The investor knows that the big company has great earning power and enormous assets behind every dollar of its securities. He knows, moreover, that its activities have always been open to the light of day. They have undergone the most rigid scrutiny by various public investigating bodies and by the U. S. Department of Justice. And every revelation made has but served to convince the public more and more of the ability of the Corporation’s management, its financial strength, and the justice of its policies. In an earlier chapter it was suggested that United States Steel common stock at the time of organization in 1901 had no actual investment behind it, that in a sense it represented pure water or “blue sky.” An enormous amount in securities had been paid for good will, the value of which was, at best, a matter of personal opinion. The Corporation’s earning power, despite the sanguine hopes of its organizers, was uncertain or, at least, not proven. And these facts were fully realized by Judge Gary and his colleagues. While probably believing that full value in earning power had been received for the hundreds of millions paid for good will, they were not satisfied to let matters remain in that state, and bent their energies, at the sacrifice of immediate dividends to stockholders, toward squeezing out every possible drop of water behind the stock, and putting at least one hundred cents of tangible assets behind every dollar of securities of any kind in the hands of the public. In this they have more than succeeded. The bonds and preferred stock of the Steel Corporation are to-day recognized as being absolutely gilt-edged, and even the most captious critics do not attempt to deny that every share of common stock is backed up by assets far exceeding its face value. Reference has already been made to Judge Gary’s statement, in October, 1919, before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, then investigating the steel strike, that the Corporation’s properties were worth at least $2,200,000,000. Competent steel men, outside the Corporation, express the opinion that this valuation was ultra conservative. They point to the fact that the Judge’s valuation was obviously based upon expenditures of approximately $900,000,000 for new plants between 1901 and 1919, and assert that it will never be possible to replace these plants for less than $1,250,000,000. But accepting Judge Gary’s valuation as accurate, Steel common has between $260 and $270 in assets behind it. Just as the investment behind the stock has been increased and accumulated, so has earning power been strengthened. So great is the Corporation’s capacity to-day and so strong is it financially that it is almost inconceivable that it will at any time in the future be unable to maintain its present dividend rate of $5.00 a share annually on the junior stock.