The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1902-09-05
"a. t \ q n 8 3, ],
s.;l'l'!O!..'I,;. ,;.!'''....
Tile SIlEEI lR 4
# Is Now Worth Over One BillioniS
g. $S Dollars.
Rs.Ns Hal. a MILLION sD Ally 4
4 i; i

The Figures Mad tho AfIldavitsI
Arc slsysorapers Its Iias a sulr-95 VI; VI
# plus q G 9 ixty- -flyo Iillions.
Sss at Trenton, N B. Wednesday, the
United States steel corporation fled
in the courtof chancery an answer to-
the amended bill Of complaint 81 u u
4Aspinwall Hodge, Bernard Smith and
William III. Cnrtiss, to- restrain Y the
proposed conversion OF 5000, 900, ,OO057ss
per cent. preferred stock into 5000, ,-
100000 8 per cent. second mortgage
bonds. y. d 38t85$$SS 8 S!
The answer denies that the books Ofi
the corporation show Curtiss to be tho
owner Of any stocks OF the concorn..' \,
Smith, it's aycrred, did hot own any
stock Of record until June "a, ] 0O2 n
after the plan OF conversion had been
adopted, and that@the stock nov
recorded IN Smiths hume was voted /
In favor Of the plan. g;5 !39sss 5s q 81
Hodge, it,f is admitted, owns { 100
shares OF stock, but \ tbs alleged that
he was not present at the stockllold deIS,' Il
meeting when the plan was Submitted /
and that his stock was not voted eli ithers3
by himself or proxy. RI
1t Is denied that fifteen or more of !
the directors OF the steel corporation
arc members Of the syndicate through
which the preferred stock was to DO \
converted into bonds. II sI3s
1t Is admitted that some Of the di- !;
rcctOrs arc members Of the syndicate,
but that this fact was communicated
to every istockhold der In the circular; of 4
April17i 1902, in. the following words II
10 further the success OF the plan &
there has been formed a syndicate In -3s
Guiding some directors, who VIII Te-. y
,coiyc four-fifths Of the "a per- cen 6,
commission to be paid under the con
tract with J. 7. (. Morgan 3tS co. J, men
toned IN tho notice Of S Stockhold ders'
meeting" 83 555 4. "a Y! n 3,5s s3s
The answer says that the directors
IN the corporations are O minority In y
the board OF directors, but tiiey are
large stockholders and favored tho 4
conversion plan because they believed 4
1tWould be advantageous to them as
stockholders. {,i 5g s. II Il
It's denied that any stockholders
had been offered special terms iii con 3
nection with converting 4 thei / pre- u
fcrrcd stock into bonds In order se-3
cure their affirmative votes for theFs
plan &. Il I, \; s lg
1t is denied that the $50, 900, ,00O; Of
additional capital which it d was pro- n
posed to obtain was needed for pur-s
poses that were, charge BILE to the earn
ings Of the company. Z. ~ 5 rs
The answer then takes llp the line 4
OF. argument made In the atfidaVit ofs5
lGeorge 4 Vi .Perls ins, chairman of theEs
finance committee, filed last wee in} lii.3G3
which Mr.. Perkins claimed that this !,
additional $50, 900, 600 was needed to /
pay for improvemen and to give the 1
company a larger surplus to! permit IT,
to do acash business and be protected
against q money strlngency In the
event OF a business depression The 4
answer says the earnings Of the corr
I poration for the year ending March
81, 1902, were Sill ,6O3,O54; for the
month Of April, 1902, $12, 320, T60;$
May, 13,120,39O; June, 4 1920, ,30O;3
July, estimated at $11, 100000, Or at
the rate Of $3.50, OOO, 900 a year. s3 If }sH sy
An inventory is filed to show that
the company's property is worth Z
81 5000, 900 more than the COM
bined par value OF the preferred and
common stocks. 1t Is stated also that
the company's surplus is .$85, 900, ,0O0.
The answer emphasizes the point
raised by Mr.. Perkins to the effect
that tho conversion plan would reduce
the fixed charges Of the company and !
be advantageous to all stock holders,
both preferred and common. # ". gs$