Theste. U. I.

VOL. 131.

financial

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 1930. NO. 3416.

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/ The Financial Situation.

The closing on Thursday morning of the BankUnited States is one of those unfortunate eventsthat often come as the aftermath of a great stockmarket and industrial collapse such as the countryhas been witnessing during the last 14 months, butnow that the event is past, and the shock has beenwithstood, thanks to the unstinted cooperation ofour Clearing House institutions, there is reason forencouragement at least that a grave emergency hasbeen successfully surmounted without the least im-pairment of the general banking situation. Theonly casualty is that of the Bank of United Statesitself.One cannot well speak lightly of the downfall of

an institution which at the date of the last callof the Superintendent of Banks, on Sept. 24, showedaggregate resources of $254,043,942, of which $25,-250,000 consisted of capital stock, $17,156,375 wassurplus and undivided profits, and $202,972,469represented depositsa bank also which had61 branches scattered all over the city. Nor

should there be any attempt to minimize the distressthat will result to the army of depositors that havetheir funds tied up in the unfortunate bank. Yetnow that suspension has actually occurred, thereis clear warrant for a feeling of relief that a catas-trophe which has been hanging over the financialworld for quite a while has been successfully over-come. The atmosphere has been cleared, a sore spotin the situation has been removed, and it will nowbe possible to take reckonings and gauge the extentof the damage.That something grave was impending has been

evident all through the week, and those in the secrethave known what threatened for a much longerperiod of time. It is plain, too, that our banksand bankers made strenuous efforts to avert theclosing of the involved bank, and furthermore, thatwhen this was found impossible all energies werebent to narrowing the sweep and scope of the break-down and to confine the ill consequences to the bankaffected. No other institution must be allowed tobe dragged down through lack of proper precautionsor the absence of adequate relief.The serious phase of the trouble really dates back

two weeks to the time when announcement camethat arrangements had been completed for mergingthe Bank of United States with the Manufacturers'Trust Co., the Public National Bank & Trust Co.,and the International Trust Co., with J. HerbertCase, Federal Reserve Agent and Chairman of theBoard of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank ofNew York, as the head of the combination, and when,at the same time, the public was apprised that sev-eral other notable men, all prominent in the bankingworld, would join in the management of the consoli-dated bank, or at least be represented on its Boardof Directors. Mr. Case, it was known, was beingdrafted into the service quite unwillingly, andyielded most reluctantly, while quite obviously theother bankers who yielded consent were animated bythe single purpose of strengthening the new combina-tion in the public eye and prevent any possibilityof collapse. It was rescue work pure and simple.Evidently, however, the task proved too Herculeanfor even this powerful group of bankers, and onMonday of this week the news came that the planhad fallen through. But even after that the negotia-tions continued for several days more, day and night,and it was not until the early hours of Thursdaymorning that the task was given up as absolutelyhopeless.Prior, however, to the actual closing of the bank,

very comprehensive preparations were made fordealing effectively with the situation that would becreated by the closing. It was imperative that thetrouble should not be allowed to involve the bank-

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3746 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [VoL. 131.ing situation as a whole. The sphere of the influ-ence of the suspension must at all hazards be con-fined to the crippled bank itself. And this wasaccomplished. Quickly following the news of theclosing of the bank came the announcement that boththe Manufacturers' Trust Co. and the Public Na-tional Bank & Trust Co. had been admitted to mem-bership in the New York Clearing House Associa-tion, thus attesting the soundness of the two institu-tions which it had been purposed to unite with theBank of United States. Then came the further an-nouncement that the 23 banks and trust companiesconstituting the full membership of the New YorkClearing House Association had agreed to lend tothe depositors of the closed bank up to 50% of theirdeposits, charging 5% interest. This, of course,meant important relief to the unfortunate depositorsof the closed institution, numbering about 400,000,and was characteristic of the way in which theClearing House always deals with a situation of thatkind at a time of a crisis, which might otherwiseassume very threatening possibilities. In this in-stance cashing 50% of the deposits will involve put-ting the depositors in funds to an aggregate of closeto $100,000,000 and will permit many of these de-positors to function in their every-day affairs whomight otherwise be completely crippled.Now that the event lies behind, it will not be out

of place to say that the general situation is notwithout encouraging features. We will mention asonly one illustration the very extensive liquidationthat has been going on on the Stock Exchange. Thecollapse in the stock market, of course, has been verydisturbing, and unfortunately it is still in progress.A measure of its extent is furnished in the fact thatbrokers' loans, according to the Stock Exchange fig-ures, were down on Nov. 30 1930 to only $2,162,-249,002, whereas on Sept. 30 1929 the total was$8,549,383,979. Here is a contraction in 15 monthsin the suge sum of over $6,387,000,000. This showstremendous selling out of margined accounts. Butwhere have the stocks sold gone? Have they notgone into the hands of real investors, instead ofbeing in the hands of speculators, and is not thatone of the strong features in the situation boundto tell in the end?

Two features of the general situation need cor-recting, and the sooner the correcting process is ap-plied the better it will be and the sooner it is likelythat we shall ensure business recovery. One of thetroublesome problems is found in the operations ofthe Federal Farm Board and its ventures in thegrain and cotton markets, and the other is the atti-tude of the labor unions in resisting efforts to lowerthe level of wages where they are unduly high.The farm problem is probably one of the most diffi-cult ever presented, owing to the injection of theGovernment into the business through the establish-ment of the Federal Farm Board. By this means theproblem has become so involved that it is difficultto see how it can ever be successfully unraveled.Yet in some way the Government must worm its wayout of the whole unfortunate affair. On the onehand, Congress cannot indefinitely keep on votingmoney in support of the Farm Board, because to doso would not only impose an unbearable tax burdenupon the public, but would in the end be certain toinvolve the United States Treasury in financial diffi-culties. On the other hand, the accumulation of

unsold stocks of wheat and cotton, in sight of thewhole world, can only result in utter demoralizationof both the grain market and the cotton market,thereby making the lot of the farmer still harderand delaying still longer the period of ultimate re-covery in the market value of these products.As to the wage question, this has varying aspects,

but it is difficult to see how wage earners can main-tain an attitude which even on superficial examina-tion appears wholly untenable. The country is suffer-ing intense business depression, with production atan exceedingly low ebb, and prices so shrunken thatit is almost impossible for the business man to realizeany profit. The income tax returns when filed nextMarch are likely to prove an eyeopener in showinghow completely profits from business have beenreduced.At such a time is the wage earner (to the extent

that he is actually employed) to profit at the ex-pense of the sorely distressed employer, and is it notindubitably true that the wage earner does profitin precisely the way indicated? Cost of living hasunquestionably gone down, and, accordingly, on thesame scale of wages as before the wage earner isable to buy a great deal more than before with agiven sum of money. To that extent, therefore, heis enjoying a clear advantage. Until recently thecost of living showed very little reduction. Retailprices held up well, even while wholesale priceswere rapidly declining. But this situation has nowchanged. Retail prices have been going down veryfast, and the cost of living has correspondinglyfallen. In these circumstances is there any hard-ship to the wage earner in lower wages, and is itplaying fair for him to refuse to make concessionsfrom existing wages that would involve no sacrificeon his part for the reason stated?The matter is important because as time passes it

becomes increasingly evident that this unfortunateattitude is developing into a real obstacle to busi-ness recovery and to the solution of the problem ofunemployment. Low prices are evidently destinedto stay. This being so, are we not all called uponto adjust ourselves to the new situationmanufac-turers, dealers, and middlemen generallyand tocontent ourselves with lower margins of profit?And the wage earner, too, can he expect as muchin his pay envelope? If low prices, perchance, arenot to stay, at least they are here for the time being,and in these circumstances is it not the boundenduty of everyone to recognize that fact? We gainnothing by butting our heads against a stone wall.There is great pertinency in all this because of

the stand that the railway unions are taking in thematter of wages. The railway labor executives havebeen in session on several days the present week,and the program which they have adopted is thatwhich was put forward by them several weeks ago,namely, a shorter day, but at the same pay as isnow being received. Most graciously they indicatetheir willingness to work only six hours a day andask nothing more than that they shall continue toreceive eight-hour pay. The news dispatches tellus that under the plan adopted, according to DavidB. Robertson, the Chairman of the Railway LaborExecutive Association (composed of 21 railwaylabor organizations), "the shorter week and shorterday would be accomplished without a reduction inwages," and the additional time made available betaken by those now idle. It was estimated that

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DEC. 13 1930.] FINANCIAL CHRONICLE 3747

approximately 140,000 to 150,000 workmen could beput back to work should the plan be accepted by therailroads. "The conference was marked," a state-ment issued Wednesday night said, "by unanimityof opinion as to the necessity for prompt action inthe matter of shortening the work day and workweek as a means of affording immediate relief forunemployment in the railroad industry, which haslargely arisen out of the technological changes andthrough subsidized and unfair competition by buses,trucks, pipe lines, and waterways."But who is to pay the additional cost, if hours

of work are reduced and wages remain as high asbefore? To this no answer is forthcoming. Therailroads during the past 12 months have sufferedreductions in revenues as never before in their entirehistory. Many of them will be driven into bank-ruptcy unless revival in business comes speedily.They are in no condition to stand higher payrolls,and what is obviously demanded is lower wage costs,not higher wage costs. Yet somehow this problemmust be solved. How can it be solved except byrailway labor (which is high-priced labor) bearingits share of the burden, now that the cost of livinghas been and is still being reduced? Remember thatno sacrifice is involved in accepting lower pay, whichwill buy so much more than before, owing to thegreat drop in retail prices all along the line. Therailroads should be put in the way of restoring theirrevenues, not merely so that they may function prop-erly for the common welfare, but so that, if possible,they may reduce their transportation charges, atleast on the products of the farm, which must betransported long distances over the railroads to theseaboard, and then be exported abroad.

It needs no argument to show that the farmersare in dire distress, and in this state of things itwould be merely a common act of decency for rail-way labor, which forms such an important part oftransportation expenses, to submit to some actualreduction in wages to help out the long-sufferingagricultural communities of the West and the South.There ought to be a fair and equitable distributionof common burdens.

Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellonoffered for subscription this week two new issuesof Treasury certificates of indebtedness at the low-est rates of interest ever named in any issue of cer-tificates, and overwhelming success attended hisaction. The offering was in two series, both datedDec. 115, one for $150,000,000, consisting of certifi-cates running for six months and bearing 1%70 in-terest, and the other for $250,000,000 and run-ning for one year and bearing 17/870 interest. Loan-able funds in the money and investment markets arejust now in superabundance, and the Secretary hadpaved the way for floating certificates at such un-usually low rates by reducing the rate of interestallowed on Government deposits from 270 perannum to 11/270. As repeatedly pointed out in thesecolumns, most of the proceeds of sales of certifi-cates are left on deposit with the banks for two orthree months after the date of issue, and obviouslythe banks could not pay 270 on such deposits wherethe certificates carried only 17/870 and 1%70 inter-est, and where money could be loaned out on callat the Stock Exchange at no more than 270. Thesubscriptions for the six months issue bearing 13/4%interest aggregated the huge sum of $939,000,000,

and the subscriptions for the $250,040,000 one-yearissues bearing 17870 interest footed up $517,000,000.

Brokers' loans, according to the Federal Reservestatement for the week ending Wednesday night,underwent a further reduction, but in the moderateamount of $12,000,000, thereby, however, extendingthe record of uninterrupted declines for ;the 10 pre-vious consecutive weeks so as to cover still anotherweek, and bringing the aggregate reduction for the11 weeks up to the notable figure of $1,123,000,000.This affords an indication of how drastic the liqui-dation on the Stock Exchange has been during thisperiod of time. Aside from the continuance of thecontraction in these loans to brokers and dealersby the reporting member banks in New York Citythis week's return of these loans is without featureof any great consequence. Loans for own accountby the reporting banks fell during the week from$1,296,000,000 to $1,269,000,000; loans for accountof out-of-town banks, on the other hand, increasetlfrom $370,000,000 to $400,000,000, while loans "foraccount of others" fell from $442,000,000 to$430,000,000.

Interest this week ,however, attaches more par-ticularly to borrowing by the member banks at theFederal Reserve institutions, and the action of theseinstitutions in adding to the volume of Reservecredit outstanding through their open market opera-tions. In both directions there has been furtherexpansion during the past week. Direct borrowingby the member banks, as represented by the discountholdings of the 12 Reserve Banks, increased duringthe week from $250,927,000 to $257,097,000; at thesame time the holdings of acceptances purchased inthe open market further increased from $218,937,000to $243,697,000, while the holdings of United StatesGovernment securities rose from $602,192,000 to$017,003,000. The holdings of other securities repre-senting Foreign Intermediate Credit Bank deben-tures fell during the week from $6,358,000 to only$108,000. Nevertheless, total bill and security hold-ings the present week foot up $1,117,905,000 asagainst $1,078,414,000 the previous week. If we goback to Nov. 19 we find the total then was $985,-380,000, thus showing an increase in the three weekssince then in the volume of Reserve credit outstand-ing of $132,525,000. The amount of Federal Reservenotes in circulation further increased during theweek from $1,450,898,000 to $1,475,745,000. At thisfigure comparison is with only $1,383,604,000 onNov. 19, and with but $1,354,881,000 on Oct. 29.Gold reserves are now $3,005,020,000 as against$3,007,491,000 Dec. 3, and $3,040,982,000 on Nov. 19.

The final estimate for the year of the Crop Report-ing Board of the Department of Agriculture placescotton production in the United States from thisyear's growth at 14,243,000 bales. This is 195,000bales under the estimate issued a month ago andcompares with a total of 14,828,000 bales harvestedfrom last year's crop. The final estimate for thisyear is the third successive decline indicated by theBoard in as many months, and is the lowest for thegrowing season of 1930. It is based on a productionof 150.8 pounds per acre; the estimate of a- monthago indicated a yield at that time of 154.2 poundsper acre, and none of this year's previous reportswas calculated on so low a figure as that now given.Last year's ginning return showed an average pro-

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3748 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [VOL. 131.duction per acre for that year of 155 pounds, andnot since the crop of 1923 has the average beenbelow 150 pounds per acre.The revised estimate of area to be harvested this

year is 45,218,000 acres, against 45,793,000 acresharvested in 1929. The abandonment of area fromthis year's acreage is estimated by the Board at 2.1%of the area in cultivation on July 1, or 763,000 acres.For the crop of 1929, the area abandoned was 3.3%,and for 1928, 3470. The reduction in the estimate ofyield for this year's crop during November wasmainly in three of the larger producing States,Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia. Small increases inyield for the past month are promised for SouthCarolina, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas.Ginnings to Dec. 1 this year are nearly as large

as they were to that date a year ago, and exceedthose of 1928this year's figures being 12,834,970bales against 12,853,166 bales last year and 12,-560,154 bales in 1928. Based on the above estimateof production, there now remains to be ginned tothe end of the current season some 1,408,000 bales,whereas in the 1929-30 crop years the ginnings, afterDec. 1, amounted to 1,975,000 bales, and in 1928,1,918,000 bales. The cotton crop in Texas this yearis now indicated at 4,100,000 bales, against 3,940,000bales produced last year, an increase this year of160,000 bales. Ginnings from the crop of that Stateare now larger than they were a year ago, and fromDec. 1 this year to the end of the current seasonmust amount to about 415,000 bales, if this year'sestimate for Texas is correct. From Dec. 1 1929 tothe end of that season, Texas ginnings amounted to423,000 bales. Most of the other leading cottonStates also show ginnings this year to date in excessof the figures reported a year ago, although for sev-eral others ginnings are considerably reduced owingto a smaller yield this year.

The stock market this week moved almost con-tinuously downward day by day. The suspensionof the Bank of United States may be said to havebeen the chief depressing influence all through theweek. The market was unsettled and lower on Sat-urday last, and this was followed by a severe breakon Monday on the news that the negotiations formerging the Bank of United States with the Manu-facturers' Trust Co. and the Public National Bank &Trust Co. and the International Trust 'Co. had fallenthrough, and the downward movement continuedthrough Tuesday and Wednesday, with only occa-sional slight rallies, which never held very long. OnThursday, after the announcement of the definiteclosing of the Bank of United States, there was onlyslight further weakness; supporting orders, previ-ously lacking, were now in evidence, intended, nodoubt, to prevent a general collapse, which is to befeared on such occasions, but the market neverthe-less for many stocks moved still lower, even if notto any great extent; an upward reaction at one timeduring the day was not fully maintained at theclose. On Friday further declines were held prettywell in check, and yet marked weakness was in evi-dence in parts of the list.The railroad shares were the conspicuous weak

feature- early in the week, but yielded first placelater in the week to the public utility shares andthe different groups of industrial share properties,mostly the high-priced ones. The copper shares wereadversely affected by a setback in the price of the

metal, the leading copper producers dropping theirprice to the figure previously quoted by the customsmelters. On Friday the copper stocks took anotherplunge downward, many of them establishing newlow records for the year, and the oil shares alsowere quite weak. The bond market remained ex-tremely depressed all through the week, the declineson some of the days being larger even than in thestock market. The New York "Times" average for40 domestic bonds on Thursday dropped to the low-est level since 1924. Call loans on the Stock Ex-change remained unaltered at 2% until Friday, whenthere was an advance to 21/2%. No less than 372stocks touched new low levels for the year during theweek. Last week the number was 137.Trading on the Stock Exchange steadily increased

as the result of the week's developments, but felloff again on Friday. At the half-day session onSaturday last sales were 719,950 shares; on Mondaythey were 1,983,840 shares; on Tuesday, 2,116,740.shares; on Wednesday, 3,146,950 shares; on Thurs-day, 2,888,910 shares, and on Friday, 2,089,500'shares. On the New York Curb Exchange the saleslast Saturday were 274,300 shares; on Monday,534,100 shares; on Tuesday, 612,900 shares; on Wed-nesday, 704,800 shares; on Thursday, 754,100 shares,and on Friday, 539,100 shares.As compared with Friday of last week, prices

show declines in the majority of cases, some of thedeclines being large. General Electric closed yester-day at 451/4 against 48 on Friday of last week; War-ner Bros. Pictures at 141/2

against 17%; Elec. Power& Light at 381/2

against 431/8; United Corp. at 161/2against 181/4; Brooklyn Union Gas at 103 against105; American Water Works at 52 against 601/8;North American at 643/4 against 68%; Pacific Gas &Elec. at 451/4

against 473/4 ; Standard Gas & Elec. at591/2

against 671/2; Consolidated Gas of N. Y. at 823/4against 86%; Columbia Gas & Elec. at 33 against36; International Harvester at 53 against 581/2

;J, I. Case Threshing Machine at 92 ex-div. against105; Sears, Roebuck & Co. at 49% against 53; Mont-gomery Ward & Co. at 18% against 21; Wool-worth & Co. at 571/2

against 60%; Safeway Storesat 46 ex-div. against 47%; Western Union Telegraphat 129 against 1353/4 ; American Tel. & Tel. at 1801/4against 18 1/2; Int. Tel. & Tel. at 23 against 267/8;American Can at 111 against 115%; United StatesIndustrial Alcohol at 58 against 63; CommercialSolvents at 151/2

against 17; Shattuck &Co. at 23 against 251/4

; Corn Products at 741/4against 781/4, and Columbia Graphophone at 73/4against 101/2.

Allied Chemical & Dye closed yesterday at 184against 203 on Friday of last week; E. I. du Pont deNemours at 851/8 against 88%; National Cash Regis-ter at 291/2

against 31; International Nickel at 161/8against 18%; Timken Roller Bearing at 421/4

against451/2; Mack Trucks at 391/2

against 423/8; YellowTruck & Coach at 93/4 against 10%; Johns-Manvilleat 531/8 against 663/8; Gillette Safety Razor at 261/4against 313/4 ; National Dairy Products at 391/2against 427/8; National Bellas Hess at 3% against 4;Associated Dry Goods at 24% against 26; TexasGulf Sulphur at 49 against 511/2; American ForeignPower at 291/2

against 37; General American TankCar at 637/8 ex-div. against 67; Air Reduction at 981/4against 103; United Gas Improvement at 261/2against 277/8, and Columbian Carbon at 791/4against 887/8.

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DEC. 13 1930.] FINANCIAL CHRONICLE . 3749

The steel shares have been used at times to sup-port the general market, but are nevertheless lowerall around. U. S. Steel closed yesterday at 1391/4against 143% on Friday of last week; BethlehemSteel at 54% against 61%; Vanadium at 501/2against 531/2, and Republic Iron & Steel at 15%against 175/8. The motor stocks have again shownresistance to the downward movement. GeneralMotors closed yesterday at 34 against 353/8 on Fridayof last week; Chrysler at 16 against 171/2; NashMotors at 251/4 against 281/4; Auburn Auto at 861/2against 86; Packard Motor Car at 8% against 9;Hudson Motor Car at 221/2 against 23%, and HuppMotors at 81/2 against 87/8. The rubber stocks havealso held up well. Goodyear Rubber & Tire closedyesterday at 471/2 against 481/2 on Friday of lastweek; United States Rubber at 13% against 14%,but the preferred at 211/2 against 26.The railroad list has again been conspicuously

weak and has suffered severer declines than anyother group. Pennsylvania RR. closed yesterdayat 56 against 59% on Friday of last week; Erie RR.at 231/2 against 28; New York Central at 116%against 126; Baltimore & Ohio at 63 against 72;New Haven at 751/4 against 81%; Union Pacific at1751/2 against 183; Southern Pacific at 961/2 against100; Missouri-Kansas-Texas at 18% against 207/8 ;St. Louis-San Francisco at 47% against 55;Southern Railway at 581/2 against 61%; Rock Islandat 57 against 59; Chesapeake & Ohio at 38% against42; Northern Pacific at 491/2 against 527/8, and GreatNorthern at 591/2 against 63%. The oil shares have also been more than ordi-narily depressed. Standard Oil of N. J. closed yes-terday at 50 against 53% on Friday of last week;Standard Oil of Calif. at 44% against 49%; SimmsPetroleum at 6% against 7; Skelly Oil at 107/8against 131%; Atlantic Refining at 181/2 against 21;Texas Corp. at 341/4 against 36%; Pan American Bat 38 bid against 43; Richfield Oil at, 5% against7%; Phillips Petroleum at 14% against 177/8 ; Stand-ard Oil of N. Y. at 231/2 against 251/2, and Pure Oilat 10 against 10%.The copper stocks have moved very much lower

on the weakening in the price of the metal. Ana-conda Copper closed yesterday at 311/2 against 351/2on Friday of last week; Kennecott Copper at 243%against 271/2; Calumet & Hecla at 8% against 9/8;Calumet & Arizona at 35 against 39; Granby Con-solidated Copper at 15 against 17; AmericanSmelting & Refining at 16 against 507/8, and U. S.Smelting & Refining at 23 against 23%.

Quotations moved irregularly upward and down-ward on the important European stock exchangesthis week, with the net changes in every case ofsmall proportions. Trading was quiet at London,Paris and Berlin, as the general political and busi-ness situation leaves much to be desired. Parlia-ments are in session in the larger European countriesand the threat of cabinet crises, such as that nowundergoing solution in France, is ever present.The trade and industrial position in Europe showsno improvement, and there is a growing tendencyto look for recovery in the more distant monthsrather than in the immediate future. Sweeping andconfident assertions that improvement lies justahead are coming into disfavor and even the recentpredictions of betterment early next year are nolonger being made. Unemployment, meanwhile, re-

mains the most pressing problem of both industrialand political leaders. Totals of the jobless are stillslowly increasing in Great Britain and France, whilethe German figures are growing much faster. Thisproblem is always most distressing in winter and itpromises to be exceptionally so in the months justahead. Financial affairs in Europe begin to pre-sent a more hopful aspect, now that the Oustricscandals in France are receding into the background.From the international viewpoint the most disturb-ing feature is the continued drain of gold fromLondon to the Continent. Berlin has recently joinedParis in drawing the metal from London; and thetakings, while not alarming, are nevertheless verydisturbing. The London capital market is fairlyactive, with new offerings of high grade investmentsecurities meeting a ready demand.The London Stock Exchange was exceptionally

quiet in the opening session of this week. Britishfunds remained steady after their long previous rise,but few buyers appeared. International stocks weredull, owing to indifferent advices from New York,while British specialities also moved in a narrowrange. Some improvement occurred in Tuesday'ssession, notwithstanding less favorable news fromNew York. British funds advanced slightly onfurther signs of monetary ease and improvement inthe exchange position on New York. Rubber sharesmade the best gains, as the price of the commodityadvanced. Issues of international interest remaineddull, owing to further colorless reports from thismarket. After a firm opening Wednesday, priceswere inclined to ease a little at London. The gilt-edged section was good, with British funds well sup-ported while foreign bonds also gained slightly.Small recessions were the rule, however, in the in-dustrial section. Thursday's market showed littlechange, as business remained restricted and pricechanges were generally toward easier levels. BritishGovernment issues joined in the downward trend,owing to large gold takings by Paris and Berlin. In-dustrial issues showed some weak spots, while theinternational group was disturbed by the reportsfrom New York of the closing of the Bank of UnitedStates. The London market was dull yesterday,with international issues somewhat lower owing tothe banking incident here.The Paris Bourse was subdued at the opening

Monday, due to the Cabinet crisis, but the trend soonbecame more favorable with buying quite importantin rentes and other gilt-edged issues. The buyingmovement extended to the utilities, among the equityissues, and a number of stocks finished the day withsmall gains over the previous close. Trading Tues-day was dull and price fluctuations of no particularsignificance. The outcome of the political crisis waspatiently awaited and in the meanwhile tradersshowed no desire to enlarge their commitments.International issues were somewhat weaker. Thetone was steady in the early dealings Wednesday,but as this session progressed stocks began to de-cline under a selling wave which observers wereunable to trace to any particular incident. Pricesfell swiftly toward the close, with selling especiallypronounced in Pathe-Nathan shares. The trend wasreversed Thursday, notwithstanding unfavorable ad-vices from other markets, and most of the losses ofthe previous day were regained. The Pathe companyannounced a satisfactory position and the sharesrecovered. Trading was extremely limited. The

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3750 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [VoL. 131.opening yesterday was again firm, but prices recededlater and the closing was heavy.

Weakness prevailed on the Berlin Boerse at theopening Monday, notwithstanding the acceptance bythe Reichstag over the week-end of Chancellor Bruen-ing's program of financial reforms. This favorabledevelopment appeared to be the signal for unloadingin some quarters, dispatches said, and prices fell inall departments of the market. Activity waned latein the day. The Boerse was uncertain as tradingstarted Tuesday, but the tendency improved in thecourse of the session, with Reichsbank shares in thelead. The market as a whole finally advanced andthe previous losses were partially offset. After ini-tial hesitancy Wednesday, prices began to recedeagain at Berlin with selling fairly extensive inReichsbank shares and the potash, electrical andbrewery groups. Trading was quiet, however, andmany sections of the market were completelyneglected. The downward movement was resumedThursday, owing largely to selling orders fromabroad. Reports of weakness on the New Yorkmarket caused additional liquidation and declineswere rather heavy. Toward the close prices recov-ered slightly. Price movements were small in dulltrading yesterday.

, An important extension of the activities of theBank for International Settlements was recorded ata meeting of the directors in Basle last Monday.Announcement was made, a dispatch to the NewYork "Times" said, that "various central banks" hadmade deposits in gold with the new institupon."Up to the present the bank's work has been closelylimited to questions of its own organization and itsprimary function of handling reparations pay-ments," the report states. "By those who foundedit, however, it was hoped that some day the bankwould branch out into other fields, and since theworld trade depression the feeling has grown inmany countries that the bank might be developedinto a helpful medium for distributing credit, elimi-nating gold shipments and rendering valuable serv-ices in international banking co-operation. To-day'smeeting shows the bank's directors are headingcautiously in that direction." In a separate reportfrom Basle on the present position of the bank, itwas indicated that the gold has been received fromthe banks of Spain and Lithuania, and that it doesnot appear in the monthly statement since the B. I. S.is only trustee for the metal. Two reports wereadopted by the directors of the bank, Monday, as abasis for future discussions. The first contains aplan for extension of the credit functions of theinstitution, while the second is described as "pre-paratory to establishing the World Bank as an inter-national clearing house." The directors decided toadmit the central banking institutions of Latvia andLithuania as holders of capital shares in the B. I. S.Gates W. McGarrah, President of the bank, was inWashington last Monday, and he conferred at somelength with President Hoover, Secretary Mellon,Governor Eugene Meyer of the Federal ReserveBoard and other officials. Both at the White Houseand at the Treasury Department, it was indicatedthat no particular significance attached to Mr. Mc-garrah's visits.

In accordance with his several recent pronounce-ments, President Hoover submitted to the Senate on

Wednesday the protocol for American adherence tothe Permanent Court of International Justice, to-gether with a letter in which he suggested that con-sideration be given the project after passage of emer-gency relief and appropriation legislation. The mes-sage was read in the Senate on the motion of SenatorBorah, of the Foreign Relations Committee. TheCommittee is expected to take up the question ofreporting the bill at a meeting next week. Threedocuments concerning the adherence of the UnitedStates to the Court were submitted to the Senate bythe President, while a report by the Secretary ofState was also enclosed. "I trust the protocols mayhave consideration as soon as possible after the emer-gency relief and appropriation legislation has beendisposed of," the message said. "It will be recalled,"Mr. Hoover continued, "that on Jan. 27, 1926, follow-ing extended consideration, the Senate advised andgave consent to adherence to the Court with fivereservations, and it gave authorization to effect theiracceptance by an exchange of notes. Consent to fourof these reservations was promptly expressed at ameeting of the nations that are members of theCourt, and after negotiations undertaken with theapproval of President Coolidge, two protocols weredrawn to revise the statutes of the Court in orderto embody this consent and also to meet the fifthreservation. The protocol of accession of the UnitedStates and the protocol of revision have now beensigned by practically all the nations which are mem-bers of the Court and have also already been rati-fied by a large majority of these nations." The mes-sage declared further that the provisions of Ameri-can adherence leave the United States free from anyentanglements in the diplomacy of other nations.The United States cannot be summoned before theCourt, it was again stated, while the right of with-drawal is reserved. The movement for the establish-ment of the Court originated with the United States,Mr. Hoover remarked, and it has been supported byPresidents Wilson, Harding and Coolidge, andby Secretaries of State Hughes, Kellogg andStimson.

The Preparatory Disarmament Commission of theLeague of Nations completed its labors in GenevaTuesday after formulating a draft convention whichis to serve as a basis for discussion at a world dis-armament conference. The final plenary session wasmade notable by a series of speeches, in which thedelegates of almost all the 31 States represented out-lined their views on the accomplishments of theCommission in its discussions of the past five years.Especial significance attaches to the Americanviewpoint, which was stated by Ambassador Hugh S.Gibson as head of the United States delegation.While admitting the difficulties in the way of agree-ment, Mr. Gibson declared frankly that the draftconvention prepared at Geneva falls far short ofAmerican expectations since it lacks the factors thatwould lead to real reduction in armaments. It hasalready been made plain, however, that the UnitedStates will be represented at the projected generalconference. The date of the World DisarmamentConference remains indefinite, as the PreparatoryCommission failed to fix a date despite persistentefforts to this end by the German and other delega-tions. This question was referred to the LeagueCouncil, which is expected to debate the matter atits gathering in January. Some correspondents in

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Geneva appear to be firmly convinced that the gen-eral conference will be called in 1932.

Essentials of the draft convention adopted atGeneva were made available both in the League cityand at Washington. The convention is divided intosix parts, with a preamble in which it is stated thatthe powers agree to limit and so far as possible re-duce their armaments. Part 1 limits the number ofeffectives in land, sea and air forces and declaresthat a maximum length of conscript service is to beset for each country. The question of limitation oftrained reserves is left for the consideration of thegeneral conference. Part 2 limits land and navalmaterial, while a degree of limitation is also fixedfor air material. Such limitation is to be determinedmainly by the fixation of maximum expenditures,and Part 3 goes on to. the consideration of such ex-penditures. A plan for limitation by this budgetarymethod is to be formulated by a committee of expertswho began their discussions on the point Thursday.Part 4 of the draft convention provides for the ex-change of information on personnel, material, equip-ment and other related matters, while Part 5 bansthe use of poison gas and bacteria in warfare. Mis-cellaneous matters are considered in the final chap-ter, which contains, among other provisions, a safe-guarding clause to the effect that a signatory whosesecurity is menaced can suspend the conventiontemporarily after due notice to a permanent dis-armament commission which is to be established.Ambassador Gibson, in his address at the final

session; remarked that some idea of the value of thework can now be arrived at, since the deliberationswere coming to an end. "I have throughout beensensible of the very real difficulties under whichmany members of this Commission have labored,"Mr. Gibson said. "Overshadowing our discussions,though seldom spoken, have been the anxieties andworries that have arisen from the special preoccupa-tions felt by numerous governments for their na-tional security. We have now completed a draftconvention which, after study by the governments,will go forward to the general conference. I shouldnot be frank if I did not say that this draft fallsfar short of our hopes and expectations. It failsto contain many factors in which we have alwaysbelieved and which in our opinion would lead to realreduction of armaments. What we have achieveddoes not hold out the promise of bringing about thatimmediate reduction of armaments we would like tosee. Make no mistake; it is not my purpose tobelittle what we have done. Although our hopesmay thus be disappointed, we can find comfort inthe measure of agreement which has been reached inthis commission. We can at least foresee a stabiliza-tion of armaments, the setting up of a machinery toreceive and disseminate information on armaments,to educate public opinion, and to prepare systemati-cally for the work of future conferences, as suc-cessive milestones in the continuing process ofd iearma men t."Lord Cecil of Chelwood, chief of the British dele-

gation, also admitted frankly that the work of theCommission contained weaknesses as well asstrengths. He emphasized the view, however, thatthe delegates had done all that was possible underexisting circumstances. The great question is now,he declared, whether a real disarmament conventioncan be fitted into the framework so far fashioned.He preferred to believe that the answer would be

affirmative. "Within the framework of this draftwe can carry out any scheme of disarmament what-ever, however radical," Lord Cecil asserted. "Per-sonally, I do not believe this is likely to be the result,but I think we must be content with a smaller ad-vance. The first advance is only to be the preludeto other advances. After all, the last word on dis-armament is with the peoples of the world. Do thepeoples wish to disarm? Only they can answer thequestion." Rene Massigli, of France, held that thedraft was the best that could be formulated now.The degree of disarmament to be reached in thefuture, he added, will depend on the progress towardsecurity. Count Johann von Bernstorff, of Ger-many, said he was content to have the report embodythe German protests and reservations, with the hopethat the general conference might give them a moresympathetic hearing. General de Marinis of Italylimited himself to a brief statement, in which hepromised the co-operation of his country in theefforts to achieve disarmament. Naotake Sato ofJapan admitted the convention needed many ad-ditions and modifications to make it ideal, but heconsidered it an important first step. The Sovietdelegation, headed by Anatole Lunacharsky, pointedout numerous shortcomings and expressed the viewthat the draft convention is a "futile document,"only serving to perpetuate the present armamentssituation.

Several matters of immediate political intereststirred much discussion in Great Britain this week,while the deliberations of the India Round TableConference again centered on abstruse constitu-tional questions. Important in its bearing on theprobable tenure of office of the Labor Governmentwas a statement by the Liberal leader, Lloyd George,to the effect that his party will take no steps toturn the Labor regime out unless some "absolutelyvital issue" makes it necessary. In an address be-fore a gathering of Liberals, Mr. Lloyd George indi-cated clearly that his stand is based upon the freetrade principles held in common by the Laboritesand Liberals, as opposed to the increasing "protec-tionism" of the Conservative party. AlthoughPrime Minister MacDonald recently announced thatthe Government will introduce an electoral reformbill in accordance with Liberal desires, Mr. LloydGeorge insisted that no agreement on Parliamentaryaction had been reached between the Liberal andLabor groups.A further development that aroused intense in-

terest was the publication last Saturday by a groupof 117 Members of Parliament of a manifesto callingfor the formation of an emergency council of fiveministers without portfolio to deal with the presenteconomic crisis. "In a changed world," the mani-festo states, "it is impossible to meet the economiccrisis with a nineteenth century parliamentarymachine. While power to maintain or to change theGovernment must, of course, be retained by Parlia-ment, wide powers to deal with the present economiccrisis must be vested in the government of the dayfor a stated period, subject only to the control ofParliament." The normal Cabinet would be re-tained for normal business, it suggests, while ex-traordinary powers to negotiate trade agreementswith the Dominions, regulate food imports andprices, and plan the development, modernization andre-equipment of industry would be vested in the

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3752 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [Vol,. 131."council of dictators." The leading signatures onthis document were those of Sir Oswald Mosley, whorecently resigned from the Labor Government inprotest against its passive unemployment policy,and Oliver Baldwin, Socialist son of the Conserva-tive leader. Party lines were ignored in the state-ment, and all parties discussed it seriously thisweek, according to reports from London.All delegates to the India Round Table Confer-

ence continued to function this week as membersof the special committee designated to formulatethe Federal Constitution projected for India. Thiscommittee was slowly enlarged until it includednot only all the representatives of the British Gov-ernment, but also all the delegates of British Indiaand of the independent native States. Reports onthe deliberations have been sparse, but it was indi-cated Wednesday that most minor questions haveyielded readily to settlement and that the greatquestion of the extent of future self-government willshortly be reached. The question of separation ofBurma from India, urged in the Simon Commissionreport, was considered this week by a special com-mittee of the conference. This Burmese committeeadopted a resolution Tuesday asking the LondonGovernment to make public announcement of theprinciple of separation of Burma. No objections tothis plan have been reported and none is anticipated,as the population of Burma is Buddhist, in contrastwith the Hindu and Moslem population of BritishIndia and the native States. In order to achievesuccess the Conference must, of course, draft a Con-stitution that will be acceptable to the London Par-liament as well as the many factions in India. Thatthe answer to this problem is an exceedingly difficultone was indicated Thursday by Winston Churchill,one of the leading figures in the Conservativeparty councils. Mr. Churchill denied vigorouslythat any grant of Dominion status is imminent andreproached the Labor Government for arousingfalse hopes in India that a vast extension of self-government is immediately contemplated.

Three attempts by Parliamentary leaders to forma Cabinet in France followed each other in quicksuccession this week, but there is as yet no definiteindication of a solution for the crisis that developedwith the overturn of the Tardieu regime Dec. 4. Thefact that M. Tardieu was defeated in the Senate,with its slight Left majority, has complicated thesituation, since the new Premier will also have toplacate the Chamber of Deputies, which inclinesslightly to the Right. A coalition is, of course, in-evitable, and President Doumergue began on Dec. 5his discussions with political leaders regarding thepossible combinations. Among his early visitorswere former Premiers Poincare and Herriot, PaulDoumer, President of the Senate, and FernandBouisson, President of the Chamber. The high officeof Premier, or President of the Council of Ministers,was first offered by President Doumergue to M.Poincare, who held that office through the severaltroublous years of financial reorganization and sta-bilization of the franc. M. Poincare relinquishedthe post finally on account of illness and not be-cause he was defeated in Parliament, and the twosuccessive Cabinets formed by M. Tardieu havegenerally been considered "Poincare Cabinets" inFrance. The offer to resume the post was declined,however, as M. Poincare did not believe that the

state of his health would permit him to take upsuch arduous duties.

Louis Barthou, who was Premier in 1913 and forseveral years President of the Reparations Commis-sion, was next asked by the President to form aCabinet, and he was the first to attempt the task.M. Barthou is a Senate representative of the Centergroups, and as such is an influential political figurewho, it was assumed, might be able to reconcilea sufficient number of the numerous parties underhis leadership. He secured promises of support fromAristide Briand, Foreign Minister in all recent Cabi-nets, and from M. Tardieu, and continued his nego-tiations with other leaders. He was forced to admitdefeat at midnight Sunday, when the Radical-Social-ists refused to join his proposed Cabinet of all theRepublican parties. Senator Pierre Laval, Ministerof Labor in M. Tardieu's Cabinet, was next entrustedwith the task of forming a Cabinet, and he embarkedon this project Monday. M. Laval is an independentSocialist, who served as Minister of Justice in oneof M. Briand's many Cabinets, and it was thoughthe might be able to form a coalition somewhat simi-lar to that proposed by Senator Barthou, but of aslightly greater Left tendency. He planned to bringtogether the important Nationalist group headedby Louis Mann, and the Radical-Socialists, but thelatter declined to join the coalition and M. Lavalinformed President Doumergue late Wednesday thathe had been unable to effect the conciliation neces-sary for the formation of a stable Government. Inconcluding his efforts, IL Laval dropped the hintpublicly that M. Briand might be the man bestqualified by his long career to form a Cabinet, butM. Briand replied that indifferent health would notpermit him to undertake the task. Theodore Steeg,Radical-Socialist Senator and former Resident Gen-eral of French Morocco, was asked Thursday byPresident Doumergue to form a Cabingt. Since theparty represented by M. Steeg had defeated both theprevious attempts to form a new regime, M. Dou-mergue is said to have followed French politicallogic in calling upon this leader. His chances ofsuccess are not considered bright.The Oustric bank failure in France and the finan-

cial scandal that followed were at the bottom ofthe overturn of the Tardieu Cabinet, and increasingattention was directed this week to the investigationinto this affair. Raoul Peret, who resigned as Min-ister of Justice in the Tardieu Cabinet, appearedbefore a Parliamentary investigating committeeThursday. He informed the committee, an Associ-ated Press dispatch said, that between 1927 and 1929he had received 343,000 francs from the Oustric in-terests for his services as counsel. He held noCabinet portfolio at that time. Revelations at theinvestigation are likely to increase the difficultyalways encountered in forming a new Cabinet inFrance, reports state. "What is needed above all,"a dispatch to the New York "Times" remarks, "issome one who will quickly and with the entire con-fidence of both the Chamber and the Senate put anend to the poison gas atmosphere of scandal andinsinuation which has risen out of the Oustric affair.Therein is to be found one of the objections to M.Tardieu's inclusion in any new Cabinet. It is ad-mitted that he himself is not in any way personallyinvolved. It is his action in protecting his Ministerof Justice as completely as he did which has createda certain prejudice against him, although it is ad-

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Dae. 13 1930.] FINANCIAL CHRONICLE 3753

mitted that his loyalty to his colleague redounds tohis credit."

A series of 25 financial reform measures, promul-gated in Germany Dec. 1 by special decree of Presi-dent von Hindenburg, was accepted by the Reichstaglast Saturday, after a short but heated debate. Thereform measures are unpopular with important Par-liamentary grOups, as they call for a sharp reduc-tion in the national expenditures together with aheavy increase in taxes, to the end that the budgetcan at length be balanced and the short-term debtof the country liquidated. In placing this programbefore the Reichstag last week, Finance MinisterDietrich declared that Germany must live a life ofSpartan simplicity for the next three years so thatshe can ease her immediate debt burden. As one steptoward favorable consideration of the program bythe Reichstag, Chancellor Bruening requested Presi-dent von Hindenburg to promulgate the 25 enact-ments by decree. This was done and the programwas then presented to the Reichstag for its accept-ance or rejection as a whole, since decrees issuedunder Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution arenot subject to change by the Parliament. Validityof such decrees is dependent, however, upon thefavorable vote of the Parliament, and this waspromptly sought by the Chancellor. Addressing theReichstag late last week, he appealed for speedyaction. "A great responsibility rests on this house,"Dr. Bruening declared, "and I am convinced it willnot be necessary further to remind you of your dutyto the State and its people, and that you will havethe courage to follow a course which will carry thenation through this period of trouble and danger."In the voting that followed last Saturday, the

decree of the President was accepted by a countof 292 to 254. The Socialist bloc of 143 Deputies,which is not represented in the coalition Cabinet ofRight-Center parties, voted with the Government,.while opposition developed mainly in the extremeFascist and Communist groups. Resolutions of non-confidence, sponsored by the extremist parties, werevoted down soon afterward by 291 votes to 256. Bythis procedure the Reichstag fully legalized the re-form measures, and the foundation for a restorationof order in the public finances of Germany is thusconsidered to have been laid. "Dr. Bruening suc-ceeded," a Berlin dispatch to the New York "Times"said, "in cajoling an obstreperous Reichstag intodefinitely voting him its approval for the dictatorialpromulgation by the President of a wide range offinancial and economic reform laws, in the draftingof which the House had virtually no voice. Hisachievement was all the more outstanding in viewof the fact that the majority of his reforms are of anature highly unpopular with all classes of citizens,involving as they do such daily inconveniences assalary cuts, the substitution of rye for wheat bread,costlier cigarettes, levies on bachelors, and higherincome assessments." Additional victories werewon in the Reichstag this week by Chancellor Brue-ning on questions of foreign policy. Parliamentaryrumblings against Foreign Minister Dr. Julius Cur.tins had appeared, and the question of a debate onthe Polish situation, the Versailles treaty, the Youngplan, and other international matters was posedTuesday. Dr. Bruening asked the Reichstag notto discuss these problems at this time, and he de-clared that if efforts to unseat Foreign Minister

Curtius were successful he would take the foreignportfolio himself. The Reichstag supported himby a rising vote. Adjournment of the Parliamentuntil Feb. 3 was voted yesterday.

To the series of strikes and general disordersprevalent in Spain during recent months was addedyesterday a revolt by an important military forcerwhich centered at the small town of Jaca, near the-French frontier. This movement, in which about:3,000 infantrymen and artillerymen took part, is.intimately related, according to an Associated Press;dispatch from Madrid, to the seething political situa-tion in Spain. One of the leaders of the presentrevolt is said to be 'Major Ramon Franco, the lead-ing aviator of Spain, who escaped three weeks agofrom a military prison where he had been confinedon a political charge. News from Madrid of thefresh difficulty is of the most meager variety, as astrict censorship was promptly ordered by the au-thorities. Rumors of a revolt of this sort have beenprevalent for several weeks in Madrid, it is said,and the incident did not find the Berenguer Govern-ment unprepared. Troop trains were immediatelyordered to converge upon Jaca from numerous garri-son towns in an effort to suppress the revolt. Shortstrikes and demonstrations have occurred repeatedlyin all the large cities of Spain during the past year,and the developments have had a marked Republicanaspect. Student riots also have been of frequentoccurrence, while on occasion leading political fig-ures -have spoken publicly against the monarchy.,The Berenguer Government, which came into powerin January of this year, has blamed the troubles onCommunist elements, said to be working throughthe laboring classes.

The trial of eight "traitors" to the Soviet Statein Moscow ended this week as strangely as it wasconducted. All of the accused were able technolo-gists and they were tried on the basis of their own"confessions" of sabotage and international intriguelooking toward foreign intervention. Their defence,as the United Press correspondent in Moscow re-marks, consisted largely in effusive protestationsof their own guilt. In his summing up late lastweek, N. B. Krylenko, the public prosecutor, de-manded the death sentence, whereupon the largeaudience applauded and shouted. Sentences wereimposed last Sunday, and they were much in accordwith expectations. Execution by shooting"thehighest measure of social protection"was orderedas punishment for five of the engineers, while theremaining three were sentenced to 10 years imprison-ment each. On the following day, however, all thedeath sentences were commuted to 10 years impris-onment, while the 10-year sentences were reduced toeight years. In a dispatch from Walter Duranty,Moscow correspondent of the New York "Times," itwas remarked that the commutations came as a sur-prise to Russians, irrespective of what the outsideworld may have expected. The significant commentwas added that there is in Russia an extensive sys-tem of amnesties, which generally result in the re-lease of convicts, especially political convicts, longbefore the nominal sentence has expired. 'Curiouslyenough," Mr. Duranty states, "no Russians and very,few foreigners who know anything about Russia"believe what probably will be the general opinionabroadthat the trial was a 'put-up job' and the

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3754 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [vou 131.prisoners bought their lives by saying what waswanted or by 'playing the Soviet game.' It is theobvious conclusion of the outsiders, but foreignershere know that the Soviet courts do not act thatway." Elsewhere Mr. Duranty observes that theSoviet authorities apparently were satisfied withthe results of the trial, "both at home and abroad."

That grave unsettlement persists throughoutLatin America was indicated this week by reportsfrom numerous centers. Cuba appears to be sub-ject to the greatest disturbances at the presenttime, with political disaffection finding its expres-sion in widespread rioting led by university stu-dents. Several fatalities have been reported inrecent clashes, and the disorders reached the pointThursday where the Government found it advis-able to suspend Constitutional guarantees through-out the country for a period of 60 days. A similarsuspension in Havana and environs was only re-cently lifted. Business and professional men aresaid to be making common cause with the studentsagainst the Machado regime, and rumors havegained currency that the President will resign indeference to the pressure. Such reports were em-phatically denied late Thursday by Senor Machado,.who declared that he was not thinking of resigning.

Chile also is agitated, with students taking aprominent part in the movement against the 'IbanezGovernment. A plot to assassinate the Presidentwas reported Wednesday, when a heavy charge ofdynamite was discovered at a bridge over which atrain carrying Senor Ibanez and a number of highofficials was due to pass. Political rallies in Co-lombia early this week resulted in fighting betweenopposing political factions, several persons beingwounded when the disputants resorted to firearms.Indirect reports from Bolivia have become disquiet-ing lately, with direct news from La Paz strictlycensored. Opposition to the Provisional Govern-ment is increasing, it is said, and a delay in munici-pal elections was announced this week without anycause being given. The old question of the ChacoBoreal, which almost caused a war some time agobetween Paraguay and Bolivia, again figures in therecent news from South America. Minor clashesbetween troops are again reported in this disputedterritory, and public feeling in Ascunsion and LaPaz has been aroused.

There have been no changes this week in the dis-count rates of any of the European central banks.Rates remain at 6% in Spain; at 51/2% in Austria,Hungary, and Italy; at 5% in Germany; at 4% inNorway and Ireland; at 31/2% in Sweden and Den-mark; at 3% in England and Holland, and at 21/2%in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. In the Lon-don open market discounts for short bills yesterdaywere 2 7/16% against 2 3/16% on Friday of lastweek, while three months bills were 2 5/16% against21/8@2 3/16% on Friday of last week. Money oncall in London yesterday was 11/4%. At Paris theopen market rate continues at 21/2%, and in Switzer-land at 11/8%.

The Bank of England statement for the weekended Dec. 10 shows a loss of 8,437,000 in reserves,brought about by a loss of 3,182,018 in bullion andan expansion of 0,255,000 in circulation. TheBank's reserves now total 47,975,000 as compared

with 66,448,000 two weeks ago. The Bank's pres-ent gold supply of 152,448,776 compares with137,434,418 last year. Public deposits fell off1,952,000 and other deposits 10,489,674. Thelatter consists of bankers' accounts and other ac-counts, which decreased 9,745,858 and 743,816,respectively. The proportion of reserve to liabilityis off slightly from 45.51% a week ago to 43.03%now. Last year the ratio was 31.23%. Loans onGovernment securities fell off 4,675,000 and thoseon other securities rose 705,619. Other securitiesconsist of "discounts and advances" and "securities."The former increased 305,160 and the latter 400,-459. The discount rate remains 3%. Below weshow a comparison of the various items for five years:

BANK OF ENGLAND'S COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.1930.

Dec. 10.1929.

Dec. 11.1928.

Dee. 12..

1927.Dec. 14.

1926.Dec. 15.

Circulation Public deposits

2384,473,0005,890,000

365.158,0008.860.000

374.820,0007.628,000

137.248.6258.721,037

139,888,670.11,145.568

Other deposits 105.595,839 94,471.617 104.147,000 101.841.787 108,898,352Bankers' accounts 72,112.383 58,072,562Otheraccounts 33,483,456 36,399.055

Government secur_ 54,291,247 60,663.855 59.106,000 41,348,992 28,877,530Other securities__ 27,102,711 28,297,956 28,195,000 54.744,306 76,313,33

Disct. & advances 4,911,422 8,827.605Securities 22.191,289 19,470.351

Reserve notes & coin 47,975.000 32.274,000 42,369,000 32,410,069 31,954,317Coln and buillon 152,448,776 137,434,418 157,191.056 149,908,694 152,092.987Proportion of reserveto liabilities 43.03% 31.23% 37.90% 29.31% 26.81%

Bank rate 3% 5% 4% 415% 5%

a On Nov. 29 1928 the fiduciary currency was amalgamated with Bank of Englandnote issues, adding at that time 234,199,000 to the amount of Dank of Englandnotes outstanding.

The Bank of France statement for the week endedDec. 6, reveals a gain in gold holdings of 385,065,739francs. The item now aggregates' 52,351,980,490francs, as compared with 41,131,408,572 francs thesame time a year ago. Increases are shown in creditbalances abroad of 152,000,000 francs and in billsbought abroad of 5,000,000 francs. A large declineappears in French commercial bills discounted,namely 1,671,000,000 francs. Notes in circulationcontracted 112,000,000 francs, reducing the total ofnotes outstanding to 75,838,423,649 francs. Circula-,tion a year ago stood at 67,290,947,680 francs andthe year before at 61,826,066,435 francs. An increaseis shown in advances against securities of 137,000,000francs and a decrease in creditor current accounts of766,000,000 francs. A comparison of the variousitems for the past three years is given below:

BANK OF FRANCE'S COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.Changes

for Week.Francs.

Dec. 6 1930.Francs.

Status as ofDec. 7 1929.

Francs.Dec. 8 1928.

Francs,Gold holdings. Inc. 385,065.739 52.351,980.490 41.131,408,572 31.638.805.210Credit bale. abr'd_Ino. 152,000.000 6.912,404.918 7,167.846.540 14,094.884,537French commercial

bills discounted. Dec.1671000,000 7,049.050.873 9.390.754,270 1.588.292.173Bills bought abr'd _ Inc. 5.000.000 19,113.799.891 18.754.500.993 18.815,143.621Adv. agst. securs_Inc. 137,000.000 3,004.793.014 2,669.651.838 2.269.901,773Note circulation_ _Dec. 112.000,000 75.838,423.649 67.290.947,680 61,826.066,436Cred. curr.acctsDeo.766,000,000 22.420.204,410 20,027.902,216 19,175,855,169

The German Reichbank in its statement for thefirst week of December revealed a loss in notecirculation of 161,681,000 marks. Owing to thisdecline the total of circulation now aggregates4,930,305,000 marks, as compared with 5,358,580,000marks last year and 4,558,910,000 marks the yearbefore. Other daily maturing obligations decreased37,025,000 marks and other liabilities went up6,219,000 marks. The asset side of the accountrecords increases in gold and bullion of 10,285,000marks, in reserve in foreign currency of 12,122,000marks and in notes on other German banks of8,133,000 marks, while the items of deposits abroadand investments remain unchanged. Decreasesappear in bills of exchange and checks of 42,504,000

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Dile. 13 1930.] FINANCIAL CHRONICLE 3755

marks, in silver and other coin of 4,267,000 marks, inadvances of 155,746,000 marks and in other assetsof 20,510,000 marks. The Bank's gold now amounts

to 2,190,277,000 marks, which compares with2,224,633,000 marks a year ago and 2,652,142,000marks two years ago. Below is furnished a com-parison of the various items for the past three years:

REICHSBANK'S COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.

Changesfor Week.

Assets Reichsmark,.Dec. 6 1930.Retelamarks.

Dec. 7 1929.Reichsmarks.

Dec. 7 1928.Reichstnarks.

Gold and bullion Inc. 10.235,000 2.190,277.000 2.224.633,000 2,652.142.000

Of which depos. abr'd_ Unchanged 149,788.000 149.788,000 85,626.000

Res've In torn curt'. Inc. 12.122,000 536.952.000 399,027,000 177,970.000

Bills of exch. S4 checks.Dec. 42,504.000 2,034,422,000 2,366.785.000 2,101,369.000

Sliver and other coin_ _Dec. 4.267,000 148,259.000 94.238,000 85.932.000

Notes on oth.Ger.blut_Inc. 8.133.000 12.345.000 11,361,000 16.009.000

Advances Dec. 155,746,000 85.409,000 57.082.000 57.325,1100

Investments Unchanged 102.474.000 92,558.000 92,339,000

Other assets Dec. 20,510,000 719,608,000 665,230,000 539,944,000

LiabilitiesNotes In circulatIon Dec. 161,681,000 4.930,305,000 5,358,580,000 4.558,910,000

Oth.dally matur.obilg.Dec. 37,025,000 345,410,000 438,532.000 440.743,000

Other liabilities Inc. 6,219,000 308,745,000 329.420,000 272,850,000

Money market conditions reflected to only a verymoderate extent this week the financial unsettle-ment that developed in connection with the closingof the Bank of United States by the State Superin-tendent of Banking. Call money remained freelyavailable at all times, with the rate showing hardlyany variation from the 2% level prevalent continu-ously since Sept. 29. The official rate for call moneyon the Stock Exchange was again 2% in all sessionsfrom Monday to Thursday, inclusive. Renewals yes-terday were also 2%, but shortly after noon thefigure for new loans was raised to 21/2%. With-drawals by the banks were persistent, but not excep-tionally heavy at any time. Nor did they preventan overflow of call money into the unofficial Streetmarket in the earlier sessions of the week. Such. withdrawals were about $20,000,000 Monday, $15,-000,000 Tuesday, $5,000,000 Wednesday, $20,000,000Thursday, and $15,000,000 yesterday. Call loans inthe unofficial market were reported available at11/2% Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with theoutside quotation equalling the official rate Wed-nesday and yesterday. Time loans were unchanged.Brokers' loans against stock and bond collateraldeclined $12,000,000 in the tabulation of the FederalReserve Bank of New York for the week ended Wed-nesday night. Declines have now been reported for11 consecutive weeks, and the aggregate drop inthis period is $1,123,000,000. Gold movements atNew York for the week to Wednesday night, as re-ported by the Federal Reserve, consisted of importsof $3,089,000, all of which came from Latin Amer-ican countries. There were no exports and no netchange in the stock of gold held ear-marked forforeign account.

Dealing in detail with the call loan rate on theStock Exchange from day to day, the call loan rateagain remained at the single figure of 2% on eachand every day until on Friday, when after renewalshad again been effected at 2%, there was an advanceto 21/2% in the rate for new loans. The advancegrew out of the fact that some of the banks, as amatter of precaution, deemed it best to fortify theirsupplies of cash at branch offices. The market fortime money remained unchanged. No improvementin the demand was observable, owing to the fact thatborrowing at easier rates was obtainable in otherbranches of the money market. Quotations remainat 13/4@2% for 30-day money, 2@21/4% for 60 days,and also for 90-day accommodation, 21/4@21/2% for

four months, and 21/2@23/4% for five and six months.The demand for prime commercial paper in the openmarket dropped off somewhat, due partly to theshortage of satisfactory offerings, and partly to theusual slowing up at the end of the year. Rates areunchanged, choice names of four to six months' ma-turity being quoted at 23/4@3%, while names lesswell known are offered at 31/4@31/2%.

Prime bank acceptances in the open market werein fairly good supply early in the week, but with theapproach of the holiday season the demand has beengradually simmering down, with most of the callcoming from local banks. Yesterday the market wasperturbed by the news that the Bank of UnitedStates, which closed its doors on Thursday, hadsome acceptances outstanding. The 12 ReserveBanks this week further increased their hold-ings of acceptances from $218,937,000 to $243,-697,000. Their holdings of acceptances for foreigncorrespondents were further reduced from $425,-826,000 to $417,422,000. The posted rates of theAmerican Acceptance Council remain at 2% bid and17/8% asked for bills running 30 days, and also for60 and 90 days; 21/8% bid and 2% asked for 120days, and 214% bid and 21/8% asked for 150 daysand 180 days. The Acceptance Council no longergives the rates for call loans secured by acceptances.Open market rates for acceptances also remain un-changed, as follows:

SPOT DELIVERY.180 Days--- 150 Days 120 Days

Bid. Asked. Bid. Asked, Rid. Asked.

Penne ellgIble bills 294 294 214 294 214 2

90 Days 60 Days 30 Days--Rid. Asked. Bid. Asked. Bid. Asked.

Prime eligible bills 2 194 2 114 2 I%

FOR DELIVERY WITHIN THIRTY DAYS.

Eligible member banks 294 bid

Eligible non-member banks 294 bid

There have been no changes this week in the redis-count rates of the Federal Reserve banks. Tbefollowing is the schedule of rates now in effect forthe various classes of paper at the different Reservebanks:DISCOUNT RATES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS ON ALL

CLASSES

AND MATURITIES OF ELIGIBLE PAPER.

Federal Reserve Barg.Rate In Effeaon Dec. 12.

DateEstablished.

PretiotaiRate.

Boston a July 3 1930 314New York 234 June 20 1930 aPhiladelphia 394 July 3 1930 4Cleveland 834 June 7 1930 4Richmond 814 July 18 1930 4Atlanta 314 July 12 1930 4Chicago 314 June 21 1930 4Bt. Louis 314 Aug. 7 1930 4Minneapolis 314 Sept. 12 1930 4Kansas City 314 Aug. 15 1930 4Dallas 314 Sept. 9 1930 4Rao Francisco 314 Aug. R 1030 4

Sterling exchange is more active than at any timein the past few months and has moved up sharplythe present week. The range this week has beenfrom 4.85% to 4.8534 for bankers' sight bills, corn-pared with 4.85 9-32 to 4.85 7-16 last week. Therange for cable transfers has been from 4.85% to4.85%, compared with 4.85 7-16 to 5.85% a weekago. The present activity in sterling which broughtabout a renewal of firmness in all the major Euro-pean units, is generally attributed to withdrawal offunds in preparation for year-end requirements.Similar withdrawing operations from London byContinental markets resulted in a weakening inthe tone of sterling with respect to the Europeancurrencies. Sterling was especially easy in terms ofmarks, francs, guilders, and Swiss francs. It iscustomary for sterling and the European currencies

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3756 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [vol.. 131.to become firmer in the last month of the year asa temporary matter, despite seasonal pressure, asa result of seasonal transfers in preparation foryear-end settlements. Seasonal pressure is also partlyoffset at this time by private gift remittances fromthis side to Europe in connection with the holidays.A more confident feeling exists in the market with

respect to the prospects for sterling, although thelosses of the Bank of England this week were largerthan at any time since France began to take gold fromLondon in large volume. On Thursday the Bank ofEngland sold 961,511 gold, the largest amount soldin a single day thus far in the present gold movement.The Bank of England's gold went this week not onlyto France, but to Germany, and it is thought possiblethat some may have gone to Belgium and othermarkets. Some of the weakness of sterling in termsof marks is explained by the fact that London,together with New York, is replacing the short-termcredits which Paris withdrew from Berlin at the timeof the elections. The success which ChancellorBruening has had thus far has stimulated this flow.Those in the market who are confident as to theimmediate prospects of sterling point to the factthat the gold holdings of the Bank of England are15,000,000 greater than they were a year ago at theheight of seasonal pressure. This week the Bank ofEngland shows a loss in gold holdings of 3,182,018,the total standing at 152,448,776 on Dec. 11 ascompared with 137,434,418 on Dec. 11 last year.On Saturday the Bank of England sold 221,976 ingold bars. On Monday the Bank received 81,000 insovereigns from abroad, sold 305,875 in gold bars,and exported 7,000 in sovereigns. On Tuesday theBank bought 179 in gold bars and sold 578,703in gold bars. Of the 953,800 South African goldavailable in the London open market France pur-chased the major portion ,for forward delivery. Abalance of about six bars was absorbed by traderequirements. On Wednesday the Bank of Englandsold 760,596 in gold bars and exported 7,000 insovereigns. On Thursday the Bank received 400,000in sovereigns and sold 961,511 in gold bars. Practi-cally all the gold sold by the Bank this week was takenfor French account but, as noted, some of it maypossibly have gone to Germany and other centers.Withdrawals of metal from England for Frenchaccount during the past five weeks have now reachedapproximately 10,000,000. On Friday the Banksold 258,756 gold bars, exported 7,000 in sovereignsand received 6,378 in sovereigns.At the Port of New York the gold movement for

the week ended Dec. 10, as reported by the FederalReserve Bank of New York, consisted of imports of$3,089,000, of which $2,749,000 came from Argentinaand $340,000 chiefly from other Latin Americancountries. There were no gold exports and no changein gold ear-marked for foreign account. In tabularform the gold movement at the Port of New York forthe week ended Dec. 10, as reported by the FederalReserve Bank of New York, was as follows:GOLD MOVEMENT AT NEW YORK, DEC. 4-DEC. 10, INCLUSIVE.

Imports. Exports.$2,749,000 from Argentina.

340,000 chiefly from other Latin- NoneAmerican countries.

_

$3,089,000 total.Net Change in Gold Earmarked for Foreign Account.

None

Montreal funds are relatively firm but have de-clined from the premiums which have been ruling

for some weeks. On Saturday, Montreal funds wereat a premium of 1-32 of 1%; on Monday they droppedto 1-32 of 1% discount; on Tuesday were 1-64 of 1%discount; on Wednesday 3-32 of 1% discount; onThursday 9-64 of 1% discount and on Friday A of1% discount. At this low rate announcement wasmade that $5,000,000 gold was being shipped toNew York, the first gold to be received from Canadasince March, 1929. Bankers are not surprised at theshipment and state that there is nothing to hold therate at its recent level of par or better. Navigationis closed and therefore the movement of grain hasbeen greatly curtailed, thus depriving the exchange ofits greatest element of strength.

Referring to day to day rates, sterling on Saturdaylast was steady. Bankers' sight was 4.859/8@4.853/2;cable transfers 4.85%@4.85 11-16. On Mondaysterling was firm and in demand. The range was4.85 15-32@4.859/ for bankers' sight and 4.85 23-32@4.85% for cable transfers. On Tuesday exchangecontinued firm. Bankers' sight was 4.853/24.85 11-16; cable transfers 4.859@4.85 13-16. OnWednesday sterling was in demand. The range was4.85%@4.85 23-32 for bankers' sight and 4.85 27-32@4.85% for cable transfers. On Thursday sterlingcontinued firm. The range was 4.859/s@4.859 forbankers' sight and 4.85 13-16@4.85% for cabletransfers. On Friday sterling was easier; the rangewas 4.853/2@4.85 9-16 for bankers' sight and 4.85%@4.85 23-32 for cable transfers. Closing quotations onFriday wre 4.853/i for demand and 4.85 11-16 forcable transfers. Commercial sight bills finished at4.859/s; sixty-day bills at 4.83 7-16; ninety-daybills at 4.823/2; documents for payment (60 days)at 4.83 7-16, and seven-day grain bills at 4.85.Cotton and grain for payment closed at 4.859/8.

Exchange on the Continental countries is firm,with increased activity at this time, due largely toyear-end remittances. The firmness in Germanmarks is ascribed in large part to the success of Chan-cellor Bruening in forcing his economic measureson the Reichstag. On Dec. 6, by a vote of 292 to254, the Reichstag refused to dissolve President vonHindenburg's decree of Dec. 1 for the enforcementof the Government's fiscal and economic measuresunder the emergency provisions of Article 48 ofthe Federal Constitution, thereby accepting withoutalteration Chancellor Bruening's comprehensive pro-gram for salvaging the Reich's finances. Bankersstate that there has been a considerable flow offunds from both New York and London during theweek to Berlin to replace credits which have beenwithdrawn by French banking interests. Marks arestrong with respect to sterling and some of the goldsold by the Bank of England this week is believedto have been for German account. Marks wereselling in New York during the week on averagearound 23.86, the highest since Sept. 4.French francs are firm and especially firm with

respect to sterling, although the dollar-franc marketis comparatively inactive. As noted above, Francecontinues to take large amounts of gold from London.It is stated that some of the recent withdrawals byFrench banks have been for the account of banks inBordeaux, where four brokerage houses failed. Franceis able to purchase open market gold for forwarddelivery when the franc rate is below 123.66 in rela-tion to sterling. The rate has been below that figurefor several weeks, thus making the fourth week that

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DEC. 13 1930.] FINANCIAL CHRONICLE 3757

all but a small amount of gold has been bought forFrench account on this basis. Such purchases areseverely limiting the amount of gold available fortrade purposes in the open market and keeping the Iprice of the metal at unusually high levels. With-drawals of metal from England for French accountin five weeks have reached approximately L10,000,-000. The weekly return of the Bank of Franceshows that that institution continues to add to itsforeign balances, presumably in support of sterling.Sight balances abroad increased 152,000,000 famesto 6,912,000,000 francs. This makes an increaseover the past two weeks of 361,000,000 francs.Opinion in London and Paris, it is understood, is tothe effect that these additions to the Bank of Franceforeign balances are not being made with any inten-tion of stiffening sterling to above the gold point butto prevent the rate from declining further. Thisweek the Bank of France shows an increase in goldholdings of 385,005,065 francs, the total standing atrecord high of 52,351,000,000 francs on Dec. 5, whichcompares with 41,131,408,000 francs on Dec. 6 1929and with 28,935,000,000 francs reported in the firststatement of the Bank of France following stabiliza-tion of the currency in June 1928. The Bank's ratioof reserves is also at record high, standing at53.28% on Dec. 5, compared with 52.42% on Nov. 28with 47.10% on Dec. 6 1929, and with legal require-ments of 35%.

Italian lire, contrary to the general trend of theEuropean list, has been displaying an easier tone,which reflects the excessive weakness on the MilanBorsa. Prices closed at the lowest levels of the dayon Wednesday, while offerings after the close of theofficial market pushed quotations still lower. Ac-cording to reports the weakness was caused by theliquidation of heavy speculative accounts.The London check rate on Paris closed at 123.60

on Friday of this week, compared with 123.57 on Fri-day of last week. In New York sight bills on theFrench centre finished at 3.92 13-16, against 3.9274on Friday of last week; cable transfers at 3.92 15-16,against 3.93, and commercial sight bills at 3.92%,against 3.925%. Antwerp belgas finished at 13.96%for checks and at 13.973' for cable transfers, against13.943/ and 13.953. Final quotations for Berlinmarks were 23.843 for bankers' sight bills and23.85% for cable transfers, in comparison with23.84 and 23.85. Italian lire closed at 5.233% forbankers' sight bills and at 5.2374 for cable transfers,against 5.23 15-16 and 5.24 1-16. Austrian schil-lings closed at 14.07, against 14.07; exchange onCzechoslovakia at 2.963/2, against 2.96 7-16; onBucharest at 0.593(, against 0.593; on Poland at11.20, against 11.21, and on Finland at 2.51%,against 2.513%. Greek exchange closed at 1.29% forbankers' sight bills and at 1.293/2 for cable transfers,against 1.29% and 1.293/2.

rq Exchange on the countries neutral during the waris generally firmer, with the exception of Spanishpesetas. As in the case of sterling the firmness inthe neutrals is attributed largely to seasonal move-ments in connection with year-end settlements andin some degree to immigrant remittances and the holi-day gift transfers. Swiss francs and Holland guildersare especially strong. Swiss francs went to 19.40%for cable transfers on Thursday, the highest sinceNov. 12, while Holland guilders advanced to 40.293%,the highest since Oct. 22. There seems also to have

been a cessation in the flow of Swiss and Dutch fundsto the New York market during the week which mightaccount in part for the firmness. The Scandinaviancurrencies are firm, largely in sympathy with sterling,marks and guilders. Spanish pesetas continue tofluctuate rather widely and are off this week as aresult of the strike in Valencia, which is anotherevidence of the political unrest afflicting Spain andwhich causes a lack of confidence in the exchange.Political stability over a long period of time is one ofthe most important preliminaries to successful stabili-zation of the peseta.

Bankers' sight on Amsterdam finished on Fridayat 40.273, against 40.223. on Friday of last week;cable transfers at 40.283, against 40.243, and com-mercial sight bills at 40.24, against 40.20. Swissfrancs closed at 19.393/2 for bankers' sight bills andat 19.403 for cable transfers, against 19.37 and19.37%. Copenhagen checks finished at 26.743/2 andcable transfers at 26.753/2, against 26.733 and26.743/2. Checks on Sweden closed at 26.83 andcable transfers at 26.84, against 26.82% and 26.833%,while checks on Norway finished at 26.74 and cabletransfers at 26.75, against 26.73 and 26.74. Spanishpesetas finished at 10.39 for bankers' sight bills andat 10.40 for cable transfers, compared with 11.08and 11.09.

Exchange on the South American countries con-tinues dull and inactive, displaying no new featuresfrom the past few weeks. Although business circlesin Argentina and Brazil continue to display an at-titude of confidence toward the new Governments.Bankers in London, New York, and elsewhere arewatching the outcome of events closely. The generalcondition of world prices affecting as it does the foodand raw material products of these South Americancountries is, of course, a large element of weaknessin the exchange situation. The Argentine situationis typical of all the Latin American countries.While shipments of raw materials have improvedfrom week to week since the changes in Governmenttook place, they are far below what they were a yearago both in quantity and in value. The Argentinewool market seems to be quite demoralized. Argen-tine wheat shipments to date total 76,646,000 bushels,compared with 235,421,000 bushels at the same timelast year. Corn exports total 160,174,235 bushels,compared with 185,586,000 bushels at the same timelast year and with 240,681,500 bushels in the sameperiod in 1928. Flaxseed shipments for the year todate total 44,935,968 bushels, compared with 62,-735,000 bushels last year. Bankers state that theremust be a world wide recovery in business conditionsas well as fundamental changes in banking methodsand financial structure be'ore most of the SouthAmerican currencies can be expected to display anyreal stability. Argentine paper pesos closed at33 15-16 for checks, as against 34 7-16 on Friday oflast week, and at 34.00 for cable transfers, against343/2. Brazilian milreis are nominally quoted at 9.70for bankers' sight bills and at 9.75 for cable transfers,as against 9.70 and 9.75. Chilean exchange closedat 123/8 for checks and at 12 3-16 for cable transfers,against 12.15 and 12.20. Peru closed at 29.50,against 3025.

Exchange on the Far Eastern countries is dull andirregular. The Far Eastern silver currencies sufferednew record lows owing to several sharp breaks in the

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3758 FINANCIAL CHRONICLE [vol.. 131.price of silver during the week. In Wednesday'smarket Hong Kong dollars made another new low of28.50, while Shanghai taels fell to 36.12. The sellingof these