District of Columbia or elsewhere and the furnishing thereof, and expenditures necessary for the compiling, printing, publishing, and distributing the results of the census, and purchase of necessary paper and other supplies, the purchase, rental, construction, and repair of mechanical appliances, the compensation of such permanent and temporary clerks as may be employed under the provisions of this Act and the Act establishing the permanent Census Office and Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, and all other expenses incurred under authority conveyed in this Act.

SEC. 28. That the Director of the Census is hereby authorized to make requisition upon the Public Printer for such printing as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act, to wit: Blanks, schedules, circulars, pamphlets, envelopes, work sheets, and other items of miscellaneous printing; that he is further authorized to have printed by the Public Printer, in such editions as the Director may deem necessary, preliminary and other Census bulletins, and final reports of the results of the several investigations authorized by this Act, or by the Act to establish a permanent Census Office and Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, and to publish and distribute said bulletins and reports.

SEC. 29. That all mail matter, of whatever class, relating to the census and addressed to the Census Office, or to any official thereof, and indorsed "Official business, Census Office," shall be transmitted free of postage, and by registered mail if necessary, and so marked: Provided, That if any person shall make use of such indorsement to avoid the payment of postage or registry fee on his or her private letter, package, or other matter in the mail, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of three hundred dollars, to be prosecuted in any court of competent jurisdiction.

SEC. 30. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, whenever he may deem it advisable, or on request of the Director of the Census, is hereby authorized to call upon any other department or office of the Government for information pertinent to the work herein provided for.

SEC. 31. That there shall be in the year nineteen hundred and fifteen, and once every ten years thereafter, a census of agriculture and live stock, which shall show the acreage of farm land, the acreage of the principal crops, and the number and value of domestic animals on the farms and ranges of the country. The schedule employed in this census shall be prepared by the Director of the Census. Such census shall be taken as of October first, and shall relate to the current year. The Director of the Census may appoint enumerators or special agents for the purpose of this census, in accordance with the provisions of the permanent Census Act.

SEC. 32. That the Director of the Census is hereby authorized, at

his discretion, upon the written request of the governor of any State or Territory, or of a court of record, to furnish such governor or court of record with certified copies of so much of the population returns as may be requested, upon the payment of the actual cost of making such copies, and one dollar additional for certification; and that the Director of the Census is further authorized, in his discretion, to furnish to individuals such data from the population schedules as may be desired for genealogical or other proper purposes, upon payment of the actual cost of searching the records and one dollar for supplying a certificate; and the amounts so received shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States, to be placed to the credit of, and in addition to, the appropriations made for taking the census.

SEC. 33. That the Act establishing the permanent Census Office, approved March sixth, nineteen hundred and two, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, except as are herein amended, shall remain in full force. That the Act entitled "An Act to provide for taking the Twelfth and subsequent censuses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and all other laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

NOTES ON THE FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1907.

BY FRANCIS B. FORBES.

The accompanying tables give a condensed record, between January 1907, and January 1908, of the New York quotations for eight railroad. and eight industrial stocks. It is by no means claimed that these special stocks represent an average of everything listed by the New York Stock Exchange, since the only reason for their selection, early in the critical period, was that they were all ranked as steady dividend payers. On the other hand, as the outstanding stock capital of the eight railroad companies aggregates some $1,778,000,000, and that of the eight industrials some $1,329,000,000 (including Calumet and Hecla at the nominal par value of only $2,500,000), it can be seen that the figures of these few stocks must have an undoubted significance. And it must be remembered that, if the stock capital of all the subsidiary companies leased or controlled by the sixteen in our list had been included, the aggregate would have been even more imposing.

Table A, for Railroads, and Table B, for Industrials, give the following facts for each stock:

(1) The highest quotations in 1907, which were all in the month of January (except Calumet and Hecla in February).

(2) The lowest quotations during the crisis, ranging between October 23 and November 27, with each lowest quotation represented as a percentage of the corresponding highest point.

(3) The recovery on Jan. 17, 1908, a date selected because the premium on currency had then disappeared and because the January dividends had then been paid out. The degree of recovery on that date is shown for each stock in the percentage borne by its quotation to that of its lowest point, and comparison between January 1907, and January 1908, is also made by giving the latter prices as percentages of the former. All quotations have been taken from the Financial Chronicle, those for Jan. 17, 1908, being an average of the quoted ranges for the day.

The two tables show that the average percentages of decline and of recovery from the respective lowest points run very closely together for both Railroads and Industrials; while the averages of prices on Jan. 17, 1908, are, within a small fraction, 264% below the highest points of the previous year for each group. This may, perhaps, indicate that the stocks selected for the two tables are, on the whole, fairly representative of general conditions. On the other hand, it appears, not only that the average percentages of both decline and recovery have been greatest

in Industrials, but that the extreme range between highest and lowest points is also to be found in this group.

The maximum decline was for:

Railroads:

Northern Pacific from 189.5 to 100.5, or 47%.

Industrials:

United States Steel common from 50.4 to 21.9, or 56.5%. The minimum decline was for:

Railroads:

Southern Pacific preferred from 118.1 to 100, or 15.3%. Industrials:

American Sugar Refining preferred from 131 to x.106, or 19.1%. The maximum recovery was for:

Railroads:

Northern Pacific from 100.5 to 127.5, or 26.8%. Industrials:

General Electric from 89.5 to 121.5, or 35.8%. The minimum recovery was for:

Railroads:

Southern Pacific preferred from 100 to 110.5, or 10.5%. Industrials:

American Sugar Refining preferred from x.106 to 111, or 4.7%. Comparing prices on Jan. 17, 1908, with the highest of a year before,The greatest fall is in:

Railroads:

Great Northern preferred from 189.7 to 123.5, or 34.9%. Industrials:

United States Steel common from 50.4 to 29.6, or 41.3%. The least fall is in:

Railroads:

Southern Pacific preferred from 118.1 to 110.5, or 6.4%. Industrials:

United States Steel preferred from 107.7 to 94.0, or 12.7%.

No useful purpose can be served by attempting too close an analysis of such tables as these. However, the Industrial group is sharply divided into three categories of enterprise, dealing respectively with electricity, metals, and food, and a comparison of these may have some interest.

Electricity. During the crisis the totals of American Telephone and General Electric quotations averaged 40% below the highest points: their average recovery was 30% from the lowest; and on Jan. 17, 1908, they averaged 22% below prices of a year before. Of the two General Electric showed a decline of 45% against only 34% on the part of American Telephone, but a recovery of 36% (the highest percentage of the two lists) against only 244% in the case of the other. Finally, Jan. 17, 1908

finds American Telephone only about 18%, while General Electric was 25% below the highest point of 1907. The contrasts are between a public service and a manufacturing corporation.

Metals. The average decline of the four stocks during the crisis was 44% and the recovery over 24%, leaving their average value on Jan. 17, 1908, lower by 30% than the highest point. But here must be noted the greatest decline in any stock of the two tables, that of United States Steel common from 50.4 in January 1907, to 21.9 on October 23, amounting to 56%. This stock, however, recovered by 35% (or nearly as much as General Electric), leaving its value on Jan. 17, 1908, still 41% below the highest point. United States Steel preferred had a narrower range, declining only by 26%, and recovering by 19% to a value only 121% below that of a year before. American Smelting and Refining preferred fell 30%, and recovered over 14%, with a value on Jan. 17, 1908, some 20% below January 1907. Calumet and Hecla declined by 461% (15% more than American Smelting preferred), but recovered by 26% to a point 324% below its highest quotation.

Food. The averages of this group show a decline of some 26%, a recovery of 15%, with quotations on Jan. 17, 1908, only 15% below those of a year before. It is noteworthy that American Sugar Refining preferred shows the smallest percentages in the two lists, both of decline and of recovery, the lowest quotations being only 19.1% below those of January 1907, with a recovery of only 4.7%. The fluctuations of Swift & Co. stock were more pronounced, the decline being to a point 331% below the highest, and the recovery 291%; while its quotations on Jan. 17, 1908, were about 11% nearer those of a year before than American Sugar Refining preferred.

In the Industrial Stocks, then, as was to be expected, we find the greatest fluctuations and the least average recovery in the metal section, with iron and copper as the dominant factors. The electric section has not suffered so much, while the companies representing food-the two greatest food "trusts"-have lost less ground than the others.

As will have been seen, nothing more has been attempted in these notes than to record the lowest quotations and the degree of recovery for a few well-known stocks during the régime of "clearing-house certificates"; that is, for the two months when cash payments were partially suspended by the banks. But each reader must be left to gauge for himself the significance of these figures, as well as of the distinct set-back in stock prices since the 17th of January last. It must be remembered that I have dealt with only one phase of a still enduring crisis, and that no one can yet say how much longer its liquidation may last. For among the forces at work there are some whose energy must elude forecast and statistical measurement, because they are psychological rather than economic.