, 1873-10-13

tho atookholdore Of tho road for tho bonoflt Of
corporation of which tho Directors Of tho road
aro cliiof ownors. Noilhcr could tho Rontlo-
mon interested In tho Wyoming Coal Company
who likowiso controlled tho management
OF tho Union Pacific, 800 anything wrong
In similar ptoaoodug. Neitllor could Mr..
Gregory Smith discover anythlag that was mol
lawful and right in starting factory for on
gines md cars with tho money OF tho Vermont
Central, aud thon renting those cars to tho
Vermont Central ut prico Which compelled tho
Vermont Central stockholders to lose money In
operating their road. Il is just possible TINT
tho courts, whom thoy got fair afght ut theeo
transactions, will Wow thom differently.
Tho Directors Of the Gilman, Clinton l.
Springfield Railroad lilsowiso admit disposal Of
tho rosourcoH OF the Company substantially as
charged in tho bill. Their account stands In
this way,
ron BUILDING III Mr1Es or noAp.
Muncinai bonds. 5SSoo
Flrst-nortgage bonla. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, 20O0Oo0
Second d-mortgAge bonds. 10O001o
Credit account on books.. a73,oo0
Total. ......................SS, ,371 900
They deny that the road only coat $1, 600, 900,
Is charged In the bill, but fail to give tho exact
cost, as they might have done with oil tho figures
in their possession, or even to mako an approx
mate estimate. They also claim that 81 AGO. 900
Of stock issued to tho Morgan improvement
Company has no value, though they probably
did not present tho case In this light to tho corn
tics and towns which subscribed for that stock
and issued bonds to tho amount OF about s600,-
900 to aid in it's construction. They admit that
this amount Of stock WAS issued In or
der to give tho Morgan improvement Company
the control of the management. II the munici-
palittos that subacrlbod 100000 toward this
stock aro now persuaded BY the mon who induced
them to do IL that 1t Is not worth anything, and
never was worth anything, is 1t not worry serious
temptation held out to these municipalities to
repudiate their bonds for tho want of conRid-
eration7
Estimating the capital stock, tho tirat-mortgago
bonds, the socond-mortgage bonds, aud the
credit account clnimed by tho construction ring
at par value, tho Gilman, Clinton d Spring.
fold Railroad has coat s51, roo mile, or within
$4,000 Of tue average cost per milo Of all tho
railroads In tho country, including all the Credit
Mobiliera TINT havo ever been organized all tue
watered stock that has ever boen iBauod, and al
the railroad swindles that have ever been por-
petratcd. Yet there is probably no stretch OF
railroad in tho country equal leugth that could
have been built at a loss cost than tho Gilman,
Clinton l. Springfield, which was through per-
fectly level country. Tho Directors claim tint
they sold their bonds at a large sacrifice. For
instance, they claim that some Of the municipal
bonds wore sold as low as 60 conts On the dollar.
It is certainly very remarkable that county and
town bonds OF as rich State as Illinois should
haye to bo so1a at any such suoridco as this. II
true, tho circumstance shows TINT the construo-
ton ring muat have been under some urgent
necessity for dlsposing Of them immediately,
and at what they could got, perhapa in order to
raise the money to 60 on with tho
work Of construction. This does not look
rs though tho Morgan improvement Company
had cash capital Of e59oQ00. Mr. Thomas A.
Scott, 1t seems, holds thq full amount (91, ,000,-
0o0) of second-mortgage bonds, issued without
authority OF Law, and honco, probably, tho rea-
son why tho Pennsylvania Company WAS willing
to take lease providing for their payment.