The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-08
Judgment on Value of Utili- ties Regarded as the Best
 in America
LOOK WITH FAVOR
 ON BOLIVIAN PLANS
Gold Production of United States ln- cluding Alaska Has Now Reached Goal of Over 99,O0O,O ,OOO
 Per Year
By HOLLAND

Charles A. Stone of Boston was named, a few days ago, as the executive chief of the greatest and latest of large corpor- ationS organized in the last weeks or 1915 it was commonly said by those who
 know him that this American interna-
 tional corporation is to be directed by
 man who is unquestionably the best judge of the inherent or lurking values or equities in public utility organizations. Some have said that as some years ago William Rockefeller was thought to be the best judge of the inherent values of railway properties, so now Charles A.. Stone can well be compared with the lat ter when he was in active business life with respect to judgment of public util- | ity values
 1 This estimate of MT. Stone was quickly confirmed by the announcement that the | first business his corporation transa acted gave to the corporation title to seven steamships which heretofore belonged to l the Pacific Mail company There is also comment upon his contemplated purpose l of buying, as head of this corporation, ! the railroads in South America which Percival Farquhar planned to construct, ! or, if existing, to enlarge or improve. Farquhar went to grief not through any error of his own, but because men of ] finance of Europe told him, three years ago, when he went to seek money from them that no money was to be had be- cause the war in the Balkans had caused extensive boarding of funds and had made it the part of prudence for finan- ciers to close their doors to new propo- sitions
 That was the experience that Newman Erb met with in the early summer of 1914. But in MT. Erb's case way was found in the United States to finance sufficiently although perhaps tempor-
 arily, his railroad needs, whereas MT. Farquhar in South America was com pelled to hold up his hands. Bolivia was especially distressed because of the col lapse of MT. Farquhar's project Hor- ace G. Knowles, who was United States minister to Bolivia at the time of this collapse, said upon his return to the United States that if Farquhar could have floated his plans South America, and especially Bolivia, would have had in possession railway systems which could be compared, relatively speaking, with those of the United States. These would develop speedily and greatly South Amer | ican resources. MT. Knowles furthermore said that the climax of the Farquhar iplans involved the construction of rail-
  mineral oil fields of southeastern Bolivia. These fields are equal, MT. Knowles said in capacity and quality of the soil to any which are now operated in any part of. the world. Farquhar had partly com pleted his railroad to these oil fields when the collapse came.
 Quickening prostrate undertakings, if there be inherent value in them, is some thing with which MT. Stone has had large and successful experience. He un- doubted'y knows the magnitude of the value of these Bolivian oil fields and has now at his command the resources which will enable him to make these
 opportunities commercially available.
 This, however, is only one of a good many contemplated purposes which MT.
 Stone has in mind.
 A BILLION AND A HALF
 At the annual banquet next week of
 the Associated Bankers of New York city, the announcement will be made that
 careful computation-part of it based
 upon the report which President Loree made few days ago, supplemented by other nformation-justifies the statement
 that the United States has taken back approximately one and one-half billion
 dollars, par value in American securi-
 ties heretofore held abroad. And the
 marvel of this achievement, it will be SdlQ, IS the Qulet, unpercelVeQ Sttoct or
 this unprecedented current flowing from
 Europe to the United States. bearing ap-
 proXimately one-half of the American
 securities heretofore held abroad
 ALMOST A HUNDRED MILLION
 Ten or twelve years ago the late Mau-
 rice l.. Muheman predicted that the time
 was not distant when within the bounda-
 ries of the United States there would be
 produced annually new gold the amount
 of which, were it added to the gold pro-
 duced in Alaska, would be of about one
 hundred million dollars value. That statement fixed an arbitrary standard of
 one hundred millions as a high-water
 mark of gold production in the United States and Alaska. The prediction has not yet been made good. At one time it seemed as though our gold output were
 gradually decreasing. But Washington now reports that we did in the year 1915 take out nearly ninety nine millions of gold. That is large enough to justify Mir Muhemans prediction. He was one of the best of our authorities on gold production. California still maintains the lead in the output of gold, but gradually Alaska is approaching the gold product of California.
 A MILLION A YEAR