It is reported by the Manchester correspondent of the 'Economist' that the attempt in the United States to organize the financing of raw cotton shipments to Central Europe has failed. Towards the; end of last year there was formed in /Texas a Cotton Growers' Agency, but this organization has now been disbanded. Efforts were directed at securing assistance in finance from the Federal International Bank, but the movement was futile.
An attempt was also made to! obtain assistance from the War Finance Corporation, but it is undersiocd that the main reason for the refusal to-handle the deal was that if would be impossible under the law for the Corporation to traffic with a national of any nation, or with any nation itself which was technically at war with the United States. It was pointed out that the enemy clause could not be surmounted until Congress had formally ratified a treaty with Germany. Cotton merchants the United States are very disappointed at the turn of events, as it was hoped that the proposed organization would assist in reduc ing the large supplies of low-grade qualities held in America, Company Flotations in 1921
Company registrations at Somerset House during 1920 constitute a record, 10,065 companies having registered, with a total nominal capital of £568,894,382, as against figures for 1919 of 9,820 companies and £384,133,661 capital. The average capital per company was thus £56,522 as compared with £39,117 for 1919. A very sharp contrast is offered between the first and second halves of the year. Between January and June the aggregate registrations amounted to £448,738,317, but between July and December the total was no more than £190,156,065, or little more than 25 per cent. of the first period.
The influence of the increase in ad valorem duty as from April, 1920, from 5s. to 20s. per £100 capital, had an immediate and most significant influence on the registration of new companies. In the first 16 weeks of 1990 the weekly average of registrations was £21,240,000, but during the remaining 36 weeks the average was only
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.