Evening star., 1933-11-17
Administration Keeps Rate
for Metal at 1886 for
Fourth Consecutive Day.
ACTION SEEN AS EFFORT
TO STOP FLUCTUATIONS
Reports of Embargo Plan Denied
Sprague Silent on Rumored
Offer to Resign.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
For the fourth successive day, the
administration held the price of do
mestic newly mined gold at an un-
changed level today, an action which
many interpreted as increasing evidence
of an effort to steady the wildly fiuc-
tuating dollar.
The quotation announced, 1886 an
ounce, was well below the world price
Of the precious metal, which ranged
upward from s33.84 at the opening
exchange rate of s5.28 to the pound at
London.
The dollar at this figure was 90 cents
stronger than at yesterdays London
close. but it quickly weakened and ran
down to s5.40, only to recover to s5.34.
Embargo Rumor Denied.
Rumors few thick and fast, prom
inent among them q report. later de-
MED in Government quarters here, that
the administration was preparing to
clap an embargo on export OF capital
and the offering of dollars on foreign
exchange, on the strength of which the
dollar underwent a spectacular re-
Whether the Government is buying
or not buying gold abroad at present,
officials as usual would not say. They
are guarding this delicate phase of the
gold operations against leaks which
would supply spectators and others
with information on the Governments
plans.
The purpose behind the domestic and
foreign purchases is to increase the
nrice of gold In the expectation Of
influencing commodity prices upward.
The latter have shown a definite trend
toward higher levels, which has been
extremely gratifying to the administra-
ticn,
Dollar and Bonds Down.
However. a coincident result has been
to unsettle the dollar and set 1t to
f1uctuattng over wide range, with q
tendency to drop precipitately. Govern
ment bond prices have tended down.
ward.
O. M w. sprague, special financial
adviser to the Treasury, declined to
comment today on reports that when
he called on President Roosevelt yester-
day he carried his resignation with him.
but was persuaded by the Chief Ex-
ecutive to withhold 1t.
Sprague, former Harvard economics
professor and a conservative on money
matters, came to the Government from
an important post with the Bank OF
England
The dollar had been skidding-obv
ously faster than the administration de-
sired. But late yesterday it rebounded
vigorously In New York, In terms OF
other currencies, closing at S5.26 to the
pound sterling as against peak OF
S5.52&.
Commodities Stronger.
At the same time, Wall Street took
cognizance of reports that there would
be Federal action of some sort to stem
the export Of capital through foreign
exchange control, although Washington
officials denied knowledge of such steps
Commodities strengthened, cotton and
wheat went up, Government bonds after
early heavy lales and declines stifened
little in later tradings.
One bond influence, 1t was agreed,
was disclosure In the weekly Federal
Reserve statement that Reserve banks
last week bought only $4,000, 900 of the
Federal securities. This contrasted with
an average of $10,000,000 for the last
several weeks
There had been reports that the Fed
eral Reserve was buying bonds heavily
to keep them up but Wall Street was
impressed to find that the recent sales
had been absorbed mostly by investment
purchases.