The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-03
BIRMINGHAM FOLK
 WANT ID KNOW TIE
 INVESTMENT DATA
Judge Voorhis Says They Are Ready to Buy Securities But Get Bankers Information
 Before Buying

Birmingham is the most fortunate city know of, for it is the only one which shared to the fullest in the re- markable prosperity of the past sev- eral years, and managed to get through the readjustment period with out serious trouble" in the opinion of Judge. w. H. Voorhis, general counsel of the American Waterworks and Electric company, who is in the city.
 Judge Voorhis, as the representative of this large corporation which is in- terested in public utilities in leading cities throughout the country, has vis- tied many cities of the United States during the past year.
 T have had a splendid opportunity to observe financial and business condi- tions here and elsewhere since the defla- tion started and this city and district have suffered less than any other know of, said Judge Voorhis. Neither the depression which caused such distress in many of the industrial centers, nor the low prices in the agriculture sections, seems to have hurt you seriously
 PROOF POSITIVE
 One of the best proofs I have seen of your sound financial condition is what I have observed daily at the in- vestment department of the Birmingham Waterworks company Hundreds of men and women who work on salary or for wages have purchased some of the pre- ferred stock of the company. Many Of them bought on the monthly payment plan, and although so far they have been due to make only one payment, we have had hundreds who have made from two to eight payments, so that they could begin to draw the interest on their money.
 This situation shows clearly that your people have. money on hand and want to have it drawing interest When men are hard up and in bad financial condi- tion, they don't pay anything until they have to- It would surprise many busi- ness men here to know just how many people of small means have money on hand to invest in conservative securities. It shows that the people of this dis trfct have learned the value of thrift and that the day for the salesman of the get-rich-quck schemes, which flour ished for time during the peak of pros- perity, has passed.
 WANTS TO KNOW
 "One thing about the average Birmlng- ham investor is that he wants to be shown. He is from Missouri you know. He has the money to invest, but he wants to know all the things about the security and the affairs of the company that a banker or capitalist would ask. They want to know how much the prop critics are worth, who estimated these values, about the indebtedness, the in- come and expenses, who fixes the rates and what is charged off for depreciation.
 Now, these are very fine signs, for they mean that there is money for the legitimate concern which means to build up the country, but that the investor has nothing for the fake propositions. You know, one of the most serious situations affecting the country year or more ago was that the average man would not invest his money in safe securities which paid only 8 per cent, but. he would put his last dollar in something which prom ised 100 per cent the first year. The re- suit was that the public was 'stung ana at the same time progress retarded be- cause legitimate enterprises could not get capital needed for improvements.
 WAR EDUCATION
 "The war did much to educate the people on the value of good securities in sound and conservative enterprises which were wisely and efficiently conducted. People found out that they could get | good returns on their money without danger of loss, without insurance ana upkeep and without the constant worry and attention which real property de- mands unless an agent is employed. Judge Voorhis declared that he and the other officials of the Birmingham Waterworks company were greatly inn pressed with the response which they had received when they offered their l preferred stock to the people or tnls city, The sales thus far have ex- ceeded our expectations and we are now reasonably certain that we will dispose of the entire issue within the time we allotted for the campaign" he said.
 No small part of this I credit to the successful newspaper advertising we have done. It has always been our policy to rely largely upon newspaper advertising to float our securities, and the present fcampaign is merely confirming us in our opinion as to this method We find that since we want to interest the general public and all water consumers lne newspapers offer medium that reaches everyone and the cost IS Tar lower thai' by any other method.
 "Rv this means we always dispose of our securities in small blocks to the naople who are most interested in the success of the company, and the cost or l selling the stock is held to minimum. The great majority of our purchasers here have come either with advertlse- lments in their hands or tell us or Wna. {, thev read in our ads in the papers. An other reason we use the newspapers so | much is because we want everyone 10 know as much as possible about the af- fairs of the company, so we XII tws birds with one stone.