Federal Reserve Bulletin May 1923

FEDERAL RESERVEBULLETIN

(FINAL EDITION)

ISSUED BY THE

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARDAT WASHINGTON

MAY, 1923

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTmG OFFICE

1923

Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.

Ex officio members:A. W. MELLON,

Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman.HENRY M. DAWES,

Comptroller of the Currency.

D. R. CRIBBINGER, GovernorEDMUND PLATT, Vice Governor.ADOLPH C. MILLER.CHARLES S. HAMLIN.JOHN R. MITCHELL.

W. W. HOXTON, Secretary.

W. L. EDDY, Assistant Secretary.W. M. IMLAY, Fiscal Agent.J. F. HERSON,

Chief, Division of Examination and Chief FederalReserve Examiner.

WALTER WYATT, General Counsel.

WALTER W. STEWART,

Director, Division of Analysis and Research.M. JACOBSON, Statistician.

E. A. GOLDENWEISER, Associate Statistician.E. L. SMEAP, Chief, Division of Bank Operations.

FEDERAL ADVISORY COUNCIL.

(For the year 1923.)

District No. 1 (BOSTON) ALFRED L. AIKEN.

District No. 2 (NEW YORK) PAUL M. WARBURG, Vice President.

District No. 3 (PHILADELPHIA) L. L. RUE, President.District No. 4 (CLEVELAND) C. E. SULLIVAN.

District No. 5 (RICHMOND) JOHN M. MILLER, Jr.

District No. 6 (ATLANTA) EDWARD W. LANE.

District No. 7 (CHICAGO). JOHN J. MITCHELL.

District No. 8 (ST. LOUIS) FESTUS J. WADE.

District No. 9 (MINNEAPOLIS) G. H. PRINCE.

District No. 10 (KANSAS CITY) E. F. SWINNBY.

District No. 11 (DALLAS) R. L. BALL.

District No. 12 (SAN FRANCISCO) D. W. TWOHY.

n


OFFICERS OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS.

Federal Reserve Bank of—

Boston

New York

PhiladelphiaCleveland

Richmond

Atlanta

Chicago

St. LouisMinneapolis

Kansas CityDallasSan Francisco

Chairman.

Frederic H.Curtiss

Pierre Jay

R. L.AustinD.C.Wills

Caldwell Hardy

Joseph A. McCord

Wm.A. Heath

Wm. McC. MartinJohn H. Rich

M. L. McClure,Lynn P. TalleyJohnPerrln

Governor.

W. P . O . Harding

BenJ. Strong

George W. NorrisE. R. Fancher

George J. Seay

M. B. Wellborn

J.B.McDougal

D.C. BiggsR. A. Young

W.J.BaUeyB. A. McKlnneyJ. U. Calkins

Deputy governor.

C.C. BuUenW. W. PaddockJ. H. Case.L. F. SailerG. L. HarrisonE,R. Kernel

Wm.H. Hutt.jrM. J. Fleming.Frank J. ZurflndenC. A. PepleR. H. BroaddusA. S. Johnstone*John S. Walden»L. C. AdelsonJ.L.CampbellC. R. McKayJohn H.Blair

0 . M. AtteberyW. B. GeeryS.S.CookFrank C. Dunlop»C. A. WorthingtonR.G.EmersonWm.A. DayIra Clerk.'.L. C. Pontlous'

Cashier.

W. WUlett.

L. E . Hendricks.'J .D. Higgins."A. W. GUbarMLeslie R. Rounds. >J.W.Jones.'G. E.Chapin.»W. A. Dyer.

Geo. H. Keesee.

M. W. Bell.

W.C. Bachman.iK.C.Childs.»J. H. Dillard.1D.A.Jones.1

0 . J. Netterstrom.1Clark Washburne. >J. W. White.B. V. Moore.

J. W. Helm.R. R. Gilbert.W. N. Ambrose.

' Controller. > Assistant to governor. • Assistant deputy governor.

MANAGERS OF BRANCHES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS.


New York:Buffalo branch

Cleveland:Cincinnati branchPittsburgh branch

Richmond:Baltimore branch

Atlanta:New Orleans branchJacksonville branchBirmingham branchNashville branch

Chicago:Detroit branch

St. Louis:Louisville branchMemphis branchLittle Rock branch

Manager.

W. W. Schneckenburger.

L. W. Manning.Geo. DeCamp.

A. H. Dudley.

Marcus Walker.Geo. R. De Saussure.A. E. Walker.J. B. McNamara.

W. R. Cation, acting.

W. P. Kincheloe.J. J. Heflin.A. F. Bailey.


Minneapolis:Helena branch

Kansas City:Omaha branchDenver branchOklahoma City branch

Dallas:El Paso branchHouston branch

San Francisco:Los Angeles branchPortland branchSalt Lake City branchSeattle branch ,Spokane branch

Manager.

R. E. Towle.:

L. H. Earhart. iC. A. Burkhardt. |C. E. Daniel.

W. C. Weiss.Floyd Ikard.

C. J. Shepherd.Frederick Greenwood.R. B. Motherwell.C. R. Shaw.W. L. Partner.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICE OF BULLETIN.

The FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN is the Board's medium of communication withmember banks of the Federal Reserve System and is the only official organ or periodicalpublication of the Board. It is printed in two editions, of which the first contains theregular official announcements, the national review of business conditions, and othergeneral matter, and is distributed without charge to the member banks of the FederalReserve System. Additional copies may be had at a subscription price of $1.50 perannum.

The second edition contains detailed analyses of business conditions, special articles,review of foreign banking, and complete statistics showing the condition of FederalReserve Banks. For this second edition the Board has fixed a subscription price of$4 per annum to cover the cost of paper and printing. Single copies will be sold at40 cents. Foreign postage should be added when it will be required. Remittancesshould be made to the Federal Reserve Board.

No complete sets of the BULLETIN for 1915,1916,1917, or 1918 are available.

in


TABLE OF CONTENTS.

General summary: Page.Review of the month—Credit and currency requirements and the Federal reserve banks 539Business conditions in the United States 545

Special articles:•i Velocity of bank deposits 562

Cotton financing (IV) 566Condition of State banks and trust companies in Missouri on June 30 and Dec. 29, 1922 576

Official:Rulings of the Federal Reserve Board—

Xonnegotiable paper ineligible for rediscount by Federal reserve banks 559Government deposits in member banks exempt from the reserve requirements of section 19 of the Fed-

eral Reserve Act 559Law department—Exercise of fiduciary powers by national banks located in Pennsylvania 560State banks admitted to system 558Fiduciary powers granted to national banks 561Charters issued to national banks 558

Business and financial conditions abroad 577Trend of business abroad—Statistical summary 578Agricultural credit in Great Britain " 579Prices in Italy 583Mexico—Review of year 1922 587Government control of banking and foreign exchange in Brazil 592

Price movement and volume of trade:International wholesale price index, monthly, 1919-1923 596Comparative wholesale prices in principal countries, monthly, 1919-1923 6<)0Group index numbers, monthly, 1922-23 602Comparative retail prices and cost of living in principal countries, monthly, 1922-23 608Indexes of industrial activity—United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, and Japan 609Foreign trade of principal countries 612Foreign trade index 614Ocean freight rates 615Report of Associated Kni t Underwear Manufacturers of America 615Production and shipments of finished cotton fabrics 616Physical volume of trade 617Building statistics 622Wholesale and retail trade 623Commercial failures 616

Banking and financial statistics:Domestic—

Discount and open-market operations of Federal reserve banks 626Condition of Federal reserve banks 630Federal reserve note account 633Condition of member banks in leading cities 634Savings deposits 614Bank debits 637Operations of the Federal reserve clearing system 641Gold settlement fund '. 642Gold and silver imports and exports 643Money in circulation 642Discount rates approved by the Federal Reserve Board 643Discount and interest rates in various centers 644Foreign exchange rates 645

Foreign—England, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Argentina, and Japan 646Condition of foreign banks of issue 650

Charts:Index of production in basic industries and wholesale prices in the United States 545Bank credit 546Annual rate of turnover of bank deposits 563Wholesale prices and exchange in Italy 583,584,585International wholesale price index—Federal Reserve Board 596Volume of domestic business 617Wholesale trade and department-store sales 623Sales of mail-order houses 623

IV


FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETINVOL. 9 MAY, 1923 No. 5

REVIEW OF THE MONTH.

Credit developments during the past monthhave further emphasized the fact that current

Business ex- business expansion is beingpansion and the financed independently of re-reserve banks. serve bank credit. In thesecircumstances, the weekly statement of thereserve banks is not indicative of changes incredit conditions. Changes in reserves, inearning assets, and in Federal reserve notecirculation have been relatively slight sincelast summer and have not reflected the con-siderable growth in ' bank credit. The re-serve ratio, as was pointed out last month ina discussion of the effect of gold imports onour credit situation, has at present little valueas an indicator of credit movements. It wasthese gold imports that enabled member banksto meet the increased credit and currency de-mands of their customers without obtaining acorresponding amount of accommodation atthe reserve banks. Thus, under immediatelyprevailing conditions, it is the changes inmember bank loans and investments ratherthan any item in the reserve bank statementthat roughly measure the rate of increase inthe use of bank credit. This rate of growthfor bank credit, compared with the rate of ex-pansion for production and trade, affords, inthe absence of such a test as the reserve ratiowhich is dependent upon free gold movement,an important indicator of changes in creditconditions. The fact that the recent growthof credit has been accompanied by a^furtherincrease in the physical volume of productionis favorable evidence of the economic effec-tiveness of the credit in use.

Comparative stability in the volume of re-serve bank credit while member bank creditincreased has characterized credit develop-

ments during the past 15 months. Since themiddle of 1922, wnen renewed demand forcredit was first reflected in larger commercialloans, total loans and investments of memberbanks in leading fcities f have increased by$1,300,000,000, while earning assets of the re-serve banks have increased by less than$100,000,000. At the present time the total ofmember bank credit is nearly as large as in1920 and the volume of goods being producedand marketed exceeds the peak reached in thatyear, yet the volume of reserve bank credit is$2,200,000,000 ess.

During the past two months Federal reservePresent cur- no^e circulation has declined

rency require- slightly and the growing de-ments, j * i. \

mand for currency has beenmet by an increase in other forms of money incirculation. In fact, the total money in cir-culation is now $242,000,000 larger than ayear ago, while Federal reserve notes duringthis period have increased by only $52,000,000and Federal reserve bank notes have declinedby $58,000,000. Gold and gold certificates incirculation have increased by $127,000,000,silver and silver certificates by $100,000,000,national-bank notes by $11,000,000, and UnitedStates notes by $10,000,000. More than three-fifths of the year's increase in circulation oc-curred between February 1 and April 1 of thisyear. A part of this additional currency hasbeen supplied out of the cash reserves of thereserve banks, which declined slightly duringthe past two months. But, like the additionaldemand for credit, the recent demand for addi-tional currency has been met without sub-stantial increase in the use of reserve bankcredit.

While increases in other forms of moneyin circulation have largely supplied the recentdemand for more currency, the fact is that the

539


540 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

present volume of currency is much less thanin 1920, even though production, trade, em-ployment, and member-bank credit are now ator near 1920 levels. On April 1, 1923, thetotal volume of money in circulation wasnearly $1,000,000,000 less than at its peak inNovember, 1920, and over $600,000,000 lessthan on the corresponding date of 1920.Changes in the demand for hand-to-hand cur-rency arise chiefly from the pocket-money andtill-money requirements of retail trade, frompay-roll needs, and from the habit of accumu-lating and holding currency as savings. Thevolume of retail trade, taking the country as awhole, is approximately the same now as atthis season in 1920, though retail prices arelower. In certain agricultural sections, how-ever, where ha^d-to-hand currency is largelyused and where business recovery has been slowand incomplete, the volume of business isstill much below the 1920 level, and it isprobable that in those sections there is asmaller demand for currency. There is also atpresent a much reduced amount of currencyheld as savings. The extent of such holdingsdepends less upon the current volume of em-ployment than upon the duration of the periodof full employment; in 1920 such holdings weredoubtless at a record figure, since full-time em-ployment and high wages had continued forseveral years. During the subsequent periodof slack employment much of the currency heldas savings was spent, and the present period offuller employment has not yet continued longenough to result in similar accumulation.

Of the various fluctuating demands for cur-rency the pay-roll requirement is probably themost important because it includes the sea-sonal demand at harvest time and because itinfluences other currency demands arising fromretail trade and from savings. The accom-panying chart shows for recent years the rela-tion between the total pay roll of reportingindustrial establishments in the State of NewYork, which may be taken as fairly representa-tive of changes in factory pay rolls for theentire country, and the volume of Federalreserve notes in circulation. The range of

fluctuation in pay roll and in currency has beensimilar, though the changes in the volume ofcurrency have lagged behind the changes inpay roll. The chart shows that while thepay roll increased since the beginning of 1922,it is still much lower than at the peak in 1920.This, taken together with the lower level ofretail prices, is probably the most importantsingle fact in accounting for the smaller volumeof currency now in circulation. This lesserdemand for currency, together with the goldimports which have supplied member bankswith a basis for loans without additional bor-rowings from the reserve banks, accounts for

130!

120

V;—•«_./

PA

/ ,IS

YRO

Ifr

> \XX

\

s\

»»»

s

F.R.NOTEL I

rT

i

//

/

i

140

130

120

1919 1920 1921 1922 '23Pay roll of representative factories in New York State. Federal reserve

note circulation of 12 Federal reserve banks combined—daily averagefigures by months. Relatives with 1919 monthly average as 100.

the present reduced volume of reserve bankcredit compared with 1920.

If the relation between pay roll and Federalreserve notes which held during previous years ~continues, the rapid increase in the pay roll sincethe middle of 1922 will soon result in a sub-stantial increase in demand for currency, andin order to secure the additional currencymember banks will seek accommodation at thereserve banks.

The increased use of credit, which is reflectedin the larger loans and investments of member

„ , banks, but not in the earningProduction and . , rn j i , .

credit assets of b ederal reserve banks,has been primarily in response

to the increased volume of production. Thusfar business expansion has been characterizedby a rapid increase in the output of basic com-modities. In fact, the growth in the physicalvolume of production since the middle of 1921indicates a rate of industrial recovery almostwithout parallel in American business. Withina year and a half after recovery began the


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL EESERVE BULLETIN.

monthly output of 21 basic commodities, asmeasured by the Federal Reserve Board's in-dex of production, increased over 67 per cent.The volume of goods produced and consumedduring the first quarter of 1923 probably ex-ceeds that of any similar period in the historyof the country. Fuller employment of equip-ment and of labor has produced the additionalincome from which profits and wages wererealized. In fact, profits in many lines of in-dustry have been dependent upon quantityproduction, the lower production cost per unitmore than offsetting the increased cost ofmaterials. It is partly in consequence oflarger output that the prices of manufacturedgoods have not more fully reflected the in-creases in prices of raw materials. Largerpay rolls also until quite recently have resultedchiefly from increased employment rather thanfrom advances in wage rates. These increasesin production and employment have thus fareconomically justified the increases in the totalvolume of bank credit. For credit extensiondoes not result in overexpansion so long as theadditional credit yields proportionate resultsin the larger production and marketing ofgoods.

The current volume of wholesale and retailtrade indicates that the goods now being pro-

Credit condi- duced are moving satisfactorily

tions, 1923 and into the channels of distribu-1920. tion. About 700 firms en-gaged in various lines of wholesale trade andrepresenting practically all sections of thecountry are now reporting their monthly salesto the Federal reserve banks. Since the openingof the year the total volume of sales by theseconcerns has been about 18 per cent largerthan during the corresponding period a yearago. In retail trade the sales of 306 depart-ment stores located in 1̂00 cities throughoutthe country have also exceeded the sales oflast year by 15 per cent. In March, 1923,sales of these stores were above the level ofMarch, 1920, in spite of the lower retail pricesnow prevailing. Department-store sales areat present relatively higher in the industrialdistricts of the East than in the agricultural

541

sections of the South and West. The volumeof merchandise buying in rural districts is fur-ther indicated by the sales of mail-orderhouses, which during recent months have beenapproximately 37 per cent above the sales of ayear ago, though the present dollar volume oftheir buying is still much below the level of1920.

The extent to which various sections of thecountry have shared in the current growth ofbusiness and credit may be shown in a generalway by the changes in the volume of checkpayments and of member bank credit. Forthis purpose a comparison is made of the totalvolume of bank debits during the first quarterof 1923 with the corresponding period in 1920,and a comparison of the total loans and invest-ments of member banks at the end of theyear 1922 with similar figures for November,1920. This comparison in the form of per-centages, with 1920 figures taken as 100, isshown below, by Federal reserve districts.

Federal reservedistrict.

BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia....ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicago.

Checkpay-

ments.

Percent.105.599.6

100.697.885.680.994.6

Mem-ber

bankcredit.

Petcent.105.099.2

101.4105.496.490.795.9

Federal reservedistrict.

St. LouisMinneapolisKansas CityDallasSan Francisco...

System....

Checkpay-

ments.

Percent.96.988.281.687.8

101.9

97.5

Mem-ber

bankcredit.

Percent.

105.090.587.584.8

104.0

98.6

Both in volume of business and in bankcredit the more recent figures, taking the coun-try as a whole, show but a slight reduction com-pared with 1920. When considered by reservedistricts there is a close correspondence in thechanges since 1920 in credit and in businessvolume. With but few exceptions, businessactivity in the industrial East and on thePacific coast either approximates or exceedsthat of 1920 and has been accompanied bycorresponding increases in credit. In markedcontrast are conditions in the South and MiddleWest, wheFe both business volume and bankcredit are considerably below the 1920 level.

This regional comparison emphasizes thefact that, while the total volume of business



and bank credit is nearly as large as in 1920,there are important differences between thesituation at that time and now. In 19-20credit expansion was more pronounced in agri-cultural than in industrial communities, whileat the present time it is in the large cities thatthe volume of credit is relatively larger.Thus the reserve banks in the South and Westin meeting the demands of their member banksin 1920 were obliged to rediscount largeamounts with the banks in the industrial sec-tions, while at present there are no interbankrediscounts and no Federal reserve bank ap-proaches the limit of its lending capacity.

The lesser dependence of the member banksupon the reserve banks is reflected in the muchsmaller total volume of reserve bank earningassets and in the smaller proportion whichpaper discounted for member banks consti-tutes of that total. On October 15, 1920, ofthe total earning assets held by reserve banks,discounts for member banks constituted 81 percent, while on April 18, 1923, the percentagewas 58, and in the middle of 1922, when dis-counts were at low ebb, the percentage was aslow as 35 per cent.

Total earning assets of the 12 Federal re-serve banks combined measuret h e V 0 l u m e Of r e S e r V e b a n k

credit in actual use and arecontinuously in process of adjustment to thedemand for such credit. It is this total ratherthan any single class of assets which indicatesat a given time the extent to which reservebank credit is being utilized as a basis ofmember bank credit and as a source of cur-rency. The relationship between the open-market operations of the Federal reservebanks and the demand for discount accom-modation on the part of the members hasbeen brought out clearly by the experienceof 1922 and the first quarter of 1923. Thechart shows for each week in 1922 and in1923 to date the volume of discounts, open-market purchases, and total earning assets.

Since the middle of January, 1923, the in-crease in discounts at reserve banks has beenaccompanied by a decline in holdings of open-

market purchases, with a" consequent stabilityin the total volume of earning assets. This isin contrast to the situation in'the early partof 1922, when member banks were rapidly liqui-dating their indebtedness at the reserve banks.At that time, also, the volume of earning assetsremained relatively constant, because the de-cline in discounts was accompanied by a cor-responding increase in the holdings of Govern-ment securities. Thus, for a period of more11,an a year the total of reserve bank credit hasfluctuated around $1,200,000,000 and has re-mained within a range of $1,000,000,000 to$1,350,000,000. During that period discountshave fluctuated between $1,000,000,000 and

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

\S*\A

600

EARNING ASSETS

U S SECURITIES

, * • ' ] DISCOUNTS'

ACCEPTANCES

*>.«•

1922 1923

Weekly figures for 12 Federal reserve banks combined.

less than $400,000,000, and Government securityholdings between $600,000,000 and$225,000,000.Acceptances have shown an upward trend be-ginning with June, 1922, and recently haveexceeded the Government security holdings.Thus, during the period covered by the chart,fluctuations in the volume of discounts and inthe holdings of open-market purchases haveoffset each other and consequently have notresulted in corresponding changes in the totalvolume of reserve bank credit in use.

The relation between open-market purchasesand discounts has not held true for reservebanks considered individually. There havebeen large purchases of Government securi-ties by reserve banks in the interior withouta corresponding decline in the discounts fortheir member banks. But the fact that forthe 12 banks combined earning assets have


MAT, 1923. FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. 543

remained comparatively constant indicates thata corresponding liquidation has taken place atother reserve banks.

A recognition of the desirability of coordi-nating more closely the open-market opera-tions of the several reserve banks led to a dis-cussion of open-market policy at the recentconference of the Federal Reserve Board withthe governors of the reserve banks. The Fed-eral Reserve Board's position in the matteris indicated by the adoption of the followingprinciple with respect to open-market invest-ment operations of the Federal reserve banks:"That the time, manner, character, and volumeof open-market investments purchased by Fed-eral reserve banks be governed with primaryregard to the accommodation of commerce andbusiness and to the effect of such purchasesor sales on the general credit situation."

By providing that open-market investmentoperations are to be governed "with primaryregard to the accommodation of commerceand business," the principle rests upon thesame general considerations as those providedin the Federal reserve act for the determinationof discount rates. Since in open-market opera-tions the initiative can be taken by the reservebanks rather than by member banks, theseoperations may be used as a gauge of the degreeof adjustment between the requirements forreserve-bank credit and the volume of it inactual use. The sale of an investment by areserve bank is a means of testing the de-mand for credit by placing the initiative forand the cost of such credit directly upon bor-rowing member banks.

To what extent the member banks will beable to finance a further growth

of ACT^tt!Strati°n o f business without additionalaccommodation from the re-

serve banks depends mainly upon the size of goldimports in the immediate future and the furtherpossibilities of shifting from investments andloans on securities to loans for commercial andindustrial purposes. Gold imports have recentlybeen small, the net imports for February being$7,000,000 and for March, $5,500,000, com-

pared with a monthly average of $20,000,000for 1922 and of $55,000,000 in 1921. If thegold movement continues at the present re-duced scale, the imported gold will not besufficient to form a basis for any considerableincrease in credit extension by member banksand also to meet a growth in the demand forcurrency. Furthermore, while member bankssince the opening of the year have been able inpart to increase their loans for commercial pur-poses by the use of funds withdrawn from in-vestments and from loans on securities, theextent of such; transfer is limited since thesale of securities in excess of current savingsindirectly leads to a demand for bank credit.Since the opening'of the year the monthlyrate of growth in commercial loans at mem-ber banks in leading cities has been nearly2 per cent. A continuance of this credittrend must soon result in increased borrowingsby member banks at the reserve banks.

The relation between the expansion of bankcredit and the expansion of business, as well asthe responsibility of the banking communityfor the economic use of credit, is clearly setforth in a recent report of a committee onunemolovment and business cycles, appointedby Secretary Herbert Hoover, as chairmanof the President's Conference on Unemploy-ment, held in September, 1921. The reportstates: "Expansion of bank credit is a neces-sary condition of expansion of businessoperations. * * * But an overexpansionof credit may so increase the purchasingpower of business men that it will merely resultin enabling; them to bid against one another forlimited supplies of goods and materials so asto force prices above what consumers are willingand able to pay. Bank credit often expandsso rapidly that it lifts the buying or investmentpower of business men out of line with thegeneral buying power of the community.Because of their strategic position the bankshave an unusual duty and an exceptionalopportunity to give sound information andcounsel to business men. * * * While therelationship between the volume of credit and


544 FEDERAL EESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

the volume of business and the movement ofprices is not always simple to interpret, itappears to be sufficiently close to make it amatter of first importance that the volume andthe flow of credit should at all times, be testedby the contribution which additions to thevolume of credit make to the total of economicproduction. Additions to credit which cannot be economically validated by a commen-surate effect in actual production are specu-lative, and as such should be subjected to con-trol, so that business and industry can bemaintained in a healthy state."

The present lending capacity of the country'sbanking system, in view of the great growthof the reserves at the reserve banks, is nowfar in excess of the credit needs of the country'sproductive capacity. In such a situationit is the available supplies of labor and equip-ment and not the potential supply of creditthat in the end must fix the limit which maybe attained by aggregate national production.As these limits are approached credit policymust be increasingly influenced by carefulconsideration of the continued effectivenessof further additions to the total volume ofcredit in contributing to increased productivity.

NOTES.

Minutes of 1920 conference with Class A directors.A stenographic transcript of the conference

held by the Federal Reserve Board with theFederal Advisory Council and the Class A di-rectors of the Federal reserve banks on May18, 1920, has been issued as a Senate Docu-

ment (No. 310, 67th Cong., 4th sess.). Copiesmay be obtained from the Superintendent ofDocuments, Government Printing Office.Report of committee on business cycles and unemploy-

ment.

The committee appointed by SecretaryHoover, as chairman of the Conference on Un-employment, which met in Washington inSeptember, 1921, has recently submitted its re-port and recommendations. This report hasbeen published with a foreword by SecretaryHoover, and copies may be obtained from theSuperintendent of Documents, GovernmentPrinting Office.

Congress of International Chamber of Commerce.

The Second Congress of the InternationalChamber of Commerce was held at Rome,Italy, between March 17 and 25. In additionto discussing questions of industry and tradeand transportation, the Congress dealt withthe following important financial topics: Repa-rations, interallied debts, Government budgetsand inflation, international credits, foreignexchange, and stabilization.

Federal intermediate credit banks.

Under the authority of the agriculturalcredits act of 1923, the 12 Federal inter-mediate credit banks, each with an initialpaid-in capital of $1,000,000, have been chart-ered and were formally opened for businesson May 1. These banks are located in thecities in which the Federal land banks arelocated and, like the latter, are under thesupervision of the Federal Farm Loan Board.


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. 545

BUSINESS CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.Further increases in the production of basic commodities, in wholesale prices, employment,

wage rates, and wholesale and retail trade took place in March.Production.—Production in basic industries, according to the Federal Reserve Board's

index, increased 4 per cent in March to a level 8 per cent higher than at the 1920 peak and 69per cent above the low point of 1921. The output of pig iron, steel ingots, automobiles, andcrude petroleum, and the mill consumption of cotton exceeded all previously reported monthlytotals. Building operations showed a further large expansion, and the value of contracts letfor residences in March was the highest on record. Railroad freight shipments have been largerevery week this year than in the corresponding weeks of the past four years. Car shortage hasbeen reduced to the lowest point since September, chiefly as a result of the addition of new equip-ment, a decrease in the number of bad-order locomotives and cars, and a concerted effort toincrease the average loadings.

Employment in the building trades and in many lines of manufacturing continued toincrease in the Eastern States. The surplus of unskilled labor in the West reported in earliermonths is being gradually absorbed by the seasonal increase in farm work. A number of leadingtextile mills, steel mills, and packing plants announced general wage advances ranging between11 and 12£ per cent, and numerous wage advances in other industries also were reported.

Trade.—March sales by department stores reporting to Federal reserve banks were 22 percent above those of March a year ago, partly because Easter purchases were made in Marchthis year, whereas last year such purchases were largely deferred until April. Stocks of goodsheld by department stores were 6 per cent larger than those held a year ago, but this increase

INDEX OF PRODUCTION IN BASIC INDUSTRIES

PER CENT16£>r

80

60

40

20

COMBINATION OF 22 INDIVIDUAL SERIESCORRECTED FOR SEASONAL VARIATION

( ISIS -100) PER CENT160

\

/

A/

LATEST FIGURE MARCH

1Z0

8 0

60

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

PERCENT300

250

150

100

50

PRICESINDEX NUMBERS OF WHOLESALE PRICES

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS( 1313 *1OO BASt ADOPTED BY BUREAU ) PERCENT

300

\

^ .

LATEST FIGURE MARCH

250

200

150

100

50

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923



BANK CREDIT800 MEMBER BANKS IN LEADING CITIES

3ILU0HS OF DOLLARS16

14

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS116

j * - . LOANS AND\ DISCOUNTS

INVESTMENTS/'"'""

LATEST FIGURE APR. 1

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

BANK CREDITALL FEDERAL-RESERVE BANKS

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

3000

1500

MILLIONS OF OOLLARSI 1*000

' LATEST FIGURE APR.18

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

was not as large as the increase in sales, and hence the rate of stock turnover has been somewhatmore rapid. Sales of mail-order houses were larger than for any month since November, 1920,and 35 per cent larger than in March, 1922. Wholesale trade in all reporting lines was largerthan in March a year ago.

Wholesale prices.—Wholesale prices, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics index,advanced 1.2 per cent during March and were 15 per cent above the low point of January,1922. As in recent months, the prices of metals and building materials showed the greatestincreases, while fuel prices showed a further decline from recent high levels. Compared with ayear ago, metals were 37 per cent and building materials 28 per cent higher. The cost of livingincreased slightly more than 1 per cent during March to a level of 3 per cent higher than a yearago.

Bank credit.—During the month prior to April l l a more moderate growth in the demandfor credit from member banks in leading cities resulted in an increase of about $48,000,000 intheir loans made largely for commercial purposes, as compared with an increase of $235,000,000in the preceding month. Through withdrawal of funds from investments and a further inflowof gold, member banks have been able to meet demands of their customers for increased creditand currency independently of the reserve banks.

Consequently, the total volume of Federal reserve bank credit, as measured by total earn-ing assets, has remained relatively constant during the past month, and, in fact, since theseasonal liquidation at the turn of the year. The volume of Federal reserve notes in circula-tion has also changed but little, as the larger demand for hand-to-hand money has been metchiefly by an increase in other forms of money in circulation.

There has been little change in money rates from those prevailing in March.



AGRICULTURE.

During the early weeks of March weatherconditions were generally favorable in theagricultural and live-stock sections of thecountry. Crops made considerable progressafter having been retarded by unsatisfactoryweather conditions in February. However,the later weeks in March and the early periodsof April were accompanied by excessive pre-cipitation and abnormally cold weather, bothof which were retarding factors in all Federalreserve districts. Due to these conditions littleadvancement was made during the early weeksof spring, but as the winter was extremelyfavorable 'for both winter growing crops andtheTJfpreparations for spring plantings, farmprogress is only slightly delayed as comparedwith the corresponding period one year ago.Spring seedings of small grains have been de-layed in sections of the Chicago, St. Louis, andKansas City districts, but the weather was notgenerally unfavorable for outdoor work. Thetruck season is gradually extending northward,although plantings were somewhat retardedin the districts of St. Louis, Richmond, andPhiladelphia. In the Carolinas and sectionsof the Atlanta district truck crops made con-siderable progress, but in some sections theywere somewhat damaged by the low tempera-tures and late frosts in the early weeks ofApril. The continued industrial expansionhas attracted agricultural labor from the farmsin all Federal reserve districts, but the shortageof farm labor is greatest in the industrial dis-tricts of Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, andChicago. According to estimates by the De-partment of Agriculture, on April 1 the sup-ply of farm labor was sufficient to provide foronly 88.4 per cent of the demand.

Prices of principal agricultural products con-tinued their upward movement in March, in-creasing slightly more than 3 per cent, butwere approximately 20 per cent higher onApril 1 than on the same date one year ago.The principal crops of the United States, withthe exception of potatoes, which decreased invalue in 1922, showed increases in value over1921. The values and relative importance ofthe leading crops are shown in the followingtable:

VALUE OP PRINCIPAL CROPS.

1922

Corn $1,900,000,000Cotton (lint and seed) j 1,370,000,000Hay (tame and wild) ! 1,332,000,000Wheat 864,000,000Oats 479,000,000Tobacco i 306,000.000Potatoes ! 283,000,000Apples 202,000,000

1921

$1,302,670,000751,905,000

1,090,776,000737,068,000321,540,000213,846,000398,000,000167,631,000

According to reports by the Department ofAgriculture of the intended plantings in 1923 ofthe principal spring crops, increases in acreageas compared with the previous year are notedfor all crops except spring wheat and Irish andsweet potatoes. The increases vary from 26.per cent for corn and oats to 89 per cent forflax.

Grain.

While weather conditions have been gen-erally unfavorable to the progress of the grow-ing grain crops, the movement of grain tomarket showed improvement over the pre-ceding month. In some sections, however,receipts at primary markets were somewhatretarded on account of the unseasonal weather.The movement of grain during March, as indi-cated by receipts of all grains at 17 interiorcenters, amounted to 74,078,000 bushels, adecrease of 2,924,000 bushels over Februaryand an increase of 21,000 bushels over Marchone year ago. Increases were noted in allgrains except corn and rye, where seasonaldeclines were evident.

After having been almost dormant duringthe winter, export demands for wheat weremore active during the early weeks of spring,but American wheat in the export markets ofthe world is still higher than that from othergrain-producing countries, a factor which isunfavorable to American exporters.

According to estimates by the Department ofAgriculture, as indicated by the condition re-port on April 1, the production of winter wheatwill be 572,317,000 bushels, as compared withthe estimated production of 586,204,000 bush-els in 1922, and 600,316,000 bushels in 1921.The condition of winter wheat was lower onApril 1 than on December 1, 1922, or April 1,


548 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

1922, and considerably lower than the 10-yearaverage on April 1. The detailed figures aregiven in the following table:

CONDITIONS OP WINTER WHEAT AND RYE IN THE UNITEDSTATES.

Rve

April 1.

1923

75.281.8

1922

78.489 0

10-yearaverage.

84.188.6

Decem-ber 1,1922.

79.584 3

Cotton.

The weather during March and the earlyweeks in April was instrumental in retardingadvancement in the cotton crop. Winter plow-ing and early preparation, combined with afew favorable days in early March, inducedconsiderable early planting in the southernsections of the Atlanta and Dallas districts,but the cold waves occurring in the later weeksof March and early April delayed further plant-ings and killed considerable amounts of theearly planted crop. Dry warm weather fol-lowing the middle of April enabled work andseeding to be carried forward and the earlyplants to progress. In the Richmond districtthe planters are not discouraged over the late-ness of the crop, as the cold weather has de-layed the emergence of the boll weevil fromits hibernation. Efforts are being made toconcentrate on intensive cultivation on a mod-erate acreage. Planting has advanced rapidlyin the districts of Atlanta and St. Louis, whilein the Dallas district seeding has been prac-tically completed and in many localities theyoung plants have been growing nicely sincethe temporary setback caused by the lowtemperatures. In the cotton areas of the SanFrancisco district increased planting is reported,and the increases have been made largely inmedium staple cotton, partly because of the

f reater market prevailing for this cotton andecause of larger profits realized for its culture

than for American-Egyptian or Pima cotton.The movement of the old cotton crop to

market generally declines during the' springmonths, but sight receipts during March werelarger than those in February, though less thanin March one year ago. Likewise, spinners'takings increased in March over the previousmonth and the corresponding month in 1922.Stocks at mills and warehouses decreased from4,826,000 bales in February to 4,413,000 balesin March and were 896,000 bales less than in

March, 1922. Stocks in consuming establish-ments continued greater in March than in thecorresponding month a year ago, but stocks inwarehouses were less, accounting for the de-crease in total stocks at mills and warehouses.Exports during March were 140,000 bales lessthan during the corresponding month in 1922,and likewise total exports for the season wereconsiderably lower than for the previousseason, amounting to 4,057,000 bales, as com-pared with 4,384,000 bales one year ago. Up-land spot cotton prices have undergone con-siderable reactions since the high figure of31.30 cents reached in New York on March 17.The market has fluctuated around.30 cents,but the low figure of 27.60 cents was reachedon April 20.

Tobacco.

The marketing of last year's tobacco crophas been practically completed, and manymarkets in the brignt tobacco sections haveclosed. The dark markets will close duringApril. During the closing months of the seasonmuch tobacco of lower quality was handled inthe markets, and the prices were somewhatlower. The average price received by the

f rowers in the Virginia markets in March forright tobacco was $23.50 per hundred pounds,

compared with $26.17 per hundred in Feb-ruary and $8.35 in March, 1922. Dark tobaccoprices were also lower than in February, butremained higher than in March a year ago.The tobacco season has been successful fromthe standpoint of the growers, as the crop waslarger and higher prices were received for theproduct, yielding the producers greater re-turns than in 1921. Up to April 1 tne tobaccosold in the Virginia markets, including the re-ceipts of the Tobacco Growers' Cooperative As-sociation, amounted to 160,918,000 pounds,compared with 96,634,000 in the 1921-22 sea-son. In the tobacco districts of Cleveland andSt. Louis approximately 250,000,000 poundsof burley tobacco were sold by the growers,and the marketing season is nearing a close.Cooperative marketing associations functionedin most of the. tobacco sections during the pastseason, and reports indicate that they havebeen very successful, despite the fact that manyof them were recently organized and operatedfor the first time. In the Richmond districttobacco beds have been prepared and someplants are up. Transplanting is being done inthe southern sections of the district. Coldweather has delayed transplanting in some sec-tions of the St. Louis district, but with mild


MAI, 1923. FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. 549

weather in April the young plants will developrapidly, and transplanting will be completedwith put little delay.

Owing to the greater number of workingdays in March than in February, production ofall tobacco products increased as comparedwith the preceding month, but only large cigarswere produced in greater quantities than inJanuary. Output of large cigars and ciga-rettes increased, as compared with March,1922, but small cigars and manufactured to-bacco decreased. In the Philadelphia dis-trict the demand for cigars improved duringthe early weeks of April, after a dull seasonlasting for several months. Cigar manufac-turers report that the demand for their prod-ucts is greater than in the corresponding pe-riod one year ago. The average of the opera-tions of the district is approximately 80 to 85per cent of capacity, although some small fac-tories are operating at near capacity. Pricesof cigars have remained firm and unchanged,while tobacco leaf prices are advancing slightly.

Fruit.The early fruit crops in the Richmond,

Atlanta, St. Louis, and Dallas districts weredamaged by the cold and unsettled weatherin March. In the Atlanta and Dallas districtsthe greatest damage was apparent in the peachsections, and estimates are approximately 50per cent for Dallas and 37 per cent for Georgia.Losses in the St. Louis district were greater inthe small fruit areas. In the fruit sections ofthe Philadelphia and Cleveland districts dam-ages were less pronounced, as the season islater. Recent rains in Florida were beneficialto the citrus fruit groves, which are in bloomin all sections. A shortage of refrigerator carswas a retarding factor in the movement ofboth oranges and grapefruit during March, butthe shipments were greater than in March,1922, and the season's shipments of orangesand grapefruit were 34,414 cars, as comparedwith 28,053 cars during the previous season.Approximately 2,000,000 boxes of grapefruitand 15 per cent of the orange crop remainedat the end of March in the State. In the SanFrancisco district stocks of apples were morethan three times as large as they were at thesame date a year ago. Apples that remainedin storage amounted to 5,286 cars, as comparedwith 1,521 cars last year. Prices paid togrowers continued downward and are approxi-mately 4.4 per cent lower than they were ayear ago. Shipments of oranges since Novem-

ber 1 were 20,529 cars, as compared with19,113 in the corresponding season one yearago. Lemon shipments were slightly smallerthan during the preceding season. Estimatesof the final yield of the orange crop are9,516,000 boxes. The lemon crop is estimatedto be slightly in excess of 4,000,000 boxes. Onaccount of cold weather which persisted in theeastern markets and a sluggish foreign demand,markets for California citrus fruits were de-pressed during March, and prices received byorange growers were approximately 46 per centbelow prices received in March, 1922.

Live stock.

During March the marketing of live stockcontinued the downward movement whichbegan in November. Although March con-tained more business days than February, thetotal receipts of all live stock were smallerthan in February, but greater than in March,1922. Slight increases were noted for allstock as compared with February, exceptsheep, which declined more than 40 per cent.Receipts of cattle, calves, and sheep weresmaller than in March, 1922, but hogs, horse,s,and mules were greater. Detail figures forMarch, 1923, February, 1923, and March, 1922,are given in the table on page 170.

Live-stock prices during March showed slightchanges from the preceding month. Prices forhogs increased; cattle remained fairly steadyand lambs declined.

Although the cold waves in March weresomewhat unfavorable to young pigs andlambs in sections of the Kansas City district,ranges and pastures were generally unaffected.Warmer weather, accompanied by rains inApril, invigorated the grass, and sheep andcattle are beginning to show improvement.In the Dallas district grazing conditions havereacted well to the warmer weather andabundant precipitation occurring in April.Both live stock and ranges were in satisfactorycondition. In the San Francisco district muchof the damage suffered by pastures and rangesduring the drought of February and March wasrepaired by the rains of early April. Lambinghas been practically completed in Californiaand Arizona and is progressing rapidly in thenorthern States of the district. Shipments ofspring lambs from California and Arizona toboth local and eastern markets increased duringMarch, and the peak of the movement isexpected in May.


550 FEDERAL EESEKVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

MINING.Coal.

Mine output of anthracite coal and manufac-ture of coke reached very high levels in March,while daily average production of bituminouscoal has shown a slight downward-tendency,and in the week ending April 21 reached thelowest level for the current year. This de-crease in bituminous-coal production has fol-lowed a steady decline in prices since last sum-mer, which has reduced the average price ofsoft coal by one-half. Shortage of shippingfacilities is still claimed as the main check onproduction by fields in Pennsylvania, WestVirginia, and Kentucky, but all the more west-ern fields complain of lack of demand. ThePhiladelphia district reports the closing ofsome high-cost mines, while active demand isconfined to steel and certain other industrialplants. Railroads and public utilities are buy-ing cautiously. Commercial stocks of bitumi-nous coal amounted to 36,000,000 tons onMarch 1, which was 2,000,000 tons less thanonfFebruary 1.

Sales and shipments of domestic sizes ofanthracite coal continued to be heavy in Marchand the first half of April. Production amount-ed to 9,382,000 tons, which was 21 per centlarger than in February and the largestmonthly total during the past five years.Prices of steam sizes of anthracite are declin-ing, as they are compelled to compete withbituminous coal. Coke prices also declinedduring April, the range for Connellsville fur-nace being from $6 to $7 on April 19, as com-pared with $7.50 to $8 on March 29. Outputof by-product coke reached a new maximumrate in March, while beehive production wasthe largest since September, 1920.

Petroleum.

Crude petroleum output continues to breakprevious records and to exceed consumption bya substantial margin. The increase in stocksof both crude and refined products resultedlate in March in a series of price reductions.Declines in crude-oil prices have been an-nounced by a number of producers, but theyhave as yet been small when compared withthe rapid rise earlier in the year. The out-put of heavy crude in California has beenparticularly great, and shipments of this oilto the East are more than sufficient to takecare of the reduction in the imports of Mexicanoils. The markets for refined products havelikewise been weak, and some tank-wagonprices of gasoline have been reduced.

Both the total and the average daily outputof crude petroleum during March exceededthat for all previous months. The number ofnew wells completed totaled 1,248, as comparedwith 1,094 during February. The daily averageproduction in the Dallas Federal reserve dis-trict was below that for February, but thenumber of new wells completed was largerin both the Kansas City and Dallas districts.The increase in the daily rate of outputduring March for the country as a wholewas chiefly due to the greater production inCalifornia fields, where there was an increaseof 7 per cent over the February daily output.

Metals.

Mine output oi all nonferrous metals $ inMarch reached the highest level since 1919.This was followed by a moderate reaction inprices during April, but prices of copper andlead are still substantially higher than at thebeginning of 1923. An important factor inthe mining situation during the past twomonths has been the approach of the termi-nation of the Government purchases of silver.As the United States has now purchased at thefixed price of $1 an ounce most of the silverfor which provision was made by the PittmanAct, and the market price of silver is only 67cents per ounce, the silver mines have acceler-ated their operations in order to market asmuch as possible at the former price. Thisresulted in a production of 6,110,000 ounces inMarch, an increase of 29 per cent.

Copper production in March totaled122,194,000 pounds, which was about twice aslarge as that a year ago and the highestmonthly total since January, 1919. Theprice of refined copper reached a maximum onMarch 22, and has receded about one-half acent in the past month. This decline in pricehas been accompanied by a marked decreasein orders booked, but this seems a naturalreaction from the heavy wave of buyingduring the first quarter of the year. Ship-ments to domestic and foreign consumersduring those three months amounted to about600,000,000 pounds, which was considerably inexcess of domestic production and imports.

The price of zinc at St. Louis receded moresharply than the copper price during the firstthree weeks of April, but lead prices showedonly a slight tendency to soften. Zinc pro-duction increased 15 per cent over February,while the output of lead increased 16 per cent.Shipments of zinc were larger than production,which resulted in a decline of stocks to about



six days' supply at the current rate of con-sump tien. Operations in the Joplin districtreached record proportions in March, and muchprospecting has been done in search foradditional lead ores.

MANUFACTURES.Food products.

Production of wheat flour during March in-creased over the preceding month and overthe corresponding month in 1922, amountingto 10,607,000 barrels, the highest March outputon record. The increase was 1,182,000 barrelsover February and 949,000 barrels over March,1922. Activity in the milling industry variedfrom 45 per cent of capacity in the Chicagodistrict to 59 per cent of capacity in theKansas City district, as compared with 52per cent and 67 per cent in the respective dis-tricts in March, 1922. The domestic flourmarket during March was again characterizedby the inactivity which has been prevailingin the trade for several months. Increasedproduction, accompanied by small shipments,caused increases in stocks on hand as com-pared with the same date last year in mostdistricts from which reports were received.Little export demand was evident duringMarch, but the upturn in the wheat marketduring the early weeks of April resulted inincreased domestic and foreign trade.

Meat-packing activities, as indicated by thenumber of animals slaughtered under Federalinspection, increased during March as comparedwith February, but decreased slightly from thehigh points reached in December and January,when the greatest number since December,1919, were slaughtered. The number of ani-mals slaughtered in March was 6,871,000,compared with 5,997,000 in February, 7,252,000in January, and 5,243,000 in March, 1922.Sales by 45 meat-packing companies reportingto the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank showed aseasonal decline during March and were 3.7per cent less than in February, but were 5.4

Eer cent greater than in March a year ago.ince the lenten season improvement has been

noted in the domestic trade, but Europeandemand tended to slacken after the middle ofMarch. Lard and fats, however, continued togo abroad in volume about equal to that ofFebruary and January. Meat exports haveshown a downward trend since the war, andthe volume of meat exported in 1922 onlytotaled 1,785,967,000 pounds, as comparedwith 1,945,610,000 pounds in 1921.

46598—23 2

Textiles.

Although buying of textile products fell offto some extent during March and early April,productive activity continued unabated forthe purpose of filling orders booked earlier inthe year. Many plants were running over-time and new production records were estab-lished. The upward movement of prices pro-ceeded at a slower rate and some recessionsoccurred. Wage increases have been announcedin practically all branches of the industry, andreports of labor shortages are common.

In cotton textile manufacturing, production,as measured both by the consumption of rawcotton and by the number of active spindles,was the largest ever recorded. Dullness gen-erally prevailed in the Philadelphia cotton-yarn market in March and April, owing to thetact that customers had previously coveredtheir requirements and were awaiting furtherdevelopments in the raw-cotton market.Carded yarns, after holding firm for severalweeks, declined in price during the secondweek in April. Yarn manufacturers reportingto the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta gavestatistical evidence of continued good businessduring March, as shown by increases in pro-duction, shipments, and orders, but stated thatthe market had become rather dull. Theweakness in raw cotton also affected the goodsmarket in Philadelphia, but demand continuedto be fairly good. Manufacturers of cloth inthe Atlanta district reported declines in ship-ments and orders as compared with February,but production was well maintained. Theindustry in the Richmond district continuedfull-time operations, but a distinct falling offin orders was noted in March and early April.Finishers of cotton fabrics throughout thecountry reported rather substantial increasesin business during March as compared withFebruary. The rise in prices of cotton goods,which had continued steadily since last sum-mer, was checked during the latter part ofMarch, and in April all of the gray clothmarkets eased off some.

In the woolen industry, plants operatedduring March about 90 per cent of all machineryin place, and many establishments were runningovertime during March and April. Worstedspindle hours active, for example, totaled inMarch over 100 per cent of maximum single-shift capacity. All of the woolen and worstedmachinery has not been so active at the sametime since early in 1920. Consumption of rawwool was over 10 per cent greater in March


552 FEDERAL, RESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

than in February.il The buying season forheavyweight men'sjwear is now practicallyover and sufficient orders were taken to insureoperations for some months to come. Manyorders had to be limited in size. High-gradeworsteds were in greatest demand, and thecall for overcoatings was particularly heavythis year. The trend of prices is upward,under the influence of higher raw materialcosts and advancing wages. The worsted yarnmarket is rather dull now, as weavers havepractically covered their requirements, butyarn prices have been stronger. The raw-woolclip in the West is now being marketed, andsome large clips have been contracted for atabout 50 cents a pound, as compared with 40cents last year. A better demand for finewools is developing in all markets.

Although deliveries of silk to mills duringMarch were the smallest since December, milloperations continued at a fairly high rate ofactivity. Plants are still operating at con-siderably under capacity—about 70 per cent inPennsylvania and above 60 per cent in thePaterson and North Hudson section, but theyare much more active than they were a yearago. Ribbon looms are less active than theothers. Monthly sales, according to reportsreceived by the Philadelphia Federal ReserveBank, are running in many cases 100 per centof those at this time last year, and from 30 to50 per cent of the orders are for future delivery.Raw-silk prices during April reached thehighest point since January, 1920. As aresult, manufacturers have curtailed purchasesof raw materials and the market has becomeinactive. Despite reduced takings by millsduring March, stocks of raw silk fell off duringthat month and reached the lowest figuresince October 1. March imports were smallerthan those of any month since last July.

Fall lines of clothing were opened by theleading manufacturers during March and Aprilat prices generally higher than those prevailingat the last opening. Rough comparisons indi-cate that the new prices are about equal to thoseof 1921, are under the maximum quotations of1920 by about 40 per cent, and exceed those ofall previous years. The advance over last yearreflects higher cloth prices and recent increasesin wage rates. The demand for overcoats, sofar as can be determined this early, is excellent.According to the Federal Reserve Bank ofPhiladelphia, manufacturers in that districtare operating their plants at about 84 per cent ofcapacity. In April they were engaged chieflyin filling late orders for spring suits. Whole-

sale clothing dealers in the New York Federalreserve district reported substantial increasesin sales during March as compared with Feb-ruary. Women's clothing sales were 13 percent above sales for last March and those ofmen's clothing increased 52 per cent in thesame period. Tailors to the trade in theChicago district report that March business was90 per cent above that of February and 50per cent above March, 1922.

Knit-underwear production during Marchwas well above the February output, Dut con-siderably below that of last March. Ship-ments and new orders received were likewisegreater than the corresponding figures forFebruary, but as shipments exceeded orders,the volume of unfilled orders fell off during themonth. Although production was less thanduring last March, shipments and unfilledorders were somewhat larger. Production ofsummer underwear showed a greater increasethan did the output of the heavy-weight gar-ments, and according to reports from mills inthe Philadelphia Federal reserve district, ordersfor winter underwear fell off substantially dur-ing the month, whereas purchases of summerfarments increased. Manufacturers in the

'hiladelphia district reported that a consid-erable majority of orders for next fall havebeen booked, and the demand was so heavythat in some cases allotments were necessary.Prices are now higher than those prevailingat the opening of the season.

Conditions in the hosiery industry are some-what spotty and demand is good for onlycertain grades. The call for full-fashionedsilk hosiery is poor and the mixtures of wool,silk, fiber, and the like are less active. Cottonhosiery, however, is in excellent demand, ac-cording to reports from manufacturers in theAtlanta Federal reserve district, and statisticsof orders, shipments, and production duringMarch were well above corresponding figuresfor February and for last March. In thePhiladelphia district, also, increases in theseitems were reported, but they were relativelysmaller than lor the southern mills.

Iron and steel.

Demand for both pig iron and steel productshas been quieter during April than in the earliermonths of 1923. The price composite of theIron Trade Review, however, continued to ad-vance slightly each week and was 4 per centhigher on April 19 than on March 22. Most ofthe advances were in the prices of finished steelproducts. Pig iron, however, was firm in spite



of a considerable reduction in the price of coke.Railroads, automobile companies, and buildingcontractors have continued to be the most im-portant purchasers of steel, and large futureorders for rails, plates, and structural shapeshave accumulated. In fact, manufacturers ofsheets and plates in the Philadelphia districtwill only accept certain orders at the presenttime, and most mills are unable to handlefurther rail tonnage. Premuims are now paidfor early delivery on almost all products.Unfilled orders of the United States Steel Cor-poration increased 119,343 tons during Marchand amounted to 7,403,332 tons at the end ofthe month.

Output of pig iron and of steel ingots bothreached maximum levels in March. Pig-ironproduction totaled 3,521,000 tons, an increaseof 18 per cent over February, while steel-ingotproduction aggregated 3,402,000 tons, whichwas 17 per cent higher than in February and 1.5per cent above the record output of October,1918. Additional blast furnaces have beenblown in during April, and an increase of 11per cent in wages has been announced by allleading companies in order to maintain the sizeof their forces and the present high level ofproduction.

Automobiles.

Automobile production in March was muchthe largest of any month on record. The out-put of passenger cars totaled 319,527, whichwas 23 per cent larger than in February and 22per cent more than in June, 1922, the month oflargest output in the past Truck productionalso reached a new high level and aggregated34,063 in March, which was 59 per cent higherthan in February and 34 per cent higher thanin June, 1922. The demand for closed carscontinues to increase, except in the case of thelowest priced machines, and over one-half ofthe current output have closed bodies. Thishas resulted in great activity for the bodybuilding industry, and manufacturers of auto-mobile ̂ bodies are receiving orders for immedi-ate delivery in excess of their capacity.

Tire manufacturers continue to maintain thehigh level of production reached in March, buthave not attempted to increase further theirrate of output. Production has been some-what in excess of consumption, as dealers haveincreased their stocks in anticipation of aheavy summer demand and in the belief thatprices were likely to be higher. The priceadvance thus far this spring has averagedbetween 10 and 12 per cent.

Leather and shoes.

Leather and shoe markets within recentweeks have been only moderately active.These industries have been generally laggingbehind others, both as to increase in businessand as to price advances. Prices of hides,leather, and shoes are firm, but only a fewincreases have been effected.

Calfskins and packer green hides were moreactive at Chicago during March, and packershave sold at unchanged or higher prices thebalance of their winter hides. Prices had notbeen established on April hides up to themiddle of the month. Leather markets weregenerally quiet during March and early April.Sole-leather production increased during Marchby more than a seasonal amount and was wellin excess of that of last March. Stocks ofleather showed practically no change duringthe month. Reports from the Philadelphiareserve district indicate that sales of nearlyall kinds of leather decreased during April, asshoe factories had in most cases covered theircurrent needs and had not started orderingfor fall.

Shoe production during March increased inall districts and for the country as a wholeexceeded that of February by 17 per cent, andwas likewise well above the output for lastMarch. Manufacturers in the Philadelphiadistrict report that a great majority of theirorders are for delivery within the next sixweeks, although some firms have securedbusiness up to October. Factories, however,reduced operations somewhat in April. Ship-ments and orders received during March bymanufacturers in the Philadelphia and Chicagodistricts increased as compared with Februaryand with March, 1922, but fewer unfilledorders were on the books at the end of themonth than a month previous. Wholesaleshoe sales showed enormous increases duringMarch in all districts, and retail sales werelikewise very large during that month.

Paper.

Production of all grades of paper continuesat a high rate under the impetus of a gooddemand. Reports from the Philadelphia Fed-eral reserve district indicate that many millsmaking book and magazine papers, manilapapers, building paper and boards, and card-boards were running at capacity. Prices ofsome grades have recently been advanced, butno general increases have occurred. Paperboards, however, which have risen considerably


554 FEDERAL KESEBVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

in recent months, declined in price at the begin-ning of April. Chemical pulp prices have ad-vanced recently, whereas mechanical pulp hasdeclined. Newsprint production and ship-ments during March were at a high rate andexceeded the figures for any other March onrecord. Stocks declined slightly and wererather low for this season. Output and ship-ments of all other grades of paper and of woodpulp were well maintained during February,the latest month for which statistics areavailable. Stocks of wood pulp at the end ofFebruary were at the lowest point recordedwithin the last four years.

Lumber.

Lumber markets for the last two monthshave been characterized by a check in demandfrom dealers, an increasing rate of production,moderate decline in the volume of shipmentsfrom mills, and a slight retardation in theadvance of prices. Orders received weekly bymills reached a peak late in January and havetended lower since that date, until now theyare slightly below the weekly cut of the samemills. Shipments, however, continue to ex-ceed cut, and manufacturers' stocks aredecreasing. In fact, the supply of dry lum-ber is so low that green material has beenshipped in many cases. The greatest demandin recent weeks has been for building lumber,but railroads, automobile producers, furnituremanufacturers, and other industrial users havebeen active buyers. Prices on some grades ofsoftwood fell off slightly during April, buthardwoods continued to advance, though at asomewhat slower rate.

Lumber cut during March by 587 millsreporting to the National Lumber Manufactur-ers' Association totaled 1,355,082,000 feet, thelargest monthly figure since 1918 and the great-est ever recorded for March. Shipments wereeven larger and equaled 1,479,044,000 feet, ascompared with 1,132,320,000 feet by 569 millsin February. Many complaints of a car short-age are reported, but such shortage, except ina few districts, is due to the unusually largedemand, as statistics of car loadings of forestproducts for the country as a whole show thatloadings each week of this year have exceededthose of the corresponding weeks for all yearssince 1920. Reports from the PhiladelphiaFederal reserve district indicate that retailershave curtailed buying, as bad weather hasprevented them from moving their heavystocks. Buying from mills in the Atlanta dis-trict, and likewise in the St. Louis district, was

checked some during March and April, but inthe Chicago district the demand continuedheavy. Receipts of lumber at St. Louis dur-ing March was the largest in history. Retailyards in the Minneapolis district reportedgreater stocks at the end of March, althoughsales were large during the month. Manufac-turers in that district increased cut and ship-ments and diminished their stocks. Many saw-mills in the San Francisco district are operat-ing on a double-shift basis, and both produc-tion and shipments have increased considera-bly. Both domestic and foreign markets havebeen exceedingly active.

BUILDING.

Operations of building contractors expandedsubstantially during March and April, whileboth production and prices of building materialsshowed large increases. Contracts awarded iu10 Federal reserve districts (compiled fromstatistics collected by the F. W. Dodge Co.)totaled $367,599,000 in March, which was 33per cent higher than in February. Marchawards in the seven districts for which figuresare available since 1919 were 18 per cent largerthan a year ago and reached the third largestmonthly total on record. AH the northerndistricts showed pronounced increases in valueof contracts awarded during March as com-pared with February, but the Atlanta, St.Louis, and Kansas City districts reporteddecreases ranging from 27 per cent to 10 percent. Residential contracts during Marchreached the highest dollar value ever recorded,and amounted to almost one-half of all newcontracts, as compared with one-third inFebruary. Building of homes increased in alldistricts except Atlanta and Minneapolis, butmost of the gain occurred in the industrialsections of the East. The value of buildingpermits at 168 cities in March was 50 per centlarger than in March, 1922, the previous recordmonth. Statistics of number and value ofbuilding contracts and building permits arepublished on page 622.

Prices of building materials advanced 3per cent in March and were 28 per cent abovethe low point of March, 1922. Production ofoak flooring, clay fire brick, and silica brickreached the largest monthly totals since 1920.Stocks of most kinds of building material con-tinued to decline and there was a furtheraccumulation of unfilled orders. A comparisonof stocks at the end of March with those of ayear ago indicates that the supply of building



materials has been about sufficient to meet thedemand during the past year and that there isas yet no evidence that the rapid rise in priceshas resulted in overproduction of materials.

TRANSPORTATION.

The shortage of railroad equipment wasmaterially reduced during March and April,due to the efforts of the railroads to securemore efficient loading of cars and trains, thedelivery of much new equipment from factories,and a further substantial reduction in thenumber of cars and locomotives awaiting re-pairs. Freight-car shortage totaled 58,237 carsfor the week ending April 7, as compared with79,270 carsfortheweekendingMarch8. Duringthis 30-day period the shortage of coal cars wasreduced 29 per cent, while the shortage of boxcars was reduced 26 per cent. In the firstquarter of this year 935 new locomotives and39,172 new freight cars were put into service onUnited States railroads, and orders were out-standing on April 1 for 1,974 locomotives and107,453 freight cars. The number of bad-order cars amounted to 206,312 on April 1,which was only 9 per cent of the cars on lineand the lowest aggregate awaiting repairssince January, 1921.

CAR LOADINGS BY WEEKSTHOUSANDS OF CARS THOUSANDS OF CARS

11000

800

600

<t00

1

19212—) — • •

!

I

—

!

Ii

i

I

19/—

I

800

JANUARY A-'R.

The chart indicates the consistently heavyrailroad loadings during the first 14 weeks of1923. It may be noted that the loadings ineach week of the current year have not onlybeen larger than a year previous, but have alsobeen larger than in the corresponding week ofany earlier year. March loadings reached atotal of 4,124,214 cars, which was 22 per centmore than in February and 12 per cent morethan in March, 1922. Loadings of forest prod-ucts and coke were larger than in any previousmonth on record, while live-stock loadings wereexceptionally large for a spring month. Load-

ings of southern railroads were particularlyheavy and reached the highest aggregate everrecorded in a single month.

TRADE.Wholesale trade.

Wholesale distribution during the quarter ofthe year ending March 31 showed considerableimprovement as compared with the same pe-riod in 1922. Sales by wholesale firms in alllines and in almost all Federal reserve districtshave surpassed each month the levels reachedin corresponding months in 1922. The im-provements reflect the increased purchasingpower of the consuming public, as has beenevidenced by demands made upon retail dis-tributers in all sections of the country. Salesduring March were greater for all lines of goodsin all Federal reserve districts from which re-ports were received than in February, with theexception of grocery sales in the Kansas Cityand San Francisco districts and dry-goods salesin the St. Louis and Dallas districts. Declinesin the latter of 10.8 per cent were indicated inSt. Louis and 5.7 per cent in Dallas. Thegreatest improvements over February werein the sales of shoes, where increases rangingfrom 17.6 per cent in the St. Louis district to115.3 percent in the Philadelphia district werenoted. Compared with March a year ago thegreatest activity was indicated in the sales offarm implements, which ranged from an increaseof 27.9 per cent in the San Francisco district to187.8 per cent in the Dallas district. As com-pared with February, activity in dry goods wasless pronounced than in other lines, which wasdue largely to active buying in earlier months andto a hesitancy to place additional orders pend-ing developments of the new cotton crop andprice movements of the old crop. Collectionsof wholesale firms are from "fan*" to "good"throughout all districts, but deliveries weresomewhat retarded, as shipments were slowand in many cases delayed. The table onpage 624 gives detailed figures of wholesaletrade.

Retail trade.

Retail trade maintained a high rate ofactivity during the first quarter of the year,each month showing improvements over thecorresponding month in 1922. While theunseasonal cold weather during the last twoweeks of March was a retarding factor to retaildistribution in many sections, the early date ofEaster accentuated the trade and Marchdepartment-store sales throughout all sections



of the United States were 22 per cent greaterthan in March, 1922, and 38 per cent greaterthan in February. The greatest gains overFebruary were in the Philadelphia, Richmond,and New York districts, and ranged from 52points in Philadelphia to 41 points in NewYork.

Mail-order hottses and chain stores showedconsiderable increases in sales in March as com-pared with February and also with March,1922. Mail-order house sales increased 34 percent over February and 35 per cent overMarch, 1922. The greatest chain-store gainwas noted in the case of shoe chains, which in-creased 105 per cent as compared with Febru-ary and 40.1 per cent as compared with March,1922.

Stocks of department stores continued toincrease during March and were greater thanany month since November, 1922. Increaseswere noted in all Federal reserve districts, andfor the country as a whole the index number ofdepartment-store stocks on a 1919 base stoodat 124.9 at the end of March, as comparedwith 115.2 at the close of February and 118.2 inMarch, 1922. Detailed figures of retail tradeire given in the table on page 625.

PRICES.

Wholesale prices increased in March at amore rapid rate than in February. The gen-eral level of prices rose 3 points according tothe Federal Reserve Board's index and 2points according to the index of the Bureau ofLabor Statistics. All groups in the board'sindex have risen, but the increase in the pricesof imported goods is more pronounced thanthat of produced or exported goods, and theprices of producers' goods have risen muchmore sharply than raw materials or consumers'goods.

In the raw materials group of the Bureau ofLabor Statistics index, as subdivided by theFederal Reserve Board, mineral products de-clined 3 per cent in March, the same rate as inFebruary, while agricultural products increased,though at a less rapid rate than in the monthbefore. Forest products continued the steadyincrease that began in March of last year.

The most striking price increases during themonth occurred in iron and steel products andnonferrous metals, which rose 12 per cent as agroup, with steel billets and copper productsleading.

Among consumers' goods, prices of clothsand clothing moved upward as did foods, while

prices of fuel and lighting declined. Granu-lated sugar advanced 18 per cent, in comparisonwith 9 per cent in February.

Retail prices have not as yet shown any con-sistent tendency to follow the upward courseof wholesale prices. Retail food prices, aftera rise toward the end of last year, fell again inJanuary and February and did not change inMarch. The cost of living index, computedby the Massachusetts Special Commission onthe Necessaries of Life, was stationary fromNovember through January at the same levelat which it stood in January, 1922.

EMPLOYMENT.

Demand for labor continues to be strong,with advancing wages at industrial establish-ments, in the building trades, and at westernmetal mines. On the other hand, the demandfor farm labor is as yet only moderate andthere continues to be a surplus of clericalworkers. Reports received by the Bureau ofLabor Statistics from 5,453 manufacturingestablishments in all parts of the United Statesindicate that there was a 2 per cent increasein number of employees and a 3 per centincrease in average weekly earnings duringMarch. The largest increases in number ofworkers were reported by fertilizer plants,brick kilns, and shipbuilding yards. The brickand shipbuilding industries also reported in-creases of over 5 per cent in per capita earn-ings, but the millinery and lace goods indus-tries led in this respect with an advance of 9.6per cent. During April a number of horizontalwage advances have been reported by im-portant industries—most woolen mills whichhad not previously this year changed theirschedules announced increases of 12J per cent,all leading steel companies increased wages ofunskilled workers 11 per cent, cotton muls atFall River and other important centers an-nounced increases of 12£ per cent, and meatpackers at Chicago and other western citiesadvanced all schedules by about 11 per cent.

Investigations of employment conditions byFederal reserve banks and State departmentsof labor agree closely with the results of theBureau of Labor Statistics. Reports to theMassachusetts Department of Labor and In-dustry indicate that industrial employment inthat State increased 0.6 per cent during March.The men's clothing, electrical machinery, andtextile machinery plants reported the largestincreases in their forces, while jewelry andhosiery factories made the greatest curtail-



ment. The New York State Department ofLabor reports a 2 per cent increase in factoryemployment during March, while averageweekly earnings increased about 4 per cent.The most important increases of employmentoccurred at metal and machine plants. Re-ports from 501 establishments in the Philadel-phia district showed an increase in number ofemployees of 2 per cent during March, andthe number on pay rolls was 17 per centgreater than the average in 1922. The ChicagoFederal Reserve Bank reports the number em-ployed by 198 concerns increased 3 per centin March, and that the number of man-hourswas 8 per cent more than in February. Steelmills and building contractors made the largestadditions to their forces.

COMMERCIAL FAILURES.

Although the number of commercial failureswas greater in March than in February, thetotal reported during the first three weeks inApril was slightly less than for the same periodin March. As compared with correspondingperiods of last year, the number of insolvenciesduring March showed a decrease of 32 per cent,and those during the first three weeks of Aprilwere fewer by 30 per cent. The liabilitiesinvolved in the March failures were also greaterthan those of February and only slightly lessthan the January figures, but were 33 per centbelow those reported for last March. Thevolume of failures are still rather large, particu-larly when compared with the years of war-time prosperity. In making comparisons withyears prior to the war allowances must bemade for growth in the volume of business andfor higher prices, which affect liabilities.

Failures, by Federal reserve districts, areshown in the table on page 615. The numberof failures during March were smaller than dur-ing the same month last year, except in theSan Francisco district, but liabilities weregreater in the Philadelphia, Cleveland, andDallas districts. In fact, the liabilities in thePhiladelphia district were the largest on record,totaling $10,622,911, whereas the monthlyaverage for that district during 1921 and 1922equaled only about $2,600,000. By branchesof business, the liabilities among the miscel-laneous group of manufacturers were unusuallylarge. The indebtedness of the manufacturinggroup as a whole was larger than that of lastMarch, whereas liabilities involved in failuresamong traders were smaller than during bothFebruary, 1923, and March, 1922.

FOREIGN TRADE.

According to the reports of the Departmentof Commerce, imports of merchandise into theUnited States have been growing steadily forsome months past. To some extent the largertotals recently reported are due to higher com-modity valuations, but at the same time thequantities of certain classes of goods importedhave considerably expanded. This is particu<-larly true of raw materials and semifinishedproducts entering into manufacture, for whichthere has been a growing demand as a result ofthe activity of domestic industry. The latestimport figures are for January and show aninward movement of merchandise totaling$319,000,000. In December, 1922, importsamounted to $293,000,000, and in January ayear ago they were only $217,000,000.

Exports also are higher than they were eithera year ago or in most months recently, butthe increase during the last three or fourmonths has not been pronounced, and exportshave fallen as compared with the high level oflast November. The result has been to reducevery materially the amount of our favorablemerchandise trade balance, so that in Januaryit amounted to only $17,000,000, in contrast to$51,000,000 in December and $88,000,000 inNovember. In March preliminary estimatesplace the value of our export trade at $350,-000,000, a moderate increase over Januaryand February of the present year and some$20,000,000 in excess of the March, 1922, total.The figures made public in the past few monthsthus indicate the maintenance of exports some-what above the levels 6 to 12 months earlier.There is no evidence, however, that foreigndemand for American goods has had much con-nection with the great expansion of productionwhich has recently taken place in this country.

GOLD AND SILVER MOVEMENTS.Net gold imports for the month of March

totaled $5,559,000, marking a further declinefrom the unusually low total of $6,984,000 forthe preceding month. Both imports and ex-ports of gold proceeded in larger volume than inFebruary, the decrease in net imports being dueto the considerable increase in the gold exportsfor the month under review. Gross importsof gold totaled $15,951,000, of which 35 per centcame from the Netherlands and about 25 percent each from Canada and France. Abouttwo-thirds of the total of $10,392,000 of goldexported during March was consigned to India,about 25 per cent to France, and over 5 percent to Mexico.


558 FEDERAL BESEBVE BtTUJSTlN. MAT, 1923.

Net imports of gold since August 1, 1914,totaled $1,817,275,000, as shown in the follow-ing exhibit:

[In thousands of dollars.)

Aug. 1, 1914, to Dec. 31,1918Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1919Jan. 1 to Dee. 31,1920Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1921Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1922Jan. 1 to Mar. 31,1923

Total

Imports.

1,776,61676,534

417,068691,248275,17057,154

3,293,790

Exports.

705,210368,185322,09123,89136,87520.263

1,476,515

Excess ofimports.

1,071,406i 291,651

94,977667,357238,29536,891

1,817,275

1 Excess of exports.

Silver imports during March, $4,626,000,while higher than in February, continued at alow level as compared with the averagemonthly imports for the past calendar or fiscalyears. Over 90 per cent of the total importedduring the month came from Mexico, Peru, andCanada. Silver exports for the month, $4,-732,000, were slightly in excess of the importsand in the main showed about the same dis-tribution as in February, i. e., about 90 percent going to China, British India, and England.

Net silver exports since August 1, 1914,totaled $434,651,000, as is seen from the fol-lowing table:

(In thousands of dollars.]

Aug. 1,1914, to Dec. 31, 1918Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1919Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1920Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1921Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,1922Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 1923

Total

Imports.

203,59289,41088,06053,24270,80714,243

529,354

Exports.

483,353239,021113,61651,57562,80713,844

964,216

Excess ofexports.

279,761149,61125,556

Ul,66718,000

1399

434,882

* Excess of imports.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE.

Foreign exchange rates during April showedunusual stability. The pound sterling con-tinued to decline slowly and stood at $4.63on April 27, compared with $4.72, the peakfigure reported on February 21. French andBelgian francs and Italian lire showed littlechange. The rate on the French franc, afterits rapid rise in March, ranged between 6.49and 6.78 cents in April; that on the Belgianfranc between 5.62 and 5.88 cents, and that onthe Italian lira between 4.92 and 5.02 cents.

The German mark, after being stabilized at48 and 47 cents per ten thousand since theearly part of March, dropped on April 18 to32 cents per ten thousand, but rallied to 38cents on April 20. At the end of the monththe rate was 34 per ten thousand.

Other European currencies as well as thoseof South American and oriental countries,remained fairly constant.

State Banks and Trust Companies.The following list shows the State banks and trust com-

panies which were admitted to membership in the Fed-eral reserve system during the month ending April 28,1923, on which date 1,644 State institutions were membersof the system:

Capital.

District No. 1.Union Trust Co., Ellsworth, Me.1

District No. I.Long Branch Banking Co., Long

Branch, N. JAmherst Bank, WiUiamsville, N. Y . . . .

District No. i.Fanners State Bank, Lyons, Ohio

District No. 6.Evangeline Batik & Trust Co., Ville

Platte, La.District No. 8.

Grant State Bank, St. Louis, MoDistrict No. 11.

Slaton State Bank, Slaton, TexFirst State Bank, Idalou, TexFirst State Bank, Rochester, Tex

$100,000

Surplus. Total re-sources.

$100,000 l$2,506,858

District No. ItYakima Trust Co., Yakima, Wash

150,000 100,00050,000 15,000

2,418,71165,000

25,000 2,000 i 203,172

j75,000 , 37,500 j 764,272

200,000 50,000 | 674,413

25,000 10,000 453,19325,000 156,66925,000 • 6,000 305 769

200,000 50,000 ! 1,692,490

i Admitted Jan. 8,1923, but not previously published.Correction.—In the April BULLETIN the capital and surplus of the Wa t-

sesssing Bank, Bloomfield, N . J . , was given as $1,000,000 each. Thisshould have read $100,000 in each instance.

Absorbed by national bank.—Bank of Eufaula, Ala.; Bank of FergusCounty, Lewistown, Mont.

Bank closed.—First State Bank, Clyde Park, Mont.Bank reopened.—Edgar State Bank, Edgar, Mont.Change of name.—Commercial Trust Co., Philadelphia, Pa., to Bank

of North America and Trust Co.; Morton Park State Bank, Cicero, 111.,to Cicero Trust and Savings Bank.

Consolidation.—Beaverhead State Bank, Dillon, Mont., and SecurityState Bank, Dillon, Mont., member banks, have consolidated. Illi-nois Trust & Savings Bank, Chicago, 111., and Merchants Loan itTrust Co., Chicago, 111., both member institutions, have consolidatedunder the name "Illinois Merchants Trust Co."

Converted into national bank.—Southwest State Bank, Wichita, Kans.Withdrawals.—Moline Trust & Savings Bank, Moline, 111.; Peoples

Savings Bank & Trust Co., Moline, 111.; State Savings Bank & Trust Co.,Moline, 111.; Polk County Trust Co., Lakeland, Fla.

Insolvent.—First State Bank, Malone, Tex.

New National Bank Charters.The Comptroller of the Currency reports the following

increases and reductions in the number and capital ofnational banks during the period from March 24 to April20, 1923, inclusive:

New charters issuedRestored to solvencyIncrease of capital approved

Aggregate of new charters, banks restored tosolvency, and banks increasing capital

LiquidationsReducing capital i

Total liquidations and reductions of capital..Consolidations of national banks under act of Nov.

7,1918Aggregate increased capital for periodReduction of capital owing to liquidations, etc

Net increase

Num-ber ofbanks.

Amountof

capital.

$3,275,0000

3,130,000

6,405,000

60,000820,000

300,000

820,000

5,585,0001 Includes one reduction in capital of $25,000 incident to a consolida-

tion under act of Nov. 7,1918.



RULINGS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.Nonnegotiable paper ineligible for rediscount by Federal

reserve banks.

The board has been requested to rule uponthe eligibility for rediscount of nonnegotiablepaper. The note in question contained a clause

f iving the payee the right to confess judgmentefore maturity, and it was stated that the

highest court of the State in which the questionarose had held such a note to be nonnegotiable.For the purpose of the ruling, therefore, theboard assumed that the note was nonnegotia-ble and ruled substantially as follows:

Although negotiability is not required inspecific terms by the Federal reserve act or bythe board's regulations as a condition of theeligibility of notes, drafts, or bills of exchangefor rediscount, it has always been contem-plated by the board as one of the primary requi-sites of eligibility. A promissory note is de-fined by the board's Regulation A as follows:

A promissory note, within the meaning of this regula-tion, is defined as an unconditional promise in writing,signed by the maker, to pay, in the United States, at afixed or determinate future time, a sum certain in dollarsto order or to bearer.

This definition incorporates substantially therequirements of a negotiable promissory noteas set forth in the negotiable instruments law;in fact, the definition of a note eligible forrediscount is, with certain additional limita-tions, an adoption of the definition of a nego-tiable promissory note. A note eligible forrediscount must not only meet the requirementsof a negotiable promissory note, but must also

Eossess the additional characteristics requiredy the definition in Regulation A as above.

Notes eligible for rediscount are thus merelya restricted class of negotiable promissorynotes as defined in the negotiable instrumentslaw. The definition of a draft or bill ofexchange contained in the board's RegulationA is substantially the same as the definition ofa bill of exchange set forth in the negotiableinstruments law, thus indicating clearly thatthese instruments also must be negotiable inorder to be eligible for rediscount.

All nonnegotiable notes, drafts, and bills ofexchange, therefore, are ineligible for redis-count at Federal reserve banks.

Government deposits in member banks as exempt fromthe reserve requirements of section 19 of the Federalreserve act.

The board has recently had occasion to passupon the question as to whether certain de-posits made in member banks should be con-sidered as Government deposits and thereforeexempt from the reserve requirements ofsection 19 of the Federal reserve act.

Section 7 of the first Liberty bond act andcorresponding sections of the second and thirdLiberty bond acts provide that the reserverequirements of the Federal reserve act "shallnot apply to deposits of public moneys by theUnited States in designated depositaries."In construing this provision the board, afterconsultation with the Treasury Department,has ruled that the following classes of depositsare not "deposits of public moneys by theUnited States," and are therefore not exemptfrom the reserve requirements set forth in sec-tion 19 of the Federal reserve act:

(1) Deposits of Philippine funds made by thePhilippine Government and carriedunder the title "Treasurer of thePhilippine Islands currency reservefund account."

(2) Deposits of Porto Rican funds made bythe Porto Rican Government.

(3) Deposits of Indian funds under the con-trol of the Department of the Interior.

(4) Deposits of States, counties, or munici-palities.

(5) Deposits of the United States ShippingBoard and deposits of the EmergencyFleet Corporation. (See F E D E R A LRESERVE BULLETIN for November,1919, page 1054.)

In the same connection, however, the boardhas held that deposits made by United Statespostmasters of Government funds, other thanpostal savings deposits, collected by them orwhich have come into their possession by virtueof their official position, should be deemed toconstitute "deposits of public moneys by theUnited States," and, when made in designateddepositaries, such deposits are exempt from thereserve requirements specified in section 19 ofthe Federal reserve act.


560 FEDERAL EESERVE BULLETIN. MAI', 1923.

LAW DEPARTMENT.Exercise of fiduciary powers by national banks located in

Pennsylvania.

There is printed below the opinion of theSupreme Court of Pennsylvania, renderedApril 9, 1923, in the case of the Estate of EdnaFrisbie Turner upholding the right of nationalbanks to act in fiduciary capacities in theState of Pennsylvania. This decision affirmsthat of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania,which was published in the FEDERAL RESERVEBULLETIN for January, 1923 (page 23 of thefirst edition and page 20 of the final edition).

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA,EASTERN DISTRICT.

la the matter of the Corn Exchange National Bank ofPhiladelphia. No. 272. In the matter of the petitionof Estate of Edna Frisbie Turner, deceased. Nos. 273and 274, January term, 1923. Appeals of Common-wealth of Pennsylvania. Appeal from the decision ofthe Superior Court of Pennsylvania, reversing decreeof the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia County.

OPINION.

FRAZBR, J.: These three appeals involve the same ques-tion, namely, whether a national bank has the right toact as a fiduciary under the laws of Pennsylvania; theywere argued together and will be decided in a singleopinion.

In settling the account of executors of the estate of EdnaF. Turner a fund was awarded to minor children, bene-ficiaries under the will of decedent. The court appointedThe Rittenhouse Trust Company, of the city of Phila-delphia, guardian of their estate and before the accountwas called for audit that company was converted into anational bank and consolidated with the Corn ExchangeNational Bank, with power granted by the FederalReserve Board to transact a fiduciary business. Thelatter applied for and secured a certificate from the Statebanking department authorizing it to do fiduciary'sbusiness in Pennsylvania and presented a petition askingthat funds belonging to the minors be paid to it. This thecourt refused to do until the bank secured the approval ofthe Orphans' Court of Philadelphia County, under rule 21of that court relating to approval of fiduciaries. Accord-ingly, a petition was presented for that purpose settingforth the fact of petitioner's incorporation under thenational banking laws and its subsequent consolidationwith The Rittenhouse National Bank, formerly The Rit-tenhouse Trust Company, stating it was authorized by theFederal Reserve Board to transact a fiduciary business andhad complied with the law of Pennsylvania governing thetransaction of such business; had conformed with the actsof May 9, 1889, P. L. 159, and May 20, 1921, P. L. 991,agreeing to be subject to supervision and examination bythe banking department of Pennsylvania in the samemanner as corporations of Pennsylvania; and stipulated,pursuant to requirements of the before mentioned rule ofcourt, that "securities and other property received by thecorporation both in a fiduciary capacity and from theperson or persons for whom it is surety, shall not be takenout of the jurisdiction of the court and shall be kept sepa-rate and apart from all moneys, securities and property ofthe said bank, so that the same can, at all times, be easily

identified as belonging to the estate of the person for whoseaccount the same has been received, and that trust fundsreceived by said bank, either as fiduciary or for the personor persons for whom it is surety shall be deposited in aseparate account" in another bank or trust company ofgood standing. This application was refused by theOrphans' Court, whereupon the bank filed a petition, asguardian of the minors, asking that, notwithstanding therefusal to approve its application to act as fiduciary, thefunds in question be awarded to it as guardian." Thispetition was also dismissed and an appeal taken to theSuperior Court which reversed the court below and fromthat decree we have the present appeals.

The act of Congress, approved December 13, 1913, (38Stat. 251), gave the Federal Reserve Board power, interalia, "to grant by special permit to national banks apply-ing therefor, when not in contravention of State or locallaw, the right to act as trustee, executor, administratoror registrar of stocks and bonds under such rules andregulations as the said board may prescribe." It wasthus left to the courts to ascertain whether in any givencase, the exercise of the powers granted would be in con-travention of State or local law. Difficulties arose in theconstruction of the act, resulting in its amendment in1918 (act September 26, 1918, 40 Stat. 867) by permittingnational banks to act as executor, administrator, trustee,guardian, etc., in all cases where State banks, trust com-panies or other corporations "which come into com-petition with national banks are permitted to act underthe laws of the State in which the national bank is lo-cated," and also providing that "whenever the laws ofsuch State authorize or permit the exercise of any or allof the foregoing powers by State banks, trust companiesor other corporations which compete with national banks,the granting to and exercise of such powers by nationalbanks shall not be deemed to be in contravention ofState or local law within the meaning of this act." Thestatute contained a further provision that banks exercis-ing fiduciary powers should "segregate all assets held inany fiduciary capacity from the general assets of the bankand shall keep a separate set of books and records showingin proper detail all transactions engaged in under authorityof this section * * * but nothing in this act shall beconstrued as authorizing the State authorities to examinethe books, records and accounts of the national bankwhich are not held in trust under authority of this sub-section. " It also required that -funds deposited or heldin trust by the bank awaiting investment shall be carriedin a separate account and shall not be used by the bank inthe conduct of its business, unless it shall first set asidein its trust department, United States bonds or othersecurities approved by the Federal Reserve Board."Numerous other administrative provisions are found inthe Federal act that need not be referred to here.

The contention of the Commonwealth is that, to permita Federal bank to act in a fiduciary capacity in this State,under the statutory provisions referred to, would amountw a violation of our laws. The act of May 21, 1919, P. L.209 provides, inter alia, that the banking department shallhave supervision of all corporations pr persons receivingmoney on deposit for safe keeping, including banks in-corporated under the laws of the United States, whichshall, pursuant to Federal law or regulations, be permittedto act in any fiduciary capacity and makes all such cor-porations subject to inspection and examination by thebanking commissioner. By act of May 20, 1921, P. L.991, it was provided that no person should have the rightto appoint, in a fiduciary capacity any corporation otherthan a corporation organized and doing business under the


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL KESERVE BULLETIN. 561

laws of Pennsylvania and subject to the supervision andexamination of the banking department of the State, or acorporation organized under the laws of the United Statesand doing business in Pennsylvania by resolution of itsboard of directors agreeing to place itself under and sub-ject to the supervision and examination of the State bank-ing department "in the same manner and to the same ex-tent as corporations organized and existing under the lawsof this State."

A comparison of the foregoing Federal and State actsshows the main points of difference are that the Federalstatute allows inspection of the books and records of onlythat part of the assets of national banks as are received ina fiduciary capacity and requires them to segregate allassets held in a fiduciary capacity and prohibits com-mingling them with other assets in its business, unless itshall first set aside in the trust department United Statesbonds or other securities approved by the Federal Re-serve Board, while on the other hand the State acts au-thorize the supervision by the banking department of allassets of the corporation and forbids substitution of se-curities for the funds, but requires the companies, in allcases, to keep trust funds separate from its other assetsand to indicate all investments made as fiduciaries, sothat the trust to which the investment belongs shall beclearly known. It is argued this difference in the twoprovisions produces a conflict, making the Federal reserveact in direct violation of State law by permitting unin-vested funds to be mingled with the general assets andremoving such funds from the inspection and supervisionof State authorities. The Corn Exchange National Bankhas complied with every provision of the State rules, regu-lations and laws, by consenting to the examination of allits assets by the State bank examiners and agreeing tokeep trust securities on deposit in a separate bank. Thisvoluntary compliance with State rules would, in itself,seem to render unnecessary a further discussion of thequestions raised. Appellant contends, however, that thenational bank can not, validly, agree to be bound by Statelaw or by local rule of court, which is contrary or incon-sistent with the Federal law and that, consequently, thequestion still remains whether it was not beyond the powerof the bank to agree to comply with the State regulationswhere they are in conflict with Federal practice.

The answer to tnis contention is that insofar as the Statelaw is inconsistent with the Federal act, the former mustyield to the latter, even though the result may be to placeupon Federal banks a benefit or burden not received orassumed by the State banks and trust companies.

The definition given in the Federal act as to what con-stitutes a violation of the State law takes no cognizanceof the fact that certain administrative details in the regu-lations of Federal banks were different from those govern-ing State institutions. The existence of these differ-ences, however, is not sufficient to deprive a nationalbank of the enjoyment of its powers under the Federallaw. The establishment of the Federal reserve bankwas a matter within the scope of Federal power and aState can not, in any way interfere with the powers ofsuch banks, except insofar as Congress has permitted itto do so. When the Federal act was passed Congress hadknowledge of the fact that various States had adopteddifferent laws and systems governing persons or corpora-tions acting in a fiduciary capacity. Having this knowl-edge, they gave to the Federal Reserve Board power toprescribe regulations for the government of Federalbanks. Regulations thus established are paramount toState rules and the latter must yield whenever a conflictarises. It was with knowledge of this situation and theexisting difference between rules governing State andFederal banks that Congress undertook to define, by theact of 1918, what would be considered "in contraventionof State law." It will be observed the definition refers

to "powers" only and not the rules governing the exerciseof such powers. It is the right itself, not the rules govern-ing the exercise of the right, to which reference is made.Concede the existence of the right in the State banksand trust companies and we have the same right bestowedupon national banks. Had Congress intended the latterto be governed by State laws in the exercise of the rightgiven, surely expression of that intention would be foundin the statute. In the absence of such utterance, wemust assume Congress was satisfied with the rules alreadyprescribed by the Federal Reserve Board. If these ruleshappen to conflict with State regulations on the subject,the latter must yieid to the former because the rightbeing conceded the power to regulate the exercise of theright would follow as a necessary incident. We believethis view is fully supported by the opinion in FirstNational Bank v."Union Trust Company, 244 U. S. 416,and cases therein cited.

The decrees of the Superior Court are affirmed.

Fiduciary Powers Granted to National Banks.During the month ending April 28 the Federal Reserve

Board approved applications of the national banks listedbelow for permission to exercise one or more of the fidu-ciary powers named in section 11 (k) of the Federalreserve act as amended, as follows:

1. Trustee.2. Executor.3. Administrator.4. Registrar of stocks and bonds.5. Guardian of estates.6. Assignee.7. Receiver.8. Committee of estates of lunatics.9. In any other fiduciary capacity in which State banks,

trust companies, or other corporations which come intocompetition with national banks are permitted to act underthe laws of the State in which the bank is located.

The numerals opposite the name of each bank indicatethe power or powers it is authorized to exercise, as givenbelow:

Place.Dis-trictNo.

Name of bank.

Boston, MassNewport, R. I . . .Rockville, Conn.Rutland, Vt

Kingston, N. Y....

Long Beach, N.Y.Middletown, N.YUtica.N. YCaristadt, N. JJersey City, N. JSummit, N. JOrange, N. J

Chester, Pa

Philadelphia, Pa

Cynthiana, Ky

Mount Vernon, Ohio

Parkersburg, W. VaDe Funiak Springs, FlaGallatin, Tenn

1 ! Federal National Bank....1 | Aquidneck National Bank1 Rockville National Bank.1 ! Clement National Bank...

State of New York Na-tional Bank.

National Bank of LongBeach.

First National BankFirst National BankCaristadt National Bank..Bergen National BankFirst National BankBrick Church National

Bank.Pennsylvania National

Bank.National Bank of North

Philadelphia.The National Bank

Sycamore, 111Rising Sun, IndLittle Falls, MinnHouston, TexSanta Ana, Calif

222222

3 j

3 I

4

The Knox National Bank.Second National BankFirst National BankFirst & Peoples National

Bank.Citizens National Bank...The National BankAmerican NationalBank..The Union National Bank.First Naitonal Bank

Powersgranted.

Ito9.5 to 9.1 to 9.lto 3, 5

to 7.l to 9.

ltoS.

lto 9.l to 9.lto 9.1 to 9.1 to 9.l to 9.

l to 9.

lto 9.

1 to 5, 7to 9.

1 to 7and 9.

l to 9.5 to 8.lto 9.

l to 9.l to 9.l to 9.l to 9.lto 9.


562 FEDERAL EESEEVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

VELOCITY OF BANK DEPOSITS.1

For 40 years bank clearings have been usedas an index of business activity. They wereamong the earliest of the statistics of businessto be compiled on a monthly basis and forthis term of years they have furnished perhapsthe most accurate single index available ofthe comparative volume of business transac-tions at different periods.

These bank clearings figures have had, how-ever, a number of limitations to their useful-ness, especially when one considers them asan index of changes in the banking and creditsituation. In the first place their scope hasleft room for question as to their meaning.They include only checks passing throughclearing houses and do not include counterchecks. They include drafts drawn by bank-ers against their own balances, which donot reflect business activity as directly as dochecks drawn by individuals. These defectsin the returns were corrected in the middle of1918, when the Federal Eeserve Board andbanks.inaugurated a series of weekly reports,from the banks of clearing-house centers, ofthe total amount of checks drawn and otherdebits to individual accounts. The actualchange in the magnitude or movement of thefigures reported as compared with clearingswas smaller than might have been anticipated,but the inauguration of the new form ofreport gave us much more clearly dennedfigures.

A second hindrance to a complete interpreta-tion of clearing-house figures from the bankingpoint of view is found in the fact that clearingsand the new debits reports also reflect two dif-ferent elements—changes in the amounts ofbank deposits and changes in the velocity orrate of turnover of such deposits. When wewish to consider the possibility of creditexpansion existing in any situation it makes agood deal of difference whether a high figureFor bank clearings is due to large bankdeposits, or whether it is due to an excep-tionally rapid turnover of deposits. The dis-tinction becomes of still greater importancewhen the subject under consideration is therelation of the volume of credit to the pricelevel.

1 This article,by W. Randolph Burgess, of the Federal Reserve Bank ofNew York, presents the results of a study made by the reports depart-ment of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with the help of thestatistical offices of the Federal reserve banks of Boston, Chicago, andSan Francisco. Acknowledgment is made to Prof. Irving Fisher andProf. E. W. Kemmerer for counsel, to Mr. I. H. Riddle, and to Mr.Clark A. Warburton. Summary results of the study have been reportedcurrently in the Monthly Review of the Federal Reserve Bank of NewYork.

The desirability of measuring velocity moreaccurately may be gathered from the fol-lowing quotation from an address to thestockholders of his bank made in January,1922, by the Hon. Reginald McKenna, chair-man of the London Joint City and MidlandBank:

If it were possible accurately to measure the velocityof circulation of money in 1921, as compared with 1920,I think it would be found that there was a decline lastyear of at least 40 per cent, a diminution which, while itdid not affect the total of bank deposits, caused a fall inprices and was largely responsible for the great reductionin trade and trade profits.

Until recently there has been no instrumentfor measuring currently the velocity or rateof turnover for bank deposits. The mostcomprehensive study of the subject is con-tained in Prof. Irving Fisher's "PurchasingPower of Money." On the basis of the incom-plete data available at that time, ProfessorFisher made an estimate of the velocity ofdeposits in the United States in the years1896 and 1909, and on the basis of thesefigures interpolated data for the interveningyears and in later articles extrapolated thefigures for a number of succeeding years.This study was entirely on an annual basis,however, and depended on a number of hy-potheses which were not at that time verifiable.

A more precise and more current measureis now made possible by the comprehensivestatistical returns received each week by theFederal reserve banks from a selected groupof 800 member banks in principal centers.Utilizing these figures, a computation hasbeen made of the velocity of deposits forseveral groups of banks.

METHOD OF COMPUTATION.

The final figure desired was the annual rateof turnover of deposits or the following fraction:

Annual amount of debits to individual accountsAverage demand deposits of individuals

The first step in the computation was toselect groups of banks which reported to theFederal reserve banks both the figures fordebits to individual accounts and net demanddeposits. Reports of debits to individualaccounts are made by members of clearinghouses in the different cities, while the avail-able reports of net demand deposits are forselected member banks in the different cities.The banks in these two groups are not identical,and hence it was necessary to deal with thefigures for individual banks.


MAT, 1923. FEDERAL. RESERVE BTJLI*ETIN. 563

In order to secure a comparable series offigures showing changes from time to time, itwas desirable to have these figures on a monthly-basis. Two major steps were necessary tofield the equation given above for each month,n the first place, debits to individual accounts

are reported by weeks and have to be con-verted to an annual rate for each month, takingaccount of holidays and the length of themonth. In the second place, certain sub-tractions had to be made from both the debitsand the demand deposits in order to makethem strictly comparable with each other.Figures for debits include withdrawals of timedeposits and also Government withdrawals.An estimate was made of the amount of with-drawals against time deposits each week bysecuring from six New York City banks, for anumber of different periods, records of theirwithdrawals of time deposits. It was foundthat time deposits in these banks were turningover about twice a year. The debits were cor-rected on the assumption that about this rateof withdrawal of time deposits is maintainedconsistently. Figures for Government with-drawals were secured from the records of theFederal reserve banks and these figures sub-tracted from the debits.

RATE OP TURNOVER or BANK DEPOSITS.ANNUAL RATE

£0

1919 1920 1921 192E 1923

The adjustments necessary in the debits toindividual accounts figures were comparativelysmall in size, and fluctuations one way or theother have but little effect on the final results.There is considerably more room for differencesof opinion and for error in computing the figureto be used for demand deposits. The figuredesired to compare with debits to individualaccounts is the amount of individual deposits,and for the purpose of the current computationthe figure has been limited to demand deposits.There is no figure reported currently showingsegregated the demand deposits of individuals.

The figure which comes nearest is that for netdemand deposits. The make-up of this figureis best shown by quoting the method of com-putation from the weekly condition report:

7. Net demand deposits on which reserve is com-puted

Individual deposits subject to check, certifi-cates of deposit due in less than 30 days, divi-dends unpaid, State and municipal deposits, andother deposits subject to notice of less than 30days, exclusive of United States Governmentdeposits.

Plus excess of total of—(a) Balances due to all banks other than

Federal reserve bank, foreign banksincluded.

(6) Amouut due to Federal reserve bank—Deferred credits.

(c) Cashier's, secretary's, or treasurer'schecks on own bank outstanding.

(d) Certified checks outstanding.Over the total of—

(e) Balances due from banks other thanFederal reserve bank and foreignbanks.

(f) Items with Federal reserve bank in proc-ess of collection.

(g) Exchanges for clearing house. j(ft) Checks on other banks in the same place.

NOTE.—In case the sum of items (e) to (ft), inclusive, is in excess of thesum of items (a) to ((i), disregard items (a) to (ft) in making up total ofnet demand deposits.

Since debits to individual accounts do notinclude checks drawn against bank balances,such figures must be excluded from the de-

RATE OF TURNOVER OP BANK DEPOSITS.ANNUAL RATE

\ .

/

/

'• J \ /

<

I

r-—i '•Z-S

J\

\

— A L

ROCH

VBU

\ a

ESTCRV*

•ML % '

RACUSE

V

\

\

-—/

N

\.-

V

\ /V

f t

1919 1920 1921 1922. 1923

posits as well. The amounts due to banks anddue from banks are reported separately; sothat a deduction can be made for these items.1No adequate allowance, however, can be madefor items b, c, and d, and/, g, and h, which areused in computing net demand deposits. Theprocedure has been to deduct from net demanddeposits the net amount due to banks—that is,the excess, if any, of due to banks over duefrom banks. No attempt has been made to

1 In the case of New York City these figures were available forindividual banks. For other centers they were estimated from thepercentage of the net amounts due to banks to net demand deposits forall the banks reported.



correct for the items b, c, d, and/, g, h, but astudy of the results of not making any suchcorrection indicates that in those cities wherethe amount due to banks exceeds the amountdue from banks, the adjusted net demanddeposits figure which is used for this computa-tion tends to be slightly lower than the truefigure for demand deposits of individuals.The amount by which it is lower is the excessof items/, g, and Ti over items i, c, and d, or, toput it another way, demand deposits arereduced by a part of the uncollected checksand other similar items which the bank holdsor has presented for collection. This reductionmay be justified by the fact that such un-collected checks may not in theory be drawnagainst and hence are a proper deduction fromdeposits subject to check. The practice ofdifferent banks in this matter is so varied thatno safe estimate can be made of the proportionof uncollected items which should be deductedfrom deposits, but the deduction made in thiscomputation appears to be a reasonable one.

In cities where the item " Due to banks'' is notas large as theitem "Duefrombanks," the figuresfor net demand deposits are under ordinarycircumstances the same as total demanddeposits. This condition held in only two ofthe cities studied, Rochester and Syracuse, andtends to make the velocity figures computedfor these cities slightly smaller than they wouldbe if the computation could be made onexactly the same basis as the figures for thelarger centers.

The various steps in the computation ofvelocity are shown in the accompanyingworking sheet for 42 New York City banks.

VELOCITY IK EIGHT CITIES, 1919-1922.

The annual rate of turnover of individualdemand deposits for representative groups ofbanks in eight cities is shown in the accom-panying diagram and table. The diagramsare drawn on a logarithmic scale in order thatthe percentage fluctuations in the lines repre-senting velocity in different cities may bedirectly comparable. The use of this scaletends to distort somewhat the contrast in rateof velocity between the different cities, butshows more truly the relative size of fluctua-tions.

It is notable that the rate of turnover in NewYork City is much more rapid than in anyother city reported, ranging from about sixtytimes a year to about ninety times a year.Chicago ranks second among the cities reported,with a rate of turnover of deposits betweenforty and fifty times a year. San Francisco,Boston, and four up-State New York citiesfollow in the order named. Syracuse showsthe slowest rate of turnover, reaching, inAugust, 1921, a rate as low as seven times ayear. It is clear that the rate of turnoverbears some relation to the size of the city andits population, although there are a number ofcases in which the order of ranking of the citiesin velocity is different from their order in sizeof population. The population of Boston, forexample, is considerably larger than that ofSan Francisco and the population of Buffalois practically as large as that of San Francisco.The velocity of deposits in both Boston andBuffalo is less than in San Francisco. Thereare clearly other influences affecting the rate

WORKING SHEET FOB COMPUTING VELOCITY OF BANK DEPOSITS IN 42 NEW YORK CITY REPORTING BANKS.

[000 omitted, except columns 6 and 12.]

Weekended.

1922.Jan. 4Jan. 11Jan. 18Jan. 25Feb. 1

1

Debits toindividualaccounts;

totalfor eachweek.

$4,529,3554,592,3674,766,2473,933,2964,233,272

2

Timedeposits

4-26(to besub-

tracted).

$7,1207,3707,1967.3677,333

3

Govern-mentwith-

drawalseach week

(to besub-

tracted).

$5,88416,8846,233

4

Revised• debitsfor each

week.

$4,522,2354,579,1134,742,1673,919,6964 225 939

5

Totaldebitseach

month)

$18,571,486

6

Num-ber ofwork-

ingdays

ineach,

month.

25

7

Averagedaily

debits.

$742,859

8

Annual rateof debits,col. 7X302(workingdays inyear).

$224,343,418

Date.

1922.Jan. 4Jan. 11Jan. 18Jan. 25

9

Netdemanddeposits.

$3,866,8223,850,9023,788,3383,754,903

10

Net dueto

banks(to besub-

tracted).

$804,960799,187781,546782,753

11

Reviseddemanddeposits

(average).

$3,023,130

12

Annualrate ofturn-

over ofdeposits(col. 8 *col. 11).

74.2

COMMENTS.—Column 2: An investigation in 6 New York City banks showed that time deposits turned over on an average about twice ayear. Checks drawn against time deposits each week therefore amount to about 2/52, or A , of the amount of time deposits.

Column 5: In arriving at the monthly figures, the debits for weeks at the beginning and end of the month are included in proportion to the num-ber of working days falling within the month. For example, { of the debits of the week ended January 4 and { of the debits of the week ended Feb-ruary 1 are included in January.

Column 10: This column is the excess of "Due to banks" over "Due from banks." If there is no excess, no correction is made.



of turnover besides size of population. Amongthe most important of these factors shouldprobably be listed the size of the populationin the immediate environment of the city andthe character of the city as a financial center.The factor which correlates most closely withvelocity is the amount of bank deposits. Thisrelationship will be presented more fully laterin this paper.A second striking feature of the figures is the

distinct seasonal movement in the velocity ofdeposits. In New York, for example, depositsturn over most rapidly in November and De-cember, accompanying the heavy volume ofretail trade preceding Christmas. In mostyears there is a secondary peak early in thesummer, at the time when summer purchasesare being made. The seasonal movement inBoston is closely similar to that in New York.In Chicago and San Francisco there is appar-ently no distinctive seasonal movement. Thefour up-State New York cities combined showa movement somewhat like that in New YorkCity, but with less violent fluctuations. Thediagram, which segregates the figures for thesefour different cities, indicates that the moststriking fluctuations are in the case of Albany,which appears to experience a high peak ofvelocity in May or June of each year and asecondary peak in December.

The fluctuations shown in the diagrams forthe past two years are clearly the result notsimply of seasonal changes, but also of changesin the business situation. In most of thecities for which figures are available, velocitywas at its highest in the latter part of 1919 orin the latter part of 1920. The figures for 1921were almost universally low, and the greatestinactivity appears to have been reached in mid-summer of 1921. A considerable recovery hastaken place since that time, particularly in thepast few months.

VELOCITY IN THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE.

From the figures which have been computedfor the velocity of deposits in eight cities it ispossible to learn something of the velocity ofdeposits in the country as a whole, although theeight cities are not sufficiently representativeto give a basis for anything more than anapproximate figure for the country.

For the eight cities the average velocity,weighted by the amount of total bank depositsas reported in the Bankers' Encyclopedia, was61 for the year 1920 and 56.9 for the year 1921.Even a casual inspection of the figures, how-ever, makes it clear that this average is too high

to be representative of the country as a whole.The cities included in the computation aremostly large cities, which are to a considerabledegree financial centers, and it is clear that therate of deposit turnover tends to be more rapidin large cities and financial centers than insmaller communities.

In an effort to discover some general rela-tionship, the rate of turnover in these eightcities has been compared with other factors,such as population, bank deposits, and bankdeposits per capita. Of these three factors,the one showing the highest correlation withvelocity was bank deposits. For seven of thecities (excluding Albany, which appears to bean exceptional case) the correlation betweenvelocity and deposit figures was very close.

On the basis of the data for the seven cities(excluding Albany), an attempt has been madeto estimate the velocity of deposits in othercities for which the only available data arethose for bank deposits. The largest group ofcities for which we have these figures is thatpublished in the Bankers' Encyclopedia in-cluding 282 clearing-house centers and givingdeposit figures for about December, 1921.The list includes 107 of the 134 cities of 50,000or more inhabitants and includes also 175 citiesof less than 50,000 inhabitants. Any averagevelocity computed from this list would un-doubtedly be too large to be representative ofthe country as a whole, but it would be onestep nearer to a country-wide figure than theweighted average computed simply from theeight cities.

On the assumption that velocity in these 282clearing-house centers bears the same relationto deposits as in the seven cities studied,velocity figures have been estimated. The24 cities reporting bank deposits over$100,000,000 were treated individually. Theremaining cities were divided into seven groupsand a velocity figure for each group estimated.An average velocity for all the 282 cities wasthen computed, weighting the velocity of each

f roup in accordance with the total amount ofank deposits in the group. The resulting

figure is 36. The large amounts of bankdeposits in such centers as New York, Chicago,and Boston give a weight to the high velocityin those cities which offsets in considerabledegree the very low velocity for cities withdeposits under $100,000,000.

The 282 clearing-house centers used in thiscomputation showed on December 31, 1921,total deposits of about $26,000,000,000, ascompared with total deposits for the countryas a whole reported in the Bankers' Encyclo-



pedia at $40,600,000,000. A minimum esti-mate of velocity for the country as a wholemay be secured by assuming that the velocityin all centers not included in our tabulationswas zero. The computation on this basis givesa velocity figure of 23.6.

On the basis of the foregoing, computationsit is probable that in 1920 and 1921 the velocityof circulation of individual demand depositswas at a rate somewhere between 25 and 35a year.

SUMMARY.

(1) Figures now collected by the Federalreserve banks make it possible to separate thetwo elements entering into the volume of checksdrawn, changes in the amount of individualbank deposits, and changes in the' rate of turn-over of deposits.

(2) The rate of turnover of deposits com-puted for groups of banks in 8 cities, for eachmonth since January, 1919, ranges from aminimum of seven times a year in Syracuse toninety times a year in New York City.

(3) Different cities reflect quite differentlychanges in seasonal demands for funds andcyclical changes in business.

(4) Velocity for the country as a whole in1920 and 1921 is estimated at somewherebetween twenty-five and thirty-five times ayear.

ANNUAL RATE OP TURNOVER OP BANK DEPOSITS.

Year.

1919.JanuaryFebruaryAprilM a y" J . . . . . . . . .JuneJuly .AugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...

1920.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune...JulyAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...

NewYorkCity.

.a

64.763.662.163.772.481.281.372.674.585.491.389.5

83.177.076.677.370 668.767.162.766.077.579.183.8

Al-bany.

as

33.029.127.434.240.649 043.128.930.335.033.839.2

24.628.725.732.234.632.935 032.131.832.631.835.9

Buf-falo.

10 inks

.

16.517.017.818.818.419.417.917.516.518.419.019.7

21.019.418.618.819.919.422.319.921.122.822.223.1

Roch-ester.

16.717.016.718.417.518.918.517.719.220.619.620.4

20.019.619.220.920 520.620.419.821.421.921.922.5

Syra-cuse.

A£>

15.311.49.09.88.69.7

10.29.9

10.411.512.212.1

11.610.810.011.711.411.712.811.411.613.211.611.5

Total4 up-State

cities.

18.817.116.018.218.019.818.616.616.818.718.819.7

18.918.517.418.919.519.221.019.019.921.220.521.3

Bos-ton.

^ d£

31.730.531.431.234.237.338.233.835.442.945.147.6

42.537.438.039.438 036.136.230.834.437.038.039.0

Chi-cago.

14 inks

.

2

4 7 850.244.346.447.046.551.3

50.044.145.346.347 049.748.246.351.550.846.949.4

SanFran-cisco

1£

35.539.639.034.038.038 541.943.144.242.842.544.9

40.942.643.140.340.739.438.535.441.641.640.241.8

ANNUAL RATE OP TURNOVER OP BANK DEPOSITS—Con.

Year.

1921.JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril.MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober. . .November.December.

1922.January...February..MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...October. . .November.December.

1923.JanuaryFebruary.March

NewYorkCity.

ss!s

76.368.064.162.968.766.266.258.765.770.475.777.1

74.275.275.479 977.875.774.265.268.686.377.479.9

79.982.384.0

Al-bany.

.a

26.124.827.027.436.830.528.122.524.426.027.730.5

28.525.422.429.428.626 224.322.121.624.025.831.4

23.526.023.9

Buf-falo.

s !

20.919.216.918.218.018.319.216.117.819.919.920.2

20.118.918.019.519.720.221.918.320.422.623.021.5

24.625.124.2

Roch-ester.

sC3

21.720.319.321.519.821.419.618.321.421.822.021.8

21.718.919.219.919.122.019.717.821.123.622.322.7

21.421.421.4

Syra-cuse.

i» a£

10.19.28.69.18.98.68.87.08.19.09.89.1

8.38.28.19.28.48.58.87.38.48.89.79.6

8.78.69.7

Total4 up-State

cities.

.

M a£

19.117.816.717.918.618.017.814.916.718.118.518. S

18.617.316.418.618.118.318.715.917.519.319.621.0

19.220.019.8

Bos-ton.

c3&

33.530.930.030.031.130.429.325.928.232.233.632.8

32.429.632.733.631.433.432.324.728.634.332.535.4

34.735.738.0

Chi-cago.

si,O

46.442.441.342.743.342.043.641.544.146.647.448.4

47.349.749.347.144.545.641.738.441.943.741.445.9

47.050.346.4

San

cisco.

wM£

39.437.742.842.440.242.338.936.738.642.237.442.8

43.937.741.239.437.337.837.134.440.737.439.739.9

39.039.742.6

COTTON FINANCING.

IV. FINANCING AMERICAN COTTON EXPORTS.1

Methods of financing the production of cot-ton and its marketing within the United Stateswere described in previous sections of thisstudy. It is the purpose of this article toanalyze the importance of cotton in Americanforeign trade; to describe the methods of finan-cing the exporter and of supplying credit in theimporting country as the cotton awaits con-sumption; and to discuss the changes that wereintroduced during and since the war to facili-tate the movement of cotton to foreign con-sumers.

A. COTTON IN AMERICAN FOREIGN TRADE.

The United States produces on the averageabout 60 per cent of the world's cotton crop.Approximately 35 per cent of the cotton pro-

1 This is the fourth of a series of articles describing the methodsjoffinancing the production and distribution of cotton. The precedingarticles appeared in the BULLETINS for February, March, and April,1923.

Data upon which this study is based were obtained largely from infor-mation furnished by banks in the leading cotton-exporting cities, cotton-exporting firms, sections of the reports of the World Cotton Confer-ences, New Orleans, 1919, and Liverpool and Manchester, 1921, and re-ports of Government agencies. To all of the contributors acknowledg-ment is due, especially to Mr. John J. Sample, of the GuarantyTrust Co. of New York, whose cooperation was very valuable.


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL. RESERVE BULLETIN. 567

duced within the United States prior to 1913was consumed by domestic mills and 65 percent was exported. Since the beginning of thewar domestic consumption has increased andthe average consumption for the nine years,1913-1922, was approximately one-half of thecotton produced and the remainder was ex-ported.

Raw cotton has been one of the chief exportsfrom the United States since the beginning ofthe producing industry. Small quantities hadbeen sold to foreign countries from time totime before the Revolutionary War, but regularcommerce did not begin until 1784. In thatyear 8 bags were exported to England. Thedevelopment of the cotton-manufacturing in-dustry in Great Britain during the last decadesof the eighteenth century caused an increaseddemand for cotton, and exports increased grad-ually from 1784 to 1793, when more than 3,000bales were exported. The invention of thecotton gin in 1793, combined with inventionsand improvements in the cotton-manufacturingindustry in England, gave a renewed impetusto the cotton-producing industry, and sincethat time cotton has been one of the chiefcommodities in American foreign trade. In1800 the value of cotton exported was$5,000,000, or 15.7 per cent of the total Amer-ican exports; in 1913 cotton constituted 22.5per cent of the value of all exports, but in 1921the percentage exported, due mainly to dis-turbed economic conditions in Europe and to arapid shrinkage in the value of raw cotton, wasonly 12.2 per cent. The value of all exports,cotton exports, and percentage of cotton tototal exports, for selected years 1800-1921, areshown in the following table:

• V A L U E O P C O T T O N E X P O R T S , ALL E X P O R T S , A N D P E R C E N T -A G E O F C O T T O N TO T O T A L , S E L E C T E D Y E A R S 1800-1921. '

Year.

18001810.1850.1870190019101911191219131914191519161917191819191920,1921

Value ofcotton ex-ports (000omitted).

$5,00015,10871,985

227,028241,833450,447585,319565,849547,357610,475376,218374,186543,075665,025

1,137,3711,136,409

534,242

Value ofall exports

(000omitted).

$31,84142,367134,900376,616

1,370,7641,710,0842,013,5492,170,3202,428,5062,329,6842,716,1784,272,1786,227,1645,838,6527,749,8168,080,4814,378,928

Percentageof cottonto total.

15.7035.6653.3660.2817.6426.3429.0726.0722.5426.2013.858.768.72

11.3914.6814.0612.20

1 Fiscal years to and including 1918; subsequently, calendar years.

While the domestic cotton-manufacturingindustry has developed rapidly and is consum-ing yearly large quantities of domestic cotton,foreign markets are still the principal consum-ers of the American crop and, therefore, areimportant in determining the economic sit-uation of the cotton producers of the SouthernStates. The cotton-producing industry hasexpanded to meet the increased demand fromcotton manufacturers, and the economic wel-fare of both is closely interwoven. The earlyexpansion of the industry and the develop-ment until the beginning of the Civil War wereto meet the increased demand from abroad.From 1870 to 1913 exports were approxi-mately 65 per cent of the annual production,but since 1913 domestic consumption has beenincreasing and total exports have been slightlysmaller. The importance of foreign marketsto the cotton-producing industry is indicatedin the following table, which shows the yearlyproduction, exports, and percentage of cottonexported for selected years from 1800 to 1921:

AMERICAN COTTON PRODUCTION, EXPORTS, AND PER-CENTAGE OP COTTON EXPORTED, SELECTED YEARS1800-1921.1

[Including linters.]

Year.

1800.18101850.1870.1900.1910.19111912191319141915191619171918191919201921

Produc-tion (000omitted.)

Bales.73

1782,1364,025

10,26612,00616,25014,31314,79516,99212,12312,78112,42812,97012,02913,8808,351

Exports(000

omitted).

Bales.42

1241,8542,9236,8078,206

10,6819,1999,2568,9316,4065,9644,5875,6646,7616,0266 476

Percentage.

57.569.786.872.666.366.868.164.362.552.552.846.636.943.756.243.4

>77.5

1 Statistical Abstract, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce;and Cotton Production and Distribution Bulletins, Bureau of the Census.

1 The high percentage in 1921 is due largely to the small crop of thatyear, as total exports showed an increase over the preceding year.

As foreign spinners were the most importantconsumers of American cotton prior to theWorld War, customary methods of exportinghad their inception in the early days of theindustry, and the machinery for handling theexports was gradually developed to meet theneeds. The yearly exporting period had closelyfollowed harvesting and movement to mar-kets within the United States. A study of theperiods of exporting for the 10 years, 1912-13



to 1921-22, shows that prior to the war morethan 65 per cent of the cotton was exportedduring the months of September, October,November, December, and January; that dur-ing the war the percentage exported in thesemonths was approximately 55 per cent, andsince the war the exports have tended to be-come more regular, as 45 per cent was exportedduring the five corresponding months. Thepercentage of cotton exported, t>y months, from1912-13 to 1921-22, inclusive, is shown in thefollowing table:

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF COTTON EXPORTS, BYMONTHS, 1912-13 TO 1921-22.

[Linters included.]

AugustSeptember..OctoberNovember..December..JanuaryFebruary...MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

1912-13

2.848.30

17.2419.7315.8210.246.044.236.085.332.551.60

1913-14

2.8110.1716.5916.4013.4511.508.217. GO4.354.313.231.38

1914-15

0.251.475.828.91

14.0716.0617.5714.147.877.203.782.86

2.628.10

10.918.479.028.71

11.377.498.448.248.887.75

1917-18 1918-19 ! 1919-20

AugustSeptember..OctoberNovember..December..JanuaryFebruary...MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

10.2710.1411.869.35

10.6610.338.046.964.876.526.114.89

5.086.476.786.18

10.3911.627.948.907.277.85

12.189.34

7.263.595.34

14.0113.2914.099.70

12.048.2S5.533.663.21

1920-21

2.533.9310.0711.7913.6210.448.516.475.528.248.5510.33

7.419.40

13.8812.7813.3410.476.236.194.746.554.284.73

1921-22

6.708.26

13.8510.2710.137.535.367.319.477.437.785.91

Principal export markets.—The principal ex-port markets for American cotton before thewar were England, Germany, France, Italy,Austria, and Spain. Other countries of Europewere important consumers of cotton, but theones mentioned were the most important andthe South looked to them to consume her sur-plus of raw material. At the outbreak of thewar the regular channels of commerce were dis-organized and central Europe, including Ger-many, was almost entirely cut off from theAmerican markets, and since then new marketshave been sought to take the surplus that wasformerly taken by Germany and CentralEurope.- Although Japan did not begin takingAmerican cotton until the last decade of thenineteenth century, she gradually increased hertakings until 1910, but it was during the years1910 to 1922 that her American cotton imports

increased from 95,000 bales to 895,000 bales.The increased exports to Japan since the begin-ning of the war have partly offset the reduceddemands of Germany and central Europe.In addition, larger quantities of cotton weretaken by the neutral countries of Europe dur-ing the war than before that period, a factorwhich further tended to reduce the surpluscaused by decreased consumption in belligerentEurope.

In spite of the fact that Germany has in-creased her cotton imports since the war, al-most all countries of Europe are suffering fromdisturbed economic conditions, and as a resultcotton has been imported and financed underconditions which are quite different from thosein pre-war years. Since 1920 exports to theUnited Kingdom have decreased from 3,445,000bales in that year to 1,787,000 in 1921 and1,807,000 bales in 1922. This has been duepartly to the decreased demand from Europefor English yarns and cloth resulting fromreduced purchasing power of continental con-sumers, and also to increased imports of cottoninto English markets from other producingcountries of the world.

Methods of shipping cotton abroad.—Methodsof distributing cotton abroad have developedwith the growth of the producing and manu-facturing industries. Prior to the Civil War,when cotton was grown by large planters,consignments for sale were often made toEnglish merchants who had extended credit tothe producers. The planter would therebyliquidate his obligations to the merchant andreceive additional supplies or build up creditwith the merchant, to be used in producing thenext crop. The plan was similar to that inuse in some sections by planters and factors in-marketing and financing the crop under presentconditions. Cotton was also distributedthrough factors who consigned it to agentsabroad, who in turn disposed of it to spinners.After the war between the States the cottonexchanges of Liverpool, New York, and NewOrleans were organized, and as new methodsof marketing cotton in the United States de-veloped changes in the methods of exportingwere evolved.

The English spinners procure their cottonthrough channels similar to those by which theraw fiber makes its way into the hands ofAmerican spinners. Cotton is shipped toGreat Britain by three classes of dealers: (1) ByAmerican shippers, who consign it to Liverpoolmerchants; (2) by buyers sent out from Liver-pool and Manchester houses; or (3) by Ameri-



can firms which have branch offices in Eng-land.2

The importing merchant does not alwaysdeal directly with the spinner. The customarymethod of disposing of cotton in Liverpool isthrough a selling broker. The spinner usuallyemploys a buying broker, who assemblessamples of the required grade to be inspectedby the spinner on his weekly visit to Liverpool.The spinner who purchases cotton in this man-ner usually has one or two buying brokers withwhom he deals. The selling broker, repre-senting the importer, and the buying broker,representing the spinner, each receive a com-mission, generally of one-half of 1 per cent ofthe value of the cotton. In Manchester theimporters, who have head offices there, usuallyserve as merchants and deal directly with thespinners. Importers of Liverpool often haveagents at Manchester and the method of dealingwith spinners is similar to that used in Liver-pool. While some merchants sell several kindsof cotton, others handle only a special type,such as long-staple cotton from the MississippiDelta, or some other special grade.

Unless the market is very favorable theEnglish spinner seldom buys a large stockof cotton early in the season. He usuallybuys to cover yarn sales, and few mills havewarehouse accommodations for more thanone or two months' consumption. Importersand merchants maintain large warehouses atLiverpool and Manchester, where cotton isheld pending delivery. Spot cotton is usuallybought by the spinners for immediate de-livery, although contracts for future deliveriesof so much per month are often made. Thesecontracts for future delivery often extendover several months. Price for spot cottonis generally determined by the current quota-tions, but for future deliveries it is oftenarranged that the spinner shall pay a certainnumber of points "on" or "off" the Liver-pool cotton exchange quotation at the timehe receives the cotton or at whatever time hedesignates. The actual payment for the cottonmay not be made until 60 days after delivery,but shorter terms are more commonly used.

Formerly European spinners obtained largequantities of cotton through Liverpool, butthe markets of Bremen and Havre have be-come important distributing points on theContinent. The German and central Euro-pean mills are supplied mainly through Bremen,

2 This description of the methods of distributing cotton in GreatBritain and on the Continent is based in part upon " The Cotton Manu-facturing Industry of the United States," Chapter XXI, p. 354, byM. T. Copeland.

while the French mills purchase most of theircotton through Havre. While prior to thewar some German spinners bought part oftheir material directly in America and somewas consigned to Bremen by American shippersto be sold on commission, the bulk of thecotton was handled by Bremen importers andmerchants who disposed of it through agentslocated in the manufacturing centers. Frenchspinners also formerly bought part of theirsupply directly from American shippers, butthe bulk o(f the American cotton is now boughtfrom Havre merchants through agents resid-ing in the mill districts. Havre merchantsbuy the cotton from importers and Americanshippers, generally through the medium ofbrokers. In view of the disturbed financialconditions which have prevailed in Europesince the war, the old-established methods ofimporting and financing cotton have beenchanged. Some cotton is still consigned byAmerican shippers to agents and importers, butmills have been unable to take large quantitiesof cotton, and consequently new methods ofselling and distributing cotton have beenintroduced, with which the problem of financingis closely interwoven.

B. FINANCING COTTON EXPORTS.

The problem of financing American cottonthat enters international trade can be dividedinto two parts—(1) that which relates to thehandling of the transaction in the exportingcountry, and (2) that which deals with thecredit arrangement that is used by the importerin establishing credit to make cotton pur-chases and financing the shipment until itreaches the spinner. Shipments from theUnited States follow demands from abroadand the initial steps in arranging credits aretaken by the importer with his bank in theimporting country. But, as the problem islargely one of exports from the standpoint ofthe United States, it is advisable to analyze,first, the steps in financing exports and,second, the methods used by importers inestablishing financial connections to maketheir purchases and to finance the cotton afterit arrives and while it awaits consumption.In order to discuss the problem from thestandpoint of the exporter it must be assumedthat the initial steps for financing the trans-action have been taken by the importer.

As England is the greatest consumer ofAmerican raw cotton the methods of financingexports have developed from practices thathad their inception in the London discount



market and the Liverpool cotton market.Formerly three principal plans were used infinancing cotton to the United Kingdom andto the Continent, namely, (1) bankers' com-mercial credits; (2) importers' acceptances:and (3) spinners' acceptances. These methodsare still used in financing sales to England andto a large extent to some countries on theContinent, but new methods have been estab-lished to finance sales to the countries ofEurope that have been undergoing disturbedfinancial conditions resulting from rapidlydepreciating currencies.

Bankers' commercial credits.—Bankers' creditsare still the universal system of financing sales tothe United Kingdom and are the most impor-tant methods used. Under this method the im-porter arranges with his bank in England to ac-cept drafts drawn on it by the American cottonexporter for the account of the importer. Theimporter and exporter then enter into a salescontract concerning a given number of balesof cotton of specified grade. At the same timethe importer notifies the exporter of the nameof the bank upon which the draft is to bedrawn. The exporter prepares the cotton forshipment; if it is at a port he delivers it to thesteamship Company and secures an ocean billof lading, insurance policy, and other shippingdocuments, but if the cotton is at an inlandcity the exporter delivers it to the transporta-tion company and secures a "through" bill oflading. The cotton is then moved to the portand loaded on the steamship.

The exporter then draws a sterling draft at60 or 90 days' sight upon the importer's bankand discounts his sterling bill with a bank.In many cases, however, where the exporter'slocal bank does not deal in foreign exchange,he draws a dollar draft on a bank in New Yorkwhich has consented to buy the sterling draft.If the shipment is made from a southern portthe exporter presents the New York dollardraft to his southern bank, accompanied bythe sterling draft, bill of lading, marine insur-ance certificate, and other documents. Thesouthern bank applies the amount of the draftin repayment of the advances, in case somewere made in purchasing the cotton, and cred-its the remainder to the account of the ex-porter. The dollar draft, accompanied by thesterling bill and documents, is forwarded to thesouthern bank's correspondent in New York,who presents it to the bank that has contractedto purchase the exchange and upon paymentof same surrenders to it the sterling draft andaccompanying documents.

The bank that has bought the sterling draftsends it forward immediately to its agent inLondon, who presents it to the importer'sbank for acceptance. The accepting bankretains the bill of lading and insurance cer-tificate as security against its acceptance,which is then held until maturity for accountof the American bank with its agent or cor-respondent in London. If funds are neededthe acceptance is disposed of in the London dis-count market. Under this method of finan-cing cottdn the entire transaction, from thestandpoint of the English importer and hisbank, is based entirely on credit, as no fundsare advanced by either of them.

Importers' trade acceptances.—While the bulkof cotton going to the United Kingdom isfinanced largely in the manner outlined, someco.tton is moved on bills drawn directly on theimporters. The original steps in preparing theshipment are taken in the same manner as inthe case of bankers' commercial credits, exceptthat the foreign buyer notifies the Americanexporter at the time the cotton is ordered todraw a sterling draft on him (the importer)covering the shipment. The draft, accom-panied by the shipping documents, is thenforwarded to the correspondent of the southernbank in New York and the same method ofprocedure as in the case of bankers' credits inhandling the exchange is followed. The bankwhich has purchased the draft sends it forwardto its agent in London, and the agent presentsit to the importer for acceptance. The bank-ing agent presenting the draft is generallyrequested to retain the shipping documentsuntil the cotton arrives in England. In casethe importer takes up the acceptance beforeits maturity a rebate is allowed, but if the bankadvances funds to take up the acceptanceunder rebate or at maturity the bank generallyholds the documents as security for the ad-vance.

Spinners' acceptances.—Some cotton is ex-ported directly to spinners, the shipments andbills arising in the same manner as those de-scribed for importers, but this method is onlyused to a limited extent. Spinners generallyprefer to purchase cotton through cotton mer-chants or importers, but on account of dis-turbed financial conditions a few Americanexporters have exported some cotton to Europein this manner. Exports to continental spin-ners under spinners' acceptances are usuallyinsured against loss through indemnity insur-ance companies making a specialty of thistype of business. They usually insure the pay-



ment for about 75 per cent of its amount, andthe American exporter carries the remaining25 per cent. Some of these bills have been dis-counted by American banks, but this methodof exporting has not made much progress andis not considered a very favorable method offinancing cotton exports by American bankers.The extent to which they have been willing todiscount such acceptances has depended uponthe financial standing of the American exporter,the drawer of the bill.

Currencies used in drawing hills.—Before thewar interrupted the machinery used in financ-ing exports, it was customary for the exporterto draw his reimbursement draft in foreign cur-rency. This was due to the lack of a discountmarket in the United States and to the factthat American banks, with few exceptions, hadno authority to grant acceptance credits. Thepound sterling was the principal currency usedfor the drawing of cotton bills, and these weresold in the London discount market, wherethey were considered generally as credit instru-ments of the highest type. In addition, francand mark bills were used freely in financingsales to the Continent. This custom continuedmainly in the trade with Great Britain and withthe principal cotton-consuming countries on theContinent. However, during the war Francefound it necessary to purchase large quantitiesof cotton, but as the franc and pound sterlinghad become unstable, the French commission incharge of purchases arranged for reimbursementin United States dollars for cotton purchased inthe United States.3 Since the war this methodhas beenfollowed bymost continental countries,as the continued fluctuations of continental ex-changes have made it desirable for Americanexporters to do business with Europe on a dollarbasis. Cotton is quoted in cents per poundlanded at a European port. The European im-porter, when he contracts by cable for an orderof cotton, contracts in his country for dollars inNew York in order to meet the draft drawn indollars by the American exporter. Some cottonis sold to England and reimbursement made byway of New York bank credit in dollars, butthe extent to which exports to England arefinanced on this basis is very small; the oldbasis of sterling credits has continued.

C. FINANCING COTTON IMPORTING.

The problem of financing cotton importsconcerns primarily the importer and his bankin financing cotton after it arrives in the im-

3FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN, September, 1921, p. 1066.

porting country and as it awaits sale to thespinners.

Arrival of cotton in England.—Having tracedthe movement of cotton, the origin of thedocuments in the United States, and themethods used by the exporter and the Amer-ican banks in handling the sterling drafts, thenext problem that arises is the handling ofthe cotton after it arrives in England. Whenthe cotton arrives the importer receives theshipping documents from the bank thataccepted the draft, or holds them for hisaccount, with instructions to claim the cottonfrom the steamship company and warehouseit in the name of the bank or hold it in trustfor the bank pending sale. The importergives a trust receipt to the bank on receivingthe bill of lading and becomes the trustee forthe bank in handling the cotton, which isgenerally held by the importer, properlyinsured, in warehouses at Liverpool or Man-chester for the account of the bank. If thegoods are sold to a spinner immediately, theproceeds are surrendered to the bank in liquida-tion of the acceptance or to reimburse thebank for advances that were made to the im-porter to enable him to take up the acceptanceunder rebate.

Unlike the American manufacturer, theEnglish spinner does not purchase large quan-tities of cotton in advance. On the otherhand, the importers of Liverpool and Man-chester usually keep large quantities of rawcotton in warehouses in these cities in order tomeet the demands from the spinners. Inorder to keep the necessary supplies of rawcotton on hand the importers must sometimeshold it for long periods of time, varying fromseveral months to a year. This necessitatesfinancing over long periods.

Financing stored cotton in England.—Most ofthe cotton shipped to England is financed bymeans of acceptance credits furnished eitherby banks in England or by cotton importersof strong financial standing. These bills aremade to mature generally within 60 to 90 days,but as cotton is often stored for longer periods,additional financing is necessary. Acceptancesunder which cotton is moved from the UnitedStates are usually discounted in the Londonmoney market at a comparatively low rate,but it is customary to liquidate the bills atmaturity and use other methods for carryingthe cotton.4

* This and the following paragraphs are based upon " Finance of theCotton Trade,"prepared by Peter Forrester, managing director, UnionBank of Manchester (Ltd.), and director of Barclays (Ltd.), and printedin Oldham and District Journal of Commerce, April, 1920.



If the importer has ample means of his own,he provides the bank with funds to meet theacceptance when due and carries the cottonhimself until it is sold. But, as few importersare thus situated, one of the following threeplans is used: (1) A bill is drawn by the im-porter on an "accepting house," and the cot-ton is stored in a warehouse in the name ofthe " accepting house." The bill accepted bythe "accepting house" is discounted by theimporter with his bank, or elsewhere. This isthe cheapest form of financing, practicallycontrolling the charges on all other methods,and is used generally for large operations. Thecost of this method is, accepting commission(usually one-fourth to three-eighths of 1 per centfor 3 months' bill), plus bill stamp (equal 4 s. per100 pounds per annum), plus cost of discountingthe bill. (2) The importer draws a bill, generallyat 3 months, on the broker to whom he intruststhe cotton for sale, and discounts this billwith his bank and stores the cotton to thebank's order as security for the payment of thebill. The importer who is financing the cottonis willing to pay a little more to the bank forthis accommodation than he would have topay under method (1), as the broker does notcharge a commission for accepting. Also itis more convenient, as it can be carried outlocally without the intervention of the London"accepting house." In cases where the im-porter is selling cotton himself, and does notemploy a broker, he can not avail himself ofthis method. (3) The importer goes to hisbank and takes a loan for 3 months and storesthe cotton in the bank's name, and thus avoidsthe intervention of any third party, and hewill usually pay a little more for this than hewould under methods (1) and (2), as it is lesstroublesome and is entirely between him andhis bank.

In all three cases the cotton, or some of it,will usually be sold before the period of theadvance has elapsed, and it is customary forthe bank to receive these payments and makean interest allowance for them.

Hedging.—While the marketing and dis-tribution of cotton is a gigantic financial taskfor the financial institutions in the UnitedStates and those of all the principal cotton-consuming countries of the world, the ease andeffectiveness with which the crop is handled isdue in a large measure to the organized cottonexchanges of the world and the facilities whichthey offer for insuring against the risks which ac-company fluctuations in the cotton market,resulting from daily price changes. Use is madeof exchanges in the United States and Liverpool

in buying and selling futures throughout theyear. When a cotton merchant buys a lot of100 bales of cotton during the marketingseason he either sells it immediately to anothermerchant, spinner, or exporter, or sells in oneof the principal cotton markets a future con-tract for the same number of bales of cottonin order to protect himself as far as possible inthe event of a decline in the value of his pur-chased cotton. If cotton is bought in Octoberthe merchant may immediately sell a Januaryor any other future-month contract against it.This transaction is known as a "hedge" andserves as a method of protecting the merchantagainst losses in case of a decline in the market.If the cotton is sold in the meantime themerchant cancels the "hedge" by buying inthe future contract.

In the United States two future-contract mar-kets—New York and New Orleans—are used bymerchants, brokers, exporters, and others, but theprinciple of hedging is of even greater importanceto the importers in England and on the Con-tinent. When an importer buys cotton in theUnited States in 100-bale lots he immediatelysells a future contract in the Liverpool marketcovering the amount purchased to protecthimself against price declines while the cottonis en route from the exporting country. Thus,if an importer buys cotton in October orNovember in the United States, he usually sellsa January or March future contract against itin Liverpool, the future month being deter-mined by the approximate date of arrival orsale of the cotton.

The problem of hedging is of great impor-tance to the banks that extend credit to themerchants who handle cotton in the UnitedStates as well as to the banks that finance itsimportation. If the American cotton mer-chant keeps his cotton hedged through thesale of future contracts the loans are moresecure and business can be transacted on amuch narrower margin than on cotton thatis unprotected. In England the banker isprimarily interested in keeping cotton hedged,because he has accepted the bills under whichit is moving, and if it was not thus protectedthe margin maintained on cotton loans wouldhave to be much larger to insure the bankagainst loss.

Payment of differences.—An important prob-lem in connection with hedging is that of thepayment of "differences." As cotton risesm value the seller of a future contract is re-quired to pay "differences" for the protectionof the buyer of the contract. In New York pay-ment of such differences may be called for daily,



but in Liverpool it is called for once a week,and the banker holding the actual cotton thathas been hedged often has to furnish the im-porter with money required to meet the differ-ences. Oftentimes the bank is called upon toprovide differences for a greater number ofbales of cotton than the number against whichit has made advances or given acceptances.Differences may even represent cotton thathas been shipped to England but not yet ar-rived. In such cases the bank is less eager toprovide money to meet the differences thanwhen the cotton is actually in its possession.

In a falling market the opposite conditionsprevail, and the importer will receive differencesin respect of hedges. Such differences enablehim to keep up the margin which his banksrequire in the value of the cotton held by themas a security.

D. CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE WAR.

At the close of the war the establishedpractices of distributing and financing cottonwere found to be in many respects impractica-ble, partly because they had grown up during aperiod when the United States was a debtorcountry and cotton exports had been an im-portant means of settling international bal-ances. As a consequence of changes broughtabout by the war, which have made the UnitedStates into a creditor nation, the burden offinancing American cotton for export has beenlargely shifted to financial institutions withinthe United States.

Consignment of cotton abroad.—As has beenindicated, cotton is often consigned to Europeby American exporters and held in storagein the ports to meet the demands from thespinners. This method, although not an en-tirely new departure, is used extensively indistributing cotton to continental consumers.Such cotton is consigned to a representative ofthe American exporter located in one of theprincipal European ports and is financed en-tirely in dollars. The exporter contracts withan American bank, generally in New York, tofinance his transaction. At the time of consign-ment the exporter usually draws a sight draft of90 days with documents attached, on the NewYork bank for 80 per cent of the value of thecotton. The draft is accepted, documentsdetached, at an agreed commission, andthe drawer (the exporter) then discounts itin the open market and obtains dollars, withwhich he reimburses the bank in the South thatfinanced the cotton up to the port. The New

York bank then forwards the documents to itscorrespondent in the European port, withinstructions to receive and warehouse the cot-ton on arrival and hold the warehouse receiptsunder control. The receipts are deliveredagainst sales contracts made by the agent orrepresentative of the American exporter, butdocuments are delivered to the purchaser onlyagainst payment. The proceeds are remittedby the European bank direct to the bank inNew York that accepted the original draft.The funds are then held pending maturity ofthe exporter's obligation and finally used forliquidating the original loan, the excess beingcredited to the account or paid to the exporter.During the last few years this method has beenused extensively and has been a great relief tothe European spinners who have been unableto finance their requirements as formerly.The plan has necessitated the keeping of stocksof cotton by American exporters in the prin-cipal European ports in order to supply thespinners who have been forced to purchasetheir consumption requirements weekly ormonthly. The furnishing of cotton in thismanner to Europe and, of late, also to Japan,has necessitated the development of efficientorganizations by export concerns for handlingcotton in the importing country.

Dollar credits.—In view of the disturbedfinancial conditions existing in Europe sincethe war, many American exporters who arestill selling cotton on the pre-war plan demandthat their reimbursement credits be openedwith New York banks, to which they maydeliver the shipping documents and receive theamount of their invoice in dollars. In somecases the exporter draws on the New Yorkbank in dollars at 60 or 90 days' sight againstdelivery of the documents. The exporter thenhas a prime New York bank acceptance whichhe can sell in the open market at favorablerates. Such credits are generally opened inNew York by European banks for due pay-ment, so that when drafts are paid or acceptedthe New York bank forwards the documentsdirect to the European bank, which disposes ofthem to the importer.

Within the last few years many Europeanimporters have been buying cotton in dollars,payment to be made at the foreign port onarrival of the vessel carrying the cotton.Exporters doing business on this basis havebeen financed by New York banks and a largevolume of business has been handled in thismanner. The banks generally depend uponthe exporter and the documents covering the



shipments, which are hypothecated for theirsecurity. Banks report that the plan hasworked very satisfactorily, and it js estimatedthat approximately 65 per cent of the totalAmerican cotton exports are financed by meansof dollar credits.

Insurance.—In connection with the methodsthat have been introduced in financing cottonunder present conditions the problem of insur-ing cotton that is consigned abroad has like-wise undergone changes. Before the war allrisks affecting cotton were covered by foreigninsurance companies, and such methods con-tinued for a time after the beginning of the war.However, when the American banks, on ac-count of the violent fluctuations in foreigncurrencies, began to finance exports on a dollarbasis, it became necessary for the cotton to beinsured in dollars, so as to protect those makingadvances on it. American companies beganto enter the field, and now practically all of thecotton stored abroad is insured immediatelyafter discharge from the steamer against lossby fire, civil riots, strikes, lockouts, and generaldisturbances. The risks are carried in dollars.In addition, American companies are also in-suring against marine risks, but a large volumeof these risks are still carried by British com-panies.

Banking legislation.—While the war was in-strumental in causing changes to be made inmethods of exporting and financing cotton,American banking laws have been amendedand changed to permit greater participationby American institutions in handling the trans-actions. Through the passage of the Federalreserve act acceptances were introduced intoAmerican banking practice, but later legislationwas enacted that permitted the establishmentof additional institutions to facilitate Americanforeign trade.

Eage law banks.—While national banks werepermitted under the Federal reserve act togrant acceptance credits, additional institu-tions to facilitate foreign trade were providedfor through the Edge Act, which was approvedin December, 1919. According to the FederalReserve Board's regulations, Edge law bankswere empowered, under certain conditions, toaccept drafts or bills of exchange growing outof transactions involving the importation andexportation of goods, and having a maturity notin excess of six months except with theapproval of the Federal Reserve Board.Several of these corporations have been or-ganized and have aided in financing cottonexports along new lines required by post-warconditions.

The Federal International Banking Co. of NewOrleans, organized about the close of 1920under the Edge Act, for the accommodation ofsouthern foreign commerce, has been instru-mental in facilitating the export of more than700,000 bales of cotton.5 In order to use the fa-cilities offered by the Edge corporations the ex-porter establishes his credit with the corporation,and the bank agrees to finance the transactionwithin certain limits and upon certain terms.Having established a credit, the exporter sendsto the Edge bank his "documentary drafts"(the draft or bill on the foreign customer withconsular invoice, ship's bill of lading, and in-surance contract attached), which the banksends to a foreign correspondent bank tocollect. The exporter then draws a draft uponthe bank payable on the date agreed upon(usually the date when the money from theforeign collection will reach the Edge law bank)for the amount which the exporter wants ad-vanced against the shipment. The seconddraft is accepted by the bank and discountedby the exporter in the open market.6

War Finance Corporation.-—In the autumnof 1920, when the collapse of commodity mar-kets became acute and likewise exports failedto move in the usual manner, emergency legis-lation appeared necessary to relieve the situa-tion. The War Finance Corporation was re-vived in January, 1921, after having suspendedits activities in May, 1920, "with the view ofassisting in the financing of the exportation ofagricultural and other products to foreigncountries." Cotton being the country's great-est agricultural export, attention was given im-mediately to the conditions affecting its export.

Financing cotton through the corporation.—Inorder to aid the exportation of cotton, the firststep taken by the corporation was to makeadvances to finance the carrying of stocks ofAmerican cotton in foreign warehouses. Thisdid not seem sufficient to meet the needs at thetime and the corporation then began to makeadvances on cotton stored in the United States,but under contract for sale abroad. Under itsexport powers the corporation financed cottonand other agricultural commodities for exportunder the following conditions:7

(1) For prompt shipment against deferredpayments.

(2) • For future shipment within a reasonabletime, against either prompt or deferred pay-ments, where the products are under a definitecontract of sale.

6 Federal International News, February. 1923.• Todd, Frederick, "The First Year of Edge Law Banking." Eco-

nomic World, Feb. 26,1921.7 Annual report of War Finance Corporation, NOT. 30, 1921.



(3) For prompt shipment to warehouses inforeign distributing points, to be held there foraccount of American exporters and bankers formarketing out of warehouses.

(4) For shipment within a definite period, theproducts to be held in warehouses in thiscountry until they can be marketed abroad inan orderly manner, the applicant to give defi-nite assurance that the agricultural productspledged as security for the advance will beexported before the maturity of the advance,to an aggregate amount (including insuranceand freight if paid by the exporter to domesticinsurers and carriers) not less than the amountof the advance.

Loans were made to exporters who were en-gaged in the business of exporting domesticproducts to foreign countries and to banks thatwere engaged in the financing of exports. Thecorporation from January, 1921, to November,1922, inclusive, advanced $38,654,000 for ex-port purposes, of which advances for the ex-porting of cotton totaled $26,561,000. Of thetotal loans for exports purposes $7,547,000were advanced to exporters, $2,638,000 to coop-erative marketing associations, and $28,469,000to banking and financing institutions.8

While the corporation originally offered tomake advances for cotton exports under cer-tain conditions, it soon became evident thatapplications for advances were not being madeon a sufficiently large scale to become an im-portant factor. A further step became neces-sary. Early in July, 1921, the corporationagreed to advance funds to cooperative associa-tions to finance the carrying of cotton until itcould be exported. Methods used by coopera-tive associations in financing their cottontransactions will be described in a subsequentarticle.

Finishing credits.—In addition to the planswhich were introduced to extend credits toaid the financing of the exportation of cotton,other methods were developed for shippingcotton abroad. At the Brussels FinancialConference in September, 1920. a "finishingcredits" plan was adopted. Under this planit was thought that cotton could be exportedto Europe by American firms to be manu-factured into yarns and cloth and be sold inthe world's markets, and the proceedsdistributed to the original owners of thecotton.

Operation of plan.—The plan was an en-tirely new departure in American exportmethods, and necessitated the working out ofconsiderable details in the methods of handlingthe transaction. The plan adopted and put

8 Annual report of War Finance Corporation, Nov. 30, 1922.

into operation was known as the "toll plan"of exporting and financing. The owner whodesired to dispose of his cotton under thisplan shipped it to the company handling thetransaction at the nearest American port.The cotton was inspected and classified andall that was suitable for manufacture underthe contract was accepted irrevocably foraccount of the foreign mills by an agent of themills. The owner received in return for hiscotton a trust receipt and participation certifi-cate, and his particular cotton was combinedin lots of 100 or more bales with other cottonof like staple and grade. The cotton was thenexported to Hamburg, where it was receivedby the agent of the mills, principally inCzechoslovakia. The mills received the stapleunder a trust receipt, guaranteeing to manu-facture the cotton into such yarns and clothas directed. Thus, the cotton was held andmanufactured by the mills as trustees for theowners, and the banks in Prague and Viennaguaranteed the transaction.

The yarns and cloth made from the cottonwere redelivered by the mills to the warehousesof the company, usually at Hamburg or otherEuropean ports, where it was sold. The pro-ceeds of the sales, after deducting the cost ofmanufacture, handling, shipping, commissionfor services both in America and abroad, weredistributed in proportion to the amount andvalue of the cotton shipped by each individualowner.

In order to complete the cycle of manufac-ture and to resell the goods it was estimatedthat from 6 to 9 months would be required.Funds for financing the process during thisperiod were obtained through the agencieshandling the cotton. The documents repre-senting the cotton during the entire periodwere pledged with banking companies againstwhich acceptances were issued. Loans weremade to the owners of the cotton up to acertain^ percentage of its value, against whichthe company had a first lien on the cotton.From the proceeds borrowed it was estimatedthat approximately $20 per bale (1921) wereneeded to meet expenses arising from handlingthe cotton. This was retained and the re-mainder was advanced to the owner of thecotton.

More than 20,000 bales of cotton have beenexported in this manner, and a considerablepart of such cotton was of very low grade. Thereturns are reported to have been profitable.The plan has been reasonably satisfactory andthe yield to the owners was more than couldhave been received for the cotton in thedomestic market at the time the shipment


576 FEDERAL BESERVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

was made. However, the continued demor-alized conditions in Europe have caused delaysin final liquidation recently, though it is statedthat such liquidation will be made within a fewmonths and on a satisfactory basis. The risein the spot-cotton market in the United Stateshas made it attractive for owners to sell in localmarkets, and further efforts at the present timeto export cotton for fabrication have not beenattempted.

CONDITION OF STATE BANKS AND TRUSTCOMPANIES ON JUNE 30 AND DECEM-BER 29, 1922.

Since the publication in the April FEDERALRESERVE BULLETIN of the consolidated state-ment of condition as of the middle and endof 1922 of State banks and trust companies,figures have been received from the MissouriState Banking Department showing the con-

dition on December 6 of the past year of thebanks subject to State supervision.

In the following table are shown compara-tive figures of the principal assets and liabilitiesof the Missouri State banks and trust com-panies (including 3 private banks) on April 3,as given in the report of the Comptroller ofthe Currency and on December 6, the date ofthe most recent condition report published bythe State Banking Department, also amendedmiddle and end-of-year figures for State banksand trust companies in the Middle West sectionof the country and in the United States as awhole. The inclusion of figures for over 1,500additional banks does not cause sufficientchanges in the totals to call for new commentor discussion. In making comparisons be-tween developments in Missouri and elsewhereone should remember, however, that the inter-val between the two condition statements forthe Missouri banks in the following tabulationis about 9 months, as against 6 months for thebanks in most of the other States.

PRINCIPAL RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF STATE BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES IN MISSOURI AS OF APRIL ANDDECEMBER, 1922, ALSO TOTALS FOR MIDDLE WESTERN STATES AND GRAND TOTALS FOR THE UNITED STATES.

[In thousands of dollars.]

RESOURCES.

Number of banks reporting

Loans and discountsOverdraftsUnited States Government securitiesAll other securitiesTotal investmentsBanking house, furniture, and fixturesOther real estate ownedDue from banksReserve with Federal reserve or other banksChecks and other cash items, including clearing-house exchanges..Cash on hand.'.Other resources..;

Total.

LIABILITIES.

Capital stock paid in . ,SurplusUndivided profitsDue to all banksCertified and cashiers' checksIndividual deposits, including dividends unpaid and postal savingsUnited States deposits (exclusive of postal savings)Notes and bills rediscountedBills payableOther liabilities

Total.

Missouri.

Apr. 3. Dec. 6.

1,516

544,673984

116,731116,73118,9204,241

109,947

13,73416,13726,398

851,765

72,55141,50712,69153,472

>615,182

2 21,44134,921

1,501

620,1061,204

192,000192,00021,0354,740

139,938

10,60521,65334,720

1,046,001

80,51745,99016,29865,418

1 775,115

2 26,41436,249

851,765 ; 1,046,001

Total Middle Western. Total United States.

June. December.

8,267

4,536,4666 216

313,4411,211,9151,525,356

177,55937,952

488,895299,956125,972154,837167,738

7,520,947

543,513303,046137,335213,96745,055

5,886 1524,764

47,981138,073201,061

7,520,947

8,271

4,724,7668,962

358 7021,361,8821,720,584

188,06341,706

547,571247,421165,353213,448177,709

8,035,583

557,016311,041131,487239,20765,192

6,296,49415,91725,653

167,185226,391

8,035,583

June. December

20,894

13,280,12121,421

731,3024,278,4475,009,749

572,559118,811

1,272,3371,174,624

674,067449,966540,424

1,591,8161,171,740

341 110715,294100,414

18,049,33224,375

151,264396,006572,728

20,901

13,489,42030,702

739,5024,969,8725,709,374

611,326120,086

1,357,9181,137,384

688,833597 849589^754

23,114,079 24,332,646

1,623,6951,230,337

344,241839,885106,791

18,943,20517,892

107,443433,790685,367

23,114,079 I 24,332,646

1 Includes cashiers' checks. 2 Includes rediscounts.



BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL CONDITIONS ABROAD.Great Britain.—Employment continued to increase in March, the percentage of insured

persons out of work falling from 11.8 to 11.1 per cent. The improvement was most markedin iron mining, shipbuilding, and the metal trades, while in cotton manufacturing the numberof unemployed increased nearly 4 per cent. Coal and iron production has been expandingas a result of the lowered output in Germany and France, but the British textile trades are feelingthe effect of heav3^ cancellations of continental orders. Prices of iron and steel and othermetals have risen sharply since the beginning of the year and have been reflected in a 5-pointadvance in the .Federal Reserve Board index for March to a level of 175 (1913 = 100). Foodprices, on the other hand, have declined and prices of textiles have changed but little.

Money rates in the London market continue low. The slightly tighter credit situationduring February and March—largely due to heavy tax payments—became easier in Aprilthrough Government disbursements for interest and maturing treasury bills. With the furthereasing of short-term money rates, the yield of high-grade bonds has become lower. DuringApril sterling exchange dropped to $4.63, the lowest point since the opening of the year. Thedecline of the pound has been attributed chiefly to the larger adverse trade balance in the firstquarter of 1923, to recent increases in British commodity prices, and to the transfer of fundsfrom London to New York.

France.—No general decrease in employment seems to have occurred in France, althoughunemployment resulted in the French steel industry on account of the interruption in the usualsupply of coke obtained from Germany. For some months unemployment in Paris has beendeclining slightly, and the shortage of labor throughout the country is shown by the steadyincrease in the weekly reports of the number of situations vacant. The latest business statisticsavailable for France continue to show great activity, except in the metal industry. Freight-car loadings rose from a daily average of 54,432 in January to 56,528 in March, an increase of14 per cent over March, 1922. Receipts from the turnover tax in March have been exceededonly once since October, 1920, and average daily clearings in Paris continued high.

Deposits, bank notes, and discounts of the Bank of France showed further reduction duringApril. Open-market rates in Paris have remained slightly above 4 per cent for several monthspast. The recovery of French exchange during March and April checked the rise in the pricesof numerous imported commodities and consequently the rapid rise in the general level ofprices.

Germany.—The decrease of business activity in Germany following the occupation of theRuhr continued during March and April. Coal and coke output has been reduced to smallproportions, and unemployment throughout the country has further increased. As a resultof the stabilization of the mark and reduced consumption of most commodities, wholesale pricesas measured by the Frankfurter Zeitung index declined from 715,881 (July, 1914=100) onFebruary 1 to 677,000 and 639,300, respectively, at the beginning of the two following months.Prices of domestic commodities, however, which previously had been considerably lower thanthose of imported articles, showed much smaller declines than did those of foreign goods, sothat the difference between the prices of the two classes of merchandise was narrower in Marchthan in any recent month.

With the decline in business activity the demand for credit has diminished. The rate ofincrease in note circulation has been reduced, the output of paper notes during the first threeweeks of April being 578 billion marks, as compared with 1,442 billion marks in the correspond-ing weeks of March. The German mark, which up to April 17 had been stabilized for over twomonths at about 21,000 to the dollar, declined to 32,000 to the dollar at the end of April.Following the break in mark exchange, the Reichsbank on April 23" raised its discount ratefrom 12 to 18 per cent in order to further its program for the support of the mark, and also tobring the bank rate closer to the far higher rates prevailing in the open market.

Scandinavia.-—Credit and banking in the Scandinavian countries have been affected bythe depressing influence of the recent bank failures, which in Denmark assumed a characterso serious that Parliament on April 26 adopted the Government's proposal to guarantee theliabilities of such solvent banks as were in distress. In view of the situation the Bank of Den-mark and the Bank of Norway raised their discount rates from 5 to 6 per cent.



THE TREND OF BUSINESS ABROAD.1

Items.

I. CREDIT.*COMMERCIAL BANK LOANS:

1921—March1922—March

June -SeptemberDecember

1923—JanuaryFebruaryMarch

COMMERCIAL BANK DEPOSITS:1921—March1922—March

JuneSeptemberDecember


CENTRAL BANK DISCOUNTS:1921—March1922—March



CENTRAL BANK NOTE ISSUES:1921—March1922—March



CENTRAL BANK DISCOUNT RATE (percent):



1923—JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

I I . PRICES AND EXCHANGE.

WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX (relatives'):1921—March1922—March



RETAIL PRICE INDEX (relatives <):1921—March1922—March

JuneSeptemberDecember .


FOREIGN EXCHANGE (per cent of par):1921—March1922—March


1923—JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

UnitedKing-dom.

1,1451,0971,0701,0071,0311,0461,023

992

1,7151,7471,7551,6601,6851,6931,6441,596

11398767178667980

454404399390405381381388

213168169165166167170175

241186180179180178177176

80.3789.9291.4891.0494.7395.6596.3996.4995.66 i

France

13,05812,55813,67613,35413,26813,361

12,77512,37413,58313,16713,25013,744

3,0522,9142,3322,1042,4012,6622,6842,685

38,43535,52836,03936,60336,35936,78037,05537,188

345287304294315324355372

358294307291305309316321

36.4546.6545.4139.6837.4634.6031.8432.7734.54

Ger-many.

UnitedStates.

67149191400

1,6072,3064,7776,924

131169317

1,2801,9843,5135,518

5,4207,851

29,116166,495205 417715,881677,000

1,0282,6393,779

11,37661,156

103,400240,800262,700

6.6961.5051.370.287.062.031.016.020.017

12,59910,84210,78310,98811,32911,42511,63911,783

10,18610,30911,12411,08511,25511,53711,52511,082

2,287636469420630597596700

2,9312,1822,1242,2432,4642,2042,2472,232

152147161164164165166169

153136138137144141139139

Items.

III . PRODUCTION AND TRADE.PIG IRON PRODUCTION (relatives6):




COAL PRODUCTION (relatives s):1921—March1922—March



UNEMPLOYMENT: '1921—March1922—March



BANK CLEARINGS (actuals"):1921—March1922—March



SHIPPING ACTIVITY (relatives5):1921—March1922—March


1923—JanuaryFebruary

VALVE OF EXPORTS (actualse):1921—March1922—March



VOLUME or EXPORTS (relativess):1921—March1922—March



VALUE OF IMPORTS (actuals >):1921—March1922— March

June **SeptemberDecember


VOLUME OF IMPORTS (relatives'):1921—March1922—March



UnitedKing-dom.

4546435062666474

748972939496101100

11.014.612.712.012.212.711.811.1

2,9413,4522,9172,6902,7693,2623,0063,315

5285881019193

66,80964,58152,14662,51158,88366,93957,51060,921

5467657073

France.

75

93,78487,87984,29876,94494,91299,70083,85590,022

7180928786

10711811270

87112100109112123

95

43,0373,546958410414684666

556455474484630726792755

7389114108109

1,7121,877

, i2,7791,6962,3292,474

64859814213210313599

1,7431,9321,8511,8932,9232,1442,3432,487

81120117112132112105111

Ger-many.

79

188113103122165195

74170191474

2,0793,8287,444

56821091028897

324428291423311361

563565422590564446

44

UnitedStates.

62809279121126117138

761265699117126106117

81

91

101103

16,52616,53517,17316,55319,58619,66616,90519,567

10010812614510710292

386,680329,980335,117313,197344,328335,539307,194341,162

93107107

8487

251,969256,178260,461298,497293,810329,844296,000

170207191197224242

1 A full explanation of this table, including a list of the sources employed, appears in the BULLETIN for February, 1923, pp. 182-185.s Amounts stated in millions of pounds sterling, imllions of francs, billions of marks, and millions of dollars.«Monthly average in 1913 is taken as 100, except for Germany, where July, 1914, is used.4 United Kingdom and France—July, 1914=100: Qermanu—Oct. 15,1913-June 15,1914=100; United States—1913 average=100.M913=100.• Official figures not available.' United Kingdom—percentage of unemployed in insured trades; France—number of unemployed in the city of Paris; Qermany—number of

applicants for every 100 available positions; United States—an index of employment in 12 representative trades, 1919 being taken as 100.8 Amounts stated in thousands of pounds sterling, millions of francs, millions of gold marks, and thousands of dollars.'1913—100. Figures for United Kingdom refer to quarterly period.



AGRICULTURAL CREDIT IN GREATBRITAIN.

The recent agricultural credit legislation inthe United States lends unusual interest to thereport of the parliamentary committee onagricultural credit in Great Britain. Britishfarmers, like those in the United States, havebeen suffering from the protracted decline ofagricultural prices, and relief is sought in bothcountries through improvement of credit facili-ties. The present strike of agricultural laborersin the northeastern counties of England aggra-vates the depression there. It is generally agreedthat the wages of these laborers, commonly 25s.a week, are too low, but that the farmers are inno position to raise them. In order to under-stand the critical conditions which Britishfarmers face and the relation of agriculturalcredit to these conditions, it is necessary tosurvey briefly the agricultural situation andthe Government's agricultural policy duringand since the war.

Unlike the case in this country, agriculturedoes not rank among the most importantBritish industries from an economic point ofview, but the vital necessity of the home-grown food supply in case of any interferencewith foreign trade gives it a peculiar politicalsignificance. It is estimated by the LondonJoint City and Midland Bank that the followingpercentages of farm products consumed in theUnited Kingdom were imported in 1922:

Per Oent.Beef and veal 57Mutton and lamb 63Pig meat 58

The desire to minimize the nation's depend-ence upon foreign food and the consequentgovernmental responsibility for past and futureencouragement of agriculture have undoubt-edly influenced the proposals now broughtforward with regard to agricultural credit.

AGRICULTURAL PRICES AND PRODUCTION INUNITED KINGDOM, 1914-1922.

It will be remembered that as foreign sup-plies of food became more and more difficultto obtain during the war, every effort was benttoward an increase in food production in GreatBritain itself. While agricultural prices hadbeen rising in the preceding decade with thegeneral rise in prices, and farmers were rela-tively prosperous, the cultivated acreage inEngland and Wales had been decreasing, andin 1916 was actually less than in 1914. Thewages of agricultural laborers were still low

Per Cent.Wheat 73Barley 37Oats 18

and their number was continually depleted bythe attraction of high wages in munitionfactories, as well as by army enlistments.

With the corn-production act of 1917, theGovernment began a definite policy of en-couraging cereal production. The cultivationof unused land was enforced, minimum wagesfor farm labor were established, and minimumprices for wheat and oats were guaranteed bylaw. In addition, temporary minimums werefixed for these and other farm products fromtime to time by the Government. Theseguaranties were not effective, however, becausemarket prices were above the minimum, and itwas the maximums established by the foodcontroller which determined prices until March,1920. The significance of the guaranties up tothe fall of 1920 lay in whatever assurance ofprotection against future price declines farmersdrew from them. For wheat sold after Novem-ber, 1920, however, farmers were paid by theGovernment the difference between the pricereceived and a fixed minimum; and the agricul-ture act, which went into effect on January 1,1921, continued the system of statutory guaran-ties for wheat and oat acreage on a sliding scalebased on relative costs. The act included aprovision that four years' notice should begiven of its repeal. On October 1, however,the corn-production (repeal) act annulledthe legislation of 1917 and 1920 and substituteda flat payment of £3 and £4 an acre, re-spectively, of wheat and oats produced in1921. The steady fall in English grain pricessince that time has outrun the general pricedecline and has not been definitely checkedyet. The prices of sheep, cattle, and hogsnave been rising for the last six months, how-ever, so that live-stock farmers are somewhatbetter off recently.

The effect of the course of prices uponagricultural production in the United Kingdommay be seen in the increase of the acreage ofarable land from 11,058,000 acres in 1913 to12,309,000 in 1919 and its fall to 11,311,000acres in 1922. The numbers of live stockdecreased after 1916 when grain acreage wasincreasing, and although they later increased,they have never reached their pre-war position.

AGRICULTURAL LAND OWNERSHIP.

The financial difficulties in which Englishfarmers have been involved by the fall ofagricultural prices have been aggravated inEngland even more than in the United Statesby the transfer of land at peak prices duringthe war. The tendency toward the sale of



estates which had been evident since 1911grew with the rise in the price of land with-out equivalent increases in rents and thedevelopment of opportunities vfor more re-munerative investments with the rise in interestrates. Land prices rose about 50 per centabove their pre-war value and landowners,burdened by war taxes and high costs ofmaintaining their estates, took advantage ofthe situation to put their land on the market.Farmer-renters often faced the alternative ofpurchasing their holdings or leaving them,and the relatively high prices of farm productsencouraged them to buy. To what extent theexpectation of continued Government pro-tection for agriculture actuated them, it isimpossible to say. At any rate, over 21,000more holdings, amounting to 2,250,000 acres,were owned by their occupiers in England andWales in 1921 than in 1914 according to thestatistics of the Ministry of Agriculture. ByJune, 1922, this number had been reduced to13,500 holdings (1,700,000 acres).

According to the findings of the committeeon agricultural credit, in order to buy theirholdings, these men obtained loans from banks,individuals, solicitors (as an investment fortrustee funds), the vendors themselves, in-surance companies, and the Farmers' LandPurchase Company after its incorporation in1920. The amount borrowed was various butoften equaled two-thirds of the value of theproperty, at interest rates ranging from 4 percent, in the case of some individual loans, to7 per cent, sometimes charged by solicitors.Since 1920 the value of agricultural real estatehas fallen from 15 to 30 per cent, and exceptfor those who paid off a large proportion ofthe purchase price before the slump in prices,these farmers are obligated for a considerablepart of the value of their farms. The com-mittee finds that banks have not pressed forrepayment of principal, even though the periodof the loans was often 6 to 12 months, buttheir right to do so and their need of liquidfunds in case of reviving industrial demandputs the farmers in a precarious position.Their indebtedness and consequent lack ofcapital of course fetters their productive andemployment-giving capacity, to the generalsocial detriment in a time of general unem-ployment.

AGRICULTURAL CREDIT.

The committee has not confined its recom-mendations to the subject of credit for landpurchase, although the situation of these newowner-occupiers has evidently received the

most careful consideration-HThe report dis-cusses the existing facilities and unsatisfied re-quirement of long-time credit for improving aswell as buying land, and for intermediate andshort-time credit.

Credit for permanent improvements.—The re-quirements of British agriculturists for long-term credit to be used for productive capitalworks, such as drainage, farm buildings, andwater supply, have been met in the past bytwo companies established about 70 years agounder statutory authority—the Land Improve-ment Co. and the Scottish Drainage and Im-provement Co. These companies advancemoney to landowners after the issue of a pro-visional order by the Minister of Agriculture orthe Board of Agriculture for Scotland and areprotected by certificates issued by one of thesedepartments which make the loan a charge onthe property prior to existing mortgages.According to the statute these original loansare repayable by an annuity running from 15to 40 years, with a maximum interest rate of 5per cent after deduction of the tax. A 5 percent commission to the company and one-halfper cent fee to the department is added to theprincipal borrowed. The companies havefound their mortgages readily assignable to in-surance companies, so that they have not lackedfor resources. Thus in Great Britain theseland companies, with the aid of insurance com-panies, have performed the functions which arein the United States assigned to the Federalland banks and joint stock land banks createdunder the act of 1916. They differ from ourFederal land banks in being private companies,while their loans are more directly subject togovernmental approval, and the terms pre-scribed by statute are somewhat similar.About 7 per cent of the loans made by the Fed-eral land banks since their organization havebeen made for permanent improvements, suchas are covered by the two British companies.

The English company described above hasadvanced some £13,000,000 since its existence,but after the rise in interest rates during thewar period its business was hampered, as wasthat of our land banks, by the legal restrictionson its charges. The American maximum rateon loans is 6 per cent and the maximum rateon bonds put out by the banks 5 per cent,raised last year to b\ per cent in the case of thejoint stock land banks. A modification of therestriction was obtained in the case of the Eng-lish company in 1920, allowing it to chargesuch rates as the Minister of Agriculture shouldapprove, and the committee's chief recom-mendation as to this sort of credit is that this



modification be extended to other similar com-panies. Otherwise, it considers that thismethod of meeting the demand for credit forcapital improvements is satisfactory and onlysuggests that the companies be urged to en-courage the wider use of their facilities.

Credit for hind purchases.—No special agen-cies have existed in England for the purposeof extending credit for the purchase of land,except the Farmers' Land Purchase Co., aprivate concern organized in 1920, which hasadvanced £500,000 and was obliged to refuseapplications amounting to £5,000,000 or£6,000,000, owing to lack of resources. Thelack of previous development of this sort of busi-ness may be attributed partly to the prevalenceof tenancy in Great Britain, and the committeehesitates actively to encourage ownership atthe expense of the older system of land tenure.It restricts its recommendations concerningthis type of credit to provisions for loans tofarmers who purchased their holdings betweenthe passing of the corn-production act in 1917and the repeal act of 1921. It recommendsthat special State aid be extended to approvedmortgage societies loaning to such farmers,both by the advancement of capital, in the firstinstance, through the Public Works LoanBoard and by the guarantee of issues of de-bentures which are to be put out by these socie-ties as soon as the amount of their loans is suffi-cient to justify such an issue. The suppositionseems to be that the societies may later extendtheir loans to other purchasers without theState guarantee, if they so desire. Loans areto be made up to 75 per cent of the presentvalue of holdings at an interest rate not morethan one-half per cent above the rate at whichthe society can borrow, and the loan is to berepaid in half yearly installments on an annuitybasis, while the debentures are to be redeemedby drawing as the mortgages are repaid. One-half of the one-half of 1 per cent margin is to goto the State as a reserve fund against its guar-antee until all debentures have been redeemed,and the other half is to be used to defray theexpenses of the society.

Thus the English Government would have amore direct financial interest in these societiesthan has the Federal Government in our Fed-eral land banks, but unlike the latter theywould be organized as private institutions un-der private management, with the proviso thatthe treasury must approve the constitution andcapitalization of the society and the rate ofinterest or dividends payable on its bonds orstock. The committee estimates that these

societies would be able to loan at not over 5 percent, which is 1 per cent below the maximumwhich our Federal land banks may charge,and that an annual charge of £6 8s. 3d. for 40years would repay the loan with interest.Those farmers who are in debt to more than 75per cent of the present value of their holdingswould not be helped by the plan, but the otherswould thus be given an opportunity to substi-tute for debts, which are callable at any time,obligations bearing a relatively low interest rate,on which definite payments ma3r be spread overa long period.

Short-term credit.—The committee also dealswith short-term and intermediate credit toagriculturists, the subject of recent Federallegislation in the United States. These re-quirements have been met in England by thejoint stock banks and by auctioneers, mer-chants, and dealers who sell cattle, seeds, fer-tilizer, etc., to farmers, as well as by merchantswho buy their crops from them in advance.The committee approves these sources of credit,in general, and does not consider that thebanks have been backward in extending aidto farmers so far as the canons of sound bank-ing permit. The complaint that the branchesof the large joint stock banks controlled fromLondon, which have taken the place of the oldcountry banks, are less sympathetic and adapt-able to the needs of farmers than their pred-ecessors is held to be without foundation.It is pointed out that there is keen competitionamong the banks for agricultural business, thatrelatively more agricultural loans are out-standing now than in the days of countrybanking, and that through the spreading ofrisks the branch banks are better able to carrytheir customers through a period of depressionthan were the country banks. No less than£46,500,000 are out on loan to farmers by thebanks at present and £20,000,000 of this rep-resents loans for current needs. The arrange-ments for such loans are elastic and aregoverned by custom and the circumstances ofthe individual case rather than by law. Theusual form of current loans is the overdraft,unspecified as to purpose, bearing an interestrate of 1 per cent above the bank rate, but notless than 5 per cent. With many farmers theoverdraft is a routine arrangement, being re-duced or extended with the fluctuations oftheir receipts and expenditures. It is truethat the applications for such loans are sup-posed to be referred to the head office for ap-proval, but experienced managers have con-siderable freedom of action and so far as pos-


582 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 102.3.

sible they are retained permanently in thedistricts with which they are familiar. Never-theless, the committee recognizes that com-mercial banks can not be entirely adapted toagricultural credit needs, and points out certaindirections in which further facilities are re-quired.

Further credit facilities required.—In the firstplace farmers who are out of close touch withbanks, either because they do not have bankaccounts or live in thinly populated areas, areunable to obtain loans on personal credit.The banks are not possessed of the technicalknowledge necessary to appraise the value of afarmer's business, particularly in the absenceof accurate accounts, while the credits grantedby merchants and dealers are inadequate inperiods of depression.

In the second place the banks have beenreluctant to advance money for the purchaseof seasonal stock, and credit is granted bydealers during periods of depression on veryunfavorable terms.

Finally, facilities are lacking for meetingthe farmer's need of intermediate credit—•loans running for a few years—for the pur-chase of equipment, including machinery, per-manent breeding stock, fencing, etc. Thetreasury regulations relating to the landsettlement facilities act of 1919, which en-courages the taking up of small holdings byex-service men, provides for advances up to threeyears for such purposes, but otherwise suchloans are difficult to obtain on easy terms.This is like the gap in agricultural creditfacilities in the United States, which the newFederal intermediate credit banks and nationalagricultural credit corporations are expectedto fill.

The committee recommends that both short-term credit and intermediate credit be sup-plied in Great Britain by local cooperativecredit societies, formed in accordance withGovernment regulations under the generaldirection of the Department of Agriculture,and aided by Government capital to theextent of £1 for every £1 of share capitalraised by the society. It is further suggestedthat the State funds loaned should be raisedby the sale of savings certificates in the ruraldistricts, thus applying the savings of therural population to rural needs. In theopinion of the committee, the societies shouldbe left free to make loans for any agriculturalpurpose, with the hope, however, that theywould be specially directed toward increasingthe food supply. The precise details of the

plan are left for future consideration, but it isevident that these societies would differ fromthe agricultural credit corporations contem-plated by recent American legislation chieflyin their cooperative character, the lack ofstatutory limitations on their powers, and theirreceipt of State financial aid.

Summary.—In brief, the proposals of theagricultural credit committee for the reliefof English agriculture consists of direct Stateadvances to private mortgage societies aidingfarmers who purchased land during the warperiod, and to cooperative credit societiesextending short-term and intermediate creditto any farmers or landowners. The former isexpected to bring some immediate relief to acertain class, but, in general, the proposals arefor permanent but slow improvement of agri-cultural credit facilities, whose usefulness willbe largely dependent upon the initiative offarmers and landowners themselves. Thefundamental difficulty with agriculture isbelieved to be the uncertainty of the economicoutlook, and a change in this outlook can notbe made by the creation of credit.

There is some dissatisfaction with the small ex-tent of the relief thus offered, and a Scotch mem-ber of the committee makes a reservation in favorof some special arrangement to enable thefarmers to meet their wages bills. The counter-part of unemployment in towns in the countryis too low wages, and it is suggested that someform of mutual insurance should meet thedifficulties of the agricultural laborer in timesof depression as it does those of the industrialemployee.

A tribunal of agricultural experts, appointedby the Government to consider not only agri-cultural credit but the whole question of themeans to agricultural prosperity, has justissued an interim report which approves theproposals outlined above. It especially urgesthe extension of these credit facilities tocooperative marketing or buying associationsof farmers, and emphasizes the importance ofencouraging cooperation among farmers, asvarious investigating commissions in thiscountry have done. In addition, the tribunalproposes the reduction of railway rates onfarm produce, even at the expense of theState, the reduction of local taxes on farmproperty, and certain restrictions upon trade.

The reports of neither of these committeeshas yet resulted in definite action, but theywill probably form the basis of whatever agri-cultural legislation the Government brings for-ward during the present session of Parliament.



COMMODITY PRICES IN ITALY.

f In Italy the movement of wholesale pricessince the war has been quite different from thatof other leading countries. Italy did not expe-rience * the severe and prolonged decline inprices which proved so difficult for business inthe United States, England, and France; nor,on the other hand, have her industries beenstimulated, as in Germany, by the uninter-rupted rise in prices which accompanies a con-tinuous depreciation of the currency. Yet,through the decline of the exchange, Italianprices have now been brought nearly to thelevel of gold prices in the United States andEngland. Further, in Italy the prices of com-modities and groups of commodities havedrawn closer to the relationships of 1913 thanin the United States. From these observa-tions the conclusion can be drawn that, atleast temporarily, a working adjustment of com-modity prices is quite possible not only within acountry whose currency has considerably de-parted from a gold basis, but also between sucha country and others which are on a gold basis.At the same time, while Italy has effected suchan adjustment of wholesale prices, a study ofthe cost of living in comparison with pre-waryears raises the question whether or not thepeople of Italy can purchase commoditieseither at home or abroad in amounts equal tothose before the war.

THE COURSE OF ITALIAN PRICES SINCE 1919.

In Italy, as in the United States, England,and France, prices rose until April, 1920; butwhereas in the United States and Englandprices dropped rapidly to a lower plane, inItaly they remained at a high level, movingwithin comparatively narrow limits and show-ing a continued tendency toward stability.(See Chart I.) It is most natural to contrastprice movements of Italy and France, becauseof numerous similarities in the two countries,and particularly because before the war theyhad equivalent monetary units. In January,1919, the price levels in the two countries wereclose together, Professor Bachi's index forItaly standing at 324 and that of the StatistiqueGen6rale for France at 348. In 1919 andearly 1920 prices in the two countries movedupward, though the rise in prices was muchsharper in Italy than in France, reaching, inApril, 1920, an index of 664 for Italy against588 for France. From that date prices in Francehave passed through two major movements—

a violent decline to February, 1922, followedby a sharp rise to March, 1923—while in Italythere has been relative stability within a lim-ited range where prices have moved in a seriesof short fluctuations, evidently seasonal.

CHAHT I. INDEX NUMBERS OP WHOLESALE PRICES.

[1913=100.]

125

100

125

1919 1920 1921 1922

Italy—Riccardo Bachi. France—Statistique Gfaie'rale. England—Federal Reserve Board. United Stows—Federal Reserve Board.

Seasonal fluctuations of Italian prices.—Forthree successive years Italian prices have regu-

I larly declined in the spring and risen in the fall.This phenomenon appeared imperfectly in

| 1920, and recurred in 1921 and 1922; but theI course of prices so far in 1923 raises a questionI as to the probability of its repetition this year.| As this is almost exactly parallel to the courseof exchange, there is evidently a close relationbetween the two. The price index is an ex-pression of the internal depreciation of the cur-rency in terms of goods; the exchange measuresthe depreciation in foreign currencies andgold. Both are expressions of the same thing,


584 FEDERAL, RESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

namely, the value of the lira. (See ChartII.) While the internal depreciation of the lirapreceded its external depreciation, since the in-dex had risen to 324 in January, 1919, withexchange "pegged" near par, it is now aquestion whether the fluctuations of the ex-change occasion the fluctuations of prices, orvice versa. An element in determining theexchange value of the lira is the direction andsize of the current trade balance, in whichseasonal influences play an important part.

CHART II. ITALIAN PRICES AND EXCHANGE.

1919 1980 1921 1922

125

100

The rate of the lira depends on the supplyof and demand for Italian bills of exchange.The principal effective source of these bills isin the visible and invisible trade of the country.The visible balance is heavily against Italy, butthis is offset by invisible items, of which the chiefare the purchases by tourists, the remittances ofemigrants, and the receipts of the carrying trade.For a considerable time past the trade balanceof Italy has been virtually in equilibrium.Italy has not only met the enormous visible

adverse balance without resort to foreign loans,but also without the loss of gold. On thecontrary, the gold imports of Italy, thoughsmall, have exceeded her gold exports. But,although the balance, considered over a periodof time, is evidently in equilibrium, the exchangemarket has not been free from seasonal influ-ences. In the fall Italy makes heavy purchasesof raw materials, such as cotton and wheat,which cause the dollar to appreciate in terms oflire, carrying prices up in Italy. In the springa contrary movement sets in.

A study of the exchange over a period ofmonths offers strong evidence of the verysmall influence of speculation in determiningthe movements of the exchange. As there hasbeen, in months past, an enormous volume ofspeculative trading in lire, it has been popularto consider speculation as a major factor.The bulk of exchange speculation concernsitself with the day-to-day fluctuations, andin these it certainly exercises no little influence.But in the long ran these minor fluctuations areso inconsequential that they are not reflectedin a chart covering an extended period.

While the seasonal fluctuation of prices andexchange appeared during 1920, 1921, and1922, in the current year there has not ap-peared the usual rise of Italian exchange, withits attendant decline of prices. Until thetrade figures for the first quarter are available,it is impossible to state positively the cause ofthis stability. It is probably due to the neces-sity of purchasing abroad larger quantitiesof raw materials, notably coal, required by therevival of Italian industry. While the in-creased demand for foreign bills may havebeen instrumental in preventing a repetitionof the rise of the lira this spring, it has notbeen sufficient to depress the rate, though politi-cal considerations may also have strengthenedit. Whether or not this is the cause of the sta-bility of the lira, the fact is that the lira has formany weeks been notably steady in foreign ex-change. At the same time its domestic purchas-ing power has remained equally steady, and com-modity prices have remained practically un-changed for the past three months.

RELATION OF ITALIAN PRICES TO WORLDPRICES.

The general level of the price index in Italymeasures the depreciation of the paper lira interms of gold plus the depreciation of gold interms of commodities. But prices derive theirchief significance from their relation to otherprices both at home and abroad. The general



price level in Italy, whose currency is at pres-ent inconvertible, should be compared withprices in the United States which has a goldcurrency. A gold index of prices is obtainedby multiplying the commodity index by therate of exchange, expressed in per cent of itsparity. From a study of gold prices (see ChartIII), it is apparent that the purchasing powerof the gold dollar is nearly the same in theUnited States and Italy, and, conversely, thatthe purchasing power of the lira is about equalin both countries. Gold prices are somewhathigher in the United States, in March about 15per cent, if the Bachi index for Italy is com-pared with the Federal Eeserve Board indexfor the United States.' This spread is greaterthan that between American and Britishprices, but far less than that between Frenchand American prices at the same time. InMarch the Federal Reserve Board index forthe United States was 169, the gold index forEngland the same, for Italy 147, and forFrance, only 122.

So close a relation exists for Italy becausethe rate of exchange is fairly well adjusted tothe respective price levels obtaining in Italyand the United States. This is demonstratedby comparing the purchasing power paritywith the rate of exchange. The purchasingpower parity is the rate of exchange at whicha given number of lire will buy the sameamount of commodities in the United Statesas in Italy. In January the purchasing powerparity was $0.0554, the average rate of ex-change for the month, $0.0488; in February,$0,055 and $0.0482; in March, $0.0556 and$0.0485. Considering that the two indexesemployed—that of the Federal Reserve Boardfor the United States and that of ProfessorBachi for Italy—are widely different in con-struction, it would not be expected that thefigures representing the purchasing powerparity and the actual rate of exchange wouldbe identical, even if actual prices in the twocountries were the same.

The close relation between the internalvalue of the lira and its external value is alsodemonstrated by reducing them both to per-centages of the pre-war purchasing power ofthe lira. In March, 1923, the lira in NewYork had 14.9 per cent of its pre-war pur-chasing power, in Italy it had 17 per cent ofits pre-war purchasing power. The externaland internal purchasing power of the lira aremuch closer together than are the externaland internal value of the franc, but not soclose as the external and internal values of the

pound sterling, which in March were identicalso far as the board's index numbers show.

CHART III . WHOLESALE PEICES IN TEEMS OF GOLD.

[1913=100.]

300 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1300

275

250

225

200

175

150

125

100

1

\ fr

\A\\*iv'

- ^ — — UN/TED STATES

M l »•

s.

/

•-*-• Fft/

i

1t

J1919 1920 1921 1922

:75

250

225

200

175

150

125

100'23

It is clear that the internal and externalpurchasing power of a currency tend to drawtogether, if not to coincide, as they actually didin England in March. So long as they are ma-terially apart, the process of adjustment causesfluctuations of commodity prices or exchangerates, or both. The further apart, the moreviolent are likely to be the fluctuations; butas they draw nearer these fluctuations willdiminish, provided always that no extraneousfactor is introduced. As the fluctuationsdiminish, speculation in the exchanges becomesless and less profitable. When speculation inexchanges no longer affords much expectationof profit to the casual speculator, it will be re-duced to mere arbitrage and cease to be afactor in causing material variations in therate. For the past three months the oppor-tunities for profitable speculation in Italianexchange have been very small.

THE RELATIONS OF PRICE GROUPS WITHIN ITALY.

With the exchange at present rates, com-modity prices in general are approximately atAmerican levels. As for the prices of variouscommodities within Italy, the degree of dis-parity when compared with 1913 relationships,while considerable, is less than in the UnitedStates.

The index compiled by the Milan Chamberof Commerce shows the relation of certaingroups of commodities to each other and tothe general price level. This index includes


586 FKDERAL KESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

125 commodities, divided into ten groups.In March, 1923, the general index numberstood at 547.47, taking 1913 as 100. Thefollowing table shows the position of thegroups for that month and their relation tothe general average.

GBOOT INDEX OP THE MILAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCEIN MARCH, 1923.

[125 commodities, 1913=100.1

Group.

1. Vegetable food products (21)2. Animal food products (16)3. Textile materials (18)4. Chemical products (20)5. Minerals and metals (23)6. Construction materials (8)7. Miscellaneous vegetable products (17)...8. Miscellaneous industrial materials (12)..

Average of groups 1 and 2—FoodsAverage of groups 3 to 8—Industrial

materials

General index

Indexnumber.

560.57559.08672.95424.38558.15518.51610.30537.33

559.92

542.31

547.47

Relation to thegeneral index.

Percent Percentabove, below.

2.42.1

22.9

2.0

'ii.'s'

2.3

22.5

5.3

"i.9

1.0

This is more nearly a return to 1913 relation-ships than has been experienced in the UnitedStates. Several of the groups composing theBureau of Labor Statistics index are com-parable to groups in the index of the Chamberof Commerce of Milan. For instance, in March,when the Bureau of Labor Statistics generalindex stood at 159, the index of "foods"was 143, or about 10 per cent below the generalindex; the index of "cloths and clothing" was201, or 26 per cent above; of "building mate-rials," 198, or 24.5 per cent above; and chem-icals, 135, or 15 per cent below.

The two groups in Italy which are furthestremoved from the general index are the tex-tiles, 23 per cent above the average, and chem-icals, 22 per cent below it. This phenomenonis not peculiar to Italy; it is general. Thesame relationship exists in the united States,as the Bureau of Labor Statistics index shows.There is, however, no reason for a generalassumption that the relationships whichexisted in 1913, the year upon which the in-dex numbers are based, are those toward thereestablishment of which development mustnecessarily tend.

THE COST OP LIVING.]

While wholesale prices of commodities inItaly are well adjusted both to each other and

to the prices prevailing in other countries, theitems which go directly into the cost of livingstill show less harmony. It is a question ifthe increase in wholesale prices since 1913has yet been completely communicated to thecost of living. In December, 1922, the whole-sale index of Prof. Riccardo Bachi stood at580. For the same month, the retail foodindex of the Municipal Labor Office of Rome(1914 = 100) was only 475. The Rome cost-of-living index, which represents the food,clothing, lodging, heat, light, and miscellaneousitems of a family of five, was 439. For thesame month the cost-of-living index of Milanwas 504.

This Milan index represents the cost of livingof a workman's family of five, and is based onthe prices of the first half of 1914. In Febru-ary, 1923, this index stood at 497. Inasmuchas the wholesale index computed by theChamber of Commerce of Milan for that monthwas 534, it seems upon first examination thatthe cost of living is in general harmony withthe wholesale price index.

Analysis of the composing items, however,raises some doubts on this point. The indexfor the item of food was 500, and it is esti-mated that the worker must allot 62 per cent ofhis budget for food—the same proportion as be-fore the war. The index of clothing, however,was 653, and for miscellaneous items 672, bothover 150 points above the general index andabove the item of food. "Light and heat"stood at 548, but these items account for only4.98 per cent of the family budget, against4.51 in 1914. The widest discrepancy occursin the items of "housing," which stood atonly 208, requiring 4.77 per cent of the budget,against 11.40 per cent before the war. In otherwords, the Milan family is paying propor-tionately for its rent about half as much asin 1914, and is spending the amount saved inthis manner on clothing and miscellaneousitems. The reason for the relatively low rentsis to be found primarily in legal restrictions.But, with the index of construction materialsat 519, such relatively low rents evidently notonly retard new construction, but even dis-courage repairs to existing dwellings. Theconclusion is therefore reached that as far asconsumers' prices are concerned, there arepossibilities of further readjustments. Foodprices are low compared to those of the manu-factured articles which the worker buys, andhis rent is low even in proportion to his food.As this rent situation is so anomalous, it may


MAT, 1923 FEDERAL, RESERVE BULLETIN. 587

not prove lasting, and an adjustment of rentstoward the general price level would reduce thegeneral purchasing power of the population.

CONCLUSION.

The observations made in this article leadto four conclusions. First, though Italianprices have remained very near the high levelsreached in 1920, the decline of the rate ofexchange has effected an adjustment to worldprices. With prices in Italy and the UnitedStates at or near their present levels, the rateof exchange is almost exactly representativeof the mutual price relation existing betweenthe two countries; or, conversely, with theexchange near present rates, gold prices arenearly the same in the United States, England,and Italy. Consequently the rate of ex-change, at or near present levels, offers littleobstacle to the free purchase of goods abroad.

The adjustment is not quite perfect, forwhile gold prices in England and the UnitedStates are statistically identical, they aresomewhat lower in Italy. In part, this spreadmay be due to shortcomings in the indexesused; more likely, it is the result of a stillimperfect adjustment between Italian pricesand the rate of exchange. If so, it may be ex-pected eventually to be corrected by a move-ment of prices, or of the ex change, or both.The present relation, however, is so close thatthere is no reason to apprehend that this processof adjustment by itself would cause very widefluctuations in either prices or exchange.

Second, although Italy has taken no definitesteps toward a restoration of a gold basis forher currency, in recent months both p:ices andexchange rates have achieved a very highdegree of stability. The fluctuations havebeen very slight. This is due to an almostperfect balance of payments. Since a decline inthe exchange would impede the importation ofraw materials, while a rise in the exchangewould precipitate a domestic price decline, acontinuance of stability near present levelsseems likely to facilitate Italian foreign com-merce.

Third, commodity prices in Italy seem to bewell adjusted to each other. They are nearer1913 relationships than are prices in the UnitedStates. The United States has achieved greatbusiness activity and prosperity with com-modity price relationships very different from1913; it remains to be seen whether the differentregrouping of prices in Italy will persist duringthe present period of greater business activity.

Fourth, the items of the cost of living indexare not in harmony with each other, owing tothe fact that rentals do not yet reflect theincreases in construction costs. But it ispossible that the remaining necessary adjust-ments in retail prices will be accomplishedwithout great friction, especially as so small afraction of the family income is normallyneeded for rent.

With the exchange at present rates, Italianprices are almost equal to American and Britishprices, or stated the other way, the present rateof exchange is almost exactly representative ofthe prices prevailing respectively in Italy andthe United States. This fact gives promise ofcontinued stability. Within Italy, the prices ofvarious groups of commodities seem to be fairlywell adjusted to each other, though individualcommodities show considerable variation intheir percentage of increase over 1913. On thewhole, while the adjustment of commodityprices in Italy may not be perfect or final, ithas proceeded far enough to offer little hin-drance to normal trade, whether foreign ordomestic.

MEXICO.

REVIEW OF THE TEAE 1922.

Economic conditions in the Mexican Re-public during 1922 continued unsatisfactorybecause of the political uncertainty and theserious impairment of the credit structurenecessary to the financing of industry andfarming. The curtailment of agricultural ex-pansion was due to the uncertainty created byagrarian reform laws. No signs of improve-ment appeared at the close of the year. It ishoped in Mexico, however, that the situationmay be improved by the establishment of acentral bank of issue, the capital for which hasbeen authorized but as yet not subscribed, andby the proposed changes in the constitution of1917, affecting the property rights of foreigners.

Industrial conditions.—The precarious situ-ation of the farming and mining industries, theeffects of which were felt throughout the entirecountry, has been given as the principal reasonfor the unsatisfactory economic progress madeduring the year. Notwithstanding the factthat the crop estimates for 1922 made by theMexican Department of Agriculture indicatein some cases marked increases over 1921,general conditions affecting farming changedbut little. The following table comparer the



1922 crop estimates of the Mexican Govern-ment with the 1921 crop:

[In thousands of kilos.]

Products.

CornWheatRiceBeans . . . . . .SugarBarleyChickpeas.Potatoes.. .PepperCoffeeTomatoes..Bananas. . .Hemp 1

Cotton1

1921 crop.

1, 550,000138,508

7,19871,034

274,1339,930

18,33642,33140,730

23,52054,641565,424126,000

1922 cropestimate.

1,127,674233,34221,148

137,3741,328,417

88,15759,80522,97122,64329,26311,95926,829

461,51599,548

1 In bales of 250 kilograms.

It is of importance to note that the sisalhemp crop, practically the only industry on thepeninsula of Yucatan, has been gradually andsubstantially decreasing from year to year.In 1920 the crop amounted to 936,136 balesas compared with 565,424 bales in 1921, and461,515 bales estimated for 1922. The po-litical uncertainty during the last decade hasundoubtedly handicapped the Mexican hempindustry. A considerable number of planta-tions were abandoned last year following theconfiscation of lands for purposes of agra-rian reform. The sugar industry of the coun-try as elsewhere was likewise depressed during1922. The industries of the State of Morelos,which in prerev'olutionary years was the largestproducer of sugar in the country, showed nosigns of revival in 1922, and the labor disturb-ances in the State of Veracruz brought about aconsiderable reduction in the sugar productionof that State. The 1922 production of wheatwas estimated by the Government about 85 percent higher than for the previous year, but evenif the actual crop should come up to the expecta-tions of the estimators, a considerable amountof wheat must still be imported from for-eign countries to supply the needs of the coun-try, estimated at 293,642,500 kilos per annum.Conditions in the cotton industry remain un-satisfactory, and a substantial decrease in pro-duction is expected because of the lack of ade-quate financial help for the planters, and onaccount of the damages caused by the recentappearance of the boll weevil in some of themost productive sections.

The mining industry in Mexico appeared tobe in a more favorable condition during 1922than during the previous three or four years.It was noted, however, that the increase inproduction was due to the enlarged activities

of the larger enterprises, while a substantialdecrease in production was shown by the smallconcerns. Prices of silver were maintainedduring the year at prices which, in spite of pe-riodical labor disturbances, rendered its pro-duction in Mexico quite profitable.

According to information from official Mexi-can sources, on December 31, 1922, there werein the country 21,686 mines legally authorizedto operate, which yielded the Government2,473,216 pesos in taxes. The production ofsilver in Mexico in 1922 amounted to 2,521,832kilos. This is an increase over that of theprevious year of 516,289 kilos, or 25 per cent.Gold production in 1922 has been placed at23,276 kilos, an increase over the 1921 produc-tion of 2,001 kilos, or 9.4 per cent. Productionof lead was given as 110,455,912 kilos, against60,513,332 in 1921, and that of copper at26,977,786 kilos, against 15,228,075 kilos, inthe previous year. The following table showsthe total production'of the principal metals inMexico during 1922, and their value:

GoldSilverLeadCopperZincMercuryMolybdenumGraphiteArsenicAntimony.. .

Kilograms.

23,2752,521,832

110,455,91226,977,7866,141,937

41,8263,153

2,054,279271,718463,842

Value, inpesos.

31,034,322112,961,41827,661,97616,385,3051,749,490

140,66911,193

124,99399,68694,681

Operations of the Mexican oil fields in 1922were limited in the greater part to fieldsalready proven, not so much being accom-plished in new districts, most of which arelocated far from the old fields. Many testdrillings were made in an endeavor to locateextensions of the old fields, and some ofthese proved successful. During 1922, thefields of Panuco and Topila of the PanucoRiver region were joined and these fields werealso extended to the north and south. Otherimportant sections such'as Tuxpan, Cerro Azul,Toteco, etc., were likewise extended duringthe year. Outside of these zones experimentalwork was carried on in other parts of thecountry, indicating the possibility that furthernew discoveries may be made in 1923. Thefield operations in 1922 may be summed up inthe following figures: By December, 31 1922,there had been completed a total of 251 wells,of which 61 per cent were productive and 39per cent were abandoned. The productivewells drilled were 154 with a total initial daily



production of 1,410,319 barrels, or an averageper well of 9,158 barrels. Abandoned wellsnumbered 97, of which 70 had become dry.Twenty-six were abandoned because of theinvasion of salt water and one because of ex-cessive expense involved in its exploitation.

Considering the fact that most of theactivity was in oil fields previously exploited,some of which had begun to decline, theresults obtained during the year were con-sidered as satisfactory by the Mexican Depart-ment of Industry, Commerce, and Labor.The total amount of all classes of oil in storagein Mexico on January 1, 1922, was 28,840,000barrels as compared with 19,445,000 barrelson January 1, 1923. Production during 1922totaled 185,712,000 barrels, of which thePanuco district furnished 46,978,000 barrelsand the southern district 138,734,000 barrels,including the output of the Isthmus fields.Shipments from the Tampico district duringthe year totaled 185,049,079 barrels, of whichshipments to Vera Cruz amounted to 1,841,334barrels, other coastwise shipments for domesticconsumption 794,035 barrels, and ships'bunkers 5,892,952 barrels, leaving a netexport for the country, including reexports ofcoastwise shipments of 176,520,768 barrels.The total quantity of oil in storage on January1, 1923, was 19,445,000 barrels, leaving abalance of 12,693,280 barrels representingthe domestic consumption for the year. Dur-ing the period from January 1 to March 13,1923, in all the oil sections of Mexico, 39productive wells were drilled. From thesewells there was obtained a total daily productionof 129,442 barrels, or an average productionper well of 3,319 barrels per day. The totalnumber of wells drilled was 66, of which 27were abandoned, 19 being dry wells, 7 con-taining salt water, and 1 producing only avery small quantity of oil.

According to a statement of the Secretaryof Commerce of Mexico, more than $500,000,000 United States currency has been investedin^oil development in Mexico, of which it isestimated that 58 per cent has been Americancapital. A resumfi of the figures publishedby the Mexican Government follows:

Source of capital.

American..EnglishDutchMexicanAll.other...

Total

Amountinvested.

$303,021,619177,388,09935,598,6545,791,7033,496,641

525,296,716

Percent.

57.733.86.71.1.7

100.0

Oil-production taxes paid to the Govern-ment of Mexico during 1922 amounted to58,374,156 pesos, as against 50,604,049 pesosin 1922. Export duties amounted in 1922 to27,605,989 pesos, as compared with 12,280,911pesos during the previous year.

The past year has not been satisfactory tothe manufacturing industries of Mexico, withthe exception of shoe manufacture. Labortroubles and political disturbances have beenmainly responsible for the situation prevail-ing. The textile industry reached a stateof almost total inactivity at the end of theyear, which was due not only to labor trou-bles but also to the scarcity of raw material.The railroad industry showed signs of improve-ment during the year, which were especiallypronounced in the case of the privately ownedsystems. Signs of railroad development onthe west coast have appeared in the firstmonths of 1923. A special Federal tax of 10per cent on the gross receipts of railways, in-cluding express, T'ullman, and other servicesconnected with railroad operation, was createdby virtue of a decree published on January 22,1923.

Foreign trade and foreign exchange.—Com-plete Mexican foreign-trade figures for 1922have not yet been issued. For the firstnine months of last year exports were placedat 144,753,898 pesos. Imports into that coun-try were estimated substantially lower thanthose of 1921. Decreases were more noticeablein the imports of foodstuffs, due to the improve-ment in the farming industries. In 1921 Mexicoimported about $5,000,000 worth of corn,whereas in 1922 this amount was reduced toabout $1,000,000. Imports of wheat and flourcontinue at a high level, notwithstanding thehigh tariff established by the Government inorder to encourage domestic production. Thishas been explained by the necessity of mixingthe foreign flour with the domestic product inorder to produce a good quality of bread.Imports of the principal foodstuffs into Mexicoduring 1922 were as follows:

Lard and greases 6,135,159Corn 2,472,512Flour 1,546,205Eggs 2,039,734Rice 39,066Hams 315,662Milk 404,272Butter 381,683Cheese 286,861

United States exports to Mexico in 1922were considerably reduced. Exports, valued at$109,884,917, were $112,000,000 or 51 per cent



below those in 1921. On the other hand,imports into the United States showed re-markable improvement. The value of importsduring 1922 was placed at $132,000,000, ascompared with $119,000,000 for the previousyear. This increase was due principally tolarger shipments of coffee, hides, and crudepetroleum. Trade between the United Statesand Mexico was facilitated by the inaugurationof through bills of lading from United Statesports to Mexico City through the port ofVera Cruz and over the Mexican Railway. Thesame arrangement is in operation through theport of Tampico and over the National Rail-way of Mexico.

Exchange fluctuations during 1922 werewithin narrow limits. The embargo on goldexports is still in force, but the increasingsupply of silver currency gave rise to a goldpremium on silver. The average value of theMexican gold peso in terms of American cur-rency for the year was 48.715 cents.

Banking.—The two outstanding featuresduring 1922 in the banking activities inMexico were the banking crisis in Novemberand the approval by the Mexican Congress ofthe establishment of a single bank of issue. Itis generally understood that the privatelyowned banks of the country conducted theiraffairs during the year in a careful and con-servative manner. Nevertheless, the difficul-ties under which the banks had to labor, dueto the uncertain economic and political con-ditions, as well as other factors, such as thescarcity of circulating media and the discounton silver, gave rise in November to a bankingcrisis which extended all over the country.Of considerable importance was the failure ofthe Banque Francaise de Mexique, which oc-curred on November 15, 1922. A detailedaccount of these banking difficulties was givenin the January (1923) issue of the BULLETIN(page 73).

The establishment of a central bank of issue,to be called the Banco de Mexico, was approvedby the legislative bodies of Mexico on January20, 1923. This step became apparently neces-sary ever since the total breakdown of theMexican banking system during the Carranzaadministration. The few privately ownedinstitutions left to operate were without anyconnection with the Government. This fact,coupled with the absence of an elastic circulat-ing medium issued by a central bank, since thepresent monetary system is metallic only,called for the establishment of an official

banking institution. Scarcity of gold for cir-culation, depreciation of the silver currency,absence of rediscount facilities, the uncertainpolitical situation, lack of supervision andlarge reserves necessitated by public distrust,emphasized the evident necessity for a bankof this character.

The bank as proposed will be chartered fora period of 15 years, subject to renewal bylegislative decree. It will operate with aninitial capital of 50,000,000 pesos, which maybeincreased to 100,000,000 pesos. The Govern-ment will subscribe to 51 per cent of the capitalstock and the profits are to be distributed in alike proportion. The board of directors willbe elected by the private stockholders, butthe Government will appoint the managers,and the Secretary of the. Treasury will act aschairman of the board regarding transactionsinvolving 5 per cent or over of the bank's capitalwhen the transaction is of such a nature thatit may affect the economic status of the coun-try and also in matters entailing new issuesof bank notes. The Government will be re-sponsible for the notes issued by the bank andis to have the right to purchase all shares in thehands of private individuals after 15 yearsof operation. The total amount of notes issued,added to deposits payable on demand or at3 days'sight, is not to exceed twice the amountof cash and bullion on hand. As a compensa-tion for the privilege of note issue, the pro-posed Banco de Mexico is to pay the Govern-ment interest on deposits at an annual rateequal to one-third of the discount rate fixed bythe bank whenever such rate does not ex-ceed 12 per cent per annum. In case the rateexceeds 12 per cent, the Government will beentitled to receive one-third of the profit ob-tained by the bank in any transaction madeat such rate.

The opinions expressed about the establish-ment of the new bank have been of a verycontradictory nature. A commission was sentfrom Mexico to Europe to make arrangementsfor securing the initial capital, but no definiteadvices have been received as to the finaloutcome of the matter. A difficult bankingsituation still prevails in Mexico, and outsideof the opening of branches of the Bank ofMontreal in Veracruz and Puebla, no newbanks were opened during 1922.

Public finance.—According to official state-ments, the total receipts of the MexicanNational Government for 1920 and 1921amounted to 238,243,127 pesos and 279,832,933


MAT, 1923. FEDERAL KESEKVE BULLETIN. 591

pesos, respectively. These amounts were madeup as follows:

[In Mexican pesos.]

Items.

Foreign commerce and navigationInternal revenue taxesPublic servicesFederal real propertyOther Federal property

Total

1920.

78,969,612134,010,21613,277,0501,033,992

216,57110,735,686

238,243,127

1921.

98,301,882138,094,32516,862.2121,807,593

203,91124,563,009

279,832,933

Official data published by the comptroller'soffice of Mexico show that Federal revenues,not including those from petroleum, decreasedconsiderably in 1922. In the first five monthsof that year such revenues amounted to only76,000,000 pesos, equal to an average monthlyincome of 15,000,000 pesos, or 180,000,000 pesosfor the year, against an estimated revenue of255,000,000 pesos for the year 1922. The rev-enues of the Republic in 1923 have been esti-mated at about 260,000,000 pesos. Discrepan-cies exist in reports as to the amount anddistribution of disbursements. Total expensesof the Federal Government of Mexico for thefiscal year 1922 were 226,246,243 pesos, accord-ing to the annual report of the comptrollergeneral. In a statement credited to the ministerof foreign affairs, total expenditures for 1921are given as 277,043,852 pesos.

The total amount of the Mexican publicdebt as of July 10, 1922, was calculated at528,287,000 pesos, of which 333,232,416 pesosconstituted the amount of the foreign debtand 166,857,000 the total of the internal in-debtedness of the country.

The outstanding feature of the year withregard to the Mexican foreign debt was theagreement entered into between the MexicanGovernment and the International Committeeof Bankers for resumption of payments in cashon account of current interest on Mexican obli-gations. This plan, drawn up on June 16,1922,and approved by President Obregon on August7, 1922, provides that a minimum fund, to beincreased annually, be set aside by the MexicanGovernment for each of the five years beginningJanuary 2, 1923. At the end of this periodfull payments in cash of the service on ail obli-gations are to be resumed and all provisions ofthe contracts under which the various bondsin question were issued are to be restored.The plan further provides that the MexicanGovernment shall set aside toward payment ofsuch current interest coupons on bonds as ma-ture after January 2, 1923, the entire proceeds

of the oil export tax, 10 per cent of the grossrevenues of the National Railways of Mexico,and the'entire net operating revenues of theserailways.

The Mexican Government agreed to providefor such current interest no less than 30,000,000pesos during the calendar year 1923; and anadditional 5,000,000 pesos each year for theensuing four years, bringing the fund up to50,000,000 pesos in the fifth year. These cashinterest payments on coupons maturing afterJanuary 2, 1923, were during the first yearto have been made on a scale varying from50 per cent to 100 per cent on the externalloans; at the rate of 25 per cent on the internal3 and 5 per cent bonds; 50 per cent on theState bonds, and, in general, from 50 to 65 percent on the railway loans, except that the rail-way notes secured by Government bonds wereto receive 100 per cent. After 1923 the in-creases in the minimum fund provided by theGovernment for current interest should permitan increase in the scale of cash payments onall bonds receiving less than 100 per cent in thefirst year, and should permit payment of fullcurrent interest in cash in the fourth year uponall bonds, except the internal 3 and 5 per centbonds and the State issues guaranteed by theMexican Government. At or prior to the com-pletion of the five-year period beginning Janu-ary 1, 1923, the interest coupons maturing onor before January 2, 1923, are to be detachedand lodged with special depositaries againstthe issue of receipts of certificates to an equiv-alent face amount. Such receipts or certifi-cates are to be purchased or redeemed by theGovernment from a fund sufficient to retirethem in full, extending over a period of fortyyears, beginning January 1, 1922. Certificatesfor arrears of interest will be of two kinds—class" A " and class " B " ; class " A " to be com-pletely retired prior to class "B . " All sinkingfunds are to be postponed for a period not toexceed five years from January 1, 1923.

The plan of adjustment deals with all exter-nal Mexican debts, direct or guaranteed, theNational Railway debt, and certain so-calledinternal Government debts largely held out-side of Mexico. The total face value of thesecurities covered is more than 500,000,000pesos, on which the interest in arrears amountsto approximately 200,000,000 pesos. A de-tailed report in connection with the railwayobligations of the Mexican Government wasgiven in the November, 1922, BULLETIN (page1323), containing also the text of the agreementin connection with the reorganization of theNational Railway system.



GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF BANKINGAND FOREIGN EXCHANGE IN BRAZIL.

The monetary system of Brazil, althoughnominally on a gold basis, has been since1918 composed principally of inconvertiblepaper currency. In order to provide for theconversion of paper currency into gold at afixed rate the Government in 1906 establishedthe Conversion Office, which was empowered toredeem Brazilian paper notes at the rate of 15pence gold per paper milreis. This rate waschanged to 16 pence per milreis in 1910. Thesuccessful operation of the Conversion Officewas interrupted at the outbreak of the war,when a sudden demand for a great quantity ofgold was made upon that office, with the resultthat its operations were suspended. This sus-pension is still in force. A law enacted in April,1918, authorized the National Treasury to issueagainst the gold transferred from the Conver-sion Office five times its value in inconvertiblenotes. As a consequence of this procedure andof the emission of large amounts of incon-vertible notes for various purposes on the au-thority of different decrees, the amount of in-convertible paper currency increased from atotal of 601,488 contos in 1913 to 1,679,176contos in 1918, 1,730,000 contos in 1920, and2,226,276 contos on November 30, 1922. TheInstitution for the Permanent Protection ofCoffee and Other Produce is also empoweredby law to issue paper currency guaranteed bythat part of the gold reserves held as securityfor paper currency, under certain conditions,as well as by 80 per cent of the valueof coffee purchased by the commission, or bywarrants in favor of other parties. The goldreserves of Brazil amounted in 1922 to about85,203 contos. Thus the ratio of gold reserveto total circulation amounts to about 4 percent. It is clear, therefore, that the fluctua-tions in the value of the Brazilian currency areto a very large extent affected by the totalamounts of paper outstanding, which in turnchange according to the condition of tradeand exchange.

According to statements from official sources,the principal reason for Government controlover bank operations in Brazil was that certainbanks were responsible for the speculationin exchange which started soon after thedeclaration of war, and which was accom-panied by rapid fluctuations in the rates ofexchange. Before the enactment, of the finallaw of March 16, 1921, providing for permanentofficial control of banking and exchange in

Brazil, several laws had been passed directedtoward the governmental regulation of banktransactions in foreign exchange. The mostimportant of these laws went into effect onDecember 18, 1917, soon after the declarationof war between Brazil and Germany. Underthe terms of that law banking transactions inexchange were subject to the daily inspection ofcommissions composed of officials of the Treas-ury in Eio de Janeiro and of officers of theBanco do Brasil in the different States of theUnion.

Although speculation in exchange was par-tially checked after the enactment of the abovelaw, its effect upon the value of the milreisdoes not seem to have accomplished the re-sults expected by the promulgators of the law.The table on pages 594-595 indicates that, whilethe value of the Brazilian milreis rose slightlyin January, 1918, one month after the firstofficial control law was enacted, a downwardtrend started in February and continued evenafter the enactment of a new decree on July19, 1918. This decree prohibited the exporta-tion of securities and remittances to foreigncountries except when payments were intendedto cover obligations contracted by the FederalGovernment, the States, municipalities, or cor-porations, or when used as coverture formerchandise of free importation or whendestined for the support of Brazilians or non-enemy aliens who possessed property in Brazil.

As a means of properly enforcing the pro-visions of the above laws, the Governmentimposed a certain number of rules for theregulation of exchanges, several of which gaverise to considerable criticism on the part ofbankers, on the ground that their operationswere hampered thereby to a great extent.Some of the most important of these ruleswere: (1) All contracts for the sale or pur-chase of foreign exchange were to containthe names of the purchaser and the seller andthis information was to be transmitted to theproper supervising committee; (2) all timeexchange transactions were prohibited; (3)bank to bank exchange operations were sus-pended; and (4) remittances of securities wereconsiderably curtailed by the committee andshipments were strictly controlled by it.

The close of the year 1918 marked the begin-ning of a period of exceptional commercialactivity and speculation in Brazil. Demandsmade by the buying nations for Brazil's stapleproducts had a considerable effect upon thevalue of the currency, the milreis rising froma low quotation of 23 cents in September,



1918, to a high, mark of 33 cents in Decemberof the following year.

After the close of the war the Minister ofFinance considered it expedient to continuethe official control of banking and exchangeoperations, and on January, 1920, a commissionwas appointed to frame a law having for itsobject the permanent official regulation of for-eign exchange. In May, 1920, a draft of thebill was submitted to the Minister. The fram-ers of this bill reported that permanent con-trol was deemed necessary for the followingreasons: That the banking establishments inBrazil were under no official supervision whatso-ever; that it was a difficult task to ascertainwhether or not the credit institutions were dulycomplying with the tax laws; that domesticinstitutions were organized in accordance withrequirements of law, while the foreign bankswere established by virtue of Executive con-cessions granted them, and that no measureswere taken to determine whether either werecomplying with the laws under which theyoperated. With regard to foreign exchange,the commission reported that official con-trol was necessary in order to prevent thecirculating media of Brazil from being sub-ject to speculative fluctuations, and to placethe domestic currency in a position whereeconomic forces would be the only ones toaffect its value in terms of foreign currencies.

After a series of parliamentary discussionsand amendments of the original project of thebanking control law, it was finally approvedon March 16, 1921. The Banco do Brasil, thesemiofficial bank of the country, was given bythe provisions of the law full control overforeign exchange.

The principal provisions of the official bank-ing control law may be summarized as follows:

Banks and banking houses, agencies of banks, domes-tic and foreign, to be under the supervision of the In-spector General of Banks under the Ministry of Finance.

Establishment of banks permitted only by authoriza-tion of the Government upon application.

Application of banks must prove: Organization accord-ing to law of Brazil or of the country of head office. For-eign establishments must present their by-laws, a com-plete list of shareholders, and certificate containing adeclaration of amount of capital.

Obligations imposed on foreign banks: To maintain arepresentative in Brazil; to be subject to the Brazilianlaw; to conduct transactions only as authorized by theapproved by-laws; to realize within a maximum of twoyears from date of published authorization at least two-thirds of their capital; the opening of other agencies inBrazil besides those named in decree of authorization to bedependent on permission of the Government; to contributeannually to the expenses of supervision; to submit to can-cellation of their authorization in case of violation of thecountry's laws; capital and assets of branch not to be

liable for obligations contracted by agencies in othercountries; the decree of authorization may institute forthe foreign establishment the principle of reciprocity, andmay grant it in the Republic the same advantages andprivileges as are granted to Brazilian banks in the countryof origin; minimum capital of 9,000 contos of reis requiredfor establishment of branch of foreign banks; deposit of 50per cent of the capital in Bank of Brazil required beforeauthorization, money to be returned after authorization.

No money in form of precious metals coined, in dust,bars, or any form may be exported without a permit viseedby the office of the inspector.

Banks, domestic and foreign, dealing in exchange re-quired to deposit currency in the treasury for each citywhere they operate; deposits to be in gold or Brazilian goldsecurities; amount of deposit shall equal one-tenth percent of total exchange transactions, purchases and salescombined, of the previous year and calculated accordingto the official average of exchange for the preceding year,and shall not be in excess of 1,000 contos for the prin-cipal establishment, its agencies and branches jointly, andnot less than 100 contos. In places where volume ofexchange transactions is less than 1,000 contos of reis.annually, deposit may be reduced; establishments begin-ning operations shall deposit 100 contos of reis.

Whenever required by public interest, the Ministryof Finance shall have the right to suspend the previousauthorization of the inspector's office for all remittancessuch as drafts, checks, letters of credit, bills of exchange,etc.—all of which have for their purpose the export ofsecurities or the transfer of funds abroad; all transactionsconnected with the purchase of exchange; to prohibit ex-portation of securities and remittances abroad other than:Payments of obligations of the Government, etc.; charitableremittances; support of Brazilians or foreigners abroad;payment of goods of unrestricted importation; to suspendor postpone exportation of securities to avoid depreciationin price or fluctuations in exchange; to prohibit or restrictpurchase or sale of exchange and time export bills andexchange transactions among banks of the country.

The enactment of the permanent official L awwas immediately followed by a sharp fall in thevalue of the milreis, which dropped 1£ points interms of United States currency during thecourse of the month following that in whichthe law was passed. The downward trendthus started was not checked until July, whenthe milreis had reached the lowest mark sinceits par value was fixed at 32.45 cents in 1910.

During 1922, with the exception of a slightimprovement in the value of the milreis inMarch, the downward trend of the Brazilianexchange continued unchecked. In Septemberthe milreis declined to 11 cents during theshort-lived prohibition of interbank exchangetransactions provided for by a law enactedabout the middle of that month. This lawwas rescinded by the Minister of Finance earlyin the following month, because of a protestfiled by the local banks and the commercialassociations of Rio de Janeiro. The with-drawal of the above law was followed by a risein the rate of exchange, which may be taken asan indication that the present exchange situation



in Brazil is considerably affected by the officialcontrol laws. Those who condemn the policyof official control contend that official specula-tion has been substituted for private specula-tion with the result that legitimate commercialoperations have been seriously hampered.Were the Banco do Brasil in a position tosatisfy the market requirement for exchange,'it is said, the general situation would be likelyto present a different aspect, but at times theBanco do Brasil itself requires more exchangefor its own operations than it can sell.

It appears that the official-control lawdirected to curb speculation in exchanges hasresulted in limiting the supply and demandof exchange necessary for the requirements ofthe importers and exporters, but its provisionsare not sufficiently broad to regulate the supplyand demand at times of seasonal need.Under present conditions, in certain periodsseveral millions in sterling bills are offeredmonthly and no takers are to be found inBrazilian exchange markets, except for remit-tances against imports or payments for accountof the Government. At such times the effortsdirected toward disposing of the large surplusof bills force rates on mifreis up, but in otherperiods, bills being scarce, demand for foreignbills forces Brazilian exchange downward, andthe fall is always more violent than the rise.Such violent fluctuations have most harmfuleffects upon the general economic status ofthe country. In the case of Brazil, it is verydifficult to maintain a fixed relation betweengold and paper currency, since the paper moneyof the country is largely secured not by goldbut only by domestic products, such as coffee,the value of which may fluctuate widely. Inconsequence, the value of the milreis rises andfalls largely in accordance with the variations ofthe trade balance. The function of the Brazil-ian banks in this connection would seem to be touse part of their resources and those of then-clients to keep the supply of and the demandfor exchange bills fairly well balanced. Toattain this end, it is evident that the purchaseand sale of "futures" in exchange would haveto be widely practiced. The laws providingofficial control, on the other hand, place heavyrestrictions on operations of this character sincethey are considered highly speculative. Theconclusion reached by a number of prominentBrazilian authorities is that in the case ofBrazil it seems necessary to find some means ofplacing a check upon exchange speculation bycredit institutions, perhaps by rigid inspection,

but that the total elimination of speculationcould not be effected without seriously hamper-ing the country's trade.

The profits realized by the Banco do Brasilduring the first 18 months of permanent officialcontrol have been very considerable. In a recentreport of the bank the amount is given as about25,865,000 milreis. An analysis of the situa-tion shows that the shareholders of the Bancodo Brasil and consequently the Government,have been highly benefited by the officialcontrol.

The attitude of the new administration to-ward banking and exchange control has notyet become definitely known. However, inorder to facilitate exchange transactions, theminister of finance has instructed the inspectorgeneral of banks to limit the official control ofexchange transactions to compliance with thethree following regulations, while considerationis being given to definite modifications of thelaw in force: (1) the forwarding of statementsshowing in detail the exchange operations ofevery bank during the previous day; (2) thelegalization of exchange contracts which areto be stamped and signed by the fiscals orinspectors, and, (3) the prohibition of theopening of current accounts in foreign cur-rencies. This has been taken by many as anindication that the present administration isinclined to modify to a great extent the systemof official control at present in operation.Notwithstanding the fact that the above in-structions would indicate that the presentadministration is disposed to facilitate exchangetransactions, the value of the milreis has notimproved during the first quarter of the cur-rent year, but, on the contrary, the milreisshows a tendency to fall still further.

MONTHLY RANGE OF BRAZILIAN EXCHANGE IN

N E W Y O R K , 1917-1922.

[In cents per milreis. Par of exchange: 1 milreis=32.44 cents.]

Month.

January...February.MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober...November.December.

1917 1918 1919

High. ! Low. High. Low. | High. Low,

23.623.523.224.426.826.926.825.625.225.628.326.9

23.223.022.923.024.925.624.724.824.725.125.2 :25.9

27.126.726.425.825.625.624.924.224.025.027.027.2

26.625.825.825.325.224.9 i23.023.5 |23.023.5 !24.8 I26.5 I

26.826.126.427.028.328.328.827.525.025.725.333.0

25.025.525.825.827.027.626.524.924.525.025.027.8



MONTHLY RANGE OP BRAZILIAN EXCHANGE IN

NEW YORK, 1917-1922—Continued.

1920

Month.i High.

January j 27.8February j 27.4March 27.1April 27.1May i 26.4June 26.1July I 23.8August ! 21.8September ! 19 5October i 18.4November 17.5December < 16.8

Low.

27.325.825.826.426.123.821.417.6IB. 416.815.413.9

1921

High.

15.815.615.714.014.113.511.512.513.013.313.013.3

Low.

14.414.513.713.113.110.910.012.012.412.912.812.8

1922

High.

12.913.814.313.713.914.113.613.613.611.612.112.2

Low.

12.812.812.613.413.613.913.513.211.511.011.311.6

From the foregoing exposition of facts itmay be concluded that, although there havebeen in Brazil several causes which have beeninstrumental in bringing about a gradual de-preciation of the Brazilian currency, the officialcontrol of banking and exchange has not beensuccessful in preventing the continued fall in ex-change and in itself has probably contributed tobring about the decline. In point of fact, thevalue of the paper milreis stood in the neigh-borhood of 15 cents when the regulations forpermanent supervision of banks and exchangecame into force, and later fell to 13 cents, whereit was successfully pegged for some time, butfinally collapsed to 10 cents during the short-lived prohibition of interbank exchange trans-actions in September, 1922. A slight improve-ment was felt, however, during the last twomonths of that year, but in the first fourmonths of 1923 the quotations of the milreisstood again in the neighborhood of 11 cents.In relating the fluctuations of the milreis to thetrade balance, it must be considered that themoney of Brazil is not gold or silver, but anarbitrary unit of value termed "milreis," bywhich all operations of exchange, domesticand foreign, are conducted. Consequently, if aforeign bill of exchange rises in value measuredin the currency of the country, the value ofthat currency appraised by a sterling standardmust have depreciated proportionately, as hap-pens to every class of commodity when demandexceeds supply. The factors of value of themilreis are twofold—first, the relation of thesupply of the circulating medium to demand orthe proportion of the currency actually in cir-culation to vlie requirements of the people; and,secondly, the relation of the supply to the de-mand of foreign bills for the liquidation of

foreign engagements. With regard to the firstfactor, there has been an emission of 466,338contos, or about 26 per cent of the currencyin circulation since 1920. Such an increasewould have naturally tended to depress thevalue of the milreis, but not to the extent ofthe present level. The paper money in circula-tion in Brazil since 1913 and the average annualrate of the milreis in terms of pence follows:

E n d of—1913.1914.1915.1916.1917.1918.1919.1920.1921.1922.

Milreis.

601,488,303822,496,018982,089,527

1,122,559,7611,389,414,9671,679,176,0581,729,061,5231,730,000,0001,900,000,0002,226,276,000

Averageexchange(in pence).

15.6114.2112.2911.5912.2312.5514.1514.158.97.5

The relation between the average exchangerates and the amount of paper in circulationappears to be quite consistent from 1913 to1916. After that date the average quotationrose year by year, notwithstanding the in-creased amount of paper emissions. In 1920,however, a reaction took place which was notdue to increased emissions. This break wasdue, therefore, to a different cause. That therecent decline in milreis was not due to an un-favorable balance of payments is shown in thefollowing table:

Years.

1919192019211922

Total

Balanceof trade.

Dis-count onforeigndebt.'

Balanceof pay-ments.1

In pounds sterling.

+51.908—17.484-1.881

+ 19.000

+51.543

10.00011.50013.50015.600

50. 600

+41.908-28.984-15.381+3.400

+943

Aver-age ex-change.

In pence.

14. Jo14.18.957.5

' Estimates.

Since the decl ne in value of the milreis cannot be accounted for adequately either by thegrowth of circulation or by the balance of in-ternational payments, it has been widely heldthat official control, with its restrictions upondealings in futures, has had a depressing influ-ence on the Brazilian currency.


596 FEDERAL RESERVE BULU3TIST. MAT, 1923.

PRICE MOVEMENT AND VOLUME OF TRADE."INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX.

Wholesale prices in the United States and foreign countries were still rising in March,according to the board's index numbers, which showed that the increase was more rapid thanduring February in this country and England, but less rapid in the other three countries,Canada, Japan, and France. The tables on the following page show the movements in numberof points.

The gold-basis figures indicate higher levels also, as there were no downward movementsof exchange to offset rising prices. In England and the United States gold prices during Marchwere at the same level, snowing that between these two countries a closead justment 01 foreignexchange and domestic price levels has been attained.

In general, prices of commodities entering into foreign trade moved more noticeably thandomestic goods. Particularly in Japan and the United States imported goods rose rapidly.There has been a very general upward trend in imported goods in all countries since March, 1922.

In England minerals and metals took the leading place in the rise of domestic goods,causing raw materials to advance more rapidly than producers' or consumers' goods. Farmproducts showed very slight changes as compared with February. In Canada both producers'and consumers' goods have shown a parallel upward movement since the fall of last year.During March these trends continued. In France the advance of consumers' goods, whichwas so great in February, slackened in March. On the other hand, the raw materials group,including minerals and metals, raw textiles, grains, and animal products, and the group ofproducers' goods, including chemicals and steel products, continued to advance as in February.

600

550

500

MO

400

350

300

250

200

175

150

125

100

INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALE PRICE INDEXFEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

1913 - 100

/

/

//

' \

\

\

\

\ • "

\

\

\

V\

\

0

ENGL

\HCE

\ND

JAPAN/

CANADA\1

V/7ZBrSTATED

\ . . . • • " w

-4

•*

/

• • " " "

J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. K. D. J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D.

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923

600

550

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

175

150

12S

100


MAT, 1923. FEDERAL EESEEVE BUL.LETIN. 597

The tables below give in full from 1919 to date the all-commodities and group index numbersof wholesale prices in the five countries included in the Federal Reserve Board's index.Figures have not been computed for France prior to 1920, nor for Japan prior to 1921. Inthe first table the all-commodities index for each country is shown both in terms of the respectivecurrencies and "converted to a gold basis." The latter figures take into account the deprecia-tion of foreign currencies in terms of the American dollar and indicate relative price levels inthe several countries when all prices are expressed in dollars.

INTERNATIONAL WHOLE3ALE PRICE INDEX—FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.

Year and month.

1921 average

1919.

AprilMav

July

1920.

AprilMay

July

October

1921.January

MarchAprilMay

July

September

1922.January

MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

SeptemberOctober

December

1923.

FebruaryMarch

Based on prices in respective currencies.

UnitedStates.

100211239148157

201194195200206207216223217218225233

248248253267269262254240232214196179

168157152146145142145146146145145142

142146147149158161165165164165164164

165166169

England.

100241314201167

227222210214224234242249251261272287

305320329334340339326322315297280260

244226213206201197196195194187177172

170167168167171169171168165163165166

167170175

France.

100

478321298

417441479525537500485500497483456420

387364345333323311312302301295292287

286283287299302304307298294294307315

324355372

Canada.

100207250167149

196191193198202204207218216214217223

239249253265279276274258244234221208

199189184177168165163166158149145145

144149150152154153154149144145147147

148152155

Japan.

100

181182

176• 171167169173172178177192202197193

191185182180183187195187179174172173

176183185

Converted to gold basis.

UnitedStates.

100211239148157

201194195200206207216223217218225233

248248253267269262254240232214196179

168157152146145142145146146145145142

142146147149158161165165164165164164

165166169

England.

100218237159152

222217203205215222220218215224229225

231222252270269275259239228212198187

188180171166164153146147149149144147

147150151152157155156154150148152157

160164169

France.

100

174124126

183161179170191205204186174163142129

129135126125140130126121113111109117

121128134143143138131123117112109118

112113122

Canada.

100199223150147

192187189193196198200208208206208206

218215226242251243241228220212197179

175166161157150147144150141136133135

137145145148152151152149144145147146

147150152

Japan.

100

175175

172167163164168166171172186193189186

181176173171174179187179171168167170

172178180


598 FEDERAL BESEKVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

UNITED STATES.

[1913=100-1

Year and month.

1919 average1920 average1921 average1922 average

1919.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...

pi 1920.JanuaryFebruary....MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...

Goodspro-

duced.

(82)

GoodsIm-

ported

(19)

•214242148154

203196198203208209219226220221228235

250250255269270265258244237220202184

1921.January 172February 160MarchApril . .May. . .June. . .Ju ly . . .AugustSeptember 144

143142140

139143144146155158162162161161160160

1923.January J 162February i 162March 164

October..November..December...

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember..OctoberNovember..December..

Goodsex-

ported.

(39)

174191108123

168168163165172180176174170174179203

212216218242246226208182164142127112

114113114109105102103104106107108111

110110111115119124128127128135137138

1391461-54

221235136157

207199201201218221232227219233250254

264260266272271265256236219187168151

147140129125129126126127149146143141

139142144144155163165162157163173174

180187193

Rawma-

terials.

(37)

209235141166

195190196201209208217217211213220229

245242246263263258249237233211192176

164152146136139133134133138140141140

141145147150164167177184181179177177

182182184

Pro-ducers'goods.

(31)

198237142139

192191185181184192200206203207213223

236247263274274265251235225209190171

166158153148145140136133133132128127

127127126129137141143144147150150149

150156165

Con-sum-ers'

(33)

221244160157

212201 I200208214213223237231230236243

257255255270273267263245234221206187

173162159155152154162167162158157153

•150155157156160164163156154156156157

156154155

AUcom-

modi-ties.(101)

211239148157

201194195200206207216223217218225233

248248253267269262254240232214196179

168157152146145142145146146145145142

142146147149158161165165164165164164

165166169

ENGLAND.

[1913=100.]

Year and month.

1919 average1920 average1921 average...1922 average

1919.

February.. . .MarchApril..May

July

October

December...

1920.

MarchApril

JuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober. .November

1921.

March

May

July

October

December1922.

March

May

July

October

1923.January

April

Goodspro-duced.

(55)

238315207169

221215202208220231240250253262273283

302316327332341344330322319301285266

252234219211209206204202199192182176

174171172171175172172170165160161164

165168174176

Goodsim-

ported.

(42)

247294171155

244240233230234241247246246259269280

298314319324322306299304288272253230

207190182180167161164165170163154152

149148147148153154158155157161165163

164186169170

Goodsex-

ported.

(40)

275438183155

242231222219232233265278302332345399

452478483486484469452439421392369328

246201189185182179174168171175164158

158151153152155158158159154149154157

165172185191

Rawma-

terials.

(38)

226291197168

210208206207211216222234239250255261

270281287292306308307307301290282265

23321320220119S196192193195187177173

171168170167169

168170166165166166

167171178180

Pro-ducers'goods.

(35)

261355178145

238229200213237257269277277288310331

358392406409406396363352341309278244

231213198184179173165161165166153147

147144142143146148147143143144146146

151153158161

Con-sum-ers'goods-(24)

241292219181

241234226225229236244243241249260267

289291300306310311302297296282267255

261246231 ,225 '216213222223212200191186

181181183183191186190183177170172177

175177 '179180

Allcom-modi-ties.

(97)

241314201167

227222210214224234242249251261272287

305320329334340339326322315297280260

244226213206201197196195194187177172

170167168167171169171168165163165166

167170175177



FRANCE.

[1913-100.]

Year and month.

1920 average1921 average1922 average

1920.January

466322295

401February j 419March 458April i 498May j 512June i 484July : 477August : 494September I 493October 481November 454December i 422

1921.January : 387February i 366Harch..". | 348April i 334May i 330June 317July ! 317August : 304September • 298October I 291November ' 290December ' 284

1922. 'January 284February 282

Goodsex-

ported.

(34)

512288295

495542579651655574524532517489466408

383349330326 !

535563633653539496500501463400373

352 j330305 i

Raw-mate-rials.

(39)

506341324

455483510549559518503523520508496452

Pro-ducers'goods.

(36)

433248235

373408437482498482459453441417396350

Con-sum-ers'

goods.(23)

474348309

398409468522535488481503506496447430

March-April 302May 305June i 305July : 306August ; 296September 289October ; 286November i 296December j 306

1923.JanuaryFebruary . . .March.. '

285279282290314314304303

295286282282

269256261261276 i291294283

277275272274

312342359

288 1295308309320333362361

384419440

279292 i:

297296301308336333

346384399

406382358354335332328322328319315313

300305318322327332329323328348352

366396418

304276269259240226232229240238233230

229227229228226231237238238238248253

262293318

422444384361368347348330309304305294

299300

327325303296290296310

312343349

JAPAN.

[1913=100.]

Year and month.

i1921 average1922 average

1921.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1922JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJuly

186187

177173170173179178186184197208204201

192187186188191200

Goodsex-

ported.

(21)

154159

170158148146146141140144167172162154

153151153151157166167

173189

175173167167165163166166175185183192

197186175176183192196

Rawmate-rials.

(18)

154165

161155149148147142141142159171167167

168163157157164168170

Pro-ducers'goods.

(35)

188181

192184173179180181184187199209193192

191183183.183182191195

Con-sum-ers'

goods.(37)

193192

179174174177185185197193207217215209

203198195192194196208

Allcom-mod-ities.(98)

478321298

417441479525537500485500497483456420

387364345333323311312302301295292287

283287299302304307298294294307315

324355372


181182

176171167169137172178177192202197193

191185182180183187195

JAPAN—Continued.

Year and month.

1922.AugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

1923.JanuaryFebruary...March

Goodspro-

duced.

(62)

192183176173175

Goodsim-

ported.

(28)

160156159166165

176 175183 184184 ! 193

Goodsex-

ported.

(21)

189189195194192

199214212

Rawmate-rials.

(18)

161159166173171

178192194

Pro-ducers'goods.

(35)

187177171168167

176186190

Con-sum-ers

goods.(37)

202190179173177

174177178

CANADA.

[1913=100.]

Year and month.

Goodspro-

duced.

(63)

1919 average1920 average1921 average1922 average





1923.JanuaryFebruaryMarch

Goodsim-

ported.

(38)

207249168147

195190193199201205208220217214217223

238248251263277275274258244234221208

200190186178169166164167158148144144

143148150152153151153146140141143143

145149152

oodsex-

ported.

(37)

204253164160

201198198193193196201205208212219228

245254263276288283273'255217231218208

194180174169164

• 160158158155153151 !151 !

151150150151157162165166170171165167

170170173

220268181145

209207209211213216226226228226230233

262270271274296296295286270252231215

202192193190185188175149138137

139152151153154149154144133134138138

140146151

Rawmate-rials.

(34)

197235155138

18317517918619219520320»208207212219

231242247252261258257250230215195187

182174170162159157153155147136131131

132138140142145143143136133134135135

136139141

Pro- Con-ducers' sum-

ers'goods.

(29)

188255174151

186185181175177181186194193196198203

226231234253268276274268266267260242

222210190185177168

(38)

227270183164

219216219224226225220239236230232237

255266268289309302299267258250245229

217203202196178176


187179174172173

176183185


164162159153152149

147147146146147150152154154155157159

160164169

177182174166164164

161164166169168168171166157158160161

163167173

207250167149

196191193198202204207218216214217223

239249253265279276274258244234221208

199189184177168165163166158149145145

144149150152154153154149144145147147

148152155


600 FEDERAL BESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

COMPARATIVE WHOLESALE PRICE LEVELS IN PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES.

The following series of index numbers covering the last four years are the latest correctedfigures available, and have been obtained in most cases directly from the statistical officescomputing them. There are many small changes from the figures as previously published.

ALL-COMMODITIES INDEX NUMBERS.'

Year and mouth.

1913191419151916191719181919192019211922

JanuaryFebruary.MarchAprilMay.JuneJulyAugust. . .September.October...NovemberDecember

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober...November.December

1921.JanuaryFebruary.MarchAprilMay.JuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober...NovemberDecember

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober...November.December

JanuaryFebruary.MarchApril

See following page for footnotes.

Italy;Eic-

cardoBachi.'

(100)

10095

133202299409364631578562

Nether-lands;

CentralBureauof Sta-

tistics.8

(53)

100105145222286392297281181160

(Chris-tiania):Oekon-

miskRevue-8

(92)

Poland;CentralStatis-tical

Office.*

424654677-17991

140291432945

1,665

2,0547,1596,7706,393

374154646570

101192287566

1,1511,475

2,7855,5854,888

324320324329336356361368370388436455

550557602664700632604625655659670655

642613604584547509520542580599595595

577 !562533527524537558571582 |601596580

575582586588

"115i'159W233i«34118 34518 322

38229S233

339

287283286292293294296288287283260233

213197188176182182176180180169165165

161162161161165167162155153156158158

159158164

314

(58)

Spain;Insti-tute ofGeog-raphy

andSta-

tistics.10

(74)

1,376

Sweden;;

322

333342351354368382409417425419403377

344319312297294294300297287

260253240236231230232 I227 ;225 I221 j221 j220 ]

220224229 !231

592634737751786877

1,0161,3581,5242,0132,7563,464

5,4878,5919,88510,589

100101119141166207204221190176

jS*ed<m;Hal-

ning.u

(47) , (160)

219203193191187186186183183185184183

180179177180178178175175174172174172

170170171

100 » 100116 !145 i185 i244 j339330 :347 359211 , 218162 173

369358354339330324320321319307308317

319342354354361366363365362346331299

267250237229218218211198182175174172

170166164165164164165163158155154155

156158

343357366371374376376375370358338306

272256249239230223216211201194189188

181179177175175174173173170169163163

163

162 1


MAT, 1923. FEDERAL EESERVE BULLETIN. 601

ALL-COMMODITIES INDEX NUMBERS—Continued.

Year and month.

1913 .1914 . .1915191619171918191919201921 ...1922

1919.

FebruaryMarchApril...Mav

July

October

1920.

AprilMavJuneJuly

September. . .

1921.January

April

July. . .

1922.

AprilMay

July

October

1923.

EUROPE—continued.

Switzer-land;Dr.J.Ix>renz.8

(71)

'H00

195166

UnitedKing-dom;Boardof

Trade.

(150)

100

307197159

326

238230219208186185179177181184182178

176171171163161160161163163163169170

175181186187

297310319325326322317313311302287264

246225211205202198194190187181173168

164162160160160160160156154155157156

157158160

UnitedKing-dom;Econo-mist

(44)

10099123161204225235283181159

217215212214222230239241245252259273

288303310306304291292287284266245220

209192189183182179178179183170165162

159158160159162163163158156158159158

161163163164

UnitedKing-dom;

Statist.*

(45)

100101126159206226242295188155

224220217217229235243250252264271276

288306307313305300299298292282263243

232215208199191183186181175163161157

156155157158159159157152150153153152

153155156

NORTH AMERICA.

UnitedStates;Bureauof Labor

Sta-tistics.

(404)

10098101127177194206226147149

199193196199202203212216210211217223

233232234245247243241231226211196179

170160155148145142

• 141142141142141140

138141142143148150155155153154156156

156157159

Canada;Depart-ment ofLabor."

(271)

100101110135177206217246182165

212207205206210210218223223222227238

248254258261263258256244241234225214

208199194187183179176174172169168170

168169166166167165166164163162164165

165166167

Aus-tralia-;Bureauof Cen-sus andSta-

tistics.*

(92)

15100141132155170180218167154

172168169171172173176182185200199197

203206209217225233234236230215208197

196192181171166162159160160156151148

147147146148155156157155158159162161

163161163

China(Shang-hai);Minis-try ofFi-,

nance.20

(147)

21100

133140145146

133133134129

131136141142143146144141140138139139

138142143144145148145149148146144146

149150152148146144145142139143143149

153162159158

ASIA AND OCEANIA.

DutchEast

Indies;Statis-ticalBu-reau.

(17)

22 10022 107«2 139

18 23218 28118 226186164

223

246

281

319

299

292

226

214197194188187183183184188175170166

164163164164166167168163159163164163

India(Cal-

cutta);Depart-ment ofStatis-tics.*

(75)

23 100112128147180198204181180

188171180190197199215204200205210214

218209198200210206209209208206194180

178174175183184178183184187184180180

178179182182187183181178176177178176

179180181

Japan(Tokyo);Bank ofJapan.'

(56)

1009597117147193236259200196

209• 208202202210223241245251266280289

301313321300272248239235230226221206

201195191190191192196199207219214209

206204201197194197201195193190188183

184192196

NewZealand;Depart-ment ofStatis-tics."

(106)

100104123134151175178212201177

183179173172171171173177181183184187

194198206209210209219219220222218218

216210208205201200200197197195191188

186181180180177175177177174174175172

171172173

i

AFRICA.

Egypt(Cairo);Depart-ment ofStatis-tics.

(23)

"100102124168207225299171145

213211214214216224228233239227236246

318354338308293292283279299300287238

204180171172170161159158169180171160

156152153148141139138139138140144147

141137136133

SouthAfrica;Office OfCensusand

Statis-tics.

(187)

100

127145158170231166133

163

160

166

191

221

230

240

230

186

171

155

143

135

132

131

133

135

1 The number of commodities or quotationsused in the computation of each index is indi-cated by figures in parenthesis at head of eachcolumn.

2 Average of last half of month.* First of month.* End of month.» Beginning of month—not always the 1st.' Average for the month.' 38 commodities prior to 1920; 76 commodities

during 1921. End of month.

8 Basei upon price of 52 commodities during1920; 53 during 1921.

9 End of year and end of month,w 15th of the month."Middle of month.1J July 1,1913, to June 30,1914-100.« April, 1914=100.•* July 1,1912, to June 30,1914= 10C.is July, 1914=100.i« Dec. 31,1913, to June 30,1914= 100."January , 1914=1.

'« December figure." January figure.20 As of last Wednesday in month.21 February, 1913-100.22 As of Jan. 1.» End of July, 1914-100.2* Jan. 1,1913, to July 31,1914= 100.25 July, 1914=1.261913 average-1." Corresponding month \n 1913= 100.


602 FEDERAL, RESERVE TJTTT.T.Tf.TTNr, MAY, 1923.

The foreign index numbers published on thetwo preceding pages are constructed by variousforeign statistical offices and are sent to theFederal Reserve Board by cable. The SwedishBoard of Trade index was described in the July,1922, BULLETIN, page 816; references to BUL-LETINS in which other indexes are describedmay be found in the issue for January, 1923.

Index numbers showing the price levels ofseparate groups of commodities in the UnitedStates and many foreign countries are pre-

sented below and on the following pages.These group index numbers are published onlyoccasionally, but the most recent figures maybe obtained from the Division of Analysis andResearch at any time upon request.

A comparative summary table showing theboard's international index for the UnitedStates, England, Canada, France, and Japanappears on page 597. Group index numbers,computed as part of this international series,will be found on pages 598 and 599.

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—UNITED STATES-COMMODITIES IN BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS INDEX REGROUPED BYFEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.

1913.1919.1920.1921.1922.

JanuaryFebruary.MarchAprilApMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

January. .February.March

Year and month.

1922.

Raw materials.

Agricul-tural

products.(21)

1923.

100 i251 |255134145

130140141145152146147138136147160161

164170174

Animalproducts.

(21)

100221186110125

109121122120122123130127132132129128

125123123

Forestproducts

(11)

100211311165185

167166165167174186188191199204207210

215220227

Mineralproducts.

(35)

100179236184207

178177178180202211241261236

Totalraw ma-terials.

(88)

100217228142158

139146147148157159171173168

218209208

213207202

166166167

168167167

Pro-ducers'goods.

(117)

100179215135128

123118120122125127129129132135136135

136141148

Con-sumers'goods.

(199)

Allcommodi-

ties.

100211231159151

146148150149150151152149150 |152155157

155155156

(404)

100206226147149

138141142143148150155155153154156156

156157159

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—UNITED STATES—BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Year and month.

19131919192019211922

JanuaryFebruary..MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

JanuaryFebruary...March

1922.

1923.

100231218124133

122131130129132131135131133138143145

143142143

Foods.

(110)

Miscel-laneous.

(25)

100175196128117

117117117116116114114115116120122122

124126127

Allcommod-

ities.

(404)

100206226147149

138141142143148150155155153154156156

156157159



GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—BELGIUM—MINISTRY OF LABOR.'

Year and month.

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober ,NovemberDecember

1923.JanuaryFebruary

Foodprod-ucts.

(15)

359346342 i347 !337

327 :304326349 !339 |

353407

Fuel.

(4)

447443430407392392400405

"457'462462

514579

Metals.

(15)

330311306313318319329334343368390390

467525

Petro-leumprod-ucts.(7)

436422384359357360366352347333349337

360383

Pot-tery.

(10)

528520526518533525530531575600605596

617619

Glass-wares.

(2)

415386360325325337337337337360378378

37S522

Chem-ical

prod-ucts.(12)

345341334326321321321322322339358377

377397

Fertil-izers.

339342369358348333328352364374385 !388 !

407443 !

Fats.

(7)

303302292279283293307298303334349349

379422

Tex-tiles.

(21)

394380370360399432440444444477523521

563598

Build-ing

mate-rials.(13)

361357355351346358351358365361375377

390405

Hidesand

leather.

(9)

301295286282282282286286293302322322

317334

(126)

366356350344348358360360364385408407

434474

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—DENMARK—FINANSTIDENDE.«

Year and month.

1920—January1921—January1922—January

FebruaryMarchAprilMay

Foods.

285319175172174172176

Othercom-modi-ties.

374356180180186181178

Allcom-modi-ties.

340 |341178 j177182178177

Year and month. Foods.

1922—JuneJulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

182186186179182178181

Othercom-modi-ties.

Allcom-modi-ties.

178177176177172181183 I

179180180178176180182

Year and month.

March.April.May...

Foods.

1923—3 anuary j 179February I 184

Othercom-modi-ties.

Allcom-modi-ties.

183197204207209

181192199200204

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—FRANCE—GENERAL STATISTICAL

Year and month.

1919, April1920 April .1921 4.pril

1922.

AprilMay . . .

July

Animalfoods.

(8)

436522396

309303341362362363359354

October 341

1923.

387

388

April413413

Vegetablefoods.

(8)

277511348

289288285310310318293292279283289300

322332333322

Sugar,coffee,cocoa.

(4)

236447359

306318326320319334339S36333311345364

412508491498

All foods.

(20)

336506372

302301317335334341330327318313331349

367402397393

Minerals.

(7)

243507281

258242242245249255265275279309305311

346399426390

BUREAU. 8

Textiles.

(6)

335953314

363345326319338372392421418.446468473

533553541530

Sundries

(12)

387598371

350341328324323322326330341347363365

377410417416

All in-dustrial

materials.(25)

330653328

324311300297303313322334339357369373

404439447433

Allcommod-

ities.(45)

332588347

314306307314317325325331329337352362

387422424415

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—GERMANY—FEDERAL STATISTICAL BUREAU. •

Year and month.

1919, April.1920, April.1921, April.

January,.February.MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

1922.

Domesticgoods.

(16)

2871,1921,280

3,3833,7635,0275,9856,0266,5409,300

Importedgoods.

(22)

3023,4411,560

5,0755,8007,4638,2038,6179,479

13,854

All com-modities.

(38)

1,5671,326

3,6654,1035,4336,3550,4587,030

10,059

Year and month.

1922.August ,SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


Domesticgoods.

(10)

16,54525,81549,85395,290128,330

239,005494,200450,300

Importedgoods.

(22)

32,49143,11390,343

214,150243,230

475,832879,600081,600

All com-modities.

(38)

19,20228,69856,601

115,100147,480

278,476558,500488,800

' A p r . 15, 1914 = 100. 2 July 1,1912-June 30,1914-100. 5 1913=100.



GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—GERMANY—FRANKFURTER ZEITUNG.*

Year and month.

1920, January1921, January

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberN ovemberDecember

1923.JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

Foodstuffsand

luxuries.(26)

1,9722,019

3.8404,3005,2116,3306,6496,9678,32313,69129,17538,95988,980144,753

175, 845555,005536,100535,000

Textilesand

leather.(16)

2,6112,325

5,7896,2816,8058,5519,2289,626

11,00119,66132,18466,157

153,896266,622

320,6321,413,673

945,000834,900

Minerals.

(18)

2,7492,780

5,1785,5256,8108,5859,305

10,14112,16818,35542,64854,905

128,982219,395

262,212931,239829,800782,200

Miscella-neous.

(17)

1,1011,776

3,1493,4924,2015,2885,9616,4136,881

10,99321,60532,13472,038

134,177

177,752534,734694,900643,400

Industrialfinished

products.(21)

1,4651,704

3,3473,5814,0604,9725,9826,3417,29210,00122,66435,02557,683118,385

151,793476,564551,400531,500

All com-modities.

(98)

1,9652,130

4,2174,5995,4206,7037,3847,8519,102

13,97829,11643,22394,492

166,495

205,417715,881677,000639,300

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—ITALY—RICCARDO BACHI

Year and month.

1920 March . . .1921, March

1922.

March . . .AprilMay . . . . . . .JuneJuly . . .August

October

December. . . . . . .

1923.

MarchApril

Vege-tablefoods.(2?)

93108

112109107105106109112115112113112110

109109109111

Animalfoods.

(13)

83117

11411296

1039497

100100110114112110

108108110114

Chemi-cals.

(11)

9787

737372706767686970727169

69707070

Textiles.

(12)

11664

726865636674767880858278

81839083

Mineralsand

metals.(16)

10572

646259585857616365696765

63646766

s

Buildingmate-rials.

(6)

82113

929184827976798181868888

88868583

Othervegetableproducts.

(5)

102123

1121111039296

105113119120134127129

125130129128

Sundries.

(12)

93104

94928788888791939596

10094

91929293

All com-modities.

(100)

9697

929085848486899293969693

92939494

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—NORWAY—0KONOMISK REVUE.'

Year and month.

1920, Apr i l . . .1921, Apr i l . . .

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember.. .OctoberNovember. . .December


Animalfoods.

299283

244236222213209227248238238223

Vege-

foods.

301304

256250245241237241244216208201

222220

210215208208

200200

198200202205

Feed-stuffs

and fer-tilizers.

289279

224220217214215215215206203199200

198199202205

Coalandcoke.

871317

279279279263250250267258258258258250

252278354345

Petro-leumand

benzine.Iron. Metals.

196343

276256203203203203203193193186186180

165150 :178 i184

603295

268263 I232 |230233 !248 I253248 !249 !233 I224 I215 !

225270275272

Buildingma- | Textiles

terials.

232166

183165161159160165165162161166157157

157170179 ;179

329

279274262260180182179179185185185183

179179 i177 ;177 !

396329

316310

177141141141141141161161

177179179179

Hidesand

leather.

279199

219219190185245242240239242234244245

251252264268

Pulpwood.

295

183183177177287280280279272272272270

263257262

Paper.All

com-modi-ties.

365413

332327309304293266263266266266266266

264264264 i264

354297

260253240236231230232227225221221220

220224229231

< July, 1914-100. > 1920= 100; new series beginning January, 1922. < Dec. 31, 1913-June 30,1914=100.



GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—SPAIN—INSTITUTE OF GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.'

Year and month.

1920, March1921, March



Animalfoods.

(11)

219197

200204198202200194187203202197207200

192191

Vegetablefoods.

(16)

193178

168165168170168169166164159158160162

161161

Liquors.

(9)

191163

155157158169170170166165163160159158

155152

Totalfood.

(36)

200180

175175174179178176172175173171174173

169168

Fueland

lighting.

(8)

289238

188177181188186186179172173173169169

166167

Textilesand

leather.(6)

252145

151145141140144148151147148153161161

166165

Metals.

(8)

184178

158158153154149151152151151151151149

149151

Buildingmaterials.

(10)

222255

247247251249245242244242242230232229

229232

Chemi-cals.

(16)

230214

168167164166163163158158156152150144

143144

Totalindustrialmaterials.

(38)

238210

184181180181179180178175175173173171

171172

Allcom-

modities.

(74)

193

ISO179177180178178175175174172174172

170170

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—SWEDEN—G8TEBORGS HANDELS OCH S J S F A R T S T I D N I N G . 8

Year and month.Vegetable

foods.

(6)

276270238

168170173174176174174168146143132136

137141142

Animalfoods.

(7)

438304229

173159153156154165164168179166171155

161156147

Rawmaterialsfor agri-culture.

(5)

356318240

202170168169170170167162160158159162

163159159

Coal.

(2)

814960279

179186170177179155160167169169175178

184214267

Metals.

(5)

317291185

131130129128124121121123119117117117

117118130

Buildingmaterials.

(7)

Woodpulp.

(3)

Hidesand

leather.

(5)

Textiles.

(5)

Oils.

(2)

All com-modities.

(47)

1919, March1920, March1921, March



288367298

228226225229212209215213215216208209

211206206

323682510

178167159147144149149154160178181

185190190

17426885

104979190868788909091

89

134

144138140140156172179170171176194198

205213216

275268

179179179162154154154154150150150150

150150150

354354237

170166164165164154165163158155154155

156158162

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—SWITZERLAND—DR. J. LORENZ.'

Year and month.

1921, April..

January...February..MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

1922.

Con-sumersgoods.

(33)

257

1S9181179171165166167

Agricul-tural

products.(12)

166

155151151145148140141

Indus-trial

products.(26)

197

170169173165165170171

Allcom-

modities.(71)

219

176171171163161160161

Year and month.

AugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


Con-sumersgoods.

(33)

168167168173174

176163177

Agricul-tural

products.(12)

148153150155155

162181206

Indus-trial

products.(26)

Allcom-

modities.(71)

168166166175176

180193172

163163163169170

175181186

' 1913-100. 8 July 1,1913-June 30,1914-100 July, 1914=100.


606 FEDERAL, RESERVE BTJLUSTIN. M A T , 1923.

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—UNITED KINGDOM—BOARD OF TRADE, w

Year and month.

1920, March1921, March


JuneJuly.AugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1923.JanuaryFebruary.March

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—UNITED KINGDOM—STATIST.'»

Year and month.Vege-tablefoods.

(8)

Animalfoods.

(7) (4)

Food-stuffs.

(9)

Minerals.

(7)

Textiles. Sundries.

(8) I (11)

i AllMaterials.! com-

modities.(26) (45)

l919,Mareh 2401920, March 3421921, March 214

1922.January 160February 167March 164April 168May 167June 166July 165August J41September : 137October 143November 143December 140

1923.January 138February ! 134March i 133

205 |237262

177178173

238393182

170173190206199196187186178175175181

140138147149147154156156151161166164

167188209

223300232

162166174183179178174165159161162163 j

161 |163163

154263179

123117118120123122125124126129127127

132141146

235360171

175172162156163167166166166173174171

172164161

246318221

159158157152154155151146146146147140

144147148

213 |312 !193 \

152 |149 !146 '143147147147 :144145 !148148145 '

148 ;150 !151 !

217307

156155157158159152159157150153153152

153155156

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—CANADA—DEPARTMENT OF LABOR."

Year and month.

Grainsand

fodder.

(15)

217291154

133145149152153143143127121119126127

125129129

Animalsand

meats.

(17)

210200169

129135138143144144143138132131125127

126128125

Dairyprod-ucts.

(9)

184196161

149141122127116115122120128141152160

151150151

Fruitsand veg-etables.

(20)

197316162

186204204203202185178156137139155159

155162162

Otherfoods.

(25)

j Hides,Textiles.! leather, Metals.

(20)

etc.

(11) (23)

Imple-ments.

(10)

Build-ing ma-terials,lumber.

(14)

Fueland

lighting

(10)

Drugsand

chemi-cals.(16)

All com-modi-ties.

(271)

1919, Apr i l . . .1920, Apri l . . . .1921, Apri l . . . ,

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMay ,JuneJuly. . . .August ,SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


213264

155155158157154153154152156153154154

159163161

284328191

I176174174174175180184181181183185182

184185

166239116

999796959599100105105103106102

162214145

142141137135136137138142144146147148

102102102

150150159

223237241

153268229

231216213213213213216216218218218218

218218213

180179174174173173178179179180181184

184184186

206246226

206204206206218221234257243232221225

226221222

210201180

163164166165166162160161160159160160

159159158

206261187

168169166166167165166164163162164165

165166167

1913-100.



GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—AUSTRALIA—BUREAU OF CENSUS AND STATISTICS."

1919, March.1920, March.1921, March.

JanuaryFebruary..MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

January.. .February..March

Year and month.! Metalsand coal.

1922.

1923.

200205203 j

j185184182181179178176172171 i170169169

169168165

July, 1914=100.

Textiles.

(10)

185281107

139136137140150159156147157164188181

190198199

Agricul-tural

products.(16)

161226176

140142144144149148153156160156168159

164157160

Dairy \ GroceriesproductsJ

(0)

136162207

118119121134155152156144145140134126

134140151

! tobacco.(21)

142160198

188187186184184183181181180181169170

170170171

Meat.

(5)

147146178

92939192

109116119124124132118113

122116117

Buildingmaterials.

(10)

261298303

196195187190180169168168169179191204

198190185

Chemi-cals.

(7)

309280234

200194190192190188199199192188184184

188194193

All com-modities.

(92)

169209181

147147146148155156157155158159162161

163161163

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS—DUTCH EAST INDIES—STATISTICAL BUREAU."

Year andmonth.

1919, January.1920, January.1921, January.

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarch..Apr i i . . .

Grainsand

meats.

229256230

161168174179

Otherfood-

stuffs.

220248225

185181194188

Textiles.

252380185

166162162157

Miner-als.

169233230

149142143145

Mis-cella-neous.

233254211

162164156156

AUcom-modi-ties.

223281214

164163164164

Year andmonth.

1922.MayJuneJulyAugustSeptember.October....NovemberDecember.

Grainsand

meats.

185178177156155157153153

Otherfood-

stuffs.

185191188190192197198199

Textiles.

168177174175174180187185

Miner-als.

145141145141142145143144

Mis-cella-

neous.

155155157155143142142141

Allcom-modi-ties.

166167168163159163164163

12 J a n . 1,1914=100.

GROUP INDEX NUMBERS-INDIA (CALCUTTA)—DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS."

Year and month.

1919, March1920, March1921, March



Cereals.

159151128

139137153145147 •141142135130133128116

Pulses .

155160122

177174173166152149149145141143130121

114 I 118121 I 112119 , 111

Tea.

1098771

161146146146144137136154152179204200

209204204

Otherfoods.

Oilseeds,

150166122

132143148143161156155145146149145142

134138139

Rawjute.

11881

858290107120123121109118113130126

119115111

Rawcotton.

20217998

165172189189198206209208187189190188

216216228

Co*onmanu-

fac-tures.

300351301

275266271271296292290284276271270269

272270267

Othertextiles.

151159143

156162150147150150163159166174189166

160162160

Hidesand

skins.

15921186

126131126114109110113112110128132133

137136149

Metals.

266222255

220193187183178165163164165163162

,160

171159160

Otherarticles.

181218239

236241260259261251225213214218212221

219226229

AUcom-modi-ties.

180198175

178179182182187183181178176177178176

17918C181

»July, 1914-100.


608 FEDERAL KESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

COMPARATIVE RETAIL PRICES IN PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES.

In the following tables are presented statistics showing the trend of retail food prices andcost of living in the United States and certain other countries. Descriptions of these indexnumbers were given in the BULLETINS for January and April, 1923. Wherever possible the indexnumbers have been shifted to a July, 1914, base, instead of being shown on the different basesused in the original computations.

INDEX NUMBERS OF RETAIL FOOD PRICES.

Year andmonth.

1914, July1920, July1921, July

1922.

FebMarAprMay

JulyAugSeptOct.NOTDec

1923.Jan. . .FebMar

Aus-tria(Vi-

enna).

3 1

748. 871. 904. 1,043. 1,374. 2,421. 3,282. 7,224.13,531

11 907. 11,145. 10,519

10,718. 10,784

Bel-gium.

100459410

417399382378379384381377386406432429

426439439

Bul-garia.

1001,6941 612

2 2592 3642,3S02,4562,6322 3792,4312,4752,4782 5062,5202,575

Czecho-slo-

vakia.

100

1 4671.461,414,415,444475-

,430,290,105

(11 f,'984

962

941934926

E U R O P E A N COUNTRIES.

France(Par-is).*

100373306

319307294304317307297289291290297305

309316321

Ger-many

(71cities).

• 11315

2530364447516897

154266550807

1 3663,1833,315

Ger-many(Ber-lin).

>11415

26313643454871

111176288605831

1 3363,319

Italy.

1100452501

576559546524530

522531537555561557

542527523

Neth-er-

lands(Am-ster-dam).

100210ISO

148149143137136137140139141143136137

140

Nor-way.

100319295

257245238234230227233232228220216215

214214211

Spain(Mad-rid).*

100191184

179179181190188183179178179178178177

180181

Swe-den.

100297232

190189185182178179179181180178170168

166165

Swit-zer-

land.2

100239207

176173162153152153153152153155156156

155154

UNITED STATES ANDOTHER COUNTRIES.

UnitedStates.

100215145

139139136136136138139136137140142144

141139139

Can-ada.

100227148

149143142138138137138141139138139140

142142145

Aus-tralia.

100194161

142140141143147146148149149146145146

145144

NewZea-land.

100167164

147145141144145143144141139139139138

138139141

SouthAfrica.

100191139

121119IIS12112Clit116neHIus120118

117

1 Average for 1913. 2 Includes, in addition to foodstuffs, certain items of fuel and light.

COST OF LIVING INDEX NUMBERS.

' Ju ly , 1914-1.

Year andmonth.

1914, July. .1920, July. .1921 July

1922.

FebMarAprMayJuneJulyA u g . . . —SeptOctNovDec

1923.Jan.FebMar

Aus-tria

(Vien-na).

i l

669770792875

1,0931,8712,6455,932

11,30610,3639,7019,375

9,4549,601

10,238

Bel-gium.

2 100

404

418395372368365373372369384406

,432429

425436434

Fin-land.

100931

1,214

1,124) 12ftt 1071,109,111

1,1371,1421,1591,160

17R

I! 1691,158

1,1501,149

France(Par-is).

100341307

291

302

289

""366 '

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

Gef-many

(71cities).

»19

11

1822263235385070

114195400612

1,0342,4082,6272,764

Ger-many(Ber-lin).

U1111

19222732354161

103164261565868

1,2912,8142,608

Italy(Mi-lan).

100441449

523522503490492488488491498504505504

505497

Neth-er-

lands(Am-ster-

dam).

5 100217208

192

i87

175

176

Nor-way.

100302302

266

255

249

238

237

Po-land.

257

469481524586639684788908

1,0771,2841,7102,310

3 5275,713

Swit-zer-

land.

«100

205

186175170162156155159154154155158158

158

UnitedKing-dom.

100252219

192188186182181180184181179178180180

178157 ! 177158 176

174

UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.

UnitedStates

(32cities).

1 100217180

167

167

•166

170

UnitedStates

(Mass.).

100198158

154154152152152152153152152153154154

154155154

1

Can-ada.

100190155

149148146145145146146147147147147148

149150152

India(Bom-bay).

100190177

173165165162163163165164165162160161

156155154

NewZea-

land.

»100

157156153152152151150150150149149148

148

SouthAfri-ca.

•100

133

122120120122122121120120120121122121

120

1

1 July, 1914=1.2 Apr. 15,1914=100.3 1913-14=1.

* August, 1913-July, 1914=. 1.» 1910-11=100.8 June.

7 Juiy, 1913=100.« 1909-1913=100.• 1910 = 100.

10 Average for year.


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL, RESERVE BULLETIN. 609

INDEXES OF INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

UNITED KINGDOM.

Year andmonth.

Montlily a v:1913192019211922

1922.MarchAprilMayJuneJuly. . .AugustSeptember..OctoberNovember..December..

1923.JanuaryFebruary...March

PRODUCTION.

Coal.

Longtons.1

23,95319,10818,38820,996

19,921« 22,875

19,14615,82723,13519,050

5 25,68121,20721,712

5 25,841

21,21922,247

5 27,577

Pigiron.

Longtons.1

855

Steelin-

gotsandcast-ings.

Longtons.1

639670 I 7.VS218408

390394408369399412430482494534

568543634

302486

549404462400473528556565601546

634707803

Fin-ishedsteel.

Longtons.1

646238349

369294334316345338386393410407

480

Rawcot-ton,

visiblesup-ply-3

Bales.1

1,3971,2341,064

1,1121,1811,1431.111

890864853882

1,0561,138

1,1231,1041,024

EXPORTS

Ironandsteel

manu-fac-

tures.

Longtons.1

414271142283

296258272236252270279347372341

353318

CoVton

manu-fac-

tures.

Squareyards?

4 596374244352

307305345315447381400357402364

404346

Coal.

Longtons.1

6,1172,0782,0555,350

5,2014,0975,0574,7945,0646,1467,0836,1966,5715,955

5,6125,903

IMPORTS.

Rawcot-ton.

Lbs.1'

18115898

119

831011201271118160

128183205

135130

Rawwool.

Lbs?

67736392

1231171389779

10752606070

9884

l

Rawwet

hides.

Lbs.1

7,7574,5085,3685,500

5,1163,5433,3533,1058,2778,1548,2205,7016,1605,711

5,0413,935

TRANSPORTATION".

Ves-sels

undercon-

struc-tion.

Grosstons.1

2,0033,6033,3131,810

2,236

1,920

1,617

1,469

1,492

Ves-sels

clear-ing.

Tons.1

5,6523,0493,0324,974

4,8144,1875,1044,9754,8285,8555,7315,5905,6535,145

5,2814 985

Britishrailways.

Netton-

miles

Ton-miles?

1,5461,108

1,5271,2361,3791,1601,3691,4551,4641,5451,568

Totalfreight

re-ceipts.

£ ster-ling.1

«9,074

11,1439,198

10,4428,9039,5619,3989,2049,9229,954

Unem-ployedamong12,000,-000 in-suredper-sons.

Percent.

13.813.3

14.614.413.512.712.312.012.012.012.412.2

12.711.811.1

Unem-ployedamongtrade

union-ists.

Percent.

2.12.4

15.315.4

16.317.016.415.714.614.414.614.014.214.0

13.713.112.3

Netprofits

ofindus-trialcom-

panies.

Percent.

11.715.210.37.0

7.2

5.9

9.1

9.9

1 In thousands; 000 omitted.2 In millions; 000,000 omitted.

3 Figures for end of the month.4 Expressed in yards.

5 Figures for 5 weeks.•11 months average.

FRANCE.

Year and month.

Monthly average:1913192019211922

1922.FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...


PRODUCTION.

Pig iron.

Metrictons.1

5 434286280427

323386383442416428447462503513513

305

Crudesteel.

Metrictons.1

5 391264255373

317367324364358369397407430410414

408290

Cottonstock atHavre.2

Bales.1:*274225169148

16312713816914515313599131158197

203169125

Total. ! Total.

Metric \tons.1 I

1,840 I1,0711,3331,885 I

1,5201,5701,7941,5381,7991,9361,7882,6162,0342,0342,429

1,8962,4901,822

Metrictons.1

3,6854,2113,1654,281

4.1264,4343,7874,3964,3074,2234,5124,1384,5434,5774,930

4,1113,8844,087

Rawcotton forconsump- COJ

tion.

14,71420,97817,39118,09032,38026,32516,29117,30227,87720,38736,468

33,275

Rawsilk for>nsump-tion.

Metrictons.

629390206480

467408207404391596579550722526436

238

Coal forconsump-

tion.

Metrictons.1

1,5582,0051,4721,861

2,1532,0811,5382,0581,8291,6311,7671,6921,7681,9652,177

TRANSPORTATION.

Vesselscleared.

Tons.1

2,1761,4121,8032,229

1,7441,9342,0882,3402,4732,5232,3992,3592,3362,4552,366

2,146

dailyfreight

carloadings.

Number.

51,107

47,74149,67647,22549,05549,58550,03150,87554,43157,18556,04655,848

54,43255,89056,528

Receiptsof princi-pal rail-ways.s

Unem-Joyed

ivingmunicipal

aid inParis.

Francs.1 j Number.«165,892

479,894516,397557,194

481,088472,779608,764472,607504,431651,720546,310720,210563,314532,152691,539

484,566496,581516,463

02220,671

1

43

679

385546

2,4471 636

958602606410272285414

684666588

1 In thousands; 000 omitted.' End of the month figure.• Railways included are: State Railways, Paris-Lyon-Me'diterrane'e, Nord, Origans, Est, Midi, Alsace-Lorraine, and Guillaume-Luxembourg.* Bale of 50 kilograms.s Figures do not include Lorraine.6 Excludes the Alsace-Lorraine and GuiUaume-Luxembourg Railways.



GERMANY.

PRODUCTION. EXPORTS.1 IMPORTS*.!

Year andmonth.

Monthly av.:1913192019211922

1922.FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


Coaland

coke.

Metrictonsfi17,00313,04313,66410,863

13,65515,93113,80014,66911,41611,97212,78012,62313,32912,98612,251

1.987

Lignite.

Metrictonsfi7,2669,303

10,24111,432

10,09112,26010,63411,43710,48711,41112,14711,82312,07811,89611,897

9,104

Ironandiron

manu-factures.

Metrictons.

541,475145,883203,681220,803

172,709211,979200,677209,432213,220212,365198,408244,012246,074233,553285,464

236,709209,965

Ma-chinery

andelec-tricalsup-

plies.

Metrictons.

60,91946,77239,03749,147

45,68948,81346,11247,35449,34744,16250,97840,15050.69941,64485,350

42,20934,438

Dyesanddye-

stuffs.

Metrictons.

21,8128,4628,530

12,731

9,33212,29911,09512,62916,33512,67112,61613,47715,18711,11016,472

13,65112,077

Coal.' Rawwool.

Metric Metrictons.

2,881,126608,749518,937421,835

669,433795,200795,940701,941528,766199,961121,359110,245125,670137,341123,826

90,626120,947

tons.16,608M,02511,86015,910

26,20226,98824,09125,61915,72314,11911,0118,708

10,0239,1988,828

11,44810,240

Halfmanu-

fac->turedsilk.

Metrictons.

920»232

393407

440462486436435459342371425297

254244

Cot-ton.*

Metrictons.

43,42412,49030,89421.483

17,91526,13024,07026,11222,03726,08520,91513,95910,58420,62225,942

26,38219,035

Ironore.4

Metrictonsfi1,225

538619

1,003

493810866

1,5191,159

962997

1,0901,316

8421,038

867269

SHIPPING.

Arrivals ofvessels in

Hamburg.

Num-ber.1,256

401700907

461894972

1,1431,092

7931,005

9451,016

877936

993900

Tonsfi1,182

374794

1,084

716969

,112244

,2871,0651,171,208

1,2721,046,041

1,1421,047

UNEMPLOY-MENT.

Appli-cants

forevery

100avail-ableposi-tions.

Num-ber.

i<59165

145113113107103106109122129155165

195

Unem-ployedpersonsreceiv-

ingStateaid.

Num-ber*

36631077

2032131166529201512172543

82

Busi-nessfoilian-ures

duringmonth.

Num-ber.

33174484

1231511079591815945462842

2315

1 Export and import figures for first 4 months of 1921 not available; 1921 averages based on 8 months.2 Not including coal for reparations account.»Includes linters.4 Includes manganese ore.» In thousands; 000 omitted.6 Average based on 6 months.7 Coal-proiuction figures unavailable after January.

SWEDEN.

Year and month.

Monthly average:19131920.19211922...

1922.February..MarchApril . .MayJuneJulyAugust. . . .SeptemberOctober... .NovemberDecember

1923.JanuaryFebruary..March

PRODUCTION.

Pigiron.

Metrictons.'

61392622

1722192421202222232728

226

Iron andsteel ingots.

Metrictons.1

49371726

1722213124272731313429

150.4

EXPORTS.

Unplanedboards.

Cubicmeters.1

328306162320

25636699

500608539508494465384

974538

Paperpulp.

Metrictons.1

71734087

11362176SO89

104113144189156

41129

IMPORTS.

Coal.

Metrictons.1

408234122220

62197206230172214294229270302346

227201218

TRANSPORTATION.

Vesselsentered.

Net tons.11,147

677519594

285617524600596625694684699705655

Vesselscleared.

Net tons.11,147

692482642

255509485633738787836808822751671

Freightcarried

on Staterailways.

Metrictons.1

830991589681

630730622578645715765776799796635

557669

Unem-ployed

workmenper 100

vacancies.

Number.112107276290

479381368257215203172155177269321

346308231

Businessfailuresduringmonth.

Number.317196432388

398513400430362374300371335353309

387338322

1 In thousands; 000 omitted.



CANADA.

PRODUCTION.

Year and month.

1921 average..1922 average..

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December...

1923.JanuaryFebruary..

Pigiron.

Tons}5032

Crudesteel.

Re-ceipts

ofwheat

atFortWil-liamandPortAr-

thur.

Receipts atstock yards inToronto andWinnipeg.

Tons.15641

334230221733635936535147

4847

Bush-els} 1

14,44720,363

7,6934,1638,9936,128

11,6845,5975,4203,681

36,98665,12056,84732,044

11,5743,176

Cattle.

Num-ber.

39,90449,832

32,10525 56129,10130,84537,36734,85652,47375,21267,57987,09280,08445,705

42,12631,323

Hogs.

Num-ber.

34,16540,473

47,97438,20541,31036,58446,43241,44532,81229,38126,15439,80656,32849,244

64,21945,554

Planksand

boards.

Feet?85

166

8288

11984

186214215213191239205187

168124

Lbs}

10,1807,1408,9295,0755 7116,7499,9367,607

20,67513,2399,9958,614

7,3257,272

Lbs}87,871

136,375

124,01287,039

117,54362,153

105,197168,169155,502169,611180,068154,019173,180140,001

139,749100,929

Bush-els}

12,23817,462

6,1035,6026,0421,940

14,20711,7609,487

11,5879,233

37,59355,31640,669

Coal.

Tens}1,5251,085

1,0691,1481,857

896548412427440663

1,4652 1271,964

9,740 1,8767,129 1,601

Raw.

Lbs}7,2699,229

11,0078,758

12,5387,3209,7888,4387,5188,4594,2764,383

11,28416,980

20,02612,428

Ma-chin-ery.

Dol-lars}2,2921,895

1,6851,6002,4101,6371,9992,0081,5591,9631,9181,9312,1141,986

1,9812,033

Rail-roadre-

ceipts.

Dol-lars}

33,88534,021

26,7062«,05331,96626,80930,79930,53632,62434,93739,15847,64144,25936,758

30,686

Unem-Ploy- •meut

amongtradeunionmem-bers.

Percent.

12.57.1

13.910.69.6

10.48.85.34.13.62.83.96.26.4

7.86 .4

Busi-nessfail-ures.

Num-ber.

4774

90SO90596764606465727682

8882

i In thousands; 000 omitted. * In millions; 000,000 omitted.

JAPAN.

PRODUCTION.1

Year and month.

Monthly average;1913192019211922

January.February...MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember..October....November..December..

1922.

January.February.

1923.

I SilkCotton ! fabricsyarns. | (habu-

taye).Paper.

Rawsilk

stocks,Yoko-hamamar-ket.

EXPORTS. TRANSPORTATION.'

SilkSilk, fabricsraw. (habu-

taye).

Bales. Piculs?,16,857

53,111 i 14,55758,477 i 21,83644,832 28,697

40,56132,21344,70140,77718,29318,54745,84856,03248,81048,47275,41968,304

47,39430,900

16,92418,10216,64727,38035,14729,56934,54136,19635,95935,97026,80431,133

14,98525,399

Piculs.2,3022,2641,7021,721

1,0801,5512,0031,6691,9772,1761,7932,0171,6861,83.9

1^608

7181,129

Cotton | andyarns.

Piculs.113,37474,83973,06598,516

61,41463,719

123,605138,226146,354139,05751,66040,07568,773

118,431101,406129,466

19,12424,99024,19421,725£5,82129,71325,28422,31317,66825,25922,53729,463

1,1611,1681,084

707580190433731766330339805

73,769 22,98954,298 24,431

I

41,72493,41164,86576,41624,75368,41537,431.29,93617,55916,99447,46940,182

885 53.2S0916 j 35,093

152239

2,7492,8173,0942,9713,2873,0242,9873,1192,8492,7842,8953,049

2,7712,589

4,1024,2615,0664,9685,225 I4,965 I4,6414,4894,5024,9204,8845,189

28,57628,03636,33742,07438,48632,18032,97733,94432,46435,37432,88233,041

1 In thousands; 000 omitted. * One hiki equals two pieces. 3 A picul varies from 133 to 140 pounds avoirdupois.



FOREIGN TRADE OF PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES.

In the following tables are presented figures from official sources showing the monthlyvalue of the foreign trade of a group of European countries, Canada, Brazil, India, Japan, andthe United States.

FOREIGN TRADE OF UNITED KINGDOM.[In thousands of pounds sterling.]

Year and month.


Rawmate-

rials and;articles ;

mainlyunmanu-factured

Articleswholly

ormainly

i manu-"ifactured

1922.

24,18463,81747,39139,429

March. . . . ; 45,261April 40,097

43,07539,93638,81737,76235,555

May.JuneJulyAugust . . . .September.October j 38', 617November | 45,501December j 42,292

1923.January 47,398February 37,141March 40,726

23,48559,196 !22,59824,853

22,09521,40425,35825,24224,23724,14121,84826,40930,22332,499

30,28826,73927,732

16,13437,78720,42119,160

20.30918,96220,20718,85718,57920,32619,24419,72619,58719,838

21,70719,46221,226

Total.

64,061161,38790,45883,660

87,879

307513338

88,81484,29881,78482,66176,94485,01595,60094,912

99,70083,85590,022

Food,drink,

andtobacco.

Rawmate-

rials andarticlesmainly

unmanu-factured.!

Articleswholly

ormainlymanu-

Miscel-laneous,includ-

ingparcelpost.

2,7164,2453,1223,027

3,2703,0113,0453,0442,8063,1053,1543,0663,4082,796

3,3642,8648,646

5,82512,1265,2978,501

8,4657,3768,7577,6718,0418,90010,0999,21110,1019,493

9,3729,47011,564

34,28193,31249,05547,451

51,76044,33645,07340,55648,45547,14948,36147,01051,96444,932

53,13544,32445.935

1,5231,1261,062

1,085785

1,171875

1,117878897

1,1121,0181,662

Total.

43,770111,20658,60060,041

64,58155,50858,04552,14660,41960,03262,51160,39966,49158,883

1,068 1 66,939852 | 57,510776 ] 60,921

Re-exports.

9,13118,5638,921

10,1549,2008,9658,7208,3177,5046,3818,2779,1488,479

9,798

Totalexportsand re-exports.

52,901129,76967,521

74.73564,70867,01060,86668.73667,53668,89268,67675,63967,362

76,73767,33370,007

.FOREIGN TRADE OF FRANCE.!

Year and month.

Uyi1913..1920..1921 ".1922..

March.AprilMayJune *JulyAugustSeptember..OctoberNovember..December..

1922.8460,765438,000504,000483,356476,813510,597473,000570,395516,586628,705

1923.January I 457,976February 551,000March 614,000

In thousands of francs.

RawF o o d - materials.

151,465989,576517,158483,334

Manufac-1tared j Total,

articles. !

412,1442,096,3791,033,1701,170,678

j1,005,463 |983,000996,000

1,082,3711,200,7641,096,9031,087,0001,189,5641,478,4241,903,975

1,374,2221,445,0001,508,000

138,1691,072,787

412,045337,705

465,737323,000310,000285,448318,169352,229333,000348,913353,235390,616

312,096347,000365,000

Inthou-

sands ofmetrictons.

701,7784,158,7411,962,3731,991,717

1,931,9651,743,6401,810,1251,851,1841,995,7461,959,7291,893,0002,108,8722,348,2452,923,296

2,144,2942,343,0002,487,000

3,6854,2113,1854,281

4,4343,7874,3964,3074; 2234,5124,1384,5434,5774,930

4,1113,8844,087

In thousands of francs.

Food. Rawmaterials.

69,908 154,841217,733 509,485161,031 463,219160,067 453,656

130,595 456,930136,000 461,000132,000 ! 498,000

113,435179,407141,000195,467196,112

374,959408,005477,000493,804537,370

249,079 11,185,596

187,004 j 434,786242,000 I 730,000243,000 728,000

Manufac- !tured i

articles. ; P o s t '

301,4211,413,5481,067,413

988,349

1,189,7121,231,0001,127,000

885,029931,066

1,055,0001,098,983

856,4211,119,980

944,7401,236,0001,380,000

47,182100,479104,430118,094

99,431134,000111,000

59,619157,83668,000

149,213116,596224,292

129,368121,000123,000

Total.

573,3512,241,2451,796,0921,720,166

1,876,6681 962,9971,886,964

1,433,0421,676,0001,741,0001,937,4671,706,4992,778,947

1,695,8982,329,0002,474,000

Inthou-

sands ofmetrictons.

1,8401,0711,3331,885

1,5701,7941,5381,7991,9361,7882,6162,0342,0342,429

1,8962,4901,822

1 Not including reexport trade.2 Calculated on 1919 value units.

' Imports calculated on basis of actual declared value.* Value of exports not available. Beginning with June, exports calculated on 1921 value units.



FOREIGN TRADE OF DENMARK, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, CANADA, BRAZIL, INDIA, AND JAPAN.

Year and month.

Monthly average:19131920 . . .19211922


May

July

SeptemberOctober

1923.

March

Denmark.(In millions of

kroner.)

Im-ports.

71262136126

10271

103126159142117134134148130142

142155

Ex-ports.

60151121103

SO76

10076

11312610790

122112120109

108118

Italy.(In millions of

lire.)

Im-ports.

3041,322

'1,0411,311

1,3161,0561,3111,1571,2451,6621,1011,0801,2361,3951,2541,915

1,0561,571

Ex-ports.

210650

'657775

620720716689592861672732747889

1,0461,014

789751

Netherlands.(In millions of

guilders.)

Im-ports.

2781S7169

152152180167194151164179165187172163

173162

Ex-ports.

142114102

8684

11393

10810110599

116112104100

9265

Sweden.(In millions of

kronor.)

Im-ports.

7128110697

7749

109102979383

105109118111110

8888

Ex-ports.

681919197

6138716090

104113132123122128120

6549

Canada.(In millions of

dollars.)

Im-ports.

5689

10363

515479486662616760677670

6865

Ex-ports.

3110710174

474761337073727473

104132112

6659

Brazil.(In millions of

milreis.)

Im-ports.

84174141142

92101131127127129109147132226170208

•

Ex-ports.

82146142194

199161172187141149154182202299237250

India.(In millions of

rupees.)

Im-ports.

134173280201

276189215178191164182212182229206192

214

Ex-ports.

205272214244

232222277239273192244252216216288278

295

Japan.(In millions of

yen.)

Im-ports.

61195135156

179198208185174157142137135105116143

150154197

Ex-ports.

53162104136

87101115129155146144146150161139158

95122121

1 Italian yearly figures for 1921 based on average for six months only.2 Dutch figures for 1913 not compirable with later figures.

FOREIGN TRADE OF UNITED STATES.[In thousands of dollars.]

Year and month.


1922.MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember'.October **November..December...

1923.January*February 4..March'

Gold. Silver.

Merchandise.

Crudemate-rialsfor

use inmanu-factur-ing.

5,30934,75657,60622,919

33,48812,2448,994

12,96942,98719,09224,46420,86618,30826,440

32,8208,383

15,951

Food-stuffs

incrude

condi-tionandfoodani-

mals.

Food-stuffspartly

orwhollymanu-

fac-tured.

2,989 50,4147,338 145,9955,270 71,0905,899 96,841

6,9534,8005,5126,3406,9574,9446,3703,9405,8557,848

5,8253,7924,626

86,91069,80488,08891,14687,366110,30486,818137,651111,145124,019

139,205

18,399

25,34527,485

28,75625,71131,26426,17027,59622,48118,72937,46532,65031,220

28,569

Manu-fac-

turesfor

furtheruse inmanu-factur-

ing

16,529 28,35448', 136 103,178 66,871

30,7371 28,67232,312) 45,932

36,014132,482134,785137,346!38,513j42,40424,02330,290!31,77126,546!

42,82037,25239,39846,47147,96048,38641,77665,67456,75957,576

31,264 65,241

fac-turesready

forcon-

sump-tion.

Totalmer-chan-dise.1

34,453 149,38373,060 439,87351,58755,257

59,88050,82058,25458,43949,47555,85754,03771,74558,30952,673

63,929

209,929259,397

256,178217,023252,817260,461251,772281,376228,795345,083291,805293,810

329,844296,000

Merchandise.

Gold. Silver.

I

7,65026,841

1,9913,073

9631,579!3,407!l,601j

644956

1,39917,5923,4312,710

8,4721,399

10,392

5,231

1 Including miscellaneous merchandise imported.% Including miscellaneous and foreign merchandise exported.3 Imports under old tariff law September 1-21,1922, only.4 Import figures delayed owing to change in tariff.5 Imports for Sept. 21-Oct. 31.

Crudemate-rialsfor

use inmanu-factur-

ing.

j Food-: StuffS Food-

stuffsiManu-' fac-

crude jpartlyjH or

tion ;wholland Imanu-ifood I fac- 'ani- tared,

mals.

furtherisein

Manu-fac-

turesready

forcon-

sump-tion.

Totalmer-chan-dise.3

04,072] 14,132 27,0691 33,0771 64,998j9,468 155,897 76,499 93,050 79,875 267,0714,298 82,002 57,681 55,809 33,323 135.450|5,236 81,817 38,196 49,021 36,477

4,3025,1095,6776,0046,2893,8613,7353,2696,5996,913

6,9212,1914,732

72,908!79,49764,37470,26259,85947,86866,611133,700144,333113,343

102,07377,32379,916

34,52931,16234,15140,99841,95961,31455,14940,79833,61525,763

58,95347,77050,36955,47249,22546,07143,22947,92151,47149,620

24,217 50,74127,169 49,74719,364 55,025

43,58937,99940,42339,46535,62535,73534,96432,94033 85035,867

43,24539,40645,877

107,692!

112,538113,846112,161121,319109,596104,853107,254110,190110,275113, 8551

207,002685,668373,76!)319,316

329,980318,470307,569335,117301,157301,775313,197370,719380,000344,328

109,609 335,539107,775 307,194132,361 341,162



FOREIGN TRADE INDEX.

There are presented below the Federal Re-serve Board's series of index numbers designedto reflect relative quantity movements in theforeign trade of the United States. Changesin the level of prices have been allowed for bymultiplying the quantities of selected com-modities exported or imported each month byfixed 1913 prices.1

Year andmonth.

1913, year.1919, year.1920, year.1921, year.1922, year.

1922.January. .February.MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober.. .November.December.

1923.January. . .February..March

Rawmate-rials.

(12)

100.088.992.2

103.189.7

68.589.890.578.386.379.188.891.2

122.9112.686.7

78.862.261.9

Pro-duc-ers'

goods.(10)

100.0155.1158.7116.9108.9

104.386.0

121.7120.9128.8124.3124.090.098.996.8

101.6109.9

126.5133.6143.6

Con-sum-ers'

goods.(7)

100.0183.6133.6124,1135.1

129.7127.6156.5150.5155.4169.2133.5126.3111.5121.0117.2122.8

137.3129.6144.4

Total.

(29)

100.0115.3107.5108.9101.1

94.582.6

106.9106.099.4

107.495.096.796.2

119.8112.496.5

95.883.587.3

Rawmate-rials.

(10)

10O.0157.5135.8113.6157.6

118.4123.3148.1125.5144.6148.7146.9174.2183.5155.0195.1219.1

220.4

Pro-duc-ers'

goods.(12)

100.0192.9227.5162.8253.1

228.7281.3308.8236.1227.9273.3266.3255.5244.0241.6244.0263.0

Con-sum-ers'

goods.

(5)

100.0147.5138.9141.4143.0

135.2133.5161.1152.0168.0137.3137.5120.3133.4138.8144.4153.9

312.2 : 155.3

Total.

(27)

100.0168.4168.8135.6189.1

160.1183.4206.5169.1177.9191.0187.7194.2196.7172.4204.1224.0

242.3

i The list includes 27 ol the most important imports the value of whichin 1913 formed 49.3 per cent of the totalimport values, and 29 of the mostimportant exports the value of which in 1913 formed 56.3 per cent of thetotal export values. The classification of the original list of commoditiesused was given in the July, 1920, BULLETIN. The classification of 11additional commodities of imports was given in the April, 1921, BULLE-TIN, and 2 additional commodities in the November, 1921, BULLETIN.Exports of gasoline have been altered to include naphtha.

The index of the volume of exports forMarch rose 3 points, from 84 to 87, thus show-ing only a slight recovery from the decline inexport volume during the short month ofFebruary. The principal increases occurred inconsumers' goods, with larger exports of cottoncloth, lard, and kerosene. Among producers'goods leather and gasoline led in the matter ofincreased exports. Steel products also actedto offset last month's decline. The Marchcondition in raw materials was not so favorable,due to declines in grain and cotton exports.On the other hand, exports of coal and metalsincreased.

Figures for volume of imports in Januaryshowed small increases in raw materials andconsumers' goods, and a large increase inproducers' goods, which caused the generalindex of imports to rise 18 points. Nitrate ofsoda, manila hemp, burlap, india rubber, andcane sugar all came in greatly increased quan-tities during January.

Comparing the volume of imports and ex-ports for January with the condition of tradein 1913, it appears that 1923 is beginning withimports 142 per cent greater than in the pre-waryear and exports 4 per cent lower.

SAVINGS DEPOSITS.

Savings deposits, as reported by 899 banksdistributed throughout all sections of theUnited States, increased during March in allFederal reserve districts except in the KansasCity district, where a slight decrease was indi-cated. For the entire country the increasewas $53,456,000, or 0.8 per cent over March 1,1923, and $576,407,000, or 9.8 per cent overApril 1, 1922. The increases reflect the generalindustrial expansion and agricultural develop-ment in almost all sections of the country,both of which have resulted in improvedemployment conditions. A comparison ofsavings deposits on April 1, 1923, with depositson March 1, 1923, and April 1, 1922, are shownin the following table. The figures for theBoston and New York districts are those oflarge mutual savings banks, but in all otherdistricts reports of other banks are included tomake the figures thoroughly representative.

SAVINGS DEPOSITS, BY FEDERAL R E S E R V E DISTRICTS.

[000 omitted.]

District.

No. 1—BostonNo. 2—New YorkNo. 3—PhiladelphiaNo 4—ClevelandNo. 5—RichmondNo. 6—AtlantaNo. 7—ChicagoNo. 8—St. LouisNo. 9—MinneapolisNo. 10—Kansas CityNo. 11—DallasNo. 12—San Francisco

Total

Num-ber ofbanks.

643080189399

210351562

11875

899

Apr. 1,1923.

$1,165,7191,825,991

449,252415,526287,828210,955834,622126,83887,98796,61989,244

885,590

6,476,171

Mar. 1,1923.

$1,158,6101,809,394

446,773412,811285,829207,897827,691125,77486,89296,75687,175

877,113

6,422,715

Apr. 1,1922.

$1,085,7881,699,534

426,470374,773255,034185,064758,258111, 67579,05786,51176,136

761,464

5,899,764



COMMERCIAL FAILURES DURING MARCH.

District.

No. 1—BostonNo. 2—New YorkNo. 3—PhiladelphiaNo. 4—ClevelandNo. 5—RichmondNo. 6—AtlantaNo. 7—ChicagoNo. 8—St. LouisNo. 9—MinneapolisNo. 10—Kansas CityNo. 11—Dallas.....No. 12—San Francisco

Total

Number.

1923

14331673

130100117203107769791

229

1,682

1922

21747896

202215221336173103100107215

2,463

Liabilities.

1923

$2,996,4928,883,184

10,622,9115,156,5892,847,9092,788,4635,360,4901,508,8441,415,4341,361,1002,474,5042,977,218

48,393,138

1922

$8,066,69614,656,0446,848,7344,159,4633,787,5505,559,986

13,189,3402,529,5413,764,6021,720,1462,121,7255,204,365

71,608,192

REPORT OF ASSOCIATED KNIT UNDER-WEAR MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA.

Production of winter and summer under-wear, by months, since March, 1922, is givenin the following table:

Month.

Number of millsreporting.

Total.

1922.MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember : 52October I 47November ! 49December ; 52


Win-ter

Sum-

32

Production (in dozens).

Total.

756,247522,035518,150564,893422,872519,511513,572524,486599,891461,695

558,845564,708593,020

Winter.

392,595275,911

345,605269,223341,713318,220283,242321,944233,459

269,026269,950275,552

Summer.

363,652246,124220,070219,288153,649177,798195,352241,244277,947228,236

289,819294,758317,468

Forty representative mills which reportedfor February and March furnished the data forthe following table:

Unfilled orders (end ofmonth)

New ordersShipmentsCancellationsProduction

February,1923.

1,755,566308,822565,455

6,779454,026

March.1923.

1,525,172395,116618,567

6,943530,968

Loss.

230,405

Gain.

86,29453,112

16476,942

INDEX OF OCEAN FREIGHT RATES.

The accompanying table shows the monthlyfluctuations in ocean freight rates prevailingbetween United States Atlantic ports and theprincipal European trade regions. The figuresare derived from the actual rates quoted onthe following commodities: Grain, provisions,cotton, cottonseed oil, and sack flour. Katesin January, 1920, have been used as a base.For the methods used in constructing theindex see the August, 1921, BULLETIN, pages931-934.

RELATIVE OCEAN FREIGHT RATES IN UNITED STATES ANDEUROPEAN TRADE.

Month.

January, 1920..January, 1921..

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril IMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


United States Atlantic ports t o -

UnitedKing-dom.

100.060.7

31.734.733.127.327.927.528.829.227.025.328.027.1

25.321.823.122.6

FrenchAtlantic.

100.030.2

22.725.926.524.825.526.125.923.424.123.923.425.6

24.722.623.624.2

Nether-landsand

Belgium.

100.034.1

23.325.224.922.722.823.022.620.719.118.921.322.2

19.818.620.021. !

Scandi-navia.

100.042.9

23.423.323.424.023.423.423.0•22A22.622.922.922.7

22.322.322.322.3

Medi-terra-nean.

100.043.2

32.231.830.127.127.427.426.424.022.221.621.321.8

21.220.619.522.0

AllEurope.

100.043.3

27.129.128.325.425.725.725.924.623.422.724.024.4

22.921.121.922.6



PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENTS OF FINISHED COTTON FABRICS.1

Total finished yards billed during month:Districtl...

2356g

Total . .

Total average per cent of capacity operated:District 1

23568

Average for all districts

Total gray yardage of finishing orders re-ceived:

District 123568

Total

Number of cases of finished goods shipped tocustomers:

23568

Total

Number of cases of finished goods held instorage at end of month:

2 . . .3 . . . .568

Total

Total average work ahead at end of month(expressed in days):

District 1235 . . . .68 . . . . .

Average for all districts

February, 1923.

Whitegoods.

12,781,5255,076,24:88,332,9267,069,422

999,168

34,251,289

5857

1076275

67

13,980,5476,298,1298,305,8867,079,637

991,168

36,655,367

5,8343,1986,1661,654

16,852

4,1533,803

327

8,283

5.41014.15.3

7.2

Dyedgoods.

27,458,7643,800,7976,515,980

89,897

37,865,438

956680

88

29,618,0285,480,8046,809,102

355,186

Printedgoods.

10,397,5504,791,188

15,188,738

6246

59

9,481,9224,698,309

1!

42,263,120

8,537375

3,223

12,135

4,377447374

5,198

17.29.8

13.1

15.4

14,180,231

2,729

2,729

2,304

Total.

53,886,33421,055,17614,848,9067,159,319

999,1681,501,075

99,441,978

737493627563

74

56,770,67920,779,72315,114,9887,434,823

991,1681,735,325

102,826,706

29,68711,5779,3893,985

454

55,092

20,81711.446

i i\ 2U

2,304

17.411.9

16.5

1,243

218

40,935

13.311.313.65.3

7

12.1

March, 1923.

Whitegoods.

15,191,9277,279,9719,695,1507,991,9941,000,476

41,159,518

6967

1156876

76

14,784,6818,364,6449,463,3547,259,3011,000,476

40,872,560

7,2473,2856,2731,674

18,479

5,1653,530

327

9,022

6.611.916.64.8

Dyedgoods.

31,431,5862,706,9428,188,215

186,330

42,513,073

1047992

98

35,758,2556,586,9407,690,597

241,072

50,276,864

8,719588

3,346

12,653

4,659633331

5,623

2313.614.3

8.5 20.1

Printedgoods.

11,304,2735,837,900

17,142,173

51

69

14,098,7255,321,823

19,420,548

2,306

2,306

2,621

2,621

23.9.11.4

21.8

Total.

62,078,42024,803,73817,883,3658,178,3241,000,4761,511,455

115,455,778

8384

101687661

84

68,704,56924,637,98317,153,9517,500,3731,000,4761,443,653

120,441,005

34,37712,5749,6193,884

373

60,827

22,06110,5047,018

11,353

206

41,142

17.39.9

154.8

6.8

14.0

i The National Association of Finishers of Cotton Fabrics at the request of the Federal Reserve Board prepares a monthly survey for the industry.The results of the inquiries are herewith presented in tabular form. The secretary of the association makes the following statement concerning thetabulation:

The accompanying figures are compiled from statistics furnished by 32 out of 57 member firms of this association. It is probably fair to statethat in the absence of having specific detail at hand, but according to our best estimate, it is probably well within the fact that the figures givenfor the various classes of work would cover, approximately, the following percentages of the entire industry: White goods, 70 per cent; dyed goods,62 per cent; printed goods, 30 per cent. The figures given represent reports from exactly the same finishers for the two months, both of the totalsand for the subdivisions, and, therefore, are strictly comparable.

NOTE.—Many plants were unable to give details under the respective headings of white goods, dyed goods, and printed goods, and reportedtheir totals only; therefore the column headed "Total" does not always represent the total of the subdivisions, but is a correct total for the district.



PHYSICAL VOLUME OF TRADE.

Large increases in business activity occurredduring March, and many records were brokenin the production and movements of goods.Output of manufactured goods, as shown bythe index given in the table and on the chartwhich follow, reached the highest point at-tained in postwar years. Mineral production,after a seasonal decline in February, continuedits upward trend and likewise exceeded thatof all previous months covered by the index.Agricultural movements, in accordance withseasonal custom, were at a low point duringMarch, but were on the whole greater than inFebruary, whereas the March movement isusually downward.

Receipts of all the main groups of agricul-tural products, except tobacco, increasedduring March as compared with February,and all but cotton and tobacco were greaterthan during March of the four preceding years.Cotton sight receipts were, in fact, rather loweven for this season of the year, as the earlierheavy movement has practically accountedfor the greater part of the relatively small crop.Live-stock movements were slightly larger

during March than in February, and receiptsof hogs were exceptionally heavy for thatmonth. Grain movements, except corn, werealso unusually large during March. Ship-ments of citrus fruits from California con-tinued to increase in accordance with usualseasonal trends, but the figures indicate thatthe crop began its movement this seasonsomewhat earlier than in previous years.Tobacco sales at loose-leaf warehouses fell offas compared with February, but were slightlygreater than during the same month last year^

Mineral output for March, as indicated bythe mining index, was at a maximum, owingto record-breaking production of pig iron andpetroleum, accompanied by a high rate of out-put of the other products. The amount of an-thracite coal mined equaled the highest figurepreviously reported, and copper output was thelargest since January, 1919. Mining of bitu-minous coal was maintained at practically thesame rate as during February. Extraction ofzinc and lead reached high points during March,but comparable data extend only to January,1920, in case of zinc, and to January, 1921,for lead.

VOLUME OF DOMESTIC BUSINESS( MONTHLY AVERAGE, 1919 = 100 )

20

J. F. M. A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F. MA. M. J. J. A.S. 0. N. D. J. R M.A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F. M.A. M. J. J. A. S. 0. N. D. J. F M. A. M.J. J. A. S. 0. N. D1Q1Q 1 Q 9 O 1Q/>1 1Q?9 1O91

PERCENT

160

120

100

8 0

6 0

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923



New maximum figures were also reportedin factory output during March. Steel-ingotproduction, automobile output, and cottonconsumption were the most important serieswhich broke all previous records. The amountof lumber cut was the greatest since some timein 1918, and the output of all building materialswas maintained at a high rate. The index fortextile products, shown in the following table,was also at a high point, owing to the influenceof large consumption of both cotton and wool.Sole-leather production increased rather sub-stantially during March and was the largestsince December, 1921. The output of foodproducts, although not as great as duringNovember, showed some improvement ascompared with January and February, butcigar and cigarette factories continued atabout the same rate of activity during Marchas in the two preceding months.

INDEX OF PRODUCTION IN BASIC INDUSTRIES, WITHALLOWANCE TOR SEASONAL VARIATION.

[Monthly average, 1919=100.]

1923

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1919

107.3100.396.298.892.992.9

101.6103.4104.6101.197.9

103.3

1920

115.8114.8114.5107.6105.4106.8104.9102.1101.799.095.389.6

1921

83.984.381.078.676.776.774.178.579.182.785.683.3

1922

86.590.594.985.392.194.294.893.999.9

106.9115.5115.6

120.7120.1125.7

I N D E X E S OF DOMESTIC B U S I N E S S UNCORRECTED FOR

SEASONAL C H A N G E S .

[Monthly average of 1919=100.]

AGRICULTURAL MOVEMENTS.

Date.

1922.JanuaryFebruary...MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember..OctoberNovember...December


Totalagricul-

t u r e '

88.977.770.757.482.675.179.8

106.7128.8154.2137.9121.3

106.673.377.7

Totalani-

mals.

91.876.579.271.890.288.781.296.5

106.6132.0122.2104.6

107.784.488.1

Totalgrains.

83.892.373.049.692.577.1

106.4153.8150.6135.7118.2128.5

116.475.782.6

Cotton.

76.843.342.837.050.143.033.448.3

139.5227.8204.1139.2

80.237.439.8

Fruit.

96.155.5

130.4103.0105.793.859.343.138.040.649.0

100.1

99.7117.7158.9

Leafto-

bacco.

113.2101.227.55.53.91.5

12.355.285.7

144.796.397.3

75.145.131.0

1 Combination of 14 independent series.

MINERAL PRODUCTS.

Date.

1922.JanuaryFebruary..MarchAprilMay.June...JulyAugustSeptember.OctoberNovember.December..

1923.JanuaryFebruary..March

Totalmin-eral

prod-ucts.1

91.395.4

117.559.567.970.665.467.599.9

118.5120.1124.5

131.5116.6134.2

Bi-tumi-nouscoal.

98.5107.3131.541.353.158.444.558.3

107.3118.3118.6121.7

131.4110.5122.6

An-thra-citecoal.

85.192.0

119.1. 3. 6

1.11.62.2

67.7116.1114.1114.7

118.5105.8127.6

Crudepetro-leum.

137.1129.7149.1141.9147.7143.8148.0147.1143.8150.1152.1159.3

163.5153.8178.3

Iron.

64.363.979.981.390.592.694.271.179.8

103.5111.8121.1

126.7117.5138.1

Cop-per.

24.134.858.071.783.789.085.093.989.896.294.697.5

104.695.5

113.8

Zinc.

60.357.367.565.669.872 681.279.984.3

101.6102.3109.0

117.8108.0124.0

Lead.

100.793.292.888.788.888.988.296.595.1

108.1113.0108.6

112.5103.6120.7

' Combination of 7 independent series.

PRODUCTION OF MANUFACTURED GOODS.

Date.

1922.JanuaryFebruary...MarchApril.MayJune...JulyAugustSeptember .OctoberNovember..December..

1923.lanuaryFebruary.. .March

Totalman-ufac-ture.1

87.080.290 984.798.199.195.3

104.6100.3107.5109.4100.0

108.799.9

112.7

Steel.

63.469.394.397.0

107.8104.898.988.194.4

114.2118.9110.5

129.3116.1135.3

Lumber.

100.795.4

102.598.1

121.1104.4104.3116.2101.5115.3112.9103.6

105.895.8

128.7

Pa-per

95.090.0

108.499.9

112.3110.699.9

110.7107.8112.8113.4106.8

117.3109.0120.4

Petro-leum.

119.0108.6123.9124.4132.2133.8146.2141.2139.1147.2149.7152.7

156.8140.8155.5

Tex-tiles.

112.296.8

107.691.3

108.9107.195.0

115.7110.7120.0125.0113.3

128.0122.0128.3

Leath-er.

88.278.178.570.770.472.472.180.479.582.779.178.5

88.978.191.6

Food.

91.388.596.584.996.898.997.5

104.597.8

106.7114.0107.1

104.195.3

110.5

To-bacco

90.683.898.489.6

108.1119.8114.8134.1121.6115.0112.489.4

115.3101.3116.2

Combination of 34 independent series.

COMMODITY MOVEMENTS.

Grain and flour.Receipts at 17 interior centers (000

omitted):Wheat (bushels)Corn (bushels)Oats (bushels)Rye (bushels)Barley (bushels)

Total grain (bushels)Flour (barrels)

Total grain and flour (bushels)

Shipments at 14 interior centers (000omitted):

Wheat (bushels)Corn (bushels)Oats (bushels)Rye (bushels)Barley (bushels)


Total grain and flour (bushels)....

March,1923.

24,23025,67221,1243,6793,403

78,1082,328

88,584

13,52114,67717,083

9451,887

48,1154,00766,147

February1923.

22,09931,55716,0414,7492,55677,0021,738

84,823

10,93614,37713,4382,4761,747

42,9753,055

56,723

March,1922.

20,39630,65116,4653,2543,291

74,0572,054

83,302

14,71922,99916,826

8821,920

57,3463,878

74,797



COMMODITY MOVEMENTS—Continued.

Grain and flour—Continued.

Stocks at 11 interior centers at close oJmonth (000 omitted):


Total grain (bushels)

Visible supply of grain east of the RockyMountains (000 omitted):

Wheat (bushels)Corn (bushels)Oats (bushels)

Receipts at 9 seaboard centers (000omitted):



Total grain and flour (bushels)....

Stocks at 8 seaboard centers at close ofmonth (000 omitted):


Total grain (bushels)Wheat flour production (barrels, 000

omitted)

Live stock.

Receipts at 57 principal markets (head,000 omitted):

Cattle and calvesHogsSheepHorses and mules (42 markets)

Total

Shipments at 52 principal markets(head, 000 omitted):

Cattle and calvesHogsSheepHorses and mules (42 markets)

Total

Shipments of stockers and feeders from33 markets (head, 000 omitted):

Cattle and calvesHogsSheep

Total

Slaughter at principal centers underFederal inspection (head, 000 omitted):

CattleCalvesHogsSheep

Total

Meats, cold-storage holdings first of fol-lowing month (pounds, 000 omitted):

Beef.Pork productsLamb and mutton

March, February1923. 1923.

37,95222,97420,64713,3681,778

96,719

48,91131,01126,180

14,9325,8482,1142,4951,290

26,6792,03435,883

8,5494,1312,4284,0121,902

21,022

10,607

1,4754,831761

7,126

546

63757

2,920

19561114

371

3684,838977

6,871

102,811837,6365,758

36,09618,49224,15510,7111,82591,279

51,50029,58529,937

10,7678,3951,2353,7941,632

25,8231,62133,116

9,6014,7952,7912,5592,077

21,823

9,425

1,4014,3931,343

52

7,189

5501,648

63451

2,8

20616550

411

634297

4,231

113,415686,825

5,283

March,1922.

26,56129,88354,0416,6661,317

118,468

38,25850,03668,920

14,21921,3953,931

8651,296

41,7062,090

51,110

8,36010,5102,0871,8401,731

24,528

. 9,658

1,5813,3291,390

45

6,345

6241,156

65545

2,480

27867

143

488

674391

3,340837

5,243

73,782608,747

2,863


Live stock—Continued.

Exports of certain meat products(pounds, 000 omitted):

Beef-CannedFreshPickled and other cured

Hogproducts—BaconHams and shouldersLardPork, pickled

Dairy products.

Receipts at 5 principal markets (000omitted):

Butter (pounds)Cheese (pounds)E ( )

(pEggs (cases)

Cold-storage holdings first of followingmonth (000 omitted):

Creamery butter (pounds)American cheese (pounds)Eggs (cases)

Fishery products.Fish landed by American fishing ves-

sels, total catch (pounds, 000 omitted)Cold-storage holdings frozen and cured

fish, on 15th of month (pounds, 000omitted)

Other agricultural products.Cottonseed (tons):

Received at millsCrushedStocks at mills at close of month...

Cottonseed oil (pounds, 000 omitted):ProductionStocks

Oleomargarine consumption (pounds,000 omitted)

Tobacco sales at loose-leaf warehouses(pounds, 000 omitted):

Dark belt—VirginiaBright be l t -

VirginiaNorth Carolina

BurleyWestern dark

Sale of revenue stamps for manufactureof tobacco, excluding Porto Rico andPhilippine Islands (000 omitted):

Cigars (large)..' nail).Cigars (sm

Cigarettes (small)Manufactured tobacco ((pounds)...

Fruit shipments (carloads):GrapefruitOrangesLemonsApples

Vegetable shipments:White potatoes (carloads)Onions (carloads)Rice (pounds, 000 omitted)

Sugar, all ports (long tons):ReceiptsMeltingsRaw stock at close of month

Forest products.Lumber:

Number of mills—National Lumber Manufactur-

ers' AssociationSouthern Pine AssociationWestern Pine AssociationWest Coast Lumbermen's Asso-

ciation

March,1923.

February1923.

104348

2,312

40,54925,892

109,1873,325

50,40915,5732,124

8,91320,709

14

30,056

34,518

57,595200,504159,922

62,17060,137

19,722

2,955

8188,5145,256

574,51549,955

5,043,32732,269

2,686668

8,0905,362

22,9171,392

15,448

676,245505,300499,543

58718051

127

253320

1,929

36,29628,19289,0553,863

40,66212,5751,025

16,12126,594

213

12,499

50,645

92,200317,182302,381

110,40383,667

19,722

5,541

3,4514,72812,8328,263

507,26643,539

4,623,43129,083

1,877626

8,0096,257

13,7581,39856,178

421,370383,100434,556

56917951

124

March,1922.

2742,798

31,18023,58364,3772,953

44,91914,58«1,947

22,58215,006

13

19,215

40,112

65,107214,911107,058

72,23760,089

15,263

862

2,7124,3024,5797,189

529,16259,535

3,636,03234,395

2,079925

5,9452,887

22,104724

119,813

652,803533,200655,280

48016954

129


620 FEDERAL, RESERVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.


Forest products—Continued.Lumber—Continued.

Production (feet, 000,000 omitted)—National Lumber Manufactur-

ers' AssociationSouthern Pine AssociationWestern Pine AssociationWest Coast L u m b e r m e n ' s

AssociationShipments (feet, 000 omitted)—

National Lumber Manufac-turers' Association

Southern Pine AssociationWestern Pine AssociationWest C o a s t ' L u m b e r m e n ' s

AssociationNaval stores at 3 southeastern ports:

Spirits of turpentine (casks)—ReceiptsStocks close of month

Rosin (barrels) —ReceiptsStocks close of month

Fuel and power.Coal and coke (short tons, 000 omitted):

Bituminous coal productionAnthracite coal productionAnthracite coal shipmentsCoke-

Beehive coke productionBy-product coke production...

Petroleum, crude (barrels, 000 omitted):ProductionStocks close of monthProduction oil wells completed

(number)Oil refineries:

Production (000,000 omitted)—Crude-oil run (barrels)G asoline (gallons)Keresene (gallons)Gas and fuel oils (gallons)Lubricating oils (gallons)

Stocks (000 omitted)—Crude-oil run (barrels)Gasoline (gallons)Kerosene (gallons)Gas and fuel oils (gallons)Lubricating oils (gallons)

Electric power produced by publicutility plants (000,000 kilowatt-hours):

Produced by water power.Produced by fuels.

Total.Metals.

Iron and steel:Pig-iron production (long tons, 000

omitted)2

Steel-ingot production (long tons,000 omitted)2

Unfilled orders, U. S. Steel Corpora-tion (long tons, 000 omitted)2

Fabricated structural steel orders(tonnage)

Steel barrels (number)—ShipmentsUnfilled orders

Steel castings—bookings(nettons)..Silver production (troy ounces, 000

omitted)Copper production (pounds, OOOomitted)Zinc (pounds, 000 omitted):

ProductionStocks, close of monthShipments

Tin (pounds, 000 omitted):Deliveries to factoriesStocks at close of month

Textiles.Cotton (bales, 000 emitted):

Sight receipts..American spinners' takings.

March,1923.

1,355431121

495

1,479438148

567

5,43114,596

48,445222,501

46,8239,3827,183

1,7493,256

56,132258,738

1,248

February, March,1923. 1922.

4,710

3,548

3,321

7,289

210

251,573627,148143,564

6,110122,194

97,46220,04299,148

14,8629,110

453422

1 Figures for April, 1923, March, 1923, April, 1922.

978359

59

303

1,132386117

360

5,81429,238

46,644282,610

42,1307,7735,952

1,4822,810

48,413252,275

1,094

8S539567

307

3,319,201

' 8044,082 469

28

49,9768,7576,779

7322,137

46,634221,588

1,323

4,321

3,521

3,402

7,403

179I

193,992 i603,774 j90,152 j4,729

102,641

84,88621,728 I96,306 |

13,854 '4,601

410399

3,823

2,072

2,445

5,097

139

168,476281,79447,8934,18662,305

53,064120,52460,788

13,5076,912

259


Textiles—Continued.

Cotton (bales,000 omitted)—Continued.Stocks at millsStocks at warehousesVisible supplyConsumption by millsSpindles active during month (num-

ber, OOOomitted)Wool:

Consumption (pounds, 000 omitted)Percentage of active machinery to

total reported—Looms wider than 50-inch reed

spaceLooms 50-inch reed space or

lessSets of cardsCombsSpinning spindles, woolenSpinning spindles, worsted

Percentage of active hours to totalreported—

Looms wider than 50-inch reedspace

Looms 50-inch reed space orless

Sets of cardsCombsSpinning spindles, woolenSpinning spindles, worsted

Raw silk:Consumption (balesStocks at close of month (bales)

Hides and leather.Sales of raw hides and skins during

month (number, 000 omitted):Cattle hidesCalfskins ,KipskinsGoat and kidCabrettaSheep and lamb

Stocks of raw hides and skins at close ofmonth (number, 000 omitted):

Cattle hidesCalfskinsKipskinsGoat and kidCabrettaSheep and lamb

Production of leather (000 omitted):Sole leather (sides)Skivers (dozens)Oak and union harness (sides stuffed)

Boots and shoes output (pairs, 000omitted):

Men'sWomen'sOther

Total

Building materials.Brick (000 omitted):

Clay fire brick-ProductionShipmentsStocks, close of monthNew ordersUnfilled orders

Face brick-ProductionShipmentsStocks in sheds and kilnsUnfilled orders, close of month..

Silica brick-ProductionShipmentsStocks, close of month

Cement (barrels, 000 omitted):ProductionShipmentsStocks, close of month

March,1923.

2,0352,3782,335

623

35,501

62,859

86.3

86.190.791.490.093.7

92.9

85.7103.9117.298.6

102.1

33,51539,436

2,518702156

1,236102

3,262

6,7492,6891,0107,779

9668,510

1.

10,71311,61414,129

35,792

66,45670,624159,18099,330118,284

33,52232,674102,74182,377

16,79317,80444,481

10,32613,055

'ebruary,,1923. "

2,0222,8042,734

567

35,308

57,916

83.4

85.788.487.487.091.3

79.7

74.395.093.394.695.8

36.23144,615

1,697725198

1,089113

2,902

6,6502,6481,0687,950968

9,058

1,46537139

8,6889,576

11, 008

29,272

56,07553,222163,42667,16488, 713

32,47326,679134,17591,819

14,54414,41845,492

8,0855,96313,502

March,1922.

1,5573,7523,593

518

31,873

60,368

65.1

72.283.676.382.574.7

63.1

63.588.482.385.970.8

26,65122,077

1,499608137

1,23069

1,276

5,6622,965

9168,044

36111,941

1,5391978

7,73210,52911,089

29,350

42,62638,694

149,03443,09831,537

42,13337,991

156,90659,852

9,1207,837

36,944

6,6857,002

13,848




Building materials—Continued.

Oak flooring:ProductionShipmentsOrders bookedStocksUnfilled orders

Maple flooring:ProductionShipmentsOrders bookedStocksUnfilled orders

Enameled ware:B a t h s -

ShipmentsStocks at close of month.New orders

Lavatories-ShipmentsStocks at close of month.New orders

Sinks-ShipmentsStocks at close of month.Now orders

Miscellaneous ware—ShipmentsStocks at close of month.New orders

Miscellaneous manufactures.

Wood pulp (short tons):ProductionConsumptionShipmentsStocks, end of month

Paper (short tons):Newsprint-

ProductionShipmentsStocks, end of month

Book paper—ProductionStocks, end of month

Paper board—ProductionStocks, end of month

Wrapping paper—ProductionStocks, end of month

Fine paper—ProductionStocks, end of month

Kubber (pounds, 000 omitted):Consumption by tire manufacturers

Pneumatic tires (000 omitted):ProductionShipments, domesticStocks

Inner tubes (000 omitted):ProductionShipments, domesticStocks

Solid tires (000 omitted):ProductionShipments, domesticStocks

Automobiles:Production (number)—

Passenger ears. . .Trucks

Shipments—Railroads (carloads)Driveways (machines)Boat (machines)

March,1923.

32,23634,96439,64125,29765,823

12,34415,32918,32123,16142,434

92,47340,200116,514

104,87650,127148,121

114,67761,391149,144

56,35954,33267,642

313,7772r>3,47754,207

111,823

129,294132,29220,199

96,08731,480

86,77643,213

35,14436,978

41,594

3,8663,3235,671

4,8753,8287,7-41

8077

266

319,52734,063

43,77458,320

1,900

February.1923.

24,42125,03133,45825,30156,936

11,33311,35416,03325,53940,200

82,91240,124129,847

83,46956,543156,033

99,08559,806167,607

44,76649,36775,431

279,457235,93451,389108,872

114,611114,41523,200

89,26538,043

198,03162,901

77,81348,421

32,37739,772

34,235

3,2182,5895,244

4,0393,0026,772

7563

270

259,38321,411

35,70042,700

900

March,1922.

20,36722,69023,47928,09024,935

9,21810,54811,92333,63214,282

65,24370,58763, 815

91,039126,22895,891

90,765152,98095,137

44,91286,33448,062

314,591249,204

47,839196,257

117,507117,14228,180

77,889, 38,367

192,30871,986

70,14164,931

29,34635,123

26,771

2,6462,0745,183

3,0182,0916,991

4948182

152,62519,369

27,7531.6,917

560


Miscellaneous manufactures—Con.

Locomotives (number):Domestic shippedForeign completed

Total

Unfilled orders—

Total

Vessels built in United States and offi-cially numbered by the Bureau ofNavigation:

Transportation.

Freight carried by Class I railways:1

Net ton-miles, revenue and non-revenue (000,000 omitted)

Net tons per train -Net tons per loaded car

Revenue freight loaded and receivedfrom connections, classified accordingto nature of products (cars, loaded,000 omitted):

Grain and grain products

CoalCoke .Forest productsOreMerchandise, l .c . l

Total i

Revenue freight loaded, classified ac-cording to geographical divisions:

Southern

Central western

Total

Freight-car surplus (number):Total . -Box . . .Coal . . .

Freight-car shortage (number):TotalBoxCoal

Vessels cleared in foreign trade (tons,000 omitted):

TotalPercentage of American to total

Panama Canal traffic (tons, 000 omit-ed):>

Total cargo trafficAmerican vesselsBritish vessels

March,1923.

26913

282

2,214102

2,316

6724,978

32,61667228.2

18514083469

33760

1,0101,459

4,124

1,025903162660513612250

4,124

13,1572,<i443,980

73,53534,06831,061

206,312

2,0212,800

4,82141.9

1,563959376

February,1923.

19611

207

2,14179

2,220

3721,392

37,66869629.0

16512874260

26741

8481,142

3,393

812731134546429531210

3,393

23,1015,6926,263

75,22829,13838,432

215,552

1,5872,526

4,11338.6

1,592775407

March,1922.

354

39

25575

330

626,203

28,45167428.3

18312288339

23624

1,0641,135

3,687

928792165576447544236

3,688

216,68488,56981,149

43724690

334,628

2,1812,684

4,86444.8

960459287

1 Figures for February, 1923; January, 1923; February, 1922.


622 FEDERAL EESEEVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1023.

BUILDING STATISTICS.BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED IN 168 SELECTED CITIES.

[Collected by the 12 Federal Reserve Banks.]

NUMBER OF PERMITS ISSUED.

1922.

October

1923.

DistrictNo. 1

(14cities).

2,3372,8732,7342,9112,3011,285

905838

1,983

DistrictNo. 2

(22cities).

13,4207,8288,4249,6729,0227,456

6,2436,880

13,745

DistrictNo. 3

(14cities).

3,5573,0443,8603,1692,5041,639

1,4861,5733,308

DistrictNo. 4

(12cities).

5,1615,0934,7895,0644,1502,666

2,9462,9016,411

DistrictNo. 5

(15cities).

4,1014,0183,9973,9303,4332,458

2,7872,5854,232

DistrictNo. 6

(15cities).

3,4243,1303,1143,3353,0102,070

2,9752,5163,251

DistrictNo. 7

(19cities).

8,91711,11210,55311,9889,4376,620

6,3105,729

10,735

DistrictNo. 8

(5cities).

2,2182,3542,3732,4922,0481,653

1,9851,7422,645

DistrictNo. 9

(9cities).

1,4932,2441,9322,0291,437

698

722612

1,417

DistrictNo. 10

(14cities).

2,7112,7782,6292,9062,6691,601

2,2761,9133,086

DistrictNo. 11

(9cities).

2,6232,5342,2232,4702,1841,510

2,5542,1992,589

DistrictNo. 12

(20cities).

11,19611,59611,29112,25410,4907,767

10,3139,666

13,358

Total(168

Cities).

61,15858 60457,91962,23052 68537,453

41 50239,15466,770

VALUE OF PERMITS ISSUED (000 OMITTED).

1922.MarchAugustSeptember...OctoberNovember...December


$11,06916,6348,6569,1598,3887,252

5,6614,003

10,986

$120,35949,21158,67066,06366,68480,400

73,57488,207

167,218

$14,11615,35315,86913,80615,35710,640

9,7679,877

31,845

$14,92622,03725,07714,90714,71313,050

16,45814,16523,264

$11,32911,60512,97011,2929,519

14,486

11,08313,08514,156

$5,8737,9856,3268,0495,1255,156

7,2657,8117,498

$33,29140,45331,55034,08841,42553,134

31,02240,49059,463

$5,0135,8165,3846,3535,812

10,115

7,9366,5288,641

$4,5268,2854,7614,7175,2733,686

3,7392,4555,574

$7,1669,7938,3528,9898,2786,923

6,9037,028

10,952

$5,6305,0104,9804,7653,8609,570

6,2486,121

11,427

$27,43229,42423,96829,33826,20022,035

26,16428,83040,203

$260,730221,608204,564211,527210,634236,446

205,820228,601391,226

VALUE OF BUILDING. CONTRACTS AWARDED BY FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS.

(F. W. Dodge Co.)

VALUE OF CONTRACTS FOR ALL CLASSES OF BUILDINGS (000 OMITTED).

1922.SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


DistrictNo. 1.

$29,24525,30525,29819,740

21,80613,75925,07931,893

DistrictNo. 2.

$84,29965,06177,70058,685

65,23358,61498,41296,267

DistrictNo. 3.

$24,94820,44016,92918,706

16,77018,78031,26530,553

DistrictNo. 4.

$34,63535,16529,33728,042

25,69138,54652,79348,786

DistrictNo. 5.

$22,99719,68519,84815,677

17,63320,21930,14739,364

DistrictNo. 6.

$22,05134,77525,53820,817

DistrictNo. 7.

$62,22052,04845,42945,128

43,13746,76459,86875,240

DistrictNo. 8.

$17,86421,19317,96125,840

DistrictNo. 9.>

$5,8684,5234,8105,285

4,52412,19915,25917,585

DistrictNo. 10.!

$7,84512,53111,27711,346

Total.

$244,262222,226219,351191,263

3 242,5543 277,380' 367,5998 397,192

VALUE OF CONTRACTS FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS (000 OMITTED).

September.October... •November.December..

1922.

January...February.March..

1923.

$11,51013,55313,66713,963

14,4694,587

| 11,044April 15,493

$34,53733,23851,89242,981

47,70210,84965,91256,811

$8,14210,0727,397

11,526

5,7229,128

13,33613,823

$12,73713,73011,40517,809

11,80313,75123,33820,807

$8,5967,4167,9985,003

7,8157,9309,146

11,411

$10,22310,0658,9938,506

$15,01220,29122,30817,949

14,56718,31527,03528,S24

$5,8846,4768,6769,360

$2,4542,228,2,8472,046

2,0726,7034,4935,345

$2,1203,2883,2953,369

$92,986100,528117,515111,278

U22,3763 90,462

a 175,2983 173,452

> Montana not included.3 Colorado, Wyoming, and Arizona not included.3 Figures for Districts 6, 8, and 10, not available for previous months, included in total.



WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE.

Sales of both wholesale and retail dealerswere substantially larger in March than inthe preceding months of 1923, and were alsomuch larger than the sales in March, 1922.The chart below shows a comparison of thetrends of wholesale trade and of department-store sales from January, 1919, to date. Thischart indicates that department-store businesshas much larger seasonal fluctuations than theaverage wholesale business and that there hasbeen a distinct divergence in the trend ofwholesale trade and retail trade during thepast three years. The higher level of retailtrade is due primarily to the relatively smalldecrease in retail prices since 1920 as comparedwith the large decline in wholesale prices. Inthe past year this price factor has becomeslightly less important, as wholesale priceshave been rising more rapidly than retailprices. A correction of the two series by pricechanges indicates that there has not beenmuch change in the volume of wholesalebusiness since 1919, while there has been aconsiderable increase in the volume of retailsales.

Wholesale trade in March reached the largestmonthly volume since November. The Marchsales were 10 per cent greater than Februaryand 12 per cent larger than in March, 1922.The most important increases, as comparedwith February, were registered by the sales ofshoes, hardware, jewelry, and drugs. Therewas a slight decline in the sales of diamonds.

A comparison with a year ago indicates thatthe value of wholesale business was larger inall lines and in almost all districts. Sales of

WHOLESALE TRADE AND DEPARTMENT STORE SALES( MONTHLY AVERAGE, 1919 = 100 )

• WHOLESALE TRADE• DEPARTMENT STORE SALES

2 0 0

180

160

1<tO

120

100

80

60

20

01919 1920 1921 1922 1923

SALES OF MAIL ORDER HOUSES(MONTHLY AVERAGE. 1919 =fOO )

8O

2 0

-

s/

- \/ \\\

*** 1921

^1922 /

/ l

/

, L//

y

f \

\\

120

100

BO

60.

20

JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC.

machine tools were over three times as largeas in last March, while sales of jewelry, dia-monds, and men's clothing were over 50 percent greater. The larger distribution of cloth-ing and jewelry reflects the increased buyingpower in 1923, which has resulted from fullemployment, rising* wages, and expandingbusiness profits. Hardware sales also showedvery substantial gains in all reporting districts,which may be ascribed in part to the greatbuilding activity in all sections and in part tothe demand for farm equipment.

Eetail business showed even more pro-nounced gains in March than wholesale busi-ness. Chain shoe stores more than doubledtheir February sales, while sales of 5-and-10-cent stores, department stores, and mail-orderhouses showed gains of from 30 to 40 per cent.Sales of shoe stores, mail-order houses, and5-and-10-cent stores were all over one-thirdlarger than a year ago. The large volume ofsales this March may be ascribed to the earlydate of Easter, but this influence must havebeen partly counterbalanced by the severestorms and prolonged cold weather. Salesof mail-order houses reached a larger dollarvalue than at the fall peaks of the years 1921and 1922. The chart below shows a compari-son of the sales, by months, in 1923 with salesin 1922 and sales during the period of businessactivity in 1920. It will be noted that salesin each of the first three months of 1923 weremuch larger than in the corresponding monthsof 1922, but are still considerably smaller thanin the first quarter of 1920.

Department-store stocks were increasedabout 8 per cent during March, but expansion


624 FEDERAL EESEKVE BULLETIN. MAY, 1923.

is customary in the early spring, and stocks atthe end of the month were only 6 per centhigher than a year ago. As the increase insales during the past year has been much largerbusiness is now being done on a lower relativevolume of stocks than in 1922. Increases instocks as compared with March 31, 1922, wererecorded in 10 of the 12 districts and amountedto over 10 per cent in the Minneapolis, St.Louis, Philadelphia, and Chicago districts.Stocks at department stores in the Kansas Cityand Dallas districts were slightly smaller thana year ago, although they showed an increase ascompared with February.

The following tables show the trend of whole-sale and retail trade, by lines and by Federalreserve districts:

WHOLESALE TRADE IN THE UNITED STATES.[Average monthly sales 1919= 100.]



Gro-ceries.

65.662.276.366.274.182.274.586.490.598.795.885.0

74.974.979.7

Meat.

49.348.951.348.358.262.659.255.960.567.854.156.8

60.456.858, 9

Drygoods.

81.480.288.274.679.078.980.2

112.7116.1108.394.472.8

105.4100.8113.0

Shoes.

43.550.070.465.160.558.845.266.077.677.267.457.3

55.756.382.6

5a i57.7

" 81.984.692.791.781.389.595.198.993.183.1

87.382.0

108.2

94.494.2

113.793.696.699.693.6

102.9104.6111.1102.999.0

113.4106.3120.6

Total.

64.262.974.365.872.676.972.183.688.192.484.075.0

78.476.184.6

CHANGES IN CONDITION OF WHOLESALE TRADE, BY LINES AND DISTRICTS.

Groceries:United StatesNew York districtPhiladelphia districtCleveland districtRichmond districtAtlanta districtChicago districtSt. Louis districtMinneapolis districtKansas City districtDallas districtSan Francisco district

Dry goods:United StatesNew York districtPhiladelphia districtCleveland districtRichmond district....Atlanta districtChicago districtSt. Louis districtMinneapolis districtKansas City districtDallas districtSan Francisco district

change inMarch, 1923,sales as com-pared with—

19.89.1

16.413.6

.66.1

14.3-16.6- 4 . 5

9.2- 2 . 6

12.17.5

23.312.77.7

53.220.1

-10.8-30.9

5.9- 5 . 628.2

Shoes:United States i 46.7New York district I 54.7Philadelphia district { 115.3

Percentagechange in

March, 1923,sales as com-pared with—

Feb-ruary,1923.

4.58.9

11.27.3

12.511.41.36.2

-22.03.8 I

13.1- 3 . 4 j28.1 I29.2 '28.6 |i25.230.372.022.529.3

- 1 . 629.614.228.6

17.317.228.1

Shoes—Continued. iRichmond district • 25.0Atlanta district : 42.0Chicago district j 83.5St. Louis district j 17.6Minneapolis district | 22.1San Francisco district j 12.1

Hardware:United States i 32.0New York district I 42.6Philadelphia district i 37.9Cleveland district , 26.7Richmond district , 25.3Atlanta district 16.5Chicago district ! 33.5St. Louis district • 17.6Minneapolis district j 48.5Kansas City district j 20.5Dallas district ' 19.6San Francisco district 29.5

Drugs:United States 13.4New York district 11.5Philadelphia district '> 8.6Cleveland district 9.1Richmond district 12.0Atlanta district 18.9Chicago district 19.9St. Louis district 11.0Kansas City district 4.6

March1922.

23.323.516.418.532.01.4

32.120.618.726.038.332.724.318.5

149.720.639.739.6

6.01.25.8

11.510.316.015.16.77.3

Percentagechange in

March, 1923,sales as com-pared with.—

Drugs— Continued.Dallas districtSan Francisco district

Furniture:Richmond districtAtlanta districtKansas City districtDallas districtSan Francisco district

Agricultural implements:Atlanta districtMinneapolis districtDallas districtSan Francisco district

Stationerv:New York districtAtlanta districtSan Francisco district

Auto supplies:Chicago districtSan Francisco district

Men's clothing:New York district

Women's clothing:New York district

Machine tools:New York district

Diamonds'New York district

Jewelry:\- New York district

45.466.310.075.8

15.64.6

14.4

43.926.9

22.3

12.1

21.3

-23.2

38.1

Feb-ruary,1923.

8.420.5

34.128.137.523.0

7.4

March,1922.

3.04.8

87.946.046.427.734.9

85. 669.9

187.827.9

13.326.422.7

59.033.1

52.4

13.4

254.1

56.3

73.0





RETAIL TRADE BY REPORTING MNES.[Average monthly sales, 1919=100.1

Chain stores.Depart-ment

stores (306stores).

Mail-order [—houses(4houses).

89.79.

101.112.115.108.80.87.

106.129.130.185.

99.889.3

123.1

65.359.483.577.169.968.858.457.275.1

108.7110.4107.8

88.783.9

112.7

Grocery(21 chains).

137.5130.3149.2139.2137.9138.7135.1139.1141.0148.6162.4165.5

165.1158.8188.4

Five andTen (4

chains).Drug (8 Cigar (3chains). I chains).

94.0100.8118.4134.9129.6127.0120.3130.4136.1156.6152.3279.2

115.9117.4163.4

117.4114.8123.4120.5123.2123.8126.2128.2128.7133.1122.4161.0

128.7125.3144.7

111.0109.3124.3124.5128.8123.4127.3126.9135.4127.1126.9178.7

115.6109.7134.5

Shoe (5chains).

79.980. G

103.8156.1126.9121.7101.286.7

117.7.121.1121.9164.7

85.570.8

145.5

Music (4chains).

71.875.080.678.980.981.383.099.1

118.2118.8120.7203.7

95.087.896.0

DEPARTMENT STORE SALES BY FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS.

[Average month, 1919=100.]

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember..OctoberNovember...December...


DistrictNo. 1—Boston

(24 stores).

100.383.9

109.5125.1122.8121.981.787.5

114.2134.8134.9197.3

106.392.3

126.9

DistrictNo. 2—

New York(64 stores).

98.484.8

109.3119.0117.7114.577.878.2

106.7144.8141.6198.5

107.791.3

129.0

DistrictNo. 3—

Philadel-phia

(18 stores).

96.687.8

111.8132.1126.4108.786.894.9

107.2143.8

•146.8185.8

106.198.0

149.0

District ! DistrictNo. 5— i No. 6—

Richmond | Atlanta(19 stores). | (35 stores).

75.672.093.9

105.8103.3103.071.072.990.8

119.1122.3184.7

83.979.6

115.3

74.173.385.298.397.686.369.873.986.4

113.8113.1161.8

83.078.2

105.5

DistrictNo. 7—Chicago

(70 stores).

85.677.394.3

111.9116.5110.383.092.1

114.4122.1130.9184.5

98.592.7

122.0

DistrictNo. 9—Minne-apolis'

(24 stores).

83.170.691.1

106.8105.6101.381.293.1

105.4119.8107.0164.1

92.177.0

10,-). 2

75.271.290.887.496.589.264.867.7

101.0104.5104.9149.2

81.073.399.4

DistrictNo. 12—

SanFrancisco

(31 stores).

99.683.8

111.0110.0132.5111.695.9

119. 3112.5137.0132.2203.7

114.6 '101. 5134.6

Index forUnitedStates

(306 stores).

89.879.7

101.3112.9115.4108.080.187.1

106.2129.8130.0185. 9

99.889.3

123. t

TREND OF DEPARTMENT STORE STOCKS.[Average monthly stocks, 1919=100.]

1922.JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember..OctoberNovember...December...


DistrictNo. 1—Boston

(24 stores).

99.1103.6110.7112.2110.9106.2103.7105.0116.9125.1130.0110.5

104.0111.5119.9

DistrictNo. 2—

New York(64 stores).

105.1108.5120.7121.6116.5110.4104.5109.1120.2124.5131.4110.4

106.6113.0124.6

DistrictNo. 3—

Philadel-phia

(13 stores).

95.9104.7116.3113.9110.1109.8105.6111.9121.6127.5126.7105.9

102.2116.5127.5

District District>?O. S - \ No. 6—

Richmond Atlanta(19 stores). (22 stores).

90.8102.4111.7110.6107.0103.799.8

105.0119.5130.3126.0103.2

99.6113.0124.3

101.7110.6117.3116.4111.7104.9103.2109.3118.5121.3123.1101.2

105.2111.9118.9

DistrictNo. 7—Chicago

(59 stores).

106.9117.7127.0124.6122.8115.7113.6125.0128.9134.8136.8115.2

111.4125.3137.2

DistrictNo. 9—Minne-apolis

(16 stores).

88.595.6

103.398.7

102.599.297.8

102.0107.7112.6115.597.2

100.0107.2117.0

DistrictNo. 11—Dallas

(19 stores).

107.3115.5113.8110.1100.499.6

111.0117.7119.6118.994.1

96.0105.8114.3

DistrictNo. 12—

SanFrancisco

(29 stores).

106.2111.7120.9122.2114.4107.0108.1112.1118.0120.0124.2107.6

107.4117.7125.1

Index forUnitedStates

(265 stores).

101.4108.7118.2117.5114.0108.3105.5111.8120.4125.6128.3107.5

105.2115.2125.3


626 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. MAY, a 023.

BANKING AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS.DISCOUNT AND OPEN-MARKET OPERATIONS OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS.

Federal reserve bank.

BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia...ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolisKansas CityDallasSan Francisco..

Total: March, 1923March, 19223 months ending-

Mar. 31,1923.Mar. 31,1922.

VOLUME OF OPERATIONS DURING MARCH, 1923.

Bills dis-counted for

memberbanks.

Bills boughtin openmarket.

$330,903,4141,995,975,853

238,143,940138,462,039225,345,37330,403,422

251,529,77183,021,37818, 011,97348,663,36512,743,364

146,496,704

3,519,700,5961,753,096,620

10,931,505,9986,178,834,855

((33,236,61275,774,81812,031,76833,241,8611,150,89422,907,07522,302,6779,755,917

75,0006,435,45137,228,596

254,140,669144,351,644

593,359,216387,282,638

United States securitiespurchased.

Bonds andnotes.

$519,20040,759,500

225,000

292,7009,546,000

20,7003,248,900

435,5001,600,000

56,647,500156,696,850

208,471,730389,106,600

Certificates ofindebtedness.

$16,665,94573,440,500

171,000555,000

5,360,00038,430,500

100,000302,000

3,500,0001,198,0001,175,000

140,897,945562,114, 000

1,913,344,975838,274,500

Municipalwarrants

purchased.

$40,683

Total.

March, 1923. March, 1922.

$381,325,1712,185,950,671

250,612,391172,258,900226,496,26758,963,197

321,808,94892,897,99521,562,87352,673,86521,976,815

184,900,300

40,683 3,971,427,393

111,02913,646,722,602

$304,763,6291,074,055,174263,529,229159,516,811167,679,53655.898,867204,014,33150,453,29925,890,22545,557,79828,101,050236,799,165

2,616,259,114

7,793,609,622

VOLUME OF BILLS DISCOUNTED DURING MARCH, 1923, BY CLASSES OF PAPER; ALSO NUMBER OF MEMBER BANKSACCOMMODATED.


Customers'paper se-cured byGovern-

ment obli-gations.

Member banks' collateralnotes.

Secured byGovernmentobligations.

Otherwisesecured.

Commercialpaper n. e. s.

Agricul-tural paper.

Live-stockpaper.

Bankers' acceptances.

Foreign Domestic. Dollarexchange.

BostonNew YorkPhiladelphiaClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolisKansas CityDallasSan Francisco

Total: March, 1923February, 1923March, 1922....February, 1922

$544,6992,229,953

318,219317,735282,641101,812305,195

6,8421,230

61,9903,457

698,423

4,872,1962,212,578

12,148,77517,081,217

$183,009,5001,814,271,257

167,253,40092,973,450

199,822,41411,305,700

170,964,56052,831,70010,359,92036,958,9503,771,200

88,327,000

$39,5001,945,000404,400234,771

730,41947,000657,930

13,900,110

$146,895,982178,386,79070,245,34743,865,67621,050,03916,340,57672,333,42828,315,0205,234,5236,326,3244,258,48341,006,401

$236,278360,940270,986194,995

1,624,7811,966,6927,435,7211,569,6341,095,8701,238,2151,641,9751,632,860

$93,3256,055 $5,697 $19,963

2,831,849,0513,129,871,682

1,020,251,7781,267,616,523

17,959,13018,420,555

29,931,86726,411,796

634,258,589546,850,386

640,980,433730,839,912

19,258,94713,800,770

35,712,26127,567,790

281,91716,315184,940

"42," 703'590,011

i, 020,886:, 393,937681,985

50,00025,000

3,573

8,312,0744,432,921

9,599,0376,909,724

9,270846,402

94,963819,974

124,22092,410

$90,000


Trade acceptances.

Foreign. Domestic.

Total all

Total reduced to a commonmaturity basis.1

Amount. Percentof total.

Member banks.

Number indistrictMar. 31.

Accommodated.

Number. Per cent

BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia...ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolis...Kansas City. . .DallasSan Francisco.

$409,200

Total: March, 1923February,1923.March, 1922February, 1922

$123,630285,99855,988

788,766604,18399,302

206,096240,479

10,00016,382

246,352

$330,903,4141,995,975,853

238,143,940138,462,039225,345,37330,403,422

251,529,77183,021,37818,011,97348,663,36512,743,364

146,496,704

$260,325,2811,006,124,756

245,510,301171,123,462196,034,298114,133,865733,059,081207,890,88577,612,495

133,892,02383,684,889

290,309,260

7.428.67.04.95.63.220.85.92.23.82.48.2

428814715882639542

1,441620

1,0101,154862815

223375313240243213502191209254253

52.146.143.827.238.039.334.830.820.722.029.432.6

409,200173,012

2,677,1763,028,306

3,519,700,5963,720,546,586

3,519,700,596 100.0

4,348,2493,853,961

1,753,096,6202,080,373,333

9,9229,917

9,8739,858

3,2822,976

^ 4,7014,847

33.130.0

47.«49.1

1 Total discounts multiplied by ratio of average maturity of bills discounted by each bank to average maturity (8.86) for system.



VOLUME OP BILLS DISCOUNTED DURING MARCH, 1923, BY RATES OF DISCOUNT CHARGED; ALSO AVERAGE RATES ANDMATURITIES.


Boston.NewYorkPhiladelphia.ClevelandKichmond.AtlantaChicago..St. Louis

Kansas CityDallas....San Francisco

Total: March, 1923February, 1923

4 per cent.

» i , 147,809

31,147,8092,434,809,243

4£ per cent.

$330,903,4141,995,975,853

238,143,940138,462,039225,345,37330,403,422

251,529,77183,021,37818,011,97348,663,36512,743,364

115,348,895

3,488,552 7871,285,737,343

Total.

$330,903,4141,995,975,853

238,143,940138,462,039225,345,37330,403,422

251,529,77183,021,37818,011,97348,663,36512,743,364

146,496,704

3,519,700 5963,720,546,586

Averagerate (365-

day basis).

Per cent.4.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.33

4.494.28

Averagematurity.

Days.6.974.479.14

10.957.71

33.2825.8322.2038.1924.3958.2117.57

8.866.70

VOLUME OF BANKERS' AND TRADE ACCEPTANCES PURCHASED DURING MARCH, 1923, BY CLASSES.



Foreign. Domestic. Dollarexchange. Total.

Trade acceptances.

Foreign. Domestic. Total.

Total billspurchased.

Total reduced to acommon maturity

basis.1

Amount. Per centof total.

BostonNewYorkPhiladelphia..ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolis...Kansas City. . .DallasSan Francisco..

$23,523,67357,093,7058,273,938

28,155,033127,894

19,240,87114,142,7986,801,633

$8,224,49911,561,2562,542,8304,100,4081,023,000

$1,488,4405,152,8801,215,000882,000

3,137,7046,348,8792,138,047

528,5001,811,000816,237

$33,236,61273,807,84112,031,76833,137,4411,150,894

$1,888,069 $78,908 $1,966,977

104,420 104,420

22,907,07522,302,6779,755,917

$33,236,61275,774,81812,031,76833,241,8611,150,89422,907,07522,302,6779,755,917

$20,388,08232,762,76720,225,96451,530,9161,235,483

31,571,20634,024,22612,869,103

8.012.97.9

20.3.5

12.413.45.1

4,928,67927,531,001

75,0001,300,7058,975,823

206,067670,517

75,0006,435,451

37,177,341 51,255 51,255

75,0006,435,451

37,228,596

49,9738,241,322

41,241,6273.3

16.2

Total: March, 1923....February, 1923.

March, 1922....February, 1922.

189,819,225129,275,500

49,428,15149,578,270

12,770,6416,080,641

99,620,84096,606,585

36,084,36436,846,851

8,229,5005,243,963

252,018,017184,934,411

143,934,704138,697,399

1,939,3241,529,367

416,940323,099

183,328 2,122,6521,529,367

416,940323,099

254,140,669 254,140,669186,463,778 |.

144,351,644139,020,498

100.0

JTotal purchases multiplied by ratio of average maturity of bills purchased by each bank to average maturity (46.59) for system.

VOLUME OF ACCEPTANCES PURCHASED DURING MARCH, 1923, BY RATES OF DISCOUNT CHARGED; ALSO AVERAGE RATESAND MATURITIES.


BostonNew YorkPhiladelphiaCleveland

Atlanta.ChicagoSt Louis

Kansas City.Da»las

Total: March, 1923February,1923...

3Jpercent.

$6,008,3242,894,955

89,7414,899,293

3,330,851864,653984,953

1,275,0917,270,011

27,617,90230,207,039

4 per cent.

$17,319,80370,151,7969,796,554

18,911,884

15,604,56814,367,7788,205,623

4,510,11915,304,705

174,172,830128,689,708

4J percent.

$9,073,383490,849

2,137,2597,845,9401,130,8942,202, .5656,810,377

565,341

107,07512,854,238

43,217,92122,322,143

4£perrent.

$631,718195,240

8,2141,384,993

20,000129,042163,740

529,0001,481,609

4,543, 5561,031,218

4f percent.

$188,255

77,146

45696,129

14,166213,228

589,380145,620

4Jpercent.

$15,1291,956,219

122,605

1,639,593

75,000

104,775

3,913,3213,975,482

4f percent.

$85,759

Total.

$33,236,61275,774,81812,031,76833,241,8611,150,894

22,907,07522,302,6779,755,917

75,0006 435,451

37.228.596

85,75992,568

254,140,669186,463,778

Averagerate

(365-daybasis).

Per cent.4.064.084.094.114.184.104.104.06

4.564.064.11

4.094.08

Averagematurity.

Days.28.5820.1478.3172.2250.0164.2071.0761.45

31.0459.6651.61

46.5943.14

N O T E .—All Federal reserve banks use 360 days to the year in calculating interest on bills bought in open market.



HOLDINGS OF EARNING ASSETS, BY CLASSES.AVERAGE DAILY HOLDINGS OF EACH CLASS OF EARNING ASSETS, EARNINGS THEREON, AND ANNUAL RATES OF EARNINGS

DURING MARCH, M2Z.



Total: Mar., 1923 . . .Feb., 1923....

Average daily holdings of— Earnings on- Annual rate of earnings on—

All classesof earning

assets.

$87,662,269282,893,412114,584,839109,524,398

4S, 229,15443,723,928

181,001,80262,327,00635,572,75765,425,59651,892,271

116,671,435

1,179,508,8671,152,861,754

Discountedbills.

$50,566,899204,519,61857,217,98834,554,96246,176,04619,160,53186,242,42322,835,30517,948,831

'22,143,14718,753,36748,990,056

629,109,173610,754,670

Mar., 1922 . . . 1,191,013,324 640,302,001Feb, 1922 1,215,220,146| 772,415,903

Purchasedbills.

$16,187,59531,444,37928,761,44841,989,391

712,20813,853,20029,092,36011,197,4403,765,775956,070

29,875,54933,650,705

232,486,120186,648,316

92,966,96987,400; 347

UnitedStates

securities.

$20,907,775j26,929,41528,588,342132,980,045;

1,340,900;10,710,197i65,667,019}28,294,26113,858,15142,326,37912,263,35534,030,674

Allclasses

ofearningassets."

317,896,513355,458, 768

$310,438972,645421,051389,267181,692156,300640,273226,019131,996237,275183.119412,605

4,262,6803,652,160

457,642,354! 4,394,575 2,626,282355,209,265 4,165,669 2,903,831

Dis-counted

bills.

Pur-chasedbills.

UnitedStatessecuri-ties.

$188,120774,054218,711132,047176,48173,230

329,61187,27568,61384,58771,704

173,276

2,377,7091,986,681

$55,6S5|109,53499,597

146,9242,530

48,535100,27438,48012,9853,326

71,862119,077

$66,63389,057

102,677110,296

2,68134,535

210,388100,26450,398

149,36239,553

120,252

Allclasses

ofearningassets.

Per ct.4.174.364.324.184.434.214.174.274.374.274.154.1,6

Dis-count- Pur-

chasedi Unitedj States

edbills.

Per ct.4.384.444.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.504.16

bills.

Perct.4.054.114.074.124.184.134.064.054.064.104.054.17

securi-ties.

Per ct.334323344434

758922943580771728158016

808,8091,076,096585,4581,080,021!

320,8291,446,971284,686! 976,285

4.264.13

4.344.47

4.45!4.24:

4.83'4.90:

4.104.09;

4.06!4.25!

3.993.96

3.723.58

NOTE.—The figures in ths first, fifth, and ninth columns include average daily holdings of municipal warrants, earnings, and annual rate ofearnings thereon, as follows: Philadelphia, $17,061, $66, and 4.56 per cent.

HOLDINGS OF DISCOUNTED BILLS, BY CLASSES.

[End of March figures. In thousands of dollars.]


BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia

St. Louis .

Kansas CitvDallasSan Francisco

Total: Mar. 31,1923..Feb. 28,1923..

Mar. 31,1922Feb. 28,1922..

Total.

60,935205,32171,78434,03655,07120,554

101,52126,00620,32924,63919,96158,757

698,914595,760

680,467712,577

Cus-tomers'

securedby Gov-

ern-mentobliga-tions.

1,056

26637538387

31538

112

571

3,2083,242

12,55518,459

Member banks'collateral notes.

Securedby Gov-

*ern-mentobliga-tions.

21,869154,49248,16419,69524,4832,448

49,68811,8082,9328,168

98124,832

369,560352,797

248,226266,155

Other-wise

secured.

1039

855251129

35647

4446,518

8,6498,790

13,19014,074

Com-mer-cial

paper,n. e.s.

37,06549,92722,86112,18724,79011,96236,81810,9284,5525,3965,470

20,178

242,134157,244

258,848256,335

Agri-cul-tural

paper.

700392397404

3,7455,276

14,2292,8825,9113,8495,8983,638

47,32146,386

104,817111,822

Live-stockpaper.

75

52787

424

1856,3867,0577,1432,638

24,52222,712

36,46639,147


Foreign.

Im-ports.

108

14

122453

Ex-ports.

82

58

140321

Do-mes-tie.

46

25

63

134703

177234

Dollarex-

change.

Trade acceptances.

Foreign.

Im- Ex-ports, i ports.

53

90534

Do-mestic.

17022186

8097281063421401921020

247

3,0713,018

6,1886. 3;"1



HOLDINGS OF BANKERS' AND TRADE ACCEPTANCES PURCHASED OR DISCOUNTED, BY CLASSES OF ACCEPTANCES.



BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia..ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolis...Kansas City.. .DallasSan Francisco.

Mar. 31,1922...Feb. 28, 1922...

Purchased in open market:Mar. 31, 1923Feb. 28,1923

Feb. 28,1922..Discounted for member banks:

Mar.31,1923Feb. 28,1923

Mar. 31, 1922..Feb. 28,1922..

All classes.

Total.

Total: Mar. 31, 1923Feb. 28,1923

17, 53429,30929,11252,6221,704

25,63033,53313,0352,775605

20,68340,306

Pur-chased

inopen

market.

Dis-counted

formemberbanks.

17,39428,79929,02651,813

97625,52433,19112,8702,583

59520,66339,924

266,878212,267

111,635100,043

i 263,358i 207,678

Mar. 31, 1922 | 105, 270" • ~ | 93,458

170510

7281063421651921020

382


Total.

17,39427,07529,02651,708

97625,52433,19112,8952,583595

20,66340,008

3,5204,589

6,3656,585

Foreign.

Imports. (Exports.

9,01113,34215,62532,125

12,08013,2415,3221,297

9,89721,955

3,4386,0446,13011,207

1288,28910,2833,806580

7,84410,525

Domes-tic.

4,5756,2135,9317,497

8484,6177,3162,726

696595

1,1326,567

261,638207,873

105,28793,590

261,242 i206,306 |

105,11093,356

3961,567

177234

133 68,27460,175

77,01567,136

133,77397,413

68,13459,854

77,01567,136

122453

140321

48,71342,825

22,84122,612

48,57942,122

22,66422,378

134703

177234

Dollarex-

change.

3701,4761,340

879

5382,3511,041

10

1,790

10,7567,007

5,4313,842

10,7566,917

5,4313,842

Trade acceptances.

Foreign.

Total.

1701,234

869147281063421401921020

298

90

5,2404,394

6,3486,453

2,1161,372

160102

3,1243,022

6,1886,351

Imports.'Exports.

Domes-tic.

1,934 !17030086

9147281063421401921020

51

1,9851,376

1

1,9321,372

50

16099

534

247

3,255..' 3,018

| 6,1886,354

..' 184

3

3,071..1 3,018

6,1886,351

HOLDINGS OF BANKERS' ACCEPTANCES PURCHASED OR DISCOUNTED, BY CLASSES OF ACCEPTING INSTITUTIONS.


Member banks.



Total: Mar. 31, 1923Feb. 28, 1923

Mar. 31, 1922Feb. 28, 1922

Purchased in open market:Mar.31,1923Feb. 28, 1923

Mar. 31,1922Feb. 28,1922

Discounted for member banks:Mar.31,1923Feb.28, 1923

Mar. 31,1922Feb. 28, 1922

Total.

17,39427,07529,02651,708

97625,52433,19112,8952,583

59520,66340,008

National.

10,6219,525

10,36615,479

208,668

15,5005,2701,350

2009,533

13,113

Non-nationa

261,638207,873

105,28793,590

261,242206,306

105,11093,356

3961,567

177234

4,3448,4209,417

16,863

7,69615,1304,840

757395

5,21010, S68

99,64583,357 |

42,14841,932 I

99,45982,586

42,09441,826

54106

83,94064,616

33,93128,217

83,90764,107

33,80828,089

33509

123128

Nonmem-ber banksand bank-ing corpo-

rations.

7694,470 |3,410 •5,139

3254,7012,3291,959

310

Privatebanks.

1,5333,0894,1789,851

6312,446

17723965

2,9875.519

31,91825,493

12,6718,470

31,88325,438

12,6718,470

3555

Branchesand

agencies offoreignbanks.

2,1837,243

31,635 j23,408 j

9,7817,371

31,54923,307

9,7817,371

101

1271,5711,6554,376

2,01355

587101

7503,265

14,50010,999

6,7567,600

14,44410,868

6,7567,600

56131



CONDITION OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS.CASH RESERVES, TOTAL DEPOSITS. FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE CIRCULATION, AND RESERVE PERCENTAGES FOR APRIL

AND MARCH, 1923.

[Daily averages. Amounts in thousands of dollars.!


BostonNew YorkPhiladelphiaClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolisKansas CityDallasSan Francisco.. .

Total: 19231922192119201919

Total cash reserves. Total deposits.

April.

264,5831,083,524

230,983296,93391,139

137,361529,836104,22878,91892,29537,997

228,833

3,176,6303,114,9282,485,0792,084,0772,224,948

March. April.

250,914078,621226,353306,187107,058142,876514,481109,98179,88694,98540,950

238,333

128,791718,011117,751163,58662,47359,814

280,69775,00951,88886,33053,054

147,401

3,190,6253,095,7622,403,4702,058,2932,202,368

1,944,8051,822,7881,749,5681,998,7321,878,879

March.

128,373723,709116,774162,43265,74260,745

285,05575,86352,21088,06355,599

145,975

1,960,5401,794,8951,808,5292,032,7871,951,752

Federal reserve notesin circulation.

April.

203,548568,780200,890230,343

128,053396,29580,77756,37662,08528,818197,815

2,236,3782,190,4472,870,6453,071,7542,547,535

March.

202,812572,488202,805231,38285,761

124,283394,19686,36756,22064,20630,291

202,384

2,253,1952,195,1312,979,4863,040,4402,503,350

Reserve percentages.

April.

79.684.272.575.462.873.178.366.972.962.246.466.3

76.077.653.8

143.0'52.0

March.

75.883.270.877.770.777.275.767.873.762.447.768.4

75.777.650.2

l42.7151.6

1 Circulated on basis of net deposits and Federal reserve notes in circulation.

RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK ON WEDNESDAYS, MARCH 28 TO APRIL 18, 1923.

RESOURCES.


Gold and gold cer-tificates:

Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Gold s e t t l e m e n tfund—F.R.Board:

Mar.28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Gold with F. R.agents: ,

Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr. 18

Gold redempt ionfund:


Total gold reserves:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr. 18

Reserves other than


Total reserves:Mar.28Apr. 4Apr.llApr. 18

Nonreserve cash:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.l lApr.18

320,401325,484324,630326,375

653,708677,216657,410659,887

2,034,099" 013,538

041,509036,490

Total.

55,58653,25762,21059,870

3,063,7943,069,4953,085.7593,082,622

112,494103,522

95,920

3,176,2883,173,0173,184,4393,178,542

65,81566,66366,25867,225

Boston.

17,60717,64517,72517,574

45,92857,09955,35956,090

173,441171,367168,841166,385

8,3559,76011.53313,280

245,331255,871253,458253,329

10,2818,9547,8567,639

255,612264,825261,314260,968

10,58712,16312,47111,029

NewYork.

Phila-delphia

156,594160,860159,620160,499

265,428262,895254,542276,571

639,067638,904638,718638,535

5,7239,2857,4935.836

1,066,8121,071.9441,060,3731,081,441

14,74814,03214,02213,447

1,081,5601,085,9761,074,3951,094,888

8,4069,38811,03410,306

22,50922,94123,24323,477

32,02340,07633,61234,006

152,344151,134158,220165,193

7,1388,1018,8129,683

214,014222,252223,887232,359

6,0145,3894,2633,418

220,028227,641228 150235,777

2,4383,2853,4573,380

Cleve-land.

12,54112,98312,49712,944

79,32272,28966,02457,079

206,271205,327205,787206,265

1,7961,1563,1571,091

299,930291,755287,465277,379

7,2566,8115,9726,338

307,186298,566293 437283,717

3,0284,2092,6055,336

Rich-mond.

7,2367,3897,6197,673

19,47916,50717.57019,093

57,14855,56954,03452,294

6,3586,7917,2602,939

90,22186,25686,48381,999

11,36410,2289,8208,850

101,58596,48496 30390,849

3,0472,858'3,1142,715

Atlanta Chicago.

5,8125,8565,9355,960

27,52924,85519,84720,219

101,942101,397100,87399,501

1,5681,4601,2491,958

136,851133,568127,904127,638

8,7688,4248,3178,673

145,619141,992136,221136,3'11

8,3016,8437 0027,359

53,40353,07053,19353,189

76,92483,79290,42889,942

356,012352,089371,512365,588

10,9273,768

13,090

497,266492,719523,339521,809

18,14916,59515,24914,705

515,415509,314538,588536,514

6,1785,8916 0986,910

St.Louis.

3,1173,1243,1733,197

10,02619,49612,6699,679

64,76762,45168,97065,610

3,4402,7152,6492,448

81,35087,78687,46180, 934

21.46719,31919,16518,722

102,817107,105106 62699,656

4,9535,3194,938

Minne-apolis.

7,8237,8477.9087,921

20,61822,24120,90721,242

46,62946,15948,57647,959

1,7911,8912,0982.378

76,86178,13879,48979,500

9231,103

77,84778,72680,41280,603

1,8091,8331 6981,498

KansasCity.

3,0333,0283,0483,065

32,35432,35035,32831,573

52,91952,30851,50950,710

1,7721,8672,1532,378

90,07889,55392,03887,726

4,0664,1864,1653,638

94,14493,73996,20391,364

3,8293,3293 4163,285

Dallas

10,98110,76010,50910,562

11,3399,749

10,9769,341

12,28412 70313,04812,668

1,4421,2691,2321,019

36,04634,48135,76533,590

4,6104,2824,4514,427

40,65638,76340 21638,017

4,3523,7943,9993,988

SanFran-cisco.

19,74519, 98120,16020,314

32, 73835,86740,14835,052

171,275164,130161,421165, 782

5,2765,1946,3683,770

229,034225,172228,097224.918

4,7854,7144,4774,960

233,819229,886232,574229,878

8,8877 7516,4266,433


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL BESERVE BULLETIN. 631

RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK ON WEDNESDAYS, MARCH 28 TO APRIL 18,

1923—Continued.

RESOURCES—Continued.


Bills discounted:Secured by U. S.

Governmentobligations—

Mar. 28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Other bills dis-counted—


Bills bought in openmarket:

Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

U. S. bonds andnotes:


U. S. certificates ofindebtedness:

Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Municipal warrants:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr. 18

Total earning assets:Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Bank premises:Mar.28Apr. 4Apr.llApr. 18

5 per cent redemp-tion fund againstF. R. bank notes:


Uncollected items:Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

All other resources:Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Total resources:Mar.28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Total.

388,238380,785327,412334,611

311,781314,445295,238308,851

254,251259,879274,389277,447

172,208164,586162,826158,910

77,20174,56375,32879,097

41414141

1,203,7201,194,2991,135,2341,158,957

48,84748,93849,208 '49,692

191191191

I 191Ii 559,481I 621,458! 638,391

723,336

13,58813,43413,62713,871

\5,067,9305,118,00015,087,348J5,191,814

Boston.

24,35619,67016, 82115,825

32,40427,68429,97534,505

17,48217,06517,42819,595

5,6065,3745,4205,393

4,8004,7634,7534,989

84,64874,55674,39780,307

4,4344,4344,4344,434

New Phila-York. delphia.

176,967165,668137,336131,015

51,93444,93544,83938,561

34,30927,46246,84050,911

22,02617,44615,50613,431

2,7131,3801,5255,610

287,949256,891246,046239,528

11,36811,37011,37011,690

46,42441,82840,78035,432

19,13118,68214,32714,515

28,94628,16926,26924,915

24,43824,43824,43824,438

979979979979

41414141

119,959114,137106,834100,320

684684704712

Cleve- Rich-land, j mond.

22,09521,61328,P3822,733

17,64617,11820,03524,907

48,59751,50651,54951,251

12,35512,35512,34.812^348

8,9458,9919,0199,018

107,638111, 583121,789120,257

7,9008,0158,027

49,67055,61755,39763,069

139129139155

405,090411,724408,152419,962

119,886134,664137,300170,603

1,4371,3421,4651,296

1,510,6061,499,6311,481,6101,528,311

49,38756,66253,68463,819

362384399419

392,858402,793393,228404,427

56,61066,921

78,746

492465564530

482,841489,644494,598496,613

20,90021,05322,34024,020

29,46031,01030,80832,907

95S1,0261,7161,778

1,3411,3411,3411,341

52,66354,43056,20560,046

2,6172,6172,6172,617

54,23151,24253,56159,284

558402402

214,623208,189212,202215,913

Atlanta.

2,8562,6652,2384,012

15,77918,00017,06719,840

21,19926,11727,67828,581

51154150S524

2,0012,0012,0012,001

42,34649,32449,49254,958

2,3052,3302,3402,421

Chicago.

50,60257,88440,12443,128

46,38454,31838,55940,583

31,11232,69633, 45233,853

8,9547,7177,7126,806

36,10035,79135,90335,887

21,27222,72625,86828,895

390412403376

220,233223,627221,326230,320

173,152188,406155,750160,257

8,7158,7158,7158,715

65656565

72,70587,82980,39691,945

743758737773

776,973800,978790,349805,179

St.Louis.

11,78610,67610,04514,550

14,64517,35213,29915,294

12,44812,45512,05711,966

18,08516,43216,40215,238

942

7^4376,942

65,90664,35359,24063,990

934 I940 j940940

Minne- Kansasapolis. City.

I SanDallas i Fran-

i cisco.

2,6473,5723,0974,633

17,11116,89416,00715,982

2,7972,2751,9971,669

14,56514,61514,82415,064

510520511511

37,63037,87636,43637,859

1,0721,0721,1491,152

6,81612,5147,41211,193

IIS, 00215,64314,91717,840

1,077225

33,33133,33133,33133,331

4,086 I4,575 ;4,575 !4,535 !

1,00274176S

2, G50

18,28418,79219,ISO20,588

20,50720,13017,33815,586

3,3793,3793,3793,379

8,1258,1258,6258.625

61,312 51,29766,288 51,16760,310 i 49,29066,974 j 50,828

4,831 I 1,9374 831 I 1,9374,868 I 1,9374,867 | 1,937

33,288 |36,910 I41,700 '43,484 j

371 i309 !330 j323 I

100100100100

13,290 35,08814,699 37,59414,765 39,72715,640 ! 40,946

214,936213,774213,379

1,812 I1,798 !1,812 i1,771 I

133,460 j136,004 i136,272138,523

791730772

1,188

200,095206,611205,396208,724

26262626

19,20421,03824,60124,556

2,0752,0562,0802,073

119,547118,781122,149121,425

21,78122,90117,61325,420

33,00134,01736,22533,329

38,82140,75337,99037,267

27,61727,61727,61727,617

119,220125,288119,445123,633

2,0632,1082,1192,180

34,85035,55643,20442,349

4,4964,4934,5244,565

403,335405,082408,292409,038



RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANE ON WEDNESDAYS, MARCH 28 TO APRIL 18,1923—Continued.

LIABILITIES.

(In thousands of dollars.]

Total. Boston.NewYork.

Phila- Cleve-delphia. land.

Rich- | Atlantammj i Atlanta.mond. Chicago. St. Minne-

Louis. apolis. City. DallasSan

Fran-cisco.

Capital paid in:Mar. 28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

Surplus:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

Deposits:Government—


Member bank—reserve ac-count—

Mar.28Apr.4.Apr.llApr.18

Other deposits-Mar. 28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

Total deposits'.Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

F. B. notes in actualcirculation:


F. B. bank notes incirculation—net li-ability:

Mar.28Apr.4Apr.UApr.18

Deterred availabilityItems:

Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr.18

AH other liabilities:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

Total liabilities:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr.18

108,623108,647108,683108,649

218,369218,369218,369218,369

85,43274,42345,21844,936

1,871,3731,894,0351,876,4141,924,525

19,46520,14820,49921,540

1,976,2701,988,6061,942,1311,991,001

2,232,4822,240,9512,231,0412,220,251

2,4352,4882,4722,443

8,0468,0538,0538,053

16,31216,31216,31216,312

7,7136,6785,4182,625

120,433123,450122,921127,962

503346433477

128,649130,474128,772131,064

203,836204,987202,916203,780

28,90128,91528,94028,942

59,80059,80059,80059,800

38,34133,68615,25811,277

707,865689,544691,416722,586

9,96610,60711,03411,452

756,172733,837717,708745,315

565,691574,400565,181561,366

9,4819,4819,482

18,74918,74918,74918,749

3,8263,6073,0011,288

110,475118,746113,066118,525

530428344

114,994122,883116,495120,157

202,811199,270198,690197,788

MEMORANDA.

Ratio of total re-serves to depositand F. R. note lia-b i l i t i e s com-bined—per cent:


Contingent liabilityon bills purchasedfor foreign corre-spondents:


515,298544,367569,272635,966

14,45314,57215 38015,135

5,067,9305,118,0005,087,3485,191,814

75.575.076.375.5

35,83236,42731,91432,634

47,63751,25851,43060,004

610640669749

405,090411,724408,152419,962

76.978.978.877.9

2,1322,5142,7112,394

96,81899,596106,257129,537

3,2243,0833,7243,351

1,510,6061,499,6311,481,6101,528,311

81.883.083.783.8

45,90851,45148,79757,247

915959

1,0151,003

392,858402,793

404,427

69.270.772.474.2

11,97411,97411,99311,995

23,49523,49523,49523,495

4,8375,7083,1782,473

156,767164,026161,594161,780

1,0821,1521,1931,248

162,686170,886165,965165,501

230,500225773233,270228,359

15,112 I 2,44410,270 3,1095,560 1 3,1099,367 2,745

52,95356,26458,55565,928

1,2331,2521,3201,335

482,841489,644494,598496,613

78.175.373.572.0

3,0703,9043,9043,447

5,6825,6825,6825,677

11,288 ,11,28811,28811,288 i

5,0751,1121,505352

59,088 I60,26261,32861,642

142141179158

64,30561,51563,01262,152

83,52883,66282,90982,195

49,25545,43648,70453,940

565606607661

214,623208,189212,202215,913

4,4294,4274,4274,422

8,9428,9428,9428,942

6,5825,1623,7145,620

54,89655,94854,50856,699

130158259523

61,60861,26858,48162,842

123,757126,657126,035126,951

20,75421,54722,62726,325

743786814

220,233223 627221,326230,320

15,03215,03215,00715,007

30,39830,398

30,398

4,3575,4482,3163,771

269,434280,477277,572281,988

9931,1721,2031,682

274,784287,097281,091287,441

395,330395,284395,506

490535552554

61,30670,87266,46774,751

1,6331,7141,5501,522

776,973800,978790,349805,179

68.766.566.062.9

1,4781,8801,8801,660

78.675.673.871.8

1,1651,4821,4821,309

77.174.679.678.6

3,9515,0255,0254,436

4,9154,9154,9254,925

9,6659,665 !9,6659,665

1,9973,2752,4012,805

72,45075,42671,53970,643

745552565572

75,19279,25374,50574,020

83,69082,46580,99480,512

33,90537,76342,78443,409

902875901

208,269214,936213,774213,379

64.766.268.664.5

1,2511,5911,5911,404

3,5833,5833,5853,574

7,4737,4737,4737,473

2,5432,0131,9603,715

49,25250,05650,39050,642

580776709565

52,37552,84553,05954,922

56,03257,06956,58456,386

13,09914,10814,64015,238

926931930

133,460136,004136,272138,523

4,6374,6374,6384,603

9,4889,4889,4889,488

1,6252,2052,5802,593

80,29584,92079,74482,504

755689548561

82,67587,81482,87285,658

62,63162,71962,54861,889

1,4881,5071,4841,458

38,61239,86843,780

564578586639

200,095206,611205,396208,724

4,1824,1834,1834,191

7,4967,4967,4967,496

4,4442,6341,7612,346

51,19250,45552,16250,373

249246242214

55,88553,33554,16552,933

28,95429,44929,13628,723

457446436431

20,79122,10124,93825,855

1,7821,7711,7951,796

119,547118,781122,149121,425

7,7617,7657,7687,777

15,26315,26315,26315,263

4,0922,8952,1266,071

139,226140,725140,174139,181

3,6273,7793,7063,744

146,945147,399146,006148,996

197,722199,170197,494196,796

71.871.673.372.4

9661,2291,2291,085

64.862.366.261.9

1,2221,5551,5551,372

47.946.848.346.6

1,0231,3011,3011,149

34,26034,10340,29338,743

1,3841,3821,4681,463

403,335405,082408 292409,038

67.866.367.766.5

2,0182,5672 5672,266



MATURITY DISTRIBUTION OF BILLS, CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS AND MUNICIPAL WARRANTS HELD BY THE 12FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS COMBINED.


Bills discounted:Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Bills nought in open market:Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

United States certificates of indebtedness:Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Municipal warrants:Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11Apr. 18

Total.

700,019695,230622,650643,462

254,251259,879274,389277,447

77,20174,56375,32879,097

41414141

•Within15 days.

513,267493,438433,598447,929

68,20160,46280,67073,519

2,8191,4491,5845,905

16 to 30days.

42,89947,39442,00841,850

50,12153,09545,05244,299

31 to 60days.

71,24578,90673,74481,027

57,89761,97767,67879,702

4141

61 to 90days.

51,77255,44752,69150,435

70,00368,04568,510

58234

267

From 91days to 6months.

Over 6months.

20,82120,00420,43121,790 i

14,20314,34212,94411,417

65,36553,86118,27536,061

1541178431

9,01718,67155,43536,864

FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES.FEDERAL RESERVE AGENTS' ACCOUNTS ON WEDNESDAYS, MARCH 28 TO APRIL 18, 1923.

[In thousand of dollars.]

Net amount of F. R.notes received fromComptroller of theCurrency:

Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11Apr. 18

F. R. notes on hand:Mar.28Apr.4Apr.llApr. 18

F. R. notes out-standing:


Collateral securityfor F. R. notesoutstanding:

Gold and gold ;certificates— j

Mar.28 !Apr.4Apr.llApr. 18

Gold redemptionfund-

Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr.llApr. 18

Goldfund-F.R.Board—


Eligible paper-Amount re-

quired-Mar. 28..Apr.4...Apr.ll..Apr. 18..

E x c e s sa m o u n theld—

Mar.28..Apr.4...Apr.ll..Apr. 18..

3,463,6173,447,4963,443,4573,427,962

862,538828,797830,385832,530

2,601,0792,618,6992,613,0722,595,432

314,899314,899314,899314,899

129,141128,082130,285123,761

1,590,0591,570,5571,596,3251,597,830

566,980605,161571,563558,942

340,180305,817290,239320,936

Boston.

313,928311,854309,328306,872

91,40086,40084,70086,000

222,528225,454224,628220,872

25,30025,30025,30025,300

20,14118,06715,54113,085

128,000128,000128,000128,000

49,08754,08755,78754,487

25,15510,3328,437

15,438

NewYork.

1,070,9791,062,7171,057,1001,045,243

334,340318,340318,340318,340

736,639744,377738,760726,903

235,531235,531235,531235,531

32,53632,37332,18732,004

371,000371,000371,000371,000

97,572105,473100,042

137,647109,447108,456104,070

267,311271,101273,588277,560

44,80044,80046,20046,000

222,511226,301227,388231,560

7,0007,0007,0007,000

15,45513,24516,33114,303

129,889130,889134,889143,890

70,16775,16769,168

13,4981,4363,882435

279,088276,545278,105

33,22032,02030,82034,320

245,868244,525247,285246,662

13,27513,27513,27513,275

12,99612,05212,51212,990

180,000180,000180,000180,000

39,59739,19841,49840,397

40,89944,12655,76557,782

Rich-mond.

121,927120,748121,172119,433

30,69027,99029,55029,270

91,23792,75891,62290,163

3,3531,7743,2394,499

53,79553,79550,79547,795

34,08937,18937,58837,869

15,60014,68614,86317,690

Atlanta.

205,861208,316208,292207,920

76,03877,45877,04375,688

129,823130,858131,249132,232

2,4002,4001,4002,400-

4,0425,9974,9733,601

95,50093,00093,50093,500

27,88129,46130,37632,731

11,94417,30216,55119,606

Chicago.

549,747545,824548,447544,523

111,560102,460105,860104,060

438,187443,364442,587440,463

St.Louis.

128,212127,396126,915125,554

26,94027,24026,19026,190

101,272100,156100,72599,364

11,11,:11,:11,:

16,368 I 3,88715,445 I 4,07116,868 ! 3,59015,944 ; 4,230

339,644 ! 49,000336,544 ! 46,500354,644 i 53,500349,644 \ 49,500

82,175 I 36,50591,275 I 37,70571,075 I 31,75574,875 ! 33,754

45,923 ! 2,37453,623 i 2,77641,037 | 3,56342,685 j 7,935

Minne-apolis.

71,30270,83071,36772,110

11,92610,80511,12512,205

59,37660,02560,24259,905

13,05213,05213,05213,052

1,5771,1071,5241,907

32,00032,00034,00033,000

12,74713,86611,66611,946

9,3378,3958,9219,831

Kansas >City. [ Dallas.

91,31690,70590,26689,467

19,76019,76019,64319,643

71,55670,94570,62369,824

3,5592,9484,1493,350

49,36049,36047,36047,360

18,63718,63719,11419,114

5,2539,7453,2849,992

53,94753,36652,71252,332

20,87920,53919,92919,829

33,06832,82732,78332,503

6,4616,4616,4616,461

1,8232,2422,5872,207

4,0004,0004,0004,000

20,78420,12419,73519,835

18,90619,37817,53318,943

SanFran-cisco.

309,999308,094306,165305,966

60,98560,98560,985

249,014247,109245,180244,981

13,40418,76116,78415,641

157,871145,369144,637150,141

77,73982,97983,75979,199

13,64414,5717,94716,529



CONDITION OF REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN LEADING CITIES.PRINCIPAL RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN LEADING CITIES ON WEDNESDAYS FROM

MARCH 21 TO APRIL 11, 1923.

ALL REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN EACH FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT.


Number of reporting banks.Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Loans and discounts, gross:Secured by U. S. Gov-

ernment obligations—Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Secured by stocks andbonds—

Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr.ll

All other loans and dis-counts—

Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Total loans and discounts:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

U. S. pre-war bonds:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

U. S. Liberty bonds:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

U. S. Treasury bonds:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

U. S. Victory notes andTreasury notes:

Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr.ll

U. S. certificates of indebt-

Total.

Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

Other bonds, stocks, andsecurities:


Total loans and discountsand investments:


Reserve balance with F. R.banks:


Cash in vault:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Boston.

777777777

269,540265, 268270,651272,416

3,753,3683,765,3393,827,9293,762,622

7,727,1707,752,8737,781,0397,789,"""

11,750,07811,783,48011,879,61911,825,036

283,196283,280283,0S2282,206

1,045,2791,041,643ljCes^ss1

1,035,014

109,617107,509105,793104,92S

940,837928,753|!918,042! l921,0751)

205,344191,462188,060173,112

2.159,9792,161,4842,156,0772,159,946

16,494,33016,497,61116,569,15616,501,317

1,388,:1,394,7781,406,9931,387,452

276,145282,544283,491,289,2001

New-York.

Phila-delphia.

106106107108

14,557 87,64515,427 83,00513,277 88,69613,086 91.66C

!,964 1238,238,376240,764 ]236,>, 692 1

605,170610,161610,127609,"" '

1612,

325 2

2,473,5632,480,7782,496,6582,509,682

858,6918 6 3 , " '864,859,

9644:168 4:103 4

12,72312,93712, 72212,722

78,23978,00878,21378,382

6,2665,2655,2855,272

23,91623,90623,74923,876

7,i6,2846,1615,630

172,245170,437171,378173,138

,675,6o1,675,576",723,743,641,552

679 6,1,159,11,160,1,161,676

j ! 158 123 6;

8016,

80,69781,65984,03981,753

18,70718,70718,44719,211

1,236,8671,239,359t, 309,097

242,894

48,48648,48648,47648,472

463,225454,874456,235455,361

40,58539,33837,62837,184

511,641509,877501,625507,720

74,84976.7M77,22466,258

717,777717,423718,347720,447

1,093,4301,086,0636,148,6321,078,336

617,513642,511621,057625,499

80,30482,72183,65484,682

18,60118,05518,42818,467

256,516266, 763271,760276,308

Cleve-land.

32,75632,00231,79231,896

377,731373,678376,412379,514

332,606329,836327,953332,765

723 1654 1

607,614,618,141627,541.

11,46411,46411,46411,464

47,76047,24947,28747,927

4,1544,1704,1554,180

51,93852,81353,29553,433

10,1768,7247,7677,344

184,235183,491181,252180,878

082,091; 083,4591,088,6871,095,57"

48,05248,00948,04347,967

121,586121,120120,214119,147

9,2568,8808,6818,195]

70,52469,05974,23169,356

16,16417,57916,43416,148

671,604677,779680,483684,167

Rich-mond.

10,06511,89110,14410,080

124,935124,110126,531128,102

326,200321,984321,870324,271

461,200457,985458,545462,453

30,46030,46030,31C30,501

31,95531,98830,93330,568

5,1235,0295,0055,000

At-lanta.

58,277 10,12358,552 9,67358,600; 9,94757,0241 9,605

20,25017,77516,45915,727

4,8504,7644,1313,906

286,731 51,i~-287,5331 51,538287,609] 51,143288,240 50,619

917,450922, • " '923,932,766 l',63i; 877

1,626,243',625,328

109,105]109,550112,792111,245

30,86630,73631,07030,779

595,402591,437590,014592,651

35,22832,98935,33634,010

13,39913,75613,52715,884

7,1327,1997,3467,541

60,82261,11357,16S63,376

566 1336,443339,566341,972337, 893

404,397407,878406,486408,813

14,55114,55114,54114,368

13,004!14,042]13,99414,104]

1,8

L8492,045

5hicago.

43,46942,99346,71745, 814

543,103548,045549,786558,007

,129,621,145,26-

1,149,1431,135,494

1,716,1931,736,3001,745,6461,739,31.)

24,91225,00424,95524,79!-

94,88694,68494,67592,87:--

12,37412,36312,40812,471

7,331 139,9417,080 128,1256,354; 128,2486,9931 124,251

10,0998,7659,3218,298

31,67626,62425,66625,022

37,21836,506

366,3071370,367

36^ 346! 366,52936,0281 368,339|

17,6517,53816,96216,163

134,711136, 780136,699136,034

306,334302,872301,909301,334

458,702457,1%455,570453,531

15,323]15,323J15,323]15,323

7.8561,9017,S937,991

50,61950,82551,45851,494

189,15t190,641192,4K,;

191,056

247,625249,373251,761250,541

8,7618,7768,77C8, 776i

S, 073 5,2998,115 5,1378.177 5,113S, 515 5,25',

78,051] 30,97276,516 52,37477,029! 52,647]77,443 49', 860

362,71365,155365,202363,8-1.:

448,841449,786450,408449, SK<

12,07812,07812,092112,O9ll

214,511211,598212,093209,447;

270,782;269,109|269,853!264,573;

1

19,901IS, 85419,85419. 556

13,043| 47,034 14.32712613 47108 16,14fc

15,25115 J

25,00t-j , | ,25,102 12,613 47,10825,380| ll,610l 4624421; 11645]25,380| ll,610l 46,65^24,421,; 11,645] 47,105

9,576! 1,319] 4,705 2,2458984 1380! 4724 2,145

, , , 2,2299,033! 1,319 4,732; 2,429

, , ] ,8,984 1,380! 4,7249,102! 1,319 4,6379033! 1319 4 7 3

25,019 25,873! 22,693 15,64824,683 25,805! 20,602 15,19624,743! 25,832] 20,670| 14,14624,414, 25,809! 21,251] 16,327

9,6618,5838,6047,887

9,2009,5159,0649,652

7,4695,6515,5375,815

4,4,4,4,

289201276193

7,7,7,6,

498377358922

89,467] 31,042, 58,69390,505! 31,064] 58,72587,182] 30,592 59,88386,7931 30,724: 59,374

488,496 2,386,289 630,559490,676)2,393,467 627,438488,891^2,398,127 622,837490,650 2,387,061 619,329

34,076!32,55733,39431,944

331,952 601,542333,212; 600,400334,166! 601,706333,007i 601,278

341,340,339,335,

764155110011911 1

204,012j 41,533 26,9871 50,363i 25,744197,7611 43,408 22,696 46,698208,009 45,454 23,923 51,935OnA CITA AO AIY)\ OA /V7rt AR 1KO08,009204,974

10,150 52,290!10,358 53,38610,004 55,28010,924 54,261

23,923 51,93524,079 46,152

16,43016,00516,10615,946

161,287161,183163,932164,228

779.249777,235781,219790,719

956,966954,423961,257970,893

36,48536,33836,52636,176

95,21798, 70698,03397,995

12,11813,37713,49513,068

48,43752,44150,83350,372

16,92816,00815,55616,110

155,373154,380156,752155,714

,321,524,325,673,332,452 ,,340,328

,7 92,50425,623 90,26725,0851 91,7382 2 0 8980625,085126,201

11,3581 9,01511,615] 8,93711,103 9,225

6;i07] 12,220| 9,357

5,6415,941

89,806

20,48320,93420,81121,242


5IAY, 1923. FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. 635

PRINCIPAL RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OP REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN LEADING CITIES ON WEDNESDAYS FROMMARCH 21 TO APRIL 11, 1923—Continued.

ALL REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN EACH FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT—Continued.


Net demand deposits:Mar.21Mar/28Apr.4Apr. 11

Time deposits:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

Government deposits:Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr.ll

Bills payable and redis-count with F. R. banks:

Secured by U. S. Gov-ernment obligations—


All other—Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

Total. Boston.

11,183,93811,082,05911 212,30711,251,109

3,923,1523,948,4203,959,2473,951,362!

326,466!337 323;337,082336,368

259,534290,245281,781239,083

156,763184,708187,077156,720

784,780,796,

5874,4,730,6844,680,7194,754,414

803; 708 4,730,189

632 4,796 4!

247,820247,898249,534250,510

19,27319 25319,25319,253

10,93611,0467,752ir~

21,14726,63621,52023,011

NewYork.

Phila-delphia.

887,827889,867896,541891,120

153,498153,458153,498153,498

114,932155,212143,390116,524

28,94046,47139,35638,701

684,876696,130706,410

87,21089,50788,38688,304

26,85926,85926,859

22,49524,23720,67320,486

14,71815,52215,00910,877

Cleve-land.

920,431915,114925,402918,877

550,319553,728551,393547,826

23,69424,99524,96824,539

12,26612,13711,71918,361

15,56011,98911,77814,435

Rich-mond.

331,637330,768332,561335,157

152,939152,874154,318154,146

9,7989,7989,7789,705

17,40613,73113,75615,187

17,45317,46918,48617,856

At-lanta. Chicago.

282,276,278,282,

3761891170714781

166,070167,168169,150167,957

11,24611,01711,017

1,945939980565

4,0833,5766,0384,648

1,488,0771,470,340,477,038,503,845

769,656771,486772,429770,011

28,70729,88129,88229,831

43,70540,98045,21127,920

16,14422,97231,29215,597

St . Minne-Louis. j apolis.

372,161364,106365,671369,215

183,218183,497183,978183,194

10,05310,32210,32210,322

210,029209,647211,534213,958

KansasCity.

456,624460,539458,505458,552

83,405 124,69883,65383,67784,280

5,6145,5405,5405,400

3,192 3,9405,114 2,2653,879! 3,2653,510| 2,815

10,879 3,1449,963: 3,64212,087 3,7367,614 3,001

125,587124,508126,039

3106,9176,9136,913

10,1985,648

11,439«618|

5,8856,0015,7545,071

Dallas.

239,380236,134235,221237,503

74,95975,66675,52875,290

14,82814,82814,82614,827

585330

45115

2,7102,r~3,1012,772

SanFran-cisco.

683,722672,293680,328691,217

595,031607,489609,805612,685

24,40324,22624,22624,204

17,93418,60619,67222,173

16,10018,08118,92013,137

REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CITIES.

Number of reporting banks:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

Loans and discounts, gross:Secured by U. S. Gov-

ernment obligations-Mar. 21Mar.28Apr.4 •.Apr . l l

Secured by stocks andbonds—

Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr . l l

All other loans and dis-counts—

Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr . l l

Total loans and discounts:Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr. 11

U. S. pre-war bonds:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

U. S. Liberty bonds:Mar.21Mar. 28Apr. 4Apr. 11 ,

O. S. Treasury bonds:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr . l l

U. S. Victory notes andTreasury notes:

Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. l l

259259259259

179,949174,498181,488182,401

2,719, 8822,731,0642,797,2802,723,258

2323!23|23

11,805! 78,62012,670| 74,35610,54410,231

79,78082,684

186,4341,490,2791S5,803 1,486,631188,3761,540,852184,3271,459,826

4,786,8364,812,0334, 825,4134,827,799

7,686,6677,717,5957,804,1817,733,458

99,77399,76899,79699,587

627,910619,497!619,388617,074

60,62259,516!57,744|56,0081

458,865 2,166,123464,577 2,173,710464,708J2,190,368462,549|2,199,654

657,104i3,735,022663,0503,734,697663,628(3,811,000657,107!3,742,164

2,2682,2682,268

34,10934,07533,96134,138

3,7382,7372,7462,732

713,86s1 16,613702,255! 16,668693,536! 16,246697.749 16.455

37,83537,83537,82537,826

397,171387,653388,864388,319

30,14129,90628,19727,255

478,390477,062468,649475,077

16,65416,12416,50116,610

235,544245,066250,137254,726

299,995297,067295,689300,248

552,193558,257562,327571,584

7,3587,3587,3587,358

36,82536,30736,32236,609

3,2433,2593,244

48,87749,23949.72749,867

6,6275,8225,8616,158

140,222137,816138,219139,191

311,110315,963315,692315,192

457,959459,601459,772460,541

4,5304,4904,5294,530

25,51725,54125,66124,818

1,8511,8511,8511,311

9,8239,6979,5549,7271

2,0922,1362,1482,121

19,83519,22119,76719,170

67,29666,42266,06767,367

89,22387,77987,98288,658

1,8051,8051,8051,805

3,8093,7803,4823,504

194214190!185]

1,6061,6062,026J2.21H

1,9661,978:1,97211,981

10,!10,900!10,41410,594

57, 85361,37457,67757,540

70,685174,2 . r " ' '7 0 , "70,

:,2521'1,0631I 115 1]

2,9272,9272,9172,845

320308273273

105117117155

310310310310

33,79133,29837,15035,638

407,012413,570415,552423,273

668,548680,003680,875667,155

,109,351., 126,871., 133,577.,126,066

3,3723,4083,4133,474

37,62337,57437,54436,123

5,4135,4146,4595,428

96,96985,27085,13781,183

13,43413,31012,73611,919

97,980100,13299,671

176,756173,097172,004172,003

288,170286,539284,411283,291

8,2238,2238,2238,223

16,10616,05816,07515,603

7,6877,6867,6377,562

6 166: 166' 164 16

4,679! 2,0844,698! 2» 0 7 6

4,681 1,9784,789' 1,952

|

28,895 21,93829,165 20,98229,867 21,05830,052 20,808

88,120J 117,874S9,124 117,90889,708 118,68289,342 118,549

121,694122,987

141,896140,966

124,256 141,718124,183' 141,309

3,0313,0313,0313,031

5,283

V"5^069

755816755755

2,1312,1312,1372,137

20,74721,61521,24321,448

934942930

16,161 9,603 9,14616,144 9,492j 7,05416,181! 9,518 7,18716,18li 9,4921 7,243

1,4911,5081,4901,493

12,27612,62312,91111, 533

58,94658,46659,06157,337

72,71372,59773,46270,363

4,8754,9754,9754,975

5,2505,2364,7345,237

1,1031,1031 1031,103

15151515

6,7066,5226,6476,825

68,60169,15570,45670,389

315,350314,322314,882320,863

390,657389,999391,98539S,077

21,41721,31721,31521,113

45,15046,06146,19345,933

5,5005,4795,5035,323

3,770 22,6003,770 25,9432,952 26,0495,1301 24,873



PRINCIPAL RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN LEADING CITIES ON WEDNESDAYS FROM

MARCH 21 TO APRIL 11, 1923—Continued.

REPORTING MEMBER BANKS IN FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CITIES—Continued.


V. S. certificates of indebt-Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Other bonds, stocks, andsecurities:


Total loans and discountsand investments:


Reserve balance with F. R.banks:


Cash in vault:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Net demand deposits:Mar.21.. . . ; .Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Time deposits:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Government deposits:Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr. 11

Bills payable and redis-counts with F. R. banks:

Secured by U. S. Gov-ernment obligations—


All other—Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

Total. Boston.

113,876113,558114,158'100,483!

1,163,8541,167,65111,162,3761,164,772;

10,466,570!10,479,840!10,551,179i10,469,131

MEMORANDA.

Bank deposits:Due to banks—

Mar.21Mar.28Apr. 4Apr. 11

Due from banks—Mar.21Mar.28Apr.4Apr.ll

985,416993,782995.889986,968

141,082145,663145,688148,673

7,585,9317,523,5527,632,2597,642,644j

1,941,1301,961,2671,968,0631,957,245

238,696243,077243,060242,886

177,738211,235204,787170,424

108,796132,795126,722102,501

1,974,1561,948,7862,067,5162,006,977

493,714480,842518,568515,472

2,7312,7732,311

78,82679,93881,513

798,205800,355 5,801,560 •796,524

5,261,815".,255,560i, 325,7405,252,948

64,60465,04166,95164,468

8,0118,1187,7808,153

605,601,615,619,

0224,6474,875 4;023 4,

103,751103,601105,056105,029

14,27214,27214,27214,272

NewYork.

Phila-delphia.

65,23470,23672,26361,499

518,022518,171518,942520,808

569,621589,476571,197578,292

66,23668,19569,20469,704

,236,604,185,561,257,805,230,112

624,563626,165633,879627,070

140,867140,867140,867140,867

8,026 92,1158,236 130,2115,267 124,0922,867j 99,546

20,579! 17,6892 6 , ^ 35,34121,100: 27,10022,543, 27,367

106,602! 945,023103,632i 929,839114,5721 979,613110,9711 944,022

36,12s1 74,26233,253: 79,25734,508: 77,70735,994! 75,781

Cleve-land.

Rich- | At- St. I Minne-±ucn- i At- «!,]„„„„ si . i Minne-mond. j lanta. ! U u c a S°- ; Louis. ! apolis.

9,004 2,2508,087 2,2867,055 2,2856,634 2,403

67,230

147,711 66,388146,862 67,676144,831 67,935144,692

805,211809,369810,864820,013

64,99762,87167,58863,016

12,96714,14613,25212,868

602,843602,004614,007623,995

68,87571,00869,77069,660

25,40325,40325,40325,403

20,29522,23718,79818,686

14,71815,52215,00910,877

157,365153,231166,684161,173

55,92551,32061,44655,995

568,318571,142571,587570,560

1,449!1,434l,338i1,135;

5,245!5,173]5,1085,040

103,331!101,7911101.931J102,538;

33,670! 6,172:33,947 4,987!35,455 5,793|34,543 4,063

8,0798,1508,5198,277

233,839235,530243,888242,479

317,954320,205318,559315,679

2,5422,7422 7452,742

71547!715

1,0

9,9566,0085,4377,834

41,30441,28346,59644,731

17,65716,32118,41217,298

803!8101

841j2,718;

53,80a53,89553,462!53,952j

25,428!25,46925,46225,641

1,0681,0681,0681,1—

5,495J3.7181

3,9244,612

31,15729,08730,02128,504

13,61811 540!12.5S312,575

2,06l! 12,8692,0581 116162,057 11,2832,057 10,261

6,353!4,6634,5584,325

3,580 , ,3,590 191,7983,540 188,714

190,866

188,343 57,452. „ , -,„„ 58,840

55,935

1,453,940,1,461,951

j 27711,465,12779,2571,453,401

5,6021 141,0945,275 136,0514,733 145,2115,879 141,793

1,1,7231,7652,017

45,899145,62645,03746,8221

21,89921,96422,29022,378

28,25729,36929,40528,871

1,001,167995,110998,211

1,009,822

375,157376,425376,407372,366

2,991 15,6503,191 15,7133,171 15,7133,171 15,663

738

973

16,79915,96515,56116,133

9,1978,92510,12210,129

54,764

26,74424,35925,24517,150

12,16616,59722 6239,213

338,284342,962369,419358,585

139,895142,120154,630152,655

2,.2,4512,4202,418

13,69513,51213,45213,594

400.152 156,520398.153 157,578393,0201 158,468389,949 158,542

27,03228,31228,43427,966

3,5313,5503,5573,746

245,334242,232239,253244,329

14,84511,23412,56512,783

1,8651,8831,9031,992

97,36898,593100,903101,465

103,269 38,218103,225! 38,491103,413 38,427103,333 39,089

8,607! 3,8748,607| 3,8748,607 3,8748,607 3,734

1,606 1,3653,806 3652,356 3651,932 1,615

8,0417,2197,7063,010

82,20979,04581,48481,256

21,13519,98324,07025,184

KansasCitv.

2,4182,4822,6322 , —

48,64447,58551,96049,609

16,17613,13018,02217,196

464453409432

11,03710,95111,32011,132

186,313184,104184,956184,631

16,20615,95417,29916,429

2,1252,3322,1852,586l

159,1021160,836160,491163,015

12,55512,57312,56613,007

1054,0254,0254,025

Dallas.San

Fran-cisco.

4,6184,4054,9764,275

2,0932,2092,3062,094

94,422194,29594,50893,177

7,7516,9567,1146,661

1,3561,2681,3171,373

65,09863,46264,66365,858

13,85113,88913,79613,705

9,3769,3769,3769,375

3,4323,1382,7412,733

69,59970,04370,35569,537

558,355561,980564,141567,591

33,82233,67833,54931,075

5,9226,1195,9606,368

239,847239,056238,664241,772

235,610248,252248,438250,288

13,94113,93913,93913,939

5,052| 16,3252,091 15,7376,042 17,9832,480 1 20451

1,478915666390

102,246103,869105,864105,791

20,451

864! 14,519479! !6,349855 16,994626! 11,766

23,2961 81,22721,630) 80,65822,392 83,35021,936 84,266

41,057 19,640 49,02741,250 19,303| 44,44043,710! 19,616j 43,74242,8691 21,463! 48,333


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL EESEBVE BULLETIN. 637

DEBITS TO INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS BY BANKS IN SELECTED CITIES.MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR BANKS IN 141 SELECTED CITIES.


Federal reserve district.

No. 1—BostonNo. 2—New YorkNo. 3—Philadelphia...No. 4—ClevelandNo. 5—RichmondNo. 6—AtlantaNo. 7—ChicagoNo. 8—St. LouisNo. 9—Minneapolis....No. 10—Kansas City...No. U—DallasNo. 12—San Francisco.

Total

New York CityOther cities

Numberof cities.

141

1140

February,1923.'

1,889,89919,595,7611,648,9251,949,930631,628827,440

4,383,007952,802510,811996,426494.600

2,043,173

March,1923.

35,924,402

19,019,49116,904,911

2,222,08623,231,5351,926,4932.206,665

737,293991,806

4,828,0411,112,395

600,8051,199,481

547,1882,581,355

42,185,143

22,541,2981%643,845

April,1923.

2,119,78721,180,7411,863,4772,227,570

676,260886,328

4,737,8591,039,549

596,9141,130,015

488,2552,347,653

39,294,408

20,478,56218,815,846

February,1922.

March,1922.

1,611,60517,029,4261,431,5931,538,886

535,864676,960

3,523,914739,485455,305872,68946Q.149

1,709,434

30,585,310

1,857,80920,977,9171,628,1171,665,926

618,568781,076

4,389,187859,417556,282

1,012,278524,469

2,061,228

36,932,274

16,543,428 !14,041,882 i

20,397,10916,535,165

April,1922.

1,760,15721,326,2771,569,3121,744,378614,409710,303

3,945,171826,599512,419956,757470,827

1,951,433

36,388,040

20,716,59415,671,446

WEEKLY SUMMARY FOR BANKS IN 243 CITIES.


Federal reserve district.Numberof centersincluded.

No. 1—Boston I 16No. 2—New York i 13No. 3—Philadelphia i 18No. 4—Cleveland ! 23No 5—Richmond | 22No. 6—Atlanta I 25No. 7—Chicago ! 31No. 8—St. Louts j 11No. 9—Minneapolis ! 16No. 10—Kansas City 27No. 11—Dallas 15No. 12—San Francisco j 26

Total ' 243

Mar. 28. Apr. 4. Apr. 11. Apr. 18

472,1924,815,390

462,706580,666250,377214,690

1,050,057252,051127,331275,981134,164530,139

9,165,744

1923Week ending—

5,206,836507,345654,208283,637233,297

1,195,769276,561143,224294,462142,310562,855

10,094,400

504,7624,895,346462,613689,887265,332216,076

1,053,875264,730148,837292,039145,714572,871

9,512,082

1»22"Week ending-

630,5675,326,208

517,404651,829281,282232,476

1,176,092287,767161,247311,442161,412598,298

10,336,024

Mar. 29. ; Apr. 5.

4,584,156378,241421,390204,610163,761956,035186,814111,641232,395128,140407,516

8,169,562

495,2195,269,601446,294508,931259,724198,547

1,090,114219,095125,267247,268144,009485,601

9,489,670

431,2894,843,587404,980545,044232,179178,176872,440218,911122,392245,886133,511486,619

8,715,014

Apr. 19.

435,7535,138,450

408,154488,238238,472188,591963,386220,251131,676248,286138,889493,400

9,093,546

District No. 1—Boston:Bangor, MeBoston, MassBrockton, MassFall River, Mass....Hartford, ConnHolyoke, MassLowell, MassLynn, MassManchester, N. H . .New Bedford, Mass.New Haven, Conn..Portland, MeProvidence, R. I . . . .Springfield, Mass...Waterbury, Conn...Worcester, Mass

DATA FOR EACH CITY.


1923Week ending-

Mar. 28.

2,831319,047

4,4256,752

20,6263,8384,9756,4704,3626,707

16,4366,997

30,58916,3696,665

15,103

Apr. 4.

3,713407,492

5,0208,200

26,2754,9095,5147,0185,8106,805

18,8539,051

40,41718,1628,719

17,938

Apr. 11.

3,138331,951

5,0778,300

23,0714,0055,4137,2434,7098,014

19,2638,760

36,00416,1028,186

15,526

Apr. 18.

3,163434,090

6,8868,397

29,9004,7596,0986,1805,4889,066

20,4668,997

39,35418,71110,24918,763

1922Week ending-

Mar. 29.

3,121269,035

4,2555,399

17,6462,9194,0774,7873,9865,244

13,6926,585

25,46812,2514,059

12,339

Apr. o.

3,170330,667

4,5086,234

24,0063,3084,9045,9484,9516,161

18,9107,857

34,06714,3809,890

16,258

Apr. 12. Apr. 19

3,289 i284,548 '

4,799 !6,053 I

21,792 !2,9654,630 )6,017 i4,275 i6,028 (

15,9157,606 :

29,977 ;14,151 '5,640

13,604

2,833286,497

4,5356,225

24,6792,7504,1045,3564,0535,226

17,0776,936

33,06412,412

13,737



DEBITS TO INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS BY BANKS IN SELECTED CITIES—Continued.

DATA FOE EACH CITY-Continued.


District No. 2—New York:k Albany, N. Y

Binghamton, N. YBuffalo, N. YElmira, N. YJamestown. N. YMontclair, N. JNewark, N. JNew York, N. YNorthern New Jersey Clearing House

AssociationPassalc, N. JRochester, N. YStamford, ConnSyracuse, N. Y

District No. 3—Philadelphia:Allentown, PaAltoona, PaCamden, N. JChester, PaHarrisburg PaHazleton, PaJohnstown, PaLancaster, PaLebanon, PaNorristown, PaPhiladelphia, PaReading, PaScranton, PaTrenton, N. JWilkes-Barre, PaWilliamsport, PaWilmington, DelYork, Pa. . . .

District No. 4—Cleveland:Akron, OhioButler, PaCanton, OhioCincinnati, OhioCleveland, OhioColumbus, OhioConnellsville, PaDayton, OhioErie, PaGreensburg, PaHomestead, PaLexington, KyLima, Ohio..Lorain, OhioNew Brighton, PaOil City, Pa...Pittsburgh, PaSpringfield, OhioToledo, OhioWarren, OhioWheeling, W.VaYoungstown, OhioZanesville, Ohio

District No. 5—Richmond:Asheville, N. CBaltimore, MdCharleston, S. CCharleston, W. VaCharlotte, N. CColumbia, S.CCumberland, MdDanville, VaDurham, N. CGreensboro, N. CGreenville, S CHa?erstovvn, MdHuntington, W. VaLynehburg, VaNewport News, VaNorfolk, VaRaleigh, N.CRichmond, VaRoanoke, VaSpartanburg, S.CWashington, D. CWilmington, N. CWinston-Salem. N C

Mar. 28.

25,0213,987

60,3053,6343,6522,520

56,5524,572,565

34,4926,582

29,7682,265

14,047

6,5854,239

10,0694,4267,6662,5525,3096,3311,481

894348,507

8,72419,53011,2969,4513,7627,9673,917

20,0842,454

10,04176,971

125,19129,493

1,39714,7276,6965,335

5936,6934,2321,0562,3482,828

199,4514,283

38,8502,7919,694

12,7852,673

4,27180,4006,1508,0778,9706,0002,3931,7453,8034,4515,2562,1785,5174,5562,178

15,7305,700

27,3814,7592,784

40,9044,5016,476

1923Week ending-

Apr. 4.

46,4564,952

75,4663,9514,3202,661

65,9654,892,196

39,0716,297

44,5803,085

17,836

8,7693,715

11,5814,9398,8813,1085,612

13,5372,188

898373,78510,48917,52611,93010,1064,5289,6036,150

17,4323,003

10,98484,891

172,84741,9721,289

17,5507,0194,608

7986,0574,7721,2912,5702,838

188,6804,511

43,3523,321

11,13020,1133,180

4,60693,7006,7308,630

10,1096,0572,4622,4513,4704,7615,0173.4786,1894,6591,937

20,4736,400

28,3635,8732.658

47,2565,5816,247

Apr. 11.

20,4555,049

68,9493,8614,2272,747

59,3214,634,721

36,9737,582

33,9443,053

14,464

7,1344,4469,8905,1119,0282,8436,0268,0991,872

934341,301

10,13017,90012,8648,5674,2177,9374,314

20,579! 2,780i 12,098

94,520192,67443,5751,441

17,2187,2644,330

Hi5,776

i 4,353! 1.7 0 8

i 2,664! 3,099j 185,614i 5,381i 45,422; 3,212i 12,915! 19,097

3,353

i 5,029: 85,021

7,081| 8,722i 9,062i 5,412

2,2042,1964,551

'• 5,0894,9132,6856,015

i 4,7221,922

14,9876,350

i 25,3215,5233.081

46,3Sti5 3678,264

Apr. 18.

28,9385,525

78,6334,5534,7343,483

65,9965,029,019

40,3098,573

36,4393,210

16,796

7,8504,370

11,7545,7989,1683,0225,7256,8071,723

903386,530

11,58816,56217,01210,9754,568S,2584,791

17,9702,682

11,03490,154

151,87339,6051,409

17,3427,6325,145

8086,6484,0211,4052,9203,532

198,6455,545

49,3823,924

12,25514,5563,342

4,55791,3357,001

11,4059,5745,3002,6671,9804,7984,9124,4582,8746,8244,8572,022

16,8667,000

30,1195,8102,413

47,3283,8778,103

Mar. 29.

24,2593,504

49,5172,8572,8142,207

45,6004,379,457

30,0534,785

26,4021,987

10,714

5,4523,0388,4023,7666,2092,1834,3765,0961,109

698283,444

6,82214,8889,3358,5923,7586,9594,114

11,3191,5536,161

64,42892,50723,297

97610.2794,7613,529

4625,7162,540

8081,7562,114

136,3803,402

28,8581,9777,5268,9102,131

3,20070,0504,5645,8035,6054,7711,6011,634

2,6333,0161,7753,7732,8721,486

13,8243,900

21,1663,7652,333

38,5113,8694,459

1922Week ending-

Apr. 5.

43,1364,419

64,9503,0774,0352,689

58,6764,990,529

37,7015,548

35,9152,523

16,403

7,6332,4789,7624,4317,2242,5064,652

11,5362,194

741329,196

8,94214, 48210,8889,1185,2337,8887,390

14,6952,5889,682

68,358133,56928,078

97413,9095,6283,492

6284,8793,1351,2521,9052,531

152,2923,790

31,8672,7158,575

11,9592,430

4,05892,7736,4806,5816,0957,3681,9072,230

4,0883,2792,6724,5234,5261,712

16,6883,600

27,8985,2721,975

44,2196,0445,736

Apr. 12.

25,8024,149

58,6182,8903,7252,336

48,5324,614,420

31,3955,974

28,5822,402

14,762

5,9183,4579,7123,9508,1922,2234,5016,2781,443

739297,291

7,74316,95212,6568,8274,1116,3374,650

14,1282,3449,102

79,892146,02533,1901,032

12,2175,9693,785

6364,5593,6141,3021,9732,450

155,2844,738

37,1191,9547,901

12,8452,979

4,33580,7366,1006,3255,3324,5211,8782,021

3,5993,4992,0794,2384,5441,492

15,5964,200

22,7063,8661,975

43,1484,8885,101

Apr. 19.

23,1374,338

59,9193,0863,7782,560

52,3704,903,158

31,2205,384

31,8402,299

15,361

6,2953,143

10,6244,2657,2312,2494,4245,5311,321

789307,077

7,92812,64810,8468,0104,1506,9384,685

12,3672,1587,550

67,296117,52230,2061,024

12,6835,5655,133

6294,3782,8781,2171,5972,525

152,4674,194

34,5912,5958,1279,0932,443

4,07081,1936,8006,7968,2444,4001,9671,474

3,4623,4541,8484,3683,9781,619

14,5394,100

26,6825,1641.787

42,0394,7315,766




DATA FOR EACH CITY—Continued.


District No. 6—Atlanta:Albany, GaAtlanta, GaAugusta, GaBirmingham, AlaBrunswick, GaChattanooga, TennColumbus, GaCordele, GaDothan, AlaElberton, GaJackson, MissJacksonville, FlaKnoxville, TennMacon, GaMeridian, MissMobile, AlaMontgomery, AlaNashville, TennNewnan, GaNew Orleans, LaPensacola, FlaSavannah, GaTampa, FlaValdosta, GaVicksburg, Miss

District No. 7—Chicago:Adrian, MichAurora, 111Bay City, MichBloomington, 111Cedar Rapids, IowaChicago, 111Danville, 111Davenport, IowaDecatur, 111Des Moines, IowaDetroit, MichDubuque, IowaFlint, MichFort Wayne, IndGary, IndGrand Rapids. MichGreen Bay, WisHammond, IndIndianapolis, IndJackson, MichKalamazoo, MichLansing, MichMason City, IowaMilwaukee, WisMoline, HIMuscatine, IowaOshkosh, WisPeoria, 111Roekford, 111Saginaw, MichSioux City, IowaSouth Bend, IndSpringfield, 111Terre Haute, IndWaterloo, Iowa

District No. 8—St. Louis:East St. Louis and National Stock Yards,

111Eldorado, ArkEvansville, IndFort Smith, ArkGreenville, MissHelena, ArkLittle Rock, ArkLouisville, KyMemphis, TennOwensboro, KyQuincy, 111St. Louis, MoSpringfield, Mo

District No. 9—Minneapolis:Aberdeen, S. DakBillings, MontDickinson, N. DakDuluth, MinnFargo, N. DakGrand Forks, N. Dak

1923Week ending—

Mar. 28.

96028,2367,827

22,399580

7,5292,561

248553192

2,84311,8626,3524,1822,7446,5914,845

15,706381

69,0991,2868,1117,1111,0491,443

6883,1302,4492,6165,888

648,5164,1006,8063,503

17,341150,193

2,8887,0107,8674,190

14,9722,7324,190

32,0425,8634,7828,9002,201

59,9841,3041,5192,6007,9785,1645,425

16,6258,6376,0686,0314,233

8,6153,4726,5062,379

8891,047

12,90733,25938,7471,2802,032

143,9572,812

1,1351,730

26911,9042,1351,671

Apr. i.

1,19033,5607,990

25,557675

9,1522,852

278650231

3,25413,7857,0425,0532,1846,9464,794

17,462430

68,1031,6139,7168,465

9401,375

7633,9152,2213,4309,118

792,0874,7009,1683,959

19,367133,876

3,2377,0709,1873,232

15,4202,8123,280

34,4244,8905,3278,5002,600

56,7022,9911,4592,70010,3096,8874,15619,2107,8706,6203,2174,524

9,3303,5646,145 j3,302884

1,08713,56835,27843,4021,6842,979

159,1763,028

1,2711,764290

13,1212,6921,759

Apr. 11.

1,04429,0306,84623,445

6578,4722,557264633222

3,34514,1326,1984,6662,3727,0255,025,17,368

52561,2081,5908,8117,9861,0951,560

3,4132,1872,9106,524

637,2054,1007,4583,31420,979140,8203,5338,7188,2654,24915,1152,8153,600

33,9664,9354,9699,2002,546

67,0572,0841,9142,8008,6405,7265,749

19,71710,3036,2666,1814,067

10,3013,5967,0413,060923

1,19916,60336,37233,1821,4613,365

150,8923,391

1,3081,970317

16,4233,1862,111

Apr. 18.

1922Week ending—

96032,3956,453

24,768623

9,4232,926

259645201

2,99714,6897,7824,9382,3816,9515,634

17,647401

68,6871,7239,1798,1801,1461,486

9603,5692,1633,0666,347

715,9473,7008,2903,557

22,009173,762

3,4838,2848,8003,477

16,2812,5614,220

40,0674,9364,7929,0002,302

70,3572,1841,3902,7009,9816,2306,573

18,5488,5117,0545,3964,345

10,0483,7448,3312,826

9331,058

14,13640,87934,612

1,6742,720

169,9443,432

1,2481,964

33918,7142,9631,885

Mar. 29.

83322,6864,425

14,637469

5,6021,911

197557172

2,13412,2985,6252,7931,4675,6073,185

13,188337

49,1091,0838,7424,842

7641,098

5652,3962,1982,2194,614

614,9622,9006,4102,946

13,821110,540

2,8064,9905,9742,760

13,344

46,2263,4663,5854,2641,852

59,9291,5481,1821,8005,5854,078

15,5805,8734,645

2,977

7,665

5,760

75i751

7,73128,13018,2551,1392,019

112,2032,410

9371,200

15511,0191,8661,075

Apr. 5.

92226,0276,772

17,733588

7,9442,505

286553361

3,00612,1495,9373,9231,9910,1993,957

15,503319

60,6511,623

10,9976,448

8551,298

7522,5552,3013,1927,532

738,3524,400

10,3753,437

17,232114,673

2,9508,0106,8211,910

13,452

Apr. 12.

82323,3204,966

14,456588

6,2622,524

236500229

3,06711,1316,3394,2041,8364,3873,589

15,938275

54,3171,7909,2005,863

9371,409

7273,2642,5012,2575,313

550,0882,5007,1733,041

16,07999,3342,9947,8846,7082,835

13,219

30,3803,0984,2296,5922,609

49,5682,4961,3092,1009,2515,907

17,1686,6657,001

3,797

8,757

5,189

947833

8,28729,76124,9311,2883,009

133,0823,011

1,3371,791

22712,4442,3701,379

30,5993,2404,0894,8311,972

52,4931,9791,5122,3007,1894,806

15,7746,4155,753

3,571

9,284

5,359

1,086960

10,05830,43524,3871,1562,059

131,0223,115

1,1881,629

266'11,5542,4651,521

Apr. 19.

98625,3055,053

17,034539

7,3242,487

216439214

2,34411,5987,0864,1931,9766,4143,521

16,372287

55,3672,5519,2915,841

9121,241

7822,8392,1912,4854,969

611,1742,9007,1352,759

15,231124,731

2,77110,1997,1302,515

13,837

30,1533,3763,8645,2242,533

55,9052,6841,0792,0007,5594,790

i4,0786,4626,256

3,775

8,009

6,512

748826

9,02334,27522,4641,2701,951

132,0513,122

1,3661,489

42610.6342,5721.621




DATA FOR EACH CITY—Continued.


District No. 9—Minneapolis—Continued.Helena, MontJamestown, N. DakLaCrosse, WisLewistown, MontMinneapolis, MinnMinot, N. DakRed Wing, MinnSt. Paul, MinnSioux Falls, S. DakSuperior, WisWmona, Minn

District No. 10—Kansas City:Atchison, KansBartlesvule, OklaCasper, WyoCheyenne, WyoColorado Springs, ColoDenver, ColoEnid, OklaFremont, NebrGrand Island, NebrGrand Junction, ColoGuthrie, OklaHutchinson, KansIndependence, KansJoplin, MoKansas City, KansKansas City, MoLawrence, KansMcAIester, OklaMuskogee, OklaOklahoma City, OklaOkmulgee, OklaOmaha, NebrParsons, KansPittsburg, KansPueblo, ColoSt. Joseph, MoTopeka, KansTulsa. OklaWichita, Kans

District No. 11—Dallas:Albuquerque, N. MexAustin, TexBeaumont, TexCorsicana, TexDallas, TexEl Paso, TexFort Worth, TexGalveston.TexHouston, TexRoswell, N.MexSan Antonio, TexShreveport, LaTexarkana, TexTucson, ArizWaco, Tex

District No. 12—San Francisco:Bakersfleld, CalifBellingham, WashBerkeley, CalifBoise, IdahoEugene, OregFresno, CalifLong Beach, CalifLos Angeles, CalifOakland, CalifOgden, UtahPasadena, CalifPhoenix, ArizPortland, OregReno, NevRitzville, WashSacramento, CalifSalt Lake City, UtahSan Bernardino, CalifSan Diego, Calif.San Francisco, CalifSan Jose, CalifSeattle, WashSpokane, WashStockton, CalifTacoma, WashYakima.Wash

Mar. 28.

2,017346

2,703968

64,790788344

32,8813,6231,880

850

1,2912,7173,1591,9093,191

35,6012,888

8081,368

559707

2,2252,1033,4494,303

75,124891810

5,93519,9722,329

47,118850

1,3115,079

14,6453,513

26,5379,285

1,8223,0243,153

92032,2436,885

23,88718,51521,655

4976,0628,6942,2281,5423,037

2,1981,4983,5512,4282,071

10,34212,623

145,38126,6565,2137,2583,437

28,9681,612

1228,851

12,7231,5639,833

179,1734,314

35,21410,6484,4537,8552,154

1923Week ending-

Apr. 4.

1,888647

2,6311,107

69,4071,075

44740,8073,8631,9211,165

1,3283,7593,8013,374

. 3,17940,7953,3981,1241,737

661879

2,6983,0393,5844,421

79,215907687

6,35718,6522,689

51,9131,0121,2744,034

15,4083,421

24,55011,088

2,1252,8023,2041,013

34,5847,333

24,71715,59629,556

4036,2278,2821,3871,7583,323

3,3722,0963,9732,9012,136

11,02114,321

161,11530,8967,0937,0164,083

33,9732,307

1358,673

13,6131,384

11,508172,270

5,17738,4119,8125,2387,9372,394

Apr. 11.

1,933598

3,0211,016

74,1181,029

51137,5573,8401,7851,135

1,3912,8624,1852,5133,136

39,3563,3791 0791,475

704753

2,6151,8703,8144,301

76,9961,169

9405,987

18,4352,415

51,032874

1,2696,185

15,0944,336

27,60410.728

2,0895,0693,8311,470

34,7397,271

25,43120,04622,328

6157,4317,9301,8822,0103,572

2,7662,1824,0752,8502,736

12,26313,276

154,60329,8657,4426,8794,343

37,7082,175

1817,691

14,0811,7179,973

179,0056,061

41,83212,4205,8168,6532,278

Apr. 18.

2,115587

2,9091,175

79,445902537

42,7413,6001,9741,058

1,6134,6653,9821,9853,188

38,3873,189

8801,355

700753

2,8533,2874,0165,097

90,1631,0611,2296,915

19,3892,527

53,207758

1,6063,203

16,4094,498

27,86710,729

2,3193,7844,1631,582

36,3399,381

24,53430,16924,564

5387,3958,1493,4071,6753,413

2,7502,5083,9862,8672,329

11,69813,599

161, 83831,3088,2467,1654,451

38,0442,227

1308,761

14,239• 1,724

10,2SS190,452

6,70442,41012,1085,8449,8582,764

Mar. 29.

1,491293

62155,988

771435

30,9732,4901,567

760

1,3002,0062,9011,7852,155

35,470

953500461

2,3312,1552,0583,419

56,433846780

5,57820,5682,063

39,531788

1,2794,050

10,7382,406

21,3998,442

1,5132,6452,700

81329,1986,239

30, 87613,96723,037

4025,1836,4931,2841,3392,451

2,5641,2893,3902,1811,3619,0065,842

100,27717,0183,4645,4502,672

25,5222,024

13211,61511,0931,3467,948

134,5444,463

33,0867,6174,0377,3852,190

1922Week ending-

Apr. 5.

2,320328

79462,010

870537

32,8723,4551,4701,063

1,1872,7852,4421,6903,031

38,374

95I1,293

596506

2,7561,5962,2273,272

59,077948901

5,57921,0461,328

47,832847

1,0404,418

13,6603,247

16,5049,086

2,1043,5693,2201,007

32,4426,735

31,96118,16825,912

6055,4806,6281,1271,5473,504

3,5371,3774,2472,7311,345

15,9857,152

114,28823,0565,1943,8724,130

32,3702,256

13916,16413,5621,4108,752

161,9044,733

32,3759,0845,0648,2912,583

Apr. 12.

2,136500

80961,586

1,132466

31,3983,1501,5331,059

1,2312,3042,3211,5082,563

29,065

9431,063

682553

2,3161,7152,5633,527

65,3081,0681,1455,548

18,0761,838

41,220763

1,5254,186

15,7373,872

25,5478,642

1,7513,2793,2181,290

31,7276,987

30,10013,16321, 812

6256,1417,3721,4941,4023,150

2,5711,4594,1012,5312,200

15,7496,812

108,86419,0153,5126,4253,715

35,9672,153

14617,65214,5451,743

11,576153,105

4,19440,74910,7825,7378,6922,624

j

Apr. 19.

2,025470

76867,890

872457

35,6652,7971,751

872

1,2602,5752,5781,4902,357

29,743

7411,217

667533

2,4212,8352,4433,412

73,058878

1,0425,441

20,1752,408

40,484810

1,0853,819

12,8402,732

20,7849,199

1,8892,9323,6301,416

32,7777,012

29,46014,11424,170

6796,6827,1091,9421,8973,180

2,4671,6793,5722,3192,085

10,1747,036

114,89120,0254,2846,4373,760

32,6392,131

20713,76611,9251,5029,756

175,5814,170

34,97711,1305,6998,3512,837


FEDERAL RESERVE CLEARING SYSTEM.

OPERATIONS DURING MARCH, 1923.[Numbers in thousands. Amounts in thousands ot dollars.]

Federal reservebank or branch.

BostonNew York

BuffaloPhiladelphiaCleveland

CincinnatiPittsburgh

RichmondBaltimore

AtlantaBirmingham...JacksonvilleNashvilleNew Orleans...

ChicagoDetroit

St. LouisLittle Rock....LouisvilleMemphis

MinneapolisHelena

Kansas CityDenverOklahoma City.Omaha

DallasEl PasoHouston

San FranciscoLos AngelesPortlandSalt Lake City.Seattle

Items drawn on banks locatedin own district.

In Federalreserve bank

or branch city.

Total:March....February

6522,527

2461,183

80628063014732314366757398

1,322323433

8513495

32133

781582585286

415529

8262

13555

745,3205,090,832

127,971867,047417,787384,528648,867342,495224,097131,30952,72286,55489,52256,634

1,192,614495,255371,079

47,631164,57943,769

134,126[16,286!

243,94250,83956,06672,990

151,51516,58346,398

423,055211,422

59,58234,49247,28419,437

Outside Fed-eral reserve

bank orbranch city.

Amount.

4,5,726

4942,4751,570

9611,0142,305

829445237228244148

4,483!578!

1,613!392!541!228'

1,754'134|

1,461395:

1,151!660!

1,459;146!

400:801;

1,818254:406|264208

Items drawnon Treasurer

of UnitedStates.

Num-ber. Amount-

469,321699,643

59,759321,562|189,645!105,0331117,453333,634

79,20054,820!18,906!25,628!23,655!18,625'

426,055!61,682

101,09325,19031,73314,96595,4999,668

106,50936,51079,17045,060

192,6639,856

33,70249,327

140,63013,23124,62118,93310,889

1591,100

15172977952556044141318|39

43641

144!Ill43!

131547

113271236351716746121173111

Total itemshandled, exclu-sive of duplica-

tions.

Amount.

12,553 13,164,629:39,888 4,043,870J 3,1379,872 9,697,88132,9403,187,011 2,587

I I ! I

15,70298,852

2,56629,4425,9019,6205,9955,1976,1954,2461,6971,5021,5169,000

53,22114,2659,6401,2704,9571,4756,2841,04812,5023,6271,8682,4544,7181,5221,70116,50920,4886,6414,092

11,9701,729

4,8779,353

7553,83012,473

»1,3301,6962,5071,212

632317316335285

6,241942!

2,190488718336'

2 2,135!174!

2,063j581

1,241» 855

1,752215502

1,2902,409

356485|430274!

Items for-warded to

other Federalreserve banks

and theirbranches.

Amount.

1,230,3435,889,327

190,2961,218,051

613,333> 500,897

772,315681,326309,492190,37573,325

113,684114,69384,259

1,671,890!561,202!481,812174,0911

201,269[60,209!

2 241,989!27,002i

362,95390,976|

137,104;3 120,977

348,89827,96181,801

Items for-warded to

parent banksor to branchesin same dis-

trict.

Num-iber. Amount.

372,54079,454!63,205!78,187!32,055i

63,131156,08627,451

108,1618,4947,028

42,17566,52942,74311,13518,96110,5732,856

17,11643,260!7,6954,797

8092,022

69017,4982,419

37,90120,573

8,9347,1989,7372,1212,6643,779

21,9421,9203,6827,0503,606

Total items handled, includingduplications.

Number.

1923

26,5,108

5,462|10,79420,992

369,412255,595,217,586,180! 4,482335,200 45,414 13,225,867| 3,681

792,736624,694

7,6494,192

9464,3092,5841,370

10,595 1,8318,951 2,7338,226 1,4514,732 —34,9351,6141,173802

2,5632,5081,7211,047131353111

1,02711,89713,1309,7175,0417,268664

1,0723,7489,3764,5692,4066,6222,604

877703

700378377356355

6,738967

2,249499740341

2,222181

2,429711

1,322927

1,895238526

1,3542,592406512505

1922

4,6188,940

8644,9851,9841,2031,6162,364ir~

492325335334

5,991861

1,976396613276

1,856241

2,097614

1,086814

1,658218

2,000359467478271

Amount.

1923

1,293,4746,050,875

238,7391,326,212

629,476512,117825,085756,806360,461206,242127,221125,871118,722102,177

1,717,713571,405

75,947203,42261,252

259,59830,448

412,751124,679155,755133,216365,90130,74685,537

496,418403,858

85,94369,29391,85938,265

1922 ! 1923

977,0504,877,704]

177,6051,147,573

379,100!223,011!363,171440,726256 737!141,982)72,410]55,464156,934'

1,092,158!226,380335,717

43,12993,85239,161

220,44224,671

385,66399,177

121,037115,463256,00023,26573,843

316,184254,66358,91954,29772,98436,850!

196,898 60,954:53,730 18,575,814 13,195,960j 9,922! 9,873 17,692 17,976160,75549,79843,09ljl4,011,316J10,690,431! 9,917 9,856 17,724] 18,019

Number of nonmemberbanks at end of month.Number of

memberbanks atend ofmonth.

3364

14451

3,971263

1,722233342186

2,423207

1,444271452

14650

3,981260

1,688237349

159 1641771 174

7 52]57| 11

156 19155! 34

2,285{2,3012,282:2,318

1 Incorporated banks other than mutual savings banks.> Includes items drawn on banks in other Federal reserve districts forwarded direct to drawee banks as follows: Cincinnati, 10,000 items, $1,716,000; Minneapolis, 6,000 items, $6,080,000;

Omaha, 1,000 items, $473,000. Total, 17,000 items, $8,269,000.• NOTE.—Number of business days in period for Baltimore was 25, for Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Nashville, Now Orleans, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, Dallas, El Paso,

and Houston, 26, and for other Federal reserve banks and branch cities, 27 days.


642 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. Mil, 1923.

MONEY IN CIRCULATION APRIL 1, 1923.[Source: United States Treasury Department circulation statement.)

Gold coin and bullionGold certificatesStandard silver dollarsSilver certificatesTreasury notes of 1890Subsidiary silverUnited States notesFederal reserve notesFederal reserve bank notesNational bank notes

Total

Comparative totals:Mar. 1, 1923Apr. 1, 1922Apr. 1, 1917July 1,1914Tan. 1, 1879

Stock olmonev in theUnited States.

J3,969,193,7432(681,693,769)

475,314,4042(387,726,863)

2(1,471,783)268,860,972346,681,016

2,598,033,72529,859,000

767,182,504

.8,455,125,364

8,489,635,4198,108,976,1965,312,109,2723,738,288,8711,007,084,483

Money heldby the U. S.Treasury andthe Federal

reserve system.

$3 559,091,728362,625,420416,251,02448,812,316

1,00026,880,73352,373,474

365,585,3743,989,456

34,731,464

'4,870,341,989

3 4,941,147,056= 4,686,870,4573 3,896,318,653'1,843,452,323

3 212,420,402

Money in circulation.

Amount. Per capita

$410,102,015319,068,34959,063,380

338,914,5471,470,783

241,980,239294,307,542

2,232,448,35125,869,544

732,451,040

4,655,675,790

4,610,636,6684,413,130,7144,100,590,7043,402,015,427

816,266,721

$3.702.88.53

3.06.01

2.182.65

20.13.23

6.61

41.98

41.6140.3739.5434.3516.92

1 Does not include gold bullion or foreign coin outside of vaults of the Treasury, Federal reserve banks, and Federal reserve agents.2 These amounts are not included in the total, since the money held in trust against gold and silver certificates and Treasury notes of 1890

is included under gold coin and bullion and standard silver dollars, respectively.3 Includes gold held in trust against gold certificates and standard silver dollars held in trust against silver certificates and Treasury notes of

1890, the aggregate of which should be deducted from the sum of money held by the United States Treasury and the Federal reserve system andmonev in circulation to arrive at the stock of money in the United States. The amounts of such gold and silver held in trust as of the date of thisstatement are shown in parentheses in the first column.

GOLD SETTLEMENT FUND.

INTERBANK TRANSACTIONS FROM MARCH 23, 1923, TO APRIL 19, 1923, INCLUSIVE.



Total four weeks ending—Apr.19,1923Mar. 22,1923-.Apr.20,1922Mar.23,1922


Transfers.

Debits.

6,0005,000

3,0002,000

2,000

18,000108,00069,000

113,500

Credits.

2,000

'2,"666'4,0002,000

3,000

'b',m

18,000108,00069,000

113,800

Daily settlements.

Debits.

617,3562,002,742605,563559,386477,544242,129959,066470,207124,635335,806188,761270,137

6,853,2327,324,1065,274,4375,518,607

Credits.

634,5722,009,479

618,722559,124463,839238,229972,318465,518127,177321,416187,088255,750

6,853,2327,324,1065,274,4375,518,607

Changes in ownershipof gold through trans-fers and settlements.

Decrease. Increase.

26214,7055,900

11,2161,737

15,159

11,3901 6739,387

17,252

642

46,006 46,006

Balance infond atclose ofperiod.

56,090287,54431,72464,72828,43416,37384,06610,02618,98929,1917,855

33,568

668,588648,222497,051513,493



GOLD AND SILVER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.IMPORTS INTO AND EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES, DISTRIBUTED BY COUNTRIES.

Countries.

IMPORTS.

FranceGermany

Netherlands .NorwaySpain .SwedenUnited Kingdom—England..Canada... .Central AmericaMexicoWest IndiesBoliviaChile

Peru

Venezuela..ChinaBritish India.Dutch East IndiesPhilippine IslandsBritish Oceania.EgyptPortuguese AfricaAMother

Total

EXPORTS.FranceNetherlandsSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited Kingdom—England..

Central America

West IndiesColombia

China

Dutch East Indies

HongkongAnother

Total

Gold

March—

1922

$3,983,0596,649,971

3,986

4,139,110

14,938,20421,399

1,264,172414,414707,33214,53011,73515,959

414,200137,046145,000131,745

217,64749, 592

152,450

2,680•74,025

33,488,256

222,000

3,601

61,99512,127

339, 875

40,666

183,805100,010

963,413

1923

$4,005,014

5,600,000

391,4094,113,344

182,027443 52112,027

9491,753

292,393169,361

35,381

208,057108,313276,020

4,148107,660

15,951,357

2,660,000

3,5799,572

102,180

583,640

|.

L6,900,089

84,44048,600

10,392,100

Nine months endingMarch—

1922

$12,579,266127,278,66119,924,809

5,0034,186,9764,805,302

316,38951,770,795

118,639,68817,062,4934,815,1054,282,0302, 857,729

19,417392,501

7,822,4821,361,2124,111,970

775,6154,236,999

14,863,7651,342,271

997,21612,740,3827,210,097

286,4159,419,537

434,104,125

672,2002,721,013

6,724

2,044,82712,127

4,214,470350

2, 003,05740,000

8,864,485179,750

20,759,003

1923

$1,115,46920,789,147

29,7074,798,294

15,644,247543,59248,655

1,326,938107,911,59729,667,9782,196,3864 045,096

491,5445,183

116,0414,239,1251,311,362

8,959496,779

5,895,896

i, 586,669812 926

1,352,3963,271,242

612.819993,299

209,311,346

2,660,00019,00020,000

1,358,445143,828

21,872,6,13

3,680,479899

500,000

350,20013,394,018

75,000

2,862,80056,530

46,993,812

March—

1922

$76,79420,528

216

35, 582234,837183,374

5,476,65617,48764,104

118,93547,686

624,913

35

31,482907141

6,17513,253

6,953,105

1,562,459267,625

319,2ii4,440

136,103 . . .

526,7531,341,761

143,830

4,302,182

Silver

1923

$55,717

312

475,716130,246

2 644,03613,08151,71310,3299,475

1,132 053

416,000

81,0291 474

242

7,5887,330

4,626,376

1 500

203,805 i146,433 !

544203,00323,525

2,651,1921,430,211

33,76737,725

4 731 705

Nine months endingMarch—

1922

$844198,781

5,709,498

1,6697,767

49,6551,354

159,5872,875,4251,271,641

36,371,689457,971380,592

1,271,391193,451

4, 503,02025,3471,5131,702

11,718328,479

14 3901,550

22722,153

165,714

54,027,128

9,431,9873,987,427

6 5431,516,234

29,800327,103649 000

14,303, 8564,316,183

3 168 0006,605,3261,563,310

45,904,769

1923

1987133.27555, 76421,156

11.73298,933

1,180185, 731

6,280,3431,131,019

32,206, 794192,949594.645

1,512,382144,679

6,604,3632.1671 860

16,924

61S.14010 9251,430

12, 730102,1601.54,795

50,158.063

1.6451,500

600

7,378.6901,388', 040

4 4941.393.818

37,62710'. 000

16,672,50611,055.489

6,505,29640.474

44,490,179

DISCOUNT RATES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS IN EFFECT APRIL 30, 1923.


BostonNew YorkPhiladelphia..ClevelandRichmondAtlantaChicagoSt. LouisMinneapolis..Kansas City..DallasSan Francisco

Paper maturing—

Commercial,agricultural,

and live-stockpaper, n. e. s.

Secured byUnited StatesGovernmentobligations.

141

1 Including bankers' acceptances drawn for an agricultural purpose and secured by warehouse receipts, etc


DISCOUNT AND INTEREST RATES.

In the following table are presented actual discount and interest ratesprevailing during the 30-day period ending April 15, 1923, in the variouscities in which the Federal reserve banks and their branches are located.A complete description of the several types of paper for which quotationsare given will be found in the September, 1918, and October, 1918, FEDERALRESERVE BULLETINS.

A comparison of the discount and interest rates for the various centersduring the 30-day period ending April 15 with the 30-day period ending

March 15 shows higher rates for prime commercial paper and bankers' ac-ceptances in most centers and higher rates for collateral loans in some centers.For other types of paper, with few exceptions, the rates remained at practi-cally the same level as during the preceding period. Compared with thecorresponding period ending April 15, 1922, rates were generally lower,although in some centers they were near the levels of the 1922 period anda few centers report higher charges for some commercial paper. Comparedwith both periods under review all interest rates show upward tendencies.

DISCOUNT AND INTEREST RATES PREVAILING IN VARIOUS CITIES DURING THE 30-DAY PERIOD ENDING APRIL 15, 1»23.

District.

No. 1..No. 2..

No. 3..No. 4..

No. 5..

No. 6..

No. 7..

No. 8..

No. 9...

No. 10..

No. 11..

No. 12..

City.

BostonNew York.Buffalo..PhiladelphiaClevelandPittsburghCincinnatiRichmondBaltimoreAtlantaBirminghamJacksonvilleNew OrleansNashvilleChicagoDetroitSt. LouisLouisvilleMemphisLittle RockMinneapolisHelenaKansas CityOmahaDenverOklahoma City..DallasEl PasoHoustonSan Francisco...PortlandSeattleSpokaneSalt Lake City..Los Angeles

Prime commercial paper.

Customers'.

30 to 90days.

. L. C.5 514J 5-5-i5 65 5i5 65 65 65 65 524*65 64 | 6-7

I?5J 66 55 5*7 84* 65 65 6-74*75 5J6 85 65 5J-64 i 7

4 to 6months.

H. L. a5* 5 5}6* 42 5-66 5 66 42 5*7 5 66 5 66 51 66 5 66 5 5J7 41 68 5 6X 42 6-77* 51 6}8 6 76 5 5-5*7 5 66 4 5*6 5 66 6 67 6 66 5 5*8 7 86 41 67 5 68 5 6-78 51 76 5" 5*10 8 87 5 66 5 5*-6

5 76 75 61 8 5

r61

Open market.

30 to 90days.

4 to 6months.

51 5 56 5 5J514 5*

51 5 56 51 651 5 51

Interbankloans.

H. L. C.5 5 56 4J 5-68 5 66 5 5}

6 5 5-516 5 51

5 51

[4*424J 42-0

5} 5

5 55

5 5 5 5} 41 542 41 41 | 42 41 4*5', 5 5 I 5} 5 55} 5 5 51 5 5

5*4*55 42 56 5 55 4* 4J-55*42 55*4*56 4* 516 5 5*5*4 4*

4154} 42

5} 42 5 5J 42 5

5*4*5515 56 5 55 4* 4}-55* 42 55*4*56 41 66 5 5110 8 8

SI 4}

5 41 4J 5 4* 5J

6 5 5-51615 516 5 516 42 5*6 6 66 6 66 5* 5*8 7 87 5 67 5 68 6 6-78 6 67 425*9 6 85 4*4*6 5 5*7 6 6

7 6 77 6 68 5 6

Bankers' acceptances,60 to 90 days.

Indorsed.

H. L. C.4 4 45 4 4-4J

5 41

5 5 5

5 4 4-5

4 | 4* 4 |

4*4 414* 4J 4i

Unin-dorsed.

H. L. C.li 4 44 | 4 4i4} 4 4}5 4}414;J

414J

5 4 4-5

5 4*4 |

41 4 4J

4J4

45 3 | 4}

Collateral loans—stock exchange.

Demand.

H. L. a5*5 516 4 4*-67 5 66 4* 57 5 66 5 66 5 5*-66 5 6

5*6 57 5

"7 5 6-7

6 5 5*6 5 66* 5 5*6 5 6

7 641518 85 65 65 66 85 6*8 85 65 5*-64 * 7 ^

8 6 61-78 7 77 5 61

3 months.

H. L. C.6 5* 526 5 5-66 5 66 5 5*7 5 66 5 65 5*51-66 5 66 5 5*7 5-68 6 68 6 7-87 51 68 6 76 5 5*7 5 66* 5 5*6 5 66 6 68 6 66* 5 5*8 7 88 5 67*5 68 5 610 6 88 5 6*10 8 87 5 66 5 67 6 6

8 6 78 7 78 5 61

3 toemonths.

H. L. C.6 5* 526 5 5-66 5 66 5 517 5 66 5 66 6 66 5 66 5 517 5 68 6 68 6 7-87 52 618 6 76 5 517 5 66* 5 516 5* 66 6 68 6 66* 5 5*8 7 88 5 67* 5 68 5 610 6 88 5 710 8 87 6 6

7 6 6

6 77 75 61

Cattleloans.

H. L. C.

6 5

7*2

8 7 76* 6 618 7* 87 6 67* 51 618 6 6-7

10 6 88 7 71

10 8 87 6 76 6 67 6 6*

7 87 76 7

Secured bywarehousereceipts.

H. L. a

* ?•6 5 66 5 528 6 68 6 78 6 7-76J 52 68 6 76 5* 5*-67 6 66 5 66 6 66 6 68 6 76 4* 58 8 87 51 6715*6*8 6 6-710 6 8

5 6*10 8 87 6 76* 6 68 6 7

Ordinaryloans to

customerssecured by

Libertybonds.

8 6* 88 6 7

10 6 6i

H, L. C.51 51 515 |4 i56 5 66 4* 56 6 66 6 6 x

6 5 5-546 4* 6 "6 5 5*6 41 68 6 68 5 7-86* 5* 67 6 66 4* 5-516 5 66 42 516 5 66 6 67 6 66887*8

108

1056

5855*554184*5

5*866*68618551-61

8 5* 7

8 6 78 6 78 5*fl|

Rates for demand paper secured by prime bankers' acceptances—high, 51; low, 4: customary, 4*-51.



FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES.

[General Index tor April, 1923 (preliminary), 67; for March, 1923, 67; for April, 1922, 72. Noon buying rates for cable transfers in New York aspublished by Treasury. In cents per unit of foreign currency.)

COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN COMPUTATION OF INDEX.

Denmark

Italy

NorwaySpainSweden

BrazilChile

IndiaJapan

Bulgaria

Finland

Greece

Poland

Yugoslavia

Cuba

China . .HongkongStraits Settlements

Monetary unit.

Krone

PoundLiraFlorinKronePesetaKrona

Dollar

Peso (gold)Milreis

RupeeY e n . . . . . . . . :

KroneLev

Markka

Polish mark

Dinar

Pesodo

do . . .

DollarSingapore dollar

i Based on average.

London (converted at avNew York

Par ofexchange.

19.3026.8019 30

486.6519.3040.2026.8019.3026.8019.30

100.00

96.4832.44

219.538 66.85

48.6649.85

Low.

April.

6.590018.61006.4900

463.38004.9100

39.060017.260015.260026.560018.0700

97.6406

82.670010.170012.1300

73.480031.230048.4800

March.

5.210019.08006.0300

467.69004.7600

39.360018.060015.360026.560018.4400

97.4328

83.860010.790012.2200

73.980031.350048.3000

High.

April.

5.890019.15006.7900

467.86005.0200

39.370018.100015.360026.770018.4800

98.2321

83.770010.860012.7800

76.380031.420049.0300

OTHER COUNTRIES.

20.2619.30

19.3023.8219.3020.26

108 0519.3019.30

100.0049.85

103.42

* 48.11* 47.77

56.78

0.0014.7443

2.96782.7189.0031

1.1478.0168.0020

4.3700.4745

1.0010

99.968848.2969

82.7400

53.080054.110051.5000

0.0014.6100

2.96482.7111.0044

1.0522.0203.0022

4.1600.4728

1.0025

99.950048.5833

84.1400

53.310054.000054.6700

0.0014.8443

2.98652.7806.0048

1.1894.0237.0026

4.9500.4858

1.0343

100.043848.6250

84.8000

55.230056.150054.9200

SILVER.

[Average price per fine ounce.]

March.

5.940019.31006.7400

470.83005.0200

39.590018.410015.610026.630018.7600

98.4813

84.700011.370012.9800

76.540031.820048.6100

0.0014.8086

2.97952.7933.0048

1.1711.0346.0026

4.8900.4919

1.1288

100.015649.0781

85.1200

55.440056.300055.0800

Average.

April.

5.756018.91606.6668

465.54684.9596

39.178817.842015.322026.644418.2424

98.0201

83.148410.636412.3104

74.496431.346048.6936

0.0014.7738

2.97812.7541.0041

1.1694.0217.0023

4.6032.4789

1.0173

99.999848.4463

83.7348

53.819254.818054.7328

March.

5.480019.19706.3237

469.56934.8550

39.489318.157815.465226.600018.5896

98.0570

84.145211.087412.6725

75.530031.565948.4559

0.0014.6543

2.96932.7553.0047

1.0962.0289.0024

4.3430.4842

1.0417

99.985848.8605

84.5496

54.533355.380454. 8133

81913 average.

i

Index (per cent ofpar).1

April.

29.8270.5834.5495.6625.7097.4666.5779.3999.4294.52

98.02

86.1832.7963.03

111. 4464.4297.68

0.014.01

14.27.02

6.06.11

4.262.485.27

100.0097.18

80.97

111.87114.7596.39

Vpril.

$0.67830.67270

March.

28.3971.6732.7796.4925.1698.2367.7580.1399.2596.32

98.06

87.2234.1864.89

112.9864.8797.20

0.013.39

14.28.02

5.68.14

4.022.515.40

99.9998.02

81.75

113.35115.9396.54

March.

JO.68360.67963



FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR PRINCIPAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

A summary of banking and financial conditions abroad is presented statistically in theaccompanying tables.

ENGLAND.[Amounts in millions of pounds sterling.]

Averageof end ofmonthfigures:

1913192019211922

1922, end of—MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1923, end of—JanuaryFebruan"March

Note a c c o u n t s andBank of England de-posits.

38146157156

157157157157154154154154151154

154155155

29 |103 i108103 !

327

57147136130

103 i 300 151102 i 303 134103 ! 29S ! 130ia3 j 295104 j 296

293289287288301

101 280102 279102 j 286

121131133

Nine London clearingbanks.*

1,0971,0651,0611,0701,0561,0201,0071,0331,0311,030

3,4523,3053,3072,917•i,2362,8852,6903,1242,9892,769

1 Held by the Bank of England and by the Treasury as note reserve.2 Less notes in currency notes account.»Average weekly figures.

FRANCE.

[Amounts in millions of francs.]

• Statist.6 Bankers Magazine.• Excluding Germany.

Bank of France.

Average of end of monthfigures:

1913192019211922


1923, end of—JanuaryFebruaryMarch

f April

Silverreserve.

Waradvances

to the :Govern- iment.

253274285

282283284285285286287288289

290291292292

26,00025,30023,042

21,50022,10023,10023,30023,00023,90024,00023,60022,90023,600

23,10023,20023,10022,500

Notecircu-lation.

5,56538,06637,40436,177

35,52835,78735,98236,03936,05036,38536,60336,69136,11136,359

36,78037,05537,1SS36,548

Totaldeposits.

Bonsde la

DefenseNation-

8303,5272,9272,307

2,2362,4122,303 I2,448 '2,4322,1702,1992,1702,1842,309

2,2082,2792,06fi2,116

60,83961,52862,89063,80962,52562,93663,404

I

Price of3 per

cent per-petualrente.

86.77 I57.34 i56.56 j58.48 |

56.7057.6057.7057.9558.256a 1061.1058.2559.0059.02

58.8058.65

Averagedaily

clearingsof theParis

banks.

Savingsbanks,

excess of

59554550525

455411454474502.512484556783630

726792755

(+)orwith-

drawals

-65+48+67+53

+49+58+55+53+62+66+58+17+43+33

+44+85

New stock andbond issues.

Value.Averagerate ofreturn.

7021,100

574

377459644947485151636421179

1,453

6.706.41

6.576.456.376.306.026326.366.416.596.22

1 Not including gold held abroad.


MAY, 1923. FEDERAL KESEB.VE BULLETIN. 647

ITALY.

(Amounts in millions of lire.]

Banks of issue.

Reserve.

Gold.

Average of end of month figures:1913»192019211922

1921, end of—NovemberDecember

1922, end of—JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

1923, end of—JanuaryFebruary

375043074120

089092

109100118122104100 i125 '125125136141128

126127

Total.

1,6612,0882,0201,998

1,9481,999

1,9981,9711,9561,9841,9631,9761,9912,0242,0242,0392,0342,042

2,0211,994

Loansanddis-

counts.

8576,3357,5869,466

7,88810,088

10,22510,0959,899

10,1819,3919,5739,1189,142

9,0828,6809,345

8,5528,572

Notecirculation.

For ac-count

ofcom-

merce.

2,2847,0359,3049,734

9,43510,304

10,1839,6319,5899,3609,2599,6159,9479,6959,9249,7829,8929,935

9,3899.117

Forac-

countof theState.

Totalde-

posits.

, 31810,581 i 2,4749,064 ! 2,4758,214 ! 2,759

8,4858,505

8,5708,626S,5238,3508,0618,0498,0508.0508i 0668,0758,0748,076

2,3883,108

3,0822,7942,8902,6632,7512,9352,6812,7792,6612,6382,6342,602

8,057 2,6108,036 2,675

Leading private banks.'

Cash.

1291,3081,200

Loansanddis-

countsinclud-

ingtreas-ury

bills.

1,1741,997

1,4261,081965908841845861763769781781

1,09310,59410,677

Duefromcorre-spond-ents.

9145,9455,575

8,012 |

7,782 !8,1698,2508,5728,5008,8008,846

8,706

8*797

3,9813,785

3,5523,2753,1573,1803,2323,1803,2723,2863,4603,5683,554

Par-ticipa-tions.

55446465

293316

317315316317316318337337337339

Totalde-

posits.

Short-termtreas-ury

bills.

Indexnum-

bers ofsecurityprices.'

1,674 j.15,810 13,20016,001

12,77812,502

11,61611,48211,40311,70811,69811,86311,89611,88311,89711,96012,045

21,926

24,442

23,862

25,574

87.12

83.9980.13

96.6194.1088.8288.4393.1394.8395.19

103.01105.68109.90111.94112.91

1 Includes Banca Commerciale Italiana, Credito Italiano, Banco di Roma, and until November, 1921, Banca Italians di Sconto.• Figures for 1921 based on quotations of Dec. 31,1920-100; those for 1922 on quotations of Dec. 31,1921-100.' End of December figures.

GERMANY.

[Amounts in millions of marks.]

Reichsbank.

Average of end of monthfigures:

1913192019211922


1923 end of—JanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

Gold • Note cir-reserve. : culation.

1 ,068 • 1 96X1,092 53,9641,056 80,9521,002 ' 339,677

9971,0011,0031,0041,0051,0051,0051,0051,0051,007

Discounts.

Total ideposits. Treasury Conimer-

: bills. cial bills.

17,702 I 47,98020,213 j 83,133

108,633 338,147 : 72,211

130,671. 140,420

151,949169,212189,795 ,238,147 !316,870 '

1 469,457754,086

'1,280,095

33,358 |31,61633,12837 17439,97656,124

110,012140,779240,969530,526

146,531155,618167,794186,126207,858249.76C.349,770477,201672,222

,184,464

2,1522,4033,3774,7528,122

21,70450,234

101,155246,949422,235

1,005 ' 1,984.496 762,264 1,609,081 697,2161,005 13,512,788 1,582,981 2,947,364 1,829,3411,005 5,517,920 12,272,084 4,552,012 12,372,102

Totalclear-ings.

6,136 j

Darlehns-kassen-scheine

in circu-lation.

57;898 I 13,14589,297 8,861

530,647 11,217

170,357175,977179,370191,414243,493374,856473,715789,341

1,463,7662,078,969

3,826,2067,444.3237,257,658

8,7019,1839,44010,37412,23413,38313,99514,00913,80913,450

I

Treasurybills out-standing.

'220

Value ofnew stock

andbond

Index of securityprices.'

placedon Ger-

manmarket.

192,832475,835

271,935280,935289,246311,600307,810331,000451,000614,000839,000

1,495,000

13,395 2,082,00012,625 3,588,00012,600 6,601,000

2,655

6,4163,9924,1522,7622,3302,4687,9377,187

15,223

25stocks.

Per cent.

121

85

169

1,334

1,3784,6883,664

10 do-mesticbonds.

Per cent.

105

"ioe

"ios312

322726725

> Recalculated by the Frankfurter Zeitung, using as base (100) prices for January, 1922, Instead of for January, 1921, and eliminating the fivebonds in foreign currencies. Figures aro as of beginning of month.


648 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. M A T , 1923.

SWEDEN.

[Amounts in millions of kronor.)

Averages of end of month figures:1913'192019211922

1922, end of—FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


• End of December figures.

Gold coinand

bullion.

102269280274

274274274274274274274274274274274

274274274

Average of end of month figures:19211922

1922, end of—FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember


Goldcoin andbuUion.1

Note cir-culation.

235733661579

579626582567585551559605569575584

520538587

ink.

Totaldeposits.

108226193269

346312301293247243213180178191389

321270265

Clearings.

5853,5962,7152,109

2,1222,3541,9362,1622,1182,0151,8031,9021,9951,9792,588

1,455

Joint-stock banks.

Loans anddiscounts.

2,2876,0085,9485,317

5,5725,4745,4305,3785,3885,2685,2215,1815,1495,0994,984

4,8884,903

Bills dis-counted

withEiksbank.

139476389340

4294474043803203072932S8206252331

214175222

Value of

issuesregistered

duringmonth.

24613129

1823155063352214155912

numberof stockprices.

258176121103

9489

100115113113110103989096

93

Index

of foreignexchangevalue ofkrona.

112.9121.8128.4

129.2128.3126.6124.8125.6127.0128.8130.5131.7132.2129.9

129 ft

CANADA.

[Amounts in millions of dollars]

Chartered banks.

d

7275

7070707070707071879293

757268

Currentloans anddiscounts.

1,4031,272

1,2991,3011,3141,2851,2661,2481,2481,250l,27ti1,2551,230

1,1971,2061,220

Money atcall and

shortnotice.

282280

273267278288274272277279301303284

281270292

Public andrailway

securities •

369332

352354343313319323331322310317341

356377385

Note cir-ir-n.

195166

164163165156166152158177179170176

153157173

Individualdeposits—demand

and time.

2,1252,009

1,9871,9812,0002,0592,0532,0161,9791,9852,0202,0362,061

1,9631,9972,008

Goldreserveagainst

Dominionnotes.

8590

81818183858789919396

129

132133128

Dominionnote cir-culation.

Bankclearings.'

272240

247241242222233231229235240251257

241247234

] .4541,353

.1491,349.193

L.4971.3231.2781.1721.2531.4971.6181.555

1,5071.0671.199

1 Includes gold in central gold reserve but not gold held abroad. 8 Total for month.



ARGENTINA.

[Amounts in millions of pesos.]

Banco de la Nacidn.

End of—1913191919201921

1922, end of-February..MarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober...November,December.

1923, end of—January...February.

Cash.

Gold. Paper.

Commercial banks.*

Cash.

383383393386395399407402405396340

359363

Gold. Paper.

435771.

1,0811,087

994981999

1,0161,0601,0131,0411,0481,0281,0531,025

1,015993

Dis-counts

andadvances(paper).

1,5412,1132,5052,543

2,5652,5122,4892,4612,4612,4732,4912,5142,5492,5572,664

2,6512,667

Totaldeposits(paper).

1,4643,0103,5303,375

3,3623,3133,3043,2783,3263,3083 3563,3793,3543,3943,456

3,4513,464

Caja de Conversion.

Goldreserve.

263>399

470470

470470470470470470470470470470470

470470

Note cir-culation(paper).

8231,1771,3631,363

1,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,3631,363

1,3631,363

Clearingsin

BuenosAires

(paper).

1,4712,8053,6123,482

2,5933,298

"3," 0162,7162,8142 5702,7252,8272,8272,954

i Includes Banco de la Naci<5n.' Figures for 1919 include 79,000,000 pesos, and for succeeding years 4,000,000 pesos, held in foreign legations.

Average of end of month figures:191319211922

1922, end of—FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJuly.

JAPAN.

[Amounts in millions of yen]

Bank of Japan.

1,2231,2891,2631,2031,2231,220

Augus t ! 1,1321/1,068

SeptemberOctoberNovember ; 1,December 1,064

1923, end of—January..FebruaryMarch

1,0621,0801,057 I

172248267178179133241134160183375

180157241

26586150988290

115142141205

159140109

,246,289,228,203,344

224,280,237.236

1,2411,590

1,3081,2611,238

297409

328422520469377427488382437445333

38039S463

Pri-vate

depos-its in

Japan.

75036

2729303343353029334066

343129

Cashon

hand.

J29

118141130120122127115145126126169

113117

Tokyo banks.

r p

loans.

:m, 932961

, 950,963,9S(),973998

,971

,921,92K,929

2 Oil

2 0022.051

Totaldepos-

its.

1 789

1,751,719,7(11,74S,798,802,783,822,812,828

1,869

1 8601.894

Total

Ings.'

:s(>4a, 5722 834

2,4383,0!)!)2,80!)S, 1433, 1782,7062,5822,7502,6972,9713,329

2,2462,592

Aver-agedis-

countrate.

8 389.009.31

9.029.0!)9.319.429. 459.389.429.389.389.459.34

Capitalissues

inJapan.

32188124

20016321711012110193

15098

10056

137

Indexof se-

curityprices.'

194

18818216016817C16516515216C181

' Includes gold credits abroad, gold coin and bullion in Japan. 2 Tokyo market.


650 FEDERAL BESEEVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

CONDITION OF FOREIGN BANKS OF ISSUE.AUSTRIAN DEPARTMENT OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGAKIAN

BANK.

[F'rom weekly statements of the Austro-Hungarian Bank.]

[In thousands of kronen.]

ASSETS.

Gold coin and bullionSilver and subsidiary coinBills of exchange and foreign

notesForeign credits and gold deposits

of the Government to be madeavailable when countersignedby the delegation of the Leagueof Nations

Certificates of the war loan banks.Discounted bills, warehouse cer-

tificates, and other securities...Advances against collateralSecuritiesAustrian treasury certificatesDue from Austrian foreign ex-

change officeDue from liquidators of the

Austro-Hungarian BankSundry assets :

Total.

LIABILITIES.

Notes in circulationScrip payable on demandDeposits and other demand lia-

bilitiesDue to liquidators of the Austro-

Hungarian BankDeposits of the Austrian Govern-

mentSundry liabilities

Total.

Dec. 31,1920.

53

113,831

23,021,608768,996

110

2,697,157

7,684,0641,288,956

35,583,529

Dec. 31,1921.

9,930

241,828

29,373,661666,614

927151,773,095

7,722,52317,156,276

206,944,946

30,645,658 174,114,7476,951,279

3,780,416 19,503,161

j 1,005,567

1,157,455

35,583,529

5,370,192

206,941,946

Dec. 31,1922.

303

528,254,403106,600

781,767,394494,788

4,0172,558,379,849

7,687,7261,288,355,732

5,165,050,864

4,080,177,238369,493

327,991,900

547,564

528,254,403227,710,206

5,165,050,861

HUNGARIAN OFFICE OF NOTE ISSUE.

I From weekly statements of the Hungarian Office of Note Issue.]


Gold coin and bullion, and billsof exchange on countries withhigh valuta currencies

Silver and subsidiary coinsNotes of the Hungarian office of

note issueNotes of the Austro-Hungarian

bank, and Hungarian treasurycertificates

Dec. 31,1920.1

200

967,608

7,274,385

Dec. 31,1921.

12,245597

17,772,665

Dec. 31,1922.

15,559595

18,263,979

' Keport of the Himgarian Department of the Austro-Hungarian bank.

HUNGARIAN OFFICE OF NOTE ISSUE -Continued.


ASSETS—continued.

Notes of the postal savings bank.Counterfeit notes of one and two

kronenLoans and discountsAdvances against collateralAdvances to treasury (laws of

1921-1922)SecuritiesSundry assets

Total.

1,177,251

5,6951,381,887 I 4,903,628

193,501 i 1,158,398

900,00034

3,186,40022

152,119

17,969,702 29,116,913

Dec. 31,1922.

1,369,929

16,59531,051,3582,016,105

16,500,0001,318

24,772,147

94,007,585

LIABILITIES.

Notes of the Austro-Hungarianbank in circulation 14,307,81

State notes in circulation j 25,174,941Cash vouchers ! jDeposits and other demand lia- j

bilities ! 3,227,566 2,239,914Sundry liabilities j 434,327 1,702,058

Total I 17,969,702 I 29,116,913

75,886,98722,500

4,760,74113,337,357

94,007,585

BANKING OFFICE OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK MINISTRY OFFINANCE.

[From weekly statements of the ministry of finance.]

|In thousands of Czechoslovak crowns.]

Gold and silver holdingsForeign credits and foreign cur-

rencyDiscounted billsDiscounted securitiesAdvances on collateralDuefromliquidatorsof the Austro-

Hungarian Bank:Austro-Hungarian bank notesChecks and scrip

Sundry assets

Total.

LIABILITIES.

Net liability on Austro-Hunga-rian notes

State notes in circulationDemand depositsShort-term cash vouchers of the

banking officeOther liabilities

Total.

Dec. 31,1920.

Dec. 31,1921.

Dec. 31,1922.

402,819 ; 552,289

455,596 | 532,6322,015,526 i 1,892,968

| 618,3502,322,714 1,714,534

7,437,7002,084,418

339,408

15,058,181

1,948,43611,288,5121,429,623

8,012,2192,084,4191,292,142

16,699,553

1,056,87912,129,5731,743,922

226,717 350,503164,893 i 1,418,676

15,058,181 16,699,553

817,543

657,711541,398173,958

1,496,925

8,012,2972,084,419

14,133,100

390,57910,064,0492,774,048

53,888850,536

14,133,100



NATIONAL BANK OF THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS, AND SLOVENES.i

[From annual reports of the National Bank of Serbia and weekly statements of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.]

[In thousands of dinars.]

J une 30,i 1914.

Gold 69,997Silver ! 8,166

Total metallic reserveForeign moneyForeign creditsBills discounted IAdvances against securities !Advances to the Government: ;

Currency exchange account i\Other advances j ;

Debtors in current accountState domains held as security for notes :

issued in exchange for Austrian crown jnotes I.

Sundry assets {

78,16398

4,3009,3342,102

57,93425,931

Dec. 31,1SI14.

57,1702,201

59,371120

133,9116,1692,727

170,27726,245

3,442

Total | 181,304

3,265

402,085

LIABILITIES.

Capital paid inSurplusNotes in actual circulationDeposits in current accountDue to Government—currency exchange

account as per contraOther Government depositsState domain account as per contraSundry liabilities

Total.

MEMORANDUM.

Surety accountOrdinary safe depositsBalances on current accounts..Securities deposit account

10,000705

91,201

10,000705

167,2612,933

73,237 I 217,795

3,391

181,304 402,085

35516,73848, 4762,167

36019,50766,567

1,794

Dec. 31,1915.

64,1482,985

67,133108

193, 9039,0143.393

250,98120, 530

3,250

548,312

10,000705

297,7517,934

227,598

4,324

548,312

36035,12248,4961,815

Dec. 31, Dec. 31,1916.

63,8379,917

73,7541,952

204,7619,7253,484

246, 88422,107

1917.

63,78115, 542

79,323160

208,49812,0253,518

248, 576

23,771

Dec. 31,1918.

63,76015,560

3,249

565,916

5,097

580,968

10,000705

298,99310,546

239,900

5,772

565, 916

10,000705

294,89311,149

256,238

7,983

360 36040,681 37,39648,580 48,8451,961 2,837

79,320310

217,66411,1813,575

276,07125,788

0,066

619, 975

10,000705

340,5696,354

Dec. 31,1919.

63,38415,536

78, 9203, 563

351, 99611,5534,382

601,97628,674

79,7152,089

349, 559242,70224,197

378, 965\2, 904,327

6,337

1,087,401

10,000705

664,00715,414

252,583 387,811

9,764 9,464

619,975 ;1,087,401

360 I 35538,842 ! 28,01050,742 i 53,3533,434 ! 6,376

Dec. 31, ; Dec. 31,1920. 1921.

64,17415,541

74,18916,733

90,9222,432

307,999557,74540,198

334,2734,083,941

Dec. 31,1922.

64,01316,546

80,5591,154

267,587421,215

99, 553

312,1194,205,432

2,138,3774,962

6,124,893

10,302815

3,329,264220,638

378, 96536,736

2,138,3779,795

6,124,893

2,138,377 ! 2,138,377

7, 555,887 8,525.996

13,0841,837

H, 688,444235,364

334,273136,013

2,138,3778,495

18,2114,930

2 5,039,883252,669

312,119715,059

2,138,37744,748

7, 555,887

968,746

8, 525,995

i On February 1, 1920, the new National Bank'of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes succeeded the Privileged National Bank of thoKingdom of Serbia, which had been in existence from June 1, 1884, to January 31, 1920.

4 Including notes held by the bank among its assets.


652 FEDERAL EESEEVE BULLETIN. MAT, 1923.

NATIONAL BANK OF RUMANIA.

[From annual reports and weekly statements of the National Bank of Rumania.]

[In thousands of lei.]

Gold in vaultSilver and subsidiary coin

Total metallic reserveNotes of the Banque G&ie'rale Roumaine.G old deposits in foreign countriesForeign exchange and Treasury gold cer-

tificatesLoans and discountsLoans secured by Government obligations.Loans against other collateralLoans to agricultural and industrial loan

banksAdvances to the Government:

Noninterest bearing (1901)For general expenses (1914-1921)For redemption of foreign currency

(1920-21)All other securities ,Debits in current accountBank premises, furniture, and equipment.Sundry assets

Total.

LIABILITIES.

Capital paid inSurplusSpecial reservesBank notes in circulationCurrent account and demand deposits...Sundry liabilities

Total.

Dec. 31,1913.

151,5111,302

152,813

56,534207,74648,07817,385

12,802

35,60313,5417,54411,400

563,446

12,00036,7948,094

437,18231,54737,829

563,446

Dec. 31,1914.

153,957735

154,692

100

02,941246,13059,38222,345

11,274109,111

34,65534,5777,81327,690

770,710

12,00039,4038,474

578,24451,05681,533

770,710

Dec. 31,1915.

187,897279

188,176

33,073

80,980198,44137,987IS, 875

28,951

9,687305,023

43,72420,2347,86227,988

991,001

12,00042,04510,2515

762,21091,95572,535

991,001

Dec. 31,1916.

1121S8

300

'493*156'

80,980127,65156,97423,055

12,839

9,687495,830

50,191397,5107,83730,967

Dec. 31,1917.

2165

167

493,730

196,258117,99446,41947,496

9,461

8,0431,051,919

52,189426,5327,83720,065

1,786,977 12,478,110

12,00045,17512,002

1,451,7131 221,833

44,254

12,00048,81913,867

1,961,323182,108259,993

Dec. 31,1918.

6193

199122,984493,730

348,79670,52436,29349,290

4,768

8,0431,596,102

52,335431,0557,78092,155

3,314,054

12,00052,49116,682

2,489,146308,483435,252

1,786,977 2,478,110 3,314,054

Dec. 31,1919.

1,347202

1,54961,727493,755

915,763158,81258,971689,717

25,370

8,0433,792,765

52,45110,1757,938

120,832

6,397,868

12,00056,20825,056

4,215,032895,983

1,193,5S9

i,397,S6S

Dec. 31,1920.

1,704352

2,05671,250493,755

2,704,763702,483130,297744,343

26,806

8,0434,092,602

4,098,29758,7529,5738,241

990,370

14,141,631

12,00060,72218,854

9,485,558824,284

3,740,213

14,141,631

Dec. 31,1921.

Dec. 31,1922.

1,704 39,300312 j 834

2,016

493,755

4,086,1311,829,630172,627724,979

58,112

8,0435,281,379

7,074,34959,08925,58615,533285,167

20,116,396

12,00066,38936,772

13,722,2311,825,5204,453,484

20,116,396

40,134

493,755

4,636,9323,684,976229,06924,185

97,956

8,0435,282,136

7,024,95248,705171,51154,584457,181

22,254,119

12,00068,06420,374

15,126,4722,078,1344,949,075

22,254,119

1 Includes 30,000,000 lei due to the agricultural and industrial loan banks.


MAT, 1923. FEDEBAL BESEBVE BULLETIN. 653

NATIONAL BANK OF BULGARIA.

[Frotn annual reports and monthly statements of the National Bank of Bulgaria.)

[In thousands of leva.]

ASSETS.GoldSilver

Total metallic reserveForeign bank notesDue from foreign correspondentsForeign bills of exchange

Debtors in current accountAdvances to the Treasury in current ac-

countLong and short term advances against

collateralPublic debt administration

Participations.Exporters' liabilities.. .

Sundry assetsTotal

LIABILITIES.

Surplus and special reservesSpecial fundsNotes in circulation.Creditors in current accountTime deposits..Export license account as per contraDue to Government on account of ex-

porters' foreign exchange bills as percontra..

Dec. 31,1913.

55,33523,41678,751

12,1611,590

41,08864,160

142,900

70,089

Dec. 31,1914.

55,09428,54983,643

2,91422,69740,09775,867

154,823

78.514

m

188,742134,41750,468

226,615136,87855,210

Dec. 31,1915.

61,40922,46283,871

194,37258,78535,436U,741

146,t>38

80,425

Dec. 31,1916.

68,17317,204_

85,377

41,044650,78728,61640,042

260,776

Dec. 31,1917.

62,8?516,876

79,731

42,0861,197,693

24,12377,793.

62T. 331

81,309 ! 7fi,573

I

369,829187,09559,225

Balance due on account of mortgage loan,1909. .

Public debt account

833,910206,69366,718

Sundry liabilities j 1Total.. . i

i

1,492,768408,43885,825

Dee. 31,1918.

64,02019,43583,455

95,7491,090,441

20,708527,481

881,339

72,891

2,298,619623,174101,158

Dec. 31,1919.

36,97817,42954,30723,562

1,003,132362,277

16,563484,840

1,742,194

71,309

8,4643,162

221,3852,063

85,4224,078,780

100,00055,0003,280

2,858,486775,873120,856

26,590326

138,3694,078,780

Dec. 31,1920.

37,07516,91053,98514,023

1,307,377273,16714,540

419,582

2,891,748

73,5161,8628,3113,512

42,1402,127

51,0765,156,966

100,00063,205

226,9133,354,1391,072,723

152,457

26,150

* 161,379

Dec. 31,1921.

38,00620,86658,8722,435

986,726121,32433,651

554,403

3,667,507

115,146

8,4483,411

14,881124,28249,8022,310

42,9855,786,183

100,00070,000

237,8243,615,440

969,735218,118

14,881

124,282

25,710106,101304,093

5,156,966 : 5,786,183

Dec. 31,1922.

38,42018,41256,8321,323

795,8212,142

211,542679,429

3,770,335

200,969297,91318,94214,9879,394

254,05521

4,872122,893

6,441,470

200,00040,000

292,0603,885,9901,248,865

209,5329,394

254,056

25,240

276,3336,441,470

BANK OF FINLAND.

[From annual reports and weekly statements of the Bank of Finland.)

[In thousands of Finnish marks.)

Dec. 31,1914.

Gold..Silver.

Total metallic reserveDue from foreign correspondentsForeign bank notes and couponsDomestic billsForeign billsLoans against mortgages and other collateral..Foreign securitiesShort term advances to the GovernmentOther advances to the GovernmentBank premises and furnitureSundry assets

42,6741,666

44 34085,2422,646

00,4205,196

25,78722,471

Dec. 31,1915.

42,6411,301

Dec. 30,1916.

42,051942

43 942253,648

3,12151,6974,6438,840

65,851

Total.LIABILITIES.

Capital paid inSurplusUndistributed profitsNotes in circulationGovernment depositsCurrent account depositsBank ordersDue to foreign correspondents.Sundry liabilities

Total.

3,374 3,64339,805 41,856

289,281 I 477,241

25,000 i71,80016,134 I

141,724 !8,721 i

14,695 I983 !

8,063 :2,161 !

25,00062,5864,000

231,6149,074

136,6893,3541,8693,055

43,593275,107

2,64234,1712,1215,583

256,884

3,55443,846

667,501

25,00062,4988,198

421,2849,252

116,0761,203

16,0447,946

289,281 477,241 | 667,501I

Dec. 31,1917.

Dec. 31,1918.

42,629 42,661814 536

43,443464,2502,02134,807

3575,838

434,423

3,46647,234

1,035,839

4,715

764,48510,005

237,8403,3517,9287,515

43,197355,064

16445,143

71223,322406,774

427,0693,37851,825

1,356,648

4,715

1,156,19660,446108,6156,43011,278

1,035,839 I 1,356,648

Dec. 31,1919.

42,628536

43,16474,554

358158,63281,73531,667171,914823,406J3,3789,122

1,397,930

25,00071,89225,939

1,123,9436,078

117,0316,6588,30813,081

Dec. 31,1920.

42,625537

43,162180,266

846219,67451,88833,749166,430420,965476,0925,87620,736

1,619,584

100,000123,583

1,341,04226,06553,1396,7355,81014,822

1,397,930 1,619,584

Dec. 31,1921.

42,625547

43,172215,711

774627,4458,347

28,4359,238

303,919525,4646,00051,696

Dec. 30,1922.

43,373547

1,820,201

100,00056,00069,984

1,356,108128,56357,8552,83112,61036,250

1,820,201

43,»20707,998

895590,73974,92351,0216,93171,712511,39212,00053,368

2,124,8

100,00050,00039,505

1,420,920239,311110,5515,4U35,311123,890

2,124,899

1 Including an "unmovabls" reserve of 5,874,000 marks,


INDEX.

Acceptances: PageHeld by Federal reserve banks 629Purchased by Federal reserve banks 627

Agricultural credit in Great Britain 579Agricultural movements, index of 618Argentina, financial statistics 649Australia:

Retail food prices .• 608•Wholesale prices 601, 607

Austria:Condition of Austro-Hungarian Bank 650Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608

Bank debits 637-640Bank deposits, velocity of 562-566Belgium:

Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600, 603

Brazil:Foreign trade 613Government control of banking and foreign ex-

change in 592-595Building statistics 554, 622Bulgaria:

Condition of National Bank of Bulgaria 653Retail food prices 008Wholesale prices 600

Burgess, W. R., article by, on velocity of bank de-posits '. 562

Business and financial conditions:Abroad 577-595, G46-649

Trend of, statistical summary 578United States 545-557

Expansion of 539Canada:

Cost of living 608Financial statistics 648Foreign trade 613Index of industrial activity 611Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 596, 599, 601, 606

Charters issued to national banks 558Check clearing and collection:

Gold settlement fund transactions 642Number of banks on par 1 ist 641Operations of system during April 64J

China, wholesale prices i n . . . 601Clearing-house bank debits , 637-640Commercial failures 557,615Condition statement's:

Federal reserve banks 630-632Foreign banks of issue.,.. . , , . 650-653Member banks in leading cities- 634-636State banks in Missouri on June 30 and Dec.

29, 1922 576Cost, of living:

Index of, foreign countries 608Italy 586

Cotton fabrics, production and shipments 616Cotton financing, methods of 566-576Credit, agricultural, in Great Britain 579Credit and currency requirements and the reserve

banks 539Currency in circulation 540, 642Czechoslovakia:

Condition of bank of issue 650Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600

Debits to individual account 637-640Denmark:

Foreign trade 613Wholesale prices 600, 603

Department-store sales and stocks 541,625Deposits:

Bank, velocity of 562-566Government, in member banks, exempt from

reserve requirements of section 19 of Federalreserve act 559

Savings, of commercial banks 614Directors of Federal reserve banks, minutes of con-

ference of, 1920 544Discount and open-market operations of Federal re-

serve banks:Acceptances held 629Acceptances purchased 627Bills discounted 626Bills held 628Earning assets held 628Number of banks discounting 626Rates of earnings 628Volume of 626

Discount rates:Federal reserve banks 643Prevailing in various centers 644

Dutch East Indies, wholesale prices in 601, 607Employment, United States 556

Report of conference on unemployment 543,544England:

Agricultural credit in 579Cost of living 608Financial statistics 646Foreign trade 612Index of industrial activity 609Wholesale prices 596, 598, 601, 606

Failures, commercial 557, 615Federal intermediate credit banks opened for busi-

ness 544Federal reserve banks:

Condition of 630-632Discount and open-market operations 626-629

Federal reserve note account 633Fiduciary powers:

Granted to national banks 561Pennsylvania Supreme Court on exercise of,

by national banks 560Financing of cotton 566-576Finland:

Condition of Bank of Finland 653Cost of living 608

Foreign exchange:Government control of, in Brazil 592Index of 558, 645

Foreign trade of principal countries 612, 613Mexico 589United States 557,613

Index of 614France:

Cost of living 608Financial statistics 646Foreign trade 612Index of industrial activity 609Retail food prices in Paris 008Wholesale prices 596,599, 600,603

Freight rates, ocean 615

i


I I INDEX.

Germany: Pase-Cost of living 608Financial statistics 647Index of industrial activity 610Betail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600,603,604

Gold imports and exports 557,643Gold settlement fund transactions 642Government deposits in member banks exempt [rom

reserve requirements of section 19 of Federal re-serve act 559

Imports and exports of gold and silver 557-643Index numbers:

Cost of living, foreign countries 608Foreign exchange 645Foreign trade 014Industrial activity—Canada, England, France,

Germany, Japan, and Sweden 609-611Ocean freight rates 615Physical volume of trade 617-621Retail prices in principal countries 608Wholesale prices abroad 596-607Wholesale prices in the United States •. 546.

556,596,598,602India:

Cost of living - . 608Foreign trade 613Wholesale prices 601, 607

International Chamber of Commerce, congress of.. 544Italy:

Cost of living 586,608Financial statistics 647Foreign trade 613Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600, 604

Course of, since 1919 583Japan:

Financial statistics 649Foreign trade : 613Index of industrial activity 611Wholesale prices 596, 599, 601

Knit-goods production 615Law department: Exercise of fiduciary powers by

national banks located in Pennsylvania, supremecourt decision 560

Manufactured goods, index of 618Maturities:

Acceptances purchased 627Bills discounted and bought 633Certificates of indebtedness 633

Member banks:Condition of 634-636Number discounting 626Number in each district 626State banks admitted to membership 558

Mexico,review of economic conditions in,year 1922. 587-591Mineral products, index of 618Money in circulation 540, 642National banks:

Charters issued to 55SFiduciary powers granted to 561

In Pennsylvania, supreme court decision.. 560Netherlands:

Cost of living 608Foreign trade 613Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600

New Zealand:Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 60]

Nonnegotiable paper ineligible for rediscount byFederal reserve banks , , . , . , . , 559

Norway: rage.Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 604

Ocean freight rates 615Par list, number of banks on 641Pay roll of industrial establishments in New York. 540Per capita circulation 642Physical volume of trade 617-621Poland:

Cost of living 608Wholesale prices 600

Prices:Retail, in principal countries 608Wholesale, abroad 596-607

Course of prices in Italv since 1919 583Wholesale, in the United States 546, 556

Rates:Discount 643, 644Foreign exchange 645

Reserve ratio of Federal reserve banks 630Resources and liabilities:

Federal reserve banks 630-632Foreign banks of issue 650-653Member banks in leading cities 634-636State banks in Missouri on June 30 and Dec.

29. 1922 576Retail food prices in principal countries 608Retail trade, condition of 555, 623,625Rulings of the Federal Reserve Board:

Government deposits in member banks exemptfrom reserve requirements of section 19 ofFederal reserve act 559

Nonnegotiable paper ineligible for rediscountby Federal reserve banks 559

Rumania, National Bank of, condition of 652Savings deposits of commercial banks 614Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, National Bank of,

condition of 651Silver imports and exports. 557, 643South Africa:

Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 601

Spain:Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600, 605

State banks and trust companies:Admitted to system 558Condition of Missouri banks on June 30 and

De<\ 29, 1922 576Sweden:

Financial statistics 648Foreign trade •. 613Index of industrial activity 610Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 600, 605

Switzerland:Cost of living 608Retail food prices 608Wholesale prices 601, 605

Trade:Foreign. (See Foreign trade.)Physical volume of 617-621Retail 555, 623, 625Wholesale 555,623, 624

Unemployment, conference of, report of 543,544Wholesale prices:

Abroad 596-607Course of prices in Italy since 1919 583In the United States 546, 556, 596, 598, 602

Wholesale trade, condition of 555, 623, 624


FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS

MINNEAPOLIS ;S.DAK.

l J, v ; f—£>-J \ f / r:

ATLANTA \ s.c

' Hou.si°'lA^^^Ne??8rlean3

— BOUNDARIES OF FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS-"-BOUNDARIES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BRANCH TERRITORIES® FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CITIES• FEDERAL RESERVE BRANCH CITIESO FEDERAL RESERVE BANK AGENCY

o


Federal Reserve Bulletin May 1923

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Transcript of Federal Reserve Bulletin May 1923