The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-20
BIRMINGHAM IS BADLY IN NEED OF
 STOCK EXCHANGE
John A. Caldwell Calls Atten- tion to City's Need for
 Securities Market
MANY GOOD STOCKS
 FIND READY SALE
Says New Orleans, Nashville and Rich mond Are Better Markets for Our Securities Than Can He
 Found at Home

John A. Caldwell believes that Bir-
 mingham should have a stock exchange
 or ct least some sort of securities
 market. He says that If man wants
 to buy or sell Birmingham securities
 he has to go away from home to do 1t.
 l Birmingham is forging ahead as one | of thu important cities of the south, but
 In one respect she is not keeping pace
 with some of our other southern cities, "
 said MT. Caldwell yesterday.
 "Twenty years ago this city was the center of activity as a security mar
 ket and there was great deal of trading in stocks and bonds.
 "In fact 20 years ago Birmingham had & stock exchange. where regu- lar call was held twice day l re- call the active markets Birmingham enjoyed in those days and traded my
 self in some of her securities, alth ough living in a distant city.
 "Today she has eight splendid bank ing institutions and many strong in- dustriaI corporations; yet if you want to find a market either to buy or sell
 any of our own securities you are com pelled to go away from homo. Thus we find that people away from Bir- mingham are stronger in the faith than we are
 "In fact. We find New Orleans, Nash vile and Richmond. Va, better mar lket for our securities than we have at home.
 Ut appears to me that the security market here is suffering at the expense of sub division schemes. some of which no doubt are sound. and in time will work out, but many far in advance or the growth and development of the dis trict. If all the plots of land in this district could be sold there would pc two lots for every human being In Greater Birmingham, draw circle around the district plotted and Chicago is not in 1t. It looks to me as II Birmingham has spread enough until she fills in a bit. No man can doubt the fact that Birmingham is destined for great achievements, because sEe | has a basis that makes for great cities iron and coal. What better work could the Chamber of Commerce or
 Board of Trade or the banking interests
 do than to encourage investments in
 good stocks and bonds of our home in-
 dustries that carry dividends? Why not
 organize a local stock exchange where
 value could be established and regu-
 lated; thus broadening our security
 market, enabling holders to use them
 in a collateral way?
 People large and small would not
 be afraid to invest in them if we had methods for marketing and power oi absorption.
 "Pig iron warrants could be traded 1 in here just as well as New York. We make the iron here-why go to New York to put it in warrants? Recently | in trying to size up one of our loca! securities-a concern well managed, an old concern-I found the market s5 bid, | 72 wanted (nothing between). Another splendid concern. ably man aged, whose showing would admit it's
 listing on the New York stock ex- change, were it large enough, l found stock nominally quoted at 20 to 30. and not a transaction in three or four years. As collateral proposition | doubt if the banks heLe would loan over s15 a share and then the makers name would be taken into considera tion. Five thousand dollars invested in this stock would yleld an income of at least $500 per annum. or 2 per cent on the investmtnt. Five thousand dollars invested on the other side of Shades mountain would cost interest, taxes. automobile hire. The difference in the two propositions being about IS per cent to the fellow hypothet i tcally making the investment. l draw this line of comparison because 1t came under my observation through a | lady friend who came into the dis trict some few years ago with some money to invest for 8 long pull, and | to call attention to what appears to mo the need of some kind of an or
 ganization. having the indorsement of the fina ncial interests of the district. looking to a betterment of our security market; which. in turn, makes for the good of all well managed corpora | tions."