Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-15
Professor Sumner.


 Some Of His Recent Declarations Severe 1y Criticized.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER It seems pity that one who occupies the position of teacher of "PoIitical Econo- my" in Yale College should, if indeed he be
 right in his position that free trade would be of such great benefit to the people of this country as he imagines, so impair his influ. ence as a lecturer and public teacher, outside of Yale College, as Mir. Sumner is undoubt-
 edly doing by his careless and unverifable statements relating to facts and statistics, no less than by his incorporate denunciation of those who entertain opinions different from his own, regarding matters of public policy
 and expediency, to say nothing of the in-
 tense egoisna exhibited in connection there-
 with
 The immediate occasion of this thought is
 the perusal of several of Mir. Summers re-
 gently published letters, with extracts from
 one of his lectures contained in one of them.
 In one letter he attacks with unseemly
 language the Hon. Wm. M Evarts, and con-
 temptuously alludes to Henry Clay and Hor-
 ace Greeley. In the other he attempts to
 justify his recent public utterance, which was
 that the Willimantic Linen company last
 year paid 959 per cent. in dividends to it's
 stockholders, which amount he intimates
 came largely out of the scant earnings of
 poor sewing women, living in garrets or the
 humblest homes throughout the land. The
 statement was simply untrue. Its intent
 MT. Sumner was not backward to avow. It
 was to show what an enormous amount, per
 year, that great company is making out of
 poor sewing women by the aid of the
 D ko o1ro
 mistake was inexcusable. In matters of that
 kind the real facts should be ascertained be.
 fore positive statements are publicly made.
 It is true Mir. Sumner now so far modiies
 his first statement as to say that it was not
 95 per cent. It was only 90 per cent, he
 says. But any business man who reads
 his letter will notice at once that the latter
 statement is almost as untrue in fact and in
 essential spirit, without regard to intent. as
 the former. It appears from Mir. Summers
 letter that the Willimant1c Linen company
 paid a dividend of ten per cent. on it's cap
 ital stock in January, 1882, and another div idend of ten per. cent. in July, 1882. These
 were in fact the only dividends paid during the year. Sometime during the year it seems that the company, desiring to extend its operations, issued additional stock to the amount of $500, ,0O0, which was taken and tf1lly aoGid for at it's par value. The stock holders did not thus receive dividend, 710t e0e7a c stock di0jde1ad. They did have the privilege of subscribing for the new stock at par. Most of them are supposed to have availed themselves of this privilege. How far 1t has proved valuable privilege may, perhaps, better appear from a simple state ment of facts. Before the new stock was issued, the stockholders re ceived ten per cent. semi annually. Now they receive eight per cent semi an. nually. stockholder having three shares of old stock received thereon $2 50 8 share, amounting to $7.5O for his three shares, as a semi annual dividend. After paying $25 for another share of new stock he now receives upon the four shares $8 in all as his semi annual dividend, making it the same as if he received two per cent. semi.annually upon his $25 invested in the new share and con- tinued to receive the same as before on his old stock. Mir. Sumner assumes that the new stock has as great value per share as the old had before the new issue, he does not expressly say so. . But such is not the fact, either as to the actual or the market value of the stock. If he did not know this he could easily have himself. There is no excuse for his not having done so before publicly mak- ing such statements and assumptions while or writing In the role of a ''Politi- cal Economist. But even if this assumption as to the market value of the stock after the new issue were true it would have furnished u AOSb 1u6uu1C1oAI 1OOAddI1OA 4OEr tAC dhSS0E ton a-the lecture, Ebick is neas lsnin9ar-so .. ted as an anti-tarif argument by certain portion of the press of the country. The fact is that the market value of the stock of the Willimantic Linen while it is now since the issue of new stock less than what is assumed by MT. Sumner, is still much above it's par value, but it represents not the accretion of si7l9Ie year, but plant of buildings and machinery of great magnitude, erected during a long series of years, and 8 business which has turing that time, with the aid of valuable patents, been prosecuted with unusual sa gacity and success until it has assumed large It is said that the thread made by this company is the best in the world. Those who are older than MT. Sumner, and 7ery careful to be accurate in their state l nents, say that before the Willimantic Linen | company existed a spool of thread quite infe- l ior to that now made by that company re- | ailed for twice much as one now made by | hem does. Whether the present quality and | price would have been reached with free | rade'' is a question about which intelligent | nen may possibly differ.
 The writer of this communication is in no way interested in the Willimantic Linen com oany except as 8 citizen of Connecticut and ,f the United States is interested in our man. fractures. As 0 citizen of New Haven he is | lesirous thatineither incorrect statements, nor erroneous deductions therefrom, shall seem to l issue from Yale College. It s no compliment to Yale College or to Mir. | Sumner to suppose that he is grossly l gnorant in regard to matters of which l le speaks so positively in his lectures and | etters. His letter of explanation only makes l ,he matter worse as it seems to many. We | prefer, however, to think that he fails to | their force and scope rather | than to believe that for the purpose of manu- | public sentiment, in accordance with his own theories, he would wilfully | misstate, nisrepresent or mislead. But, if l he does fail so to comprehend, of what value are his statements or his deductions there I from? OBSERVER.