Evening star., 1937-07-03

seems to be general situation and
is partly due to the increase in Fed
eral Reserve requirements that went
into effect on March l and May l..
good many banks which have
money on deposit with other banks
had to call in some of their funds
to meet the increased requirements,
either to be forwarded to the Federal
Reserve bank in their district or for
use in their regular bank operations
1t is quite possible that out-of-town
banks having money on deposit with
some Of the larger institutions here
have Withdrawn part Of their funds.
In Washington the personal tax
is always the cause of deposit with
drawals around juno 80. 1t is said
that this year has been no excep-
ton to the rule. For these and
other reasons bankers believe that
total deposits in the Capital will be
lower on the coming call than they
were on the March 81, 1887, call,
when they aggregated s34l 1855
in the % banks.
Lands Again S. E. c. Chairman.
James M. Lands has been re-
elected chairman Of the Securities and
Exchange Commission to serve for
an indefinite period He is slated,
however, to take over the post as
dean of the Harvard Law School
around September L. His retention
as chairman of the commission was
expected in financial circles.
Should he leave the Government
service September l. there will be a
great deal of interest in the selec-
ton Of the new chairman and also
in the naming Of new commissioner
to fill the board vacancy. Many
names have been mentioned, but at
this time such speculation is largely
guessWork. Furthermore, the COM
mission is against speculation.
Initial Dividends Declared.
Directors Of the Washington Gas
Light Co. recently declared an initial
quarterly dividend of 80 cents per
share on the new common stock, pay
able August 2 to stockholders of rec
ord July is, and quarterly dividend
Of sl.l2l2 share on the new $3.50
cumulative convertible preferred stock,
payable August 10 to shareholders of
record July 81. The new preferred
stock was placed on the market last
week. when 10000 shares were quickly
sold by Washington investment houses.
Directors of the Washington Rail-
way & Electric Co. have declared the
regular quarterly dividend of SO a
share, payable August 81 to stock
holders Of record August Is, and the
quarterly dividend Of s125 per share
on the preferred, payable on the same
date
The quarterly dividend of $3.50 on
the Potomac Electric Power Co.'S s
per cent preferred will be paid Sep
tember ! TO stockholders Of record Au-
gust l6, and the usual quarterly divi-
dend OF sl.37l2 per share on the 51a
per cent preferred will also be paid
on the same date to stock OF record on
August Is.
Retail Store Costs Analysed.
Census Of business figures show that
salaries and wages account for more
than half of the operating expense
Of modern retail store, the American
Retail Federation pointed out today
in discussing a report just released
by the Bureau of the Census.
OF the consumer dollar, census fig
ures show that 256 cents goes for
operating expenses, OF which about IA
cents is spent in the payment of SAL
aries and wages, including compensa-
tion for active proprietors at the av-
erage rate received by clerks.
High total operating ratios are
found in all kinds of retail business
requiring high degree and quality
OF selling service. such as in jewelry
and shoe stores or expert installing
and servicing, as in the selling of
heating and plumbing equipment and
household appliances
The federation said that the cost
OF the goods to the retailer accounted
for about 72 cents of the consumer
dollar.
Business recovery has reached a
point where it is time Ito drive with