New-York tribune., 1872-02-29


According to the annual report of the same
Company for the year ending Sept. ~, loh'
the corresponding figures were:
Amount Of stock. $86,o369lo w
Amount Of funded debt ........ 26,39S,Soo %
Total 35,710 90
Increase OF stock and funded debt
since Sept 90 1867. V"'ooo'ooo w
The annual reports ought to show that the
CORPORATION has something to offer for this
immense increase of capital and debt. Each
report gives what purpOrts to be the cost OF
the road and equipments up to the date of
the report. This consists of separate items
for graduation and masonry" super
structure, including iron,' passenger ana
| " freight stations" &c. In 1857, the different
items of "cOst and equipment" footed up
excluding an item of $8S,964,72S, given as the
cost of the old "N. Y. and 4. X. R." at the
sum Of 02S3.04l 25. In 1871, the same
items footed up at S2O878,O12 A, show
ing an increase In the "cOst and EQUIP
mentn of the road Of $10,594,0n 19
The earnings of tho road appear from these
reports to have exceeded the expenses, with
the exception of 1870, when a deficiency is re-
ported of $685., ,O26 43; but this is far more
"
years. 80 that it cannot be pretended that
any portion of the increase of capital and
funded debt has been required to pay current
EXPENSES. The case then stands as follows:
Increase Of capital and debt. t65,5S56ss %
Increase OF cost and equipment. iO,6A,'7l 10
Leaving unaccounted .s54.s6O6si 81
To pretend to account for portion of this
sum, an entry has been made which il evil
dently false-which is conceded to be false
and which still has been sworn by Mr. Jay
Gould to be correct. The affairs OF the old
New York and Erie Railroad were closed upon
the organization of the Erie Railway Company.
It's property was put in, as a part OF the cost
of the Erie Railway Company, at S39,s64,72S.
1t was so reported in 1867 By no possibility
could it be increased: yet in 1869 this Item
was reported at $4S,551 ,049 90; in 1870 at $780,
443.905 50; in 1871 at $96,026,350 7S-shOwing
in this last case false entry of $47,061 ,629 80
And each of these reports was sworn by Jay
Gould TO be "true and correct" Certified
copies of these reports, showing these figures,
have been produced by Mr.. Southmayd before
the Railroad Committee of the Assembly. and
by Mr.. Hale before the Judiciary Committee
of the Senate. How are these charges met
How is this evidently false entry explainedY
Mr. Shearman, in his argument before the
Assembly Committee tried to- lay the blame
on tho effectiveness of the forms furnished by
the State Engineer. There is no item, Mr.
Shearman says, under which the expenditure Of
this money would properly come; and the
Auditor therefore selected as the most rea-
sOnable item for this purpose the charge en-
titled N. Y. and Erie X. r. to which it
80 ohohl riota 70 tbe least
"as 1t would be if placed under any other
specification of the account" But, Mr. Shear
man, did you not know that tho item "N. 7.
land Erie X. r." is not in the printed form
ard that it was written in by the Auditor"
or other officer of the Company, in making out
the account Was it not as easy to write
in the truth as a falseh0Od Or would
not the truth answer the purpose as
well And even if the printed forms had
had no space sufficient for showing the whole
truth, did they compel Mr.. Gould to state and
swear to what was not truef But the stock
holders want to know, and the public want to
know, what has become of the missing fifty
| four millions. Mr.. Shearman told the Railroad
Committee of the Assembly that it had been
| fully accounted for to the Directors! He said,
| too, that he would show it to any member of
the Committee, when he was properly told by
one of that body that they would not receive
any private communication from him on the
| subject, but that if he had any information for
the Committee it should be given then and
| there in the presence of the adverse counsel.
| This Mr.. Shearman declined to do, because
it would thus get into the newspapers, though
he expressed himself willing to give an ac-
count of any transactions which were more
than six years old-that is, which happened
before Gould and Fisk got control of the
Road Aud he pathetically appealed to the
Committee whether they would like to have
their private accounts paraded in the news
papers
This plea is absurd. The accounts of the
Erie Railway Company are not the private
, accounts of Gould and Fisk. The stockhold-
ers have certainly a right to know how the
affairs of their corporation stand The people,
too, have some interest in the question if the
Erie Railway Company is under the direction
Of gang of thieves, beside whose gigantic
robberies those of the Tammany thieves
sink into comparative insgnifcance. Hon
eat people of the Southern TIER many
of your newspapers are representing you
AZ unanimously opposed to interfering with
| the management of the Erie Road, notwith-
| standing the facts we have recited above. We
know that this is not true. You cannot de-
fend organized robbery because the robbers
have been shrewd enough to apply small
portion of their plunder to your comfort and
accommodation. Will you not repudiate the
attempt to make you the accomplices of
thevesf Gentlemen Of the Legislature
4, h., toI onI g..