The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-23
WOULDN'T KNOW Mr.. MORGAN.
VICE PRESIDENT EGAN MET HIM
ONLY ONCE, SOME YEARS AGO.


ident, He Says the Policy of the
Road VIII Not lie Changed-Wil
BE i'm the Interest of the Road and
the People of GeOrgia-Under the
Charter the President Need Not
Necessarily he a Resident of GeOF-
efn-TaIk of the Central Being
wrecked to Push Up the Southern
Is Idle.
The directors OF the central of Georgia
railroad will elect aspresideut on Oct. y,
and who this will be has become ques-
ton that is heard discussed on many
sides
For some time past it has been rumored
that President II. NJ Conner would be sue
ceeded by Vice President John NJ. Egan
This rumor was put into print by the New
York Journal of Sept. p. That newspa-
per asserts in effect that Mr. Egan, by
an ARRANGEMENT that for year has been
cut and dried. will positively succeed Mr..
Conner. and that such is the pleasure OF
Mr. j. Pierpont Morgan
Mr.. Egan was seen yesterday in refer
ence to the statement, and he disclaims
any and all knowledge of such an arrange
ment having been made.
IF there is such a thing considered as
my succession to the office Of president of
the Central, l am ignorant of it," he said.
1.-THE stockholders of the road will hold
their annual meeting on the second Tues
day in October. as is provided for by the
rules of the company. a board of directors
will be elected and this board will after
wards elect its officers. I know of nothing
but the usual routine that is to come before
the meeting.
"As for the statement that 1 am Mr.
Morgan's man and by him destined to be
the next president of the Central, / will
say that l would scarcely know Mr.. Nor
gan were l to see him. have met that
gentleman but once and that was several
years ago in New York. l was then con
nected with one of the western lines, and
had gone to New York to attend a meeting
of railroad men. Mr.. Morgan was present,
and it was there 1 met him in what might
be called a casual manner"
rs the statement correct, Mr.. Egan,
that by provision of the charter OF the
road its president must be a resident of
Georgia q" was asked.
1T is not" the vice president replied.
81 could have been elected president, had
such been the wish of the directors at
the time 1 was made vice president, as
readily as to the latter position.
II do not know what the board of direc-
tors that is to be elected will do in the
choice Of its officers, but 1 am free 10 say
that whatever this choice may be and
whosoever may be made presi-
dent, the policy of the road
will not be changed. This policy
has been a constant effort for the
upbuilding of the Central railroad and its
properties. irrespective of the interests of
any other line, and the betterment OF the
condition of the people of Georgia. since
1 have been with the road this has been
our object. and it is safe to say that it
will continue to be the object of whatever
president the board may see fit TO elect.
This talk of the Central being wrecked
in order TO advance the interests of the
Southern is idle. We are working for the
interests of our road and are favoring no
competitive line. The Southern and the
Central are strong competitors. We fight
that road in business. and in no way are
we controlled by it,
Mr.. Egan's statement that the Central
Is not controlled by the Southern is borne
out by those Of the other officials OF the
road. They say that the two systems an
tagonize each other strongly in the hght
for business. and instances have often
been cited to show that this is the case.
1t has been asserted that the Central Of
ten turns business over to the Western
and Atlantic at Atlanta rather than to
the Southern. officials of other lines sus-
tain those of the Central in the assertion
that there is strong competition between
the two roads. 1t is said that in nearly
every meeting of the conference commit
tees of the two railroad associations there
is some point arising over which there
is a conflict of the interests Of the Central
and of the Southern. When this is the
case, the matter is pushed by the repre-
sentatives of each of the lines to a con-
cluson that they try to have as favor
able to their own system as possible.
Mr.. J. PieTpont Morgan IS regarded by
the Journal as holding the key to the sit
uation and his fiat is looked upon as being
as irresistible as the decree of fate. His
wide interests in many great railroads,
among them the Central and the Southern,
have won him the popular belief that his
word is law IN any matter pertaining to
the management of the lines in which he
is interested. and. it might be said, Of
many others, that fear his influence in the
event it might be aroused against them.
The Journal states that his effort to gain
control of the Central has been prolonged,
and that the coup a. etat that is to place
him at last at the head of the road VIII be
made after years of scheming. To Mr..
Egan is accorded great prominence in the
article and he is dubbed "MorSan's man
Egan' in very much the style that De Foe
referred TO Robinson Crusoe's Man FRI
day
1t was by the alleged clause in the char
ter that necessitates the president of the
big system of the Central being a resident
of this state that the minority stockhold-
ers in the south are said TO have been able
to check the efforts of the railroad mag
nate to control the Central through its
president The fact that resident of the
state might have been secured to fill the
place of chief executive, without putting
Mr.. Morgan to the necessity of bringing
Mr.. Egan from the west, seems to have
been overlooked.
II, as is stated, the object is to wreck
the Central in order to render stronger
C..N Al