Business: A Gilt-Edged Cleanup

THE consumer movement and the environmental drive are having an impact not only on big executives but also on small shareholders. Consider the case of Robert Cecil of Holland, Mich. He owns some shares in Michigan General Corp., a diversified manufacturer. Cecil, one of those rare investors who scrutinizes his stock certificates instead of leaving them at the broker’s office or a bank, was upset to discover that they bore the graven image of the Roman god Vulcan and a series of smokestacks spewing clouds of black smoke. Fuming, Cecil fired off a letter to the company: “I am turned off by all that pollution. It is a very insensitive symbol for a company to have.”

Michigan General, a maker of abrasives, among other things, quickly smoothed out the situation. It changed the image. Vulcan was dethroned, the stacks were scrapped, and the stock certificates now show three men—a scientist, an industrialist and a workman. Informing its employees of the change, the company noted that smoke billowing from stacks, “once a sign of progress, [is] now an indication of unhealthy conditions.” With the new certificate, it added, “Michigan General Corp. is fighting air pollution in spirit as well as in substance.”