Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-26

OF the fact that Pierre s. du Pont and
his associates had held out to a large
number Of the board Of directors that
they would be permitted to share in the
! purchase OF the stock OF r. Coleman du
Pont through the du Pont Securities Com
pany."
! STOCKHOLDERS ADMISSION.
| Whether the latter allegation be true or
/ not the fact remains that Harry IL Has
! kell, Harry T. Brown, William Coyne and
J John =. Isaffey, manager of the legal de-
I partment of the company, have admitted
| that when the above mentioned meeting
/ occurred, they were already Interested
in the du Pont Securities Company, and
that soon thereafter Henry +. du pont
and Eugene f. du Pont also became
stockholders in the securities company
Philip f. du Pont, the complainant.
further alleges that Pierre s. du Pont
caused all of the T. Coleman du Pont
stock to be transferred to the du Pout
Securities Company, and that the ind-
vdual defendants, directors of the pow
der company, utterly failed and neglect
ed to perform the duties Incumbent on
them, but on the contrary, in pursuance
of the aforesaid scheme to defraud the r.
I. du POnt de Nemours Powder Company,
fraudulently secured for themselves the
benefits to accrue from the aforesaid
stock"
The complainant charges that the de-
PENDANTS used the credit of the Il. |, du
pont de Ncmours Powder Company to
float "A loan of sufficient magnitude to
assure the success of the stock pur-
chase effected by the securities company
Upon disposing OF his holdings In the
powder company, 7. Coleman du Pont had
resigned the presidency, and his place on
the board of directors of the corporation.
Pierre :. du Pont was thereupOn elected
president, and two vacancies In the di-
rectorate were filled by Alexis Felix du
Pont and John T. Laffey.
COMPANY REURGANIHED
on September !, 1915, the Il. l. du Pont
de Ncmours Powder Company was reor-
gani2cd as f.. |. du pont de Nemours x
Company, capitalized at S2iOOOO,OOO, or at
twice the capitalization Of the former
company. For each outstanding share of
common stock in the old company, two
shares were given in the new The per-
solncl of the new organization was ldcn-
ti,al with that of the Il, l. du Pont de
Nemours Powder Company.
At q meeting of the board of directors
of the new corporation on November q,
1915, a regular dividend of ~ per cent.
was declared and an additional dividend
of 2Sia per cent. was also voted by the
board of directors.
The complaint AYERS that the reorgan-
ization in September was accomplished
by the defendant directors, comprising a
majority of the board, in pursuance of
the scheme to make use of the powder
company and its assets to pay for the
stock purchased from T. Coleman du
Pont, 1t further alleges that the 30 per
cent. "melon" was voted by these direc
tors to "liquidate in part the obligations
that had been incurred in the purchase of
the stock from the said T. Coleman du
Pont."
The bill of complaint concludes with
pleas that the court grant injunctons
forbiddng the defendants from further
depicting the treasury of the powder
company, forbidding them from dispos-
ing of stock acquired from T. Coleman
du Pont and preventing the payment of
dividends on these holdings and also the
voting of them at meetings of the stock
holders.
The complaint also asks that the stock
in question either be turned over to the