The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-28

strike OF THchiuists Delayed HE:si-
ne~s-EarninES To Ice Reserved for
Working CnpitnI-Sevcu Per Cent
Tor Prcfcrrcd-NO Rate On Common
The American Graphophonc Company
has sent To- its stockholders the following
circuIar-icttor. telling OF the cutting of
the dividend ou tho preferred stock an
uouuc,d in The Times last week. and
limiting al the cutting or entire passing of
tho dividend ON IN, common stock
For She frs; lime since our rcorEani-
Zytlnu "a fiscal year has passed with mo-
issue OF securities uu account Of capital
1 We have paid s. per cent ia dlvld, udS on
( both preferred and common stock. and FOR
! tn, first seven months of the year car
ri,d unusually large cash balances ana
made cur greatest net earnings. Our total
dividend payment from reorganization TO
I date is about NluJun-
The ComuI,t. data for the annual re-
/ port for the year ended September 80
ar. not Yet I'm hand. but il is evident from
our inability to meet fully the trade con
I CIiIuu~ cd! the summer ihat the result
must be relatively ppointmcut. The
causes are u1d srStood and have already
been treated. Prominent among them Is
/ the fact t!.tt preparation Tor important
ami profitable work greatly in dem and
and essential 60 the advauc m"ut Of the
art was stopped for two months hy the
strike OF the ma"ululStS. which began ln
Z May and which involved also hundreds Of
other manufacturers. This work IS now
coming through freely and should soon
/ mateTialize into generous profits. "" en-
( ter thc new fiscal year with an urEanizd-
/ tou moro efhcIDIJ. more compact. md
! more economical than over. and with all
/ OUT problems better understood urtt r IN
| hand. and better Stfoguurded-
The work Of the laboratory has been
| So fruitful and the Improvement and re-
! c"UStructions so rcEulCtinnary IN char
/ Hct-r that of necessity additional capital
! Will bs required Therefore, Ia the inter
| est of conservatism. 81 is now deemed
/ best TO modify temporarily our policy Of
I dividing so fully the earnings among the
| STOCKHOLDERS and To- reserve some Of the
! earnings for capital account
I The extent or duration OF this modifi-
| cation cannot Dee iurclligeutly determined
| until the year is further advanced and the
! possibilities md requirements Of the new
/ work are more definitely known
/ According TO the terms under which
! the preferred stock was issued dividends
! on the common stock cannot De- paid until
! per cent per duuum ltis been paid on
! the preferred II has therefore. been
! unanimously determined to pay n diyi-
/ dend Of J., per cent at the usual time
. November T. on the preferred stock, and
10 defer action on the question Gf com
/ mon-stock dividend UnEI the fiscal wear
. Hr further advanced and Us results can be
. approximately determined
. The fact that majority IF the com
/ mon stock D. owned by IN" oihceFs ana
/ employees of the company and their con-
: uectiouS should ne IN ample guarantee
I that this stock would Doe given the ut
most consideration and that dividends
! viii Doe declared ~ the earliest moment
I and 10 the most liberal extent consistent
/ with a. Wis, policy Meanwhile the com
4 UaUE will Doe materially strengthened and
f the intrinsic value OF all the stock thus
] Increased
! by the order of the board Of directors
( Il. u. EASTON. Pr'sid at
/ The circuIar is considered 10y stock
I holders generally a disappointing docu-
mcut. though IL has been generally un-
/ derstood that something Of the kind was
/ likely To- Doe issued by the company.