The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1897-11-04

menf OF yZIbt. htCBmDBo aba DAbN
vile Railroad stock was fought large
10 n, about ~ pei share By parties who
in the next few years had opportunity
% selling at $40 per stare. ChesA-
peake A Ohio common stock. after
being scarcely salsble as sl-A per
share, found eager purchasers q little
later st s3S per share. The capital
stock Of the Richmond Il Allegheny
Railroad was given away as bonus
10 bond holders, and in about eighteen
months advanced TO 80 PER share. The
preferred stock Of the Columbia Il
Gre.nsiIIe RaiIrosc, which the reor-
xsbixers Of the property got for prac-
ticaIly nothing, rapidly advanced TO
900 per share, and the stock of
the Predecessor OF the Norfolk &
Western Railroad, the old A. NJ. Il q.
X. X, after ceiling 1T about 81 per
sbar. VAS exchanged for the new COM
mon stock VI the Norfolk & western,
which advanced TO about $500. The
stock OF the Wilmington Weldon
! Railroad, the parent company OF The
| Atlantic Coast Line system, was quot
ed about so per share, rose TO par %
/ the payment OF regular dividends, de-
clsrsd a scri, dividend of 100 per cent
! I'M per cent certificates worth 120,
/ continued regular dividends. and
few Yeas later declared another scrip
dividend Of 300 per cent in security
worth ~ The extra dividends de-
clared in ten years, In addition to
semi-anIuaI dividends, amounted IN
value to about $500 per share. The
stock, after this enormous distribution
OF earnings and assets, is now quoted
at liJ bid. The advance in bonds dur
ing this period was almost as re-
markable as the advance which took
place in stocks. Atlanta d Charlotte
first mortgage ~ from 81 rose steadily
to 100, and arenOw quoted at l2O. Char
Iotte, Columbia Il Augusta second
mortgage - advanced from 40 to 1870,
and Petersburg IL Weldon second mort
gage bonds climbed rapidly from ~ to
1870, and so on. Many more instances
Of the same kind could be given. These
will suffice. They show the remarkable
results which spring from wise and
iudicious investment in railroad Sc
curities In the South. History re-
peats itself There are today oppor-
tunities for investment as great and as
full Of promise as these"
This is an admission of all that we
have ever contende d and more besides,
The statements are astonishing, but
since they come from the inside, and
are published in a railroad organ, We
cannot well doubt their correctness
The tendency is to publish less than
the truth, end not more than the truth
Let us examine some of these state.
ments. They show that the Whining
ton & Weldon Railroad stock has not
only increased in value, but has quad
rupled in value, and that surplus O
$500 a share above the regular divi
dends has been wrung from thu
public in high freight and passenge
e rates. This has been done, while tn
= value of land along the railroad ant
: the products made on the land hav
, been constantly decreasing in value
The higher the freight ard passenge
: rates, the larger are the profits of tn
5 roads.
The farmers cotton has gone dow
from fifteen cents pound to FIVE cent
a pound, while railroad stocks hav
gone up from $50 a share to 5000
r share. OF course the value of shar
: Of stock in the railroads depends upO
v how big profit the railroads make b
9 high freight and passenger rates
When cotton is five cents pound, tn
fSeight rates on cotton and the pas
n senger rate for the farmer when h
Z rides on the train, should certainly b
less than when cotton is fifteen cent
a pound. Why should not the rate b
One-third as muchp When farme
got fifteen cents a pound, or $75 for
# bale of cotton, and paid say IS freigE
n on the bale to New York, the freigh
was one-fifteenth of the value of th
cotton, or six and two-thirds per cen
that much toll, as it were. Now tn
" same bale of cotton sells for only $2
= yet the freight is still s. or one-fift
W of the value of the cotton, or 25 pc
10 cent. toll, as it were.
Suppose your ginner, who ono
ginned your cotton for 1-15, instead {
now reducing his toll to 1-2O or l 2
should on the other hand increase h
charge to 10 for ginning each bale {
. cotton, would you submit to such in
. justice? You would send your cotto
to another gin. But suppose thel
was but one gin, or suppose that a
y the gins were in a trust, as the raj
roads are, then what would be yol
= remedy? You would call upon tt
" legislature to fix fair rate by la
between you and the ginner.
- This is the situation today, aud it
" not only the cotton farmer but lever
. business in the country that is bein
- robbed by exorbitant freight rates ar
fares.
The people have the constitution
W power and the unquestioned right
, regulate freight aud passenger rate
~ Then why not correct by law tn
" monster inequality and injustic
=. Every time it is proposed to do justi
", and to put the railroads and the publ
=. on a common plane of equality, the
A are always certain set OF men WI
cry out that "the railroads should n
~ be prosecuted by demagogues, that Il
" railroads should be treated fairly al
- literally" etc. Is it net high time
': demagOgues, if no one else will,
: speak out and protest against the pc
pie being prosecuted, and to denal
>. that the people be treated fairly, if n
:. literally.
90 The above facts from the Manufa
N turer's Record ought to be enough
:. open the eyes and to appeal to the CO
=: science of every man, even the Wills
- brothers, late of the Commission.
" Let every voter read these facts a
figures, and remember that they q
80, facts from the inside; it is what t