Black Ink

Reiterating his fealty to a system of private enterprise, property and profit last week, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that no Administration in U. S. history had done more for that system than the New Deal. Seldom in U. S. history have the reports of private industry played into the hands of a Presidential nominee so neatly as those for the third quarter of 1936. The first 76 corporations to publish their figures on the eve of election showed aggregate profits of $71,480,000, a 47% increase over the third quarter of 1935. Some typical reports:

Union Carbide & Carbon announced a profit of $8,111,897 for the three months through September, biggest third quarter since 1929 and nearly $2,000,000 more than it made in the same period last year. Union Carbide has absorbed Recovery at every pore.

McGraw-Hill Publishing made $343,343 against $251,325 in the third quarter of 1935, bringing its nine-months' earnings to $745,268, more money than it has earned in any twelvemonth since 1932.

Scott Paper, for whose benefit J. Walter Thompson broke down the taboo on toilet paper advertising in the 1920'$, reported nine-months' earnings of $756,442 as against $700,511 a year ago, appeared ready to surpass 1935's full-year profit of $938,574, which was a record.

Johns-Manville, rolling up sales on many a new building job, made $1,618,659 in the third quarter. J-M's nine-months' earnings were $3,093,560, almost double the figure for the same period last year and nearly $1,000,000 greater than profits for the full year 1935.

Caterpillar Tractor, largest U. S. maker of Diesel-type power units, reported third-quarter profits of $2,551,379, compared to $1,403,491 in the same three months last year. Profits for the nine months were $7,032,470 as against $4,311,643 in the same period of 1935.

Beech-Nut Packing, No. 2 U. S. gummaker as well as a food company, reported nine-month earnings of $2,123,441 as against $1,596,108 in the same period last year.

Schenley Distillers made $1,716,847 in the third quarter, $4,782,795 for the nine months, a slightly better showing for the long period than in 1935. This year Schenley expanded capacity from 27,000,000 gal. of hard liquor annually to 41,400,000 gal.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours showed a $23,875,048 profit compared to $17,704,182 in the third quarter of 1935. From du Font's investment in General Motors came more than one-half this net. Nine-month earnings were $62,567,019 against $40,154,667 last year.

Phillips Packing, having lost money-in spite of its cheap canned soup campaign-in the first quarter, cleared $143,706 in the second quarter, upped the figure to $861,365 for the third quarter. Boomed Soup-man Albanus Phillips in issuing his statement: "Please bear in mind . . . that I do not wish to commit the company to the issuance of quarterly statements."

General Electric reported quarterly earnings of $9,941,343 against $5,663,903 last year, making a total of $26,533,667 earned so far this year, compared to $17,-205,332 in the first nine months of 1935.

United Fruit made $3,750,000 in the quarter, bringing its nine-months' earnings to $10,628,000, compared to $7,350,000 last year.

Texas Corp., prospering like most oil companies, made profits estimated by Chairman Torkild Rieber at $28,000,000 in the first nine months of 1936 compared to only $17,300,075 for the full year 1935.

Republic Steel, enjoying steel's best sea son in years, showed a nine-month profit of $6,333,649 as against $3,264,295 last year. President Tom Mercer Girdler estimated that the surtax on Republic's undis tributed profits would amount to $603,000 in 1936.

Corn Products Refining, world's biggest corn grinder (Argo starches, Karo corn syrup, Mazola oil), reported a nine-month net of $8,339,192, compared to $5,373,070 for the first three quarters of 1935.

Gillette Safety Razor made $1,187,360 in the third quarter, an improvement over the $1,122,518 shown in the same period of 1935, which was a record year for Gillette sales throughout the world.

Procter & Gamble, having sold more soap in the fiscal year through June than in any on record, made $6,629,564 in the quarter ended Sept. 30. compared to $3,604,505 in the same period of 1935.

Philip Morris, reporting for the fiscal six months through September, showed a profit of $1,700,507. nearly double its earnings for the corresponding period of 1935.

National Cash Register, ringing the change on the world's largest assortment of money boxes, earned $613,516 for the quarter, $1,772,529 for the first nine months. In 1935 the figures were respectively $295,841 and $993,754.

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