New-York tribune., 1870-04-19
COL. FISK'S TEST ESSAY or ERIE.

COL. FISK'S TEST ESSAY or ERIE.
Col. Fisk, ir, responds, this morning, with
trial essay, to our offer to engage him as a
contributor. Putting aside all that he says OF
Messrs. Vanderbilt, Drew, Eyarts, Eaton, Nc,
IA irrelevant TO the questions we asked, ana
referring TO matters on which neither we nor
the public can form any trustworthy Judgment
without hearing both sides, we have a few
words to say of Erie management, as IRA
dated by his expose:
|. The records testify that Mr.. Fisk was first
chosen a Director i'll October, 1867; ana ne was
from the first leading Director His state
ment that he has "been leading Director
/" since July, 1865" is, therefore, Inaccurate
or to speak politely, "unhistorical."
II. When he thus became leading Director
the total stock, including $55OOOOO preferred,
was S25,111,21O. He is mistaken, therefore, IN
asserting that the Common Stock was 333,JOo,oOO.
1t was less than $2O,OOO,OOO.
III. The total Debt of the Company when he
became a leading Director was under S26,OO0,-
600 the Stock and Debt together little over
S5OOO0,OOO He makes them now $98OOO,oOo.
AS he admits that the Road has meantime
earned s99,G00,G00 whereof at least Sl2,OOO,OOO
should have been net earnings, we submit that
the deficit TO be accounted for Is SJO,OOUOOo'
What have been done with these SGO,OOOCOOF
Col. Fisk has answered in substance: /. We
have improved the condition Of the Road; 2.
We have diminished the floating debt; ). We
have $4,000, 900 of securities on hand: Hartford
and Erie ?l-If this is satisfactory to the stock
holders, well and good our opinion that they
must be easily satisfied may go for nothing.
But that the general public does not believe
in Col. Fsk's figures is proved by the simple
fact that Erie Stock, which was in demand at
20 when he took hold of the Road, is not now
worth 26 Most certainly, if the public believe
the Road well managed, and its Directors doing
their best for it, they would not let the stock
drag in this way. If Messrs. Gould and Fisk
have not misapplied its funds, the stock is worth
to-day all that it was in 1868.
". Col Fisk asserts that there have been
" "swindIes" 4" pcIpetrated on the Road since he
took hold of it, whereby it has lost ;3l0OOO,OOO.
He considers these facts "gOod and sufficient
"reasons for the decline in the stock" 1t
strikes us that they are still better and more
cogent reasons for change in the manage
ment. Most certainly, if Com. Vanderbilt had
allowed his stockholders to be swindled out
of $lO,OOO,OOO by his stock k-jobbing operations,
we should insist that he ought TO give way to
managers who would not allow his Road to be
thus swinded.
V. Col Fisk wastes too much space on the
genealogy of the Erie Directors BILL so called,
and probably convinces himself that 1t was
well intended. But this does not answer our
question, which he thus obliges us to repeat.
1t is in these words:
49, II majority OF its stockholders desire to elect a
new Board OF Directors Summer, Why should idtc
Of our State prerent their doing So|
We will thank Col. Fisk to try his inge-
nuity on that once more. IL Is very simple.
Let us suppose all Col. Fisk has stated elsewhere
to be true. The Erie is an eXcelently man
aged Road; Messrs. Gould and Fisk are sacri-
ficing their time and money to its interests !;
they have paid no money to influence legisla-
ton; have invested no Erie funds in their
opera-house-in short all things are lovely,
and the stockholders ought to regard Messrs.
Fisk, Gould g. Co. with reverential gratitude.
But suppose they dOTt-what then1 The
stockholders own the Road; they have paid
dearly for it; suppose majority of them
think they could do better under other Direc-
tors: why should a law of our State say to
them Gas it does y "You may put out one
4" or two others this year, but Fisk and Gould
shall remain Directors for several years in
"spite of you, and shall control your property
"fOr years longer in defiance of your utmost
"exertions 2" What principle of honesty or
decency is upheld by such lawi
On the whole, we are not able to make
Col Fisk such an offer for his services as con-
tributor as would satisfy his expectations.
His vein of humor seems to have exhausted
itself on the witness and a writer who
deems it necessary to show that a railroad
should not divide money which it has not
earned, is not terse enough for the columns of
'Tf,t,