The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-19
Men And Markets
By P. F. B.
Germany is organizing trusts. Accord

Germany is organizing trusts. Accoru-
 ing to the latest reports the German government is encouraging the organl-
 zation of both vertical and horizontal tursts. Even the labor unions have
 been driven by desperation to indorse
 the plan for combines. All firms in
 a given line of business are to pc con solidated under one management ana all related industries, such as mines,
 smelters, and steel mills are to be grouped under a single controi. By
 this move Germany hopes to gain the economic advantages of mass produc- tion and be better situated to fight TOT world trade. Prices will also be sta bilized. It is probable that some i'm
 mediate advantage may be gained py such unification of control ana enHina- tion of competition providing the man agement Is competent. In the iohs ruh' however, there is some doubt as to the advantages of monopoly. when com petition is eliminated the urge to inn prove processes is greatly diminished.
 Progress slows up. Consultations may
 help Germany for the present but over
 a period of 25 years the removal or competition will lleave Germany far behind the rest of the world indus- | trially. The struggle is not always
 pleasant but it is the struggle that
 strengthens.
 Herbert Hoover has declared himself
 for the strictest motor regulation. Ills HIS
 report placing the loss Of lire at AN,ooo A year with serious injuries mounting
 to 5000 and showing accidents per
 thousand increasing at the rate or i4
 per cent a year, certainly Justffies ms demand for adequate regulation. lie
 suggests uniform traffic laws the coun- try over, much stricter punishment or the reckless and negligent, and even changes in town planning to eliminate danger of possible accidents. lie also insists that the motortst must orlVe
 as though every pedestrian on the roao
 were "born foolish" AS usual, we are
 solidly behind the secretary Of com
 merce, It Is high time some people realized that an insurance policy against
 personal liability is not license to en- danger the life of everyone on the road. Helium holds out new hope. The he Hum gas used by the navy to ln1late and float it's great dirigible perrormeo it's first great public service -oy ei,lii-
 hating the possibility of the great ships taking fire. And now this newly dis covered element holds out hope to the business and commercial worlds. Latest reports place the costs or max ing helium at IF cents per cuDlc ioot
 whereas the last figures set its cost
 at 6h cents per foot. These are rather startling figures when you recall that the cost of heliurp but few years ago was S1,5OO per cubic foot. How many o+her suhstances. now considered as too expensiye for broad commercial use. will vet be brought within the reach of all of us by science ana the manufacturing genius Of the englneer A billion dollars in new financing IS tI.o 1c n Many roads, among the Baltimore eS Ohio. New York, New Haven x Hart 1 ford. and Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul. have bonds maturing this year and will be required to issue new se- | curities in order to pay off their ma turing issues. Other roads with strong credit standing will be able 10 borrow on better terms this coming year than | hereto ofore and they may pc eXpecteo to retire old issues wherever possible and to float new bonds in their place. The railroads are again in their olo nosition as leaders in our investment
 market.
 | subsidy for doctors is being pro. posed. The board of health In one o. the New England states mas asheo so
 permission to subsidize aoclols , bie
 small towns now without an availaple doctor. One cannot blame the doctor
 who, after a long and expensive traln- ling, does not select small rural coih-
 munity for his field of practice.
 One hundred and fifty thousand dol-
 lars a year has been offered to Mat
 thew c. Brush, president of the Ameri-
 can International corporation, to De-
 come the head of the American sugar
 Refining company. The proposal Will
 be of immediate interest to those nolo-
 ing securities in either of the two cor.
 porations ,as MT. Brush is man , or ] exceptional ability and profits VII
 doubtless be affected. So far as the
 ma jority of the public is conceTneu .ne
 offer will serve to revive the old ques-
 tion of how much a man can ieeti,
 mately earn in salary. Many will con. tend that $15o,O0O is too much salary
 for any man, while others will call at tention to the fact that one man may 1 be of greater service to the pubnc than
 A thousand of his fellows, and that ne therefore is entitled to $15O,o0o year
 if they are entitled to $15o. we are inclined to agree with the latter view