Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-10-24
Presidency of the Central Railroad.

Presidency of the Central Railroad.
Under the above caption the Charlottesville
Chronicle has an editorial, in its last Saturdays
issue, diSparaging to the claims Of Colonel L.
FoxTAIxE, who has so long filled that office
without opposition.
We do not profess to be, nor are we in any
sense, the special advocates Of the cause oil
Colonel FoxrAINE, nor are We sufficiently ac-
quainted with all the facts, perhaps, to do him
full Justice but We know enough OF the histo-
tory of his connection with the Central Road,
and the many difficulties it has had to contend
with. To say that our worthy contemporary, IL
MS zeal to have an Albemarle man at the head
Of this Company, has done him injustice We
know that the road has been prosecuted under
his auspices, from very small beginnings, until
IL has stretched two hundred miles IN the
west, passing; LOO considerable portion O
the distance, through barren, mountainous
region anI mat IL has reached point where
j, iayiJcs and encourages a connection VIII
bo,,uilo,s stores Of wealth in the West, wmcI
have 50 long been sought after for the benefit Of
Virginia. We know that the general reputation
OF good management has been freely ace"rneo
to the Company, and We cannot see that 'h'
reason, urged have any Just weight to induce
a change of administration.
I. It is said 9. the county of Albemarie mas
not been particularly favored ty the present
.s,,oe." If some special tarofiii'm to the
comfy of Albemarle is expected to result
from turning ont Colonel FoNTAINE, We th'hN
that +, =, reason why he should be continued
The affairs Of the Company ought to he at
ministcrcd for the general good of the Stock
holder, AMI the Commonwealth, and not OF any
particular locality.
.. The charge of pcylectiHg' the rare OPP
,crtnpity of buying in their bonds for mere
,,ny i, readily refuted by his own statement,
viz; when the Confederacy collapsed the
Government owed the Central Railroad mil
lion and quarter Of dollars, to say nothing OF
Confederate bonds 10 the amount of a quarter
of million more"
-9uf.s. We contede a quarter of million
invested in bonds, that i, hut a small sum for
four wears receipts, and would not go lar IN buy
.ng in the bonds II appears from the reports OF
tb, C,mpanv that these comparatively small
Investments have been going on for several
yesr,-hecn regularly reported by the Urea
,nrcr. Now, ii thi, is considered censurable
error. why was it not complained Of at the last
annual meeting We think the fault-fnders
are estoppcd But as 10 the million and Il quarter
DIE ard unpaid, we cannot see how that could
have been used TO buy up bonds at 81 mere
SOM" Ii was DIE, but could not be collected,
as was the case with many other debts, and ac-
cording to the ,bruaicie'S statement, the Gov
crpment still owing it at the collapse, il IS pal
pably wrong to complain that it was not used
10 buy in the bonds. But, in addition to this
the holders OF bonds would not nave sold theua
Tor Confederate paper, ami, moreover, we APP
preheud that if the claims had been collected,
the Stakeholder would have clamored if dici-
ds,as had not been paid. So the Albemarlc
complainants could not have been satisfied any
way, and this charge falls to the ground. Divi-
dendS and debts could not have both been paid.
s. Sc 70 charge cord OF wood for bringing
another cord fifteen or twenty miles, strikes
u, as the result ofncompetency.
We don't know anything about the facts, but
thi, seems 10 Ice a small matter to prove n
competency We suppose it would be more
reasonable To- conclude that during the war,
from many causes, tho difficulties Of getting
Noo,i with the Company and citizens OF Char
.otte,vilIe were such, that il was a desirable
,2mprom:,c made by the Roadmastcr OF ST.
and that the President had no
thing to do with it. Certainly it is not enough
To prove his ncompetency,
On tins subject of competency, We have it in
our power to bring forward some important
iacts from the records which are accessible 10
all, and whose signidcaucy cannot be disputed,
as bearing on the financial and administrative
capacity of those who have been at the head OF
this Company. From the earliest history OF
this Company down To the period of repairing
the extensive destruction OF the war, there has
been deficiency of funds for constructing
the road. In this state OF things, to enable
Nucul - carr ttt INt3 through tLdt lIHt VI
barren mountain region west OF Stauuton,
large amount or the net revenues of the Com
pany have been appropriated TO its construc-
uou.
1t appears from the Treasurer's statement, in
report 81 l,G4, that the whole cost of constitute
zion and equipment of the road up to that time
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ,307 %
Deduct from thi, the whole capt.
tal stock and all lyaus........ 1850, 500 90
Leaving this amount derived from ----
other sources. 81 ,03I 500 p
From this il appears that upwards Of one
million of dollars, out of the net earnings OF the
Company, have been appropriated 10 the con-
,truetion anI equipment OF the road,
1t also appears from the Trcasurer's state
mcut iu the saline report, that dividends have
been declared 10 the amount Of 81 ,S22 ,6sl 50
Aud interest paid amounting to-. l,0I5,sS7 y
lutcrcs, and dividends paid 900. s., 36s ,5G9 %
We think, TO have appropriated more than a
million @; dollars out OF the earnings OF the
Company TO the building and equipliug the
road more than one million and quarter
la dividend, 70 the stockholders, besides pay
.ng more than che million OF interest, Is evil
dcu,c ot competency ou the pant OF the mana
ger, OF ,his road, which cannot bc shaken 10y