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Show THE Remarkable Utah Power & Light Company—a Coincidences!! Bond & Share outfit—is incorporated in the State of Maine. In 1937 the Legislature of the State of Maine enacted a bill permitting corporations of Maine to merge or consolidate with corporations of other states. In the 1948 session of the Utah Legislature a bill was passed amending Utah’s corporation laws in so many particulars that our statute relating to mergers and consolidations is vir- tually identical with Maine’s. His Excelleney, Herbert B. Maw, signed the act. In the 1943 session of the North Carolina Legislature a similar bill was passed and _ became law. North Carolina is the abiding place of the Carolina Power & Light Company, another whelp of the Bond & Share brood. 'The laws of all three states now provide that when articles of agreement between merging corporations have been duly executed they ‘‘shall thenceforth be taken and deemed to be the agreement and act of consolidation or merger of the said constituent corporations for all purposes of the laws of this State.’’ In other words, if the Bond & Share boys agree among themselves—and they always do —upon the terms of a merger, then under the new law, that merger must be accepted by State administrative departments regardless of whether the consolidation agreement conforms to public policy. The agreement actually has the force of law. A. firm of Salt Lake lawyers—Cheney, Jensen, Marr & Wilkins—takes eredit for writing the amendment to the Utah law. They claim they did it to help a coal company simplify its corporate problems. Another lawyer—Wulliam J. Lowe—is said to have been SEARCHLIGHT commis- sioned by Mr. Gadsby to write and introduce the same law. It may be that the first law firm—which Fred Mulock is said to regard as Heaven’s answer to a ecorporation’s prayer—drew its inspiration from Bill Lowe, or the inspiring Dr. Gadsby. It may have béen a coincidence. Or it may all be a lot of froth. At any rate, here’s what happened. Senator Lynn S. Richards is a son of Stephen Ll. Richards, high churchman, and member of the Board of Directors of Utah Power & Light Company. The over-clever Lynn, who is accused by labor unions of being a political twotimer, piloted the bill through the Utah Legislature—did it rather quietly and unostentatiously. The North Carolina act, the Utah act, and the Maine statute now give the people of those three Bond & Share states an almost word-forword duplicate of merger provisions. The Searchlight never questions the motives of corporation lawyers. It always believes everything they say. Consequently we are barred from expressing any definite conclusion. All we can say is that the affair is loaded with remarkable coincidences—coincldenees that Utah Power & Light must regard as Heaven-sent. Conditional (Continued from preceding page) in income of approximately $270,000, due to a saving in income and excess profits taxes of about $1,330,000. With savings in bond interest amounting to $532,000 resulting from lower interest rates on the new bond issue, further offsetting the loss of earning’s, a net reduction of only $180,O00 in revenues arising from a reduction of only $1,600,000 was indicated. The Power Company would hardly miss $180,000 with power sales running at near-capacity. Consequently it is predicted that the Commission will slash rates in an aggregate sum of $1,600,000. The order of the Commission, including the findings and report, was signed by Chairman George S. Balliff and Commissioners Donald Hacking and Oscar W. Carlson. Commission Counsel, Clinton D. Vernon, and Edward L. Dunn, chief examiner of aceounts for the Federal Power Commission, are to be congratulated on their excellent staff work évident in the findings Utah Commission. Mr. Dunn Utah Commission by F'PC. and order of the is on loan to the |