The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-10-22
Vermont Central Rallrond.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE
The Committee of Conference appoint
ed at the meeting of the Security. holder
held in Horticultural Hail. Oct. =, mad,
the following report at the adjourned
meeting, held Octobe. Q. at the sam,
place -
The committee appointed at tho meet.
ing held October ., to confer with tn,
trustees aud managers have met them
and report their views as FLOWS: 1t
appears, by the report of the trustees
that the floating debt, now in the form OF
short notes of the trustees, unpaid bills
accounts, pay-rols, etc., above all availa.
BILE assets, was June !, 1872, 81, 52S,.
9l4,s5. Of this sum about Sl,300,00O
has been expended for additions to the
trust property which a corporation would
charge to construction account; the bal.
ance of the floating debt is attributable
to the deficit which has arisen between
their receipts and expenditures since they
have leased the o. densburg and Rutland
railroads. The trustees confidently ex
press the opinion, that the Ogdensbure
Railroad will pay them profit in the
course Of the year 1874 and also tina,
the Rutland Railroad and its connections
east of Lake Champain will become ol
direct profit in the course Of the next
two years. Your committee think that
it is proper to consider the deficit on the
leased roads as a bonus paid by the trus.
tees for obtaining property and business
facilities OF great value to the line OF road
managed by them, and for removing a
competition which had always been dam.
aging, and which was on the point O. be
coming ruinous. The trustees always an.
ticipated that this floating debt, created
as we have een,sl 300, 900 for construc.
ton proper, and the balance for what we
may consider as paid for obtaining valu-
able right aud property, and therefore
also for construction, would be funded
and they are hoped to carry it along
without interfering with the regular pas.
ments of rent and interest till the Yer.
mont Legislature should meet. and should
in some way enable the holders Of the Sc.
curities to form corporation in which
this floating debt should be represented by
capital.
ln this they have been disappointed ;
first, because by their contracts they have
been obliged to buy much more property
OF the leased roads, and a two years sup
ply of wood in one year ; and second, be-
cause the condition Of the money market
has rendered it very difficult for any one
to carry large floating debt this year.
The result, as we all know, has been that
the trustees have been unable to carry
the load (; and a pressing necessity has
arisen for Immediately funding this debt.
We do not see that anything has occurred
to imperil or diminish the value of the
property. The road and road bed repair
shops, equipment, and property of all the
roads managed by the trustees, we are as
sured, are in an exceedingly good aud
efficient condition, and equal to that OF
any railroad in New England We are
also assured that they are getting into a
position to increase their income aud dim
'''o" shSii PShoSo tudt thc coutIdctS
with the National Despatch Company
have not been source of loss to the
roads, and it is an ticipated by the trus-
tees that the rate paid to the Despatch
Company will be reduced. If this float
ing debt is now funded, the trustees esti.
mate that the future earnings Of the com.
bined roads will soon be sufficient to pay
the expenses of running, the rent to all
the leased roads, the interest on all the
classes of bonds, except, perhaps, the
second mortgage bonds. IL. however,
they may not be able to pay promptly the
rent and interest due Dec. |, they would
issue scrip, which they would expect to
soon pay of. The important and practi.
cal question is, How is this debt to be
funded? The trustees recommend that
1t should be funded in bonds issued by
the trustees. having thirty years to run,
at eight per cent interest,