The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-06
GEORGIA SOUTHERN & FLORIDA
Receiver Sparks Answer to Secretary
w. O. Shaw.

Macon, Ca, Jan. 3.-In an interview
published in the MORNING NEWS of Dec.
81, 1898, Mr.. William Checkley Shaw
says, 1.-The bondholders' committee has
met with Instructions in its efforts to OBJ
tain decree of foreclosure ever since it
was created, and the strongest opposition
has come from the gentleman who now
desires to pose as their friend and protec-
| tor. l am sure that he does not know
this to be fact. That committee was
organized Oct. 20, 1892. 1t
spent the first eight months of
It's existence in asking for my removal as
receiver. 1t was in July, 1898, that
the attorneys for the trust company FIST
asked for a decree of foreclosure. Could
! they have asked it soonerl If it could
nave been sooner done, why did this COM
mittee not do it, 1t is a fact that the at
| torney for the Macon Construction Com
pany asked to have the case put OF at
| Ghat time on account of his being too sick
to argue it; it was postponed for two
] weeks, then until November and the at
| torneys for the trust company obtained at
that time, a foreclosure. Neither /, or
my attorneys, had anything to do with
these postponements. In the light of
these facts will MIR. Shaw please tell the
| bondholders how l have INSTRUCTED Them
! have not said that | would keep the
bondholders out of their property for
several years. stated that / would keep
his committee out of this property for a
! great many years, and | say now that do
not believe that he and his committee
VIII ever get possession of it. OF course
they are confident that they could operate
1t better than those now in control, but
Judging from the questions that some of
MS committee have asked, and the sug-
gestlons that they have made, do not
believe they know as much about rail
roads as do those who have given this
! subject their entire thought and atten-
ton. The trouble with his COM
,mittee is this: They are laboring
under the impression that they are the
bondholders. In that they are very much
mistaken. | owned, before that commit
tee was formed, more bonds than tives of
them own, and / am to-day one of the
largest holders of Georgia Southern and
! Florida railroad bonds. l make this
statement for the reason that his commit
tee has believed that my greatest interest
was with the Construction Company, and
that no man could do his duty as receiver
! where 1t came in conflict with his per-
sonal interest. We frequently believe
that others will do what we, under like
circumstances, would do but there are
some men who ''hew to the line, let the
chips fall where they may" There are
others who own more bonds than his com
mittee does, and they will object to it's
doing anything that is not contained in
the agreement of Nov. 4. 1892
When the call was made for a meeting
of the bondholders OF the Georgia South
eru and Florida railroad they were re-
quested to present their bonds, or to de-
posit them with some bank or trust COM
pany, and at the meeting present their
certificates. When that meeting was
held, why did not the secretary request
the bondholders to show their bonds or
certificates before they were allowed to
votel Why were some allowed to vote at
that meeting as many times as they
might put figures upon a slip of paper?
Some of the bondholders have suggested
that there was not a majority present;
that if there had been
majority, they would certainly
have demanded an exhibition of
their certificates and bonds before they
were allowed to vote. L have been in.
formed by reliable gentlemen that two of
this committee have stated upon the
streets of Macon, in the presence of sew
eral gentlemen, that certain party in
Baltimore voted many times at that meet
ing bonds which he never owned and did
4 not control; and have been told by sew
/ eral prominent people that certain men,
Der of that committee would never have
been placed upon it if it had been known
that he controlled Onlya very few bonds
He says that his committee has been
protecting the bondholders Will he
please state to them what has been DONE
and how it has protected them' Were
not the papers filed for foreclosure before
his committee was formed and foreclo-
sure obtained by the attorneys of the
trustee in November, and would it
not have been obtained if his committee
had never existed! He claims that the
Macon and Bin ingham bondholders
could have kept him for another year
from foreclosing. viii he please state to
the bondholders how that could be donel
| have no doubt but what he has been
told that the Macon and Birmingham
bondholders could fight for long time;
but the gentleman has been illadvised.
If he will consult some lawyer he will be
informed that the Macon and Birm-
ingham bondholders could not have done
anything; that they simply had
claim on Endorsement; and that they
were only entitled TO such moneys as
might be left after the first mortgage
bondholder was paid his principal and IN
terest The Macon and Birmingham
bondholders could have joined me in ask
ing for an upset price; their attorney did
not do it, but quietly sat by and heard the
committees attorney suggest that the
price be fixed at s., 900, 900, saying to the
court that his committee did not consider
/
would say for the committee that il would
be willing to take less than par for the
bonds which it controlled. Why did he
make this statement, when he knew that,
under the agreement, he could not sell
the bonds for less than par and accrued
interestl Was it because his committee
desired to buy the road as chcaply
as possible, in order to pay out as little as
possible for the bond That were not pooledl
Were the bondnoluers being protected
in this2 Are they protecting the pooled
bondholders now, when they say to them
that they are going to give 100000 of sec
ond income bonds Of the Georgia South
ern and Florida railroad and some of
the common stock to the Macon and
Birmingham bondholders! They are
trying to convince you that these bonds
and stock, which they propose to give
away, provided the road is bought with