Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-11-24
From Tie sbe;byvfIe True Union.
Rararoad rxau.yemept


MEssRs. EDIToas Permit me to use
small space 10 yenr news columns to crifi-
else The late proceedings of the President aud
Directors of the Nashville and Cbattanooga
Railroad Company. The election for a new
Board If Directors being near at hand. we
find the President at his old tricks of getting
the sto' khoiders into bis support again. For
instance he first makes a rspcrt to the
Comptroller of the Treasury. who reports
the same to the Legislature in the following
words: 1.-The Nashville and Chattanooga
road. fixtures and equipments cost about
SIS 600 per mile. The State endorsed her
bonds TOR 1850 900, the interest and sink
ing fund upon which amount tn SIP 600
the net profits Of the road for 1880 arr, s93O :
OCO, leaving Sles000 after paying interest
and sinking fund. to be distributed among
the stockholders"
his appears TO be very fair and salts
TORY SHOWING nut Is II true-and il true what
are we TO think of the subse ouent proceed-
logs of the President and Directors Re-
member that the mt profits Of the road ),
alter paying all the regular and incidental
expenses. and the interest on The borrowed
capital aud sinking fund is SIsS 600 Again.
repeal. y has ~ true, not oGly a dividend of
per cent. but OF 6 per cent ouoI,t 10 have
been distributed" But TO can the cIimnx
OF this prrpostrrous proceeding. the Prtsi-
dent Is about 10 borrow the sum of $50. 900.
aud has obtained law of the Legislature TO
lndolse the bonds. What! SlSs.0O0 of the
net earnings Of the road to be ..distrihuted,
among stockholders, and only s6s 900 of
that sum distributed and vet there is a
necessity of borrowing $4,000 more
thereby making the borrowed capital 81 500 =
600. Many of us believed all along that the
per cent dividend was forced matt to
operate as a bait for the next election; now
1t Is notorious and palpable-for if there
"as necessity TO borrow money-where
was the proprieiy of making the dividend Z?
But, says Thos. Lipscomb, one of the upoIo-
glSis ui the President, the Object of barrow
ing the money is to repair the road between
the Tennessee River and Chattanooga. All.
Indeed! aud II So, why the dividend? First
divide among the partners of a company
SbS 900. then turn round and borrow
sl5O,000. Truly, this is fnanei, ring with a
witness.
But, says another apologist, R. B. David
son, Esq. of ShelbyvIlle, the Object of the
borrowed money, is to build an arm Of the
road from Bridgeport 10 Jasper, TO act as a
feeder. Worse aud worse, ten times over.
for il the TuildaOma, Manchester IL McMinn-
VILE Road has not paid, nor ever will pay for
keePlng II up. twenty years to come, what
are we to expect from this jasper road
why, absolutely notLing-nolhing, did say!
Why. it would be a sinking fund Of tens Of
thousands OF dollars every year TO the COM
pany. II kept up and run regularly.
S.ockholdcr,, are you prepared to sane
ton such policy as tins, by your votes in De-
cembcr next? II 30. take the consequences.
In conclusion, L will just remark, that a
Change in the Pr, sident and Board of Direc-
tors may possibly, nay probably, be for the
better, but defy it 10 be worse.
The borrowing Of more money as above
noted, reminds me of a similar case in the
report of the Prcsid, nt December 1853 In
that report he stated that there were availa-
bic funds on hand sufficient To flush the read
aud stock it-leaving sill on hand hand
some balance as a reserved fluid. Wheu 10
III the month If May following. he called a
meeting OF the stockholders and required
their sanction To borrow 5000 900 To finish
The road and stock il which was granted.
Thus they 80. JAS. l.. ARMsTRoNG, SR.