Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-04-10
the TRANSFER.

AooAuh papers, cspeclal!.y the
Constitution, are perfectly furious
over the proposed sale or lee sc of the
X. & D. M. railroad. In answer to
the inquiry as to what tire trouble is,
that paper of yesterday says the road
has got to that point where it is oblig-
ed to sell or lease Its line to save it
from bankruptcy. brought about by
Encouragement and ignorance of
railroad affairs on the part of its lead
ing officers. Reference is made to
the late unpleasantness with the D,
NJ. u Fl. D. road, which, it says, was
brought about by the New York man.
agement, and cost the X. & D. M.
$4,000 directly, and the loss of bust
ness to the amount Of 100000 per
year, which was diverted to the Rock
Island, and which properly belonged
the the X. & D. NJ.
The Constitution says: "Mr. John
son may be an excellent gentleman in
private life, no doubt he is, but his
railroad career seems to have been
confined to efforts to put his men on
starvation wages, and to see how he
could best mismanage the road he
represents. He broke up the arrange.
ment by which a through line of cars
from st. Paul to New Orleans was to
be run, which the North Missouri
was only too glad to get. He has a |
system by which excellent railroad
men here in Keokuk are SO bound Up
and inextricably tangled in red tape
that they can do nothing Every
move that is made must first be SUBJ
mitted to New York for approval.
Every letter written must pass thro'
the regular channels before it gets to
New York-in fact, the road has been
"Ncw Yorked" to death, and by raen
who have no practical experience in
railroading, and who assume to- know
more, at that distance from the line,
than thorough, practical men, right
on the line do. This is. what drove
Mr.. Griggs, an.excelhent superinten-
dent, from the road. This is what
caused the time check system in pay
ing the men, to, be introduced this ia
what caused loss of business. which
has kept falling behind, until the
road ia nearly ruined.
The bonds are all owned in New
York, and there are so many Eastern
men to find places for that there is no
room for q Western direstor, and
each bondholder is SO suspicious Of
the others, and so afraid that ser,e-
body will make something, that the
board is about as harmonious as-the
late firemen's meeting held here.
The X. & d. NJ. road, when it was
one line to Fl. Dodge, paid. Itwould
pay to-day were its management
placed in the hands Of practical men
who would operate Il from the West
ern and not the Eastern standpoint,
and were not kampered and tram
meled by "systemD which checks all
enterprise, checks all reaching after
business, checks its-men, then checks
and diives> business away from the
line, instead of seeking to bring it to
1t. This-is the trouble with the X.
u ID M, which Keokuk sacrificed so
much fon and which is now abont to
make q sacrifice of Keokuk."
We think our friends down at the
Rapids are needlessly excited over
this matter, and we presume the thing
will all work out right. Ottumwa is
in favor of having the X. & D. M. run
to Keokuk in the future just as it has
heretofore, and are careless whether
the present management or the Rock
Island operates it. 1t is our opinion
that Keokuk can stand competition
with Eldon, and we do hope our
friends down there will keep their
shirts on.