The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-07

He difecsprs Of worthls.- coal COMPANY, fore
seeing their expulsion 1t . coming election, ,
made q fraudulent issue Of certificates Of stock,
in order to command majority q votes The
fraud was Of course discovered, transactions In 4
the stock were arrested, and large sums Of money
lost by innocent holders. 1t II rumored that
similar operations have been made in many
other stocks. The state Of thel being such
that president or directors ere not penalty re-
spousibse for frauds Of this nature, . temptation
is offered which few cen resist Detection only
takes place when, - In the case Of the Parker
Vein Company, suspicion is aroused ~ the
brazen impudence Of the swindle, or, e. in the
case of the New Haven Railroad Company,
when the perpetrator Of the fraud fails, and all
his affairs are brought to light. When both
these contingencies can be avoided, the fraud
may be safely prsctised for years.
1t is Of vital necessity to our financial int
rests that check should be placed ON this sort
Of swindling, and the power Of making fraudu-
lent Issues of stock forever taken from unscru-
pulous men. Robert Schuyler has only been
| guilty of breach of trust, for which he 10 not
penalty accountable. In this point the law is
defective. We should at once insist on the
passage Of law by which over issues Of stock
by presidents, directors or transfer agents,
| would be declared misdsmeanor punishable by
Imprisonment in the penitentiary for term Of
years. This precaution would deter many from
| committing frauds of this nature. It would not
eunlce alone however; as the imprisonment ofMr.
Schuyler or the Parker Vein directors would not
restore the money they have flched from their
! shareholders.
| This just satisfaction should be secured by
| imposing on the directors of all corporate
financial institutions personal liability In re-
| spect of over issues Of stock. 1t was the busi-
ness of the directors of the New Haven Railroad
Company to examine the stock ledger and the
transfer book day by day; had they done 10, no
spurious stock could ever have been Issued
They have, by their neglect in this respect, be-
trayed the interests they received in trust from
the shareholders and it would be but bare jus
tice that they should atone for that neglect by
bearing the present loss on their individual shout
ders Unfortunately, the law holds them harm
less, just az It did in the Norwalk accident bust
ness. This is q second defect in our CODE
Scores Of railroad and bank directors do not
enter the institutions they have in charge once
in dx months: hence the facility dishonest pre-
ddents and managers enjoy for the commission
| Of frauds. A law should be passed imposing on
every director Of . corporate institution whose
stock is in the market . personal liability to
the shareholders for all stock fraudulently is-
sued. This would compel bank and railroad
directors to look 30 closely after the stock
books that fraudulent Issues would be impoasi-
BILE: and the additional responsibility Of the
Office might be compensated by a salary.
1t has been likewise suggested that frauda-
lent issues Of stock might be prevented by the
establishment Of q general transfer ONCE, and
register Of stocks, under charge Of public
officer. Could such an oasce be established, it
would doubtless meet the end desired. But the
difficulties in the way Of such an innovation are
formidable in the extreme. No corporate body
would willingly surrender into the hands Of
public officer so essential part Of it's private
business as the transfer Of its stock; anA1f such
men as Robert Schuyler commit frauds, where
could an honest transfer agent be found
What security would be adequate to insure in
fegrity from man who would have il in his
power to cheat the public of millionsf The
notion is nevertheless worth consideration
plan might possibly be suggested which you'd
obviate these objections. At all -, the
other remedies we recommend should at once
be secured.
The WEATHER -Dur0O the mast throo
four days we have been treated to pretty fair
specimen Of the kind Of weather they have at
the tropics; the mercury was up to ninety five,
and in some places rs high as ninety seven,
while the city was converted into one vast
oven, in which the people were nearly roasted
to death. So intense was the heat during the
day that no person could stand with fmpunity
under the sun for an hour; the pavements were
almost as hot under the feet as burning Goals;
the naked hand could not touch iron which had
been exposed to the SUMS rays without blister
ing, and even the little wind that was vouch-
safed to our parched city was like blast from
furnace. What rendered this weather 30
alarming to the timid, was the knowledge Of
the prevalence Of cholers in our midst, and the
fact that it is generally more fatal in such
condition Of the atmosphere. We trust, how
ever, that the report Of the City Inspector will
show decrease in the mortality from this fear
full sc0urge, and we would recommend every
one to abstain from all excess in eating and
drinking.
Last year we had just such weather for four
or five days, without the slightest intermission,
nrI -. l.