Evening star., 1933-10-17
D. c. BANKERS HOLD.
AUTUMN MEETING
Association Members Hear
Committee Reports on
Various Subjects.
BY EDWARD c. STONE.

bia Bankers Association held their reg
ular Fall meeting late yesterday in the
board room of the American Security
& Trust Co. Reports were presented
by chairmen of the associations Varl-
Gus standing committees regarding
progress made so far this year. There
was some brief informal discussion OF
various banking problems, but the
meeting was lacking in any ofhclal ac-
ton of Importance. Yesterday was a
very important day in the banking
world, as the new code governing 1alr
competition among the banks under
the N. r. A. program went into effect
here and elsewhere all over the cCun-
try. George o. Vass, president Of the
association and one of the vice presl-
dents of the Riggs National Bank, was
in the chair.
MARYLAND Banks Being Opened.
A new bank at Hagerstown Md, to
be known as the HagerStown Trust Co..
succeeding the former Hagerstown Bank
G. Trust Co. under the latter'S reorgan-
ization plan. has been authorized by
John j Ghinger. State bank commits
siouer. The pan provides for the is
suanca OF certificates of Indebtedness 10
ell depositCrs and other unsecured
creditors b. the old trus. company. The
new company will have capital OF Sl50,-
900 and surplus OF 100000. The lnstl-
tuition plans to make immediate appn,
cation for membership IN the fedeTal
Reserve System.
The Third National Bank. at Chester
town, Md, which has been in the hands
of a conservator since the banking hoh-
day, has reopened on an unrestricted
basis under the name of the First Ma
tional Bank of Chestertown with the
permission of the Treasury Department
A plan for reorganization OF Baltimore
County Bank. at Towson, Md, has been
approved by the State bank commits
Sloner.
AS December 81 marks period Of
extreme Importance in American busi-
ness and investment affairs. unusual
interest is developing in the Bsbsor
business conference to be held In
Washington on Monday october %.
This annual conference will be held
In the Willard room of the Willard
Hotel at 2:30 pm. and Is open to the
clients and friends of BabSon'S Reports
Ralph B. Wilson. vice president:
Lewis G. Gates, financial expert. and
Henry H Stafford, commodity expert
will discuss urgent business and finan-
cial problems
An open question period will be held
following the brief discussions.
Industrial Show Growing.
Plans now under way for the ninth
annual industrial exposition of the
Washington Chamber of Commerce
were outlined last night by Alfred L.
Stern, managing director of the show,
In radio talk broadcast.
Distribution began yesterday. Stern
said, of half a million free tickets to the
exposition. which opens next Monday.
The tickets will be made available
through women's clubs, citizens asso-
ciaticns. Federal departments and trade
and civic organizations all over the city.
They also will be available at Chamber
of Commerce headquarters in the Homer
Building
The latest additions to the group of
exhibitors are the Department of Ag-
riculture, which is sponsoring an un-
usual display arranged by its food and
drug division: District National Guard,
Citizens Joint Committee on National
Representation, Boys Club of Wash
ington tuberculosis Association, Master
Photo Finishers' Association and Co.
lumbia Polytechnic Institute for the
Blind.
Prices VS.. World Depression.
One of the most interesting of this
is entitled Prices" written by George
F. Warren and Frank A. Pearson and
published by John Wiley & Sons. To
the authors of this book now in its
third printing, sweeping price changes
rather than overspeculatlon or any
other factors. appear to be the chief
causes OF all depressions. Prices change
from hour to hour, day to day, season
to season and year to year, and in these
changes force all manner Of readjust-
ments.
When prices are rising industry is
stimulated. Those who borrow prosper,
debt payments and taxes are compar-
atively easy. But when prices fall the
whole situation is reversed. Buying is
checked, unemployment occurs. borrow
ers suffer, creditors lose and farmers
have hard times. The difference be-
tween a panic and a mild recession de-
pends on how sudden are the price
changes.
There are four variables in price, not
two, the authors say. A high price may
be due to a short supply of commod-
ity or a high demand for it, or be due
to a large supply of the commodity
used as money or to a low supply of it,
or it may be due to some combination
of these variables. 1t is an error to
suppose that supply and demand only
decide prices, the writers assert.
They make no attempt to say how
long the present slump will last. The
price outlook depends on four unknowns,
they say-supply of commodities. de-
mand tor commodities. supply of gold
and demand for gold. The possibility
of monetary changes also makes fore
casting too difficult to attempt.
Today's Trading on Exchange.
Anacostia & Potomac Railroad SIS
stood out in the trading today on the
Washington Stock Exchange. Six con-
secutive 81 goo sales took place, all made
at 40.
Washington Gas 6s. series B, opened
with $500 sale at 1884 and closed
with $1,000. changing hands at 103 u.
These transactions completed the days
bond business.
In the stock division business was
limited to six small lots sales in Wash
ington Railway g. Electric preferred.
Fifty shares in 10-share lots came out
at $685. and five more moved at 81.
Retail trade has continued to make
favorable progres, partly because of
general realization by distributors that
prices to consumers could not be
marked up fully in line with present
costs without creating buyer resistance.
Acceptance of smaller profit margins,
therefore, has helped maintain sales
volume says Standard Statistics.
The Association of National Adver-
tisers will hold its twenty-fourth an
nual meeting at the Wardman Park
Hotel on November 13, IA and Is.
Bankers from nearby Maryland are
attending the annual meeting OF the
Maryland Bankers Association in Bal
timore today. Maryland bankers fol-
lowed the example of Washington
financiers and held their annual ses-