Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-10-15


~saoNingshe Dooks.
Most 81 No troublss experienced
froin and by corpbrations Of al kinds
grow oat Of the ~iavct.rAtcs practice
Of private bookkeeping. The &C.
counts are concealed. The figures are
carefully covered up. The books orc,
kept III q way to mystify the unint-
tiased, even II they are allowed to.
look at them. The affairs Of our orr
poratlons are hid from. the eyes of the
average storkholdcr ne seduoualy ~
though thry wtrs strictly private OPP
CREATIONS with which he has no concern.
All lie knows about the doings Of a
company liz which no mny hayo In
vcstca his whole Proper,y is gathered
from the ingeniously cooked reports
the officers kcc Ill to make from time
10 time, aud tho questionable infor-
nation dropped by directors now aud
,hcn, quite ne often to al'ay suspicion
aud mislcad us to enllghten his mind.
TITO consequences 10 that the managers
come 70 have ono set Of interests and
tho stockholders another, aud the
former do not scruple OH occasions TO
use their knowledge to injure the lat
ter. In half our corporations 1t is
safc to say that the affairs are con-
ducied in the interest andfor the ben-
Cit Of the managers rather than the
stockholders, who nre kept In igno.
rance Of tho rcnl condition Of affairs
and obliged TO put UP with such div
idends as tho directors see 1t to de-
clare. The difficulty /" most OF our
railroad corporations grows out Of
their systematic conccslnont Of the
real condition of things from til. men
who really own the roads and have n
right to know all the facts connected
with their management. Were the
books of every corporation kept OH
simple principles and Kept open for
the examination Of stockholders at
any time, we should hear little conn
paint Of mismanagememt or gambling
Spcculations in stocks, aud fewer
Stockholders would be flccced that
directors may be clothed in q double
garment of wool. The Eric robbery
was perpetrated through the igno-
rance Of the stockholders, who were
kept carefully blindfoldcd in order
that they should not see what tho
managers were doing directly under
their ey,s. That road would have
been saved had the director, becp
compelled TO show the books.
Thclast illustration of this crimi-
nal concca'mcnt %oraccounts isfurnish-
ed by the Western Union Telegraph
company. 1t is an immense concern.
Tho affairs have hecn managed with
an adroitnoss which has almost out
witted Itself, and failed from excess
Of sharpness and u ming. They went
down OH The street and bought up
::.c stock OF the company az it was
pfrrreL TO: sale, giving the impress
.ion that :;.ey held it at = high figure.
they allowed 'he idea to leak out n
,'sccret that they you'd reissue ti,,
compnny's cscrvc stock as q dividend
this month and declare a cash divi-
'dend of some 8 per cent. OH tho Gu
tire stock, amounting to Sal, 00O, 1000.
These facts Kept Western Union
stock at the highest figure, and even
stockholders Who were in the dark,
but who still believed in the honest,
Of the management, purchased stock
ut the highest rates. The report of
the compsu!., publishes >~-w.A"-.
lay, opened the eyes Of those whose
lids had been glued together, and
showed that the management had
been playing a deep game on purpose
TO deceive the public and even their
own stockholders, aud that the in.
come ofthc company over and above
the expenditures for the year would
not warrant a dividend of above
per cent. The street operations of the
managers were n blind, and the wills
pered hint of All s per cent. dividend
was IL lie, c%uunimgly concoctcd to DE-.
ccive evcn their w stockholders,
The inevitable consequence was 9
sudden tumble of Western stock
from 6S to So, with a probability of
still further decline. in.spite of til.
efforts Of interested parties TO hold il
up. The public have been cheated.
and wen the stockholders have been
%swindled, by n management which
has proved itself to lie a; conspiracy
and u fraud. And this was made
possible only by the systematic con.
cralmcnt of the books ofthe corpora,
ton from the stockholders, who had
y right to know What the manageri
were doing and what the company
was earning. For three years the cor.
poration has been managed as though
t were the private property OF a com
pany of speculators. who were ouly
concerned 10 make the most none,
out of it for the time being, and built
it up for their own private advam
,age. The only remedy for such ,
condition ofthings is in open books
The accounts of every corporation
, should be kept i'll such a manner this,
. they can be easily understood, ant
should be always open to the inspec
ton Of the bona -fde stockholders
Els would keep the stakeholder
from butt!ng their heads against eacl
other on the street, and put All effcctu
, ii check upon II Of the worst specie