The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 54

1 THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER- -The Foremost Newspaper of The Two Carolinas- -SUNDAY FEBRUARY 29 1948 4D( Utility Seen For City Traffic FILM PRODUCERS- Light of Increased Dividends CHORUS DREARY ECONOMY IUNE Steel Price Boosts Considered Blunder Britain 30-Horsepower Ford Will Bid For American Bayers Auto Finance Company Drexel Furniture Company Morganton Furniture Company Dan River Mills Inc Mooresville Mills Inc Wachovia Bank fir Trust Company Bought Sold Quoted INTERSTATE SECURITIES CORPORATION i I- Ilf ''til frui-BI CHARLOTTE 1203 Commercial Nat Bank Bld( Telephone 4-9TM tern in 1948 With smaller holdings of government securities and marked in crease in commercial loans the ration of capital funds to deposits at rik will decline Banks will feel the necessity of plowing hack earnings into capital Additional issues of stock mav await more favorable markets with a higher level of prices This weeks bid prices were about the low of the vear The $300 million New York State war-bonus bonds to be offered next Tuesday will probably go to a group of banks Heaviness in foreign dollar issues continued Czech issues here and in London broke violently on the Russian coup Brazilians were at new low' 1948 prices Canadian Pacific perpetual 4s long a favorite investment in the New York market broke to a level 20 points below their 1947 high The Lackawanna Railroad declared a dividend of 25 cents a share Two other roads which through the as a result of the defaults in tha 1930 a began dividend pavment The snow and ice of December and January has riddled the net income account of manv roads east of the Mississippi and results will also be affected by continued abnormal weather DISTRIBUTOR WANTED PLICOTE FIRE STOP PAINT PLICOTE INC Pittsburgh Pa Rated AAA-1 in Dun Sc Bradstreet Pima Writs PLICOTE INC BT ROBFBT HEWETT LONDON Ib 28 Youn Henry Ford think that 1 fantaatically crowded 1 traffic condition in America big citie have opened a new market for mall low-powered Bntuh-marie automobile The 30-yer-old president of the Ford Motor company announced here that hi company a British affiliate would ship aix thousand small cars and truck for sale in the United States the next ix month Ford Motor Company Ltd I the latest several British automobile concerns to make a real drive for the American market Murh of the impetus stems from the government "export or die 1 program to get vitally-needed American dollar In the automobile industry for instance factories have been ordered to export 7S per rent of their production or have their steel allocation diverted to other export industries Just how popular the small European-tvpe car will prove in Amenra remain to he seen manufacturers here freely concede FOR J-CAR FAMILIES The big question according to Ford is price Here on an inspection tour of hi British holdings Ford told newsmen that he expected the small cars to be sold chiefly to "two-car one regular Ameriran car for prin rlpat use and a small low-powered car for auxiliary ue small car should be particularly General Salei Otflea S4 N' At Chlraro 111 is interested in securing a wholesale distributor for the new sensational Fire Stop Paint Plicote Fire Stop Inventory Investment of $5000 00 is required A Complete fiervlre Bv Jean Hair Mitchell Cox Mitchell Cox Associates 440 Piedmont Bldg Th 4-2583 flTinf enmplnt iafernitiei refardlnf your srfantiattea popular in the bn cities with their fantastically erowdad traffic he said The Ford company has kept mum on just how murh the four-evlmder 30 horsepower -rars will sell for the United States The only Hgure thus far made public are Fords comment that the 6 OftO cars should bring $4 500 nno for Britain export drive Thu breaks down to $750 a but shipping charges and duty alone are hound to put the consumer prire substantially over one thousand dollars MIIFS TO GALLON The fust British made Fords to go on the market will he two sedans and two light delivery trucks All will have the same 30 horepower motor U0 horsepower according to British rating! and should get more than 35 miles to the gallon of gasoline according to Ford officials Ready sale of the first shipments are expected because of America automobile shortage but most British manufacturers concede that the long-term future for such cars still remains uncertain If the small car proves popular the long and thev remember the prewar coolness of Americans toward the industrialists here eav dirert competition can he expected from United Stales manufacturer who are always aleit for a new market A rough estimate of what the British made Fords will HI for in the United States can he deduced from prices here plus shipping charges and United States duty fltUI IN IONDON The two-dnor Anglia sells Iondon for 255 pounds OJOi For British buvers a 71 -pound $2841 purchase tax ia added hut this will not be levied on exported cars The United States Hut Js 10 per cent of the value and then an additional seven per cent excise tax is levied Shipping charge for the Anglia is approximately Slfin The dutv and shipping charges thus would raie the prices -baed on London salesroom to about $1 3fi0 The four-door Frefert is slightly higher selling in London for 3fl5 pounds ($1 220 1 plus purchase tax The lightweight delivery tracks to be exported are in two one with 300 pounds rapacity and the second with lftftfl pounds capacitv The 500 pound truck sells in London for 205 pounds plus purchase tax Figuring shipping charges and United States dutv the United States price based on London sales figures would approximate $1 105 Say Saw It In The Thank You! BUFFALO BOLT CO COMMON STOCK Priced To Yield Approximately 6V4 Inquiries Invited FIRST SECURITIES CORPORATION STetre itianctnp iepvice OASUMtf BV H055ARD HEIV HOLLYWOOD Feb 28 The moviemakers theme song for 1948 is a drearv dittv called economv The melody isr new and there isn a single super-colossal the lyrics The chorus goes You gntta cut the costs and singing it lustilv So far however thev ve done little but sing Nothing for instance has been done about the meteoric earnings of the leading stais most obvious and impressive of movie expenditures And the chances are that the Carv Grants Ingrid Bergmans Bing Crosbvg and Bettv Grabbles will go right on getting their big salaries lust as long as the public wants to see them A morev-saving program in the studios is nonetheless called for bv the financial facts Federal amusement tax collections show that movie boxoffice receipts for 1947 exceeded the record-breaking figure of $1 5fi2 179 235 for 1946 but- 1 Production costs have risen steadily 2 In consequence net profits bv the best available calculation dropped $25 million 1947 FI ROPIN MARKETS SHOT 3 European markets for American pictures are shot The biggest of these representing an income of SfiO million annually disintegrated when England imposed a 75 per rent tax on imported films lavt vear Blues-shouting leaders of the industry fmd little comfort in the indication that net profit for 1947 dosmte the decline will stilly amount to tlOO million-three times the prewar total ard rearlv twice 1945 earnings In the movie business as thev see it the had news is ust allv de-lav ed about a vear: it takes that long to determine how much a major picture will make Additionally 1948 will dtc1rw the full effect of the British tax which resulted tn an embargo on United film shipments to Fneland Revenues from Britain declined $18 million last vear with a fair supply of American pictures on hand there But this unnlv is running out 1948 income from ma he nerhgihle Farnings in nther European countries are for the most part frozen few doU'ir available tn them TRODl CTION FCOVOMT Movie Moguls sav thev are going tn attack tins situation at the source pro duct ion A survey of maior studios indicates that the overall plan runs something like this 1 Gencial reduction of production budgets picture costing $2 million to $3 500000 in 1947 would he made for million in $2 thev hope 2 Tre production rehearsals This cuts productive time bv eliminating the necessity for reshooting scenes again and again Several big pictures recently have been finished 15 riav ahead of schedule 3 Tightening of scripts In pre-production editing all scenes not vital to the story are cast out before the cameras turn Heretofore manv scenes have been Included purelv for pretentious reasons to enhance atmosphere or to produce a more elaborate effect Todav major scripts average 125 pages against a previous 185 4 Reduction of stoiv puichase and if possible atorv price Most studios have shelves stacked high with scripts never produced because new- and more timely material was forthcoming from hest-sellet lists and the Broadwav stage FFUFR B' PICTIRES 5 Fewer pictures Most of the maiors have announced abandonment of pictures Bad pictures made monev during the war thev don't now Iouis Maver who sounded the first retrenchment call last Mav before the British tax said Mctro-Goldw vn-Maver had a reserve of 30 unreleaed films representing an investment of $85 million MGM he said would make onlv 24 pictures a vear for at least two vears drawing upon this reserve to bring the total annual issue to shout 38 Almost all other big studios have ample stocks of un-frleased fihp 8 lower salaries for top stars and genrial irdurtinn of studio personnel This last economv devue is usually the first considered But a check shows that lavoffs have been confined almost entirely to lei it a I help and And one studio (Universal International! announced that its employment reached the highest point In almost a vear with a February pav roll of 22M persons excluding extras This was 1 900 more than in January 111 Corcoran 6L Durham Phono 6931 810 Liberty Life Bdg Charlotte Thone 2-4148 COLLEGIATE PRESS MEET IS SCHEDULED AT DUKE DURHAM Feb 28 -The North Carolina Collegiate Press association will hold its second postwar meeting at Duke university in March according to an announcement today by Clay Felker Webster Groves Mo president of the association and associate editor of the Duke Chronicle The three-day meeting is scheduled for March 18 19 and 20 Last spring North Carolina State college was host in Raleigh for the association's first meeting since the war About 200 editors and business managers of collegiate publications are expected for the convention according to Felker Thev will represent 35 univeisilics colleges and junior colleges in North Carolina Rev Ralph Perrvgoie is determined to fill his 'church in the Cornish village of St Dominick so after setting the morning service earlier tn meet objection that they had to stay home to cook Sundav dinner he next invited them to bring their children to the rectory if thev had no one to look after the tots Moinhard Grooff Co BY CHARLES SFEARE North American Newspaper Alliance NEW YORK Feb 2B It seldom happens that leading industrial organizations with Wall Street affiliations are as severely criticized as were the iron and steel companies this week for their untimely advance of $5 a ton structural and semifinished steel Editors and columnists generally friendly to the policies of this business group sharply attacked its members for lark of judgment introducing an inflationary element into a situation that was making progress toward correction of high commodity and retail prices Obviously executives of the steel companies had no intention of antagonizing the efforts of the government its program of price control Under normal conditions tnev could fully justify the advances for some products previously being sold at a loss Their of he announcement however was faulty their public relations departments fell down on the job A faux pas so inimical to good national relations and above all so likely to stir up political trouble will not soon be repeated A PRFSS Mark Sullivan in his syndicated article from Washington finds in the incident a lack of economic on the part of steel directors He quotes Senator Flanders of Vermont who said truly that an industry as fundamental as steel there arc public questions involved as well as questions of private bimnes pohev David Lawrence wrote looks like a comedv of errors all a mistake bv the steel companies in sending up the price on a small fraction of their production and bv politicians in Washington in jumping to wrong For once Republicans and Democrats jumped the same wav in demanding an investigation of the steel companies but with each jealous of the others ability to make political capital of it The conservative Wall Street Journal made the observation that the strel price advance whatever its merits or demerits should have been arcompamed bv an explanation of whatever reasons there mav he for its necessity It also noted that steel companies fumbled in their public relations TACTICAL ERROR Arthur Krock of the New York Times concludes that the issue is 1 in which a tactical error was committed and predicted that since steel is the industrial thermometer rising pressure on other prices will follow This is the nub of the argument against the steel companies on which the public bases its argument of being cheated out of an earlv satisfactory adjustment in those prices which determine the cost of living It always remembers that late in 1947 the Steel corporation raised its already generous dividend on Us common stock to $5 Ofi a share and later Republic SteeT increased it rate: also that the annual report of the former company showed earnings on the common of $11 fig a share the highest since 1929 The steel companies now' face anothei wage sttuggle with the odds against tt Unconsciously thev have plavedintn the hands of Philip Murray and his associates and the episode must have made even the dour John Lewis smile WORLD UNEASINF8S tn the opinion of Fortune in its March issue out this week is the basic cause of the stock market's winter In this judgment it is on solid ground The disintegrating economv in western Europe where further currency devaluation is inevitable and political domination in eastern Europe by Russia are disturbing to the businessman and investor In its statement that of individuals with levs than $10 000 a vear are not interested in stocks and bonds hut in foodstuffs finery and Fortune is not so accurate In their review of 1947 the firm of Merrill Lvnch who do hv far a greater hrokeiagc business than any other New York Stock exchange fim indicate that last vear per cent of their customers were in the to $5 Ooo class and 30 per cent had of from S5 0O0 to $10 000 Both in stocks and commodities small fluctuations and net changes relative to those earlier In the month were registered this week Blvth Ac Co speciatHts hank shams make this estimate of 1947 earnings and comment on IP4B prospects as follows The decline last year was ifi per cent comnaicd with a small advance in the DnVv-Jones industrial average These shares are currently selling on an average of 75 per cent of book value with an average vield at market pnres of per rent Dividends gepresertt a conservative percentage of earnings Pros-1 perta are for maintenance of this pat INC iaris Cji ear iVoa ty SOUTHERN OmCB Skinner Johnston Building Chariot! 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