The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-17
PLETHORA OF MONEY MAKE SALE OF HIGH CLASS BONDS EASY Whitridge's Experience Not Regarded as True Test in
 Normal Times
AMERICAN MONEY IS GOING ABROAD
Preparations for Bank Change Given as Reason for Large Accumula- tiOns of Available
 Capital
By HOLLAND

By HOLLAND
 New York, March 16.-(Special )-Fred- erick w. Whitridges success in market ing over the counter a block of s4,oo0, 900 of bonds issued by a street railway com pany of which he is president seems to have occasioned good deal more than local comment Mir Whitridge himself has spoken of the transaction as an ex- pertinent whereby could be tested the dis position of the public to make investment in securities issued directly from the of flee of corporation to the investing public. In other parts of the country there seems to be some disposed to look upon this transaction as good proof that corporations may escape bankers com missions and the charges imposed oy ,un- derwriting syndicates if they offer their securities directly to the public.
 The best judgment in this city how ever. is that the Whiteridge experiment, while so far as it went it was a success, since the bonds were sold, nevertheless is not to be looked upon as an entirely satisfactory demonstration. For it is spoken of as undoubtedly the ease that
 
 made it possible for MT. Whitridge easily to sell these securities over the counter. Were there money stringency, in all probability MT Whitridge would have been driven to the acceptance of one of two alternatives. He would either have been compelled to postpone the offer until more convenient season or else he would of necessity have sought the aid of bankers.
 The incident, however, is of value at | this time to business interests all over | the country It furnishes a concrete and understandable proof that money is plen- l tiful. at least in the large financial cen ters of the country Should anyone call at the offices of some of the leading bankers in New York and ask the o,ies tfon, wha tis the condition of the money market? the answer would invariabi, be. There is a plethora of money which is almost unprecedented"
 For this reason money is seeking eagerly certain kinds of investment The owners or funds are watching the bond market They are anxious to put their money into good bonds which have a long time to run and which pay fairly good rate of interest. There begins to be q scarcity of bonds of this kind. The securities sold by MT. Whitridge had good credit be- hind them, long time to run, bore a fairly good rate of interest and the mar ket value of them was estimated to be about s.
 Large Investments Abroad
 While the men of the financial district do not care to give detailed information they all unite in saying that the plethora at i,,,a large sums of American money are being exported. France is taking a great deal of our money, probably covered by ex- change transactions, and there is reported to be an unusually heavy demand for American funds in Holland and to some extent in Germany. These funds can be profitably utilized in those countries and the market which they furnish may be broadened as we'll as continued for some time.
 What Is the Reason? al
 There seem to be two reasons for this plethora of money. At least two reasons are common given by those of whom in. formation is asked. One is the condition of business in the United States and the other Is the preparation now under way for a change from the old national bank ing system to the new. The first of these reasons is the more important If business were very active the demand for funds would show that condition. But there is, relatively speaking, only a small demand for money, representing not more than enough to carry on business from day to day or from hand to mouth,'' as the saying is. It Is true that there are some superficial indications of business revival and the hope is that these may prove to be symptoms of great revival as soon as the new national banking sys- tenn is in operation. One of the superf- cial symptoms Is furnished by the re- ports of increasing orders received by the manufacturers of iron and steel commod- lties. That such orders are pouring in is unquestioned, but there seems to be a belief that they are partly precautionary and partly conditional. Many of the or ders reflect it is thought the desire of manufacturers or consumers upon large scale of iron and steel products to take advantage of prevailing low prices. Therefore these, orders have been put in so that in case there is a revival of busi- ness the contracts may be executed at the prevailing low prices. On the other hand, many of the orders are undoubtedly con- ditional in the sense that they may be cancelled if it be found expedent to do that.
 The pay rolls of many of the large manufacturing explorations do not show much, if any, revival. Some of these rolls have been cut in half and the artisans who formerly received full pay are now gladly accepting pay for half time and in many cases have been laid off.
 This undoubtedly explains the rapid ac- emulation of unused funds in the large financial centers. It shows why the de- mand for good bonds which have a long life and which pay a fair rate of interest is so heavy.
 The Boston and Baltimore View
 The Boston Chamber of Commerce has formulated what many in this city regard as the best exposition of the commercial paper situation, and this is the view which seems also to have been taken in Balti- more. It differs somewhat from the view