Evening star., 1931-03-14
OIL TRADE OUTLOOK
/ DECLARED BETTER
Stoppage of Drilling and Cur
taiIment of Imports
Aid Industry.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, March 14.-The out
look for the oil business is much better.
There are two reasons why it is look
ing up: First, practically all new drill
ing is stopped, for the present price of
crude oil does not warrant any further
production. Second, the announcement
by Secretary Wilbur, chairman Of the
Federal Oil Conservation Board, that
all the major oil importing companies,
with the exception of the Standard Oil
of Indiana, had agreed to reduce oil
imports by several million barrels a
year. Just how much, has not been
announced. But the agreement has been
signed by the Gulf Oil Co. and the
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. The
Royal Dutch Shell and the Pan Amer
lean Petroleum Corporation are under
stood to have agreed also to cooperate.
There are about $4,000 producing oil
wells in the United States. OF these,
probably 345, 900 are small ones, aver
aging but barrels a day. It's the
other 5000 wells that bring in the
big production, and cause the trouble.
But with practically all drilling stop
ped and with a definite movement
crystallizing toward curtailing imports,
the oil industry should be about ready
" tUIh IIlC 1O1 L1lC UCIlCl.
Past history has shown that the oil
industry changes quickly, and while we
do not look for this to happen within
the next few weeks, although no one
can tell exactly, yet when it does come
it will come suddenly" says w. j. Woll-
man, New York banker.
See End Of Depression.
David F. Houston, president of the
T ~ 1f
former college president and later Sec
retary of Agriculture and Secretary of
the Treasury in the Wilson adninistra
tions, is firmly convinced that the busi-
ness depression has ended.
He thinks that inventories on hand
throughout the country are at a low
ebb, and that the demand for new
goods to start the wheels going should
show up any time now.
with this advent" said the former
secretary, trade and industry will re-
ceive new life and a general Nation
wide improvement will be noted"
Secretary Doak of the United States
Department of Labor has the same feel
ing about it. He has announced that
the most encouraging sign in months
has been the increase in the employ
ment in February of IA per cent over
January in the number of persons at
work, and rs per cent in wages.
"It looks like the first sign of a
general pickup in industry" said this
former railroad brotherhood labor lead
er, who succeeded Secretary Davis as
President Hoovers' Secretay of Labor.
1.-The present increase February over
january compares favorably with
those in years prior to 1880, and is the
first satisfactory indication of a gen.
eral upward trend since the stock mar
ket collapse in october, 1929, concludes
Secretary Doak.
New Insurance Plan.
Insurance men are disturbed over the
announcement that, Sears. Roebuck &
Co. is preparing to sell insurance by
mail.
Articles of incorporation have been
fled in Illinois for the All-State Insur-
ance Co.. organized by Is of the of1-
GERS Of this mail-order house ms in
corporatorS
Particularly interested are agency
managers, who see in this new mall
order development an adverse situation,
so far as the present agency system is
concerned. Still there are plenty OF
them who believe that the insurance
business is TOO complicated to sell the
service by mail-that insurance is pri-
marily an individual solicitation matter.
How the mail-order rates will COM
pare with the regular insurance rates
has not been set forth as yet. But this
new insurance company's charter au-
thorizes it 70 write policies covering ac-
cidents, health, burglaries and theft.
y The growth of all kinds of insurance
has been so rapid that it has not had
the opportunity to develop scientific
premium basis in many lines. such as
has been worked out in the life insur-
ance field.
(CopS right, 1881. by North American News
paper Allianceb