The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-02
| THREE OUT Of z
RECEIVE CLEMENC\
Paroles Conditional on Flu.
ture Good Conduct
&C
NINE TURNED p
e Not Pre-
o,,- efuses to
oNeal Says Defend u.
Unlawfully Cor
Set Aside
FIRST NATKEN1EW
" MO-, w." 49,
"sge Pay Rolls L0-
al Trade Good
,OOM IN BUILDING
Present Activity Greatest in History
of Birmingham-Rea Estate
Business Actiye-Pig Iron
Trade Is Dull

Trade Is Dull
The First National Banks monthly
fina iicial and commercial review March
1, 1913. follows:
Local trade continues good. due to
the stimulating effects of the large
pay rolls now being put in circula-
ton by the railroads and by mining
and manufacturing enterprises in this
district, besides the heavy expenditure
in street Improvements and building
operations.
Building permits during the month
| of February amounted TO $1,367.333
being an increase of more than $1,000
600 over February. 1912. The present
building boom is probably the great
est in the history of Birmingham.
| Real estate transfers are becoming
more numerous and the volume of busi-
ness generally in this immediate Sec
tion is larger than ever before. al
though in many cases profits do not
show a proportionate increase.
| There is still god demand for fin
ished iron and steel products, but in
| these lines activity in this section is
not as great as in the Pittsburg and
| lake districts, and we doubt IL new or
ders are coming in as fast as those
already on the books are being filled
However. we understand that there Is
enough business in sight for several
months ahead. The local pig iron trade
| Is reported as having been unusually
| dull during the past month. Nominal
quotations are around $3.50, but little
| iron is moving and many furnaces are
again. pilng up stocks on their yards.
The Bankrupt sale of the properties
of the Southern Iron & Steel COM
pany has been confirmed and it. seems
| certain that the new company formed
| by the purchasers, known as the stand
ard Steel company, will assume charge
| of operations at once. 1t also appears
that arrangements are practically COM
plete for reorganization of the Ala
bama Consolidated Coal and Iron COM
pany.
The New Administration
1.-The policies of the new administra-
tion are awaited with keenest interest
by the business community in general
and much depends upon what is to be
done at the approaching extra session
of Congress. Mr.. Untermeyer's views
as to the existence of money trust
and concentration of credits in the
hands of a few banks and bankers in
New York, Boston and Chicago, to-
gether with his ideas as to the proper
remedies. have been concurred in by
a majority of the banking and cur
rency committee of the House of Rep
resentatives. although other members
of the committee have filed minority
reports. The majority report recon-
mends that clearing houses be incor-
porated, that government inspectors
take the place of the present clearing 6
house examiners, that no rules or regu-
latfons providing for fixed rates of in
terest or exchange be permitted, and
that all banks, provided they are SOL
vent and well managed, shall have tho
legal right to become members No
provision seems to have been suggested
against dangerous extremes in compe-
tition, which is in striking contrast
with the policy of the government to-
ward the railroads, which are required
to observe published freight tariffs and
are prohibited from giving passes or
from making rebates of any kind.
Under the proposed restriction upon
clearing houses. it would seem that the
freest competition is encouraged and that
cooperation is tabooed, and that no pro-
lection has been provided against un-
sound practices in the way of excessive
interest on deposits or handling of coun-
tFX CneckS NItnOuL Ttlticilcc " to6l.
Other recommendations are that no bank
mergers be permitted without the ap-
proyal of the comptroller of the currency
and that no director of a national bank
be permitted to serve as a director in an
other bank in the same community, that
cumulative voting be permitted in the
election of national bank directors, and
that publicity be given to loans made by
bank to director
As to Ultimate Effect
"These recommendations, If enacted into
law, would undoubtedly tend to curtail
the number of directors on any national
bank board, and taken together with the
suggestions made as to the handling of
large financial transactions in centers
like New York, would indicate a disposi-
ton to make impossible any very large
banking institutions In this country. Per-
haps the ultimate effect would be to
transfer the seat of financial power in
North America from New York to Cana
dian cities like Montreal or Toronton, just
as our present governmental policy to-
ward manufacturing corporations may
induce the location of large industries in
future on the Canadian iittoral of the
Great Lakes. However, it is far Cry
from the views of an individual impressed
upon a majority of~a committee, to the
actual enactment of laws putting such
ideas into effect, and the nope Is eX-
pressed, with more or less confidence.
that salutary changes and reforms may
me made without undue radicalism. and
that all necessary house cleaning may be
accomplished without injury to the struc-
ture itself
'.Some progress has been reported in
crop preparations in the southern portions
Of the cotton belt, although little head
way has as yet been made in this i'm
mediate section. Fertilizer sales indicate
preparations for large acreage Our in
formation is that some stocks of cotton
are still being held in this section of the
state, but that good part of the stock
on hand February has been sold. I'm
less there should be some exceptionally
unfavorable climatic conditions during
the next two months to retard or inter-
fere with the planting of the new crop,
we see nothing on which to predicate al
advance in the price of cotton, and we
think that in sixty days more. this Sec
ton will be practically bare Of the staple
"THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF
BIRMINGHAM"