The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1904-03-26
TO REORGANIZE 1T
.,opruERN SECURITIES COMPANY
TO STILL EXIST.
,,, II will Not Hold Securities
prohibited by Supreme Court
Decision---Capital Stock tn Be
auced % Per Cent--Circuiar by
Mr.. Hill.

Now York. March 23.-Following
dow of great excitement in the stock
,norket and numerous conferences
nnone the leading financial interests,
the nlan of the Northern Securities
Comnany was made public last even
mo in circular letter to Northern
securities stockholders, signed by Pres
don't Hill. The letter says in part:
..Tbe stock of the Northern Securi-
.;os Company was issued solely for the
.hores of the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern railroad companies
ond other companies purchased by it.
"The company's acquisition of Nor
.horn Pacific and Great Northern
shares was made in the full belief that
s,ch purchases were in no wise Obnox-
cons 70 any law of the United States
an opinion which has received the ap-
nroyal of four justices Of the supreme
rourt of the United States, namely,
Mr. Chief Justice Fuller and Associate
Iustices Edward White, Rufus w.
packbam and Oliver Wendell Holmes,
in the suit brought by the United
States against the right of the compa-
nv TO hold and vote the shares. How
ever, the majority of the court, disre-
0arding as irrelevant any beneficial in.
crease of commerce, was of the opin-
ion that as a matter of law your COM
nanv's holdings of the stock of the two
railway companies in itself constituted
q restraint of interstate commerce pro-
hibited by the so-called Sherman act
Of 1890. Accordingly, the railway
companies have been forbidden to per-
nit your company to vote or collect
dividensd on the shares held by you
Will Distribute Shares.
Therefore your directors, at a meet
ing held this day, have, under the ad
vice of counsel, decided that in order
to fully and promptly comply with the
decree in this suit it is necessary to
reduce the capital tsock of the compa-
ny and to distribute to its shareholders
the shares of stock of said railway cOm
panies now held by you.
"To this end they have adopted res
buttons recommending to the stock
holders
"First-That the capital stock of
this company be reduced from 3,954,-
900 shares now outstanding to 80, $40,
being reduction of 90 per cent.
"Second-That said 80 per cent of
the present outstanding shares be
called in for surrender and cancella-
ton.
'Third-That against each share of
the stock of this company so to be sur
rendered there will be delivered $39.27
stock of the Northern Pacific Railway
Company; $30.17 stock of the Great
Northern Railway Company, and pro
portionae amounts thereof for each
fraction of share of the stock.
''As required by the laws of the state
of New Jersey under which the compa-
ny was created special meeting OF the
shareholders has been called for April
81, 1904, at IL o'clock, a. IN, at the
Office of the company in Hoboken.
For the purposes of this meeting
the stock transfer books will be closed
April 49,.
The assets of the company remain
ing in the treasury after the foregoing
distribution is made will consist of
stocks and other property in no way in
yolved in the suit, producing income
and conservatively valued at an
amount in excess of $3, 1854 900, to
which it is proposed to reduce the
stock of the company"
Remaining Assets.
The new plan was formally adopted
at meeting of the directors, which
began in the morning and lasted well
into the afternoon. There were pres
ent at this meetinsg President Hill,
George f. Baker, William P. Clough,
Edward H. Hartman, ID. Willis James,
Daniel s. Lamont, John s. Kennedy,
George W. Perkins, N. Terhune and
one or more other directors.
Dealings in Union Pacific common
on the stock exchange aggregated over
i0per cent of the total outstanding is-
sue. 1t was declared in various omar
ter5 that the Hill-Morgan party had
Tor some reason deemed it necessary to
ouy heavily in this stock.
Large amounts of Southern Pacific
shares also changed hands, and sales of
Great Northern preferred, of which
the floating supply is very small,
amounted to /, 900, shares.
Magnates i'm Conference.
After the close of the market long
conference was held at the Office OF j.
r. Morgan q Co. Those who attended
included Mr.. Morgan, Mr.. Hartman,
Mr.. Hill, Mr.. Lamont, Mr.. Perkins,
d. r Morgan, Jr.. Francis L. Stetson,
VI counsel to j. p. Morgan q Co., and
ex,Judge Bum, of Minnesota, Mr..
MIL Deiaoual laual adviaor