Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 1894. Provisional Directors.

Manawatu Herald, 3 February 1894, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 1894. Provisional Directors.

iear by year instances crop up showing the carelessness of men of good repute in allowing their names to be attached to enterprises about which they know little or nothing. The editor of the London Truth spends a fortune annually in exposing the designs of sharpers who trade upon the innocent through the medium of advertisements loaded with the- names of good men and true, who have blindly permitted such use to be made of thafc of which they should hold mo3t dear. In any direct matter of business a man will take much time and trouble to ascertain its value, bufc wl. >n philanthropic or pablic schemes are brought under his nofcice in a plauseable way, he is too apt to pass his name as a director without inquiring thoroughly into the propos.il, thafc is to say affcer he has been assured by tha promoter tliafc only his name is wanted. Ifc never appears to affect the provisional director that his namo is of commercial value, and its idle gift is a wrong to ifcs owner and the public who are thus misled. A company promoter sees an opportunity of enriching himself afc the expense of the public, he draws up an alluring prospectus and finds that with his name alone the scheme will not move, so he has to seek the assistance of those better known and trusted. These names having been secured he can blazon his proposals before the public with the suggestion that at least the provisional directors have carefully examined all his facts and figures and aro satisfied as to their accuracy. If the directors have done this they have done all thafc reasonable people will require, and the promoter stands forth as one who has nofc quailed to- unbosom the whole of his information. The directors will simply be giving the public a guidance which is quite within their province to do. Unfortunately this seems a most unusual practice, or else the provisional directors of so many of the companies which fail to float must be below the usual standard of in-; telligence, or, have been too idle, to inquire into what they make the public to believe is their own business. Ifc is time thafc some penalty should be meted oufc to those persons who permit their names to appear as provisional directors to any inter- ) prise in which fche public are asked j to join, if they are unable to give the fullest explanation of its object ■! and finance. Ifc is a common assertion to hear the shares being taken up in a compauy because a certain person was a director, and it . becomes exceedingly unpleasant to i learn, a.fter the shares are paid for [ and have turned out .unfortunate, that the director knew nothing aboufc j the company he was supposed to ; direct. That is just where the little difficulty crops up, the provisional [ director fails to grasp the position ! that he assumes upon the prospectus to be a director or manager of the company. This is how many large | companies have come to bankruptcy by leaving the direction to simply one or two men. The man who lend 9 his good name to any schema with which ha it hot -OJ.ve_g_n« is doing ti. \m»H harm fca him.ell mi

more fco the public.. To pufc the h.!. fcf-.r iV. a more unpleasant light it ■might fairly be said thafc he was obtaining money by false pretences-, for practically lie urges the pub-itf j to invest; in a Concern the bona fide* of which he i . practically ignorant. Wo ia.e 'referring to no particular company or persons, being impressed with the sfcatemenT" r 'made in the Christchurch- Truth "for ifc is no less true than lamentable that ft large number of people in good ..and. even loading positions will lend fcheir names to any scheme if it be only sufficiently puffed."