New-York tribune., 1922-02-09
Chinese Railway Bonds

Question: would grcat.y app-cciata
so",e informal ION IN rcsard 70 tho Chinese
iNAh~s5 o. due 1851. Are these bonds vol
sr"o'co Nrr they issued in dollars or
English pounds. and il tho latter a. what
rate Of exchange are they convertible ,r,o
dollars Would you class then, as =, r,,ro
"po'"ia'ioo. or do you tli,lk thcy could be
callec a business mans irvc.,trauIr r
'm'nk ! recall that some tiruc ago YOU m
SNHred IN Nour column an inquiry In rc
gard TO III csc. bat at the time u,y 49,.
Interested IN then, and did no. say" In.
papcr As recall your advice In regard
'rrVSht that they would come through ali
r'SHi but thai there might possibly b. a
co"sa'lon o' Inferest Payments. DOES M
memory servo Trc CORRECTLY in tLj,? II INA,
Is IN" c2se could stand the cessation OF
interest payments. ss ! an, not dependent
Upon the interest on my bonds 7 had IN
IND n selling $500 American Smelling
'onlpany per ccut bond. iss7. whtc6
would S!vc me approximately $40 and
'uyins a 81 400 bond OF The Chinese Gov
crnIrent hallway fov about $3.50. kindly
700 speculative Ny other bonds ara d.
versihed and hav~ 8 $1,000 Aner,car
Smelling bcuidcs the $500 onc-W K. G.
Answcr-Thc Chinese government s
Per cent railway loan Of 1911, which
was known as the -Four Nations Loan
OF. tho Buhuang Railways, was total
O. $4,000, 600, payable in sterling in
London and in Germany, France and
New York in marks, francs and dollars
respectively at the exchange of the
day on London. The bonds therefore
constitute speculation both as to tn G
political situation in China and also as
TO the course of sterling exchange. We
10 not know what particular comment
you have reference TO, but what We
have said several times in regard to
these bonds is that we have faith in the
Chinese Integrity OF character and re-
spect for their obligations. At present
1t is impossible to tell which is the
Chinese government. and the situation
is one about which you would have 70
form your oVn opinion
"A Rnn for Their Mcncy"
sum Of money N wha: was called th1
Lamb McGraw ON Company 'rhc board
of d.rsctors II this scheme ~rre John :.
Charles Stoneban,. OF the salrc club ana
Jndge McQundc believe Like many s.
scheme this. II seerns to be the uoor
public was fooled. even though the ven ven
were ~ the public eye at the head. What
would like to know. IS there ouch con
to set the public's money. I heard or
whe,he, tNc o-ran.zattou was writing 70
l'cope Win q change OF names thci =
stationary Is il 1'ossih.l to find out from
your sources Of information anything con
corning their activities and you nor
warn others through your column OF them
t. they rcaIl.' have fallen down with other
peoples crcy?-J. l. B
Ans wer-I hc Lamb McGraw Oil Com
pany is not offering any more stock to
the public, according to Ralph Hiikir,
secretary of the company. What you
possibly had reference 10 was 80 ;ssue
of notes unocrwriiter b. some cf the
large holders This issue was
offered IN December IN part to stock
holders together with bonus ci stock
The new financing was designed to pay
for drilling operations IN the recently
prominent Meh;a field. 4 we'll IS being
drilled there now, Mr.. Hcik;n says
This plan was adopted, Mr.. hilkin adds,
ITO 2icc the stockholders another -un
for their money" The company does
not contemplate offering additional
stock, and Mr.. Hilk;ns says be person
ally would oppose such an undertaking
as economically unwisc. we wopld not
recommend placing Of funds in any
securities Of the company, whether
notes or stock