The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-22
A BIG FINANCIAL VENDETTA.
The Fight for the Control of the Dom
iEant Railroad Power Of the South.

| fE6nt Railroad Power OF the SouSn-
NEW YORK, April 21.-In the domain Of
finance we often see opposing forces en-
gagged in bitter warfare, but there is seldom
such fierce financial battle as that now In
| progress with the object of obtaining con-
| trol of the Richmond and West Point
| Terminal Company, the dominant railroad
| power of the South. Into the affairs of this
great corporation are gathered more miles
OF railroad and more men of national repu-
| tation than in any other railroad company
i'll the United States. It's creative genius
was unquestionably Alfred Sully, a snrewd,
wide-awake financier, who had already won
his spurs on the field of fhance in ASSOCIATION
with Austin Corbin, at whose invitatIOuy
indeed, ne entered financial life. The posi-
ton of President of the Richmond Terminal
Is almost exactly analogous to that OF freSl-
dent of the French republic; that is, the
| directors in the road have the controlling
power, as the Deputies in the French AS
sembly have in the other case. The position
of President is at all times precarious, UNI
less ne consents to be a mere iigurehead.
Rather than play that rlle Mr.. Sully re-
signed, publicly stating that he was OPP
posed to the ways and methods of
na jority of the directors, and limiting that
they had too many private ends to subServe
and too little regard for the real welfare of
the company.
And now John II. Inman steps on the
stage of finance for the first time IN po-
sltion of responsibility as President Oi the
giant Richmond Terminal. He was like the
widow; he did not require much counting,
although he even assumed a little maldenly
reserve for n time. He was clerk for
Quartermaster in the Confederate army.
came to New York after the war, and mas
terlng the lntriCacles of the cotton business,
succeeded in making his fortune. Here
tofore he has attended more particularly TO
| arge private enterprises. He was bull
on cotton at the high prices OF some tine
back, and held on persistenrly. The
| recent heavy decline in cotton, it is
understood, caught Mr.. Inman heavily
long of the market, and like many
other big operators he must have
suffered the consequences in severe losses.
Fhe fall in cotton was like lightning out OF
a clear sky; it was due to a raising of the
estimates of the crop after the cotton trade
had been duped by commercial sheet IN
New Orleans which published an abslrdly
low estimate, in which Mr.. Dodge, Chl5t OF
the Agricultural Bureau at Washington,
practically acquiesced. A nephew of Mr..
lDman, one Harle, of Atlanta, failed, owing
TO the decline, and pulled down two cotton
houses here after repeatedly promising to
margin up and is now charged with having
conveyed his property to another person
with fraudulent intent. Mr.. lnman is still
very wealth capitalist and he will probably
keep out of big cotton speculationS for some
time to come.
GEORGE 8. SCOTT AS A WARWICK.
Behind Mr.. Inman in the Richmond
Terminal corporation is George s. SEQ t,
who poses as a Warwick to let up and pull
down financial kings. He is man of
considerable wealth, who, after sweating
with the Richmond and Danville Company
for three or four years, finally sold the con-
| troll of that company to the Richmond Ter
minal for S., 600 600 cash and 81 .500,C00 in
Terminal stock By adroit manipulation
no succeeded in having himself elected
President of the Richmond and Danville
road at the last election. His next move
| was to bring forth John Fl. Inman for the
Presidency of the Terminal company.
And now Two opposing parties anxious
for the control of the corporation are
| fighting each other by buying the stock to
be used as slnews of war at the next Ter
minal election in May.
An effort is being made to smoke out the
hornets nest that by a polite euphonism
| has been termed the Board of Directors,
| charged with using the terminal company
! to promote their private schemes. One of
The hornets is Calvin s. Brice, who, by
happy coincidence, has the hornet com
plexion. He is little lawyer from Ohio
y. N, OulllIDIngS, VI CtlCdSCi says JuhU
the way he got into railroad affairs
was by becoming so energetic in conducting
lawsuits against railroads for cattle killed
along the lines, that the New York, Lake
Erie and Western Company finally picked
him up and made HIM director. He
has an exceptionally fine Imagination,
and some of his financial fiction would
seem to indicate that ms true field is that of
novelist in opposition to Rider Haggard.
In his best moments Mr.. Brice could a tale
unfold that would make any one else, from
a Baron Muuchausen to Col. Tom Ochiltree,
pale his Intellectual fires.
Gen. Samuel Thomas is director asso-
ciated with Bri re in the Terminal board,
and used to be an iron manufacturer at
Columbus, O. He and Brice, who is not his
equal by any means, joined the people
who were building the famous Nickel
Plate" road, which came near swapping
these adventurous spirits. Luck, however,
stood them in good stead, and just
Mt the critical moment the late
VIM H. Vanderbilt bought the road and
lifted their burd MS. Gen. Thomas is tall,
well built and jovial and at the time iocu-
larly described the sale of tie Nickel Plate
to Sr. Vanderbilt as merely burglarious
operation on that gentleman's safe. Some
Of his colleagues afterward presented tie
General with a scarf-pin showing masked
burglars at work with dark lantern on a
big safe.
BRIcE AND THOMAS
Gen Thomas ami Calvin s. Brice GER
tainly are engaged in colossal enterprises.
Upon their shoulders rests the Duluth,
South Shore and Atlantic railroad, in which
there is something like $l5000,000 to
So, O000 900 invested, or to be invested
In addition they have the Lake Eri3
aud Western, the fIockirg Coal and Iron
Comrany the East Tonne .sce, Virginia and
Georgia, the Mobile and Birmingham, now
nearly completed, besides other roads in
different parts of the United States. Cal
vim s. Brice's scheme is unders God 30 be to
make the giant Richmond Terminal a ten
der to the East Tennessee--in other words,
to have the tail wag the dog
His opponants are charged with being
large owners in the Georgia Cent al system
OF railroads, and only seeking 10 control the
Richmond Termn Il in osder to make n big
combination, but a singular fact concerning
this matter is that Alfred sulv, who
approves of the fight against the
Blice party, IS, OF was the largest
owner Of the Georgia General properly,
and that President John Il. Inmau is the
next largest owner of Georgia Central Sc
curities. though it is true he Is facing botu
WAYS in the contest. and is lerchcd noncua-
lantly ON the fence. He will not ass st
in smoking out the hornets nest no.,
SO far as appearances go, help 10 drive