Evening star., 1916-03-19
FINANCE LOCAL AND OTHERWISE
duty of MUTUAL savings bank is to its

| duty of mutual savings bank is to its
| money for the purpose Of increasing its
business must necessarily impair the
| financial power of the institution.
Savings banks that do not expend
money more or less freely for adver-
| tising rarely make much headway-
| that is. stock corporations conducted
| for profit. The larger the advertising
the larger the returns, all else being
equal
Publicity in encouragement Of saw
| ings and thrift Is always desirable, and
the action of the commissioners would
indicate a narrow-minded policy. en-
| tirely foreign to the present way of do
, ing business.
Demand Reduction Of Interest.
THE time-honored conservatism Of
! our bankers calls for reduction of in
terest rates on deposits and an increase
in the reserve banks discount rates."
A st. Louis banker thus urges, in the
, interest of meeting the situation caused
by the importation of $450,000, 900 of
| unneeded gold and the creation by the
federal reserve law of like amount.
Bankers in Washington have not dis
cussed the question of reducing inter-
est paid on time and demand deposits.
not that they would not like to do 1t
and cut the rates at that, but the COM
petition for deposits in this city was
never keener. even with the vaults of
the various Institutions bulging with
cash.
Rates here on deposits run from per
cent to per cent while there are mil
lions of banking funds on which bank
ers are glad to get the minimum, and
millions more which would readily be
loaned out on any good collateral at
the outside rate.
Tba ,tth1 1fN kIak A1,~
public possessed Of surplus funds. has
learned its lesson, on the value of
money and to this value they have add
ed plus. Interest is considered even
before safety. With fourteen national
banks, sixteen savings institutions and
six trust companies competing for de-
posits, with the prospects Of one or two
more banks entering the lists in the
near future, the field is crowded, and
the competition too severe to even
suggest, out loud. that interest rates on
deposits should be lowered.
Local Securities.
A squirt in Lanston Monotype shares,
on the belief that dividend will be
declared before the end of the present
month. has been the only thing that
has saved the local stock market from
neglect.
Tuesday of last week unusual activity
developed in the bond list, but after a
squirt that looked full of promise the
demand dropped off completely.
1t is matter upon which there can
be little comment. The day-to-day
trading is unimportant.
Members of the exchange. virtually
interested in it's future and its success,
have been doing everything they could
to make for better conditions. An anti
quated constitution has been set aside
for one up-to-date. with every joker
eliminated and with rules for trading
that will do away with all the evils Of
which customers have in the past COM
planned.
1t is now up to the committee on list
ing to secure the listing Of some live
issues on the stock list, If it can be
done.
If not, the present unsatisfactory
market is likely to last until after the
settlement of all regulatory action by
the utilities commission: perhaps until
the amalgamation of the utilities in
one corporation. on which there is some
talk these days. but of which there has
been nothing that might lead to a con-
summation.
In the meantime 5000 shareholders
are not satisfied with the prices at
which their securities are being sold
occasionally. The earnings Of the diff
ferent corporations have met expecta-
tions. and with other stocks earnings
count-but it is different in Washing
ton.