Financing the Chemical Industry - C&EN Global ... - ACS Publications

The Role of the Investment Banker and Investment Trust ... Union Securities Corp., New York, N. Y. ... IT is probably fair to say that the principal c...
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Commercial Chemical Mtevelopment . . .

Financing the Chemical Industry The Pole of the Investment

Banker

and Investment

Trust

H E N R Y C. B R E C K , Vice President, Union Securities Corp., New York, Ν. Υ .

' • W l i a t e v e r w e Jbxiy i s t o r s a l e 7 7 — t h e c h a n t a i t l i e i n v e s t m e n t banker w h o seldom invests in anything b u t helps American i n ­ d u s t r y t a k e care of i t s n e w c a p i t a l r e q u i r e m e n t s , w o r k i n g o u t a c o m p r o m i s e b e t w e e n t h e i d e a l a n d t h e feasible J_T is probably fair to s a y t h a t t h e princi­ pal concern of nearly every successful c o m p a n y management in America i s how t o obtain t h e money needed t o handle i t s present large volume of business, t o finance t h e additional demand which i s waiting t o be satisfied b y consumers, and t o disco\^er and develop new products of which t h e acceptability seems certain. I n t h e latter field, t h e chemical indus­ t r y is m o s t fortunately situated. There is probably no branch of American in­ d u s t r y which, during t h e past generation, h a s shown such a s t e a d y a n d unin­ t e r r u p t e d rate of growth or which promises t o grow more vigorously during t h e generaion a h e a d of u s . Of all branches of American manufacturing industry, i t is now t h e heaviest consumer of capital, having spent for n e w p l a n t and equipment during 1947 approximately $1.4 billion. T h i s was $2 million more than the electric utilities spent a n d S300 million more than all t h e railroads. A recent survey b y t h e McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. indicated t h a t t h e chemical industry would again spend substantially m o r e for new p l a n t a n d e q u i p m e n t in 1948 t h a n any other branch of manufacturing industries or t h a n t h e railroads would spend, although i t s con­ t e m p l a t e d expenditures of SI.34 billion would b e exceeded b y t h e $1.9 billion planned t o be s p e n t b y t h e electric utili­ ties for capital improvements. But, a s Mark A n t o n y once said, " I tell you t h a t which y o u yourselves do know" i n thus referring t o the v e r y heavy p r e s e n t a n d future demands of your industry for new capital. W h a t you a r e all m u c h more interested to know is where, how, a n d on. w h a t terms is s u c h capital to be h a d . H e r e i s where the investment banker a n d , to a m u c h smaller extent, t h e investment t r u s t come in. But before we t r y t o assay their roles, it should b e useful t o consider briefly how i t is t h a t American industry generally V O L U M E

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has been meeting i t s capital needs in re­ cent years. And, b y w a y of parenthesis a t t h e beginning, I would like to observe with thanksgiving t h e g r a d u a l disappear­ ance during the p a s t several y e a r s of the defeatist attitude toward industrial growth and capital expansion in t h e United States, which had its origin, perhaps, i n the severe depression of t h e early 1930's but which was nurtured b y a political philosophy claiming that t h e business frontiers of America h a d been passed ; t h a t we were in a "matured e c o n o m y " ; t h a t little, if any, expansion w o u l d therefore be justified b y t h e customary American motive of hope of private p r o f i t ; a n d t h a t whatever needed to be done hereafter could best be done by all-wise planners domiciled in Washington, D. C. You in t h e chemical industry were n e v e r convinced by this argument of despair. Your whole develop­ m e n t during t h e p a s t 15 y e a r s proves t h a t . B u t many did believe it, and

MARCH

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many more who did n o t , b u t who were not blessed as is t h e chemical industry b y an inherently strong growth trend, found it difficult and uncongenial to plan t o grow against a background of governmental a t t i t u d e that, a s a nation, our days of growing were over. T o investment b a n k ­ ers, whose principal business is to help i n ­ dustry obtain new capital, these years 1933 to 1938 were d a r k ones indeed. We, like you, d i d n o t believe t h a t America's p e ­ riod of growth w a s over; b u t we a r e pri­ marily merchants, selling a commodity (loosely described a s investment securities) to a public which was being told b y its p o ­ litical leaders t h a t such a commodity— let alone t h e persons who were selling it!— belonged to an o u t m o d e d era. There w a s evidence as early a s 1939 t h a t the majority of American people wrere beginning t o come o u t of t h e hypnotic spell laid upon them b y a persuasive radio voice a n d were recapturing a belief in t h e system of free enterprise under which this country h a d grown great. E v e n h a d n o great w a r come, with its imperious demand for m o r e of everything and for m a n y new p r o d u c t s , it is probable t h a t we should h a v e regained the traditional American belief t h a t free enterprise, private profit, a n d hard work are more likely t o bring u s national h a p p i ­ ness a n d opportunity t h a n sitting in gov­ ernment-legislated security t o watch dif­ ferent colored, b u t mostly pink, rabbits pulled o u t of a White House h a t . I t would be uncomplimentary t o the American g e ­ nius for common sense to assume other­ wise. B u t the w a r certainly accelerated the change, and today w e face a situation where t h e belief i n future growth a n d t h e willingness t o invest new capital t o a t t a i n it are both so strong t h a t a n investment banker can scarcely believe t h a t i t is t h e same world in 1948 t h a t i t was in 1938. There, is a cloud on t h e horizon, a grow­ ing o n e , t o the consideration of which I shall r e t u r n a t t h e end of these remarks. But, i n t h e meantime, i t will be useful t o consider how it is t h a t Aanerican industrydoes, i n reality, t a k e care of i t s new capital requirements. T h e figures presented recently to t h e House Ways a n d Means Committee b y 837

Secretary of Commerce Harriman showed t h a t American industry had spent during 1947 the h u g e sum of S26.5 billion. Of this sum, $14.5 billion were for plant and equipment, S 7 billion for increase in in­ ventories (of which a substantial p a r t was probably d u e to t h e increase in prices of the goods constituting t h e inventory), a n d $5 billion t o carry increased receivables, necessitated both b y rising prices a n d b y t h e increasing availability of goods here­ tofore in short supply. Now where did industry obtain t h e funds for this large investment? For the most p a r t — t h a t is, $15 billion—they were obtained from r e ­ tained profits, including depreciation r e ­ serves a n d c a p i t a l outlay charged t o cur­ r e n t expenses; a t o t a l of nearly $7 billion, from previously accumulated assets a n d from b a n k loans; and nearly S4 billion, from t h e sale of new security issues. Sev­ e r a l i m p o r t a n t deductions might be drawn from these figures, particularly with r e ­ spect t o the economic need for a sounder corporate t a x structure; b u t for t h e pur­ poses of our analysis t h e figure of $4 billion obtained from the sale of security issues is t h e most i m p o r t a n t . I t is t h e function of t h e investment b a n k e r to help industry obtain funds from this source. I m p o r t a n t a s this a m o u n t is, however, it should be noted i n passing t h a t it represents only 1 5 % of the total a m o u n t invested and re­ invested in itself by i n d u s t r y during t h e year. I t is helpful to bear t h i s percentage figure in m i n d when y o u hear criticism of t h e inadequacy of the new capital market, I t is inadequate (and I shall later suggest o n e possible reason why), b u t even so i t is n o t i n d u s t r y ' s chief reliance for future growth. N o one can deny, however, thai. i t is a n i m p o r t a n t reliance, and certainly n o investment banker would deny it, for it is here t h a t we have our sole excuse for being! I t i s our function to obtain for in­ d u s t r y all t h a t we can each year from this source of new money ; and in order to do s o we m u s t provide t h e investors of new capital, w h o m a y be either individuals, estates, or corporations, public and pri­ v a t e , with the t y p e of security suitable to their changing requirements.

r~ebttiveiy few in n u m b e r of all t h e eountL-ry's i n v e s t m e n t bankers to be associated together in a n y one issue; when you real­ i s e that individual pieces of financing, say, &4ΐι issue of telephone company b o n d s o r t h e underwriting of an offering of new comsmoii stock to t h e stockholders of a major «oil c o m p a n y m a y exceed S100 million; a^nd when y o u realize t h a t several pieces of "financing a r e usually about ready for xnark*ftiii£ at a given time, it is obvious "that t h e investment bankers must often «borrow heavily at the commercial banks to -fiiiaiK-e the purchases of n?w securities from issuing companies, pending their re­ sale t o the ultimate investor. T h e a m o u n t of such borrowings b e a r s a close relation­ ship t o the amount of liquid capital of the investment banker t a k i n g out t h e loan (it is, so> t o s p e a k , a " m a r g i n " t r a n s a c t i o n ) , and t h a t is w h y all good investment b a n k ­ ers k e e p t h e i r capital funds in cash, if possiole. Kofi" ofth Invest mvnt

Trust.

An investment trust is, generally speak­ ing, a publicly owned corporation and is an aggregation of capital contributed by one or several kinds of owners of capital (com­ mon stockholders, preferred stockholders, and d e b e n t u r e holders of the c o m p a n y ) for the p u r p o s e of making investments under the direction of its officers a n d directors, with greater diversification a n d after more careful and informed investligation than the i n d i v i d u a l capitalist could provide for hims>elf. B u t , as t h e name implies, these companies a r e interested almost exclu­ sively in investments, not v e n t u r e s in which the risk of loss must necessarily be considerable. You will rarely, therefore, find such companies a good source of the capital required for the discovery a n d commercialization of new products. T h e y usually believe t h a t money for such de­ velopment projects should conic from re­

//. C. tireck

speaking

invested earnings; that if such reinvested earnings a r e successfully used over a p e ­ riod of years, it will be a p p a r e n t in t h e s t e a d y growth of the c o m p a n y ' s profits: and t h a t t h e bonds or stocks of such a com­ pany, usually a l r e a d y o u t s t a n d i n g in t h e markets, would therefore be sound invest­ m e n t s for their funds. Y o u m a y ask why investment t r u s t s are so timid, w h y t h e y do n o t put a t l e a s t a portion of their funds into partnership with companies or indi­ viduals engaged in chemical research a n d product development a n d thus, at least in p a r t , c o n t r i b u t e t o industrial expansion and growth. It is a n a t u r a l question a n d one for which t h e answer is fairly easy. I n the first place, m o s t investment c o m p a n y managements conceive their principal p u r ­ pose to be t h e preservation of t h e principal entrusted t o t h e m for i n v e s t m e n t ; t h e i r secondary purpose, to obtain as generous an income o n such principal as is consistent with safety ; and their third purpose, to se­ cure capital accretion o r gain. I n these d a y s of rising commodity prices and cost of living, the third purpose has become m o r e important than ever, b u t it would be a mistake; t o lose one's principal in the e n ­ deavor to achieve» it. A fourth considera­ tion also m o t i v a t e s investment c o m p a n y managers, and t h a t is liquidity. They know that this is a rapidly changing world, a n d that w h a t seems a good i n v e s t m e n t t h i s year m a y t u r n o u t to b e a poor o n e n e x t year. T h e y like, therefore, t o be a b l e to move o u t of t h e poorer industries i n t o t h e better ones, a n d t o do t h i s their in­ v e s t m e n t s should be in t h e form of salable securities. So strongly is t h i s view held t h a t the v a s t m a j o r i t y of t h e i n v e s t m e n t s held by t h e i n v e s t m e n t companies of t h e country a r e in b o n d s or stocks of compa­ nies listed on t h e principal security ex­ changes of the country ; and I should sa%* t h e majority of t h e m represent n o t o n l y companies with a long record of successful

at morning

rneviing

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I n v e s t m e n t bankers do n o t themselves, a s a rule, invest in anything. Whatever t h e y b u y i s for sale, and the sooner the b e t t e r ! I t is axiom one among investment b a n k e r s t h a t their capital shall always be 1 0 0 % l i a u i d and preferably in cash. This i s because they are almost always under c o m m i t m e n t to purchase from issuing com­ panies, or considering the purchase from t h e m of, securities of which the aggregate a m o u n t is in excess of their own capital funds. F o r a variety of reasons n o t impor­ t a n t t o t h i s discussion, the aggregate capi­ t a l of all the investment bankers of the c o u n t r y p u t together is n o t large. Accu­ r a t e figures are not available, b u t a n in­ formed guess would b e t h a t it does n o t ex­ ceed S500 million, or a b o u t one eighth of t h e new securities issued l a s t year. When you realize t h a t it is customary for onl)r 838

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operations, but also securities of those companies which have been outstanding in the markets for a fairly considerable period of timel Generally speaking, investment companies buy very few new issues—few, that is, in relation to their total available investment funds. They are, therefore, a negligible source of venture capital and a smaller source of new capital, even for well established companies, than the large size of their combined funds might suggest. For one thing, most of them are pretty fully invested most of the time and have. therefore, limited free funds. If the new offering of Gulf Oil common, for example, seems attractive to them, they are more likely to sell other securities to obtain funds to buy it, than to buy it out of cash. There is t h u s no net addition to the community's capital investment. An exception exists in the case of the so-called openend investment companies, which are constantly selling new stock t o investors and thus gathering in new money, but the amount of money involved in such exception is not consequential. Role of the Investment /ian her If, therefore, we must more or less disregard the investment companies as a source of new capital for industry, how are we to obtain the approximately $4 billion required to b e obtained from the sale of securities to maintain the present rate of capital investment by American industry, let alone to increase it? The investment banker exists to help you solve this problem. In considering it with him, you should bear in mind what we said earlier about the investment banker being primarily a merchant—that is, a buyer for resale, and not an investor. His function is to enable you to obtain your needed capital funds from the public in the cheapest and the soundest way. They are not always identical. In the exercise of this primary function, the investment banker acts in one or more of three separate roles: that of adviser, that of agent, and that of merchandiser. As Adviser As adviser, he will consider with you how best to arrange your capital structure —that is, what proportion of it you would best have in bonds, or bank loans, what in preferred stocks, and what in common stocks. Based on his own marketing experience with some issues, and his study of many others, he can tell you what proportions are likely to enable you to obtain capital most cheaply. In this he is guided rather strictly by the judgment of the open markets, as expressed in prices of outstanding securities. Over this impartial judgment of the market place he has himself no control. But he is likehy to advise you t h a t you should have less than half of your invested capital represented by debt of all kinds; and if you have debt outstanding, then no more, and usually less, than 2 5 % of your capital represented V O L U M E

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by preferred stork, and the remainder by common stock. These are the practical limits of an acceptable capital structure. To the extent that the percentage of your capitalization represented by common stock can be increased, your investment standing will be improved. These proportions vary widely both by industries and by companies; but it is safe to say that the issue of debt for the chemical industry, as for many other manufacturing enterprises where the art is changing rapidly, should be avoided whenever feasible. The day may come when new capital is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain by selling securities to the public, and capital programs would therefore have to be curtailed unless they could be financed by borrowing from banks or insurance companies. At that time, it is obviously advantageous to have as little debt outstanding as possible. Under the function of advice, the investment banker will also discuss with you when it is desirable to do your financing. In general, he will say "whenever possible to do so." Markets change quickly and often inexplicably, and it is wiser to obtain money when it is available, even at the cost of paying interest or dividends on it for a while before it can be fully invested, than to wait until just before the bills for construction are payable and then find that securities can be sold to the public, if a t all, only on harsh terms. As Agent A second role played by the investment banker in his relations with your industry is that of agent for the sale of your securities to private, usually institutional, investors. There may be occasions, of which the present is an example, when the public market for securities is so disturbed temporarily by political developments, such as wars and elections, or economic crises, that new securities cannot be successfully sold at all, and if they can, then only on terms not prudent for the issuer to accept. At such a time, a company needing new capital funds can frequently obtain them by selling a note issue either to the large life insurance companies or to educational or charitable foundations. The investment banker can then supply a useful service as a«;ent for the borrowing company, first in ascertaining which institutional investor or investors would be interested in buying the security and then working out terms acceptable to both the issuing company and the purchaser. In these cases, the banker takes no capital risk himself, and is therefore usually paid a fee for his professional advice, which is rarely in excess of 1% of the principal amount of the issue which he assists in placing. As Merchant But, however useful the investment banker may be either as an adviser or agent, his primary function and his greatM A R C H

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est value to you as users of new capita! is as a merchant- This is his primary function a n d constitutes by far the largest amount of his activity. When thus acting, he is occasionally alone but usually acts in association with other investment bankers in a purchase group, and he or they buy from you the securities which you have decided to sell. H e plans to sell these securities to private investors and usually organizes a group of investment dealers in various parts of the country, the so-called selling group, to assist him in making such sale. The sale price is fixed sufficiently above the purchase price to cover the cost of selling and pay him a fair profit for the risk he takes. This risk is not a small one, for whether or not he is successful in making such resale of yrour securities, he pays you for them on the day fixed in the purchase contract. The risk of successful resale is entirely his, not yours and there have been many instances (all too many from my viewpoint a s an investment banker!) when the purchase group has been unable t o sell, at t h e reofTering price, all the securities it has purchased. In these cases, the unsold rump-end is sold for whatever it will bring, and the loss in many such cases sometimes results in a net loss on the whole operation. In his primary function as a merchandiser of securities, the investment banker usually performs three distinct operations. He first negotiates the terms of the issue with you, then organizes a purchase or underwriting group t o buy securities from you, a n d lastly brings together a much larger group of security dealers to sell, or distribute, these issues to the ultimate investor in them. Negotiation In t h e first operation, the negotiation, he is primarily your adviser on such matters as t h e state of t h e investment markets of the country, the type of security, either mortgage, bond, or debenture, straight or convertible preferred stock, or common stock, which would be both most advantageous for you to sell and at the same time most acceptable to the public and hence salable a t the best price to you. Frequently a compromise has to be made between t h e ideal and the feasible, and the working out of the terms of such compromise is one of the most valuable functions of the investment banker. Purchase or Underwriting Once the kind of security has been agreed upon in principle, the investment banker who h a s negotiated it, and who is therefore the leader of the business, usually calls together a group of other investment bankers with whom he is accustomed t o do business to form a purchase or underwriting group. This group is small in number, unless t h e amount of the issue be unusually large, b u t all of its members are selected for their financial ©olidit\r and their skill as investment bankers. Each agrees to take 839

a p a r t of t h e total a m o u n t of the contemplated purchase from the issuer, t h u s diminishing the risk forany one member of the group, and each contributes his knowledge of m a r k e t conditions and investor preferences to t h e leader for use in fixing with the issuing company the final price of the offering. Other details a r e usually p r e t t y well fixed in t h e original negotiation. The price is usually agreed upon a d a y or so before the public offering, b u t meanwhile the leader of the purchase group sets about forming a large group of investment dealers i n all p a r t s of the c o u n t r y t o sell the security t o t h e ultimate purchaser. Distribution T h i s selling group is usually several t i m e s larger in numbers t h a n the purchase group, a n d invitations to join it are given to those firms which the leader o r syndicate manager knows from experience are able to sell the securities t o u l t i m a t e investors. I n the case of large issues, wide geographical representation is usually sought so t h a t t h e securities will have a m o r e or less national m a r k e t after they are sold; a n d t h e amount of each selling group member's participation is fixed not only with reference to his financial means, but also w i t h regard to the t o t a l a m o u n t of securities being offered, so t h a t all members may have enough to sell so t h a t their efforts become worth-while. E a c h m e m ber of t h e selling group is paid the same percentage of commission for selling the securities which a r e allocated to h i m in the group a n d for which he assumes full financial responsibility. I t is customary to have the securities being offered sold a t the same price, which is fixed b y the syndicate manager, in all p a r t s of the country during t h e selling group period, which varies from a few to 30 days, depending on the difficulty of t h e selling job. W h e n t h a t period is over, t h e members of t h e selling group a r e paid their respective commissions, b u t t h e issuing company has already r been paid for its securities by the several members of t h e purchase group above-mentioned. T h e r e are, of course, refinements in this general m e t h o d by which i n v e s t m e n t b a n k e r s purchase securities from firms needing capital a n d resell t h e m to the investing public. I have in mind such things a s compétitive bidding a n d t h e underwriting of offerings of new stock t o existing stockholders. B u t to a t t e m p t t o describe them here would not add to an understanding of the general role of t h e i n v e s t m e n t banker in relation t o the chemical i n d u s t r y . Availability

of New

Capital

Before closing, however, i t m a y be w o r t h while to direct a t t e n t i o n to a condition existing in our new capital m a r k e t s t o d a y which is of equal seriousness both t o users of new capital a n d to i n v e s t m e n t b a n k e r s , whose function it is to find it. 840

Probably none would d e n y that, a constant flow of savings into t h e ezxprnsion of such vital American industries, and p a r t i c u larly into t h e risk-taking side of the business, is essential to the c o n t i n u i n g improvement in t h e standard of living of our people. N o r would any d e n y that we shall have a better chance o f preserving o u r cherished economic, political, a n d personal freedoms if this new v e n t u r e capital comes from the savings of i n d i v i d u a l s and corporations instead offrom government bodies, which have no t r u e savings of their own, b u t only funds t a k e n by taxes from you and m e . The b e s t example of t h e latter sort of i n v e s t m e n t today is to b e found in Russia. This is not t h e American way. I t is therefore disturbing to investment bankers to find t h a t the size of t h e pool of funds available f o r venture capital investment seems t o b e shrinking each year. T h e r e was a period of nearly a year after V-J Day, in August 1 9 4 5 , during which we found a considerable a p p e t i t e by- the public for those new issues—i.e., straight a n d convertible preferred a n d common stocks, which provide the very life blood of growth in industry. A considerable number of s u c h new securities were sold, al"though the total amount in dollars whicli they represented was less than is generality assumed. Their enthusiastic acceptance t>y the public up to the summer of 1946, o f t e n resulting in s u b stantial premiums r i g h t after offering, encouraged m a n y of us t o think t h a t t h e long period of New Deal defeatism toward t h e possibilities of growth a n d profits in American enterprise had c o m e to a n end. B y the late s u m m e r of 1 9 4 6 , however, t h e new issues markets were sixffering from acute indigestion, the stock market declined severely, and forecasts w e r e freely made of an impending depression. Nevertheless, American i n d u s t r y has gone forward during t r i e subsequent year and a half, producing Quantities of goods, paying levels of wages, earning a m o u n t s of profits, a n d paying r a t e s of dividends for which even the m o r e optimistic persons during t h a t optimistic early s u m m e r of 1946 would hardly h a v e d a r e d t o hope. Today, we find good American common stocks earning more money, paying more dividends, and selling t o yield, on such dividends, a greater m a r g i n over t h e yield obtainable from bonds, than e v e r before in our history as a g r e a t industrial nation. How can we explain this? M a n y of u s in t h e investment b a n k i n g fraternity think t h a t the principal r e a s o n m a y be t h a t our national pool of m o n e y available for new capital funds is not o n l y much smaller than we had thought, b u t i s actually diminishing. Borrowing ta New Capital

Raise

Large users of ne%v capital a r e being driven more and m o r e to t h e issue of debt

in order to obtain that new capital, because it has become either impossible or too expensive to obtain it by t h e issue of new preferred or common stocks. In 1946, for instance, there were sold in our investment markets a b o u t S3.δ billion of securities to raise new capital. Of this amount, S2 bil­ lion was in bonds and $1.5 billion in pre­ ferred a n d common shares. This was a fairly sound proportion between t h e two. During 1947, however, it appears t h a t , while the total of new capital issues was a b o u t t h e same, say S3.δ billion, as in 1946, the distribution of it was, roughly, S2.5 billion (instead of $2 billion) in bonds and only SI billion (instead of SI.δ billion) in stocks. Expressed in percentages, corporations in 1946 found it necessary^ t o obtain only 5 7 % of their new capital funds through borrowing, b u t in 1947 were obliged t o get over 7 0 % of it t h a t way. I need not elaborate to 3rou t h e unhealthiness of such a trend, nor its disturbing im­ plications for the vigorous growth of such great industries as t h e chemical industry. I do not claim to know the sovereign cure for this illness, but I suspect t h a t t h e trend could be reversed if our present system of taxes, particularly personal income taxes, were substantially altered. Our experi­ ence over many years in selling new equity securities convinces us that the principal buyers of them were individuals, usually engaged in business, who, after p a y i n g their living expenses a n d taxes, h a d a few thousand dollars a year left for i n v e s t m e n t in preferred or common stocks. T h e pres­ ent high costs of living, combined with t h e most confiscatory taxes imposed upon per­ sonal incomes in excess of S12,000, h a v e practically eliminated the active business­ man as a purchaser of new securities. T h e same causes have eliminated former b u y ­ ers who had retired or wrho h a d inherited wealth. Threat to and Living

Freedom Standards

Seldom have we seen a better illus­ tration of the d i c t u m of our great first Chief Justice that " t h e power to t a x is t h e power t o destroy." Whatever justifica­ tion there may have been for such h e a v y wartime taxes to insure the survival of our country has now largely disappeared. Unless they are reduced p r o m p t l y a n d substantially, we m a } ' find t h a t we are imperilling the survival of our system of free enterprise, for no business which is forced either to borrow excessively to o b ­ tain new money, or to take such new funds from some government agency, as in t h e totalitarian state, can long remain free. I n the maintenance of t h a t freedom y o u r interests and ours a r e identical. One of t h e best ways to assure i t is t h r o u g h a h e a l t h y and smoothly operating new capi­ tal m a r k e t . W i t h o u t it, we shall not, I fear, b e able to maintain the high level of employment and t h e rising s t a n d a r d of living of which this great nation is capable.

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