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SIGNATURE HENRY G. VAN DER EB, JR.
TITLE CHAIRMAN
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 12-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> DEC-31-1996
<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1996
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 163,089,049
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 173,058,908
<RECEIVABLES> 5,980,557
<ASSETS-OTHER> 193
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
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<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 4,841,114
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 7,443,994
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
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<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 340,355
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<OTHER-INCOME> 12,871
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</TABLE>
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
To the Shareholders and
Board of Directors of
Mathers Fund, Inc.:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of MATHERS
FUND, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1996, we considered its internal
control structure, including procedures for safeguarding securities, in
order to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing
our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements
of Form N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on the internal control
structure.
The management of Mathers Fund, Inc. is responsible for establishing and
maintaining an internal control structure. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to
assess the expected benefits and related costs of internal control
structure policies and procedures. The objectives of an internal control
structure are to provide management with reasonable, but not absolute,
assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or
disposition and that transactions are executed in accordance with
management s authorization and recorded properly to permit preparation of
financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure, errors
or irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that
it may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not necessarily
disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might be
material weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in
which the design or operation of the specific internal control structure
elements does not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that errors or
irregularities in amounts that would be material in relation to the
financial statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their
assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving the internal
control structure, including procedures for safeguarding securities, that
we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of December 31,
1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management
and the Securities and Exchange Commission and should not be used for any
other purpose.
Chicago, Illinois,
January 17, 1997 ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP
ITEM 77Q
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of Mathers Fund, Inc.
held on February 3, 1997, the following resolution was
unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the first sentence of Article II,
Section 1 of the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the
Corporation be, and it hereby is, amended to read as
follows:
"The number of directors of the corporation
shall be five."
