Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-23
Pennsylvania Railroad Stockho,ders

Pennsylvanians and the ladies still
maintain kindly feeling for the Penn
syivnnia Railroad as an Investment.
This. at least. was indicated in the
statement issued Yesterday covering the
number of stockholders of that com
pany. On November l the shar, holders
totaled l30,31J, Il decrease Of -iiO from
the preceding month. and making the
Fourth consecutive month in which n
decrease in number Of stockholders was
reported. Compared with year ago,
howev"r. there was an increase { 02SG
indicating thor" has not been amy great
amount Of rebuyIng by the former larger
holders.
To get back 10 the ladies', tho state
ment showed the women stockholders
Numbered 5,6}9. an increase Of 3342
and representing 3O.65 per cent of the
outstanding stock The average hold
ings of the gcntler sex was forty seven
shares. Pcnnsylvamians hold 4J O6 per
cent of the outstanding stock an in
crease during the month Of October Of
2.ol per cent. The foreign holdings,
once an important clement, have shrunk
to A. per cent, n decrease for The
month Of Ol2 per cent, and represents
1904 stoc khoIders. In the cd days.
when the late William Lockwood hplucd
TO make the annual meetings interest
ing. the foreign holdings represented au
important faction.
According 10 Oscar II. FOgg, secre-
fary manager OF American Gas AssoCia-
ton, the gas industry needs about
S20o, OOo.OOO to meet its financial re-
quiremcnts. Public utilities. as a group.
he says. need nearly 5000, 900, 900 to
supply service to the 1,2JO 900 homes
that must bp built tO provide adequate
InIqinp IN I mi
There are only two ways, he main
tains, 10 obtain this money. The first
is that the courts must allow returns
sufficient to enable these securities to
compete with other issues and the second
is that these issues must either be made
tax exempt or the aX-cXCmpt issues
made taxable. On October |, he says,
1000 rate increases had been granted TO
$40 gas companies since the middle Of
1917. OF these, Al had received two
rate increases, l0G three increases,
fifty-two had received four increases ana
sixteen companies five rate increases.
This goes to show, Mr.. Fogg points out,
that despite the delays in the matter Of
increases, State Commissions a. well az
the thinking public are coming more and
more 10 realize that gas companies must
be maintained in n prosperous financial
condition II they are to render good and
economical service.
He maintains that while thc situation
is encouraging, n decided lag occurred
between the time when aIl rommoditie,
went sharply upward and the time when
gas rates were permitted to respond to
this tendency. The average gas rates,
he says, continued 20 decline until the
middle of 1917, although the five major
items entering into the cost of living bad
increased nearly 10 per cent over the
middle Of 1911. by 1919, he points out,
the average Of these five itcms had in
creased 73 per cent over 1914, while the
average gas rates had increased only
or per cent over i9l4. This, he say.
left the gas companies poor at time Of
unpreccdrntpd commercial prosperity
and these companies, if they are to- pro-
vide adequate service, must not only re-
ceivp n fair return on the money in
vested, bat must also be allowed TO at
tain their former sound financial rondt'
ton.