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Show THE POWER OF THE 8MALL STOCKHOLDER K Recent developments in tho railroad rail-road world omphaslzo tho Insignificance Insignifi-cance of the small stockholder. He is a pawn In tho choss play of giant forces. Nevertheless ho has a weapon wea-pon of which oven tho Morgans and' tho Mellens nnd tho Harrlmans aro fearful, and that is bis tongue. TJio Ideal of tho magnate Is a meeting meet-ing whero tho directors appear with a shoaf of about 437,542 proxies in tholr pocket, all for tho old management. manage-ment. In tho old days thoro wero many stockholders from Missouri. Tho man with flvo shares and an inquiring in-quiring turn of mind could mpko moro troublo than tho railroad presidents pres-idents could oil over In a year. In tlieso later days of vast combinations, com-binations, It has seomed useless for tho avorago small stockholder to attend at-tend tho meeting ot his company. In tho majority ot cases bo lived too far away. It he did take trouble to bo j present, everything was slated, greased, greas-ed, hnd expedited. The reports wore bewlldorlng arrays ot big booming figures, fig-ures, not particularly jlucld or comprehensible. com-prehensible. Thoy mado his head acho. By tho time ho had his spectacles spec-tacles wiped, and had begun to per. uso tho report, the buslnoss whs dono, and tho meeting adjourned. nallroad magnatos'Hro much Ilka other people With all their sagacity, sagac-ity, thoy mako mistakes. Thoy lay Napoleonic plans, which run counter to somo plain fact of human naturo. Avorago untrained shrowdness can offer portlnent comment, to which tho most compotont director may well listen. -I "M Tho small stockholder then serves his own Interest well when ho spends somo tlmo In perusing tho reports ot his company, and studying tho plans nnd mothods of tho mhnagomont. Even Ev-en though ho may bo ridiculed as tho mere ownor ot flvo or ton shares, ho can bo suro that a host of other and larger stockholders nro glad If lie Bpeaks out in mooting. |
