A holding company represents the greatest concentration of power in a body of directors and the extreme of helplessness on the part of shareholders. A corporation may be so organized that its bonds and preferred stock represent the greater part of its capital, while the common stock represents the actual control. Then, if a second company acquires a majority of the common stock, or a majority of the shares that are likely to be voted at elections, it may control the former company, and as many other companies as it can secure. The shareholders of the subsidiary companies may be thus practically deprived of power to protect themselves against injurious measures and even to obtain information of what the holding company is doing, or intends to do, with their property. As a first step toward mitigating this evil we suggest that the shareholders of subsidiary companies, which are dominated by holding companies, or voting trusts, shall have the same right to examine the books, records, and accounts of such holding companies, or voting trusts, that they have in respect of the companies whose shares they hold, and that the shareholders of holding companies have the same right as regards the books, records, and accounts of the subsidiary companies. The accounts of companies not merged should be separately kept and separately stated to their individual stockholders, however few they may be. We may point out the fact that the powers which holding companies now exercise were never contemplated, or imagined, when joint stock corporations were first legalized. If Parliament and Legislatures had foreseen their growth they would have erected barriers against it. RECEIVERSHIPS Our attention has been directed to the well-known abuses frequently accompanying receiverships of large corporations, and more especially public service corporations, and the issue of receivers’ certificates. We feel that the numerous cases of long-drawn-out receiverships, in some instances lasting more than ten years, and of the issue of large amounts of receivers’ certificates, which take precedence over even first mortgage bonds, are deserving of most serious consideration. Legislation providing for a short-time limitation on receiverships or for a limitation of receivers’ certificates to a small percentage of the mortgage liens on the property, could be rendered unnecessary, however, by the action of the courts themselves along these lines, so as to make impossible in the future the abuses which have been so common in the past. EFFECT OF THE MONEY MARKET ON SPECULATION It has been urged that your committee consider the influence of the money market upon security speculation.