New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-03-28

possibic.
The late President of the Company made g CON
tract with Me2srs. DeGratf Smith, for the con- |
strucion Of fifty miles of road. This contract was
very liberal in its provisions. and highly favorable
to the Company. The contractors under IL agreS
to take two.third3 Of their pay in the stock aha |
bonds of the Company, and require only one-thiTd
in cash, He had no question Of their ao'lty 10
carry ont their contract. As railroad men lheJ
stand second to mono in the Union. The a!acrlty
with which they had entered upon INC e WorE s,i aia
fed his most sanguinc expectations. VI the llTst
section Of twenty-five miles, eighteen were graaea,
leaving only seven more 10 be competed. Whch
flushed, the Company would be entitled to 9 loan
from the State of Texas of $50 900 II it had this
loan in possession, it could 60 on, Temporarily az
least, without burthening the stockholders But 1t
must be recolected that it was not to be o9talheu
until the grading was completed and, 10 the mean
time unless something was done Immediately, the
road would be sacrificed, and the stockholders lose
their entire interest.
The Company owed for this grading the right of
way in many instances had TO be purchased, ware
houses and other buildings on the line OF road COM
pleted had to be erected, and other necessary eH-
penses incurred, which had to be met. The times
in Texas were hard owing to failure OF the cropsr
the parties to whom the Company was indebted
could not wait longer for their money, suits were
Instituted, judgments obtained, and unless some
thing was done speedily to relieve the company,
the road would be sold out Good faith to the con-
tractors demanded that they shonld be paid good
faith TO the people of Texas. and their continued
good will, which is all important to the Company,
| required not only that they should be sustained
against all loss but that evidences should be given
of the future vigorous prosecution OF the Work.
The question then waa simply this: Would II ey
permit this road to be sold out, and all their inter-
c5tE sacrificed, or, by coming promptly forward,
place it in such condition as TO render the enter
| prise valuable? The property Of this Company,
without regard to its franchise and privileges, was
worth ct least million and q half OF dollars The
stockholders had the alternative presented 70 them
In il
ed in it--or to pay up its debts, ct once, and fur
nish fund sufficient to carry on the work.
| When heFundaltook 10 serve Company, he en-
deavored to do SO intelgeutiy, faithfully and Elf
cientIy. And when lie founf! it involved in debt or
| pocuniary difficulties, lie knew of but one course
to pursue, and that was TO go to the st2ekholders
and apply TO them for relief If they did not TANK
enough If their own interests TO afford The noccs-
sary protection, they could not expect others who
were not interested, or more deeply Interested
than themselves, to do SO for tham He felt u his
duty, therefore, to say that uless the stockhold-
ers came forward and relieved the Company, it
would be sold utbeyonl question. Nolhing could
avert it bat immediate, prompt action. Let them
not deude themselves with the idea that this pro,
perty cannot be sold. He would tell them it could
and would be sold ard when the day OF sale ca1na
| there would be plenty Of buyers.
| There were maBy greedy eyes fixed upon it,
| who would rejoice at al opportunity to possess It,
| And whcu once sold, it could never be reclaimed
by the present stockholders, for the Company that
| purchased it would take especial pains TO comply
wiGh the Texas laws in every particular, go as 10
| afford no chance for a law suit.
| His plan Of relieving the Company was this He
| simply proposed that every man who held stock in
the road should subscribe for az much more as
| would be equal to an advance of ole dollar on
each share Of his stock In other WORDS, II an IN
dividual possessed five Shares he should subscribe
for an additional share; if ten shares, he should
| subscribe for two additional shares, etc.
This wou!d furnish fund sufficient to discharge
all the Indebtedness pay for the iron, chip it 10
al md rrliyh and f1lI Iv
tonal miles Of road. This wouId give the Com
pany seventy-fye miles of road, and he had no
hesitation in saying that it TGt.ld be paying road
and for the simple and plain reason that it per-
forated populous and wealthy country, where
there were no naVigGble streams, and where bust.
ness would come to it from a hundred to hundred
and fifty miles in almost every direction. i the
Jackson road, rnnning eide by side with the Mssis
sippi river earns handsome dividend to its stock
holders, how much more reasonable is it that {
road that trayerses country having 10 othe
means OF outlet will prove a profitable invest
ment.
He had some experience in railroads, and h
thought he knew something of the value of railroad
, stocks and securities. He had hesitation ii
saying, basing his opinion alone upon his expert
e1ice that this was one of the grandeBt enterprises
of the day, and he was really surprised that it wa
not properly appreciated by those who owned it
| Here was Company with charter granting then
the privilege of constructing road through TIT
center of State not possessing single naViGab
stream worthy of the name. For this they were II
receive Il bonus Of about eight millions OF acres 0
/ land, What was this land worth? He could onl
r Judge by the eiftct Of railroads elsewhere. Land
/ on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga roG
7 advanced from ten to fifty dollars an acre. TIL
lands of the Illinois Central could not be sol
before that road was built for 81 Is per acre. Whe
it was finished they were worth from $40 TO $73 pc
: acre.
Is there any good reason to believe that thos
1 Texas lands will not increase in value as rapid
t as those of Illinois? Cotton lands are intrinsical
,-a1uQ 11a han vrha
q | rot fur distant when they will command nuc
d higher figure than they do now. Estimating tn
4 lands of the Southern Pacific Company at ten do
T. lars per acre and they will realize upwards
eighty millions Of dollars; at twenty dollars pc
e | acre, they amount to upwards of one hundred an
e sixty millions of dollars. Ii this work was pros!
cuted it ought to be for eight years. (and eigt
d | years was q very short period of tiu!e,) thGE
J. lands would uuquestionably sell for from sixty
!, seventy-Gve dollars per acre. Did the world evt
it before present such chance for speculation!
" was mine Of ineXhaGatibe wealth, which neede
$ but the proper spirit tor its development.
1- In times like these, it was an unpleasant matt
.e to call upon stockholders for money, and partiC
g. larly in case like this where they had not an
to cpHtod such demand. Bat it was unavcidabl
y Tie condition Of political and monetary aifAi
Is rendered it Indispensable. He had no power
,e compel them to advance dollar. 1t was for the
A. to determine what they would DO; whether lht
G. would sacrifice their interests in the Company wi
H. its great advantages and prospective wealth, or
Il compg forward and advancing small sum +
ia additional stock place the Company in d post
that it would no longer need aid.
in If they concluded they could not spare t
IN money, i5 their misfortune, they must be
III | evitaby sold out But he addressed them as pra
o. tcablc, sensible meu, whether it would not be b
ter to sell property, to take the money out OF tn
s. business, or adopt any other like cZpadent
ID raise the necessary funds to place this enterpr
4 ! upon a proper basis He coud have called up
~ | them for less money. Fifty cents share wor
IT. have afforded @rary relief; but such relief