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Show CUMULATIVE YOIlxa. The California legislature has passed, and the governor approved a bill to secure minority representation in corporations. It is designed as a protection of the rights ot minorities in mining and other corporations. It provides that directors shall be elected by ballot on the cumulative plan. That is, any stockholder may either vote his shares lor a ticket containing the whole list of directors to be elected, or for one or more of the board. If he votes for but one be may give that candidate as many Totea as the number of his shares multiplied by the number of directors lo be elected will make, Thus, if the board is to consist often, and the Stockholder with 1,000 shares elects to YOle for only one, his vote will count 10,000. It will by this law, be an eay matter tar a few of tbe small shareholders share-holders ot a corporation to secure a representation re-presentation in the directory, and an insight into tbe affairs of the concern. Heretofore only the large owners could find out anything about what was going en inside of the rings, tbe big one all the time controlling and securing th benefit of the small aaape' money. Under the old law, if &f rvreatd 60,000 iharss, ami one i-an held 20, COO he elected j all the directors and .officers, whilf , perhaps the remaining 24,000 slmrea j were divided belweeu 500 men, who could secure neither voice nor representation rep-resentation in the- company, nor find ' out anything us to huw their invent-, nicnt wjo being nuina'.d. The ne- ceneity f jr euch a law n the oue that ; has juit rocc into tlW.t hna been; demonstrated for yenrs by the manner man-ner in which corporations chit fly mining have beon uiautigtd. A California paper cites as on illustration illustra-tion of how things' were manipulated, tho Woodville: Tbe mine bad a bmly of ore ihnl might bnve paid probab y $jU0,CUU in dividend. John W. fierdun, owning l!0,W)l shares out of iaJ,UU0, sold the tontrol to the J ualico uomp&ny, by whom iho ore body wna wuik-d out and the minority of tbu YVoodvillo slocknolders swindled out of their interest in tbe raino. it ib a comiiK'i) thing for the insiders to pay r.o bfisei.niHriM at ail on stock ownod by itioin, making lha outtidu holders pay all tho exucnaea and curer-iug curer-iug up tho Iraud by t'a su ciiLrua in tho books. To wimble tbia to bo dona a unuuimoui luard directors is necoi-3ury. necoi-3ury. Tbe presonco ol evon one bonott director, who miLa expom Iho work, would mak" it loo ilaneoioud. |