On this we had $33,000,000 left to pay. We had $18,000,000 in
income taxes due or shortly to become due to the Government, and also we
intended to pay our usual bonus for the year to the workmen, which
amounted to $7,000,000. Altogether, between January 1st and April 18,
1921, we had payments ahead totaling $58,000,000. We had only
$20,000,000 in bank. Our balance sheet was more or less common knowledge
and I suppose it was taken for granted that we could not raise the
$38,000,000 needed without borrowing. For that is quite a large sum of
money. Without the aid of Wall Street such a sum could not easily and
quickly be raised. We were perfectly good for the money. Two years
before we had borrowed $70,000,000. And since our whole property was
unencumbered and we had no commercial debts, the matter of lending a
large sum to us would not ordinarily have been a matter of moment. In
fact, it would have been good banking business.
However, I began to see that our need for money was being industriously
circulated as an evidence of impending failure.
Pages:
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292