The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-29
Financial Statement.

Earnings
Year ending June 80,
1900 :. E. -. -. IS 21S, S,165.96
Year ending June 80,
1901 :. -. .... 4O,544.93
Year ending June 80,
1902. =. :. ~ 257O32.7O
Year ending June 80,
190o 304, 1UI59
Nine months ending Mar.
81, 1904. =. 236,39079
Total gross earnings 81, ,256, ,241.97
EXpenses-Ways and structures,
$1S1,23S.30; maintenance of equip
ment, $145, ,454.96; conducting trans
portation. $407 ,600.17; general ex-
penses, $77,S15.47. Total, $S12, 2,10S.90.
Fixed Charges.-Interest, $10S,-
1870; taxes, $40,0S4.12. Total, $14S,-
269.22.
charges, $960,37S.12. Amount of
earnings over and above operating ex-
penses and fixed charges, $295, ,863.85.
TO amount of construction, equip
ment, real estate and permanent inn
proVementS.
Here appears the items of money
spent for betterments and improve
ments of the road, already printed in
the Report of Committee.-Edi
Do these figures disclose misman-
agement and corruption? Not cent
of the company's money was found
to have been corruptly spent.
The mortgage indebtedness of the
road is only 1926, 100000 in round num-
bers, the interest on which has al
ways been promptly met The float
ing debt is less than $40,000.00 and
represents purchases, of valuable real
estate worth more than the floating
debt, which is being rapidly paid Off.
The road today owes less than it has
owed at any time within many years,
and owes not one cent that it could not
pay in a days time if the creditors
called for it. The roads credit is so
good that it can borrow money if It
wants it, on its simple note, at any
time, without security at a low rate of
interest.
1t is true, as pointed out by the
Investigating committee, without fa-
vor, that some mistakes have been
made in it's management,-e of
Judgment, in the aggregate not
amounting to a blunder. But who does
not make mistakes in business? Yet. it
has taken five men who have reason
able knowledge of affairs and three
expert railroad accountants the major
part of two months to find and point
out these errors of Judgment. What
business or corporation could undergo
the same or a like rigid investigation
of it's affairs for five years and hope
to escape criticism? Many corpora
tions would hardly get off with criti-
cisms.
Mr. Bryan has been criticised by
the committee for spending too much
money in building warehouses at
Goldsboro, Boston, Havalock, River
dale and in the new general offices at
New Bern, and possibly justly So Iiut
whether he has spent too much or
not, is a mere matter of opinion about
which business men may differ ana do
differ. If you will see the report of the
proceedings of the stockholders of the
road in 1858, you will find that reSC-
luton was passed criticiSing if rot
condemning the expenditure of the
company's funds in building the old
shops at New Bern, upon the ground
that those shops were too large and far
beyond any possible needs OF the road
for all time, and yet we find that the
business of the road had outgrown the
capacity of the shops to do the needed
work of the road, necessitating the
building of the present shops at great
cost which work the committee SO
highly approves. 1t may be possible
that Mr. Bryan has foreseen the needs
of this road twenty-five years ahead
He is essentially a builder-a man of
large ideas and plans. His bump of
constructiveness is big. The road
possibly needed just such builder for
a season, and it may be he has build
ed better than we know. Anyway,
who knows?
But he needs a check just here and
he has it. it seems, in his board of di-
rectors, finance committee and stock
hnl in IhOmA
Green, of New Bern, cool headed
banker and business man, who has
accumulated his thousands by his
good business judgment, and G. Il.
Foy, who knows nothing, if he knows
not business; self f-made-the archi-
tect of his own fortune.
L. Harvey and Dempsey Wood, of
kinston, men of much substance and
of large affairs, accustomed to deal
in great matters of business; ana
Henry WE'LL, of Goldsboro, worth a
quarter of a million or more, who is
of that race whose verv name is a
guarantee of sound business insight
that amounts to inspiration, and those
anproved Mr. Bryan's work. Men
differ, you see.
And the purchase of the hotel prop
erty at Morehead City is cited, by the
McBec bill of charge, filed with the
committee of the lnVeStlgalloll, dio
convincing evidence of bad manage
ment of the road; and the committee
say in this connection that we thlnk
it should have been clear TO the offl-
GERS of the road that they were buy
ing trouble But it seems that such
leveI-headed, calculating business men
as Thomas Green, j. w. Granger, {.
e. Foy, Henry Well and others, and
E. Carl Duncan, who is business man
enough to be United States collector
of internal revenue of the eastern dis
trict Of North Carolina, at salary
of $4,000 year, and much too f1ne a
business man to dispose of his stock
in the road for less than its value,
and Dempsey Wood, who controls and
votes the largest block of private stock
in the stockholders meeting or the
company, did not so think, for they
approved IN stockholders meeting
this purchase. The mere fact that an
unfortunate choice was made OF a
manager Of the hotel last year, Who
came highly recommended. bat who
proved to be either dishonest or in
competent or both, if the evidence
taken before the committee is to be
believed, resulting in a loss of $4,000
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