The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-08-19

anv man believe taat ne Wouio na'c III
i Iy AL, s,o b;Ii N pass unless he had known
tho, 10 s"y wa 70 bestow It's offices? That
question was asked me by the. shrewdest
man in tbe Republican party, when IN
nmired n he supposed Governor Cameron
,arnulJ ohdicatc in favor OF General Malone;
and the nnestion answered itself. when
tbo lin came mn in the Senate that noto-
rious {. deser.,r and traitor" Mr.. Newber-
rv moved that these officers should De
elected Inv the people; and that would seem
moi N have been unreasonable. III the system
,y ~s Good then II would be good policy
70 divide The offices among the different
narties en- os IN secure its continuance: Tor
II is plain that il they were made poltlcai
there must have been change with each
change Of porty, or abolition OF the system
n failure Of n good thing from defective
working. But that motion killed IT. For
what good Malone Readiuster could vote
for measure which Mr.. Ncwberry favored
What man of common intelligence but
knew that the people could not be trusted
IN elect such an officer! When General
Malone had found it necessary TO guard
the purity OF members Of the Legislature
bv imposine upon them pledge under
"sealv which would bind them to him,
and 30 prevent their taking bride, was II
not plain that il he could not control these
officers also there would be corruption III
the Readiuster party! -,
But though this bill had failed, all
his resources were not gone. Inc ran
roads vet remained-a rich prize. IN
less patriosm or benevOlcnce, or both, have
produced such lively interest in patronage
General Malone must be supposed TO have
had an eye to the power and Influence IL
would give him. On this supposltlon one
can understand why, in the late address OF
the members with very few EXCEPTIONS
OF the Readiuster party. not word was
said OF
TIE RAILROADS OF THE STATE,
though the platform OF the party had en-
gagged to take them under its control, ana
regulate them generally.
II was a ticklish question for leader
Something ought to be done-there was no
doubt of that at least the people thought
so. and they must he amused with prom
ises. There is not Il road but what dis
eliminates against the interests OF tie State.
As the platform more than limited, and
the people firmly believe. Their aggre-
gate wealth is great, nearly S3O,OOO,OOO,
according TO the last State assessment.
They run loo miles in all directions
through our territory. And at the custom
airy rate OF twelve persons to the mile
they have in their service. including
officers and employees OF all kinds, up
wards OF twenty thousand men, commit
ted by interest, esprit de corps, or what
not, to the orders OF their respective
beads. More than once they have been
welded in elections by their presidents; a.
more than once their managers nave bought
| legislation. United these roads become 4
| tremendous power, dangerous TO the state,
as monopoly always Is, or tends 10 be. But
they have an electoral value, which General
Malone appreciates. | know 1t. For in
last years canvass, when, in one Of our
two casual meetings, informed lin that
the Board Of Public Works would revise
the assessment OF the railroads, rs required
| by law. and would raise the valuation, he
expressed himself apprehcnSiye OF its effect
on the railroads, and said how easily they
might combine, if they choose, and take the
State from us adding that 100000 would
carry Virginia either way; and ii he was
one Of the rairoad-men he would urge them
| to subscribe it and win.
TIE ATLANTIC, MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RAIL
ROAD.
have no time nor taste to trace up and
expose the whole tOrtuous and obscure
course of General Malone in this matter
or by this light. But some things are
worth noting and bordering. Very
soon after the election last fall the
Richmond Wing announced that the Re-
adjustcr party had debts to pay to all
/ 4 81 ha hat
| they meant TO discharge them. But at the
| time this threat was addressed to all the
railroads there was some sort OF an ar
rangemcnt with one OF them which would
argue that with that one, at least, there
could have been no menace. nor thought
of any. That was the Norfolk and West
ern Railroad Company, successor to the
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad
! Company, whose affairs Mr.. Colley charged
had been grossly and criminally misman-
aged by General Malone.
According to the frat annual report OF
General Malone TO the Atlantic, Mis,s-
sippi and Ohio Railroad Company in May,
1872, he had arranged with the State to
exchange her debt against the company,
amounting to SG,37l, l30.3j. including 81
S44, G93.9S secured mortgage debt, for a
second mortgage Of only Sl,000,OO0. Nine
years aiterwards-to wit, the latter part al
last summer-when he was engaged in ne
gotiating the sale Of this road to the syndi-
cate that Immediately afterwards bought
il, he waited on Mcssrs. Massey and Rey-
nolds, two OF the Board of Public Works,
and persuaded them that it was patriotic
duty 10 ratify the sale in consideration Of
the sum OF 100000 to be paid the State, il
LII IA f,.. Il. =, Il.
represented, to get that much, il being one
eighth part OF the Si,000,000 second mort
gage. Later, these gentlemen were some
what surprised to hear-as | have heard
and upon authority which / am at liberty
to surrender to 4 proper application-that
General Malone had been much more
fortunate i'm
NEGOTIATING FOR HIMSELF
than for the State. For the reorganization
OF the road under the name OF the Norfolk
and Western Railroad Company embraced
$50, 900 shares OF preferred stock. equal to
S15,000,000 distributed among the associ-
ates ut S3j per share. General Malone
subscribed for 5000 shares at S35 per share,
equal to $4,000, on which he paid not
a cent, it being carried" Tor him by the
syndicate until itrose in the market to SIS. 80
per share, when they took the whole block
off his hands at an advance Of $4,000 paid
in cash. Besides this he obtained $4,000
from the same company upon claim for
services rendered when he was not presi-
dent of their predecessor, the Atlantic,
Mississippi and Ohio Company-under a
decree in which Judge Hughes said he only
gave it because the Norfolk and Western
Railroad Company wished il to be done;
thereby clearly intimating that there was
no legal claim to it. With this gratuity OF
1900, about to be put into his pocket by
these generous friends, it would seem to
hnA,n hnnil ,,,n.I,t u IL