Evening star., 1935-12-19
GAS FIRM UNABLE
TO REVEAL FACTS
Fails to Supply Utilities
Commission With Auction
Sales Information.

Counsel for the Washington &
Suburban Co.'S, a common-law trust
which controls the Washington Gas
Light Co.. admitted today in letter
to the Public Utilities Commission in
ability to supply complete information
as TO the effect of the recent auction
Of 1910 of the 5000 shares of the
trust.
The letter came from Arthur H
Dean Of the law firm of Sullivan 4
Cromwell, counsel for trustees of the
trust and other large utility concerns.
1t further deepened the mystery of
what actually happened at the recent
auction"
Information Sought.
Chairman Riley E. Elgen had writ
ten Dean: "Is the commission correct
in assuming that the beneficial, regis
tered and recorded owners Of the stock
which you report as having been
transferred are one and the same? If
the beneficial owners, recorded owners
and registered owners are different
persons, state the fact and give the
information as to each classification. -
In addition to his reply that he could
supply no additional information, Dean
declared the trustees of Washington
& Suburban Cos have no means of
compelling the record owners of the
shares to disclose the data, should they
refuse to reply to questions. He did say
the trustees would write to the present
record owners "if you so desire"
The commission was nonplusSed.
This letter, along with other replies,
was turned over to Corporation Coun-
sci E. Barrett Prettyman, the commits
ston'S general counsel. who has been d.
rected by the commission to investi-
gate the facts as to changes in owner
ship Of the trust shares and to advise
the commission as to a course of action.
The commission has threatened to
take the case again to District Su-
preme Court unless satisfactory re-
plies can be obtained. A case in
volving ownership of the gas COM
pany here still is kept open before
the court, which has required the
ownership interests report promptly
any changes in ownership of the trust
certificates.
Dean recently sent Elgen and the
court a list Of a half-dozen persons
to whom certificates had been issued
as result of the November "auc-
ton" Commission officials here as
certained that one of the new "own-
ers" was listed in New York direc-
tories as a telephone operator and
another as a printer.
Cannot Distinguish Owners.
Deans letter today said:
"The trustees do not know whether
the beneficial and record owners are
the same or whether the record own
ers are merely nominees and some
other persons have the equitable own
ership. ...
you will, of course, understand
that when the above certificates were
presented for transfer, duply indorsed
and with the proper amount of reve-
nue. stamps afixed, the trustees had
no choice (unless they wished to sub
ject themselves to claims for damages
for refusal TO transfer such shares
except to transfer such shares of bene-
fetal interest into the names re-
queSted."
The common-law trust was set up
to represent the Chase National Bank
and associated financial interests.
Some utility observers here are pre-
suming there is some connection be-
tween requirements under the 1925
utility holding company act and the
fact that several holding companies
having shares in the common-law
trust held portions Of the 1910 shares
of interest involved in the auction"