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SIGNATURE HOWARD L. KITZMILLER
TITLE SECRETARY
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<MULTIPLIER> 1000
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 12-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> APR-30-1996
<PERIOD-END> APR-30-1996
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 14815337
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 20703051
<RECEIVABLES> 337295
<ASSETS-OTHER> 242
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<TOTAL-ASSETS> 21040588
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<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
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<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 908579
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 764362
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<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 656091
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
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<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 879840
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<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> 89667
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 61318
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</TABLE>
May 31, 1996
To the Board of Directors of
Washington Mutual Investors Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of
Washington Mutual Investors Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") for the year ended April
30, 1996, we considered its internal control structure, including procedures
for safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing procedures for
the purposes of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to
comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on
the internal control structure.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining an internal control structure. In fulfilling this responsibility,
estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected
benefits and related costs of internal control structure policies and
procedures. Two of the objectives of an internal control structure are to
provide management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets
are appropriately safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or
disposition and that transactions are executed in accordance with management's
authorization and recorded properly to permit preparation of financial
statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure,
errors or irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of
any evaluation of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that
it may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not
necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might
be material weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which
the design or operation of the specific internal control structure elements
does not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that errors or
irregularities in amounts that would be material in relation to the
financial statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely
To the Board of Directors of
Washington Mutual Investors Fund, Inc.
May 31, 1996
Page 2
period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned
functions.
However, we noted no matters involving the internal control structure,
including procedures for safeguarding securities, that we consider to be
material weaknesses as defined above as of April 30, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Price Waterhouse LLP
