Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-10-11
MEN AND MONEY
By W. S. Rukeyser
tCODyright. 1929

/ BY W. S. Rukeyser
/ tCopyright. 1929
| The New York money market Is not
a local institution. The ebb and flow
of funds depends on national. some
! times international. factors.
Before the war only provincial
| financial capital. New York has he
| come the golu center OF the whole
| world. For the first time in their mis-
| tory, the members Of the Investment
| Bankers Association of America, to
| which the chief faShionerS and
vendors of bonds belong, VIII recognize
! the international significance of their
| work by meeting outside the geo
| graphical limits of the United States.
| The convention opens today at Quebec
| Before the war Canada did virtually
all of its international financing
! through London. Now it leans heavily
| on New York and Canadian issues en-
| JOY Il high degree of popularity IN The
| United States.
The chief value of u trade conven-
ton is the widening OF human con
facts. After discussing technical in
EeStment problems for four DAYS, the
makers Of bonds will select d new
| leader for the association. A Boston
! banker, Pliny Jewell. is slated for the
presidency OF the association. Under
Nh. Jewels administration the assO-
citation viii probably heighten its inn
pulse to crusade against various forms
OF public exploitation in the realm Of
finance. Mr.. Jewell who is graduate
ui Harvard CEilse's isy, has already
idle nj ifia1 I.it }. FrQtl1 flo, inS
GFltieS as a director of the Boston
Deter business bureau. Before en-
lerlng banking Mr.. Jewell was q news
paper man. If he still remembers the
smell of printers ink he may be able
TO lnStill better conception among
investment bankers of the psychology
OF advertising. Although bankers
copy has shown Improvement in re-
cent gears, much of it is still of the
TOMBSTONE variety.
Active Oh Conduct Committee.
Mr.. Jewell has been d banker III
Boston for 30 years, and in recent
years has been active in Investment
Brnker%' Association Wofi as chair
man of the business conduct COM
n,ittee and chairman of the New
England group.
hN ki'oSE Va Viz IN ~
INT business prosperity is the wide
spread recognition that real profits
at the end of the year depend more
Oh large volume than high prices.
At present. we are experiencing good
times, though commodity prices have
been sagging.
High prices, as matter of fact,
dam up the streams of commerce
and limit the purchasing power of
consumers. Prosperity comes when
the channels of trade are open, and
goods flow freely from makers to
users.
In spite of the current highly COM
petitive situation in which profit
margins on individual transactions
are, generally speaking, smaller than
in the past, aggregate corporate
profits in 1926 are likely to prove
larger than in any previous year in
the annals of American barter.
My recent conversations with presi
dents of key companies in leading
Industries indicate then profits in
the third quarter compared favOrably
with the corresponding three pros
porous months of 1928.
Earnings to Set Record.
NV OWN impressions are 1lil ltlSl
subStantiated by survey made by
the American Bankers Association
Journal. which, in publishing the re-
suits today. says: With reports of
profits from some 25O leading cor
porations available showing their
earnings for the first half of 1926, it
is clearly indicated that the business
profits Of the present year will set
a new high record. The aggregate
earnings of this large group are
$56S, 100000, compared with $470,OOO,-
600 for 1925-a gain of Il per cent.
OF industrial corporations reports
published, IS per cent run ahead of
last year and only 80 per cent fall
behind
Stock market speculation is prima-
rily concerned with business profits.
but the present favorable results
have to a large extent been antiCi-
pated by the long upward surges of
speculative security prices.
The spirit of Fascism was revealed
In Detroit when American Fedora
ton of Labor leaders were denied
the hospitality of certain churches
and the Y. NJ. &. A. in Americas
fourth city Mussolni in his zeal as
an efficient administrators does not
hesitate to intrude on the personal
liberty of the Italians. The tradi-
tional American idea, however. favorS
free speech and the liberty of self
governing people to choose between
truth and error. Detroit is great
city and the automobile executives
are among our most able leaders, but
they need sharply to be reminded that
there are more valuable and treasured
concepts than even mass production;
and among these are freedom Of
speech and fairness. AS a matter of
fact, American Federation of Labor
leaders. as judged by the world labor
movement, are conservative. The
Aot,.nit iInnidnlt Is tho most diCer1.a nn