Evening star., 1895-08-02
A RAILROAD CHANGE
Washington and Georgetown to Be-
come the Traction Company.
THE ROCK CREEK RAILROAD COMPANY
President Dunlop Talks Of the
Policy Of the Company.
ABOUT CONSOLIDATION

The deal by which the Rock Creek rail-
road is to purchase the Washington and
Georgetown railroad has practically, though
not formally, been consummated. AS the
readers of The Star are aware, negotiations
to this end have been in progress, but 1t
was not until the last day or two that the
signatures representing the majority of
the stock have been secured to the agree:
n,ent. This agreement was signed by Fran.
els G. Newlands. president of the Rock
Creek Company. and George 7. Dunlop.
president of the Washington and George
town Railroad Company, late Thursday of
last week. and in the issue of The Star of
that date the announcement was made that
tie deal was being negotiated, and giving
the reasons which had influence in the
t. ansaction. =
Now that the deal has reached this
stage. 1t remains for a meeting of the
stockholders of the Washington and
Georgetown tc ratify the terms of the sale.
1t Is expected that this meeting will be
held some time in September. and as
majority of the stock has within a day or
TWO approved the agreement, there Is little
doubt what the action of the stockholders
meeting will be. Soon after the meeting,
the process of changing the personnel OF
the officers and directors Of the Rock Creek
Company will be begun. Gradually the
members of the present directory of the
Rock Creek Company will be displaced by
members Of the directory of the Washing
ton and Georgetown Company.
Then stock of the Rock Creek Company
will be issued 10 the extent of $12OG0,000.
OF this amount $40, ,750,OO0 will be assigned
to the stockholders and bondholders of the
Washington and Georgetown Railroad
Company, the balance being used to take
up the stock and the bonds of the Rock
Creek Railway Company. AS is well
kr cwn. the stock of the Washington and
Georgetown Railroad Company is now
s5oo,ooo. while bonds have been issued to
the extent of s4oOO,0G0. The value of
the stock and bonds of the Rock Creek
railroad is S1,500,GD0. but in the agreement
its valuation is placed at S1.25o,0Oo.
Under Il New Name.
The new directory of tine Rock Creek rail-
road will then, in pursuance of the act of
Congress, approved March 1, 1895. change
its name from the Rock Creek railway to
that of the Capital Traction Company.
Under this name, with a capital stock of
$i2,0oO,000. the Washington and George
town railroad will operate its present lines
and the road of the Rock Creek company
There will be no change made in the mo-
tive power now used on the Rock Creek
re ad, which. as is we'll known, consists CT
the underground electric system on the
portion of the line WITHIN the city and the
overhead electric system on the suburban
section. One fare will be charged for q
ride over the combined lines to the Dis
trict lire.
The law under which this important con-
sol,dation of railroads will be made was
approved on the 1st of March last and is
entitled IAN act relative to Rock Creek
Railway Company of the District of Co.
lumbia." The law in full is as follows:
BE it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, that the
Rock Creek Railway Company of the Dis
trict of Columbia. being authorized thereto
by a vote of the owners of a maj jority of
its capital stock, may contract with any,
street railway company owning or oper1t-
ing connecting or intersecting line for the
joint management. lease, or purchase of
such cor Meeting or intersecting line or lines,
and operate the same in connection with its
original line; and in case of such contract
may provide the means necessary by an in,
crease of its capital stock not to exceed
the actual consideration paid or the actual
cost of the necessary equipment.
provided, that only one fare, not exceed
ing the rate now authorized by law, shall
be charged for single continuous ride in
the District of Columbia over all the lines
affected by such contract or any part there
of; and any such company owning connect
ing or intersecting lines Is hereby empow-
cred, when authorized by a vote of a ma
jorty of it's stockholders, to enter into such
contract.
provided, further, that nothing in this
act shall be construed to impair or abridge
the right OF Congress at any time to reg
ulate the operation of such line or INES,
or to release any railway company or COM
panies thus contracting, in whole or IN
part, from any obligation or restric ton i'm
posed by it's original charter or by any law
of Congress subsequently, enacted, except
as provided herein; and Congress hereby
reserves the right to alter, amend or repeal
this act. In the event of the said company
entering into such contract as is contem-
plated by this act, it is hereby authorized,
I,-.e. IL IY- III
change its name from the Rock Creek
Railway Of the District of Columbia to that
of The Capital Traction Company.
What sIr. Dunlop Says.
Mr.. George T Dunlop, the president Of the
Washington and Georgetown railroad, in
talking to a representative Of The Star
tfis morning in regard to the agreement
referred to above, said: 1T must be clear
to any one who is familiar with the past
history of the Washington and George
town Railroad Company that this trans
action is in a line with the progressive, yet
conservative, policy, which has marked
it's course. The situation is a very plain
one In order to keep abreast with the
progress of the city and to provide the
facilities which a growing population has
demanded, the Washington and Georgetown
Railroad Company has bean Obliged 10
make changes in its system of motive
power.
1--WE secured the passage of the law
which was made a part of an appropriation
bill, authorizing any road to make a change
in it's motive power, and as soon as that
act became law we began the work Of
laying a cable on 1th street, but Congress
had made no provision to enable us to
raise the money, and we were obliged
to lay an Indebtedness on our property
which was represented by the bonds The
development of our system since that time
has been made under similar conditions, SC
that today we find ourselves a company
capitalized at half million of dollars and
with a debt of $4,000000.
'It is certainly anomalous situation.
Our corporation is like a tetotum standing
on its little end. The Dondholders are vir.
tually the owners of the road but owing
to the fact that our stockholders and bond.
holders are largely the same people, and
the relations between them are harmonious
we have been able to get along as we'll as
we have. But the situation is one that
is full of danger. Any one can See that
Holdings of this nature are constantly
changing. The men who haye been identi-
fled with the history and progress of this
road. and who are the property owners and
substantial citizens of this city, are liable
one by one to drop out The danger is
that our company was likely to fall into
the hands of outsiders, and that the road
would be controlled by those whose only
interest was to get as much as possible
out Of it to spend elsewhere.