On Friday week the Report of the Committee, of which
Lord Sumner was Chairman, appointed to inquire into the affairs of the British Cellulose Company, was issued as a White Paper. The Report recalls that criticism was directed against the Company on two points : (1) " that the Company had received much official support, including loans of public money, priorities, contracts, and an excess profits concession " ; and (2) " that its sixpenny shares appeared to be assumed to have become quickly worth £14 10s. each." As regards the criticism of the great rise in the value of the shares, the Report says that the promoters " have only themselves to thank," but holds that " the basis of capitalization appears to be of slight public im- portance, since the only parties who could be prejudiced by it were the companies associated with the British Cellulose Com- pany. . . . What the parent company's shares are really worth is a matter of complete uncertainty, and the fixing of the shares at sixpence was no necessary indication of their actual value."
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