The Washington herald., 1912-10-22
] Local Financial Matters

their shares personsily. and ne pEpxy
was iittle used or needed. bat y =
dimersnt situation to-day. The proxy has
Secome psrt 81 die once machinery q
corporations. used to perretuate tho
power Of those In ONCE.
Preceding the stockholders' mgeting oe
corporations each stockho3der on tn
| list receives q communication from fno
company. containing the polite request
that you WIN please sign the attacheo
proxy, have It properly Witnessed. ana
forward the same TO the comlapys Or
fice, In the little stamped envelope %
convenientiy inclosed.
| Stockholders have become % accue-
toned to receiving these proxies. with
the Invitation to please sign and -
turn" that they have fallen into the
practice Of staying away from meefinss-
Great corporations, with tens % lnou-
sands Of shareholders. frequently hold
their annual meetings In the presence
Of four or fiye salarfed omcials named
| as q proxy committee
In person is frequently looked upon as
an interioper and Is put on with scant
| courtesy.
A mere matter OF form to comply with
| the bylaws which call for . meeting at
a stated period and then the reports are
sent out-cooked up>or made by book
keeping to mean ancient crypt signs IN
Egyptian TO the average investor-then
some day the awakening comes.
| One Of the chief abuses of the baneful
proxy Is that 1t often permits officials
to part with their own holdings. perhaps
give their time to other matterA per-
haps look for entities on the side. and
run the corporations business. while
actually not shareholders of sufhcient
Importance to entitle them to more than
an occasional inspection Of the books.
The statement Is made that once upon
time local utility of size and Inn
portance was operated by a president
vice-president and board of directors
that did not actually represent more
than one or two per cent of the stock
| OF the company. as shareholders, leav-
| ing IS or 80 per cent OF the stock sans
representation-actually
| The perpetuating proxy is sent out
| week or two before the annual meeting
Perhaps there are no objectors. Per
haps some interested shareholders may
have il in mind to rally. foIlowing
and upset the past-due slate-but when
the time for action comes the great wad
| Of proxies Is showed across the table to
the teIlers and II is sufficient to give
| the quietus to budding ambition seeking
| a change
The inference Is plain. The share
holders in a corporation having their
money involved ought to attend meet
| ings-they owe II to their own perspi-
cacity to know what is going, on and to
nourtsh and protect their property from
| the baneful proxies and their perpetu-
ating salary grabbers.
A correspondent inquiries as to the
time OF the closing of the books for
subscriptions of the Standard Oil Com
pany of California. The National City
Bank OF New York will receive sub
scriptions up to and including October
81. the date OF the closing of books for
rights.
The quotations on the stock yesterday
were I5sa16o Quotations on Standard
OH of Ohio. So5asi5.
Over 1870 years ago money matters
were forcibly rejected as subjects for
consideration in the temple.
'.The only merger propositions have
been in misguided newspapers and un-
informed clergymen who persist in ig-
noring facts and talking Of matters with
which they are unfamiliar by calling
and training.
a few financiers. who meet in banks
and business offices, not in churches ex-
cept. perhaps. individually. on Sundays.
with faith in the value of certain prop
critics and having q distinct and plain
financial plan for their properties, have
undertaken their financial operations and
with purpose to carry them through.
| That they decline to discuss the matter
with gentlemen who put Rev. before
their names does not make them rob-
\ bers of the poor"
This conversation was heard on Change
| at the close of business yesterday aft
| ernoon, and in plain English the speak er
asserted that merger had never been
| considered" That's all.
| Local securities were rather slow on
I'Change yesterday. This was especially
true of Washington Railway and Electric
stocks. No .one seemed to care to buy
and the offerings were limited as to
| price at a point where there was nothing
doing. These stocks were nominally a
little lower.
| Washington Gas eased, but there were
buyers at IS 1-2 and one twenty share
| lot brought IS SIS. this ex-dividend Is
| equal to nearly 81.
The real feature was the sale of six
! ten-share lots of National Metropolitan
Bank stock at $40.
| There was a general undertone of
weakness evident. not aggressive. but 1t
was there Just the same.