The Washington herald., 1912-10-29
Local Financial Matters

u AOlG66 Gt1S6St
~ I. a. YLEnuSo.
Amenities bstvssn corporations are al
wxys desirable. the moro especially whea
they are not bitter compstitoeA
Washinston financial intsrests have
UNDERWOOD >foe some time that the en-
.tsnts cordial bstwesn the osereeeewn
,Css, Company and In friend and chiefest
owner, the washington Gas Company.
has been subjected 10 . strain.
For seventeen yeaSs the Warrington
Gas Cumpany has owned and through IT.
:represeuta4ivss has boased the 0sorgs-
town 0as Company; II has aided In
financing operations. furnished Il gas et
q reasonably profitable price. voted div1-
idends from year to year, author1Sed
bond issue. &C
Then. one bright day. the minority rep
lyesentatives ON the Georgetown board OF
directors refused to permit the Wash
,ington Gas Company to vote its Ate0
shares. gave the corporation . minority
Representation on the board and thsn
finally refused to pay the dividend on
tho shares In the treasury Of the larger
corporation.
The entente cordial was indeed seri-
ously strained.
Part of the GeorgetDwn Gas Company's
gas producing outfit consists OF water
:cet plant making water gaA It u neces-
.sary that this unit be shut down about
twice year for cleaning purposes. The
Oemi-annual cleaning II due
But with one plant out o4 business 1t
lis q matter beyond the productive
capacity Of the other plant to furnish
sufiieient gas to light Georgetown and
do the cooking a. well.
:. And committee Of the Georgetown
Gas Company waitsd on President Letter
of the Wash;ngton Gas Company.
They say that It was an extremely
short session.
Not having dictograph connection. the
exact dialogue Is not available. but 70
said that President Letter was perfectly
willing to turn the gas on the 0eorge-
town circuit on request. provided the
GEORGETOWN minority contingent was will
ing to give the Washington Gas Com-
pany four directors on the Georgetown
board Of directors In addition to Ord
Preston. who Is now . director Of both
corporations.
Exit!
The Rosslyn Gas Company was then
approached It was willing, although
there may be some question ~ to the
right of the Virginia corporation to sell
gas in the district. but 1t was willing to
take the chance. on an "order for 10000
600 cubic feet At . dollar . thousapd
Too much-both ways.
The water set had to BE- shut down;
It Just had to be cleaned out. George
town might suffer.
An appeal was then taken to the Com
missioners and the President Of the
Washington Gas Company was bit In
advance.
Assurance was given the Commission
ers that the Washington Gas Company.
chief shareholder Of the Georgetown Gas
Company, would supply the needed gas to
the people Of Georgetown. through the
Georgetown Gas Company: that they
must not be permitted to go without their
daily or nightly supply Of gas. and that
the price to the Georgetown Gas Com
pany would be s. cents q thousand Gu
bic feet.
Thus disaster Is avoided, and with the
next cleansing another water set may be
in readiness to cut In.
1t might be suggested. II one wanted
to be facetieus. that II the Georgetown
Gas Company viii not pay the w. q. |
Co. the dividends due, what assurance
has the w. G. Co. that 1t will be paid |
for its gas?
E. Quincy Smith. late president of the
Union Savings Bank who left for New
York some months ago to become vice
president of the United States and Mex
to the position Of president Of this cor
poration. |
That there is money in little things
is shown by the annual report Of the |
Woolworth Company. owner Of q string |
of and 10 cent stores. Their earnings |
for the year were s6O.0o0o 900. or 10 per cent |
net, leaving 10 per cent on the common |
stock after the preferred had received |
Tho
doing much better than the manage l
ment expected.
The Kansas Bank Department has put |
in force a new of1cial order. By the |
terms of this order. all cashiers or man
aging officers Of the new or old State /
banks in Kansas must have had two |
years experience continual In active |
banking. and their records for the two |
years show that they were pereistently |
faithful in their work. It Is then pSo-
vided that After having had two years |
service. should they wish to serve as |
cashier or active managing onlcer Of q /
State bank. they will be granted thirty 1
days In which to prepare themselves for /
an examination before the board Of ex-
animation Of the banking department /
at Topeka, which will occupy three days
Of their time. They will be examined |
upSh ehe AoAAo"Au8 kOAHS8. h0 COIpO-
ration law ~ II applies to banking in /
Kansas. the guaranty law. the negotia- i
Bile instruments law. the Kansas bank
ing statutes. and the practical and tech
nical points OF everyday banking.
The standard Of perfection will con-
sist Of 100 points. Any applicant who
may receive seventy points Of merit, or
more, win be passed by the examining i
board a. successful. and said board will /
Issue . certificate Of approval Of the ap-
plicant as managing ofncer Of q State
bank. Should he fall below seventy
points. he will be granted any addition
al time he may wish, not exceeding thir-
~ days, to prepare himself for . Sec!
ond examination. Should he fall below
seventy points In his second examina-
tion he will be rejected by the board L
for ono year, when he will again be
eligible for examination"
Cashiers and other officials, who are /
already in positions. and those whose
work. on inspection. shows competence,
VIII not be affected by the order. The
large number Of small banks, many Of
them managed by men Of no experience