OCR Text |
Show 1 5rnall Investors Lose Out 0 TWO interesting items appeared on the financial pages of the newspapers November 17: The Standard Oil company of New Jersey Jer-sey will pay off $90,000,000 of obligations. obliga-tions. But instead of public offerings of high-class securities to raise the noney, the company will borrow from the banks .nd issue debentures to be held by the Rockefeller oundation. An official announcement of the com-'iany com-'iany stated that no public offerings would be made ecause of the time element involved in complying vith provision of the new securities act. ' The second announcement was the private sale "f $18,000,000 utility bonds by the Consolidated Gas ilectric Light and Power company to six insurance ompanies. i Under the present scheme of security regulation h is not illegal for a company to place an unregistered issue of securities privately with banking insttutons, f isurance companies and the like, so long as they are "titended to remain with the original purchasers and riot sold to the public. Legislation intended to punish the crook has apparently ap-parently clamped the lid down so tight that it has 'jiade it impractical for the honest to offer some of he best of securities to the general public. Let us ope that theory and practice can be so harmonized c hat the small investor will not be shut out of aj 1 hance to share in the best offerings of sound com-'janies com-'janies simply because they find it impractical or im-'ossible im-'ossible to comply with the red tape of corrective igislation. |