Itissafetoaffirmthatthisgood-willofthegreatreorganizerhasinsomemeasureenteredincapitalizedformintothecommonstockoftheUnitedStatesSteelCorporation,asalsointothatofsomeoftheothergreatcombinationsthathavelatterlybeeneffected。The“good-will“ofMrCarnegieandhislieutenants,aswellasofmanyotherlargebusinessmenconnectedwiththesteelindustry,hasalsonodoubtgonetoswellthecapitalizationofthegreatcorporation。Butgood-willonthishigherlevelofbusinessenterprisehasacertaincharacterofinexhaustibility,sothatitsuseandcapitalizationinonecorporationneednot,andindeeddoesnot,hinderordiminishtheextenttowhichitmaybeusedandcapitalizedinanyothercorporation。31*Thecaseisanalogous,thoughscarcelysimilar,tothatoftheworkmanlikeorartisticskillofahandicraftsman,oranartist,whichmaybeembodiedinagivenproductwithoutabatingthedegreeofskillpossessedbytheworkman。Likeothergood-will,thoughperhapsinahigherdegreeofsublimation,itisofaspiritualnature,suchthat,byvirtueoftheubiquitypropertospiritualbodies,thewholeofitmayundividedlybepresentineverypartofthevariousstructureswhichithascreated。Indeed,thefactofsuchgood-willhavingbeenincorporatedincapitalizedforminthestockofanygivencorporationseemsrathertoaugmentthantodiminishtheamountatwhichitmayadvantageouslybecapitalizedinthestockofthenextcorporationintowhichitenters。Ithasalsothecorrelativespiritualattributethatitmayimperceptiblyandinscrutablywithdrawitsanimatingforcefromanyoneofitscreatureswithouttherebyalteringthematerialcircumstancesofthecorporationwhichsufferssuchanintangibleshrinkageofitsforces。
Therecanbenoquestionbutthatthegood-willofthevariousgreatorganizersandtheirfinancieringhouseshasrepeatedlybeencapitalized,probablytoitsfullamount,inthecommonstockofthevariouscorporationswhichtheyhavecreated;
buttakeninthesenseofanassetbelongingtothefinancinghouseasacorporation,itisnotknownthatthisitemofimmaterialwealthhasyetbeenformallycapitalizedandofferedinquotablesharesonthemarketorincludedintheschedulesofpersonalproperty。32*
Thesublimationofbusinesscapitalthathasbeengoingforwardinrecenttimeshasgraveconsequencesfortheownersofpropertyaswellasfortheconductofindustry。Insofarasinvestedpropertyismanagedbythemethodsofmodemcorporationfinance,itisevidentthatthemanagementisseparatedfromtheownershipoftheproperty,moreandmorewidelyasthescopeofcorporationfinancewidens。Thediscretion,themanagement,liesinthehandsoftheholdersoftheintangibleformsofproperty;
andwiththeextensionofcorporationmethodsitisincreasinglytruethatthismanagement,again,centresinthehandsofthosegreaterbusinessmenwhoholdlargeblocksoftheseintangibleassets。Thereachofabusinessman’sdiscretionarycontrol,undercorporationmethods,isnotproportionedsimplytotheamountofhisholdings。Ifhisholdingsarerelativelysmall,theygivehimvirtuallynodiscretion。Whereasiftheyarerelativelylarge,theymaygivehimabusinessdiscretionofmuchmorethanaproportionatereach。Theeffectivereachofabusinessman’sdiscretionmightbesaidtoincreaseasthesquareofhisholdings;althoughthisistobetakenasasuggestivecharacterizationratherthanasanexactformula。
Amongtheholdingsofindustrialpropertythatcountinthiswaytowardcontrolofthebusinesssituation,theintangibleassetsrepresentedbycommonstock,good-will,andthelikearechieflyofconsequence。Hencefollowthesetworesults:thefortunesofpropertyownersareinlargemeasuredependentonthediscretionofotherstheownersofintangibleproperty;andthemanagementoftheindustrialequipmenttendsstronglytocentreinthehandsofmenwhodonotowntheindustrialequipment,andwhohaveonlyaremoteinterestintheefficientworkingofthisequipment。Thepropertyofthosewhoownless,orwhoownonlymaterialgoods,isadministeredbythosewhoownmore,especiallyofimmaterialgoods;andthematerialprocessesofindustryareunderthecontrolofmenwhoseinterestcentresonanincreasedvalueoftheimmaterialassets。
Thedistinctionbetweenbusinesscapitaland“industrialcapital“or“capitalgoods“hasbeenshownbyKnies,GeldundCredit,vol。I。ch。II。pp。40-60。DistinctionshavingaverysimilarerectinsomebearingsaretobefoundinRodbertus“privatecapital“and“nationalcapital“,inBohm-Bawerk“acquisitivecapital“and“productivecapital,“or“privatecapital“and“socialcapital“,inClark“capital“and“capitalgoods“。Similardistinctionsaremadebyvariouswriterstohelpouttheincompetencyofthereceiveddefinitionoftheterm。Themeritofthesedistinctionsdoesnotconcernthepresentinquiry,sincetheyaremadeforotherpurposesthanthathereaimedat。
Thedistinctionmadeaboveisnotanattempttorecasttheterminologyofeconomictheory,butissimplyanexpedientforpresentuse。Itamountstoanunqualifiedacceptanceoftheconceptmoreorlesswelldefinedwhichbusinessmenhabituallyattachtotheterm“capital。“MrF。A。Fetterhaslatterlyspokenfortherestrictionof“capital,“asatechnicalterm,practicallytowhatisherecalled“businesscapital。“MrFetter’s“capitalconcept,“however,shouldprobablynotbetakentocoverintangibleassets。ThepracticaldistinctionisvisibleinthetestimonyofvariouswitnessesbeforetheIndustrialCommission,asalsointhespecialreporton“Securities,“
Report,vol。XIII。
EvensolateandcompetentastudentofcorporatecapitalasJ。vonKorosiisboundbythisantiquepreconception,andhisworkhassufferedinconsequence。SeeFinanzielleErgebnissederActiengesellschaften,p。3。
Thisstateofthecaseisbroughtout,inaveiledmanner,bythewell-knownproposition,expoundedinvaryingformbyvariouswriters,thatthecostofequipmentonwhichcapitalizationmust,intheory,takeplaceisthecostofreproductionofallvaluableitemsincluded,tangibleandintangible。
“Nothingismoreillusiveanddelusivethantheideathatifacorporation’sstockbeonlypaidininmoneyattheoutsetitisthereforebetteroffthanonethathasissueditsstockforpropertythatcouldnotbeconvertedforonecentonthedollar。
Thequestioniswhatassetsthecorporationhasgotatthetimeoftheparticulartransaction,andthatcanbeascertainedonlybypresentinquiry。“-TestimonyofF。L。Stetson,ReportoftheIndustrialCommission,vol。I。p。976。Cf。Meade,TrustFinance,ch。XVIandXVIII。
Earning-capacityispracticallyacceptedastheeffectivebasisofcapitalizationforcorporatebusinessconcerns,particularlyforthosewhosesecuritiesarequotedonthemarket。
Itisinthestockmarketthatthiseffectivecapitalizationtakesplace。Butthelawdoesnotrecognizesuchabasisofcapitalization;norarebusinessmengenerallyreadytoadoptitinsetform,althoughtheyconstantlyhaverecoursetoit,ineffect,inoperationsofinvestmentandofcreditextension。Cf。
ReportoftheIndustrialCommission,vol。I。pp。6,17,21Test。
F。B。Thurber;p。967Test。F。L。Stetson;pp。585-587Test。
H。H。Rogers;pp。110-111,124Test。H。O。Havemeyer;pp。1021,1032Test。J。W。Gates;pp。1054-1055TestS。Dodd;vol。XIII。
pp。287-288Test。H。Burn;p。388Test。J。Morris;pp。
107-108Test。E。R。Chapman。SeeQuarterlyJournalofEconomics,February1903,pp。344-345,“TheHolyokeWaterCase,“foranillustrativedecision。
Theadvantagesaffordedtheirownersbytheseintangibleassetshavelatterlybeendiscussedbyeconomistsundersuchheadingsas“Rent“or“Quasi-Rent。“Thesediscussions,itisbelieved,areofgreattheoreticalweight。Inbusinesspractice,however,theitemsinquestionaretreatedascapital,whichmustavailasanexcuseforincludingthemhereinbusinessCapital。
CompareBohm-Bawerk’sandClark’sdistinctionsbetween“private“and“social“capital,andbetween“capital“and“capitalgoods。“
SeeChapterIIIabove。
Onthebooksofthecorporationitis,ofcourse,carriedasanitemofliability;asisthecommonstock;butthatisatechnicalexpedientofaccountancy,anddoesnottouchthesubstantialquestion。
10。Seetestimonyofvariouswitnesseson“Capitalization“beforetheIndustrialCommission,vols。I,IX,XIII。
11。Asoneofmanyillustrativecases,theRubberGoodsManufacturingCompanymaybetakenasatypicalinstanceofacorporationorganizedinaconservativebutup-to-datemannerforpermanentsuccessandstablevalue。Itsauthorizedissueofstockis$25,000,0007percentcumulativepreferred,and$25,000,000
common。Theactualissuein1901wasabout$8,000,000preferredand$17,000,000common,ofwhichthepreferredwaspresumedtocoverthevalueofthetangibleassets。AnothercoalitionorganizedbythesamepromoterMrC。R。Flint,theAmericanChicleCompany,illustratesthesamegeneralfeature。Thepreferredstockofthiscompany$3,000,000“inroundnumberswasthreetimestheamountoftangibleassets,“whilethecommonstock$6,000,000representsnotangibleassets。Theaggregatecapitalizationisaboutninetimesthetangibleassets。Thewitnesssaysthatthiscorporationhasbeenprovedbyeventstobe“onaconservativebasisfromthefactthatthecompanyhaspaid8percentonitscommonstock,“whichhasbeensellingat80-ReportoftheIndustrialCommission,vol。XIII。pp。47,50。
12。Itmaybearguedthatthisidentificationofthecommonstockwiththeintangibleassetsholdstrueintheoryonly,inthesensethatthisistheviewheldbythebusinessmenwhooccupythemselveswithsuchmatters;whileinpointoffactnodistinctionofthisnaturebetweencommonandpreferredstockisorcanpracticallybemaintainedafterthestockhasoncefounditswayintothemarket。Itmightseem,inotherwords,thatwhenthestockhasoncepassedthestageoforganizationandgoneintothehandsofthepurchasers,eachsharerepresentsnothingbutanundividedinterestintheaggregatecapitalizationoftheconcern,sothattheparticularitemofwealthrepresentedbyagivenshareorgivenformofsecuritycannolongerbeidentified。
Onthefaceofthesituationsuchappearstobethecase,buttherearefactswhicharguefortheviewsetoutabove。Itis,e。g。,wellknownthatwhenevercircumstancesarisewhichimmediatelyaffectthevalueofthegood-willofacorporation,itisthequotationsofthecommonstockthatfirstandmostdecidedlyareaffected。Ifthegoodwilloftheconcernmakesagreatandrapidgain,e。g。throughmanoeuvreswhichputitinapositionofmonopolyorthroughchangesinthegoodsmarketwhichgreatlyincreasethedemandfortheconcern’sproduct,andthelike,itisthequotationofthecommonstockthatmeasuresandregisterstheadvantagewhichtherebyaccruestotheconcern,andthemarketfluctuationofthecommonstockislikewisetheinstrumentbymeansofwhichmanipulationsarecarriedthroughthataffecttheseintangibleassets。Atthesametimethisruledoesnotholdhardandfast,asisseenincaseofaliquidationwhenthecapitaloftheconcernmayhaveshrunktosuchdimensionsthattheentirecapital,includingtheintangibleassets,willnomorethansatisfytheclaimsrepresentedbythedebentures。Still,inpointofpracticalfact,thetheoretical
preconceptionofbusinessmenthatthecommonstockinsomeintelligiblesensecoverstheintangibleassetsisfairlyborneoutbyeverydayexperience,takenbyandlarge。
Acuriousparallelmightbetracedbetweenthecurrentendeavorsofthebusinesscommunitytoorganizeandmanagetheindustrialequipmentonthebasisofimmaterialassetsandthemedievalbusinessperplexitiesandactionsrelativetoloansoninterest。Inbothcasesthebusinesscommunityhashadtofaceuntriedexigenciestogetherwithapopular,traditionalprejudicethatdiscountenancestheexpedientsbywhichtheseexigenciesaretobemet。Themedievalpresumptionwasthatthemanagementofproductivegoodsandtheprofitsaccruingfromtheirusemustgototheirusers。Cf。Ashley,EconomicHistory,vol。I。ch。III,vol。IIch。VI;Endemann,DienationalokonomischeGrundsatzederkanonistischenLehre。Themodernpresumptionisthatthemanagementoftheequipmentandthegainsfromsuchmanagementmustvestintheowner。Themodernexigenciesdecidethattheequipmentmustbemanagedbyothersthantheownersandthatprofitsmustlargelyaccruetothosewhofinanciallymanagetheconcern。Theexpedientbywhichthisresultissoughttobereachedisthefictionofintangibleassetsandtheimpersonal,irrevocablecreditextensioncoveredbythepreferredstock。Theeffectistodissociateownershipfrommanagement。Thisisthenecessaryoutcomeofa“crediteconomy“consistentlyandfullycarriedthrough。Themanagementofthematerialequipmentofindustryisthrownintothehandsofthosewhoowntheimmaterialwealth;thatistosay,thosewhoowntheclaimtomanagetheequipment。Thecurrentprejudicewhichinsistsonmanagementbytheownersissetasidebyfeigningthatthisclaimhasanindustrialvalue,andsocapitalizingitonthebasisofthedifferentialadvantagewhichaccruestoitsholders。
SeealsoadiscussionbyE。S。Meade,QuarterlyJournalofEconomics,February1902,pp。217etseq。,ofhow“good-will“mayvaryinmagnitude,orevendisappear,whenaconcerneatersalargercoalition;also,onthesamegeneralhead,W。F。
Willoughby,“IntegrationofIndustryintheUnitedStates,“
ibid。,November