V
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON
THURSDAY. MARCH 28. 1983
' Iinllatt.i
Your Money's
Worth
By SYLVIA PORTER
Copyright, Hall Syndicate, Inc.
Better Than Twiddling
Thumb Exercise Turns Up Story On Wittiest Man in Washington
SPRING RITE ANNUAL MEETINGS
This Monday, April 1, will mark the start of a rapidly
changing spring rite in our country-the annual stockholders'
meeting of U.S. corporations. In April and May alone, the
estimate is 200,000 of you. and possibly twice as many, will
attend the meetings of corporations in which you own one
share or more of stock. On April 30 alone, peak day of the
spring rite, 275 companies will hold meetings. These annual
meetings are your forum as a stockholder: here you can
exercise not only your vote but also your vocal cords.
Today, the annual meeting is switching from the silly
circus it was becoming a few years back when corporations
attracted stockholders with jamborees, lavish gifts, free
lunches. (American Teleohone pulled in a record 20,000 share
holders to its mammoth Chicago meeting in 1961 by offering
box lunches, outpullcd even the opening of the baseball
season. Having learned most came only to eat the free lunch,
It has now discontinued the offering.) As one company execu
tive put it in an interview. "We're getting serious stock
holders asking serious questions and getting serious answers
from management. Meetings are becoming more informative
for all concerned. Corporate democracy is becoming more
and more real."
Today, too, more and mora top corporations art seek
ing out thtir stockholders by moving the location of their
" mattings around tha country and art honestly trying to
davalop a genuine two-way communication. This year,
- for Instance. Standard Oil (N.J.) will for tht first lima
i hold Its matting in Houston, where it has a big concen--,
tration of stockholders. Gtntral Mills, ptrhaps tht most
- stockholdtr-conscious company in tht U.S.. goes far bt-
yond this. Its 1962 mteting was in Camdan. N.J.. with
a ttltphont hookup to six other citits wntra timuiia
.' ntout mttlings wart htld and at which tha company's
txtcutivtt wtrt distribultd to answtr qutstions. More
than 4,000 attended.
' A clear illustration of the change in management's atti
tude is Olin Mathieson. Its 1961 meeting in the remote out
post of Saltville, Va., drew a grand total of one stockholder.
' This year, its meeting in New Brunswick, N.J., is expected
to draw hundreds.
Today also, more and more stockholders are actively
Mi-tirinatine nn their own in their companies' business. A
full 80 per cent of General Electric's stockholders vote their
proxies now instead of throwing them away; the total was
65 per cent a decade ago. In the words of an official of a
ia'nt Wall Street firm which distributes 2,000,000 proxies
year for 5,000 corporations, "Stockholders are more aware
of their voting rights. They're studying the issues, voting
Independently, not just rubber-stamping their proxies."
What will bt the major thamts dominating this ytar't
. mattings? In tht stetl industry, the story bthind 1962's
. dividend cuts and what's being dont to tast tha profit
; squttit. U.S. Stetl is bracing for a rtcord turnout at its
May S meeting in Hoboktn. N.J. In tht auto industry
tht outlook it for continued high salts. Tht replies of
auto extcutives will bt optimistic.
In- addition, a survey of top corporation managements
Indicates the themes will be: what efforts are being made
to bolster profits via cost-cutting techniques; the extent to
which the new tax incentives are spurring corporation invest
ments in new plants and equipment; the problems and prom
n Hnlns husiness abroad, particularly in the Common
Market area since President de Gaulle's veto of Britain's
..w .n4 hit oynressed antagonism toward increased U.S.
investments in France; management's views about tax reduc
tion and what it might mean to proms. .
As one of America's millions of stockholders, you have
distinct rights and obligations when you attend an annual
m Tn ho it Informed as nossible before you go. At least
read the annual report, which must, by law, be in your hands
15 days before the meeting is neia.
tv TV, ask serious Questions of interest not only to your
self but also to other stockholders and to submit constructive
criticism of management if you nave a legiiuimus hup.
(3) To vote your proxy - your prime right as a stock,
holder - on the basis of your own independent judgment.
By DICK WEST
Washington lUPu The rest
of my body may not be any
thing that the Kennedy admin
istration would endorse, but
I do have well
conditio n e d
thumbs. I keep
them in shape
by thumbing
through mag
azines, which
is a more stim
ulating exer
cise than twid
dling and is
weit more socially
acceptable than thumbing the
nose.
As I was giving my thumbs
a workout one evening recent
ly, my attention was gaffed
by the title of an article in
the magazine I was warming
up on.
"Tht wittitst man in
Washington," it said, and I
naturally paustd thtrt to
stt upon whom tht accoladt
had bttn btttowtd. Some
what to my turprist, tht re
cipient turned out to bt
Postmaster Gtntral J. Ed
ward Day.
If anyone had polled me on
the question, I would have
voted for Internal Revenue
Commissioner Mortimer M.
Caplin, who at this time of
year can hand you a laugh a
minute.
As a sample of the post
master general's wittincss, the
magazine cited a remark Day
made one night when a strong
breeze was playing hob nob
with feminine hairdos at some
kind of function.
Day said he wished he had
the comb concession.
That is truly a witticism, all
right, and I guess it proves
that Day deserves the "witti
est man" title. I doubt that
even Caplin could top that.
At any rate, tht articlt
aroustd more than my us
ual amount of inttrest in
tht letlimony taken this
year by tht Houst subcom
mittee on post oifict appro
priations. The transcript of the hear
ings was released today and
I eagerly leafed through a
copy to see if I could find any
more of Day's witticisms.
At the same time, of course,
my thumbs got a good limber
ing up.
1 will have to say that I was
disappointed, although I real
ly don't blame Day for not
wasting his witticisms on the
subcommittee, which probably
wouldn't have appreciated
them anyway,
But if he was short on
witticisms Day certainly
was long on abbreviations,
which art short for tht pro
grams he hat instituted at
tht Post Oflict Dtpartmtnt,
Among others he mentioned
NIMS (Nationwide Improved
Mail Service), A BCD (Accel
erated Business Collection De
livery), VMD (Vertical Mail
Delivery), WMS (Work Meas
urement System), POMSIP
(Post Office Management and
Service Improvement Pro
gram) and ZIP (Zone Improve
ment Plan).
I never knew before that
we were getting all of that for
a five-cent stamp. So what do
you want for a nickel - JB
(Jack Benny)?
BROADCASTS INCREASE
Washington - lUPD - Russia
greatly increased its overseas
radio broadcasts during 1962,
according to the U.S. Infor
mation agency. The agency
told Congress Wednesday So
viet broadcasts to the near
East and Africa increased
from 73 'j hours to 112 hours
a week, to the Far East from
117, to 180 hours, and to
Latin America from 45j to
101 1 i hours.
GLASSES
ON CREDIT!
aWtC Crttn Stamps
COLUMBIAN
OPTICAL CO.
MEDFORD
SHOPPING CENTER
2
I
Working Wives Spend
Earnings Toward Job
Washington tUPI) About
40 per cent of the gross earn
ings of a group of working
wives in Ohio was spent on
job-related expenses a recent
V. S. department of agricul
ture survey indicated.
BILL PROTECTS CATS
Sacramento, Calif. - (UPII
Democratic Sen. Ronald Cam
eron introduced a bill in the :
legislature Wednesday that
would make it a misdemeanor
to abandon a cat. He said it
would not apply to cats that
left home voluntarily.
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CERTIFIED VALUES!
HERE IS THE BIGGEST SPRING SALE OFFERED BY ANY STORE IN THE VALLEY
. . . 3 BIG SALE DAYS . . . THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
Shop Thursday and Friday Evenings 'Til 9 P.M.
SILHOUETTES IN WOOL
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Now is the time to stock up
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8B
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1 , M JUL
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Illustration
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18.98
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MESSES
3 DAYS ONLY
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T18
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SEARS
501 E. JACKSON ST. IN MEDFORD
' PHONE 773-6661
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