Evening journal., 1916-07-26

ton comes back TO be voted on in The
meeting Of March 10th You have
twenty-one directors. J. A. Haskell
is absent, all the rest are present.
for T. c. duPont's place has been
flled-there is one vacancy There
were nineteen. OF that nineteen we
Will say that six voted having an
/ interest Pierre S DUPONT. Irenee I
DUPONT, Lammot DUPONT. r. r. NJ.
Carpenter j. ]. Raskob and A. Felix |
dupont. That would make six. Those .
six taken from the nineteen would /
leave thirteen people TO vote. II my ,
contention is tenable. three Of the re- /
naming thirteen we're not disqualified |
by reason Of the offer that had been /
made to them. since they we're amply (
protected and this did not affect them. 1
because either way they got what they
understood was the same thing That
! put them In a moral attitude Of per-
feet freedom to act, because they
could vote for the corporation TO take
that and in point Of fact their interest
would lie in voting for the corpora
ton to take that stock: for under the
promise made to them OF twelve hun
dred and fifty shares they were 10
/ get the equivalent I'm DUPONT stock.
{ That is why the eight thousand two
hundred and thirty-four shares we're
reserved; but in addition to that. II
they voted for this proposition they
would be entitled as stockholders 10
whatever increment Of profit would
come to them as shareholders Of that
corporation. So that II there was any
movement TO one side or the other. II
must, in self interest, have gone in
favor of this proposition.
You have heard these witnesses. all
Of them ! think except one or two
have been called TO the stand by us
and testified. They have told you
why they voted as they did. They
have explained TO you what they con
ceived TO be the perils Of this situa-
ton. While we are talking about so
many millions and while we are talk
ing about the golden outlook OF this
situation, l ask Your Honor to re-
member the testimony Of Mr.. Brown.
who was best qualified Of all except
Colonel Buckner to speak Of the ac-
Qualities of the situation. Up 10
April /. l think ii was, he said. GER
tainly up TO March /. their new fac
tories were not in operation. and
they had not delivered over one mil
lion pounds Of powder. When you
talk about contracts and great big
figures and you remember that this
corporation had a limited capacity
which Il had contracted for and these
, extraordinary contracts were taken
with the expectation Of building plants
to do the work. when you recall as we
all know IL and remember II. In the
early days of the war period how we
[ expected that in a few months that
it would end; when you remember as
early as December, 1914, agitation
took place in Congress looking to the
suppression Of the expectation Of muni-
tions Of war; when you remember
these instances; when you consider
the rise in the price OF war materla
and the difficulty in obtaining II
when you remember the possibility o
:. accidents which would blow up on
!. piece of property after another; whei
you recall the vicious movement tina
! was brought in this country 10 de
stroy things where the people did no
/, sympathize with the objects for whicl
: they were working-I ask the cour
= = 10 say whether or not these gentlemen
: are backed by the conditions in say
4
! as trustees, they felt they had nc
!, right TO vote to take this stock.
! Would Not Have Voted For II.
What man occupying such a posi-
= ton would have voted for IL? / dc
J not believe that any one Of these gen.
= tlemen would have voted for IT,
4 know perfectly well that / would not
! under those conditions. and under
those circumstances. The question
I Of whether an individual. moved by
0 the desire to protect his corporation
7. against the sale of this large bloch
I of stock, and its getting into an enc
e my's hands, moved by the purpose Of
e making a gamble in this future, thai
l had so many liabilities in It. would
q buy this stock and pledge his whole
[ fortune that was his personal affair
. and his personal business, had nc
q right to lodge in a board of directors
I When my friend says that in life
I, there are so many chances, and tina
u the law OF chance reveals to hin
= that in ninety per cent Of the casei
II is the result Of premeditation. hs
:, states what is an impossibility, an,
an untruth in philosophy. Thes
= chances no man could measure o.
= Judge Who could tell the chances o
q the closing Of the war? Who couli
I tell the chances OF a destructive ex
e plosion in these works? Who couli
+ tell the chances that would overtak
e them in the gathering Of raw mate
e rial? Who could tell what the futur
Il held in store for the corporation
y Would II have been right for thos
s directors TO take twenty odd per cent
d Of the stock Of that corporation an
II cash II in, and let their biggest stock
r. holder 90, and let the other stock
d holders take the risk? II a failur
g had come what would have happen
n ed? II this picture had been revers
y ed: II. instead Of success there hai
!; been failure II instead Of this won
derful result which these men achiev
. ed there he'd been disaster and thos
a directors had voted to take this stock
Your Honor would have had cas-
= in this court. in all probability. q
! hold them responsible for an act tina
"a was not warranted by the oircum
~ stances and the facts. that was no
~ done for any legitimate corporate
Al purpose. that was not a compliance
d with their charter rights, but whicl
Z. was a wild speculation INDUCED Il
/ by these directors without authorit,
* Of law or conscience.
lt l want to ask your attention to one
/ other thing. A meeting Of the stock
,e holders was held. When my Learned
a odvarear,y asked the other day "Wha