Evening star., 1917-11-11
FINANCE-LOCAL AND OTHERWISE.

American Investment Bankers Asso-
citation will be held on the 14th inst.
at the Hotel Belvidere in Baltimore.
Many Of the prominent bankers and
brokers in the country will be present
and many local interests will be repre-
sented at the gathering. Baltimore
banks and trust companies have ex-
tended invitations to many local bank
Seek Interpretation.
The Federal Reserve Board has been
asked to pass upon the eligibility of
obligations Of corporations, short term
several renewals. for rediscount by the
federal reserve banks. when the notes
are issued in payment Of commercial
transactions.
ing must of necessity be put tempo
rary the rediscount problem in such
matters is Of vital Importance
Inquiries resulted directly from the
marketing by the Goodrich Rubber
Company OF $15.o00.0o0 nine-day. per
cent discount notes with the option Of
seven renewals.
The reply Of the board is awaited with
interest. as many corporations would.
in all probability. adopt this method
ruling.
On Excess Profits.
Business men all over the country are
awaiting the final decision Of the proper
method to be used in computing invested
capital The first meeting In aid Of the
internal revenue collector will be held
In Washington tomorrow. when the
trust company executives will take up
the problem Of invested capital.
Eastman, Dillon & Co.. investment
ha n nf vn,.ix
several conclusions. one of which they
believe will be found to flll the bill in
settling the much-vexed questions re-
lattng to the excess profits taxation.
Here is how they reach a conclusion:
I'm attempting to determine capital
investment for the purpose of estimat-
ing the taxes to be paid by companies
whose stocks are listed on the New
York stock E1ehanse q number Of
First. that of taking the book value of
the stock OF the corporation: second,
that of taking the book value and de-
Quoting an estimated amount Of over
valuation Of patents and goodwill as
defined by the bill. and, third, taking
the market valuation of the securities.
Taking book value as a base for cap
ital investment Is a method which We
believe would in good many cases
give entirely too high a value and
would not be allowed by the tax assess
ors. In attempting the second method,
we found that it was almost Impossible
to get enough information from reports
and records to allow for a deduction
to comply with the laws requirements.
The third method. while 1t is OBJ
viously a crude estimate of capital in
vestment. yet is one that contains more
of an element of real valuation than
either Of the others. If 1t is a question
OF value. that value to include good
Will, patents. etc, the aggregate
amount for which a company's stock
is selling in the open market is a fairly
'alue OF that concern. Although we
realize that this Is not the method pre-
scribed by the revenue bill in determin-
ing capital investment. yet we believe
that whatever method Is used to de-
termine this investment will come
pretty close to approximating the mar
ket valus OF the ownership of the prop
On the firms basis of figuring. the
nrm referred to has estimated the
taxes of the Bethlehem Steel Company.
plus the per cent income tax at
Vs.. 100000: tse United States Steel Cor
poration's tax st $177.714: Utah Cop
Per AZ Su.l20,o 600; General Motors at
s12.S70.o00: while a list of forty-fiye
leading industrial corporations will
hand over average taxes Of $2,5ss.o00
each.
"Trust Companies Of the q. So
This is the title of publication issued
annually by the United States Mort
gage and Trust Company, containing
data regarding the trust
in the United States. their
statements Of condition and the progress
made In 1917.
The total resources Of all trust COM
panies in the nation at the close of