Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1839-06-03
COMMUNICATIONS.
FOR THE vIRCINIAN.
JAMES RIVER AND kANAWHA COMPANY

JAMES RIVER AND KANAWUA COMPANY
Messrs. Editors The late Chief Engineer of the
James River and kdna~ha COMPANY in n lrue, Ia
the Stockholders, which was published IN vo,, M,
per oil the 10Th ult., offered bief. tcmpeia,e and
candid statement OF the circumstances Of his remove,
from office by the President and Directors NJ III.
Company. I his staienl,n, contain, d tie ,e,so,s
alleged by General Cuckc in Justification of the .o,
duct Of the board which reasons were assone1
without contradiction, in the presence of five mem
bers OF the directory But II WAS, at The same time
intimated, that better reasons could probably be ad
duced by the President OF the Company Joseph C..
Cabell, Esq.
Mr.. Ellet promptly called for these additional
reasons, and an explanation of those PREVIOUSLY of
tered by Gc' eral Cooke, IN letter to the Stock
holders. Some time after, lhero appeared vapuc
and indirect answer TO this call, wten apparently in
careless, but really in cxrrtnel, cautious man
ner, seeming to give IN very innocent STYLE the ex-
plantations demanded.
Like most of your readers, the writer ollhs article
at first doubted whether MI. Cahe could really ex.
pect 10 pass this statement Gi as an answer To The
call OF the in ured officer Of Tie COMPANY lie wait.
ed, accordingly, fut further eAplauaons None
such have Al peared, and it is therefore now deemed
essential 10 correct the errors IN the article signed
Stot kholde,." IL that article As written b., the
President len,it reed only be said lat IT is charac-
terstIc. II II was written by d stock holder who j.
not member "i lie board, the which it con
tains are naura-for II has been The Practice and
is yet the policy OF the President, to keep the stock
holders ignorant OF hs pars in relation to the or.
ganlzaIion oil The corps. They not Informed OF
his intention 10 dismiss tire C4cf ENGINEER 81 tie
Company-an uhcci who hss made all Tie plans of
the work. laid out tie Whole line and made contracts
10 the amount otnnons OF Observation-Disclosures the
act WAS 10 be done the ia, aet they were calico To-
geihcf IN general meeting. il is the desile al thr
President To keep the sock holders, as well as IN.
tOatd Of tntt tois, Ludti co,cltuIe.
All the statements m that PORTION Of ihs article
which relates to the dismissal OF tie Chel Engineer
are incorrect
Judge Wright WAS not. ais throw out, elected
because he was first appointed" by the board. Thus
suggestion OF "A Sock holder" Is at conroveitcd
by the tact dat lie RESCUED ahe, is appoint
Ment in 1883. from ackuo" ledecd ",neual aud phys
ical inability" To discharge HE duties OF the office
which he bad attempted 10 fiji.
Mr.. Ellet masnol dismissed because i, was thought
expedie.u toIedure the number Of Engineers IN the
employ Of the Conn any-lor il is said that the day
after his dismissal, al least adduou made To
the cops
1t is not true that the Company have los, the ser
vices of some valuable young Engineers. oonse-
queuce of the anticipated reduction of labour on
the line. The only resignation that has occurred for
long period is that OF assistant Eng lneer no
signed to accept better appointment. and who
ceived intimailon from The President oil the Com
pany that he might be retained If he though, il his
interest TO remain.
Ircpeat. il is not surprising that any soehhode,
shou Id be Inaccurate statements for whCh the
President is authority. 1t is not the intention of
that oflicerto permit enher the Stockholders or the
public to come at 4 e root of this matter
In short. the directory ofthe James River and
kanawha Company, tIave lost character IN tins affair.
The transaction needs explanation. Suspicion rests
the President Of The Company as the author oil
deed which "w not BRONX the llghl; and the hoard.
among whom are believed to be gentlemen Of honour,
suffer from the m, sicrious manner IN which he has
induced them TO p.fmt the Transaction 10 be con-
Quoted.
The hope may possibly be that the discarded officer,
standing alone and without influence, viii be inca
pabIe of making his grievances known, and posses
SEES no power to be felt. But he has beeu driven
from generous community, (which Is more easily dis
gusted by act OF usIIt perpetfaied IN secrecy,
than won by the supposed power OF beard which
only live by It's Cat.
The opinion is abroad that there no honest
reasons Tor his act for The secrecy with which Il
was accomplished; and that zenlous officer has
sunk under the deep designing influence oil one who
--'' turns pale,
Aud sckeus, even If friend PREVAIL
and that his feeling has driven Mr.. Elet from the
work which he has constiucted,a lat The moment when
he was about to reap the reward oitour years oil la
bour & ackno edged devotion to the interests OF the
company. No stakeholder can explain this singular
act-for the secrets with the President. The
explanation, to be true, command confidence, must
come from The President
The writer Of thus article will make good his asser
lions whenever MIR. Cabell uses the power which lie
undoubtedly possesses, to for The transaction