The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1855-01-19

| AsOAA tiiesb uappSuca 70 leiltk OUT ~ some un-
guarded moment, the stockholders should
beso wofully ignorant Of the condition Of
the affairs Of this road asthey are, and that
itoe in the face of the fact that they have
complained = bitterly complained = for
| years of these things.
The conduct of these men has been Sc
verely commented upon by those who have
rights in this company, long before we
broached the subject, and up to this time
not one item has ever reached the public
ear through the agency of those whose du-
ty it was to furnish statement of the con-
dition of the affairs of this road, and, SO
far as we can learn, no one outside Of the
board of directors, ever had the privilege
Ioflooking into the books. Now, however,
when the atmosphere in that quarter has
become rather to hot for comfort, they ap-
pear anxious that the books should be ex.
amined. We hope they may be.
Again, both correspondents deny any
knowelge of preconcerted plan to throw
Mr.. HALL out Of the board, and disclaim
all agency in the matter, Notwithstanding
the fact that Mr.. Kinney pas elected to
fill Mr.. HIS place, through Mr.. McDowell's
direct agency. If the Treasurer was SO
anxious to have the members of the old
bo~rd re-olvvtod, he says he was, why
did he use his influence in favor of Mr.. X,
who, having represented the states inter-
est in the board for two years by appoih-
ment from the Governor, certainly stood
a better chance of receiving the appoint
ment third time than did Mr.. Hall,
who is not known to "the powers that
be?" If there was no pre-concerted
scheme to throw the latter gentlemen
overheard why was it done--why the
necessity of this change p Gentle
men it won't win. You may "whip
the devil around the stump as much as
your please, and stamp, rave and get mad,
and kick up rumpus, generally; but you
cannot pull the wool over our eyes in that
manner. Your eophistry is too shallow
to deceive any one. The fact ofthe bus
meas is, you suanted Mr.. Hallout Of the
board, and you put him out
Mr.. Mcdowell says he voted the city
stock by authority of the President of the
council. This may be, but Mr.. Mcdowell
knew at the time he used that authority,
that virtually it was ofno account. What
right has the President Of the council to
give any one authority to vote the city
stock at these meetings, unless he is au-
thorized so to do by the council? None
at all. And yet this was not done, and
the Treasurer knew it. The council Was
not cognisant of any such authority" be-
ing given, and it is nothing more than mis-
cradle subterfuge for Mr.. Med. to give
this as reason for the course pursued by
him in relation to this matter.
Again: The Treasurer says there is
surplus fund in his hands ready to be di-
yided among the stockholders " whenever
it can be done lawfully" This is GER
tainly a very singular declaration to be
made by men whose duty it is to declare
these dividends whenever surplus is
known to be on hand, What prevents these
men from dividing this money, we should
like to know? Is there, indeed, anything?
No-unless, indeed, it is determination
upon their part to keep the money in their
hands for their own private use. We can
see no other reason. The law plainly says
these dividends shall be declared by the
directors at their regular annual meetings,
and yet, notwithstanding there has been
surplus in the hands of the Treasurer Of
this end of the road for at least three years,
in which time the directors have held
their usual meetings, there has been no di-
vision of the revenue. Why is this?--
Why have these wonderful sticklers for the
lap been so remiss in performing thispart
of their duty? If they wish to estab-
lish reputation for stricta adherence to the
letter and spirit of the law, as public SER
vants-and they labor hard to do this in
their communications-why has this part
of their duty been neglected SO long?--
Why has this money been thus kept from
those to whom it justly belongs, and who
need it to pay the burdensome taxes incur
red years ago by enlisting the State in
these pIundering Turnpike schemes p
There certainly is nothing in the LAM pre-
venting them from doing this-their sworn
duty-and there being nothing in it;
the ccnsure--,he blame must rest with
the directors, and the directors alone.
AS tothe assertion that these gentlemen
donot use this surplus fund in their pri-
vate business, we do not believe there is
any truth in it. The money is deposited
with brokers of this city. and by them