Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-26
FINANCIAL-LOCAL AND OTHERWISE.
BY I. A. FLEMING.

BY I. A. FLEMING.
Consideration of the revene bill! by
the senate has reached the stage where
an agreement has been reached on tne
exemption in the income tax, sl,oo9
for single men and $4,000 for married
men. where the corporation tax mas
been increased from per cent 70
per cent, and the elimination OF the
retroactive feature Of the House IN
come tax action.
tax on SURPRISES is now under con-
sideration 1t is fact that large
part of the surplus of going corpora :
lions is invested in the business, IN
buildings. in tracks and pipes under
the ground. in stock and MIXTURES ana
score of different ways.
perhaps when finally settled the tax
would not be applicable to these items,
but rather to investments ana casn
on hand There are many corporations
carrying large SURPRISES. some as
working capital and needed for that,
others in investments in stocks OF
other corporations. and the impose Oh
a heavy tax might mean a speedy as
tribution of surplus by some OF THESE
corporations. Gov,
wears has paid the corporation tax to the
government.
II is a question whether the surplus tax
would be applied to banks. Bankers nave
added strength: corporations also The ma
tional banking act itself provided that nc
bank in the system should pay any. divi,
dends to shareholders until surplus OF
90 per cent had been accumulated
Banks with surplus equal to capitalize,
ton were given credit as gold mark
institutions.
The corporation tax is payable by banks
and if this tax is increased to 8 per cent
some of them may find trouble in paying
dividends However the House has yet
to act
Public utilities corporations all over the
country are protesting further reductions
Of their service charges and frequently
seeking permission to increase charges, IT
order to meet the increased cost OF mate
RIAL labor and taxation.
Manufacturers engaged in hlling wal
commissions have asked that some al
lowance be made for the enormous ad-
ditional construction necessary to en-
able them to make the so-called excess
profits, the deduction for expansion &c
be accredited before fixing excess
profits.
Washington Gas Company Protests.
The Washington Gas Light Company, for
itself and it's subsidiary, the George
town Gas Company, has filed its protes,
to the valuations of it's physical proper
ties by the experts of the public utility
commission of the District.
This action has been taken as a
measure of protection. before the ex-
piration of the time limit.
The companys officials have accept
ed. there being nothing else to do. the
rate for gas made by Congress. and
the present action is simply a safeguard
against the possibility of further clip
ping Of the price.
Investment Bankers Busy.
Although receiyinr very little en-
couragement, the fight of the various
members of the committee of invest
ment bankers continues against a
change in the method of collect
favor of information at the source
They claim that very many people pur-
chased bonds on the provision in the
mortgage securing them, providing that
there should be no deduction for state
or government taxes at the source"
1t is an important question. AS stated
before. the encouragement offered the
fighters is not important. Perhaps the
lawmakers have in mind the various
tax schedules proposed on corporations
in favoring the change.
Local Securities.
The only development of Importance
in the local security market was the
decline in the price of Potomac Electric
consolidated SIS to IS.
otner DOnQS nave presented d lFm
front and held prices much closer to
a per cent basis than in other mar
kets. some even doing a little better.
The Washington Gas Company is dis
posing of the block Of per cents re-
Gently authorized by the utilities com
mission to be sold at par at little bet
ter than that price.
Holders of securities, as a rule. recog-
nize that this is an unfavorable time
to market investments and are con-
fan ~ Ci i0h n To- &C
and. where necessary, to borrow funds.
Washington banks have not called
many, if any, demand loans, although
some have advanced their discount
rate from to 5 Y to per cent.
Bank Call Due.
A call for conditions of the banks by
the controller of the currency is past
due. The last previous call was June
20, and, with six calls year, another
Is due.
Bankers believe that the controller
will wait until after the 3Qth instant,
when the last payment on account of
the Liberty bonsd will be due.
The report will be perfunctory. not
indicating very important movements
of money, so far as Washington bank
ers are concerned, other than the lib
erty loan payments and two tax money
return payments to the Treasury De-
partment
The report will probable show a loss.
The report will probably show a loss.
deposits Of $2,600,000.
Greene-Cananea Dividend.
The directors of the Greene-Cananea
Company have ordered a dividend OF
50 a share, payable August 81. upon
800 par value shares only. Holders OF
stock that has not been converted into
full 500 shares are advised to give i'm
mediate attention to the matter. The
transfer books do not close.
Henry Clews on War and After.
1.-THE steady rise in power of the al
lies and corresponding decline among
the central powers strengthens the
hopes of an early peace. albeit the end
Of the war is not yet In view. Germany
is by no means exhausted to the poin,
Of submission to the we'll known terms
Of the allies. Nor are the allies We,
able to deliver decisive military blow
At the moment their policy appears te
be that of wearing the enemy down
the relative rise or fall In the strength