Show NEW ERA IN ACCURACY AND PUBLICITY PROVES TO BE A POPULAR MOTTO prompt response Rt pone to bold move ot president vall vail accuracy reduced western unions surplus 13 publicity restored confidence and its lt stock went up aro are the th great financiers of the tha country beginning to see aee a now new light time was until recently in fact when tho the nien men at the head bead of the big cor po pora rations tlona kept their b business Us iness to themselves as far as the law w would OU id allow capable men at the head bead of the tha big concerns long realized the weakness of their position but what was needed obviously as in all great reforms was an unmistakable occasion and ft a courageous man the occasion arose in the tha purchase of the western union telegraph company by the american telephone and telegraph I 1 company and the man appeared in theodore N X vail president of the purchasing corporation it was last december when public bubli c announcement was made that the gould could hol holdings dings of western union ha had 1 I been taken over by the telephone company on account of the high esteem in which the management of the telephone company Is so generally held great things were wera predicted as a result of tho absorption of western union dy by the press of the country the deal was most favorably commented on it being widely pointed out that under the direction of such men as theodore N vail and his associates socia oc latea tes the telegraph company wits was bound soon to work itself into a position where it could offer the public far more efficient service than it had bad ever before been able to offer but a very few months had elapsed when it became apparent to the new management that a modern and up to date appraisal of the companas comp anys assets would make possible a far greater degree of efficiency of operation were here they said bald to themselves weve bought control of this property and we know its immensely valuable hut but we dont know just how valuable these appraisals of real estate and securities owned were made a loss long time ago if we have a complete inventory made of every thing weve got we can announce the facts to the public start a new set of books and begin our responsibility to stockholders right there how inventor ln inventory was wa taken the most expert accountants and appraisers to be had bad were put at the task their labors lasted over eight months their report and its publication by the company marks an epoch in finance it began by recommending an adjustment of the tha difference between the appraised and book values by a charge of against surplus book values of securities held were reduced to market values bad and doubtful accounts were charged off an allowance of was made for or 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 saying in effect the property of your company has been reva revalued 1 aed the surplus nineteen mil millions 1 as an you have hare been led to believe but five millions but it was the truth and president vail did not flinch accuracy ana publicity he declared was essential the stockholder has a right to know the shares hares of this company are scattered d from one end of the union U won to the other this Is more than a private corporation it Is a great national enterprise the public Is entitled to the facts the report was ordered published forthwith financiers of the old school and speculators generally were aghast what would happen would tho the bottom drop out of western union when the tha shareholders realized that their pro petry was waa worth less than they had sup posed dut but the amazing thing happened the stock went up and stayed up the public had responded to this remarkable display ol of frankness and confidence to the now new motto accuracy and Pub publicity licitr the full significance of the action of the now board la Is stated concisely by harpers Itar pers weekly in these words Is this policy of publicity and of 0 open openhanded handed dealing with share hold era and public the forerunner of a similar movement on the tha part of oth of ct big corporations t certainly it la is to be hoped that it Is in the case of these big companies dependent upon public patronage and doing bust ness under public franchise can there be any question of the right ol of the people to know 7 that right Is being recognized it la in recognized now in this epochal act on the part of the telephone and telegraph interests it Is tho the dawn of a new era in corporation finance |