Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-04-18
A ReTTEN RAILROAD.


Last Wednesday the New York
Stock Exchange was regaled with the
story Of the Chicago, Danville and
Vincennes Railroad, which seems to
have been built, so far as it is built at
all, on the most approved Credit No
bilier principles. According to the re-
port of a committee Of stockholders,
appointed at the last annual meeting,
the whole affair has been a deliberate
swindle from its incipiency. The Off
GERS Of the road started by giving
to a company composed of them
selves a contract to build ITO miles.
This was but half the proposed length,
and yet this contract called for $780,
600 first mortgage bonds and $780,
900 capital stock, the entire issue al
lowed by the charter, besides all local
subscriptions, which amounted to about
$4,000 per mile. In addition to this,
the building contractors were allowed
to do all the traffic they could
during construction, and pocket the
proceeds. Yet the 10 miles were
never completed, the work stopping 20.
miles short Of Chicago and the track
Of another line being leased to reach
that city. The portion of road built
constructed In the cheapest and
lOosest manner, not a stone bridge,
abutment or culvert being used on the
whole line, and it might almost be
called a wooden railroad, while the
locomotives are shackly old second
hand affairs. These contractors, DE
ing in fact none other than the rail
road officials themselves we're secured
by a mortgage covering everything the
road might become possessed Of; and
all available funds being now exhausted
a new charter was procured to extend
the line southwark to Yincennes.
Under this, twenty-five miles more
were loosely built by issuing sl,50O,000
Of fresh bonds, being an over-issue Of
$685., 500. Besides these bonds enough
local subscriptions were absorbed to
swell the cost Of. these p miles to So
3O9,5O6 or S92,3S2 per mile over a
comparatively level country. These
are the more salient points developed,
showing that the cost to the stOckhold-
ers for building the road thus far has
been S7,749, 500, while the actual -ex-
penditures Of the Credit Mobilier con-
tractors were only ~S5,6Sl,964, leaving
a clear steal Of OYER four millions. OF
course multifarious irregularities ap-
pear, involving lesser ums. Large
rascals are obliged to fee smaller ras-
calls for silence sake. Sometimes, by a
sort Of poetic justice, the big fish are
eaten up by the numerous smallfr Try. In
this case the leaders did not perhaps
realize for themselves a round mil
lion, owing partly to the depreciation
Of the bonds; but they made a des-
perate effort to capture the railroad
after using up all It's assets. FoI
this purpose two new charters
were successsiyely obtained, one of them
being particularly ingenious, the COM
pany under it being entitled the
Chicago, Danville and Y~incennes Rail-
Ioay, while the original charter read,
the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes
Railroad. Under the new title and
charter they were issuing fac-simile
bonds, in all respects like the old ones
except the termination way" in place
of road" when the panic came on and
closed the money markets against them.
At last Wednesday, meeting the origi-
nal stocA holders determined on imme-
date action to recover all that is possi-
bic, but at the best they viii only get
incomplete, unballasted, and miser-
ably equipped piece Of improbable