The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-03-22

winch own the Baltimore and Ohio rail
road and a majority OF the stock in the
Washington Branch. There may turn
out to be nothing in all this at all but
to judge by some Of the transactions
which have been accenLuated by this
investigation, this is a lead which can
certainly result in no harm, if followed
up. The right hand Of the 3. G 0. has
not been paying Washington Branch
money in commissions over to its left.
but it can do no harm to make that
point certain. The B. & o. doesn't
own any coal lands in West Virginia
either it only owns control of a COM
pany which does own such property.
There is another peculiar situation,
apparently around Florida Avenue the
Washington Branch owns a coal yard
south of Florida avenue, its tracks real
ly run right by that yard. Apparently
as planned, its tracks. when the ter
minal is entirely completed will end
short off on the north side of Florida
avenue, from which point to its own
coal yard it will be compelled to pay
the Washington Terminal Company rent
for the Washington Terminals tracks,
which the Washington Terminal Com
pany kindly purchased or succeeded in
having given to it, from on by the
Washington Branch. This is how the
matter looks from Annapolis, although
upon investigation it may develop moth
ing. This may all be perfectly legitimate
IN the great game of high finance, in
which the State of Maryland is yet
stupidity dense, and its Washington
Branch no less, on the other hand it may
be the dead fingers, on what may turn
out to be, after little digging, the
murdered thing, too hastily buried in an
all too shallow grave.
There are several other indications.
scattered here and there, such as the
method in which the Pennsylvania Rail
road succeeded in making the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad and the Washington
Branch perfectly WELL so much so in
fact that both lent assistance, in short
ening the Pennsylvania entrance into
Washington, so as to save twelve min
utes on the Pennsylvania S Baltimore
Washington run, and so placing it on a
timefooting with the Baltimore and
OHIO to the Washington Branch's detri-
ment, such as the peculiar arrangement
which Washington Terminal Company,
apparently will have with the Baltimore
and Ohio, whereby it will charge on the
Washington Branch's 80 miles of earn
ing capacity, rental equivalent to fifty
miles for granting use of terminal, the
same holding good in Baltimore: but
these things seem enough to warrant
the drawing of conclusions.
Apparently the Pennsylvania Railroad
owners of the Baltimore and Ohio real
lied that serious obstacle in the way
of going in for the kind of terminal
they planned, was the peculiar situation
of the Washington Branch. 1t must
have looked to them, as through the
Washington Branch could not pay its
proportion of the expenses to come: it
must have been equally evident that
until the States interest was bought in,
they could not bond this portion of the
road; it is beginning to be reasonably
apparent that it never entered the gen.
tlemen's heads to go out into the open
and make an effort to purchase at fair
price this property which is so i'm
mensely valuable to them. 1t is the
business of the committee to find out if
the corporations havn't literally taken
the Washington Branch by the scruff of
the neck and the seat of the trousers
and thrown it out Of Washington; it is
the committees business to discover if
this was not done for the purpose of de-
preciating the stock as far as such
course was possible; it is the commit
tees business to make certain if
this was not for the purpose of buying
it in, as they have bought small blocks,
at an adsurdly inadequate price: and
lastly before there is any talk of selling
and after all possible crooked sights
have been brought to light, there should
by shrewd estimate of what this stock
is worth to the B. & o. or to its masters,
what would be fair compensation to
the State for all it has lost. The cor
porations in question have not dealt in
any generous manner; the State has not
the right to be philantropical in this
matter.
Since the inquiry began Mr.. Hugh
Bond has been in constant attendance,
and rumor has gotten into circulation
of his willingness to testify, but he
has not been called. Many people who
have seen the vice-president or the man
who knows more of this corporations
true inwardness than all other officials
combined, have wondered why he is,