There never was a more useful prosecution conducted by any Public Proseeutor than the trial of Lord Kylsant and Mr. Morland, the Accountant of the R.M.
Company.
The Judge who tried the case—Mtr, Justice Wright—was te cor-reet in ded ing that it questions of very. great public interest, Jand irrespective of the verdict of the Jury I think we all feel it is time that some change should take place not merely in Company Law but in Company finance, company management, and in fact every-[thing connected with Public Companies. senior partner of the firn of Ar-(a2ything, however, of a practical thur Wheeler & Company. This was one of the most gigantic firms of outside stockbrokers in the country. They carried on business on 'a colossal. scale, mainly by circularisation. They had interests jin any number of Local undertakings. Now the whole lot of them seem to have crashed and Sir Arthur Wheeler and a former partner are now charged with frauduent conversion on a very large The Statement of Affairs which apparently provisional, showes oral liabilities of just over £800,- }000 and assets at only a quarter that amount. In fact there is nmieets 's unless it deals in hardly a company of any note that
monopolies and luxuries such as beer and tobacco which is in [satisfactory state.
T shiver to repeat what I hear about the Oil Companies, even from people who have. all their living in them. The position of rubber companies is well enough known.
Tt is true that the economic jon all over the world may and does affect Public Companies, but frankly we have now arrived at the' time when everyone is convinced, that the whole system of
respects wrong. There are too modern company is in many many directors and too old direetors, directors who are pushed in because they are friends of those rectors already on the Board, [directors who are chosen—as in the Jease of railways—not because they [know the least about railways but because they happen to be large cations for directors. It is quite lis time that the aged, the guinea pigs, and the amateur must. clear off from the Boards on which they now are.
It is equally clear that we must have a complete alteration in the methods of presenting company Jcounts. Only a positive expert can understand "any Public Balance Sheet nowadays. The ordinary shareholder never has a dog's chance either of understanding a Balance Sheet or of asking leitimate enquiries at the annual mecting of the company in which he has invested this savings. He is usually sat on if he tries to do so.
Personally, I do not think that auditors are' prepared even if they jate allowed, to exercise as much authority as they ought to do in passing statements of Account. What we want is Prospectus which is not merely honest but which sets the fact out so that the common Jordinary everyday investor can understand them. Of course -the famous R.-M. S.'P. Ca, Prospectus fon which "Lord Kylsant was tried, did not do so.
Are we going to have a change? Unless we do so the outlook for British industry is bad. Industry jean only be carried on if there is public confidence not merely in the rectitude of the management but in its capacity and candid deal present this confidence is sadly [weakened. Everybody is preferring to invest in Trustee stocks be-Jeauce they have to be above board jand because presumably there cannot be anything concealed, made 235 160, ab Also a high score in the St. Georges.
'The Argyll and Southerland Highs anders have probably never had better' rifle shot than' Armourer Sergeant J. MacCallum who served lin the 7th Battalion. On July 18, the. shot in the final of the King' Prize for the 17th time and made 135 out of 150 at long range, finishing twelve pointe behind the jwinner's 285. (Sgt. Fulton), He first got into the final in 180i and Ihe has been second, third, fifth and eighth for the Gold' Medal, He won, [the Bronze Medal one yenr.
The MacCullums are 'a household word in Argyllshire shoots there was also Private D, MacCullum. land Arm, Sgt. E. C, MaeCullam of the Sth Battalion who were many es in the final. But the old larmourer of whom T am writing not only did well in the King's this year, but he won the Daily Mail Cap with jo full score after a tie shoot (Mid= \dlemas won it last year) was fourth for the Association' Cup, secoivl for ithe Stock Exchange snd N.R. Ay \Journal and won-a Bronze Cross int the Grand Aggregate whose Gold he already tas, He is the modern eVittie "and has staged a come back in, veteran 'The Argyll men at Bisley conigatuaicd "hin and' the "bed "at hongkong will be equally pleased to hear of his success. Other Argylls Jwho shot well igslude Capt. Kitk= Wood, Lieut, Morrison, Pte. Straiton, and It. Gol. D. Campbell, 8th Battalion, who shot for Scotland in jthe Elcho Match and made high [scores in the Armourers, Corporation of London and Daily Telegraph, The highest King's scorers in th Pacific group of marksmen were
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.