Steel Meeting

Although there are some 100,000 individual stockholders in the U. S. Steel Corporation, the company's annual meeting was attended, last week, by the usual corporal's guard of about 100. Judge Elbert H. Gary, in his remarks, particularly stressed the need for conservatism in the payment of dividends and the undesirability of distributing surplus under present conditions. Evidently, the stockholders have in some cases been disappointed in their treatment by the directors and have, been saying so. Judge Gary stated that the Company's surplus had reached $517,061,308, but that it was necessary to meet new competition and also to provide for possible additional taxes. Of the stockholders of the Steel Corporation, George F. Baker, Chairman of the First National Bank of New York, remains the largest individual investor, with 500 shares of preferred and 58,050 of common stock--worrth about $6,735,000 at present market prices. Other prom inent holders were: Lawrence C. Phipps, (junior U. S. Senator from Colorado), 5,000 preferred and 30,000 common; President Coolidge, 50 common; Judge Gary, 1,966 preferred and 661 common; John P. Morgan, 901 common.

In the Wall Street Journal, Judge Gary's argument for limiting dividends to 7% was rebutted. The Journal pointed out that the Steel Corporation now showed a total investment of $2,126,000,000, on which 1924 earnings were about 5%. The investment behind the stock amounted to $1,586,000.000, on which payments to stockholders amounted to 3.8%. "If," argued the Wall Street Journal, "the Corporation, in a year or more than average earnings, cannot make 5% on its investment, why continue adding to that investment?"