The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-10
LISTED SECURITIES REPRESENT A FIFTH
 OF NATIONS WEALTH
Money Is Now Flowing to New York From Interior Points and Will Continue to
 Flow
By HOLLAND.

commercial life. Therefore if our na- tional wealth be about $500, 1000, 000, 900, then approximately one-fifth of this wealth is to be found in the negotia- ble securities which are listed upon the New York Stock exchange,
 About 20 years ago almost all of the dealings in this stock market came from orders placed by those who live in New York city, or who do business here From other parts of the country not more than 40 per cent of these orders came. Today, according to the. estimate made by J. Edward Meeker, who is the economist to the commit tee on library of the New York Stock exchange, 80 per cent of the business carried on the exchange is due to or ders received from other parts of the country and only 20 per cent from or ders which come from New York.
 In view of these authoritative fig ures it would appear that almost all of the transactions now carried on in the stock exchange reflect a not very encouraging opinion as to the value of securities which is held in other parts of the country. This, however would be a superficial judgment The trans actions in the stock exchange are not to be taken as a good indication of business prosperity. They do represent some of the endorsements that now prevail particularly the railway situa- tion and the falling off in our foreign trade. But the best opinion is that these are of almost momentary impor- tance. The railroad situation is cer- tainly to be satisfactorily handled and there is no doubt that after Europe is in position to buy American commodi- ties our exports of these commodities will gain and in some instances heavily.
 Some encouraging symptoms of the feeling of confidence which unques- tionably prevails is discovered in re- cent incidents. For instance when the American Telephone and Telegraph company raised a few days ago it's dividend rate from s per cent to per cent. Its action was sometimes spoken Of as very daring, certainly courage ous. Of course 1t was assumed that this dividend increase was voted sole- ly for the purpose of making the cor porate stock and bonds attractive as an investment. But if there were con- dftions that were regarded as perma- nently depressing, this corporation would not have ventured to increase It's dividend.
 MONEY FLOWING THIS WAY
 Then again change has taken place in the money currents. For months tne outgo of funds from New York to ehC iHtSlloF ndS been SIeaQy. NOW change has been reported The currenr has shifted Funds are flowing from the interior to New York and the in- dications are that they will continue thus to flow. It is fair to infer that the current would not haves been re- Versed in this way were not conditions Improving in the interior.
 Late in the autumn and again in the l. winter so confident were those who were in position to offer reliable judg- ment that an improvement would be observed early in the spring and that the peak of depression would be visi- ply passed by that time, that it was deemed worthwhile to report these views in this column. That opinion is now Justified, for while the improve ment IS still slight yet. it is improve ment, Some of the authorities now say that this business improvement. Will so continue that it will be much bet ' ter In the second quarter of this year than It was in the first and that the im- provement will continue throughout the year. Some differences of opinion It is true exist as to the time when the certainty of return of normal con uiuons can be acknowledged Some put the date early in the summer or at the peglnning of the autumn while other fix New Year Day of 1922 as a time when there can be celebr; ton of the restoration of prosperity.
 HE CONFOUNED HIS CRITICS
 some who have had excellent op- portunity for making an estimate of the amount of wealth which was ac cumulated by E. c. Converse who died suddenly at Pasadina, Calif.. on Mon day of this week believe that he ac- cumulated s50000, 900. Whatever the inventory of his. estate may reveal, there can be no doubt that it will show that Mr. Converse was to be numbered among the richest of Americans.
 The beginnings of his fortune were made through his association with and oevelopment of the tube manufactur- ing industry, He was not favored by family fortune when he began. The fortune was increased greatly when the tube company was taken over by the united States Steel Corporation as an essential part of that organization,
 MT. converse came to New York aft CT retiring from industrial activity and he astonished some of the veteran bankers here by venturing into the banking field. One of these bankers said that Converse could put on the 4 overalls of a workman and begin the manufacture of tube from the raw material up to the finished product and could do it more cheaply and with greater skill than any other tube manufacture. But that was a very diff rerent thing from banking and es- pecially banking in New York city Some of our bankers looked at Mr Converse askance predicting that he was on the way to grievous fall in that way repeating the experience which some others had met with who when past middle life and after con- spicuous success in industry under took to become New York bankers. MT. Converse. however was not dismayed by criticism. He originated the Lib- erty bank, whose early liquidation was X predicted but to the confusion of those who made the prediction. He was the originator of the Astor Trust and late. of the Bankers Trust. and his organ izations became in time among the leading banking influences of New York. MT. Converse had keen eve for ability, even finding it in unaccustomed places. Thus it was that he measured the latent ability of Henry P Davison when Davison was a teller in A little bank. He placed Davison in post of great responsibility and that judgmen. was vindicated So also he discovered the unsurpassed. talent which Thomas w. Lamont pos-sseed and gave Lamont opportunity which, having been &C., cepted. has made him conspicuous among American and International ' asffnanciers. The early criticism and im- piled censure that this industrial lead Ter should undertake to become a bank CT in New York was ended within a few years so that it was afterwards &ofd that fir CanvarSa vuac