The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-12-25

Rates of duty.... 271I2 271-10 20 ST.
The drafts on the Assistant Treasurer for the week,
amount to $27572e SO, and the amount Of specie in
the Assistant Treasurers Department at the close Of
the week, was 81 ,e64 347 sS.
OF the imports, s3sO177 In dry gpodx The
value Of dry goods warshoused, for the week, was
$67 1885, and the value withdrawn $57 9l3 showing
increase in the value of dry goods in the warehouse,
during the week, Of 1882.
The Reading Railroad Company transported 17,l2l
tons of COAL for the week ending Dec. 81 making the
total for the season, l, 200 1872 tons.
The character of of the managers Of our public
works particularly railroads, is by calculated
to give those interested stockholders much conf
dence In the Of the several companies. After
all the losses all the expose Of extravaganza or ssme
thing worse, it is astonishing that is not
taken in the elec ton of members of the boards of d.
rectors Millions upon millions of dollars entrust-
ed to individuals who hold a certain position In
cety and have the reputation Of being honest enter
prisng and worthy men, and the first thing the stock
holders know, s all the funds gone, and the work
in contemplation but partially completed Scores of
of this kind have occurred is strange that
with all the experience of the past ten fifteen years,
there is probability of revolution in the system of
railroad management. The most recent instance of
gross Encouragement in one of our most important
public works, is that of the New York and Erie Rail-
road Company. We have pointed out some of the
items in which an enormous amount of money has
been expended for which there Is nothing to show
We have .hown that nearly ten millions of dollars have
been expended on one hundred and forty miles
of road and have also shown that the company was
hopelessly insovent; that the next semannual int
rest the indebtedness could not be paid out Of the
nngs of the road and that there every proba
bility of the breaking down. it did in 1914
All these things have shown conclusvey, and those
who still incredulous WILL before the lapse of many
months be satisfied of the truth of remarks This
Is truly unfortunate state Of things We have done
every thing in our power to encourage the construc
ton Of this work When the books for subscription to
the three millions Of stock opened urged the
public to come forward and fill up the amount requr
ed believing then do now, that the completion
of the road would be of the most vital Importance to
the people of this city, and the southern tier of
ties in the State and it with the greatest sasfac
ton that the books filing up so rapidly When
the three millions Of dollars obtained and work
on the road commemorate the universal impression
that in o few years the communication between the
Hudson and Lake Erie through the southern part
would be completed nd that this city would
be in the enjoyment of all those advantages long
ticpated from such connection. The three millions
were spent and three millions raised by the sale
If bonds which have also been expended and instead
of the read having reached the shores of Lake Erie it
has not been completed half way 1t may we'll be asked
what the of this delay is; but it is question
ceedpgly difficult to answer The principal cause is
the gross ignorance of the managers, the indfe-
exhibited the part Of the directors fulfilling
the placed in their hands. When it is considered
that many of the managers Of this road, under the
organization Of the have been engaged in
all the speculative bubbles of the day, and have made
fortunes out of all the exploded companies which have
been during the past ten or fifteen years.
even including the celebrated Kidd Company Of Dun
derhead mountain, it is not astonishing that the
resources of the Erie Railroad Company have been
exhausted hundred and forty six miles of road
The financial talent that regulated the affairs of
the Morris Canal and Banking Company, the North
American Trust and Banking Company, the Kidd
Diving Company and several others of similar charac
ter. has been visible in the management of the Erie
Railroad Company; and unless something is done to
bring practical into the directien it will
soc n meet with fate similar to that realized by the
other companies. while we attribute the bankruptcy
and insolvency of the Erie Railroad Company to the
extravaganza and ignorance of those who have ma
naged its affairs VIC condemn the course pursued by
those directors who have quietly looked and made
effort to arrest the movements of their colleagues
who rapidly running the credit Of the
These individuals have permitted their names to be
used for the purpose Of giving character 70 the board
and creating public confidence in the management and
they are. therefore, equally amenabe to the stock
holders for the depreciation in the value of their pro-
perty. 1t is purpose to point out the most promi-
nent items Of extravaganza in the expenditures and
to show to the stockholders that the remedy is still in
their hands to rave the from utter and
pete prostraton-s prostration that will require
to remove The history of this road is only another
chapter in the great book of bankruptcy, which has
been nearly filled by companies which have failed
within the past fifteen years.
CITY TRADE REPORT.
SATURDAY, Dec. %, 1S4S.
Change was thinly attended, and sales OF produce
generally moderate, without material change In
quotations. Small sales Of flour were made at yester
days rates. There a sale Of handsome white &C.
nesee wheat at lover rates than those previously cur
rent. There very little doing in corn, beyond the
sale Of some southern white terms stated be-
low. Meal was dull There was no change in rye or