Morning journal and courier., 1889-02-13
sTARBUoK UNDER FIRE.


 Railroad Before the Railroad Com. mittee To-Day-Greas Interest i'm the | Contest Packs the Representative Chamber-Is the HOusaIOnfc Report to the State Deceptive?-A Resolution of Inquiry Passed-Last Day For New Business in the General Assembly. HARTFORD, Feb. 12. | Especial Correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CoURIER.l
 The second clash of arms in the great rail- road war of Connecticut was heard at the | Capitol to-pay. The hearing on the Housa-
 tonic roads application for such charter
 amendments as will give them permission to
 parallel the Consolidated road, which Presi- dent Bostwick says it Is his determination to 1 do, was resumed before the committee on
 railroads at 9 o'clock, Senator Graham, the
 chairman, having recovered from his illness
 sufficiently to be present. Heretofore the
 railroad commissioners office has been amply
 large for such matters, but so great is the in-
 terest in the present fight that the chamber
 of the representatives was occupied for the
 hearing and this great hall was packed to it's utmost capacity. The counsel for the Hous- ! atomic company, Prof. s. E. Baldwin, was re- inforced to-day by Wm. c. Case and Hon. L.. ' m. | that ever frequented the capitol. Ex-Judge Lynde Harrison and Henry Q. Robinson ' alone bear the brunt of battle for the Con- solidated road President Clark and many of the latter roads officials were present, as I were President Bostwick, Col. Stevenson, Director McAuliffe and other magnates of the New England system.
 Judge Harrison resumed the crosssexamin- ation of President Starbuck at the point where it was left off two weeks ago. His questions met with violent objection from | the counsel for the Housatonic and the con- l tests of the attorneys over admissability of | the questions occupied much more time than | the evidence of Mir. Starbuck.
 \ The first question of importance MT. Har- rison asked President Starbuck was to ex- plain the sudden capitalization increase
 from &, 900, 900 g year ago to S3, 1s0, 900 this year.
 Prof. Baldwin objected to this as inmate.
 rial on the ground that the only question was whether the charter Limitations of the road should be removed, giving them the right to | build thirty mile branches as other roads ! had. He said the Housatonic had big trunk and branches in Vermont and Massachu- setts, but no roots at the Connecticut shore to provide facilities for all it's business. I Judge Harrison replied that when high way even was uo be changed the committee appointed to consider the matter was given the largest latitude in evidence. Here was a committee of the highest court in the State | asked to grant the greatest of all highways, ! the iron-railed road, to men who they be- \ lieved had already issued illegal stock and | bonds for the purpose of giving them the | privilege of injuring the public, the people | Of Fairfield county, the State and the Con | solidated road.
 \ Henry o. Robinson agreed with Professor ! Baldwin that it would be we'll to see just \ what they were there for. "They are ask | ing" he said to the committee, ''for the high \ est function which the State can commit to | anyone, the right to build thirty or fifty miles of railroad in the State, which carries ' with it the full power of eminent domain. To it all private and corporate rights must | succumb. The first question is to enquire | to whom are we committing this power. A \ year ago the Housatonic was under @ man. \ agement well known and running along pleasantly under the reins of gentlemen who | had received the highest gifts and honors | these gentlemen were quietly dropped and ! others took their place. Now I say that it is your duty to inquire what is the character ! of these men now before you, who have un- ' lawfully issued bonds beyond half the cost of the construction allowed. We want to ] know if the Housatonic road is really owned | in great part by five hundred Connecticut stockholders or whether it is owned by four or five New Workers, who, fancy, are at tempting to enter into railroad speculation in Connecticut. Why don't they build a road under the general railroad law of the State if they are acting in good faith and willing to put 50 per cent. of their own money in iti You, gentlemen, have also chartered the Consolidated road, which, it must be conceded, will be greatly injured by such & charter as you ask for.
 This road is your creation, and is spend
 ing great sums of money in this State. It is your duty as the creator of this road to see to it that those who pre- pose to iniure it are acting in good faith or not. In all my railroad experience I never heard the question of the character of men who wanted to be incorporated to build railroad objected te before committee as immaterial
 William c. Case, for the petitioners, called
 attention to the fact that such men as A. B. Wyatt, William H. Barnum, w. E. Downes and others equally well known, werS direc-
 tors of the Housatonic. Mir. Case told the committee that the first question before
 them was whether the present restrictions on
 the Housatonic's chartar should be removed,
 and the second question was whether the
 public good would thereby be affected.
 Judge Harrison said that by the question
 they wished to show that the Housatonic had issued much more stock the last two years than the law allows.
 Prof. Baldwin said it had been done in &C., cordance with the advice of lawyers upon an arrangement for convenience.
 "We propose to show further" resumed
 MT. Harrison, ''that Jabez Bostwick, who
 was formerly director in both the Housa-
 tonic and New England roads, finds it now
 very convenient to be director only in the
 New England, and also finds it very convent
 ent to have his agent Mir. Starbuck, formerly
 director in both these companies, now only
 director in the Housatonie, so that they can now trade and dicker with each other in the
 stocks which they both own. We desire to show that there are not five hundred bona
 fde Connecticut stockholders in the Housa-
 tonic as reported but that nearly all the stock
 is held in 8 New York box of Jabez Bost-
 wick, and I'll venture my reputation that they cannot get MT. w. H. Barnum or the other men mentioned as prominent directors to come here and say this bill ought to pass. Under the present management they have capitalized their unearned dividends for many years and by the same plan the New England road could increase its capital to $150, ,000,0 900.
 The last statement caused Prof. Baldwin to spring to his feet like lightning. eff you mean to say," said he, addressing his remarks with great intensity to Mir. Harrison, "that the New England has ever issued any pre- ferred bonds it never paid, you're mistaken, Mir. Harrison"
 "What do mean to say" replied MT. Harrison, ''is they have marked up the Housatonic's construction account illegally,  bonds to twice the limit allowed by law in order to dicker among themselves, and for this the people of Connecticut have got to pay"
 The committee then held long confer- ence upon the admissibility of the question. Senator Graham, the chairman, announced that as resolution of inquiry into this very matter had passed both branches of the leg islature to-day, that the committee would hear this matter later and not go into it now.
 Judge Harrison continued the cross -exami- | nation on the Housatonic's report to the State, where it appears the construction ac- count is put in at $3, 993, ,736 92, an increase of about $2,000,000 in year, and asked President Starbuck to tell how this account | was made up. One item was for better | ments of property to the amount of $903,- | 014.1S, another for revaluation of construc- tion and real estate accounts $763, ,374 63. l The $S03, ,000 item Judge Harrison read was reported by the company as additions and betterments made in property of the compa- ny from October 1, 1870, to October, 1880, agreed upon by joint committee for the special purpose by the legislature of State of Connecticut and HousatOnic railroad compa-