Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-30
GOSSIP OF
THE STREET

| <h~A4 Nh |
THE STREET
>, The compromise suit in the New
havcn restitution case was openly con-
demncd by several prominent local in
terests yesterday who are directors OF
number of large corporations. One Ot
them In speaking of the incident stated
mat If the attempt made by the New
Haven directors in adjusting the New
Eng land transportation situation had
worked out successfully no criticism
would have been heard. but, on the
contrary, the board would have been
patted on the back for their wise fore
thought. Neither would the effort of
Capitalization Of the transportation in
dustry be called n monopoly as it Is
now.
at seems like the irony Of fate"
he stated, that was regarded mon
opoIy which was declared illegal If not
unconstitutional. is practically sug-
gestcd by the Interstate Commerce Com
mission to clear up the muddled New
England railroad situation"
One of the large corporations OF
which | have the privilege of being one
of the directors some years ago COM
pleted a deal which not only saved tho
corporation from being at the mercy
of another large concern. but which
later on ncttcd the corporation n clean
profit of S15,O00 900. No one even
took the trouble to commend the board
for its forethOught in this case. In fact,
the only commCndatOn was letter
written by the pre- dent Of the company
in which he stated before we had dis
posed of the properties that the share
holders would some day give us IA vote
of thanks. They never did.
1T is mighty certain, however" he
continued, "if our Judgment had proven
incorrect, and the venture had failed.
and instead of profit Of 1000 900
there should have been u loss to mark
off, all of US would have been severely
cehSurcd and probably made subject
of suit. rs in the New Haven case. in
which It was clearly demonstrated no
bad faith was shown"
Outlook Not So Gloomy
If the current gossip to be- heard in
bank parlorS and in the financial COM
munity in general can be accepted as
criterion. the outlook for the general
business world as regards its heavy ma e
turtles of the first of the year is very
much improved. 1t is the consensus Of
opinion of the leading banking interests
that a the more important commercial
maturitles had been arranged. The
problems lately presented which have
been solved have included some difficult
ones. There is, therefore, hope that
after the commodity markets reach Il
settled basis. which is believed to be
close at hand, and retail prices have
been reduced commensurate with whole
sale prices, revival of confidence may
be looked for.
AS matter of fact. there are quite a
few in the financial world who believe
that the adverse side of the situation
will be found not as bad as it has been
pictured In other words. they assert
everybody has been fully prepared and
educated to expert the worst. Expert
cncc has shown when the majority get
to one way of thinking the expected
never happens. 1t is already evident, it
Is pointed out, that the tremendous
ycar-end settlements and disbursements
are not going to create the rumpus
many expected.
Otherwise, symptoms of the nm
'rohr,h'ng squalls would already be dis
ccrniblc in the money market. The
ample time and the conditions existing
apparently have afforded the banking
interests ample opportunity to make
Ih"ir preparations. and which have not
o"rn delayed to the eleventh hour ~
experienced in former years.
Might Develop Into Il Melon
Oil potrntialitics evidently have not
lost their imaginative Influence nc n
market factor rs was suggested YES
t"rday in the sharp rise In Northern
Pacific on tn" reports concerning the
plans OF that company for the develop-
mcnt of oil possibilities in the com
pany'S properties in Montana. II is
understood that the plans will receive
cos" attention from the officials during
the next few weeks.
It will be recalled that the president
of the company announced RECENTLY thnt
n development Of thc oil lands will be
under way on large scale this sprinr
either through the organization Of an oil
company. similar to that of Southern
facltc : arrangement, or through leases
to one or more of the large producing
companies on royalty basis.
As none of the Northern Pacific
officials is an oil man. it is felt thnt
the company should confinc its activities
to th" railroad business and leave the
oil venture to experienced hands.
Flooding the Consumer
4 review of the stecl industry in the
last week failed to disclose any inn
mediate prospect Of new buying. Re
lease of cars hitherto restricted 10
coal carrying, according to the Iron
Age, has resulted in flood Of shin
mcnts from the mills of accumulated
and current output" and has placed
in consumers yards somewhat more
material than they were able to DISPOSE
Of especially what curtailmrnt in gen
cral demands" Want of confidence in
the fairness and stability of present
prices seems to preclude an early return
to activity. There is a feeling among
indcpendrnts that they did their part
by diScounting reduced manufacturing
costs when they dropped to schedule
of the United States Steel CORPORATION.
rh" close Of 'hr year marks the steel
corporation Mt full blast operations, but
there is total idlcncsS reported Mt some
independent mills and varying percent
ages for others. The first week of
1921 is expected to be better because
accumulated orders will bring some
mills into operation. Revision Of steel /
contracts to the March. 1919. basis /,
has not prevented suspensions.
TIE TRADER.