Spencer Heath Archive

Item 2316

Carbon of typed pages by E.C. Riegel with a typed note attached, dated November 29, 1948, “Dear Spencer:- I just ran across this carbon copy and am disappointed that it did not even register on your mind. Is it love’s labor lost. Would you be more impressed if I sent you a bill for $1,000?”

 

 

 

 

 

Preliminary Prospectus

T h e   FIRST  COMMONWEAL CORPORATION

(projected)

Public Service at  a  Profit

There’s profit in rendering service and the boundaries of private and public service are not fixed. The ex­tent to which private enterprise may absorb so-called public service depends solely upon the vision and in­itiative of enterprisers. Taxation upon the community may be diminished and voluntary payments for services correspondingly enlarged.

Examples of “private-public service” are found in ho­tels, apartment houses, office buildings. These ins­titutions render services to their guests and tenants that are in a limited sense communal. Electric, gas, water, telephone, cleaning services are rendered and policing is provided. The idea of communal service seems, however, to have been confined to the walls of a building or buildings, though Rockefeller Center has provided a “private-public” street and housing en­terprises such as Parkchester service the adjacent grounds.

The ideal of FIRST COMMONWEAL CORPORATION is to devel­op to the fullest possible extent the integration of services to be distributed by the corporation to its tenants and to make such rendition of services as profitable as possible to the stockholders who may or may not be also its tenants.

Services now privately rendered by independent enterprises are also to be rendered by the corporation within its boundaries thus affecting economies for tenants while augmenting the profits of the corpo­ration.

The ownership function of the landlord will be avail­able to all tenants through stockholding while the administrative burden will rest upon the corporation. Thus is obliterated the class distinction between landlord and tenant. The greater the profit of the corporation, the greater the income of tenant through stock dividends.

Corporate Structure

The Corporation will be incorporated under the most favorable state laws.

Stock

The stock will be of two classes, Gross Income and Net Income.

GROSS INCOME STOCK will provide a distribution of 7/8 of the gross income of the corporation.

NET INCOME STOCK will provide for dividends at the discretion of the directors from profits after taxes and other expenses and reserves.

Gross Income stock will be issued only for the purchase of property to the extent of seven eighths of the purchase price and 1/8 of the purchase price will be paid in Net Income Stock.

Net Income stock will be available to cash purchasers.

By this unique stock arrangement property owners will be assured of a minimum return without regard to the corporation’s profit experience while holding also a partici­pation in speculative profits. Thus the corporation should have an effective financing instrument that will enable it to purchase an unlimited amount of property.

Site and Financing

The corporation will select a city area of adequate size and seek options therein to be closed when sufficient property is available. Its operations will be financed from funds received from the sale of Net Income stock.