-The General Electric Controversy
I REFERRED last week to the problem presented by the acquirement by America of a majority of shares in certain British industries, and without expressing any • opinion on the merits of the particular point at issue I cited the case of the General Electric Co., which, con- • fronted with the .fact of huge purchases of its existing shares by America, pursued a course of making a new • issue of 1,500,000 Ordinary shares not to its own share- ( holders but to the British public only. The storm of protests aroused by this action on the part of the Directors of the General Electric Co. have amounted almost to an international incident, and as readers of this column are doubtless aware, the protests resulted in a withdrawal of the issue at literally the -twelfth hour. Prospectuses had been actually issued and circulated, spaces for . advertisements in the- news- papers had been taken, and although Monday's papers :which were to have contained the advertisements had instead the.announcement that they had been postponed, a number of applications for the Share's had already been received.
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