Show I 1 mom NEW ERA IN r r ACCURACY AND PUBLICITY PROVES TO BE A POPULAR MOTTO prompt response te to bold cold move jett of president accuracy re u ed d western union unions surplus hay publicity restored confidence and nd its stock went up are the great financier i of the thai country beginning to see ft a new now light time wax we until recently tri fit tact fact when the men abathe athe bead head of the big corporations po rations kept their business to themselves as an far as the law aou kilow allow capable men at the head of the tb big bit concerns lone long realized re allied the weakness of their position but what wae was needed obviously an in all great re form forms wae was an oc carlon abd a it courageous man mah the occasion occA elon in the purchase of the western union telegraph coni company by the american telephone ana telegraph company and the man appeared rn tu tb odore N vail president Prel dent of the Purt basIng corporation it was last december when public announcement was made that the gould holdings of at western union had been taken over by the telephone company on account of the high esteem in which the management of the telephone company la is so generally held great things were predicted as an a result sult of the absorption of western union by the prean premi of the country the deal was moat most th favorably variably var ably commented on it being widely pointed out that under tho the direction of such men as theodore N vail and his as ro clates the telegraph company was bound soon to work itself into v position where it could otter the public far more efficient service than it had ever before been able to offer but a very few months bad had elapsed when it became apparent to the new management that a modern and up to date appraisal of the R sets would make possible a far greater degree of efficiency of operation here they said to them selves 1 weve bought control of this property and we know its immensely valuable but we dont know ju just juit it how valuable these appraisals of real estate and securities owned were made a long time ago if it we have a complete inventory made of every thing weve got we can announce the facts to the publik peart tart a new set of books and begin our responsibility to stockholders right there how inventory was taken the most expert accountants and appraisers to be had were put at the task their labors lasted over eight mouth their report and its cation by the company marks an epoch in finance it began by recommending an ad of the difference between the appraised and book values by A charge of 5 against our surplus dook book values of securities held were reduced to market values bad and doubtful accounts were charged off an allowance of waa was made for depreciation another of for reserve and so on until the old surplus of came down to it required courage the publication of this statement to stockholders say ing in effect the property 0 your company has been reval aed the surplus nin nineteen etgen mill ions tons as you have been led to believe but five give millions but it wae was the truth and president vail did not flinch accuracy ana publicity he declared was c e I 1 the stockholder has ban a right to know the hares shares of this company are scattered 0 d from one end of the union to the other this Is in more than a private corporation it Is a great national enterprise the public Is entitled to the facts the report WM was ordered published forthwith financiers of the old school and speculators generally weri were what would happen would the bottom drop out of western union when the shareholders realized that their pro petry was worth less than they had sup posed but the amazing thing bat happened ened the stock went up and stayed up the public had responded to this remarkable display of frankness and confidence to the new motto Ae accuracy curacy and publicity the full significance of ot the action of the new now board Is stated conc concisely leeLy by harpers weekly in these words Is this policy of 01 publicity and of pf open banded handed dealing with shareholders and jand public the forerunner fit pt ft similar movement on the part of other big corporations t certainly it la is to be hoped that it Is in the case of these theme big compan companies lex dependent upon public patronage and doing busl nees name under public franchise can there be any question of thi right of the people to know knewt that right ie Is being recognized it ts to recognized now in this epochal act on the part of the telephone and telegraph interests it Is in the lava dawa of A new now era in corporation Anal finane fl nane kee |