The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1897-09-30


ttoos oeeween The Gso~xis Cessrsl sed
Carolina ReaA, which II hsa Se~U
claimed was oss 81 she Rods nakis r
mp the Seabnasd syssem, aud In Oh;en
II Was claimed. sher-fss~, that ss ,es.e
one diret.oe At The eabsard had shov a
his approval Of By voting q. sis~~t.r
ct the North Caroiins Railroad fes ID,
lease 10 the saa'h-
Pfrsideni HsfFnaE svose thar ,he
Georgia Central and Carolina "a.
merely Q mariesad corporation l@s.-d
for the term nj IL. corporsr. rxis,uc-
20 the SeaSoard sy.isn.. ana that ths,
vas oil IL had To do Herewith. Mr.
Hoffman spoke OF conversations . b,ch
ne had bad with the late JOHN N. Rob
insos. relative 10 the smith iea.. aud Go
tbs
1kszkAL ATAosPHKRk OF MYSTERY
which surrounds the mating OF that
lease and the lease Of lsa5
Counsel for the Southern RaiIuay
pressed Mr.. Hoffm mao upon matter. con.
nected With the internal Affairs of tn,
com panies Of the Seaboard sysfrm.
wbich counsel for the State recos uix-d
% An effort TO manufacture iest, mon
IN tins case for the emit which M.
~ An and others are bringing, II n
aiIeged-backed By the Southern Raj
way-to break up the Seaboavd system
and TO control the same in tue interest
OF the North Carolina Railroad. M
Hoffman refused to answer some of
these questions, aud il Was taken by
the southern As cOntumacy, and the,
bad him certified up by the Master Ia
the Court to show cause why he should
not be punished for contempt.
Al the Warrington bearing We ex-
amined Mr.. II. T.. Absley, Treasurer of
the Southern Railway. Mr.. Au.le,
did not have the voucher. for
payments made by the Southern Rail.
way on account OF the North Car.
DINA Railroad in his Keeping.
He declined, by advice of counsel
10 let US look at thr cash book, in
which We claimed tba, . record Ut soms
OF these vouchers were kept, and he
was certified up to the court for his re-
fu.as t. so allow counsel to inspect.
M. W. G. Figg, former Auditor Of
the Richmond Il DaoviIle system, Who
made the reports for that o. ct en-, show
ing that the Richmond & Danviiie was
earning from $270, 900 to $685., 900 q year
over and above its operating expenses,
rent and taxes on the North Csrolina
Railroad in 1891, 1892 and 1893, admit
ted-thst IL these reports were signed
by him. that they were true and cor.
rect. This witnes, gave US some light
upon the
ENORMOUS CHARGES MADE
by the Southern Road against the
North Carolina Railroad for car mile
age balances.
Mr.. G. 8. Hobbs. the Auditor Of the
Southern Railws since the orRsniza.
ton, and the custodian of oil books Of
account and vouchers thereto. was the
only other witness examined IN Wash.
ington, as it was obvious We would
have to return there. Mr.. Hobbs de-
clined to produce the vouchers and
books OF account we called for until
after numerous Qualifications, and then
produced voucher for the expendi.
lures of the Southern Railway on &C.
count of the North Carolina Railroad
as a division of the Southern Railway
which he, under advice Of counsel, re-
fused to permit US to examine, which
was certified to the court, and upon
which test case, as to the power of
the Master to order the Southern Rail-
way officials to produce books and "a.
pers will be made.
The testimony taken 80 lar seems to
the counsel for the State to fully
SUSTAIN THE CHARGE OF FRAUD
in law and fraud in fact in the making
of this lease.
Special Master Craig has been ex-
tremely patient aud accommodating
IN his Willingness to 90 from place to
place to take testimony.
Miss Ellington who was sworn in
after the court stenOgrapher had be-
come disabled, has been an extremely
efficient stenographer.
L have no comments to make upon
the conduct of the case by cousel for the
Southern Railway ,Other than that. there
has been determined effort on their
part to absolutelys shut out and exclude
all investigation of the making of this
of the usual practice in the
of such contracts and of their
own contracts and of their own con-
nectiOn Herewith.
The State has so far made so special
effort to offer evidence of moral turpi-
tude on the part of any of it's citizens
in the making of this contract. Such
evidence as has transrired, tending to
show bad faith on the part of any off,
Ger of the State has come out cOllater-
ally. Personally have seen and do
see no reason for the civil courts to
take tOgnizance of this question. l
have directed my persOnar efforts al
most entirely to the questions of Gus
tom in making such contracts, the
question of the falsification of appa-
Fently manipulated reports - to the
operation of this property and more
to the question of the power
OF the lessee to strip this property, as
they threatened to do.
Judge Avery has given constant adj
vice at all stages Of this investl CATION,
and Judge McRac has contributed val
liable counsel.
Necessarily the general railroad sit
uatiOn in the United States has been
developed in connection with this in
vestigatiOn. The shadow Of Morgan's
mailed hand has been shown to rest
now upon almost every important Ar
terry Of commerce in the United States.
He was charged at the New York hear
ing and defied to deny that there was
an undertaking on hand, which We
claimed is q defiance of public policy,
Oy means OF WHICH ne
HAS ACQUIRED CONTROL
of every great railroad running from
New York City to the Great Lakes.
SEC URIT1Ks HELD ABROAD.
These railroads, aggregating some
thing over 500 miles Of single rail, are
bonded for the enormous stm of $500
100000 and the bulk Of these securities
we have established are held abroad
We have shown that it 10 only ques.
ton of time when he closes his grasp
upen the Baltimore & Ohio system
and completes the undertaking begun
by Samuel Spencer, when President OF
that road in Maryland, he began te
prick "the public reputation" which i,
had for sOlvency, and to strip it Of it.
prestige, as a result of which 1t hal
fallen an easy prey to those who wist
its reorganization and control.
The New York papers, especially
The Journal and World, we're extreme
ly fair to the State in their reports Of
the hearings, but desire to say thai
some statements which were atiri.