Facts & Figures

Margins. Texas' Wright Patman, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, demanded that stock market margins be reduced from 75% to 50%. He pointed out that the buyer of an $1,800 auto must pay only $600 down, but the buyer of $1,800 of stock must still pay $1,350 down. Said Patman: high margins had "almost entirely dried up" the capital market. The Federal Reserve Board was "studying" the matter.

Railroads. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. reported a net profit of $62.8 million for 1948, second biggest in its history (biggest: 1942-5 $73.6 million). But its wholly owned subsidiary, the Western Improvement Co. and its affiliates, which operate the oil, mining and timber enterprises spread beside the Santa Fe's tracks, did even better. Net profit of $11.2 million was its best ever. As in other years, the profit did not go to Santa Fe but into Western Improvement's surplus, bringing it to $58.8 million. Said Santa Fe's President Fred Gurley: "A handy cushion."

Meat. The Tax Court of the U.S. ruled that merchants who paid black market prices for merchandise during OPA days can deduct such illegal payments as a cost of doing business. For Houston's black-marketeering Select Meat Co., in the test case, the ruling meant a $60,000 tax saving.

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