Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-12

tiy ,rihe 10 value a. large aud weilroous;d-
Saeu someone's OF consolidation take shape.
THESE properties viii not ccnsolidate them
serves IN Gay, and the abuses that have
gone on 30 long will not at once cease. but
when wo look at the enormous volume ~
business that these railway systofrs cor.
trot II y not difficult to realize that tba
wants OF pixty millions of ueonle iahahit-
ing one OF the most fertile districte of The
WORDS area are going 10 surely build no A
railway industry that hardly any past
Encouragement OF these great highways OF
sSn.a1 can permanently prevent
form OF investment. II remains for
me now only TO point out the wav
~ Wh,cn the foreign investor IL TO protect
nlmsen against The selfish action of the
great group Of capitalists who still control
this FORM OF national property. We have
only TO look at what has been the course
% operation OF men like jay Gould to see
t sne way IN which foreign capital could be
PEST consolidated and protected. AZ pres
ent the foreign investor Is practically now.
eerloss. He is absolutely Ignorant OF the
Wali-street intrigues that are going on
every day In New York. and the informa-
ZION tnat ne can gain in the press or from
London brokers Is useless The only per-
sons who are In touch with the American
railway interests are the large banking
houses and leading railway-men in New
10TH. Authorization outside those sources
rs 70 what IL going on Is worthless.
The American public, it must be remem-
bered, Is different There is no public
opinion on such matters. Wall street Is
interested IN seeing railway shares move
up and down. 1t does not care what pro-
duces the movement, and the public, pro-
ylded they can gamble on the chances Of
the game. pay little attention to the
n H.
ing public in England are OF two forms
those who buy good eilt-edged paper
70 put away for investment, and the
far larger number who invest In
the ordinary listed stocks. either TO
obtain higher interest than stocks pay
IN England or for speculative advancein
the selling value of the shares Certain
groups OF railways have been peculiarly
popular in England such as formerly the
Ere and such as to-day the Norfolk and
western, the Pennsylvania, the Louisville
and Nashville. and others, but in none Of
these concerns is the English interest pro-
perry organized and protected as il might
be If II was being worked by single intel
lgent head or well-directed corporation.
CONSOLIDATION IL NEEDED.
What is wanted TO make the influence Of
foreign capital in American railways pro-
perry secure Is to collect together the scat
tered and disjointed interests Of English
investors and TO consolidate these blocks
OF securities in the hands of powerful
and well-administered corporation that
makes it its sole business to uphold the
voting yalue OF these stocks in America,
an aware that various trust COM
panies have of late been organized
IN London for this purpose, but their
attention is mores directed to paying
large dividends on founders shares than to
nT nFftgy inn a. 81 u
tai IN American railways. If such cor
poration as have suggested devoted itself
70 obtaining a controlling interest IN GER
tain groups of railways that were naturally
and strategically allied to one another, O
solId power might be built up, and Eng
llsh investors would not be shaken out of
their holdings and made the victims OF
these 6ig operators IN America, there Is
no fault in the courts of the United States
provided you can afford the time and the
money TO move them. The way that all
the large private interests have been
built up has been by following the
method here described. A well-organized
English corporation could follow the
same method by legitimate means, as
the markets suited their operations. In
country like America, where interests are
so diverse and the laws of different States
differ in many respects. it is impossible to
expect that rigid congressional control
can be kept as in Europe or England over
large public properties such as railways.
The increment of value behind these pro-
perties is enormous, but it is impossible TO
predict into whose hands the control Of
these properties may fall. The system
IN America of letting these things
take care of themselves is carried
to such lengths that the individual
has to look out for himself; and for us
English the only way 10 guard our interests
is by consolidating our forces, otherwise |
am free to admit that our investing public
had better keep out of American railway
securities altogether; for 1t is much the
Same at present as if the public was to put
its money on a horse for a big without
having the least idea whether the owner
intended to pull the animal and make his
money that way rather than by letting him
run for the stakes.
No one who has been to America can fail
TO be struck with the vastness of the rail-
way interest of that country. IL represents
the very life and lungs of trade, and at the
same time is the predominant factor, IN
preserving political unity OF interests be.
tween States separated by thousands or
miles Of intervening plains, rivers, ana
mountains. The management as well as
announcement of these vast systems IS
one of the marVels of this continent As
a very observant acquaintance sad 70 me
the other day, on returning together on
board an ocean steamer, having been
over with the Iron and Steel In
stitute; II went to America this
autumn with my son, and we travelled
over more than twelve thousand miles of
railway ali over the continent, and weneyer
had hitch or failed to make connection
throughout all the journey" 1t IS not q
flattering thing, perhaps, TO our national
pride. but if the truth is told, our English
RAILWAYS are toy systems, and our rolling
stock are toy-freight carriers, compared to
tbe trains that are run all over America.
The immense haulage of American lines
done on single pairs of rails is marvellous,
and these systems must continue to grow to
meet the wants of increasing population
and the large centre Of permanent in
dnstry and manufacture that exist every
where. IL must be noted, however, that the
great main arteries of these systems are
now permanently marked out. 1t will be
practically impossible TO make new main
routes, except at fabulous cost, with APP
proaches 10 the coast. The strateglcal po-
sitions are seized and occupied, and who
ever can possess himself to-day OF con-
trolling interest in main through route
and allied feeders across the great central
basin of the northern States can never be