Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-09-24
NOTES FROM THE HUB.


The union Of the interests of the West |
r.nd street Railway company and the /
Boston Elevated Railway mrany was I
a ioIegune conclusion. There may have I
been conflicting interests in matters of I
detail. but as a year ago the board of 4
du,ctors of the West End company was |
in effect made up with the intention Of
pluM ting the elevated railway plan, I
gld as there was no opposition at the
state house shown last spring Ia the pro-
posal that the Elevated Railway COM
IaEy should lease the West End system,
il was certain that when the dir cturs
ui the two corporations came together
they would find little difficulty in agree
ing upon basis of union. There was a
wish on the part of some of those inter-
ted in the West End company to take
advantage of what would have been
i,ck d upon in years gone by as an eX-
cceiingly favorable opportunity for
liEanciering. Ii was suggested that the
Elevated Railway company might br
asked to pay to the West End stock
holder ~ guaranteed dividend on their
shares of 10 per cent per annum. This
was hat was done when the old Colony
! astd the Providence road, and if the
l. aSe just approved had been made four
or five years ago--assuming that the cor
/ po'ation at that time had the net in
come that it now hast is quite sure
that demand of this kind could not only
have been made, but in all probability
/ would have been pressed to a success
full conclusion. Such lease would,
/ however, have represented corporate
/ h.A fAl .l,-.t,
/ t2ge of an opportunity. But then opera
/ tons of this kind have occurred over and
/ over again in the history of corporate
amalgamation in the United States. and
T in most places outside of Massachusetts
/ would take place at the present time. But
| in the last few years public opinion in
! the Bay state has been greatly educated
/ on this subject. and the Watering of stock
/ and the payment of excessive unearned
/ dividends are proceedings which are
/ 10 ked upon with great dsfavor. More
/ than this, the law of the state has made
| the railroad commissioners arbitrators
! in such negotiations, and a contract
made between the two corporations of
which they disapproyed would not have
legal force and effect. The advantage
that the shareholders Of the West End
derive through this lease is an increase
in the recent rate of dividend paid to
them Of / per cent and the guarantee
that for long term of years this rate
of dividend can almost certainly be paid.
This makes the common stock Of the
West End company highly desirable
security in which to invest money. Be
fore the lease, while it was known that
the company was d ing a magnificent
business and earning large sums of
money, It was also known that it held
its rights To the streets on the slender
tenure of aldermanic approval and that
the rates of fare, upon which its finan-
cial prosperity depended might at any
time be cut down as the outcome of a
popular but thoughtnss demand For
these reasons the prices at which the
shares of the West Snd Street Railway
company We're sold were not as high as
they otherwise might have been. In
1894. they sold as low as 43la, and even
this year in February the price of shares.
now selling at 81, We're quoted at 64Ia.
The advance of 80 per cent which has
taken place in the last seven months
is due, not SO much to the / per cent
extra dividend declared as to the guar
antee of tiNity Of tenure which by lease
the elevated railway company through
its charter extends to the West End cor
poratiOn. on its side the Elevated Rail-
way company obtains a more than
equivalent compensation, From the sur
plus revenue of the West End company
it is possible fNr it to assure itself of
returns sufficient to pay interest upon
quite an issue of bonds put out for the
purpose of raising the money needed to
pay for the elevated railroad structure
for land damages and rights of way In
other words the West End company,
which has at the present time a surplus
income that it cannot disCreetly use in
the payment of dividends, turns this over
to the Elevated Railway company, to be
used by that corporation for the i'm
proVement of the transit facilities of Bos-
ton. Beside starting with this hand
some inCOme-an income entirely un-
earned, so far as the elevated railway
system is concerned-the leasing COM
pany has the inestimable advantage, so
far as operating conditions go, of being
in position to draw If the cars of what
would otherwise be a rival road, and
compel the passengers who patronze the
the elevated system and contribute to-
ward filling its treasury These ccnd-
tons are exceptional. but it is because of
them that a union of transit interests in
this city has been made possible. The
public derives the largest benefit, and
one which is quite as direct as that OBJ
tanned by those interested in either of
these two corporations. If the plan pro-
posed is carried out, we shall have in and
around Boston an exceedingly rapid
system of transportation, which will at
the same time be carried on with the
maximum of advantage to its patrons
and the minimum of inconvenience to
the public generally
There was a familiar saying by the
printers some years ago, in effect that
it was a waste of good time to distribute
items relating to accidents on the New
England road, as their frequency and
their similarity called only for change
in the names of the injured and localities.
Hardly day passed that did not record
either a smash-up between freight
trains or the mangling of one or more
train hands, to which fact was due the
nit of sarcasm in which the typos In
dulged Latterly, however the New
J England appears to be as free from these
mishaps as any road in the country, a
condition that is directly due to a more
thorough management than heretofore.
, Here is presented the best possible evil
dence that there are two ways in which
a railroad can be conducted, the latter
being the more preferable, not only to
the patrons, but the security holders as
we'll.
The last report as heard of the Maesa-