The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-03-08
Mr.. SAU DERs 81 FEC j..

burial twas in lakewood. $500
Mr.. sAU Rs'sPEE {.
Reasons why He Opposed Selling the g
states Stssc 1: sei.SsssE
tIn response to 4 request from reaael
OF The Times, his paper to- % " 1,'5
the substance of the speech s5s macs lna
Speaker Saunde IN the = ous
5DeleRat when the bills ato8 selE soulsil -
.,sta te. n terest IN the r., sR 20
and to charter a rival line to " as1llns-
ton, were { under cons ration g IN g = g
House. NO stenograp hics report Twas ma . ue
az the speech. but Afr. s5a undersR statesE
ina the following report contain f is'
fticaliy what he ted onatha tsoccasloiI'
Mr.. Saunders. in suppor ting the am enaiSs
ments of the Ffna nee CoI1fni l 70
IN =, :, could be solved BY the appiica-s
zion Of the plain and ordinary principles
controllins the every day ransactions OF
business life.s z
THE 2. u. & q. Railroad had submitted
. nroposit ion%to the State to guarantee
dividend of twelve per cent upon the
holdings of the State in the stock OF the
road. The Seaboard people had sub
mitted as a counter proposltion,to pay
Which was the better proposition for the
general interests of the State
If the proposition of the r., +. &c =.
could he legally considered then $500
shars was too little for the stock; II 1t
could not be considered, It was too much.
The SAttorney-Ge of the sta te7sh had
been consulted, and had advised Sth tine
r.; F.3& p. could make aEleSal and olnoaaS
ing contract to pay the State Twelve pei pei
cent. on its. stock. s5.s.t
Mr. Parks had admitted upon the floor
that such a contract could be legally
made 1t was therefore "a concession tina 9
the p was able 20 make a
binding contract to pay this particular
dividend to the State. The sole remain
ing question was whether the road. was
financially able to make good its offer
On this point the reports of the K. r. q
P. were appealed to. These sErepo S Is
| showed that for ten years past the road
| had paid about Z per cent. dividend to all
| the stock and dividend holders. At any
time during this period, or for the.entire
| period, it would have been able, by re-
(2Iucing the dividend slightly on 5-7ths OF
| tile stock, to paystwelye per cent on the
| 2-Tths interest held by the State.
The immense industrial DEVELOPMENT on
(,the Atlantic seaboard, the: acquisition OF
Cuba and Porto Rico, afforded ample
guarantees that the traffic over the r.. T.
& P. in the future would be Gar heavier
than it had been in the past
Moreover, the R.. lF.$E&z p. had "a sur
plus of about S30O.0O0 which could be APP.
piled next year to the extinguishmentSo of
about that much bonded indebtedness,
| thereby releasing $4,000 per year to go.
to the payment Of dividends. 1t was
clear, therefore. that the State was ten
dered a bona fide offer, capable of being
made legally and financially effective,
! TO pay her. twelve per cent. interest, Or.
about $4,000 year, upon her stock. The
Auditor of Pubic Accounts, Treasurer
and Second Auditor of the State had
demonstrated that this fund.- used as a
sinking fund, was sufficient. to pay off
the State debt.
With one accord they agreed that this
I was better offer than the one of $500 a
share made by the Seaboard, and were
! opposed to granting the charter asked
| for by the latter company. The offer of
( the Seaboard, if finally reduced to money
and invested in Century bonds. would
| secure bonds in no event exceeding ST.
| 100000.
This amount of per cent. bonds would
! furnish a sinking fund of $4,000 per year;
| Taxes from the new road, if lit was built,
could not possibly exceed $4,000 a year
| for the State. This, added to the $4,000,
made a sinking fund of $4,000, or an an,
nual loss Of $4,000 per year to the sink
ing fund, as comparetA with the offer Of
| the Richmond, Fredericksburg and PO-
tomac. If the general stock of the Rich
| mond, fredericksburg and Potomac had
4 present market value OF $40 upon an
| annual average dividend of about 6 ~
/ per cent, it was clear that when the
! dividend on the States interest was in
| creased to Il per cent. as contemplated
( in the offer Of the Richmond, Fredericks-
| burg and Potomac, It would be worth
much more than 5000 a share. If the
| State was actually getting II per cent. it
| would notsthink of selling for $500 share.
! and being rendered a bona fide offer of
| u per cent, it was in substance con-
fronted with .the same conditions as if
it was actually receiving per cent. In
| rejecting that offer and accepting the
| offer of the Seaboard, the State was ex-
changing a certain annual sinking fund
/ of s56, coo for one Of about s42 O00.s
Upon this view of the case Mr.. Saun-
ders said the recommendations of the
! Finance Committee should be sustained
and LIBERALIZATION of the. stock fixed at
$3.50 share. Until the Seaboard made a
better offer than 5000 a share he was in
| favor of accepting the offer of the Rich
mond,, Fredericksburg and Potomac
When the Seaboard agreed to the valua-
! ton of the Finance Committee he was
in favor of granting the charter. Mr..
/ Saunders. added that Richmond was not
4 an Isolated city, since it had four ways
of getting to Neutrality-suspicious. by rail,
Love IS the
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