Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-10-11


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 $50 additional miles of road
In 1870 the bonded debt of the company
was ST., 900 per mile; it is now $50, 1000. 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
$1,000 and the house was old, needed re-
pairs, in fact, q general overhauling. Look
ing to the needed improvements, set apart
my rentals amounting to $1,000, and put
them into perm anent improvements in the
building: is not my property entitled to be
valued at 5000 more? Most assuFedly.
And this is precisely the situation with the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia road.
But, says Mr.. Tnrley, how about that inn
mense issue of income bonds, preferred and
common stock? ] answer, it amounts to
nothing, absolutely nothing, and has no
bearing upon the question at issue il has
not added one dollar to the value of the
property, and viii not require a single
dollar more revenue to sustain it. 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? thas
paid no dividend upon the stock, never pro-
posed 10, and, perhaps, never will. If there
is a road in the State In which the stock
holders are deserving of sympathy, it is the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Be
ginning with 1858 to 1873, period of If
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
] rs per cent. per annum. Would any
farmer, would any merchant, would Mr..
Turley invest his money in property which
promises no better return7
do not by this process of reasoning seek
20 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 OPP
eratiOns; very true, perhaps; but has this
been done at the expense of the people of
the State7 Admit that one or two of our
fellOw-citiZens and perhaps
Others, did manage to come out ahead, the
money was not filched from the pockets Of
the people; il was taken from 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 a farthing by them.
They have been the means, ~ already
shown, of constructing many miles of road
which the people may use to great adj
vantage in getting their produce to market
They have given TO the people OF Tennes-
see
!. A direct and competing line via Jel-
leo to louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago, and |
The Great West. |
2. A line under one management from |
Bristol, Tenn, to Meridian, Miss.
3. A competing line to Atlanta, Ga,
Macon, Ga, and the South Atlantic coast. |
The benefciaries of these stock iobbing |
operations are the people of Tennessee.
The sufferers may be found in Wall Street, |
New York.
The direct fling at " another road" is all
lncalled for, and only shows how little Mr.. |
Hurley knows concerning a question 20 vi
ally affecting the property he and his as
.ociates are trying to control If the gen.
leman had taken the pains toeven inquire,
Ne would at once have discovered that the
,ropoSed new issue of bonds and stocks
vas TO cover the cost of constructing the
Iellico connections of the Louisville and
Nashville and the, completion of the Owens
,oro and Nashville, . part of the Louisville
nd Nashville system. Such loose and
eckless insinuations serve only to further
realcen pubIic confidence in the aims and
Itness Of the present commission.
So much for watering and stock jobbing.
a. ne row look into the question of rates,
pom which Mr.. Tirley endeavors to treat
eferrine to grain. He says:
GSsv thaf the party to whlm you sell
ellis again n the Atlanta market and that
is there worth ninety cents Per bnsheil
nd that the amount charged BY the road
Or delivering the wheat In eighteen cehis
er 100 pounds, or l0IAs cents per 61slael,
oes not the party 70 whom you sell Il 9rst
educt this sum from the Atlanta Pr,
nd then take from three 70 i've cents per
usheI for his services and risk to deter
line what he can pay you for your wheatI
low if the freight charge Is three cenM ~ !
ushel too high, is not this amount unlussV