Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-26
GOSSIP OF
THE STREET
LOAN BIG TOPIC
AMONG BROKERS
Little Attention Paid Market
With Steel OF and
Marine Up

street the only topics for discussion yes
terday were the arrangements being
made for the fourth Liberty Loan and
the address OF Secretary McAdou in New
York Tuesday night. Stock market quo
tations did not seem to interest very
many. with the exception OF Steel. which
was OFF during the greater part of
the day. and international Mercantile
I Marine, which showed considerable gain
owing to the usual crop of reports about
the long-heralded deal, the latest news
being that a special meeting of the d.
rectors. will be held on Thursday. The
sOftness In steel was attributed TO
the announcement of the granting of an
eight-hour day to the workers. which
amounts to a 30 per cent increase in
wages, as nearly all the men now worN
ten hours. This. of course. would cut
materially into profits.
AS to Marine. It is now said that a
plan for the sale of the companys Eng
nsh tonnage. which will not involve n
: cash payment at this time. has been
virtually concluded. but certain details
have to be agreed upon before the Of
fcial announcement can be given out.
II Is significant that no announcement
Of this plan is expected as the outcome
OF the special meeting called for today.
- II any phe III NV liih ~
district who believes that Philadelphia
will take many days to All its quota OF
the fourth Liberty Loan. he was not In
evidence today. The unanimous opinion
seems to be that the amount will be
fully subscribed in the early days OF
the campaign.
McAdoo on Bond s,ackcrs
The part of Secretary McAdoo's speech
IN Carnegie Hall, which was most dis
cussed In the financial district yester-
day was that in which he said that
only 22,5O0 persons and corporations
among Americas wealthiest classes
bought bonds above the 10000 mark
The statement was a surprise and a
revelation to every one. and the general
impression prevailed that drastic means
are likely to be adopted to reach these
wealthy slackers. It was no less n
gratifying surprise to find the part which
American labor had taken in the ahsorp-
ton OF the various Liberty Loans. A
banker called attention to the report
published in the papers yesterday morn
ing that the workers of the Homestead
(~Pitssburgh) plant Of the United States
Steel Company had already subscribed
for more than 1000, 900 Of the fourth
Liberty Loan as an index to what labor
will probably do during the coming
campaign.
- poIu ehptIt III oHV u Nv " sc ~
vestment houses called attention to an
other point in Mr.. McAdoo's speech,
which while not news. is likely to escape
the attention of many investors in con-
nectfon with the tax exemption feature
of the fourth Liberty issue. 1t Is as
follows:
THE taxpayer who subscribcs for s3o.-
900 Of these bonds and still holds them
at the time of making his tax return.
will also receive an exemption from such
taxes for a like period as to interest on
an aggregate amount OF $45. 900 Of bonds
Of previous Liberty Leans. and sub
scribers in less amounts will receive a
pfoportionate similar exemption
Some people. said this expert. are
under the impression that the $4,000
exemption OF former issues is not con-
tingent on the amount of the fourth
Liberty Bonds which a person may buy.
but is a separate and independent pro-
vision. They will find that bonds of
previous loans Except the Biz tax ex-I
empts) are only exempt in proportion TO
the amount of the fourth Liberty Bonds
owned by the holder.
There is n strong impression in the
Street that Mr.. McAdoo is incorrect in
his statement about the number of per-
sons and corporations who have sub
scribed 10000 or over OF the third
Liberty. Loan. 1t is generally assumed
that there Is M way of knowing. The
manager. of a large investment house in
support OF this argument said ycster-
day: Take for Instance our own case.
7 will assume certain figures to illus
.trate my point, We purchased from the
banks $500, 900 Liberty Bonds of the
third issue. From one bank we bought
, 100000, and the same from another,
and from two other banks we purchased
$4,000 each. These represented the
subscriptions of more than 200 people.
and some of those people turned in three
or four subscription cards. some through
personal friends or through one or other
of the many organizations at work to
secure subscriptions. Our original pur-
chases which I have mentioned would
appear as -four separate subscriptions
and there were many other houses that
had similar experiences on n larger or
smaller scale. but which show the i'm
possibility Of n one knowing how
many actually subscribed for more than
$1,000"
OF quite another complexion was the
view taken of Mr.. McAdoo's speech by
a well-known downtown banker. who
said he considered 1t very p~sssimistic
as regards the labor situation. where
Mr.. McAdoo referred to the wisdom Of
" y OIL posSi'if so NiilNS INV !
bonds against a time In the reconstruc-
tion period when labor will not be as
well of as 1t Is today.
Referring to the $50, 600 exemption
from taxation of the fourth Liberty is
sue, as compared with a $45. 900 exemp-
ton on the second and third issues. the
principal of a large investment house
remarked yesterday that he thought ii
,vo,,Id hoya haan hotfar nnIi,,, 20 ha,o
reversed the figures and would have
been a greater incentive to the purchase
of the fourth Loan 10 $4b, 900 instead of
$4,000 had been exempted with $50, 900
OF the second and third loans. In sup
port of his argument he pointed out tina
the second and third loans are already
sold. but his attention was called to
the double purpose behind the tax ex-
emption, namely. the stabilizing of the
second and third issues which in a way
is as important as the sale OF the fourth
issue.