Daily Kennebec journal., 1884-12-03
NAME DISPATCHES.
THE RAILROAD LEASE.
Consolidation of the Eastern and Bos.
ton Il Maine Raiiroads-Rati.
fed by the Stockholders of
Both Companies.
LAWRENCE. Mass. Dec. Q.

LAWRENCE, Mass, Dec. g
special meeting of stock holders of the
Boston and Maine railroad was held Tuesday
forenoon to ratify the lease of the Eastern.
The attendance was larger than at any meet
ing held for years. The meeting was called
to order at 80 by the president, George
c. Lord. Solomon B. Lincoln moved the
adoption of the lease which substantially
agrees with that adopted March ls, 1888.
The following was appointed committee
to receive the vote: Chas. w. eating, Boston /;
J. K. Lee, Boston; Seth Bassett, Haverhill ;
f. X. Brown, Dover; Edward p. Burnham
Saco.
At l.30 p. NJ. the vote was declared ::
Whole number, 39,5l5; yeas, sc ,507; nays,
300S. The lease was accordingly declared
ratified.
BosToN, Dec. g.
A largely attended meeting of the stock
holders of the Eastern Railroad Company
was held this forenoon TO take action in
regard to the proposed lease between the
Eastern and Boston & Maine roads. President
Sewall in the chair. On motion of General
Samuel G. Lawrence the vote of last year by
which the lease has just been ruled against
by the Supreme Court was approved, was
reconsidered and new lease proposed, the
terms of which have been published, was
read. The motion to adjourn for four weeks
that printed copies of the lease might be
distributed to stockholders, was lost, and on
motion of w. L. L. Dilloway, a stock vote
was taken on the question of confirming the
lease. Messrs. Dilloway, Charles Wheeler,
and Nathaniel Roche being appointed to
collect, sort and count votes.
Later-The following is the vote on the
lease as announced after the count had been
completed. In favor, 80, ,669 against, 6,055.
So the lease is now ratified BY the stockhold-
ers of both companies.
The Eastern railroad folks Interpretation
of the movement for union is this
The lease is in no sense the requirement
of one railroad by another, but is designed to
secure all the advantages of a consolidation
of the two properties upon equal terms with
out infringing the statutes that make no
provision for actual consolidation.
II is only necessary to look back few
years to see what the old spirit of fierce com
petition between two companies did. and then
to contrast the effect of peace and cooperation.
Influences growing mainly out of the rivalry
between these two roads had brought the
stock of the Boston & Maine down to SS in
1877, and some years previously had saddled
| Z nv with a Iaht of 1Dr
entrance into Portland, Me. The shares of
the Eastern sold down to "a in May, II, and
| its new bonds were started at ~ cents on the
dollar The pooling arrangement which has
existed under a less warlike policy since that
date is largely responsible for the rise in
Boston & Maine shares from SO to 1853
Eastern bonds from ~ to ll5, and Eastern
stock from % TO ~. The history of the two
corporations furnishes an important lesson
for managers of other railroads.
The union of the Eastern and Boston &
Maine will form the largest railroad system
| in New England, comprising;
Miles
Eastern r. r.. with branches, etc, 2s5
Boston Maine POSI-
Maine Central, 4s3
Total, 1904
The Eastern railroad owns a controlling
interest in the Maine Central, and the latter
| has a perpetual lease of the European & North
American Railway from Bangor toVanceboro
Me-, there il connects with the st. John &
Maine X. r., in New Brunswick Comparing
the combined Eastern and Boston & Maine
system with the Boston & Albany, it appears
that the former will operate 25 more locomo-
tives, 200 more passenger cars and about the
same number of freight cars as the latter
The Boston & Albany carried l57 ,255, ,97l
passengers one mile, and moved 373, ,655 456
tons of freight one mile in 1888, while the
passenger mileage of the Eastern and B. &
NJ. system of the same year was 240, ,422 l4l
and the freight mileage lSS, l6l, 1874. But SO
large a portion of the Boston Albsny's
freight business consisted of low priced
through Western traffic that the average
receipts were but Sl.l9 per ton per mile,
while the average receipts of the Eastern, B.
& NJ. and Maiue Central was over 50.
1t has been stated that the lease would be
the subjectof legislation in Maine the coming
winter; but no legislation is believed to be
necessary to perfect the instrument in that
State or any other. 1t is in accordance with
the new general law passed in New Hampshire
last year, and will not be the subject OF
legislation in Maine unless somebody endeav-
ors to secure the passage of a law hostile
to il.
In the matter of the bill in equity, filled in
the United States court, against the Eastern
railroad corporation to restrain them from
executing the lease to the Boston & Maine,
an order of notice returnable January 5th
was issued for the defendants to show why
the prayer of the plaintiffs should not be
granted. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs,
however, no Injunction was issued and the
result will apparently be that on Janusry 9Th
the defendants viii show that the lease has
been already executed, for the officials of the
two roads met today and formally executed
the lease and issued notice to the employees
of the Eastern that hereafter they will be
under the control of the Boston & Maine
officers.
Fire.