Republican farmer., 1918-08-16
JUDGE LIZ. BURPEE DENIES M|CHAELS INJUNCTION PLEA Wanted Information About Certain Affairs of Lake
 Company. TO SHOW AMOUNT
 OF INSURANCE Only Feature of Michaels' Demand Granted By the
 Court.

Judge Lucien F. Burpee of the Su- perior Court, in chambers at the
 county building, in Hartford, yester- day, heard the application of Henry
 Mlchaels of New York for a manda- | tory injunction to run against the
 Lake Torpedo Boat Co.,, a Maine cor poration, which has its place of busi- ! ness in Bridgeport, and which at the present time has contracts with the united States government for the
 manufacture of submarines and oth- CT craft. MT. Michaels is a stock holder of the company and the pur- pose of his proceedings was to get information regarding the affairs of | the company which officers of the
 company had refused to give. He was represented by Spottswood D. Bowers and Judge Carl Foster of Bridgeport appeared for the Lake Co. Judge Foster agreed to furnish | certain information that related to the personnel, but nothing that related
 to the materiality of the company. Judge Burpee directed that the com
 pany disclose to MT. Michaels the | amount of insurance it carries. but l with the exception of this feature
 and what Judge Foster said he was
 willing to disclose, all of the other demands of MT. Michaels were de- l nied.
 MT. Bowers on the opening, said
 his client has $2O,O0O invested in the
 company. The capital of the com
 pany is $5,0O0,000. The par value
 of the stock is $10, and some of the holdings of MT. Michaels, MT. Bow
 CTS said, had cost him greater than
 par. He had seen the stock go above 50 and had seen it drop to
 7S a share. He had understood | from newspaper publication that the company was engaged in building 1 submarines as well as other craft for the government under a contract at 10 per cent above cost. The pre- | ferred dividend had been passed and | MT. Bowers said in his opinion the | information which his client asked would not embarrass the company,
 neither would it give aid or comfort | to the enemy. The demand which his client made on the company was
 outlined by him to Judge Burpee as | follows:
 An inspection of the books and papers of the corporation, a general | financial statement, liabilities of the | company, gross earnings, payments 1 made during the fiscal year, names | and addresses and stockholdings of | officers and directors, how long of | ficers and directors have held offices, payments made by company to off | cers and directors, how often does l executive committee meet and wha. 1 payments are made to it's members, do officers and directors receive any | fees in addition to salaries, amount 1 of real estate, amount of good will, amount of cash on hand, cash in | bank, accounts, receivable, notes and
 other negotiable paper, securities raw
 materials, completed work, work in
 process, accounts payable, notes pay able, other obligations, sinking fund, replacement fund all other items on | books of company, amount of insur-
 ance, present replacement value of l property and assets, names of em- | ployes receiving $7,500 salary and l upwards, amount of working capital i of company, thrilled orders now on 1 hand, percentage of profits upon | common stock earned during the last
 twelve months. In addition to what has been outlined MT. Bowers said he i understood there has been a $2,00O,- | GOO bond issue by the company and l his client wanted to know about that.
 Judge Foster said he regarded it as | oa fnr o 17Ir n 1o Iai a1 | to be an American to bring the com 1 pany into court and ask it to reveal openly what MT. Michaels wanted.
 MT. Bowers recited that in his opin- ] ion what was asked, would not be an
 embarrassment to the company and
 he did not think the information l would give aid or comfort to the en-
 emy. His client believed he had a
 right to the information and he did
 not think the company should use | the cloak of war and patriotism to
 take his clients $2O;000 and not to | tell him what it was doing with it. 1 Judge Foster said that a few months | ago MT. Bowers's client, when he had l other counsel, was provided with a | list of the stockholders and the ad- ] dresses of these and he said that he l anu lI1S COInpdHy SIOOu ready 10 SlVG i MT. Michaels all the information he
 asked for as to the personnel, but
 nothing as to the material of the com pany. He would tell him the offic- CTS and directors, how long they have held office, the payments made to | them, how often the executive com
 mittee meets aid what they receive l for service and what payments they
 receive in addition to salary. He
 would give the names of employ k.s
 who receive a salaray of S7,500 and | upwards.
 . As to the other revelations asked 1 for, said Judge Foster, these would 1 tend to injure the government and 1 the company and he said he was be- fore the judge with witnesses pre- pared to show the truth of what he contended. In view of Judge Foster expressing a willingness to disclose
 as to certain matters, Judge Burpee
 had MT. Bowers read the demands which Judge Foster had not agreed l to. Judge Burpee asked the purpose of MT. MichaeIs in making the ap- plication. MT. Bowers said that he
 wished to have a knowledge as to
 the value of his holdings in the com | pany. As to the reale estate holdings of the company Judge Foster said | he was not willing to give that in- | formation, because to give it would | likely tend to locating submarines
 that are now not known of. Judge ! Burpee said that application did not | appeal to him because he could not
 see what the information was desired l for at this time, and it seemed to | him that the cffer of Judge Foster was a fair one.