The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-10-08
MANY PROPOSITIONS
 TO INVEST MONEY
By HOLLAND

ny
 New York. October 7.-(Special Whoever has money to invest will find mple opportunity for doing that because appeals daily for, subscriptions to the capital stock of various corpor- ations and this. too, outside of the unparalleled purchase which the pub lie is now making of the stocks of various oil companies Apparently firms, corporations and even individ- vals believe this is an opportune mo- ment for capital!zing upon a corsd~ erablc scale their properties and mak- ing appeals to the public to buy the stock thus offered.
 Almost every imaginable manufac- turing, commercial, partnership or in- dividual concern is seeking to take ad- vantage of the conditions as they are today and of the prosperity which was their happy fortune while the war war in progress. They are trying to promote the sale of stock and are bas- ing the capitalization upon the phe- nomenal earnings which were ga,ned between 1915 and the time of signing of the armistice.
 Almost all of these propositions are made in good faith. one suspicion Is showing. however. that some of the attempts to float oil stocks are not worthy of consideration and may be even fraudulent. There is. however, some apprehension that investment in these various capital stock propositions may cause a diversion or money from other fields where It could be placed advantageously to the investor and to the public. In addition it is feared in some cases at least a mistake may L l. ( talize upon q large scale based upon the excessive profits of the last thre or four years For no one can with certainty forecast the continuation of | these profits. They may be reduced to a normal level. when normal con- ditions are restored. For that reason good judges feel that the publicc should be cautioned before investing in any of these capital stock promotions and should take heed of the possibility that | hereafter earnings may not be so great | as to justify capitalization upon large scale It Is a feature which is one 1 of the many peculiar phenomenon of present day conditions. Never before 1 have there been so many attempts 10 l capitalize upon q large scale, compara-
 lively small corporations or business concerns.
 A FIFTEEN BILLION OFFER |
 the public which have been made with 1 in the past few days is one based | upon a communication by Theodore N. I Vail, who is chairman of the Ameri-
 can Telephone and Telegraph com | pany. It reminded those who are fa-
 muiar with the conditions which pre- l vailed 10 or 12 years ago of the pu-- 1 pose of this corporation so greatly to extend its telephone plants, both long distance and local. as to make it pos 1 Sible to secure telepnonic communica- tions over the entire United States | The estimate at that time was that | as much as a hundrd and twenty five
 million dollars would be needed and | this estimate was not based upon a 1 guess but instead upon careful investi- 1 gation. From many parts of the west and especially from the far west, ap- 1 peals were made by farmers and by l those who lived in small villages ask . 1 ing for telephonic communications to 1 be established so that it would be | possible to be placed in what our one l point of view. was actual conact or l touch with the nearest large city. l But there came a panic. Capita withdrew to it's hiding places and il | was necessary to abandon the plan Now MT Vail, speaking for his com. pany, asks for $50. .000 900. the indebt- edness to be represented by three-yea, per cent notes. IneSe 1unuS, Whlcf undoubtedly will be speedily secured for one of the strongest banking syn
 dicates apparently has underwritte. them The funds thus obtained are tt be used for refunding purposes in. stead so far as the public is concernet the purpose is one which is of no lit. tie importance.
 EXTENDING THE TELEPHONE All of the indications point to .
 renewed and almost imperative de manc from many parts of the country for telephone service. The farmers have discovered that py means of the I telephone they can learn every morn in~ what the market quotations fol thei. products are. Sometimes this in formation has been of very great value to them Besides. the telephone
 brings into neighborly relations rura districts which are remote from tho = \ N