quack notions which have ! been born of our adversity.” Natural Recovery Seen. If we are to judge from such re- marks and those of others who carry | large industrial responsibilities, busi- | ness leaders retain their belief in a | natural recovery, to be based upon a | natural accumulation of deferred de- mand. And they expect such a move- ment, when it gets under way, to |sweep away the “false work” and | I scaffolding set up by those who have earnestly believed in and worked for a sort of “supernatural” recovery. Detailing actual improvement over a8 year ago, the steel executive re- ported that new orders booked in the | first quarter of this yeear totaled 74,272 tons, against 1.504,015 in the first quarter of last year, and 631,000 in 1933. And he expressed the belief that the broad upward trend of steel | consumption, interrupted by the de- ! pression, would eventually be resumed, particularly because of the *backlog | of steel requirements due to deferred repairs, maintenance and conctruc- | tion during the five years of the de- Ppression.” Another industrial leader, Owen D. Young, chairman of the General Elec- tric Co., took occasion during the week | to dispute the prophets of disaster. 1 Mr. Young has nothing but scorn for | those who preach that we have fin- | ished with the pioneering, the develop- ment and the perfection of this coun- try and, therefore, have nothing to do | now but to “sugar off "—*“that the kettle with the boiling sap of vital progress can now be taken from the fire and be permitted to crystalize into a per- manent, rigid and immovable form.” { “The most valuable item on the balance sheet of America has been, and if nurtured will continue to be indefinitely, | know,” Mr. Young observed. In other | words, the products of research and development yet to come. Express Shipments Rise. These are, of course, broad consid- | erations and not all the surface indi- | cations of the week fit into a picture of progress—unless a portion of it is |to "be labeled “progress deferred.” | But on the positive side there continue | to be evidences of the slowly rising | ground-swell of recovery. At the an- + nual meeting of the Railway Express Agency, its president said that its traffic had recovered to a point at which virtually all its 20,000 employes had been returned to work. Express | shipments in 1934 gained 1531 per cent in number, while the poundage of air express was slightly more than doubled. Railway Express is controlled by the railroads. It is significant, therefore, that the principle behind its program of recovery is the adoption of every facility, including highways and air- ways, that can be used in express transport. Automobile output and sales con- tinue to be one of the brightest spots. But steel production has slipped a bit again, what with the uncertainty over codes and eventual disposition of the base-point pricing system. And power output is reflecting the increasing day- light hours and the reduction in work- ing time at the cotton mills. There is high hope, however, for April retail trade, and the prediction is made that, following declines throughout the country in March, sales of merchan- dise this month will likely show gains of from 15 to 30 per cent over April, 1934. Evidence accumulates that men are being put back to work here and there. Lay-offs may balance these gains for a time, but with the opening of the outdoor work season and such prog- ress as may be expected on work re- lief projects, the net result must even- tually be a reduction in unemploy- ment. A compilation recently made of the number of employes on the pay rolls of a group of the largest indus- trial corporations in 1934, as against 1933, shows an increase during last year of 21 per cent. Even United States Steel, in the supposedly very backward “heavy industry” group, | employed 189,881 in 1934, against 172,- 577 in 1933, and Bethlehem Steel had 44,430 on its pay rolls, against 33,504. | (Copyright. 1935. by North American News] r Allignce. Inc.) FURNITURE SALES BRISK. NEW YORK, April 6 (#)—Manu- facturers of medium and low price furniture experienced a brisk demand during the last several days. Sales of seasonal merchandise are said to be the most promising in several years, A the things we do not | SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 7, 1935. Classified Ads Pages 5 to 12 NG THE RIVER — —eW= 0000~ 00 LIZA CROSSI LS " Srve A 135 - % e == K FOREIGN HOLDERS OF BONDS T0 SUE Will Act Against Gold De- cision When Court Per- sonnel Changes. By the Associated Press. LONDON, April 6.—Holders of American bonds in Europe are pre- pared to bring concerted action | against the gold decision of the | United States Supreme Court should | there be any change in the personnel | of the court, it was learned today. Barnet Hollander, a London bar- Irlsltr. has been retained by a pro- | tective committee for investors to “prepare the groundwork for suits, | which will be prosecuted vigorously. | Hollander is making a hurried trip i to the United States April 17, after | which he will call a joint meeting | of committees representing French, Netherland, Swiss, Belgian and Brit- ish investors in Paris to map out plans. The suits, when brought, probably will be on behalf of one individual bondholder from each country, Hol- lander said. “All we are seeking is simple jus- tice,” the barrister declared. “It is well established and has the au- thority of the Supreme Court of the United States that when the per- formance of a contract is made im- possible by a supervening change in the law money previously paid in such cases is recoverable. “We call it ‘failure of consider- | ation.! The court in the present | cases holds that the paramount law | of the United States has validly in- tervened in cases of non-govern- mental defendants to prevent pay- | ment in gold. Accordingly there is |8 remedy to recover what was parted | with so as to put the parties in status quo ante.” 'FIRMNESS SHOWN BY METALS PRICES Copper Export Quotation Rallies as Result of Heavy Orders From European Sources. i By the Associated Press. . NEW YORK, April 6—Metal prices were firm during the week. Heavy Europeap buying of topper was credited to favorable apprisals of the recent agreement to reduce foreign prodiiction as well as the fall of gold bloc currencies and military activities. The export price rallied to 7.65 and while the domestic code price for electrolytic remained unchanged at 9 cents, the aspect of firm foreign markets led to trade discussions of a possible advance here should con- sumption improve. Domestic fabricators bought mod- erately during the week, but reports of demand for finished products were said to be encouraging. Strength of the London tin market, attributed partly to demand from the United States, was reflected by an advance of almost 2 cents a pound in tin prices here. The high rate of tin plate mill operations, approxi- mately 90 per cent of capacity, and scarcity of prompt supplies here were contributing factors. Substantial sales of lead were re- ported for April-and May shipment. The demand reflected a continuation of the buying stimulated by the price advance in the previous week. Zinc developed-a firmer undertone. Antimony was easier in sympathy with |s decline in the Chinese markets < Auto Production In First Quarter Reaches 1.109,591 By the Associated Press. NEW YORK. April 6.—Autpmobile production in the first quarter of this year totaled 1,109,591, compared with 749,532 in the same quarter last vear, | ciation announced today. 561 units for March the indu first quarter production represented an increase of 48 per cent over the | same period of last year. March out- put was a gain of 25 per cent over that for the preceding month and 30 per cent over March & year ago. 'LIFE UNDERWRITERS TO HEAR TREADWAY Representative to Speak on Effect of Pending Social Legisla- tion on Business. | Allen T. Treadway, Representative from Massachusetts, will speak on { “The Effect of Pending Social Legis- | of Columbia Chapter, Association of Chartered Life Underwriters, at the University Club, tomorrow evening. Representative Treadway is ranking member of the Ways and Means Com- mittee and a member of the Joint Con- gressional Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation. | The Chartered Life Underwriters in | the District of Columbia have been { making a special study this year of | the Government's program for social | insurance. | The officers of the chapter are Ben | A. Harlan, president: Edward 8. | Brashears, vice president: H. Bernhard | Lemon, secretary and treasurer, and James Allen De Force, chairman, Pro- | gram Committee. 'BANK WOMEN ARRANGE ANNUAL SPRING PARTY Miss Constance Fogle, chairman of the committee arranging for the an- nual Spring meeting of the Women's Committee of Washington Chapter, American Institute of Banking, re- ports great interest in the event which takes place next Wednesday evening in the ballroom of the Raleigh Hotel. Bank women are requested to make reservations through Miss Katherine McCalmont, at W. B. Hibbs & Co. In addition to the fashion show, there will be games, prizes, refreshments and an opportunity tc “dip into the future” | with the aid of a fortune teller. | the Automobile Manufacturers’ Asso- | Wtih an estimated output of 447.-| | lation on Business” before the District ! 1S, FARMEXPORTS - ATRECORD LOWS Other Nations Are Buying About Half as Much as Before War. | BY FRANK L. WELLER, Associated Press Farm Edtor. Foreign countries now are buying just about one-half as much of Ameri- | can farm products as they did before | vhe World War. | That is the broad interpretation of Government statistics which place the February index of agricultural exports &t 50 per cent, or just one-half the pre-war level. With cotton excluded the irfdex sinks to 39, as compared with 63 during February, 1934, when the index was unusually low. | The cotton export index stood at |58, the lowest February index since | 1923. Fruits constituted the only group | with an index above the pre-war level. The leaf tobacco index. at 75, was the lowest for February in the last 10 years Sowings of Winter wheat for the 1935 harvest are estimated for 21 countries reporting at 156,857,000 acres. a gain of about 2 per cent over the acreage for the same countries in 1934. Combined Winter rye sowings of Poland, Germany and Czecho-| slovakia, the three most important | rye-producing countries of Europe, show & reduction of 442,000 acres compared with a year ago. The Argentine wheat crop now is estimated at 238,317.000 bushels com- | pared with a first estimate of 252,059,- 1000 bushels and a 1933-34 crop of 286,120,000 bushels. While the Ar- ger.tine ryve estimate was reduced from 17,716,000 bushels to 15,787,000 bush- | els. the crop shows a gain of 69 per cent over that of 1933-34 and is the largest on record. A record flaxseed | crop of 77,082,000 bushels is indi- ] ceted. |CLEARING HOUSE ISSUES | | REPORT AT NEW YORK | By the Associated Press. | NEW YORK, April 6.—The weekly | statement of the New York Clearing { House shows: | Total surplus and undivided profits, $492,600 (increase); total net demand deposits (average), $4,926,000 (de- crease); time deposits (average), $4.559,000 (increase): clearings, week ending today, $3915,160,029; ings, week ending March 30, $3,574,- | 216,352 ’CarrAier;Ma_p $450.000 Drive To Bring Home Travel Boom By the Associated Press. T. LOUIS, April 6.—American railroads, taking advantage of European war threats and the fall in exchange value of American money, are making a concerted effort to reccup passenger revenue losses with a renewed “See America First” campaign. The seriousness of the effort is demonstrated by a joint $450,000 ad- vertising campaign, to be executed in the next two months by Western roads. [Executives predict a “home travel” boom of pre-depression pro- portions. With the passing of the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition as the premier entertainment magnet, scenic wonders of the West and Southwest are expected to become the Nation's new No. 1 Summer playground. “Most of the World Fair crowds will be diverted to California and Colo- rada,” J. W. Nourse, passenger traffic A manager for the Frisco Railroad, sald today. Fighting to overcome a 70 per cent drop in passenger traffic since 1920. railroad officials are laying early plans for a heavy harvest on the an- 1nunl vacation trek, using air-condi- | tioned trains, speedier schedules and | reduced rates as lures. |"F. H. McReynolds, vice president of the Missouri Pacific, estimated there will be a 15 per cent increase in pass- enger traffic on all lines this season. A record number of “all-expense” tours, increasingly popular with vaca- tionists of medium income, has al- ready been arranged by the Wabash Railroad, and in the last month three new agencies specializing in arranging the tours have sprung up here. | A survey indicated Pensacola, Fla., {would be an early-season favorite | with southern travelers, while boating | trips on the Great Lakes, inaugurated extensively last year, will draw heav- ily from the dust-weary tourist ranks of the Southwest. clear- | QUTLOOK SPOTTY DESPITE FORWARD TRADE MOVEMENG Both Retail and Wholesaie Voiumes Record Rise During Weex. AUTO OUTPUT HELPS OFFSET LAG ELSEWHERE Steel Rate Falls to 44.4 Per Cent and Power Production Drops More Than Expected, BY RADER WINGET, Associated Press Financial Writer. General industrial and business activity throughout the nation moved last week like a see-saw with some iadustrial lines starting a second quarter decline and retail and whole- sale trade swinging upward. Automobile production, highest since the week of April 26, 1930, helped hold the general industrial average from a sharper fall. Output was 107,895 units, as estimated by Cram'’s, compared with 103,286 during the previous week. Carloadings rose 1.6 per cent in the latest week, over the previous week, to a level 1.2 per cent higher than the same week of 1934. Receat increases in the total, at 617485 cars, resulted from heavier shipments of coal caused by a fear of a mining strike, but the latest rise was occasioned by general merchan ipments, a condition | called “healthy” by analysts. Steel dipped to 444 per cent of | capacity last week from 46.1 in the previous week, as estimated by the | Steel Institute, and electric power producticn fell more than was exe pected at this season. Production | for the latest week was 2.8 per cent | higher than a year ago. compared with 4 per cent the previous week. Retail Sales Climb. Retail trade, however, moved higher | as Easter approached, many of the | larger cities reported a good trade |in women's apparel, and most re- | tailers expected a business that should be well above last year's Easter trade. In some centers, trade at the pre- sent time is above the same period of last year, when Easter trade was at a peak, and i the next few weeks comparisons should be sharply above the same calendar period of 1934. for the holiday came several weeks earlier last_year. Wholesale markets, of course, have been favorably affected by retail de- mand, and activity there is expected to reccde seasonally before the Easter | retail activity is passed. Industrial production. on the other hand, has been falling for several weeks, due to a combinatica of sea- sonal factors, and further declines are predicted by some analysts, mainly because of the planned curtailment of cotton textile production, & factor which looms large in most industrial production indices. Some analysts have adopted the phrase “conservative trend” when speaking of the forthcoming months. Security Gains Cited. Consistent gains in securities mar- kets in recent days have created an encouraging air in Wall Street quar- ters, and passage of the $4,880,000.000 works relief bill by Congress ecded weeks of legislative wrangling that had tended to confuse the business | picture. | Demand by consumers for automo- | biles and farm machinery has been | strong of recent weeks, and the Gov- | ernment’s relief program is expected to swell or hold steady the trend. As aa evidence of the increase in general consumer demands, bank clearings were 17.4 per cent higher in the larger cities for the week ended April 3 than for the corresponding week of last year. The previous week showed a gain of 13.3 per cent over the 1934 week. ‘The March total of bank clearings was 12.1 per cent over March of | 1934, the highest total since January of 1932, and a continuation of the recent rising trend. International currency complica- tions created an unsettled state of affairs in the export-import market, and with vncertainity over the fate | of the Dutch guilder there was a spread to domestic markets of the confusion. Cut in Guilder Feared. As an example, the rubber industry with large stocks on hand feared that a devaluation of the guilder might cause a corresponding drop in rub- ber prices and lead to an inventory loss. Reports for last week from indi- vidual Federal Reserve districts follow: BOSTON.—Demand for wool was rather above normal, with cotton goods markets definitely slow in the first district. NEW YORK.—General trade in the New York metropolitan district was | higher with scme estimates placing the gain at 10 per cent over a year ago. Parce! deliveries gained slightly, but the number of buyers from out of town declined. Buffalo steel production | fell to 32 per cent of capacity. PHILADELPHIA —Nearly all the branches of retail trade in the third district entered April at higher levels than the first of March, but the month'’s total was 2 to 3 per cent un- der 1934. Most branches of the tex- tile industry adopted the lower oper- ating rate. CLEVELAND.—Retail tradesmen in the fourth district reported business up from the previous week. Willys- Overland expanded operations in Toledo. Akron was disturbed by a rubber strike threat. Steel output de- clined at Youngstown but increased at Cleveland and Lorain. General busi- ness at Pittsburgh was highest for the year. Baltimore Trade Brisk. RICHMOND.—Debits to individual | bank accounts in the fifth district surged upward, and Baltimore re- | ported a brisk wholesale-retail trade. Washington retail buying was slowed by inclement weather, but residential | building activity was noticeable. ATLANTA —Department and retail store business was reported good in the sixth district, although weather (Continued on Third Page.) A