Norfolk day book. [volume] (Norfolk and Portsmouth Va.) 1868-1880, 1869-09-24
RAILROAD IMPROV EMENTS.

The Richmond Wing in discussing
the High Bridge improvement, which is
to be lowered some fifty feet and built
entirely of iron, and other Improvements
on the line of the Consolidated interests,
says: To this connection it may be
worth while to refer to q statement
lately put before the public by Acting
First Auditor, Major Stanton, through
the instrumentality of the Richmond
correspondent of the New York Herald,
That statement, which bears date Sep
TENDER The 18th, is as follows:
The Richmond and Dauville railroad
to day paid into the State treasury one
half of the interest due the State on its
loans, and the remainder is to be paid
December Is, under instructions from
General Candy. The Orange and Alex
andria railroad is yet behind. The
annual interest due from that corpora
ton is about SIS, 900, while the South>
side railroad owes The large sum of
$252,O0O. The Virginia and Tennessee
railroad owes about $4,000 interest
to the State, and neither of the two last
mentioned roads appears to be in
condition to meet its liabilities at
present. The Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad is negotiating loan with
which it expects to liquidate its entire
indebtedness to the State, principal and
interest, in all about $35O,OOO.
A gentleman conversant with the
affairs of tie Southside and Virginia
and Tennessee roads, whose attention
we called to this statement, furnishes
us with the following memorandum and
comment:
There never was a more Wanton
wrong ora palmer purpose to serve
particular end than is disclosed by the
studied phraseology in which this dess
patch Is couched. The Richmond and
Danville road is bolstered up; neither
the purpose nor the credit of the Orange
and Alexandria is reproached, and an
apology is presented for the delinquency
of the Chesapeake and Ohio road. But
no mention is made of the fact that the
Norfolk and Petersburg road has signi-
fed its purpose to pay all that it owes
to the State of interest to the LIST ofJuly,
1869, upon demand, and no fact is men,
toned to the credit of this road, which,
since the war, has retired $173,000 of
the principal Gifts Indebtedness to the
State, leaving only the small balance
of 1916, 900 now unpaid, and this, too,
that company, AN assured, is ready
and anxious to retire whenever the
State can surrender the bonds of the
railroad which it held. Was the omis-
sion of all credit to this road prompted
by the fact that it is under the same
management as the two roads that are
spoken of as Sin no condition to meet
their liabilities at present 2
Now, the truth in regard to these two
roads (tte Virginia and Tennessee and
the Southside) is, that neither of them,
at this time, owes the State one dollar.
The former paid its indebtedness-the
full balance on its loan of $1,000, 900
in 1868, and full receipts given by the
proper officers of the State government
are held by the company for this pay
ment. The company maintains that
the debt has been fully paid and dis
charged, but inasmuch as this payment,
like all others at the time, was made in
Confederate money, there are those who
contend that the payment shall not be
recognized. The question will have tc
be decided by the courts.