Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-03-11
Passing Impressions Of Finance
By Louis Guenther
Editor of the Financial World

and before believing 1t true would first
have an independent audit made OF
the company's books. But the Rock
Islands president was undeterred and
he published his statement in the
newspapers as an advertisement, mucn
to the annoyance of the members of
the protective bondholders' committee.
In some circles the suspicion is enter
tanned that the statement emanateS
from the Reid Moore faction with the
purpose of gathering in at a cheap
price the collateral bonds, as they oc.
cupy the strategic position of debating
the terms of reorganization and the
Irish dividend" to be assessed on the
holding company's preferred and COM
mon stock.
The cost. of living is going down.
This Is indicated by the index figures
published by the London Economist.
For the week they have lost some
where near "a points. Still. when the
reduction is distributed among the out
lays housewives must make to keep
the larders filled and the family happy
it is of such an infiniteSimal fraction
that they won't feel 1t. Living cost,
anyway, worries people very little as
long as the wherewithal upon which
to live is easily obtainable. The per
capita wealth of the country was never
so large, so it Is apparent that this
subject is no longer receiving the seri-
Gus consideration that our economists
think it deserves.
First it is Mexico. then Peru and
then Brazil where revolutionary upris-
ingS break out. Our South American
republics are once more proving the
truth of the claim that they are mer-
curial countries. But Brazil's troubles
are engendered by too rapid exploita-
ton of its resources and the conse-
quent drain upon it's credit, which, to
maintain intact, simply means in
creased taxation. Brazil's nonsensical
scheme of ''valorizing" the coffee crop
by keeping it out of the market until
satisfactory price was obtainable has
had large share in causing the pres
ent trouble.
Municipal bonds are still very much
in demand. Standard Oil stocks have
recovered a part of their loss and these
shares are going into hands of out
right buyers instead of margin traders.
But the railroads are finding it in
creasingly difficult to borrow money
on reasonable terms, so much has
their credit suffered by criticism of the
past few years, whether justified or
not. Chesapeake and Ohio, which
had to borrow 100000 had to pay
as hlgn as Z per cent. for the money
and agree with the bankers to set
aside liberal sums out of earnings
every year for five years for improve
ment in order to make the note issue
more secure.
To expect the stock market to have
acted otherwise than it did under the
bruises that have been inflicted upon
1t would have been to anticipate the
workings of miracle. Stocks could
not stand up under the wave of re-
newed liquidation which was started
by the st. Paul and the Rock Island
revelations. For some time the mar
ket will be under spell of doubt and
expectation of further surprising ana
unpleasant revelations
Some of the earnings reported by
the public service corporations this
week We're: Northern States Power
Company. with gross earnings of
S3.SS7,4OS and S1,956,934 net; Ameri-
can Public Utflities Company for jan
uary gross $244,475. a gain of 9.3 per
cent. and net $112.249 a gain of 4 10
per cent; Indiana Lighting Company.
gross earnings of S1,22S.297 against
Sl,1S1.214 in 1912, but the net earn
ings of S4O1 .343 We're slightly less on
account of flood losses, and the United
Light and Railways Company, with
gross earnings of $6,057,2S5. an in
crease of s735,604, and net earnings
of Sl,172.S1S. gain of s99.S11.