The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-01-03
st. Louis Attorney Who Aattempts to
straishten Out United Railway
Tangie, Explains
Program.
ELIMINATE THIRD PARTY
MiddIeman 10 One Objected to In the
Report Filed by St. Louisians
in the lnvestI-
cation.

iaits a lawyer, WHO Ids Deeu III lNSW
York two weeks comforting with rep
resentatives of the North American
company. which controls the United
Railways company OF st. Louis, tod
a Globe-DemOcrat reporter recently
that he believed the conferences were
beneficial from the standpoint of Gre
ating more friendly feeling between
the North American company and the
preferred stockholders he repres ants.
Caplan announced that Horace
Havemeyer of New York and Charles
c. Harrison of Philadelphia had been
added to the Independent United
Railway Proxy committee, which rep
resents certain preferred stockhold-
ers, in an effort to readjust the az
fairs of the company. The other
members are August Heckscher Of
New York, Charles s. Farnum Of
Philadelphia and Caplan.
The plan OF the preferred stock-
holders represented by this commit
tee was outlined by ,Caplan. He said
the committee Represented nearly 30
percent of the outstanding preferred
stock, which has a book value, he
said, of s16.S00,0O0. Preferred stock
holders have received no dividends
since 1910.
Program Outlined.
Included in the plan of the COM
mittee as laid before the North Amer
lean company, Caplan said, was the
following program:
l. That the mill tax question
should be settled in some manner.
2. That the franchise question
should be adjusted.
8. That radical change in the
legal department, of the United Rail-
ways must take place.
A. That fullest publicity and exam
nation must be m ade Of the power
contracts Of which the United Rail
ways is a party, and that these con-
tracts should be readjusted sQuarely
for the benefit Of the company.
s. That preferred stockholders
should have seats on the board OF
directors.
With these points covered, Caplan
said he believed the affairs of the
company would run much smoother.
that the company's credit would DC
better and that the danger of insoly-
ency might be avoided.
;. Just Proportion Asked.
"The preferred stockholders are
willing they be scaled down only in
just proportion, said Caplan. but
they, do not want to be scaled off
entirely. readjustment of the in
terests is inevitable unless the COM
pany can pave the way by proper
economies.
I'VE have bad high-class engineers
go over the contracts which the
United Railways has for its current.
and they say the United Railways is
paying more than it should and is
paying more tran it would possibly
IL the contracts had Been made by
men considering only the best inter
ests of the United Railways.
1--WE would have been satisfied to
pay the Keokuk company the price
that the Keokuk company is receiv-
ing for the current, but we object to
middle man receiving profit.
I'VE condemned last April and are
condemning now the legal department
of the United Railways, and we pre-
scented this question emphatically to
the North American representatives.
Policy Considered Wrong.
1--WE are not attacking any particu-
lar man, but we believe the policy
has been wrong, and we have de-
manded tnat CHanSe pe "due III
the legal department.
Captain said that the committee he
represented would take steps at once
to approach other branches In tho
ownership Of the United Railways.
such as the bondholders, the corn
mon stockholders. and the manage
ment, with the view Of getting to-
gether on some satisfactory readjust.
ment Of the company's affairs. Ho
said the preferred stockholders he
represented commended that dividends
would have been paid In recent years
had certain leakages not been allow
ed to exist.