The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4324, 9 November 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1882.

Folk have been wondering what demand, if any, Mr Eobert Graham had made upon the New Prince Imperial G. M;Co. Surely, they reasoned, if Mr Tyler has been retained by the Company, and he in turn endeavored to engage Mr Miller, the action must have commenced. The affair occurred a fortnight ago, yet nothing has transpired. We made inquiries at the Company's office two or. three days ago as to whether the manager could furnish ' us with any particulars of the claim* and the reply was summed up in one word, " No." Mr Wm. Carpenter, on behalf of himself and others, likewise telegraphed yesterday to that gentleman to the following effect: " Can you furnish me with the particulars of Mr Graham's claim against the company, if any ? I apply on behalf of a la/ge number of shareholders." Mr D. Gr. Macdonnell, the manager, replied: "Mr Graham has not yet furnished particulars, though asked to do so." We do not impute sinister motives to anyone, bat feel constrained to say, Someone has blundered. At the door of both Mr Graham and the directors lies a suspicion of keeping a vague, vapory, ungraspable, indescribable apparition of'evil hanging over the mine, with a view to " bearing " tie market. And that suspicion has taken hold of the minds of the Thames shareholders firmly. Far be it from us to insinuate that the suspicion is other than groundless, but we cannot acquit either party of acting in such . a way as to render this suspicion feasible Mr Graham should have lodged his claim long since. A title to a fair rent will generally be conceded him. No doubt that would willingly be paid him, whether his title were admitted ornot. If be wants something so reasonable as he and his representatives assert, why does he not hasten to ask and receive it? It is but fair to state that it is contended on his behalf that as the Imperial Company squatted on his property without his sanction it is for them to go to him and solicit terms; not he to them. But we are inclined to blame the Directors even more than Mr Graham. They could not have been ignorant of the general apprehension which this rumor about Mr Graham's action caused; more, they must be well aware that it frightened many shareholders who had thorough confidence in the mine into selling. Therefore we do not hesitate to say that they fell short of their duty in not publishing an exact statement of how matters stood. It was their bonoden duty to enlighten the shareholders, the guardians of whose interests they were elected to be, on this, a matter of paramount importance. What little information Mr MacDonnell's telegram affords Bhould not have required a telegram from Mr Carpenter, or anyone else, to draw out, as money extracted from the pocket of a miser. Directors should bear in mind they are placed in that position to conserve the interest of the shareholders rather than for their own especial benefit. A feoling is prevalent that directors of of goldmining companies too frequently become oblivious of this fact, and come to regard the other shareholders outside their circle of,friends with that loving tenderness which the cat bears towards the mouse, or the mackerel to the sprat. This observation is how.

ever purely generalisation, and it is written «with a view to pointing out that such an inference is natural, and the only way of convincing the outside share holders that the directors are of, and with, them is publicity. As we wrote the other day with regard to the mines, so we write of the directors, that the best means of inspiring confidence, and inducing the investment of capital, are publicitypublicity — full publicity. Such a damaging impression with regard to so valuable a property should not have been allowed to float about so long without explanation. Someone has blundered.