Evening star., 1925-10-11
BY l. A. FLEMING.

Prior to that time Washington in
vestors knew enough about stock and
bond trading to go to their bankers
or brokers and place their orders. in
dicating security and price, and re-
pedtfnS the operation when they
wished to add to their holdings, shift
investments or take profits.
| They were sufficiently educated not
to require the advice OF those in the
business. Some of the less informed
investors did the same thing until
! their losses through unwise buying
and the establishment of the slogan
ASK Your Banker" brought them
to their senses.
There are educated buyers of Sc
curities today. lots OF them in this
city, traders who know when to take
a profit. The term buyer" is used
advisedly because the great rank and
| f1ie of the laymen who operate in
stocks and bonds always favor the
buying side. and this is true of
woman operators as well as of men.
Liberty Bonds Educational.
The first, second and third Liberty
loan bond campaigns and the sue
ceeding issue of Victory notes were
the first intimation to millions of
people OF small means that there was
| such a thing as a bond: that there
was a way through the partial pay
| ment plan that they might become
| real investors, not only save and aC-
cumulate. but receive interest in ex-
cess of that paid by the banks on
savings. and take advantage of ad.
stocks AS we'll
They were also taught TO go to
their banker. usually an official Of the
oank that financed their purchases
OF Liberty bonds. and to discus with
| MN the value of this or that security
its prospects and chances for advanc-
ing and then take the advice given.
Through the Federal Reserve Sys-
tenn the bank found il easy to
finance the Liberty bond issues
Now, however. the banks have large
enough resources OF their own, with
the slackened commercial demand
which has frequently been explained
in this column, so that they welcome
an opportunity to accept a modest
| partial payment on a small lot of
stock or bonds and carry the balance
! for the customer at current interest
/ rates.
Five Traders to One
As the buyers become more and
more used to the method of trading
and grow in knowledge of securities
! they usually so in a little deeper
and begin 10 study the New York
market. where ii is also possible to
acquire holdings by partial payments.
There are five traders in Washing
ton today where there was one a
lew years ago.
1t seems TO be true on the local
stock exchange no less than on the
larger Wall Street mart
In the Years preceding the great war
large number. comparatively, of
New York houses closed their branch
offices in this city and some of our
own brokers and firms followed suit.
, Miller Brothers. Chapman & Co,
Hutton II Co, and later Carpenter
Il Co, all prominent New York con-
Germs. quit Washington because of
! light trading and expenses of opera-
ton.
On the local exchange Lewis John
son & Co one of the oldest institrl-
tionS. was forced to close: \. @.
Plant Il Co, quit; Henry Hurt. one
of the most valued brokers on the
local mare. died: Thomas L. Hume
dropped out of the exchange and a
number of others hitherto active sur
rendered their memberships
Growing in Importance.
The growing investment interest in
bank stocks and the increased busi-
ness placed through banks has been
responsible fH the advent of a num-
Der of bankers on the local exchange.
The American Security and Trust Co..
the Commercial National. District Ma.
tional, Riggs National and the Liberty
National Banks are represented at the
daily sessions.
Nearly score of New York stock
houses and investment bankers have
opened branches here in the last few
years. and the number is increa sing
from week to week
That this is true is but another evi-
dence of the increa sing volume of
| trade in securities in this CITY
This has caused some surprise as
Washington is not a great industrial
center, but it still has many men of
large means and others who. though
not especially Well-to-do. know the in
vestment market and recognize a bull
market in the making as an oppor-
| tunity for turning an honest penny or
two.
Congress Not as Speculative.
Time was when the members of
Congress were more interested in Wall
street and in the fluctuations of the
stock market than in debates anent
constitutional amendments or other
matters of national import Today
Congress as body has few traders
within its membership. nor are they
as bold as they were in the olden
days
1t is also a fact that there are not
as many wealthy retired men resd-
ing in the city, but the plentitude of
money and the fact that employment
is generally good and wages high
make for favorable conditions in the
investment and speculative markets.
The latter seems too broad to be
smashed or boosted as readily as in
| the former days, presents more sta
hility and is so much broad
er that it offers greater oppor-
tunities for selections.
Washington Gas Co.'S Plan.
Something more than year go
the Washington Gas Co. put out an
offering of per cent bonds. matur-
ing in 1888, and decided to make an
effort to place the issue with it's Gus
toners. consumers of its product gas
The bonds were underwritten and
then employees of the company offered
a good commission to sell bonds to
customers through house-to-house
canvass. The plan worked admirably
and was such a success that the
Potomac Electric Light and Power
Co. on the eve of marketing an
issue of preferred stock. has decided
to follow the same plan.
Helped Create Investors.