Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-14
DIRECTOR CORNERS PROXIES
0ls cfisial Of Grain Exchange Proposes to
e. Dictate the Election.
OTHERS PROPOSE TO PREVENT THIS
Do Not Care 60 Have AHairs Of
the Exchange Turned over to
One Man for Domino
ton.

Charging that one director of the Omaha
Grain exchange has secured sixty proxies
by which he means 20 elect men of his
own choice to the directorate and thus con-
troll the exchange for his personal in
terests the new organization OF active
grain men will wage a fight this forenoon
to have these proxies recalled. They aver
that If this mans plans are carried out
he will absolutely control the board of
directors. They intend to block his game.
g. W. Wattles, whose term OF ONCE as
director and president expires today, Is
said to be one man slated for election by
this holder of proxies. Who the others
are the insurgents do not know. They
have no complaint to make against Mr..
Watties and in fact have placed his name
on their own ticket.
They do hold that no man would make
campaign for proxies unless he had his
personal interests at stake. The directory
who has made such campaign is in the
grain business on about the largest scale
Of any local firm and recently bought
long line Of elevators
The men who are protesting met yester-
day and named a ticket. placing on 1t the
three retiring directors, G. w Wattles,
r =. Kirkendall and S. A. McWhorter
and three actual grain dealers. c. f. Da-
Wis, j. H. Hamilton and c. Vincent. Three
are to be elected.
Request for Recall of Proxies.
The election is to be held between II
o'clock and 4 today The plan will be to
ask the stockholders to recall their proxies
before II o'clock and cast their own vote.
II they canont place themselve in COM
munication with the men holding the
proxies by that time, they can cast their
own vote by getting to the polls in the
Grain exchange before the proxies are
voted
Though the names OF the retiring di-
rectors have been placed on the grain
mems ticket, it is the sentiment that all
members Of the board of directors should
be actually engaged I'm the business, and
for that reason the vote OF the. dealers will
be for Vincent, Davis and Hamilton They
have, however. only thirty votes out OF
1853, the majority of stockholders of the
exchange being business men who have
no connection with the grain trade. There
are nine men on the board and at present
only three are grain dealers. OF these
three only one represents interests outside
Of the elevators.
The compliments read hope in the fact
that number OF proxies were recalled
yesterday after it became known that a
grain mans ticket would be placed in the
field.
Vincent Disguised with IL.
c. Vincent, manager Of the Farmers
Grain company and a candidate for cleo
| ton, said on the situation:
I TT is hard to believe that Omaha bust.
ness men who started the Grain exchange
to promote the best interests OF the city
and state will lend themselves to a few
self-chosen guardians of the exchange by
! handing their proxies to persons who seei
! to- control or to their friends. All inter,
! est should be represented on the board
and 1t seems not unreasonable that active
practical grain men will serve all interests
as well or better than men whose time
| Is fully occupied in other lines OF business
and who are unfamiliar with the needs OF
| the exchange. In asking for the activ,
grain men larger representation on tn,
board the purpose is not TO censure pres
ent members, but gratefully to relieve
some of them of duties that must b,
onerous.
| 1T is to be hoped that business mer
who are stockholders viii cancel theii
proxies and come to the exchange at L
| o'clock to vote their own shares as they
choose after loo, -ng into the situation"