Morning journal and courier., 1884-12-09
THE DERBY AND THE CITY

Question Between the City and the Road-The Position of the City a
 StOckhOIder-The Views of a Repre- sentative of the Road.
 As few matters of public interest in the city are of more importance just now than the present situation of the Derby railroad in it's financial relations with the city, 8 rep resentative of the COURIER yesterday inter viewed MT. F. E. Harrison, the secretary of the Derby railroad, and learned from MT. HarTi son in answer to inquiries made as follows: The situation of the road so far as the city is concerned appears in the Board of Finance report to be as follows:
 s' guaranteed bonds . POI 750 %
 S245, 5,2sl 8 Less West Water street assessment. 16, 141 %
 S2a9, ,14oa5 Borrowed money ........................ 75,000 % Total indebtedness of road to city - sso4, ,14o a5
 As a settlement of this indebtedness the Board of Finance recommends the Common Council to accept the following proposals, which I will state in somewhat different order from that given in the report:
 FIrst-That for the future the Derby road shall Gas. Gs all l'efe' on notes ana 00n'S s It may Tall
 second-That the road shall pay not less than s, 900 year toward eXtinguishing the debt of $75 GOO thus paying off the debt in fifteen years at
 Third That the road shall apply it's net income to creating sinking fund which shail if possible pay off tine SS25, 900 of mortgage bonds upon which the city is the endorSer guarautor, thus reliev ing the city when they mature in A. D. 1900
 Fourth That for the. Sa29 g of accrued in debtedness as shown above, the city will accept as compromise settlement 800 shares of the stock of the road & of the f par value of $150ooo
 road shall be applied for without the of the Common Council.
 The position of the city as a stockholder may be thus stated:
 The total stock of the road is very nearly $450,000. Of this the city owns $200, 900 c, 2,000 shares), or substantially four-ninths. If the 1 800 additional shares shall be issued, the capital stock will then be $500, GOO, of which the city will own S350, GOO 6, 800 shares), or seyen-twelfths. In other words, it will own the majority of the stock of the road, and it's vote will elect the board of di- rectors, even though every other stockholder has different choice. It has practically done that same thing at every election thus far.
 It is practically agreed by the directors on the one hand and the Board of Finance, as representing the city, on the other that the road will be able to carry out it's part of the above propositions (No. 1, 2 and B. provided it's present income can be maintained in the future, and the question pending is simply that of the settlement of the S229, 40 of ac- cumulated interest. The road is unable to pay this sum, either now or in the imne- diate future. It has business of great value to New Haven, which has been secured by good management, and, to some extent, by advances of cash and credit by individual directors. In the hearing before the Board of Finance Mir. Atwater stated that directors had made advances to the road from time to time amounting in all to overS129, 900 in cash, besides their endorsements of notes from time to time for the benefit of the road I They had done this as public-spirited men, receiving no return except simple interest cn their cash loans. It is urged that these are facts which should be taken into considera- tion. It is further urged that the city is in | terested to the extent of four-ninths in any | settlement that may be made, as it's own stock 1 is Gin the same boat'' with that of the other | with whom it shares all the ad- | vantages and disadvantages of any settlement | that may be made. And, in brief, the situa- | ton is that with which wholesale business | men are perfectly familiar-of a debtor | weighed down with old debts and seeking to | make compromise settlement which will | give him some chance of getting and keeping | on his feet in the future. Most business men | are willing to make such a settlement with l an honest debtor, especially so if they are di- | rectly interested to the extent of four-ninths in his business, and have yet larger indirect | interest in it. It is pertinent to the subject to add that | S300, 900 of first mortgage bonds mature in 1888, and must be met by renewal if met at | all. If their present indebtedness can be set tied by compromise, proposed by the Board of Finance report, the renewal bonds of 1888 can doubtless be negotiated at per cent, saving of $6, GOO in interest as com pared with the present interest. If no com promise is made, it is feared that it may affect the renewal of these bonds unfavorably