Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1914-10-17
OF MONEY
FOR DIVIDENDS:
Large Amounts For QuarerIv Dis
buurse'nens Are Easily Pro-
vided For
BY w. S. COUSINS.

Editor of the American Banker
Perhaps never in the history of this
country has the quarterly interest
and di:ided period been attended with
such an upheaval in the International
money markets. With the European
financial markets in utter collapse.
and with American financiers gran.
ping with the biggest problems that
haev confronted them in many a day,
the disbursement period has added
but one more burden to an already
orerWorked financial mechanism. The
moratoria which exists in the foreign
centers has automatically taken care
of foreign maturities, but European
holders of American securities do
not, of course, extend such conditions
to our notes. We must pay, and pay
in full
SO effective, however,, has been the
underlying work of American bank
ers, both in the pledging Of their gold
resources and in the esta blishing of
credits, that European investors have
been CAD . reinvest in what they
feel to be (" bargain day securities.
The total October dividend and in
terest disbursement amount to over
S16O,OOO,O0O, represented Oy SIS, 800
600 in dividends and $S1 100000 in
interest obligations The stockholders
OF railroad stocks received $25 ,OOO,-
600 in dividends, in industrial corpor-,
ations $46,0O0OO0, and in street rail-
ways $7500,000. There is a falling
off Of $8,000,00 in dividends compared
with the same month last year, but
this Is accounted for in the passing
of the quarterly DIVIDENDS by a num-
Der of railroad corporations, notably
the New Haven.
Interest payments of $S1 10000 com
pare with s79,5OO,OOO in October Of
1913, and in addition thereto might
be mentioned the fact that New York
City will distribute during the month
the sum Of $15,000,00O for the liqui-
dation Of maturing revenue bonds.
This amount would be substantially
increased were it not for the fact
that the international Mercantile Ma
rine Company, lowing to the unset
tied condition Of it's business during
the war;" had ruled to defer, for the
present, the interest on $52,75O,0O0
four and one-half bonds of 1902
Bond and note issue of the leading
railroad and industrial corporations
maturing in October, according to a
reliable computation, aggregate $780,
$4,000, as compared with $12,O3S,O00
the previous month and SIS, 14S,OOO in
October, 1913. The maturing indebt-
edness of railroad companies for Oc-
tober amounts to $12, 1S3,O 900, leaving
a balance Of $S,265,OOO for Industrial
concerns to liquidate.
One of the most important Of the
constructive features of the general
situation has been the inauguration
of the s1OO,OOO,OOO gold pool move
ment for restoring order out of the
foreign exchange chaos. An initial
shipment Of S1O,O00,0O0 in bars and
gold coin has been forwarded to the
agency Of the Bank Of England at Of
tawa. The competent committee that
has charge Of the POOLS operations
has now available in London credits
equal to this shipment against which
bills can be drawn and sold in this
market. A call was last Saturday
sent out to the banks subscribing to
the pool for Is per cent Of their sub
scriptions. Mence the committee will
have ample supplies of the precious
metal to forward to Ottawa, and
against which exchange can be drawn
and sold.