Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-07
GOSSIP OF
THE STREET


| While no definite announcement has
been made, 1t is understood future dis
turbance from such cancellations will
DC overcome by an entirely new form
OF contract, which, while binding, will
nevertheless be equally equitable to both
the contracting parties. 1t is said t.
be great Improvement over the pres
ent cancellation clause used by many
manufacturers and jobbprs.
The glaring and almost criminal lack
OF business morality which has at
tended many Of the transactions within
the last six months made it imperative
to adopt some sort Of measure which
would protect the manufacturer and
Jobbers from these dishonest breach
Of contracts,
Many who have been guilty Of the
ruthless cancellations, said n promi-
nent banker today. look upon these
| contracts as mere scraps of paper. IL
is not fair to the fair minded business
man who honestly desires to live up
to his contracts. that others with no
sense of honor arc able to get away
without some sort of punishment"
The Message Nuisance
Complaints are made almost daily by
clients of the leading banking houses
of the annoyance which they ndu sur.
fered from telephone calls by alleged
brokerage houses. 1t has been some
what of a mystery where the names Of
these people are obtained. No one Is
spared and the calling up process has
included the officers Of some of the lead
ing institutions.
The efforts of these alleged brokers
who are not members of any Of the
exchanges. for some time was centered
in questionable oil and mining stocks.
Oftentimcs their conduct was little short
OF insulting. not to speak of the an
noyance of the victim being called from
his bed at wee sma hours Of the night.
AS the telephone game was over
| played. some of these alleged brokers
have adopted a new plan of reaching
their prospective victims by the use Of
the night telegram. Thus far they
have kept within the pale of the United
States postal laws by confining their
efforts to interesting the selected victim
exchanges. They invariably intimate
the possession of some very important
confidential news. which they claim is
certain to influence a considerable en- :
hancement in the market value Of the
stock in question. The selected victim
Is requested to wire his or her order
at the expense Of the alleged brokers and
mail checks later. Marginal require
ments $40 per share.
Investors will undoubtedly find it
profitable to ignore these messages and
cOnfine their investment business to
recognized competent bankers and
brokers who are members of the leading
stock exchanges. One of these mes :
sages was received late Sunday night
! by a lady. who has n sister seriously
| III out of town. She was awakened
after midnight by the messenger boy
and naturally presumed the message
brought some tidings concerning the in :
valid.
Italian Street Railways Deficit
According to an analysis recently pre-
sented by Senator Bianchi to the uppc
house of the Italian Parliament, IT,
operating expenses OF the govcrnmcn
railways for the fiscal year ended Jun,
30, 1920, exceeded the income by $50
600 900 lire (lira equals S0.103 at nor
nal rate of cXchangc). The division
under very general main heads Of inCom'
and expenses was given as follows:
Earnings from operation. n.......1 SIG OCO OO'
Miscellaneous earrings ...'.... $3.50 oo
Total receIpts ..............2.ls9 oo0, oO'
Salaries and wages to employees l. .l7G 600. 90
Other operating expenses. ....., OGG 900, OOr
Total operating expenses. . $40 OOO. OOC
Additional expenses .',....,,,. 220 600 OOl
Total expenditures .......,.,3 3 O40. 900. OOC
Moreover, according to Senator Rian
chi, the given total outgo, 3,049 ,000, ,0O(
lire, is an undorStatempnt-it should
really be taken as 3,G2J 600, 900 lire
making the actual deficit still larger
somewhere between / 900 900 900 anC
! 900 900. 900 lire.
Salaries and wages paid to the oper
ating personnel have increased cnor
mously since the pre- war period.
The total declared value of the ex
ports from Amsterdam to the UniteC
States during the quarter ended Sep
tember 30, 1920. was $22 .21G.T76. Th,
principal items were tobacco. 81 tO6.
06l: diamonds, 1903. .521: rags
SG31 ,407; sugar, $420. 1GS: hides ali,
skins, S246. .046. and bulbs. S266,32
For the first time in any quarter tn,
value of tobacco exceeded that of dia
monds. This value of tobacco was u
per cent more than the total value o
tobacco exported to the United State
in any entire year preceding 1920. Tn,
reason was chiefly the very high price o
tobacco. though the shipments to Amer
lean buyers were large during th
quarter.
The declared value of diamonds wa,