The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-10-22

Does any reasonable man suppose that
this additional property could have been
acquired for nothing? Can railroads be
bought or built without money? Was not
another issue of bonds an absolute necessity
to pay for the 500 additional miles of road ?
In 1870 the bonded debt of the company
was $17, 600 per mile; it is now S20,O Is
not the increase of rolling stock, improve
ment in road-bed, steel rails, iron bridges,
and other substantial improvements entitled
to such an increase of valuation? To illus
trate suppose had in 1870 bought house
and lot either in Nashville or Knoxville for
$17 900, and the house was old, needed re
pairs, in fact, q general oyerhauling, Look
ing to the needed Improvements, l set apart
my rentals amounting to $4,000, and put
them into perm anent improvements in the
building: is not my property entitled to be
valued at $1,000 moreY Most Hassuredly.
And this is precisely the situation with the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia road.
But, says Mr.. Turley, how about that i'm
mense issue of income bonds, preferred and
common stock? j answer, it amounts to
nothing, absolutely nothing, and has no
bearing upon the question at issue ; 1t has
not added one dollar to the value of the
property, and viii not require single
dollar more revenue to sustain 1t. The in
terest upon the first mortgage bonded debt
and operating expenses are fixed charge
which must be met beyond this there is no
obligation whatever What matters it,
therefore, whether the road is stocked at
one dollar or one hundred million? 1t has
paid no dividend upon the stock, never pro-
posed to, and, perhaps, never will. III there
is road in the State in which the stock
holders are deserving of sympathy, 1t Is the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Be
ginning with 1858 to 1873, a period OF fiji
teen years, the stockholders received not a
dollar of dividend, and from 1858 to 1880,
inclusive, aperiod of twenty-five years, they
received as dividends only an average Of
Ia per cent per annunl. Would any
farmer, would any merchant, would Mr..
Turley invest his money in property which
promises no better return?
do not by this process of reasoning seek
to palliate or excuse the extravagant issue
of income bonds and stock, which, to my
mind, was, in some respects, questionable
experiment. Some say immense fortunes
have been made by these stock jobbing op-
erations; very true, perhaps; but has this
been done at the expense of the people OF
the State? Admit that one or two OF our
distinguished fellow-citizens, and perhaps
Others did manage to come out ahead, the
money was not filched from the pockets OF
the people it was taken fvom Wall Street
New York, and is now being invested
largely in other enterprises. of the state.
However much, therefore, such watering
processes may be disapproved, the people
of Tennessee lost not farthing by them.
They have been the means, as already
shown, of constructing many miles of road
which the people may use to great ad-
vantage in getting their produce to market.
They have given to the people OF Iennes-
Sec
/. A direct and competing line via Jel-
lice to Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago, and
the Great West.
2. A line under one management IRON
Bristol, Tenn, to Meridian, Miss.
8. A competing line to Atlanta, Ga,
Macon, Ca, and the South Atlantic coast.
The benefciaries of these stock lobblng
operations are the people of Tennessee
The sufferers may befound in Wall Street,
New York.
The direct fling at q another road is all