Corporation Ignores The ACSR

The Corporation disregarded an Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) recommendation for the first time this week, abstaining on an ACSR-endorsed shareholder resolution for disclosure of the Eastman Kodak Company's political contributions.

The Corporation believes Harvard should vote its stock for disclosure of corporate contributions only when the record shows that the company involved has given "significant" amounts, the Corporation's subcommittee on shareholder responsibility explained Thursday.

The subcommittee also called for legislation to force corporations and other large membership groups to disclose their political contributions, and it indicated it might reconsider its policy of abstention next year, provided activist groups call for disclosure by all large membership groups--such as labor unions and public-interest lobbyists--and not just corporations.

The ACSR has also called for disclosures by all large groups, not just corporations, but it wants Harvard to support disclosure resolutions now. "It is obvious that financial support plays an important role, in political campaigns," the committee said. "A shareholder is therefore entitled to know to what extent and in what manner a corporation is using its financial resources, or assistance to political funds, to assist the political process."

In accordance with its policy, the Corporation voted for disclosures by Standard Oil of California and Union Oil of California, which have contributed heavily to referendum campaigns. It abstained on disclosure by International Telephone and Telegraph, on the grounds that Dita Beard's dealings with the Republican National Committee and the company's attempt to subvert Chile's elections in 1970 "do not fall within the scope of information called for by the present disclosure resolution."