Evening star., 1918-06-23

declared shat anything that would
threaten one financial institution
would threaten all" He also paid
high tribute to savings banks. trust
their united patriotism.
Peculiar Trade Conditions.
The imports Of merchandise brought
into the United States during the
month Of May were valued at $685.
100000 and are the largest In the his
tory Of the nation. With the shipping
facilities Of the world shot to pieces
by German subs this record is splen-
did. Naturally the large increase IN
value of merchandise shows in the
total, but the large importations IN
view Of the disturbed conditions OF
the world are all the more remark
able.
On tho Local Stock Exchange.
During the past week sales on the
local stock exchange included sis,soo e
and S2,3so.5o Lanston dividend script. :,
AS q rule prices showed small
change, II anything slight trend IN
the direction Of lower figures. but
| losses were only fractional.
There is no chance OF any immediate
Improvement in the market. nor is
| there much opportunity for other than
local stocks doing better with the
| heavy government financing and
other urgent calls for cash for essen
| tial purposes.
/ two alternatives, to hold on to their
| Investments or take losses and get
| out, with the former as ohering the
| best possible promise Of ultimate re-
covery Of invested funds.
| Interest and dividend payments con-
Il Afna MA
| two exceptions, and but very small
! part Of the funds is being reinvested
| in the local market.
Must Be Careful.
Local bankers are warned Of fire.
ouent forgeries Of Army and Navy
| pay checks. and also Of being too gen
| erous in all cases with the boys in
uniform.
| week through cashing draft for .
captain, another paid forged check
that blew out Of q window from one
Of the bureaus of the shipping board,
while several cases have been re-
ported of stolen pay checks with
forged signatures.
While every courtesy should be
shown to boys in uniform, self-protec-
ton suggests reasonable identifca-
tion as an incident of cashing docu-
ments. Safety suggests this.
stabilizing italian Exchange.
Recent governmental action, placing
operations under close restrictions, has
thus far proved effective in stabilizing
Italian exchange. following the 'a.e raeord ae-
With q mint value of 1913 cents, the Ira
had fallen to a discount of about "A per
cent in this market, being worth less
than IL cents here at last months bot
tom level, and even now is some 42 per
cent under parity, measured by the pre-
vailing quotation OF s.92 lira to the dol
lar for checks on Rome. For this alb
normal condition, the explanation rests
mainly in the heavy trade balance
against Italy. and regulation Of the for
eign commerce Of that country has been
adopted as one Of the means Of correct
ing the exchange situation. The whole
structure Of international exchange has
been disorganised through the suspen-
sion Of free movements Of specie. and
whether Italian rates may be perma-
nently controlled without recourse to
additional large American credits is an
interesting question.
Buys d 900 in Stamps.
A meeting Of the directors Of the
Turkey Gap Coal and Coke Company
Of West Virginia was held at the
board room Of the Commercial Ma
tional Bank yesterday with the fol-
Swins prsssnt Msons Tasnk x,ea nqs.
dent. Of Bluefeld. W. Va; H. NJ.
sackett Of Lynchburs, Va; Frank G.
Clemens Of Philadelphia, Pa; James
d. Tate Of Chilhowie, Va. and J.
Booker Clark Of Ellicott City. Nd.
before the board. The company sub
scribed for. $1,000 OF war savings
stamps. to be paid through the club
OF Mercer county, West Virginia.
Pushing the Acceptances.
The drive to convert the mercantile
world into creating live. instantly
available assets out Of dead credit IL
being carried on with energy and per-
sistence BY the organization, which
adoption Of trade acceptance methods.
It 10 30 evidently the thing to do
that is, to substitute for the inert
open account an animated instrument
like an accepted time draft or note.
practically any bank in the country
that 1t would seem unnecessary to
more than suggest the reform to gain
for 1t instant adoption.
But 1t takes time to waken the busi-
ness nation out Of a custom which
s.
A friend suggests that the mercan-
tile community in every part Of the
country could be automatically edu-
Gated to the Gas far as the United
States Is concsrned) newer and much
better practice by means Of that
tax.
Impose, he suggests, a tax on all
business accounts over thirty days old
that have not been closed by the siv-
1 ing Of a note Of aoceptances This Win
up sharply to realization Of what
trade acceptance is IL they don't
know. and to the mutual all-round
| benefit of ii. Unlike most taxes, IL
| will prove a real blessing and win
set great torrential stream Of as
sets flowing through the country, fer
tilizing the money situation and slim
ulating the crop Of prosperity-J. S.
Eache & Co.