North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1867-05-22
NrcGregOr Western Railway.

We make no apology for publishing the
lengthy article found below: it is about
the first satisfactory light which we have
used to look at the subject.
From the st. Paul Press.
The Milwaukee Sentinel of May 9TH, an
nounced that Judge Miller, of the United
States District Court, had "granted an in
junction in the case of Samuel How and
Others against the directors of the Milwau-
kee Il Prairie du Chen Railway Company,
which materially affects the legality of
about $4,000 of stock issued under
authority of the Board of Directors, and
also prohibits the consolidation of the
Milwaukee Il st. Paul with the Milwaukee
& Prairie du Chen Company"
One effect of the Injunction would have
been to prevent or delay the building of
the McGregor Western Railroad which we
yesterday referred to as a highly impor,
tant connection of the Minnesota Central
Railroad, now in rapid process of construc-
ton. We are now very glad to learn that
the controversy between the stockholders
of the Prairie du Chen road which led to
this injunction has been amicably adjusted
and that the construction of the McGregor
Western is to be Immediately pushed
through from Cresco, Iowa, its present ter
minus, to Owatonna. The Iowa & Mime
sofa Railway Construction Company have
the contract for building the entire line
from Cresco to Owatonna, a distance of
eighty-two miles, not A miles, as blunder
of the typoes made US say yesterday. A
force of over seven hundred men, which is
rapidly increasing every day, is now en-
gagged upon the grading of this road: the
ties are all ready to lay down the moment
the grading is finished, the iron is bought
and is being forwarded as rapidly as it can
be transported, and it is the confident ex-
pectation of the parties interested in the
enterprise, that the entire line from Cresco
to Owatonna, will be finished and in oper-
alton in ninety days from now, thus COM
pleting the rail communication between
St. Paul and McGregor or Prairie du Chen
by the middle of September, at the farthest.
The above facts are derived from an au-
thoritatiye source.
Few persons, even in Wisconsin, fully
understand the merits or history of the
imbroglio among the stockholders of the
Prairie du CHEN road, now, let us hope,
happily terminated. 1t forms curious
chapter of Legislative and financial mancu-
vering, and as the facts, we believe have
never been published, they will perhaps
be interesting to some of our readers. We
obtain them from well-informed Wiscon-
sin parties
In 1855 the original stockholders of the
Prairie du Chen Railroad finding them
selves unable to complete their road to
Prairie du Chen, effected an arrangement
with other capitalists to complete the same,
by which the latter were to have preferred
stock to a certain amount. This arrange
ment further provided that the manage
ment of the entire road should vest in the
holders of said preferred stock and that
the holders of the original stock, termed
common stock" should not have vote
or voice in the management of the corpor-
alton until dividend had been declared
on the common stock. The Wisconsin
Legislature passed an act giving the cor
poration the power to make the above ar
rangement Some little time after the adj
jjournmcnt of the Legislature certain arti-
cles of agreement were drawn supposed to
embody the above provisions. The Legis-
lature, during the following winter, rati-
fed these articles, and thereupon they had
of course, the full force of law of the State
The road was duly completed by the hol-
ders of the preferred stock, and the affairs
of the corporation were managed by them
exclusively for term of years without a
question being raised by the holders of
common stock.
In the fall of 1865, .when Wall street
operators were kite flying various stocks,
two or three sharp men, backed by un-
known resources, got up the greatest cor
ncr in railroad stocks known in financial
history, on this preferred stock of the
Prairie du Chen road. 1t started, we be-
lieye, at 30 or 60 cents, and went up to
$50! This attracted the attention of every
one to the road, it's history, it's resources
and future prospects. The common
stock began to loom into Importance. when
before it had been hardly quotable. A
few wealthy capitalists finally succeeded
in placing a very large amount of this lat
ter stock, (say between and $4,000, 0O0)
where, if their plans succeeded they could
purchase it at a reasonable figure. In the
latter part of the session of GO of the Wis
consin legislature, Mr.. Hopkins, we be-
lieve, of Madison, who was a member, in
troduced a bill declaring every share of
stock in any corporation organized under
the laws of the State to be entitled to a
vote in the election of officers of the same
The railroad lobby, which is a peculiar
and ancient adjunct of a Wisconsin Legis-
lature, became alarmed, and calling upon
Mr.. Hopkins. desired to know his inten-
tons in introducing this bill. Mr.. II.
blandly informed them with an air of chAs,
ming simplicity. and candles, that he had
no designs -rjA any Railroad Company :
mat it was not intended for them, but that
there was a Petroleum Company organized
in Madison, few Of the stockholders OF
which were endcavoring to obtain exclu-
siye management Of the company affairs
that he could mt bring in special bill to
meet the case as that would acquaint them
at once with his intentions and defeat his
project, &c, &C., all of which, strange to
say, satisfied the usually sharp lobby, and
they left Mr.. II. undisturbed. The bill
passed without any noise Or objection, and
as soon as the same was signed by the
Governor, a dispatch was sent to certain
parties in New York, above alluded to, an
nouncing the fact. That same day the
above mentioned common stock was pur-
chased by said parties. These facts were
investigating committee.
These holders of common" stock, who
had purchased a considerable amount of
preferred" also, attended in force at the
annual meeting following the above lcgis-
lation, in May, 1866 and with both classes
of stock held a majority of the votes and
elected their own men to the Directory for
the coming year. Upon Sept. II, 1866,
the new Directory declared dividend on
the common" stock out of the earnings of
the years 1861 and 1862! This was cal
culated to overcome any possible legal OBJ
lection to their legitimacy as duly elected
board. This perfected consolidation of
the Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Prairie
du Chen roads, the managers of the for
mer being the principal actors in the move
ments noted above. These same parties
were also the managers of the Minnesota