Putnam patriot., 1913-04-11
What Political AgiIators and Mercenaries
 Are Likely to Cost New EngIanders

Are Likely 10 Cost New Englanders
 The 2Z,7l6 shareholders who draw dividends from ithe New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Gom- pany are not the only persons to whom. the maintenance Of the present divi- dend rate is a matter of vital concern.
 A reduction Of this dividend rate would cripple many Of the small shareholders. Incomes would be re. dueed, the iamily's clothing bill would have to be cut, the expense of the table curtailed. There would be less pinmoney in pocketbooks.
 But what would be the result Of all this2 Shortsighted persons are likely to confine their commiserations in time Of financial stress 10 the large holders of securities, overlooking the fact that the effect Of any such eurtail ment Of purchasing power Is vide spread. In fact, 1t is like the ripple from the pebble cast into the pond, which may be felt upon it's farthest shore. Not the shareholders alone would feel the loss but hundreds, nay thousands, Of shopkeepers would feel 1t as well. pon them, upon the butcher, the grocer, the eandlestlck- maker, the loss would fall and the ef- feet be felt almost as keenly as by those persons who received the divi- 1 dend cheeks
 Some figures recently made public with reference tu the distribution Of the New Haven's shares throw a de eidedly interesting light on this mat ter. Take Massachusetts, lat example, the state In which Louis D. Brandsis and his cotcric are making their at- taeks. There are 557si9 shares of stock held bY residents ot that state which means that there is returned 10 l these stockholders for distribution to n large extent among the local business interests, at an $ per cent rate, sum amounting annually to S4 i62, 552.
 Let Mf. Bandeis and his fellow agi. tatofs continue their attacks, let the Boston and Maine pass it's dividend and the New Haven reduce it's annual 1 return to shareholders to 2 per cent and what will be the result? The S4,- 432,5 ,552 now annually added to the spending money of residents of that state would shrink to 8, ,al4 That means loss Of Sl ,il5,63s. IL means that much less in the pockets of the stockholders and it means likewise that much less to the butcher, the gro eef and shopkeeper, to whom diNi- dends eventually find their way. While massachusetts, would suffer severely in this respect, it's residents OoIding as they do 35 per cent of the company stock, the effect ol such a reduction in the canning power Of the company would not be lost in New York state.
 In thai state are held 5l5,009 shares. In other words, every year the portion Of the New Haven's earnings distrlbut- ed among shareholders living in that state amounts to S4I20, ,072, a tidy sum, indeed, as shepk eepefs look at things. Reduce the rate and there would be s3, ,0a0,o54, a difference of Sl,- 06e,0is
 l Counectieul's 5,lls stock holders re- eeive s2, ,s56, ,4so. About S590,oo would be the loss to them, to be in turn passed on to Connecticut shepkeepers. Even little Rhode Island would have to charge of a loss of si00, ,Sl4 10 the at taeks of these agitatofs, that being the sum taken out of The pocketbooks of her people.
 IL would be in the states mentioned that the loss would be most seriously