Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-14
.URGESPUBLICITY.
To GUARD ALL
INVESTORS
Quarterly Reports Of Big Corpor-
atoms Would Protect Small
Stockholders, Forbes Argues.
BY 3. c. FORBES.

BY 8. c. FORBES.
John D. Rockefeller once said;
Next to knowing all about your
own business, the best thing is &c
know all about the other fellows.
Inforrrst alton means money. In Wall
Street il means millions for those
who can get it ahead of the other
fellows, the public.
The $50 gold piece which dlree-
tor is handed on leaving each meet
ing 10 not worth one hundredth part
Of what no can sometimes make"
on the Information gathered at the
board table.
Directors heretofore have regard
cd inside information as perqul-
site, as an asset which can be turned
INTO gold for their own pockets.
More Of Americas "swoIen fortunes
have sprung from advance informs-
ton than from hard work.
DO inUcsfors propose 10 aiiOl0
directors and other insiders to 90 on
indefinitely pockcting money from ~
formation iChiCh ought not to be
m0nopoHscd, bat shared Nth the real
OtCners Of the company, the stock
h0lders9 Is the 0nc-sided, loadcd-
dice. taking -cdHdR-frOm-chiidrcn gdme
10 be sanctioned fOT crcr2 Is the
public to sit tcith idic hands and ict
insiders Cdr fat iChile ordinary Sc
curity holders, kept m the ddrk, gror
pOOreTf
As a first step, QUARTERLY RE
PORTS should be insisted upon.
And the punishment for wilfully
misleading statements should be i'm
prisonnnent, not fines, which directors
would either take from the eompany's
treasury or collect a thousand times
over from speculative deals made
possible by their film Tanning.
When efforts we're first made to in
duee railroad companies to issue
monthly statements Of earnings, OBJ
jsetions were raised by many roads.
II could not be done, they said. But
other roads demonstrated that every
obstacle could be overcome, with the
result that long before the Interstate
Commerce Commission demanded
monthly returns, nearly every road
voluntarily supplied statements.
II our great transportation sys-
TENS, covering thousands of miles
and handling millions Of items, can
prepare excellent reports EVERY
MONTH, why can not industrial and
other corporations compile one re
port EVERY ouARTER7
have hope that tho New York
Exchange will assume leadership in
a movement for quarterly reports.
The commission which the Exchange
is expected to appoint to study and
suggest reforms is certain to give
favorable attention to this subject
One OF the most vital problems Of
the Exchange is how to re- establish
itself in public confidence and es-
TEEN. Here is one opportunity not
TO be ignored.
The Allis. Chalmers Co., which had
an unfortunate history under the old
methods and whose security holders
lost heavily, announces that, under
it's reorganized regime. it will issue
regular quarterly reports. The origin
and purpose Of this concern were
open to suspicion; il was a sort of
side line for big fellows who could
divert business TO II but who had
not time to attend to its management.
Now. however. Il has been placed on
different footing. Full publicity
would not have fitted in with the old
ways; day the company manifestly
feels that it has nothing to fear from
coming into the open.
have in front of me the eirou ar
and ballot which stockholders of the
Vulcan DEFINING Company forced
tho directors to send out on the ques-
ton OF whether quarterly reports be
Instituted. X is a miserable product.
II - dated July I, was received by
most stockholders around the holi-
Gays ano Arrows onil until yesterday
for having votes in the hands of the
company. The palpabe Unjust oe
was modified after protest. But here
is another clause even more con
oemnatory:
In case YOU wish the com panv
TO issue statements only annually
IL will not be necessary for you to
vote
Votes NOT CAST will be counted
in favor Of the secrecy loving dreo
tors! Could anything be more
brszen? And then these same gentle
mon arrange that they themselves
not some impartial party, shall dc
all the counting and notify you OF
the result" Such tactics should
arouse every stockhoIder to demand
the fullest publicity. Directors that
act thus should be dragged into the
pen.
The general fight for corporate pub
LEFTY is only beginning. The Geor.
sian means to take an active part in
the campaign. The thousands of let
tiers il and other Hearst publications