New-York tribune., 1906-07-17
WELLS FARGO WRANGLE
1NSWER TO MANAGEMENT
Reformers Sag e. II. Hartman
Rms Company to Suit Himself.

Replying TO the circular issued a fortnight ago
20 the stockholders Of Wells. Fargo & CO., by the
management. the Stock Exchange firm OF Walter
G. Stokes & Co. who are leading the movement OF
minority holders TO obtain larger dividends. yester-
day sent 20 the stockholders a circular. in which
the domination Of the corporation by e. II. HaTri-
man is the central theme The circular says In
part:
The issue is between Mr.. Hartman on the one hand
@ ea Ut 9 sere eoey OF nneteen nGnaisa @ NC
company, although he had only ten shares Of stock
apart from the holdings OF the Southern Pacific
Railway; We contend;
tirst-Ihat the condition OF the company. the
na5STe OF las assets and an az matters a. aseng @ s
holders. The company should be no longer run as
one-man concern nor as though it were the prt-
Second-That the general body OF stockholders be
LITERALLY represented on the beard OF directors in
Third-That this company. which is admittedly
per cent. and which has accumulated an admitted
surplus OF 80 per cent above its capital and an
"a S'pe pr sgRS een 9E 5 more ought 70 Pag al 81
the dividend serves TO depress the price Of the
who want 20 acquire ft cheapy and who can best
NO stockholder knows to-day what the assets
consist or. and we are confronted with the amazing
The sggseston is conVeyed BY the the Circular that
The new contracts With The 9 Southern S 20 Pacac Rail
way Company at the end OF eight and one half
s6suTdly small dvidends On the basis of only 50
per cent earnings after paying 16 per cent dfvi-
aendS 1 the cS2ltai ana surplus With @ interest VIII
time. Il will hardly be claimed that any greater
sum can be proftably used in the business. Its
chief purpose would be to the convenience
yoGr pTopery 20 e St not h6 pupose Sc 0r Witch
you should fOrego a reasonable return the true
value of your investment.
In support Of cur statement that the actual sur
plus is vastly in excess OF $1200O,0OO. refer you
to the last published statement of Wells Fargo &
Co, issued August 1, 1904. IL there appears that
the Wells Fargo bank. independently Of the
than SIS 600. 900 Since then the express company
has added more than $4000,0 900 to its surplus, 20
say nothing of what the banking business has
earned. What has become Of this difference of more
than 81 900 in surplus?
When this agitation began. your stock although
for many years earning at the rate of 80 per cent.
selling at about $3.50 share. which would
have been a fair price for a stock with less than
agitation began Mr.. Hartman, through Mr. HAL
mar H. BOyeSen, representing him and his aSSOcf-
ates, has been travelling around New England in
search of proxies and offering $3.50 a share TO
stockholders who refused their proxies. To This
extent. at least. you have already gained by the
movement.
A few weeks ago Messrs Kuhn. Loeb & CO.
who the bankers for Mr.. Hartman, sent $l9SCOO
to Springfield Mass, to be used for the purchase
of stock. This desire to acquire stock may
count for the solicitous conservatism that is en-
phasized in the circular We urge you, however.
not to sell your stock. We believe IL 70 be in
trinsicay worth more than $40 a share, and that
we shall be able to demonstrate this to you very
soon after the annual meeting on August 8, If you
secure control Of your property.
We slready represent more than Sc per cent in
number of the stockholders. We expect to be able
to vote clear majority August g. but as we
cannot t1ll what stock the management may buy
IN the time, and thus revoke existing proxies
We are anxious to secure as large support as pos