Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-09
MERGERS AROUSE
LOCAL OPPOSITION
Civic Pride Arrayed Against
Concentration of Control
in New York.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.

| OpcCldI OlSpAtCn 10 Inc Star.
NEW YORK, April 9-Cyrus S. Eaton's
strongest card in the fight which he has
waged against the merger of the Bethle-
hem Steel Co. and the YOUNGSTOWN
| Sheet & Tube Co. has been his insist
| ence that by such deal the city of
youngstown and the State of Ohio
would lose control of large unit in the
steel industry, and that the corporation
would become just one more unit for
Wall Street to play with.
I The people Of youngstown themselves
are keenly alive to this. Other COM
munities are making similar complaints.
Go to any industrial city today, ask its
| leading citizens about their key in
| dustrieS, and more often than not you
| will learn that the business leaders are
| becoming anxious over the growing
| number of corporations whose policies
are controlled and determined in New
York City.
This business concentration is looked
upon by many business men as any
thing but healthy.
With Samuel insult, Chicago utility
magnate, in Europe, reports persist that
an important Italian company, the
Piedmont Hydroelectric Co., will be &C
Quired by him before he returns.
If so, it will be the first major parti-
| cipation of the vast insult interests in
any foreign development.
The Piedmont Hydroelectric Co. Is
one of the largest public utility corpo-
rations in Northwest Italy, serving sew
| eral manufacturing centers and being
| strategically located in the center OF the
| largest electro-chemical activities OF
Italy.
This company centers its activities in
Turin and Lombardy, and has over
240, 900 customers. Its assets probably
exceed $50,o0O,0 900.
It is known that the minority interest
in this company is held by the Italian
Superpower Corporation, which in turn
is affiliated with the Bonbright inter-
eSts of New York. Samuel insult and
his associates organized the Utility In
vestments, Inc; as an investment trus!
of the insult interests in the United
States. 1t is possible that this COM
pany may organize foreign holding
subsidiary company to do for the insult
| interests what the American Foreign
Power Co. now does for the Electric
Bond g. Share organization.
The entrance Of Mr.. insult. one
| time secretary to Thomas A. Edison,
| into any utility situation is important.
But this, his first reported venture in
Europe, is interesting.
William Fox'S salary as chairman
of the advisory board in the new Fox
set-up is said to be $500000 a year.
But when will the advisory board meet?
Probably never. So the Fox salary
really is in the nature of bonus.
Comprises had to be made, and when
Harley l.. Clarke and his associates
bought the controlling interest OF
ISL 900 shares of Fox class B voting
stock Monday this was part OF the
what now will happen to Loews?
! The increase of authorized class A
| stock of Keith Orpheum might
| indicate that Radio-Keith may acquire
| Loews from Fox on the baSis OF Two
shares Of Radio-Keith for one share OF
LoewS.
The spectacular rise in Radio-Keith-
Orpheum stock yesterday Of 3% points
| in a turnover of $4,000 shares indi-
| Gates definite expansion. This stock has
moved up from SO at the beginning
of the year to $43.75 last night.
Radio-Keith stockholders approved
| an increase of authorized class A. stock
| from 3,50O,O00 to 4,500,00O. To-Day
there are 1905, 409 shares outstanding.
| (Copyrieht, 1880, by North American News
| paper Alliance)