There is no public debt. Railway lines in operation (1914), 771 miles, including 37 miles opened in 1913. The Railways Administration controls the line in the Malay Peninsula, including the Johore State Railways, leased since January, 1912. In 1913 the Singapore Railway had 20 miles in length, which had been leased to the Railways Administration from the colonial government from January, 1912, at a rental of $150,000, and was purchased for $4,136,000.

In 1909 a Federal Council was created by an agreement between the high commissioner and the four native rulers, to consist of the high commissioner, the chief secretary, the sultans of Perak, Selangor, and Pahang, the yam tuan of the Negri Sembilan, the four British residents, and four unofficial members nominated by the high commissioner. The first meeting was held Dec. 11, 1909, at Kuala, Kangsar. The Council meets annually, the high commissioner (Sir Arthur Young) presiding.

See

FEDERATION OF JEWISH FARMERS OF AMERICA. See AGRICULTURAL CREDIT. FEDERATION OF LABOR, AMERICAN. LABOR, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF. FEÉBLE-MINDEDNESS. A recent publication issued by the Ohio Board of Administration is of considerable value in relation to the country-wide problem of the feeble-minded. It has been estimated that from 300,000 to 400,000 persons in the United States, equivalent to 0.3 per cent of the population, are feeble-minded, and of these not over one-third are under custodial care. In Ohio there are between 10,000 and 15,000 feeble-minded children, less than 20 per cent of whom are in institutions devoted particularly to their care. Others are to be found in infirmaries, reformatories, and prisons, and others help to swell the number of juvenile delinquents. A mental examination of the inmates of the Girls' and Boys' Industrial School and Home showed that 59 out of 100 girls examined were feebleminded, 14 were borderline cases, 13 mentally retarded, and only 14 normal. In the case of the boys, out of 100 examined, 46 were feeble-minded, 26 borderline cases, 11 mentally retarded, and 11 mentally normal. The findings in Ohio coincide with those in other States and indicate that from 60 to 80 per cent of the feeble-mindedness is due to bad heredity. This report takes the view that the attempt to discipline and train defective children and then return them to 80ciety, is futile. They can never be brought up to normal and to turn them loose on the public

FENCING. The twenty-second annual intercollegiate fencing tournament was won by the United States Naval Academy. Columbia, which captured the championship in 1914, finished second, and the University of Pennsylvania, third. The individual winners were: foils, H. B. Van Buskirk, Pennsylvania; sabres, R. D. S. Horne, United States Naval Academy.

Dual college competitions resulted as follows: Yale 9, Bowdoin 0; Yale 8, Columbia 1; Yale 5, Harvard 4; Yale 5, Pennsylvania 4; Columbia 5. Pennsylvania 4; Cornell 7, Columbia 2; Cornell 8, Michigan 1; United States Naval Academy 6, Cornell 3.

In the national championships held by the Amateur Fencers' League, Sherman Hall of the New York A. C. won with the foils and J. A. McLaughlin of the Washington Fencers' Club excelled with the duelling swords. The woman's championship with the foils was captured by Miss Jessie Pyle.

FERTILIZERS. To just what extent the supply, price, and use of fertilizers were affected by the disturbed conditions of trade during the year 1915 it was impossible to say at the end of the year, since complete and reliable statistics of the fertilizer industry were not available. Some outstanding features of the situation were the shortage and high price of potash, an advance in the price of nitrate, and a shortage of sulphuric acid for the manufacture of super-phosphates.

POTASH. A large part of the world's supply of potash was cut off by the German embargo in 1914, at a time when there was a greatly increased demand for potash for the manufacture of munitions. The result was such a decrease in the amounts available for agriculture and such an advance in price as to make the use of potash salts as fertilizer in large measure prohibitive. The United States was probably the greatest sufferer from this cause. Normally the United States used about $14,000,000 worth of German potash salts annually besides $1,000,000 worth of potassium nitrate obtained indirectly from India. The situation created by the failure of the German supply of potash added impetus to the search for other sources of supply and stimulated inquiry as to practical means of meeting the emergency without impairment of the productiveness of the soil. Attention therefore was directed toward the more liberal use of substances such as lime, gypsum, salt, decaying organic matter, etc., and more thorough tillage, which was believed to increase the availability of the soil potash. These of course were only temporary expedients and would at best only partly meet the needs of the situation. On the other hand, the shortage of potash may in the end prove a distinct advantage to agriculture in that it will force a more careful study of the fertilizer needs of soils with reference to potash

and lead to a more discriminating and profitable use of potash fertilizers. There was good reason to believe that there was a large waste in the use of such fertilizers on lands which did not need them, and hence did not make a profitable return for their use. Many of the soils of the United States are abundantly supplied with pot ash. Good tillage and the liberal use of decaying organic matter are probably the most effective practical means at the command of the farmer of increasing the availability of this soil potash. Recent investigations indicated that the common estimate of the effectiveness of lime for this purpose was greatly exaggerated. All farm supplies of potash, such as ashes, straw and crop residues, manure, etc., should, of course, be conserved.

It seemed certain that conditions created by the European war would result in the develop ment and permanent establishment of other commercial supplies of potash besides those of Germany. The information available indicated that the potash deposits of Spain are of such extent and character as to warrant the expectation that they will ultimately supply more than the home demand. The inquiries conducted under government auspices in the United States made it plain that America could develop an abundant domestic supply of potash when the commercial conditions justify the investment of the necessary capital. The sources of supply are abundant and the more important technical problems have in most cases been worked out. The four most promising of these sources of supply are considered to be: (1) the giant kelps of the Pacific Coast, the beds of which are more than 400 square miles in extent and are estimated to be capable of yielding, with careful harvesting, six to seven times the normal demands of the United States; (2) the alunite deposits, mainly in the mountains of Utah; (3) the feldspars of the Eastern United States; and (4) the saline muds of Searles Lake in California.

Up to the end of 1915 there was a reluctance to invest capital in the kelp potash industry on account of uncertainty in regard to the State laws governing the harvesting of the kelp. One plant was constructed and another was planned for the production of potassium sulphate from alunite. In addition to the potassium sulphate it is possible to produce a fair grade of alumina and sulphuric acid, which, under favorable conditions, would constitute valuable by-products. An obstacle in the way of the most successful utilization of this source of potash seemed to be the remoteness from commercial centres of the great deposits which were to be used. Inquiry with reference to the production of potash from feldspars had gone far enough to show that this is feasible if a salable by-product, as, for example, cement, could be secured at the same time. Of the large number of desert basins which had been explored in the United States Searles Lake was the only one which seemed to be commercially promising. The brine obtained here contains from 5 to 6 per cent of potash as chloride, but its impurity presents certain serious technical difficulties in preparing pure salts. Development of the industry here was delayed by doubt and litigation as to the title to the property. From none of the sources named was the shortage of potash for agricultural purposes likely to be relieved for many months to come even under most favorable circumstances. The situation,

therefore, had to be met by conservation and discriminating use of such supplies as were available.

In order that the many important experiments with fertilizers in progress in the United States may continue without hindrance an attempt is being made to arrange for the import of a sufficient amount of potash salts for these experiments, the Secretary of Agriculture acting as consignee and guaranteeing that the salts shall be used only for experimental purposes and not sold.

PHOSPHATES. Phosphates are the normal basis of practically all fertilizers since phosphorus is probably the fertilizer constituent most generally needed by soils. Fortunately the world's supply is abundant. The United States especially contains a practically inexhaustible supply of high-grade phosphates. It is becoming increasingly desirable, however, to find practical methods of utilizing more completely the large supplies of low-grade phosphates, and, in general, to improve the methods of manufacture of soluble phosphates. The United States Department of Agriculture was systematically investigating these questions as well as the economic justification of the use of untreated rock. The systematic examinations of the enormous phosphate deposits of the Western United States were continued by the United States Geological Survey with a view to withdrawing from entry and reserving under government control lands underlaid by high-grade phosphate. On Jan. 1, 1915, the total area of phosphate lands withdrawn from public entry in Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho was 2,713,150 acres, constituting perhaps the largest area of phosphate rock yet recognized in the world.

The

NITROGEN. The nitrogen supply for fertilizers was affected to a marked extent during the year by the greatly increased demand for nitric acid for the manufacture of munitions of war. conditions stimulated the study of additional means of meeting the need for nitrogen compounds. This is being done partly by the increased use of by-products of coke ovens to save the ammonia produced in coking, the development of processes of fixing the nitrogen of the air, and more intelligent use of city and industrial wastes, especially garbage and sewage sludge. It was found that the two latter can be made to furnish useful components of fertilizers without interfering with the requirements of sanitary disposal. The search for new surface deposits of nitrates had not yielded results of commercial importance.

It is well known that farm manure is subject to large loss of nitrogen under ordinary methods of handling, but the cause of this loss had not been clearly understood. Investigations in England showed that the explanation was to be found in the fact that alternate wetting and drying of the manure causes reduction of nitrates formed on the surface of the manure and consequent loss of nitrogen in the free state. This teaches the practical lesson that if manure can not be promptly spread on the land as it is produced it should be stored under cover and kept as uniformly moist as possible. Another fact of considerable practical importance brought out by experiments with manure was that small amounts of manure might be instrumental in increasing to a considerable extent the effectiveness of green manures, especially leguminous

RADIOACTIVE FERTILIZERS. That radium exerts a marked influence upon plant growth was shown by plant physiologists very soon after radium was discovered and its properties began to be studied. Following this discovery the use of radioactive materials as fertilizers was suggested. The results of experiments with such materials, however, up to 1915 was contradictory and inconclusive. Several reports on experiments of this kind, reaching entirely contradictory conclusions, appeared in 1915. Those who had investigated the subject most fully were of the opinion that the amounts of radium which could actually be supplied in this way at prices which would not be prohibitive do not and can hardly be expected to produce any effect upon crop yields. Moreover, as Hopkins pointed out, even if such materials proved effective their use should be adopted with caution since they add nothing to the soil but by stimulating plant growth hasten the exhaustion of the soil.

SULPHUR. Investigation called attention to the fact that sulphur is frequently deficient in soils and suggested that it is possibly a more important element of soil fertility than has commonly been supposed. A number of investiga tions on the fertilizing effect of sulphur and its compounds were reported. These showed that with certain soils relatively deficient in sulphur the addition of sulphur compounds measurably increase the growth of certain plants, notably legumes and crucifers. Elemental sulphur had not proved as effective as sulphates for this purpose. It was suggested that the beneficial effect observed might be due in part to stimulation of bacterial activity in the soil.

See also CHEMISTRY, INDUSTRIAL, Utilization of Peat, and passim.

See MUSIC.

FESTIVALS, MUSICAL. FIJI ISLANDS. A group of South Pacific islands; a British crown colony. The principal inhabited islands are Viti Levu (4112 square miles), Vanua Levu (2432), Taviuni (217), Kadavu (124), Koro (58), Gau (45), and Ovalau (43). Total area, including the depend ency of Rotumah (14), is 7435 square miles, a little larger than the combined area of Connecticut and Delaware. Estimated population, Dec. 31, 1913, 153,704. The population at the 1911 census was 139,541 (80,008 males, 59,533 females), of whom 87,096 Fijians, 40,286 (26,073 males) East Indians, 3707 Europeans. Sugar, copra, and fruit (particularly pineapples) are the chief products and exports. Total imports 1913, £903,968 (1910, £870,120); exports, £1,425,940 (£1,005,818). Export of sugar, £1, 041,927 (£669,432); copra, £176,741 (£258,914); fruit, £168,249 (£47,301). There is no railway. Suva, the capital, has cable communication with Brisbane and with Canada. Revenue, 1913, £266,031 (£211,952 in 1910); expenditure, £324,528 (£236,661). Public debt, £71,915.

FILIPPI, DR.-HIS EXPLORATIONS. See ExPLORATION, Asia.

FILTRATION. See WATER PURIFICATION. FINANCE. See sections so entitled under various countries, and under the States of the United States. See also the article FINANCIAL REVIEW.

FINANCIAL REVIEW. Under this topic is included a statement of the general aspects of business during the year together with some

change, foreign trade, bank clearings, building operations, failures, and business conditions in the particular countries. For additional information relating to business and finance the reader is referred to the following topics: AGRICULTURAL CREDIT; BANKS AND BANKING; BLUE SKY LAWS; COTTON, Cotton Futures Act; INSURANCE; NATIONAL BANKS; PRICES; SAVINGS BANKS; STATE BANKS; TARIFF; TRUSTS. See also LABOR and various articles there referred to.

GENERAL CONDITIONS. The year 1915 was one of very marked and decisive recovery from the industrial depression of the preceding year, the tide of business operations rising steadily throughout the entire twelve months. Some signs of approaching prosperity had begun to appear at the close of 1914, but that business was still at a low ebb at the opening of the year is shown by the fact that the output of pig iron in December, 1914, was only 1,500,000 tons, the net earnings of the United States Steel Corporation in the fourth quarter of 1914 were less than $11,000,000, steel mills of the country were working at only 60 per cent of capacity with thousands of idle workmen, steel prices averaged $2 per ton less than in 1913, railroad earnings were low, and business failures were large. By contrast in 1915 the output of pig iron rose to 3,125,000 tons in October, an amount never before equaled; prices of steel products were high, but steel plants were running at full capacity and were rejecting orders; net revenues of the Steel Corporation rose from $12,500,000 in the first quarter to $28,000,000 in the second, and $38,500,000 in the third. Foreign trade which in 1914 was less than in 1913 or 1912 rose to the unprecedented sum of $5,290,000,000 in 1915, and exports of merchandise for the 12 months ending with October exceeded imports by the remarkable amount of $1,626,886,000, and for 1915 by $1,760,000,000. Likewise the volume of railway freight traffic during the fall of 1915 was never before equaled, some of the roads with Atlantic seaboard terminals being actually under the necessity of refusing freight for ocean shipment. As a result the stock quotations of railroad shares advanced generally 10 to 20 points. This great outburst of business and especially the great volume of orders from abroad for war munitions and supplies resulted in wild speculation on the stock exchange. During January the pessimism of the preceding year gradually gave way to a more hopeful sentiment. Exports were increasing; foreign countries, especially Canadian provinces and cities, Sweden, Norway, and Argentina, placed loans in the American market; the gold pool of $100,000,000 to meet maturing American obligations abroad was dissolved and the pool for the relief of cotton growers likewise formed in the fall of 1914 became inoperative, only $28,000 having been applied for; nearly all of the $384,000,000 of emergency currency and of the $215,000,000 of clearing house certificates that had been issued since August, 1914, were retired; the stock exchange was reopened, but trading was moderate, only 5,000,000 shares being transferred in January and 4,300,000 in February.

In the latter month the upward tendency became more marked. Exports exceeded imports by $173,500,000, with the result that sterling exchange declined to $4.79. This rate contrasted

and lead to a more discriminating and profitable use of potash fertilizers. There was good reason to believe that there was a large waste in the use of such fertilizers on lands which did not need them, and hence did not make a profitable return for their use. Many of the soils of the United States are abundantly supplied with pot ash. Good tillage and the liberal use of decaying organic matter are probably the most effective practical means at the command of the farmer of increasing the availability of this soil potash. Recent investigations indicated that the common estimate of the effectiveness of lime for this purpose was greatly exaggerated. All farm supplies of potash, such as ashes, straw and crop residues, manure, etc., should, of course, be conserved.

It seemed certain that conditions created by the European war would result in the develop ment and permanent establishment of other commercial supplies of potash besides those of Germany. The information available indicated that the potash deposits of Spain are of such extent and character as to warrant the expectation that they will ultimately supply more than the home demand. The inquiries conducted under government auspices in the United States made it plain that America could develop an abundant domestic supply of potash when the commercial conditions justify the investment of the necessary capital. The sources of supply are abundant and the more important technical problems have in most cases been worked out. The four most promising of these sources of supply are considered to be: (1) the giant kelps of the Pacific Coast, the beds of which are more than 400 square miles in extent and are estimated to be capable of yielding, with careful harvesting, six to seven times the normal demands of the United States; (2) the alunite deposits, mainly in the mountains of Utah; (3) the feldspars of the Eastern United States; and (4) the saline muds of Searles Lake in California.

Up to the end of 1915 there was a reluctance to invest capital in the kelp potash industry on account of uncertainty in regard to the State laws governing the harvesting of the kelp. One plant was constructed and another was planned for the production of potassium sulphate from alunite. In addition to the potassium sulphate it is possible to produce a fair grade of alumina and sulphuric acid, which, under favorable conditions, would constitute valuable by-products. An obstacle in the way of the most successful utilization of this source of potash seemed to be the remoteness from commercial centres of the great deposits which were to be used. Inquiry with reference to the production of potash from feldspars had gone far enough to show that this is feasible if a salable by-product, as, for example, cement, could be secured at the same time. Of the large number of desert basins which had been explored in the United States Searles Lake was the only one which seemed to be commercially promising. The brine obtained here contains from 5 to 6 per cent of potash as chloride, but its impurity presents certain serious technical difficulties in preparing pure salts. Development of the industry here was delayed by doubt and litigation as to the title to the property. From none of the sources named was the shortage of potash for agricultural purposes likely to be relieved for many months to come even under most favorable circumstances. The situation,

therefore, had to be met by conservation and discriminating use of such supplies as were available.

In order that the many important experiments with fertilizers in progress in the United States may continue without hindrance an attempt is being made to arrange for the import of a sufficient amount of potash salts for these experiments, the Secretary of Agriculture acting as consignee and guaranteeing that the salts shall be used only for experimental purposes and not sold.

PHOSPHATES. Phosphates are the normal basis of practically all fertilizers since phosphorus is probably the fertilizer constituent most generally needed by soils. Fortunately the world's supply is abundant. The United States especially contains a practically inexhaustible supply of high-grade phosphates. It is becoming increasingly desirable, however, to find practical methods of utilizing more completely the large supplies of low-grade phosphates, and, in general, to improve the methods of manufacture of soluble phosphates. The United States Department of Agriculture was systematically investigating these questions as well as the economic justification of the use of untreated rock. The systematic examinations of the enormous phosphate deposits of the Western United States were continued by the United States Geological Survey with a view to withdrawing from entry and reserving under government control lands underlaid by high-grade phosphate. On Jan. 1, 1915, the total area of phosphate lands withdrawn from public entry in Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho was 2,713,150 acres, constituting perhaps the largest area of phosphate rock yet recognized in the world.

The

NITROGEN. The nitrogen supply for fertilizers was affected to a marked extent during the year by the greatly increased demand for nitric acid for the manufacture of munitions of war. conditions stimulated the study of additional means of meeting the need for nitrogen compounds. This is being done partly by the increased use of by-products of coke ovens to save the ammonia produced in coking, the development of processes of fixing the nitrogen of the air, and more intelligent use of city and industrial wastes, especially garbage and sewage sludge. It was found that the two latter can be made to furnish useful components of fertilizers without interfering with the requirements of sanitary disposal. The search for new surface deposits of nitrates had not yielded results of commercial importance.

It is well known that farm manure is subject to large loss of nitrogen under ordinary methods of handling, but the cause of this loss had not been clearly understood. Investigations in England showed that the explanation was to be found in the fact that alternate wetting and drying of the manure causes reduction of nitrates formed on the surface of the manure and consequent loss of nitrogen in the free state. This teaches the practical lesson that if manure can not be promptly spread on the land as it is produced it should be stored under cover and kept as uniformly moist as possible. Another fact of considerable practical importance brought out by experiments with manure was that small amounts of manure might be instrumental in increasing to a considerable extent the effectiveness of green manures, especially leguminous

RADIOACTIVE FERTILIZERS. That radium exerts a marked influence upon plant growth was shown by plant physiologists very soon after radium was discovered and its properties began to be studied. Following this discovery the use of radioactive materials as fertilizers was suggested. The results of experiments with such materials, however, up to 1915 was contradictory and inconclusive. Several reports on experiments of this kind, reaching entirely contradictory conclusions, appeared in 1915. Those who had investigated the subject most fully were of the opinion that the amounts of radium which could actually be supplied in this way at prices which would not be prohibitive do not and can hardly be expected to produce any effect upon crop yields. Moreover, as Hopkins pointed out, even if such materials proved effective their use should be adopted with caution since they add nothing to the soil but by stimulating plant growth hasten the exhaustion of the soil.

SULPHUR. Investigation called attention to the fact that sulphur is frequently deficient in soils and suggested that it is possibly a more important element of soil fertility than has commonly been supposed. A number of investigations on the fertilizing effect of sulphur and its compounds were reported. These showed that with certain soils relatively deficient in sulphur the addition of sulphur compounds measurably increase the growth of certain plants, notably legumes and crucifers. Elemental sulphur had not proved as effective as sulphates for this purpose. It was suggested that the beneficial effect observed might be due in part to stimulation of bacterial activity in the soil.

See also CHEMISTRY, INDUSTRIAL, Utilization of Peat, and passim.

See MUSIC.

FESTIVALS, MUSICAL. FIJI ISLANDS. A group of South Pacific islands; a British crown colony. The principal inhabited islands are Viti Levu (4112 square miles), Vanua Levu (2432), Taviuni (217), Kadavu (124), Koro (58), Gau (45), and Ovalau (43). Total area, including the dependency of Rotumah (14), is 7435 square miles, a little larger than the combined area of Connecticut and Delaware. Estimated population, Dec. 31, 1913, 153,704. The population at the 1911 census was 139,541 (80,008 males, 59,533 females), of whom 87,096 Fijians, 40,286 (26,073 males) East Indians, 3707 Europeans. Sugar, copra, and fruit (particularly pineapples) are the chief products and exports. Total imports 1913, £903,968 (1910, £870,120); exports, £1,425,940 (£1,005,818). Export of sugar, £1,041,927 (£669,432); copra, £176,741 (£258,914); fruit, £168,249 (£47,301). There is no railway. Suva, the capital, has cable communication with Brisbane and with Canada. Revenue, 1913, £266,031 (£211,952 in 1910); expenditure, £324,528 (£236,661). Public debt, £71,915.

FILIPPI, DR.-HIS EXPLORATIONS. See ExPLORATION, Asia.

FILTRATION. See WATER PURIFICATION. FINANCE. See sections so entitled under various countries, and under the States of the United States. See also the article FINANCIAL REVIEW.

FINANCIAL REVIEW. Under this topic is included a statement of the general aspects of business during the year together with some

change, foreign trade, bank clearings, building operations, failures, and business conditions in the particular countries. For additional information relating to business and finance the reader is referred to the following topics: AGRICULTURAL CREDIT; BANKS AND BANKING; BLUE SKY LAWS; COTTON, Cotton Futures Act; INSURANCE; NATIONAL BANKS; PRICES; SAVINGS BANKS; STATE BANKS; TARIFF; TRUSTS. See also LABOR and various articles there referred to.

GENERAL CONDITIONS. The year 1915 was one of very marked and decisive recovery from the industrial depression of the preceding year, the tide of business operations rising steadily throughout the entire twelve months. Some signs of approaching prosperity had begun to appear at the close of 1914, but that business was still at a low ebb at the opening of the year is shown by the fact that the output of pig iron in December, 1914, was only 1,500,000 tons, the net earnings of the United States Steel Corporation in the fourth quarter of 1914 were less than $11,000,000, steel mills of the country were working at only 60 per cent of capacity with thousands of idle workmen, steel prices averaged $2 per ton less than in 1913, railroad earnings were low, and business failures were large. By contrast in 1915 the output of pig iron rose to 3,125,000 tons in October, an amount never before equaled; prices of steel products were high, but steel plants were running at full capacity and were rejecting orders; net revenues of the Steel Corporation rose from $12,500,000 in the first quarter to $28,000,000 in the second, and $38,500,000 in the third. Foreign trade which in 1914 was less than in 1913 or 1912 rose to the unprecedented sum of $5,290,000,000 in 1915, and exports of merchandise for the 12 months ending with October exceeded imports by the remarkable amount of $1,626,886,000, and for 1915 by $1,760,000,000. Likewise the volume of railway freight traffic during the fall of 1915 was never before equaled, some of the roads with Atlantic seaboard terminals being actually under the necessity of refusing freight for ocean shipment. As a result the stock quotations of railroad shares advanced generally 10 to 20 points. This great outburst of business and especially the great volume of orders from abroad for war munitions and supplies resulted in wild speculation on the stock exchange. During January the pessimism of the preceding year gradually gave way to a more hopeful sentiment. Exports were increasing; foreign countries, especially Canadian provinces and cities, Sweden, Norway, and Argentina, placed loans in the American market; the gold pool of $100,000,000 to meet maturing American obligations abroad was dissolved and the pool for the relief of cotton growers likewise formed in the fall of 1914 became inoperative, only $28,000 having been applied for; nearly all of the $384,000,000 of emergency currency and of the $215,000,000 of clearing house certificates that had been issued since August, 1914, were retired; the stock exchange was reopened, but trading was moderate, only 5,000,000 shares being transferred in January and 4,300,000 in February.

In the latter month the upward tendency became more marked. Exports exceeded imports by $173,500,000, with the result that sterling exchange declined to $4.79. This rate contrasted