, 1866-03-31
JOINT STOC6, COMPANIES. >:
= =
Their Evila- and Pcrfts-A uRetY
WRrnioG-.The WhipRte FAe UsD&a-
ny ana some 01her CoFposaxfoHs,

Their, Evile and Pexfts-A TnetY
WarniDG-The Whipete RAe psnea-
ny ana some o,her Corporatfons.
From tbs Ctndnnsn Gsre.te, ss,h,,
Recent developments should put the public
On their guard agatust- joint stock companies.
The Hbipple File Company, which lately de-
clared an enormous dividend, now, since tts
cern from the 'start. It not only made NO
money, but It manufactured Inferior files
The President, at the meeting OF stockhold.
ers, admitted that they naod too for steel,
and second elaas steel for ifFs4 clasa Imagine
files made out ofirou! In regard to the char
acte1 Of the files, however, erHt Improvement
has been made; but It Will require years Of
that has teen established We copy the fol-
lowing hom the remarks Of the PteAldeat At
the stockholders meeting;
Mr.. Pierce. Inc freeident Of The cou.psny. then
ialsory. The causc Of he trouble wss ,thas the
company had eudeavoted 10 curry on q business re-
curing capital Of millions or dollars wsth few
bren caeeked. fhouea ibe ata1rs oi S lie eonpan1 @
we're Just now under cloud. he himself did Do1
entertain any gloomy 1hon9ns- for The fususu bu'.
:is il store l6r The stocEhooers. should theT con.
lime the business. When he took hold Of
The business at Balla1dsale be found that be
money with lhe machinery md the material ihrn
at hand lion had TO b used for STEEL aud socoud-
rate steel for fEst-class steel. lie SAW at once
steel. = New mscbines we5e iavsnie and pu, xo sn,o
The uan1tactory- Ue went info The. works 4
eonnon workman. with bls apron on, aud set abo1s
Rertssns and aEssnsi1g tes msehi1s,, sa Nov ths
leen to0s of steel day md manufacture daily one
Thousand do7ena Of ttfes. lie knc~5no other manu-
hetoy tn The @ country !ha' eonld snsn more than
been The great mai utactarcr Of nss Tor years. The
Eneti.h had bad Of the market for Je,rs
Wb,ppe Company hsd faiied. OF cousse 'be an m
ncement Was received wsh The greatest sa,stac-
tlon BY those interested m foreign trade. Though
were somewhat tangled, he had creal hopcs of dual
sueeere. An enormous sum had been consumed tu
eqnipp,nc the works. and now they were nearly
pcffected, that eXpeufe would be les-ened.
Another warning Is found in the manage
ment Of the United States Telegraph Com
pany. This concern gained tho confidence of
the public from the reputation Of the men
who undertook the management Of it In New
York. The result shows that these men
must have dtsrobed themselves OF their bust
machine. It. will be recollected that the
United States Telegraph Company declared .
dividend last year. At that TIME an "ene-
my" charged, through the newspapers, that
bnt from cash paid In tor stock. This was il.
dfgnantly denied. Figures were produced to
show that the dividend was fairly and hon
estly earned. It now aupears the Company
never paid expenses. When the trustees con
cluded to sell out they put On their honest
clothes and tried 10 get IL the way OF tell
ing the truth We suppose it safe to say that
q bushel measure would not hold the wiltul
and deliberate lies that we're told by the New
York managers In regard to that dividend
Next ring was formed to build line to the
Pacific. The lines In the States didn't pn,y,
therefore q line must be tuilt at IN expense
Of seven million dollars..to San Francisco
there was q nice thing in prospect How
1t has resulted We don't know. Now We
have a letter from Mr.. Ortcn, President
OF the United States Telegraph Company,
telling about the consolidation, and giving q
most dismal account OF the condition OF the
kary to consolidate In order to save the
property. Then what tremendous fools the
manDgers Of the Western Union Company
must hare been to take In the United States
lines. We never before had IN Intimation
that the managers OF the Western Union
we're fools: We don't think they are. This
last mentioned circular is remarkable foE
Its deficiency in Information. It Folnn-
teers advice, but furnishes no facts It
says the United States stockholders,
representing capital OF SIX millions, are en-
titled to fifteen per cent Of the net earnings
OF the consolidated Lines; but It lakes care
not to mention what these net earnings have
been or are likely to be. We do not offer any
advice to the United States stockholders, hut
In view Of the course pursued by the Trus-
tees first in declaring bogus dividend; sec
ond in lying for months about the dividend
third In forming or allowing to be furrued
8 ring TO fleece the Company under cover
Of building q line to California aud
finally In selling out without saying 'tii
you please +" to shareholders; in view OF all
these things the Cincinnati and other West
ern stockholders should appoint commit e
to look into matters and give to stockholders
an honest report, In order that they may
know what is best to be done In order to save
the remnant Of heir property.
Then comes the National Bankers' Express.
That was gotten up to be sold ont, and the
sale was made, and yesterday it WIS con-
lrmsd. Stockholders, 1t Is true, were not
skinned badly By this operation, but they
were very coolly sold out without their
knowledge or consent, and We suppose the
'Trustees'' made very good thing out Of 1t.