Evening star., 1922-08-29
CAPITAL TRACTION
EARNINGS DECLINE
BY. 1. A. FLEMING.

The Capital Traction Company re
ports net income for July of ST.
sS5.26 in its usual monthly statement
to the Public Utilities Commission.
In June the company reported net
income of s11S,69S.99. so that the ap-
parent loss of net for. July was s40,-
SI3.
Until the figures and items of ex-
penditure are available it is impossi-
Bile TO aCcredit this large loss TO any
tnlng but--to a Consjderapi. extent, AT
ledst-maintenancea and upkeep, for In
these lines and in new equipment the
company is spending much money.
Gross earnings for July, Sl04,1lS.5U.
Those who are in a position to know
assert that the annual report will
disclose the heaviest expenditures in
years in upkeep.
For this reason holders of the stock
are not expected to show any uneasi-
ness. Moreover July is one of the
lightest months of travel, SO many
people being out of the city, although
busses and automobiles continue to
take their share OF the traffic.
Branch Bank Propaganda.
Branch banking has come TO the
front in the west as one of the most
important issues of the day. The Min
neSota state bankers have revived their
association. Influenced n doing so by
The action Of a Minneapolis national
bank in opening a branch office
Down IN Chicago the community
bankers are up in arms protesting and
urging that the fight against this ''in
vasion of rights" be kept It white heat.
and that state bankers everywhere shall
attend the New York city convention of
the American Bankers Association and
make every effort to have the assoCia-
lion take firm stand against this meth
nH nj nj hI1
The First National of ST. Louis, one
of the institutions that started the rue
ton, established its Olive street branch
and selected the location of Its second
general of Missouri obtained an injunc-
ton, as the laws of that state positively
prohibit branch banking.
Opponents of branch banking are
largely interested in state institu-
tions. There would be a better argu-
ment from their viewpoint but for
the fact that many state banks are
operating branches.
Fear is expressed that branch bank
ing may lead to disaster, a predc-
tion that is more or less founded on
the past.
Chicago and the west recall Zimri
Dwiggens and his chain of banks and
there have been numerous cases
where branches have been forced to
close as a result of disaster to one
link in the chain.
Opponents of branch banking point
to the Chatham Phoenix of New York
city and the Bank of Italy of CAL
ifornia as the greatest examples of
branch banking in the United States,
and suggest that these institutions
may go after business in other states.
Propaganda is being freely circulat-
ed against this method of banking.
The chances that any attempt to place
the A. B. A. on record in the matter
will lead to a red-hot fight for the
proponents Of the system, for national
banks are by no means devoid of
arguments.
Local Securities Slow.
There wasn't much real action in
today's session Of the local stock ex-
change Indeed. but for the sale of 100
shares of Columbia -Graphophone
common in twenty five share lots at
|3%. the aggregate business would
have been very small.
All transactions other than in the
stock named were of small lots. with
prices if anything a shade easier.