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Show THE 3 SEARCHLIGHT Kilowatt Crew~ (Continued from preceding page) although he carefully refrains from making official proposals of that kind. And spokesmen for the group are authority for the report that Electric Power & Light Corporation is resigned to the loss of its holdings and will be content with a token holding—say about 5%— to salve its own stockholders. The preferred stockholder group not only accepts the suggestions for a token residue of common stock to remain with EP&LC, tively champions the idea, as it every: other kilowatt suggestion. but ac- champions And what does a token holding of 5% by EP&LC (or any other per cent) mean that Bond & most certainly does not. For all practical pur- poses it means that Bond to operate Utah Power & & Share will continue Light through its sub- Share signify? Does is definitely out? it It Sidiaries. There are about 14,000 preferred ers of Utah Power & Light. A large them stockholdnumber of be induced to vote at all for a board The average holding is very small of directors. its to induce important sufficiently not and owner to take an active part. In all probability not more than 25,000 votes can be obtained from the preferred, and much of that would vote for the cannot existing regime. If any percentage at all of the common stock now held by EP&LC were to be left to that concern, the result would be continued domination A five per cent token holding by Bond & Share. advocated the preferred group, would be 150,000 shares, which would be six times as large as Acany probable vote of the preferred stock. cordingly, if Bond & Share’s subsidiary, Electric Power & by Light Corporation remains in the pic- ture at all, Bond & Share will remain in the saddle, a consummation planned by the clever Dr. under Gadsby. oath Indeed, that even Mr. Gadsby though testified has Bond & Share out altogether, he would continue were thrown te do business with Ebasco Services, Inc., another subsidiary of Bond & Share. And what might be expected under. such Would Utah rate payers concircumstances? tinue to be victims? They would. Whenever PSCU should again seek to inquire into the propriety of the electric rates of Utah Power & Light, Mr. Gadsby would claim that Utah Power & Light is obliged to buy power from Idaho Power and Montana Power at such rates as might be imposed by those two concerns. And those two companies, in turn, are still a part of the Bond & Share system, and quite likely will remain so. Thus, the apparently innocent token holding of common stock in UPALCO by EP&LC, advocated by the Nebeker group, might be the syphon whereby Bond & Share will continue to extract money from the pockets of Utah rate payers even though that concern is supposed to be kicked out, or almost out. And such sophisticated souls as Salt Lake City bankers and business men seem to think that a token holding would not be amiss! After all, there are some peculiar about that preferred stockholder has carefully avoided making an pearance before the Public things group. It official ap- Service Commis- sion where it could be put under cross examination and made to tell all. Its chief spokesman and front man, William D. Nebeker, Jr., arrived at the rate hearing earlier in the year exactly 14 minutes after the hearing had been brought to a close. The hearing had been open and available to Mr. Nebeker for the greater part of three months during which he strangely was became He silent. vocal immedi- ately after there was no hope of putting him under oath and cross examining him. And needless to say his plea was for a rate sufficiently high to “protect” the preferred stockholders. Mr. Gadsby And ING—the sought now, an identical rate. on June merger 23rd, hearing AFTER—NOT before PSCU the DURsame Mr. Nebeker and his group employ the same tactics. After opportunity for cross examination had passed the group sent a lengthy letter to the Commission urging it to go all the way for Mr. Gadsby—“without modifying restrictions or conditions’”—to travel the kilowatt route unquestioningly. And Mr. Gadsby (Continued is the gentleman on following page) who has |