Evening star., 1915-02-07

reae,i neaent net earnings to meet dividend
| requirements in 1915.
IN all probability the courts will
nand down decision in the matter OF
hIne,l hhs ,lessailty g. Of ownership of the large
the washington Gas Company ir the
near future. If the court holds that
me stock must be distributed among
the shareholders Of the corporation it
will be dividend worth having; if it
| orders a sale there will be a mark ct
for the stock. A return Of the stock to
! tne parent company at price equal to
1ne We .siaa sOr,g;nai COS cost will mean that the
that much cash in, which can be used
to advantage. whereas. in the present
existing conditions, the Georgetown
Gas company will not pay dividends
on It's stock in the formers treasury.
.. Accumulated dividends on this stock
are being held in escrow. and the title
thereto will be decided by the court s
A union Of the two companies. while
perhaps desirable from the STANDPOINT
of cheaper gas for the District west of
| ROCK creek. seems to be next to inn
ptoaal With the strong holding of the
Company. the opposition Of Congress
| and the La Toilette amendment. Under
which 1t is claimed that the holdings
OF the stock of this corporation by the
downtown company is illegal. ~
Washington Railway and Electric
Company's earnings were large anS
| promise the maintenance of dividends
our1ng the current year.
Capital fractions annual showino
was taken by experts in traction mat.
tere to indicate that the per cent
oavidend was safe. There has been no
surl ssupport given the stock except the
Mergenthaler, with the assured ahi,-
i.y 70 maintain 10 per cent DIVIDENDS
should be satisfactory investment at
the current quotations.
So long as it is necessary to ,efr.;,
from paying dividends there Will he
no movement OF consequences in I..ne
ston Monotype stock.
aggregated sso,5oo 5es bonds iasa snd week e
snares OF stock. Prices sensraiiv haiS
at even levels heio
Should Attend Annual M..+,r.s
The suggestion is made that sbara-
holders should attend annual meetings
OF the corporations in which they are
Interested. whenever possible. II
seems next to impossible to get a fair
representation Of shareholders At a
there is threat Of dividend reduction.
a passed dividend to be considered or
something that shows An investment
in hazard
roxy representation means some-
thing, In that it represents the conf
dence Of the stockholder in the com
mite asking voting power, but there
are things that might interest share
holders that even proxy committees
might approve which the shareholder
would object to.
stockholders rarely accomplish any,
thing until they organize and go after
something in a business way, as the
local Mergenthaler shareholders went
after the extra dividend around the
holiday period. An executive commit
tee representing shareholders inter-
ests has been suggested.
Banks. trust companies and savings
institutions are under the supervision
Of the controller of the currency: the
utilities commission tries to regulate
local utilities.
Stockholders Get Busy.
On this subject ]. s. Bache & Co. of
New York city have this to say:
Tho uprising of the Third Avenue
!. Railway Company stockholders is an
instance OF the attempt to accomplish
what widespread organization would
make the regular custom. The com
mittee of stockholders Of the Third
Avenue appointed at the last annual
meeting to investigate the affairs of
the company has reported that the
dend and recommends that a quarterly
dividend Of per cent be declared The
committee takes occasion In the report
to criticise the makeup OF tho board
Of directors as not being representa-
tive Of the interests Of the sharehold-
IAN instance where common stock
holders have been able to assert their
rights with good results is that of the
Central Leather Company. Here, after q