The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-08-06
The Elfs r,Asigesd an ahe nans. " q
Receiver.

The Esie railroad gees into the hands Of e. re
ceiVer ss soon "a oHe can be tomud. FIJI SAID
,tat iris procet5iug " ia friendly enc, and de.
siRn ed TO protec. all interests including stock
holdtrs aud unsecured bondhoiders against hos
tie CT ditGrs"
1his is pretty way Of pbrssing it. but il ID
only "a easy letting down Of I" the stockholders
81 q unsecured bondtolders," to tate as Ger
tain "a thai which attended The uuhsppy travel.
less over The bridge of Schaghticoke, bat not
qniie 60 shocking. And then those hostile
crtditors." No doubt they wanted their money,
and hence their hostility. The rascals, Take
the law Of them, and cheat them cut Of it. WHAT
business have they to want their money back?
Protect tie poor unsecured bondholders and
stockholders, and if there is anything left after
the expenses are paid we hope they may get it,
The fate that has overtaken the Erie Railroad is
already approaching fer many of q large class of
roads Of which the Erie Isl representative. They
are just as rotten os the bridge at Schaghtcoke,
ard will let their stockholders and bondholders
down in just the same way
We have said that the Erie Railroad ID re.
preventative of certain class Of railroad enter
prises in this country. In building railroads
among us three different systems have been pur-
sued. At first it was supposed that for such
work il was necessary to raise large capital
by actual stock subscriptions, the instalments on
which, collected in cash, went to pay for the
woIk as it progressed. A few roads were built
on This plan, but it was found to be slow. Capt..
tai for such investment was not abundant, and,
besides il was found to partake of the ridiculous
old method Of not getting thing till you were
able to pay for it. Then some of our great flnan-
ciers invented another plan OF building railroads
by borrowing the moaey. Here wondrous skill
in the art Of borrowing has been displayed AL
binds of subterfuges, representations, schemes,
games and lodges have been resorted to. The
Erie is their perfect representative. It cost
thirty nine millions of dollars to build it, and it
is worth fourteen millions to- day in the market,
perhaps The borrowing system was coon
played out, for capitalists saw through it..
then came the grand public land grant sys-
TEN, Of which the Illinois Central is the
representative. That road owns half Of
the State of Illinois, makes and
tives, ard has its finger OF its foot in the nomlna
ton tor the Presidency Of the whole Union
With the fate of the Erie we may safely as
sumo that the destiny of the companies that built
through the borrowing system, based on bonds
and mortgages, is fulfilled. Their time has
come They must follow in the footsteps of
their leader and representative, and give up the
ghost, handing over their effects to their mort
gagees. What manner and class of persons these
are may be best illustrated by the relation of a
| fact During the height Of the panic in 1857 a
| prominent railroad came into the market for a
loan Of several millions Of dollars. 1t was pub
| ljc]y announced that the company must have
the money, and bids at any rate would be ac-
| cepted. The time was not propitious for Dor.
rowing, when, to use cant phrase from Wall
street, money was worth one per cent a minute;
and supposiug only sixty per cent was bid by
parties who knew what they were about, the en-
| tire property of the company was mortgaged for
the debt By such operations as these, direc-
| tors, presidents and cashiers have been able to
| grow wondrously rich, and to live in fine brown
! stone houses on the Fifth avenue, spending at a
rate double their income.
We know this state Of things cannot be agreea.
BILE to the stockholders who have put their
money into the road, it, indeed, there are any
such We incline to believe that many of the
roads now figuring great companies have only
enough steckholdipg timber to make a presi.
dent and board of directors of, and that the
rest of the fabric is built Of just such rotten
stuff as the bridge at Schaghticoke Roadways
built on paper piers, and suspension bridges
held up by financial kite strings, can be found
| all around US. But if there are any such things
as real stockholders, they have, in losing their
morey, one consolation The roads have been
built the value of the adjacent lands has largely
increased, trade and travel have augmented, and
the roads, such as they are, are in existence for
the benefit of the country at large They can
think Of these things, and though left with
empty pockets, their patriotism may be appealed
to and relied upon by the keen shavers who
have shorn them, to keep them in good humor
We have many more roads the desperate condi.
ton of whose affairs will soon require legal
| action to protect them from "hostile creditors"
| THE JouRNEYMEN BAKERS AND SUNDAY Work -
| We perceive, by call of the journeymen bakers
Of this city, that, notwiths' adding the early
hours that class is accustomed to keep, they want
to be aroused" They have issued call for a
meeting, with view to induce their employers
to abandon Sunday labor, and allow them one
days recreation in the week. We incline to the
opinion that grievances of this kind work out
their own relief better than either public demon
strations, or strikes, or combinations can effect it
There are some kinds of business-the newspaper
business as well as others which require seven
days labor, and many which can be accomplish
ed with Blk, some kinds of labor requiring only
six or eight hours day, and some demanding
twelve. 1t would seem that the parties who un-
dertake to furnish large community with such
a necessary article as bread would be among