Evening star., 1933-01-25

of the General COmLllltee, Will p1c-
side at the forenoon business session
and P. H Lowrie, head of the Balti-
more underwriters, will preside in the
afternoon. Luncheon will be served
between the two sessions. The busi-
ness meeting will be opened with an
invocation by Rev, Edward H. Roach,
of ST. Matthews Church.
Between some of the serious buSi-
ness addresses. an entertainment has
been arranged and a playlet "Life's
Like That will be presented. AS al
ready noted, the addresses are to be
given by leading men in the insurance
field, officials of some OF the biggest
companies Five minutes talks by agents
in this territory will add to the pro-
gram.
Officers of the District Of Columbia
Life Underwriters Association, which is
the host of the occasion, are: John P.
Lynch president; John L. McElfresh,
first vice president; Horace Winter, sec
ond vice president George T. Black,
secretary; George B. Farquhar, treas
urer: Howard j. Jackson, editor of the
Bulletin; J. E. McCombs, chairman
Membership Committee. and Philip L.
Baldwin, chairman Program Com
mittee.
Further Auditing Steps Urged.
The new requirement of the New
York Stock Exchange that all corpora
tions desiring to list their securities on
the big board" must present financial
statements certified by independent
auditors, is called step in the right
direction by Boris Baievsky, chairman
of the committee on cooperation with
investors, of the District Of Columbia
Institute of Certified Public Account
ants. But it does not go to its logical
end, Mr.. Baievsky believes, and might
become pitfali to unwary investors.
AN investor looking up the financial
statements of corporation in which he
intends to invest" says the committee
chairman, land seeing the report certi-
fled by an outsider. may conclude that
everything is in order. He may be mis-
led. as a corporation unwilling to dis
close the true nature of its affairs, may
prepare its financial statement in a way
to suit itself and have it certified by
any one who chooses to call himself an
accountant.
In order to serve its purpose in pro-
tecting the investing public, such a
certificate should be issued only by
qualified persons. The auditor should
be certified public accountant. The
investor then knows the statements
have been certified by a person techni-
cally trained in education and the strict
ethics of his profession and of wide ex-
perience. In this way the public will
get the full benefit of the protection
called for in the new Exchange ruling"
the chairman asserts.
Pennsy Woman Stockholders Gain.
Pennsylvania Railroad stockholders
continued to grow during 1892 and on
January l, 1888, numbered $50, 0,506, as
compared with 245 500 on January /,
1882, increase of 1897. The January
total compared with 25O,478 on Decem-
ber |, 1882, an increase of 28
Although stockholders on January /,
1888, showed substantial gain over the
year before, the peak number in hold
ers was reached on September l, 1892
at 252 JAP. On October l the total was
251 Gal, and on November l it was
250,592. December showed the third
successive decline from the peak with
a slight upturn again at the close of
the year.
Average holdings on January /, 1888,
stood at 5256 shares, as compared with
5361 shares on January l., 1882, de-
crease LOS. Average holdings on Sep
tember /, when stockholders were at
their peak, was 1922 shares.
Woman stockholders numbered 108,-
pol, increase of 1887, constituting 4319
per cent of total holders. They held
4,249,562 shares, decrease 1882, being
1927 per cent of the outstanding capt.
tai stock. Their average holdings was
80 shares, decrease 2.