The Placer herald., 1864-10-22
MINORITY REPORT OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS OF PLACER COUNTY
ON THE CENTRAL PACIFIC
RAILROAD.

RAILROAD.
To the Board of Supervisors and to the Citisens
of Placer County
A S PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF SU-
"A PERVISORS of your county and by law
entrusted with the responsible duty of guarding
the interests of the county have felt it my duty
TO lay before you statement of my official action
as member of the Board while acting as a Com
mittee to examine the books OF the Central Pacific
Railroad Company of California. The duty is
to me one OF extreme deicacy and unpleasant
ness inasmuch rs my relations towards chat Com
pany, majority of its officers and managers,
hove been, and still are, of the most friendly
character; but my judgment debating that my
public relations should ever outweigh all feelings
of a mere personal nature. have been induced
to action in this matter, as my duty has suggest
ed. short preliminary history of the reasons
for the appointment of the Committee and the
manner Of its appointment, deem necessary for
more perfect understanding Of the subject:
The county Of Placer is stockholdcr in the
Central Pacific Railroad Company to the extent
Of S25O000. upon which it is paying an ANIMAL
interest of 100000. the subscription having been
made by the issue of county bonds redeemabe in
twenty years from date. After the year 1863 a
special annual railroad tax was to be levied as
sinking fund to redeem said bonds and accrupg
interest. The county holds its stock as all other
stockholders, and the Board Of Supervisors have
all the rights appcrtaining to the other sharehold
crs of the capital stock Thus it becomes their
special duty to see that the company in whose in
terest and welfare the county is 50 deeply inter-
ested. manages its affairs with honesty and fidel
ity and applies its and resources in such
a manner rs not only in as speedy 4 manner as
possible carry out the great work in which it
is embarked, the completion of which the State
at large. and the county in particular, are so
vitality interested, but also that the stock should
as possible become remunerative by the
declaration Of dividends so as to Tighten our
county from the burden of continuous and ruin
Gus taxation. Acuated by these principles, and
also mpeled by the fact that numerous reports
were in circulation throughout the county detr-
mental to the interests of the Railroad Company
founded upon the assertions that the Directors of
the Company have, in many instances, acted in
bad faith towards the Company through contracts
entered into by them, the improper and prodiga
issue and use Of stock for Illegal purposes want
of good faith in their intention OF pushing for
ward the work 10 the State line at as early day
rs possible, flvoriism shown by the Directors to-
wards the Directory in the allotment of contracts
lavish expenditure of the funds of the Company,
and other improper acts. The Board of Super
visors deemed that an investigation made by them
into these matters, and report thereupon to you
in the event of the proving satisfactory
which at that time the Board had no reason to
doubt, would have placed the matter beyond fur
thcr cavil and resulted equally to the advantage
of the Company and the county. The Board,
therefore, in the first place appointed a special
committee of two, aud selected for that purpose
the Hon. J. f. Hale and the Hon. F. B. Higgins,
both gentlemen of the highest moral standing in
the county, and eminenty qualified, from their
business qualifications, faithfully and efficiently to
discharge the duty assigned to them
After this action had been officially taken by
the Board, the Railroad Company, through its
Superintendent and Attorney appeared before
the Board and most urgently sought the rescind-
ing of the resolution, aver1iug that the eXamina
ton would for various reasons, be highly detri-
mental to their interests and would affect their
various fiscal negotiations then in progrcss and
particularly did they object to the Investigation
being made by any other parties than the Board
themselves. This application, pressed upon the
Board in the most forcble manner possible, and
upon assurances that if the Board would under
take the duty, the utmost facilities should be af-
forded to them, the Board was induced to with
draw from its former action. and constituted
themselves as a Committee for the purpose of
said examination. Thus it will be seen that this
position was not courted by the Board, Or sought
after, but forced upon them, az it were, by the
express request of the Railroad Company On
the 9th day of September the Committee met at
Sacramento City, and repaired to the Office OF the
Railroad Company, prepared to make the neces-
sary investigation. On stating to tn" Secretary,
Mr.. Miller, the object OF our visit. Mr.. Hopkins,
ore of the members Of the Company, onquired if
the BOARD nU naue OUT any ueilillte course ny
which they intended to conduct the examination;
when he was informed by me. that as majority
of the Board had declined TO obtain either the
services of their own Clerk, or some other COM
peten expert to conduct the examination for
them, had prepared a series of questions which
desired to receive answers to, and information
upon so that mi ght report the same to the citi-
zcns of the county. in the form of report. The
questions were then produced, read, and a copy
taken by the Secretary. While discussing the
matter with thai officer, several of the members
of The Board OF Directors of the Company joined
in the discussion and from the character and tone
of their remarks, soon gave me to understand,
not only that the information should not be fur
nished or the questions answered in full, but that
| should, if | persisted in endcayoring to make
the nvestig ttion, be subjected to series of petty
personal insults, with view OF endeavorng TO
force me to abandon the examination. In this
view | was more fully confirmed, when one OF my
colleagues suggested that If he were situated as
were, that he would return to his home. Not
feeling satisfied, however, to permit such unbe-
coming conduct to Withdraw me from the dis
charge Of my duty, | informed the parties that
had come to the office for the purpose of obtain
ing answers to my questions and that until had
received them or their refusal, should not, from
any cause, abandon the inquiry; and that from
their actions was more than ever satisfied OF the
necessity OF the proposed examination. L, at the
same time stated that my friendly relations to-
wards the railroad enterprise well known,
and that it rested with them whether the enemies
of the Company should have the opportunity Of
injuring the road in public opinion through their
refusal OF afiording their stockholders proper and
legitimate information. On again demanding the
privilege Of Inspecting the company's books,
was shown the stock book, and on proceeding to
make some extracts from it (Which alone would
have enabled me to have obtained data where
with to make any kind of ineligible report to
you) was peremptorily forbidden TO make any
such. | then asked to the record of corpora
tion debts. This was, with reluctance, shown to
me- and again was refused the right to abstract
anything from it in the way of Information.
suppose that might have had permission to have
read the various entries, had been so disposed
but moments reflection will show that such a
privilege was nothing but mockery, rs no men,
ory would be competent to charge itself with the
various entries therein contained, or by its nd
nlnnn furnish q stniennnt In II ner relialle