The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-09-12
TIE NEW SOUTHERN.
The Good Fortune OF the South-Auspicious
Opening of Gigantic Railroad Enter
prise and an Improved Business.
New York Sun.


completed, and the last of the many
properties which under the plan of re-
organization have lost their unhappy
and unfortunate Identities and become
merged in new and propitious enter
prise, passed into the possession Of the
Southern Railway Company. Last
Saturday, therefore, marks, for all prac-
tical purposes, the completion Of the
organization; and a consideration Of
the situation is, therefore, opportune,
particularly when it is borne in mind
that the event is the most notable that
has taken place in the history of Ameri-
can railroads, and that its bearing upon
every Southern business interest Is OF
vital Importance.
The Southern Railway Company
operates 4,500 miles Of railroad and
about $50 miles water line. With the
exception of 491 miles (Goldsboro, NC,
70 Atlanta, Ga.), which is leased, all
the system is owned by the company,
and the heretoft re Complicated and
expensive plan of control by majorltles,
wholly impracticable and unfortunate
in its operation aud sure to make enc
mics among the ninorities, is done
away with. The old Richmond Ter
minal Com pany did not own any rail-
road at all, and the much vaunted (but
intrinsically worthless) Richmond and
Danville owned only AS miles. The
rest of the Richmond and Danville sys-
tenn was made up Of some thirty COM
panies, ranging in length from six TO
552 miles. Efficiency and economy
were impossible on this basis, which
also afforded good opportunity for OBJ
jectionable methods Of accounting.
The organization of the East Tennes-
see was more compact, but it, too, left
much to be desired.
AS result of the reorganization over
thirty corporations, whose affairs and
securities were interlocked in every
conceivable way, and in almost hope
less confusion, are united in one conl-
pany. Thirty Boards of Directors and
thirty sets Of separate accounts dis
appear simultaneously. The original
plan was dated May l., 1893; it was
issued on May %, 1898, and the response
of security holders was prompt, and by
the middle of Juue, 1893, success was
assured so far as their cooperation was
concerned.
The summer and autumn of 1898
paralyzed the South, in common with
the rest of the country, and railroad
earnings shrunk greatly. New condi-
tions and new complications were pre-
sented, and the problem became one of
dealing with bankrupt receivers as we'll
as bankrupt corporations. BY strenu.
Gus efforts everything was held to-
gether, and as soon as possible some
amendments to the original plan were
promulgated, mainly to solve the tlnan-
cial problems of the receiverships, and
also to cut down the interest charges Of
the reorganized company pending re-
turn to normal conditions.
These amendments were made public
on March /, 1894, and they were so
reasonable in character that they were
quickly accepted by the security holders,
and the reorganization was at once
pushed forward with such rap!dity
that within four months the new COM
pany was formed, and now, within two
months more, the last of the property
comes into its possession-4, 500 miles Of
railroad which, exactly six months ago,
had almost dropped to pieces, and
which but for the strong hands chat
held the properties together. during all
the financial troubles, would have
dropped to pieces, are now brought
into one compact and efficient COM
pany.
The new ccmpanyis organized under
a charter granted by the Legislature of
Virginia, supplemented by it's conform
ity to the laws of all the other States
in which it owns property.
The reorganization has involved two
trustees sales, viz:
Richmond and West Point Terminal
Railway and Warehouse Company.
Trustees sale under 6 per cent COLA
teral mortgage.
Trustees sale under per cent. COLA
teral mortgage.
One receivers sale, viz:
Richmond and West Point Terminal
Railway and Warehouse Company.
Ten foreclosure sales, viz, covering.
Richmond and Danville and its
leased lines.
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia
(under two mortgages.
Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta.
Columbia and Greenville.
Louisville Southern.
- Georgia Pacific.
Western North Carolina.
Northwestern North Carolina.
Oxford and Clarksville.
Clarksville and North Carolina.
Six conveyances without foreclosure,
viz:
Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio.
Richmond, York River, and Chesa-
peake.
Washington, Ohio and Western.
Piedmont.
Statesville and Western.
Oxford and Henderson.
And we understand that some half
dozen minor sales and as many more
conveyances of other kinds are now in
progress in order to perfect the minor
details of the work. Prior to the re-
organization, the properties now mer-
ged into the Southern Railway Com
pany were covered by about seventy
Separate mortgages. About forty Of
these mortgages have beea eliminated
in one way or another.
= Described briefly, and ignoring many
small branch lines, the Southern Rail
way Company extends from Washing
ton, or more properly, from Alexandria.
Va, and from West Point and Rich
mond, Va, via Salisbury, n. C., to
Augusta and Atlanta, Ca; and thepce
to the Mississippi River at Greenville.
At Salisbury another main line crosses
the State of North Carolina by way of
Asheville; thence owe! to Knoxville and
Chattanooga, Tenn, and from there to
Rome, Ga, where it divides, one line
going to Brunswick and the other to
Meridian, Miss. Another line runs
from Louisville to Lexington and Bur
gin, Ky, there connecting with the
Cincinnati Southern.
The Cincinnati Southern and Mem
phis and Charleston were included jn
the plan of reorganization as originally
promulgated, but were dropped from
the amended plan. as the security
holders failed to accept the terms
offered. They have not hettered their
condition by: their refusal, and the
oaoerol jmDrpssior iS that s.AooDer or