Show PREMATURE DIVIDENDS there seems to tie be an ever increasing tendency for mining companies to pay dividends and make a big splurge before they are hardly able to walk alone the injudicious payment of dividends is one of the worst calamities which can befall any mining company the after effects when the bubble has collapsed by far outweigh the temporary buoyancy caused by the posting ig of an ill advised dividend this policy of grandstand dividends can be traced to one of two sources either dishonest or incompetent management dividends should be earned and if they come in any other way they are illegitimate and dishonest many times clever manipulators declare profits from the sale of treasury stock and by this means boost the market price of the company compan y shares when the time is ripe and the stock has reached the high mark these same manipulators slip out from under and the balloon comes down the money which should have gone into development has been used to grease the wheels of stock promotion and the property is thrown on the junk heap and it is most difficult to rejuvenate a proposition which has received a black eye in this way in the other case an incompetent management often loses its head because a little wave of prosperity comes along the treasury is depleted and soon the inevitable assessment follows in the wake of the dividend or if the stock happens to be the end of the rope is reached and another dead one is added to the list A healthy treasury balance is a good thing for any company and a little thrift against a rainy day is splendid policy it is hard to figure out why so many companies comand financial suicide in this way but it is of almost daily occurrence and they will do it |