Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-09
CHANGE
NECESSITY IN
BUSINESS
Public Misjudges Wall Street
Because 1t Does Not Explain
Its Transactions.
By 3. C, FORBES.

wolves. The machinery Of the Stock
Exchange is absolutely necessary for
the nations welfare. No commercial
country could be without a market
place for securities, the tokens Of
wealth.
The public has misiudged the
Stock Exchange largely because the
Stock Exchange laid itself open to
misjudgment. It did not try to put
itself in the right light. It allowed
itself, without protest, to be mis-
understood.
But Il is now anxious to receive
fair play. to have its functions known,
to lot the public see inside it, so to
speak.
hear that the suggestion made in
this column that commission of
brokers, office managers, bankers and
Others In close touch t0tth the public
and t0ith tnUestors be appointed is
NkeIy to be fGUordbIy acted upon
toithout delay. The governors of the
Stock Exchange by so doing i0ouJd
prove that they are IN earnest IN
seeking to increase the usefulness Of
the instttuttoR and bring it thorough
" into harmony toith public seNti.
ReHt.
Several Governors have a dread
that il corporations be subjected to
additional regulations in regard to
listing their securities many of them
will object and refuse to seek the
privileges of the institution.
The main reason why an increasing
number of companies have kept away
from the Stock Exchange is that the
public has ceased to regard a Stock
Exchange security as superior to an
unlisted one. The listing of stock
has ceased TO be viewed as guaran-
tee Of it's legitimacy. So disgracefuI
has been tho handling of certain
listed stocks that investors have lost
faith in the ability of the Exchange
authorities to enforce deeenoy.
MAKE THE PRIvIiEoE OF LIST
ING WORTH WHILE, MAKE 1T A
GUARANTEE OF FULL PUBLlCl-
TY, MAKE IT COVETED, MAKE IT
STAND FOR SOMETHING, AND
THEN INVESTORS WILL DRAW
a SHARP DISTINCTION BE;
SECURITIES. THEY WILL LOOK
UP 70 THE sTocK EXCHANGE
INSTEAD OF DOWN UPON 1T.
How to bring about this transfor-
nation will be the problem of the
proposed commission and the Gov
errors. The Hughes Commission
made several valuable Recommended
tions, which have been adopted. A
commission such as now outlined
could go more deeply into the sub
ject. It could make practical sug-
gestions. It could look at the ques-
ton both from the outside and the
inside.
The small investor is the person
to be attracted, to be cultivated, 10
be encouraged to patronIze sound
stocks and bonds. He is destined to
become the backbone of American
finance. His is the custom to be most
coveted. On his treatment at the
hands of corporations and brokers
hang momentous issues.
Give him a square deal, safeguard
him from needless losses, shield him
from fraud, give him a good return
on his capital, whet his interest in
the welfare of business and the flu
ture of American finanee-the future,
even, of tho whole Republic-will be
iSnmeasurably frightened. The small
investor will then become a buwark
against destructive legislation, against
all forms of confiscation. He will
stand for and fight for justice. He
will repeI ruinous demagoguery.
George w. Perkins, in a letter TO
The Odd Lot Review, expresses force
full views on this subject. He writes
In part;
Practical public ownership, that's
what I would term 1t. A steady i'm
provement in the average distribution
of the nations wealth-that is my
view of the significance OF tine sctiv
ity Of the email investor. It is de-
cidedly encoura gtng to see that the
corporation activity of the country is
DeIuS shared Dy IN away > increasing
group of the population. To me It
appears that the movement has only
begun.
The time is coming when every
man with even a few hundred dollars
saved will put his surplus over the
amount needed for an emergency into
standard securities
The progress Of this movement
means a great deal more than a mere
increase in the number Of a share
holders per corporation. 1t IS an eX-
ceedingly important economic indt-
cation. If the problems are allowed
to work themselves out in a natural
way there will be no need for Gov
ernmental interference. To my mind,
the steady increase in the number
of stockholders in the corporations
fOreshadows genuine public owner
ship-not of the type in which the
entire business and industrial system
of the country is to be thrown into the
political arena to the tender mercies
Of the spokesman, but practical
method of distributing the natural
prosperity.
The solution of the problem is to
have the whole nation interested in
the success of the great sound in
dustrial and railroad enterprises.
What part is the New York Stock
Ah = l. 20 Irk