Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-01-04
FIXED FOR EMERGENCY.
What the A.. #. & s. f. Will Do in
Case the A. & P. BondhOlders
Become Arbitrary.

The amount of first mortgage bonds O
the Atlantic 4 Pacific held by the bond
holders committee is $l6,O0O,o0O out o
a total issue of $ls.OOO,O0O. The secon
mortgage bonds, which are held by the A
7. 4 s. F. and St. Louis & San Francis
co roads, amount to only $5,0OO,0OO. I
is believed the Southern Pacific peopl
held out the hope to the first mortgag
bondholders, if they forecloaed the Allan
tic l. Pacific themselves instead of allow
ing the second mortgage bondholders Il
reorganize 1t, they would be able to Sc
cure the full 8nsount of their bonds, be
cause the A., T. & 8. F. would have to pa!
the amount of the first mortgage bondI
or more if it desired to keep ths
property.
The A., T. Il s. F. reorganization com
mittee claims the Atlantic & Pacific il
not worth the amount of the first mort
gage bonds, SIS, ,OOO, 900. Half that amount
is all they consider it worth. They of.
fered, it is understood, the first mortgage
hondholders so cents on the dollar. This
amount would probably have been ac.
cepted, and the foreclosure by the old re.
ceivers would have taken its course, had
not the Southern Pacific held out more
favorable inducements to the first mort
gage bondholders.
The A., T. & 8. F. reorganization com
mittee had in mind, no doubt, just such a
contingency as has now arisen when it
framed Its reorganization plan two years
ago. Such action was taken then as will
enable 1t now to meet the changed condi-
tion of affairs without any embarrass-
ment. As regards the foreclosure of the
Atlantic & Pacific the reorganization
agreement above referred to provides:
SIN case the joint executive committee
shnll determine not to acquire the rail-
road of the Atlantic Il Pacific Railroad
company, or in case the holders of the
guaranteed trust gold bonds Of said COM
pany 'ehall refuse to accept such terms as
shall be offered to them BY the joint ex-
ecutive committee, then in either of such
events the joint executive committee
may set apart aud use such portion of
the said $2OOO,0oO of general mortgage
bonds and $20,000,000 of preferred stock
as 1t shall deem necessary for the con-
struction Of new line Of railroad to con-
meet the railways in Southern California
embraced in the A.. I. d s. F. system with
the portion Of the system situated in
New Mexico"
The Southern Pacific, if it gets the At
lantic q Pacific, even at cheap price, will
have white elephant on its hands, and
at the same time will not succesd in fore
ing the A L. & 8. f. out of California,
for the latter will at once proceed to con-
struct new line from Albuquerque or
some other point on its line in New Mex
leo to the Needles, and thus secure bet
ter connecting link between its line in
New Mexico and its Southern California
lines than it has had before.
A new road paralleling the Atlantic 4
Pacific from Albuquerque to the Needles
will, it is estimated, cost only about 49,.
OOO, 1000. The distance is $40 miles, and a
road can be built for $4,000 mile. This
is less than ene-half of the par value of
the first mortgage bonds of the Atlantic
& Pacific. II is the reason why the A., 7.
& 8. +. people have decided to let the fret
mortgage bondholders take the property
and foreclose 1t as they may deem best.
In this connection it should be stated the
A., 7. &S. F. company now owns all the
and rolling stock of the At
lantic d Pacific, and conseq uently no new
outlay would have to be made for the
equipment of the new road. The A., T. &
y. F. company also owns the bridge
across the Colorado river at the Needles,
and who ever acquired the Atlantic 4
Pacific, except the Santa Fe, would have
- Al
lars for a new one.-Chicago Tribune.