Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-21
WHEAT POOL FACES
MARKET PROBLEM
Canadian Agency Hopes to
Sell Grain Before U. S.
Crop Natures.
g BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.


Canadian wheat pool is praying that
the 1929 crop of the Southern Hemis-
phere, already moving into the Euro
pean market. will be long exhausted
before the 1929 Winter crop of the
United States comes into sight AL
though the pool has the backing of the
three Canadian governments of Mani
toba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, it has
. hard battle ahead.
The pool, which handles approx
mately half of the Canadian wheat
when the grain is delivered at the POOLS
own country elevators. The pool bor-
rows the money from the Canadian
banks giving grain receipts as collateral.
Then in the Autumn and early Winter,
as the wheat is sold abroad, the pool
cuts down its bank loans.
But Canadian bank credit has been
limited to IS per cent of the value Of
the grain. So when May wheat moved
down to 81 30 a bushel at Winnipeg. or
SIS cents below the wheat price last Fall,
something had to be done.
The announced failure this week Of
the Electric Elevator Co. of Winnipeg
was due to this company being unable
to meet the demand of the Bank Of
Montreal for additional security on a
loan of about 81 ,0Oo 900.
Wheat prices today are about so cents
below those prevailing last August, while
carrying charges for interest, storage
and insurance amount 70 ABOUT Ito
cents a bushel month. So the carry
ing cost up to May will be about IA
cents more.
Altogether. between 5000 900 900 and
1900 900 900 are tied up in the financing
OF the wheat pool and the independent
groups.
And wheat prices continue to sag.
Couzens' Bill.
Senator Couzens' bill, proposing a
full-time Federal Power Commission to
relieve the Secretaries of War, Interior
and Agriculture from serving as power
commissioners, and providing for the
appointment of three commissioners at
salaries of $4,000 instead, is gaining
support.
Charles A. Russell, the Federal
Power Commission solicitor, who
charged certain utilities with adding
lobby fees to their investment accounts,
showed anew the need for a uniform
system of public utility audits.
Mr.. Russell told a Senate committee
this week the Niagara Falls Power Co.
added an item of $50, 900 to its in
vestment account, which represented
merely a NTONEInU6ub WdOcT AO4
which the company paid nothing. How
should such an item be handled?
If railroads, involved as they are in
thousands of different types of sched-
ules have been able to work out a uni
form bookkeeping and audit system for
the Interstate Commerce Commission,
public utility companies should have no
difhculty in doing the same.
From the standpoint of the public
utilities themselves, such a move would
add greatly to their own prestige.
Insurance Trusts.
Life insurance trusts increased II per
cent during 1929.
c. A. Scully, New York banker, told
the trust conference of the American
Bankers Association meeting in New
York this week that life insurance pol
icies deposited with trustees under trust
agreements in 1929, aggregated ST.
200, 00O, 900.
This form of trust is growing with
amazing rapidity. The first annual
survey, made by the trust company di-
vision, showed that S541 600, 900 in life
insurance policies were deposited with
trust companies and banks under trust
agreements during the five-year period
from 1928 to 1927, inclusive.
But the big move has really taken
place since 1927.
The year 1928 saw $500 900 900
added So with the great increase Of
last year the total amount Of life
insurance so tied up in these trust
arrangements probably exceeds $780,
o0o. 900.
The work of education and devel-
opment done by the trust companies
in the field of insurance trusts has
indeed borne fruit" says this banker.
These figures look large, but they
VIII appear very modest 10 years from
now. The trust features Of the mod
ern bank will expand and develop to
point where they will be more profit
able to the banks Of the future than
the deposits themselves" thinks one
financial student Of American banking.
New Crash AbsOrber.
Capt. Schleiff, former ace of the
German air forces, is in America to
demonstrate a new carsh absorber for
automobiles, which, he declares, will
eliminate most of the accidents that
occur by collision.
The abSorber consists of a three-inch
bar OF solid rubber attached to the
chassis by steel claws. When meeting
nat obstruction the elastic is stretch
ed by the opening of the scissors, its
lateral extension and recoil spending
the impact to the right and left before
II reaches the chassis
The idea is revolutionary one. The
one-armed ace demonstrated this week
In New York, driving an American
mace automoblle at a 30-mile-an-hour
CLIP, head-on to another car standing
across the road. 1t was eminently sue
cessful, although the impact did throw
the captain from the car.
1t Is said that German companies al
low premium discounts from 10 to &c
per cent to motorists whose cars are
equipped with the absorbers
Capt. Schleih was one of the youne
squadron commanders in the German
air forces during the war, and lost hi.
LETT hand when he was shot down or
the Somme in March, 1918
The captain says that his abSorbeI
has been tried out more than $50 time,
against dead weights with the automo.
bile head-on at speeds exceeding *
miles an hour.
Steel Industry.
With the steel industry now produc.
ing ingots at 81 per cent capacity, II
comparison to about 70 to 80 per cent
week ago and about 1872 per cent tive
weeks ago, business is encouraged.
The United States Steel Corporation
Of its theoretical capacity in comparison
to 80 per cent week ago and 80 pc
cent two weeks ago-climbing up.
The independent steel groups, no
quite so well organized, stand at abou
n per cent now, as against rs per cen
in the preceding week and 70 per cen
two weeks ago..
Steel orders from the AUTOMOBILE
companies are increasing
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