The Portland daily press., 1875-03-24
TO.6av'S Rattle.

The meeting of the stockholders Of the
Maine Central Railroad Company at Water
vile to-day will be the most important meet
ing of the kind ever held in the state. Then
and there, the stockholders of that Company
are to decide-whether the Maine Centeral
Railroad shall continue under its present
management, be run in the interest Of the
with the policy of giving equal facilities to the
competing connecting roads to Boston, or
whether it shall be transferred to the absolute
control of the Eastern Railroad Company to
be managed wholly in its interests and the
old policy of warfare be recommended.
According to the latest rumors of the street
and the boasts of its over paid agents, the
Eastern Railroad managers have now secured
a considerable majority of the stock of the
Maine Central and consequently have the
power to do whatever they choose-a power
which history Of past transactions and the
the present financial standing Of that road
Indicate, may not be used with the utmost
scrupulousness and wisdom.
At present, the Maine Central, as shown
by the report printed elsewhere, is in pros
with remarkable care and the strictest econo-
my. II it shall continue in the hands Of the
present managers its condition in every re-
spect must improve. 1t will have no battles
to fight, no lobby to pay, nothing to do but
Its legitimate business by which it must pros
per. If, however, board of managers is
elected to-day whose interest leads them to
end the present independent policy and to
make alliances with certain lines, to dscrimi-
nate against others, to load itself down with
ruinous contracts and unnecessary expenses,
the "ehild of the state" has seen its best days
and no stockholder will ever live to see div
idend. Indeed, had the policy of the ambi-
tious Eastern men, who are ambitious to own
line from Halifax to Boston, been followed.
the Maine Central would now be hopelessly
loaded down with a lease of over two hun
dred miles of road which hardly pays its run
ming expenses. That it is not thus loaded
down to-day, is due to Messrs. Morrill,, Brown
and others who, fortunately for the Maine
Central, were in the majority in the board Of
directors and consequently defeated the ruin
Gus scheme OF the same gentlemen who to
day, propose to seize the control otthe Maine
Central. Have they yet given up their
scheme of through consolidation line from
Halifax to Boston?
1t is impossible to predict with any GER
tainty what will take place to-day. Doubtful
things are mighty uncertain. The average
railroad man frequently walks ways which
are dark and some of them have been known
to practice tricks that are vain. What COM
binations, what arrangements, what compro-
misses may be effected before the vote to-day,
no one would risk his reputation for sanity
in predicting. The meeting, however, If no
change occurs, promises to be very exciting
and some of the speeches bitter. We shall
learn how this state Of affairs has been
brought about; whose money purchased the
large blocks Of stock held in the interest OF
the Eastern; what representations were
made to secure the alliance of certain par
ties in this state and what members Of the
present board have turned their backs upon
all honorable obligations and deliberately
"sold out' old associates. All these things
are sure to come to the light, for this will be
one of the occasions when reserve will be
thrown off.
II this programme threatened by the
Eastern is to be carried out, the era of good
feeling which now prevails in railroad circles,
Is ended for long time. We shall see the
renewal OF active warfare between the East
ern and Boston 6 Maine companies, to the
great detriment Of both and the incon-
venience and injury OF business in Maine.
We shall see the lobby brought to life, hav
ing new reign, with longer purses to manipu-
late-in word, we are likely to see as bad
state of things at Augusta as has ever
been known at Albany or Harrisburg. 1t is
on this account that the people of Maine
have the greatest cause to lament the raid of
the Eastern managers into Maine for the
control of its chief railway.