The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-08-22
sio RAILROAD DEAL.

s"BlowYous-H Horn BnlyT'
On September ii. 1871, the North
Carolina railroad was leased to the
Richmond and Danville company for
q period Of thirty years. The nego-
tiations for the deal were conducted
by q man popularity known as BLOW
Your-Horn Billy" Smith, and the
bargain in general was a subject Of
much suspicious comment.
About seven years ago, twelve
years before the expiration OF the
lease, the Richmond and Danville
company made some proposition
looking to securing an extension of
the lease at that time. A cry Of dis
sension was raised all over the State
and the directors in charge at that
time dropped the matter.
Very recently, six years before the
expiration of the old lease the South
ern Railroad, which is the same as
the K. and D. under q new name
and organization, again preached
the matter OF renewing the lease.
When this became known, there was
considerable discussion Of the mat
ter by both the press and people; and
the general sentiment was against a
renewal at this time.
The right of the public to discuss
this matter rests on the fact that the
State owns 100000 of the stock of
the road. Something over one mil
lion. dollars is owned by private stock
holders. Therefore in any matter
in which the holders of stock should
have a voice, the people of the State
have interests and rights.
But little time was given for dis
cussion, however, between the open
ing up of the question and the close
of q bargain. 1t was naturally
thought that any proposition which
came before the directors would at
least be made public and that public
opinion would be allowed to take
some shape on the subject. But this
was not done. 1t was known that
a meeting of the directors would be
held at Burlington on August 10th
at which the matter would be dis
cussed; but the possibility Of making
a deal was not thought of, much less
the probability, until about three
days before the meeting when one
Of the directors was inter viewed and
it got out that the lease would be re-
newed then.
The press at once expressed oppo-
sition to such such course. The
State Farmers Alliance passed reso-
lutions against it which are publish
ed elsewhere in this paper; but all to
no effect. The lease was made and
on these terms.
For the six years of the unexpired
lease the Southern Railway is to pay
81 per cent on the stock of the road,
and for ninety-three years 7 per cent
The lease is for period of ninety
nine years, which practically
amounts to a sale. The Southern
Railway is to pay all the taxes and
surrender all exemptions from taxa
ton, but this surrender is not to be
effective until next December.
Is this a good bareainf Lets see.
The North Carolina Railroad is
223 miles long. Any railroad man
knows that 1t is one Of the best pay
ing lines in the South. By the terms
of the contract the Southern Railway
Company will pay about 81, 255 per
mile for ia total of $3.50, 900 year.
The Southern and another road leases
the Western and Atlantic railroad in
Georgia, l3l miles, Hong for 1920 900
per annum. The Southern road pays
a rental of 1,75O per mile per year
for the Airline from Charlotte to
Atlanta.
These are some figures by which
comparisons can be made.
Aside from whether the deal is
good or not, the manner in which it
was made is nefarious. 1t was a Sc
cret deal. The terms of the contract
were not made known until the deal
was contaminated. In principle, it
is very much like Cleveland's secret
bond deal with the Jew syndicate. 1t
is disposal of the public's interest
without the public's consent. No
road except the Southern was given
a chance to bid for it, and at one
time it was reported that another
road would like to make bid. The
deal was closed at 10 o'clock at
| night, and the Cleveland-Jew trans
action has its parallel in secret-rail-
way deal in North Carolina.
The Jews drove a hard bargain
with Cleveland. That is their bust
ness. The Southern has driven a
bargain of some kind with the direc-
tors. That is the Southern's business
All criticism or odium that should
come from either action rests not on
the bargain-drivers. but on those te
whom the public interests have been
trusted for permitting the bargain.
More than one man has already
asked who the elbow Your-Horr
Billy" is in this last deal.
A question has already been raised
as to whether the deal can be NULL
fed or not, and investigations are
being made to ascertain if it Is pos
sible to set it aside.