Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-05

stock, which pledged as security Tor
these bonds, and dividing the proceeds
between the Great Northern and North
ern Pacific roads. Estimates have been
made as to the value Of Burlington as
sets but these estimates have come
from sources that did not have a clear
idea of the various items which shoulo
be included in the list Of assets OF the
company.
II is possible that the return to Great
Northern and Northern Pacific may
be far larger than has been stated In
any Of the figures mentioned in the
various estimates. The action OF these
.wo stocks on Saturday, when North.
ern Pacific advanced over 8 points and
Great Northern preferred over points,
had an important influence in deter
mining market opinion as 1t created
good deal of surmise about the dispo-
sition which will be made Of other rail-
way systems when the plans OF the
Interstate Commerce Commission are
published. Many Of the low priced
shares are favored In expressions ol
market opinion, but there are 80 many
Of these that are regarded az inviting
purchases Il would be impossible TO re-
fer to them in detail. Erie is, especially
mentioned as being In position to
make the most valuable connections OF
any Of the companies whose stocks are
selling at low figures as that road has
long been desired by most OF the I'm
portant systems Of the West Tor an
eastern connection.
War Bills Must Be Paid
While the world debt. following the
waste and destruction consequent upon
the war, has reached staggering ca,n,
the Corn Exchange, published by the
Corn Exchange National Bank, sees
no other way than to buckle down and
meet the obligation, declaring the world
has got to pay its debts, the same as
the individual. We quote:
"The war bills have to be paid. The
world is staggering under a debt OF
S265 900 900 900. That is the central
fact around which must revolve all
world has got to pay it's debt the same
as any individual. 1t will either de-
fault and go into bankruptcy, or it
will economize more and work harder
than it ever did before--work and save.
''If there Is any other way OF paying
a debt. we don't know II, and 1t has
got to sell the fruits of its labor--and
to sell 1t must have buyers. First,
capital or credit; second. production !;
third, buyers. There Is no other way
out but bankruptcy--nnd this country
is going to supply the credit in some
form or another, because we will have
plenty of excess credit when we shall
have reached anywhere near normal
basis of domestic values. As our pro-
duction increases, prices will recede. As
prices recede, funds will become more
plentiful.
Indeed. IL we are to do our part in
world rehabilitation, we've simply got
to have lower range of values in
order to release the necessary credit
and allow us to overcome the handicap
of the low foreign exchange-a handicap
equally severe to the concern abroad
who must have our raw material.
Nothing Discouraging In Steel
John A. Topping, chairman of the
Republican Iron & Steel Co., who has
just returned from months vacation
in Canada, when asked his opinion re-
garding conditions in the iron and steel
industry and the outlook for the trade,
said: =
I'm my opinion, the process Of de
f1ating iron and steel prices will be
necessarily slow, regardless of the
movement downward in other lines, be
cause production Of iron and steel
abroad is restricted by scarcity and
high prices Of fuel and other influences
tending to increased cost and restricted
output.
"Then again. stocks of iron and
steel products throughout the world are
light. therefore liquidation is absent
both at home and abroad. In this
country, fuel scarcity and high prices
for coal and coke promise to continue
for some time, and there is no present
prospect of cost reductions in any di-
rection in fact, recent Freight advances
caused material cost increases, not only
in assembling raw materials for manu- .
facture, but to the cost of transporta
tion in distributing finished products.
IAN encouraging feature Of tn,
situation is found in the absence Of
cancellations and the continued urgency
for shipments; contracting for futrr,
wants il admittedly lght. There are