The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-04
Cotton Buyers anc

Suppose for example. that cerlain ' railroad owes one or two miiilon l ha ve lars of bonds, and the bondno,utth.a tha roaS mortgage on the road. ana o, tno iso ts for some reason. wishes to coLisottaua to,,d !. 1. with some larger road. As the po.S .p1 holders referred to have lien on n,.,it, i1s smaller road. 1t cannot be unlteu n, the larger road. without the conssths Sl the bondholders, and these bondnoio. CTS may demand that the stock ., .haIl new system to be issued to them shai be % preferred ,a stock. tock .seins the advan- tage of consolidating the two 9bromgh T"ar, for the purpose of acquiring tnIousSn S traffic, may consent to give the nod poo stock in the new system. This pre-. ferred stock Is similar to mortsass or preferred claim. It represents debt that is to be paid an1 6efodf dividend. ide %
 Earnings Go To Improye%senss. ne usort,,
 Suppose that farm would De "or,d .d $5,O00. if it were unincumoereo. sah, ah. of ofas si.ooo. ya " If the mortgager were ,tc ts try to sell the farm at auctioh1,a 'he he market value<of the farm WouG g 1r order to get clear title. would have to go and pay the mortgagee ano'nes ths thousand dollars. So it IS w'n .he preferred stock and the ,e common deht stoss ss. The preferred stock Is ike oep' cured by a. mortgage. o+b.
 It may also be contended by the oth. tie CT side that while the dividend or 'ns railroads are either small, or none ali. yet they have made consideraole. earnings This may be true. bui s5 what has become of these earnings, , The records in the offices or tne ha.il ail road Commission will show that all nt these earnings with the exceptloh er U, the little dividends declared, nave oseh paid out either in operating or m at ilt proving the road. or in pr"'idinS oe'
 This shows a commendable spirit on on inc part- of the railroads. It should be observed that this line or ac,Ion as beneti%ai not or, only ,vbo to nse .ne the roads. This is the true spirit of develop1nenss and progress. It solidifes the roauod nd and strengthens tn trestles bridges: and adds sonIe to the It increases inc power and speed of the eng ,s D reduces liability ito accidents. anu anu neo. continual source of beneht 10 the Ptbe pie Railroads are for the tronroves HSv the roads benefits those who use the nsa The fact that the roads do n1s r much of their earnings Tn ia the dividends, but put .hnn them use seoH most of those earnings in way that pee' p
 notes the public gooo; rr,rqs We
 favor the use of the earnlnss, ,t have heard great st deal car shortage and car famine. and that tnere ,.sait yast amount of freight that has 10 wat ;,, for shipment I have been receh'sS .h;s formed that one cause oI III shortaga delay has not been so much S sn1 sbift ;n oars as inability to handle ana shii' the cars onoa one-track roao.
 BuiIding Double Track
 ro relieve this situation some or the roads have been building ihiles od spurs and sidings. It Will pc S',,i that in the statement of railroad .ho s1I. South and North Road. running fo,o nn Wonteomery to Decatur. declared o ho djvidend last year, and tnls may
 true for several years prlor tnGf ttino iIv It seems this road mas put p+p p' ;mnroye- ments Between Montgomery ana ;s D catur the spurs, yard tracks anu s ings aggregate. If I remember cor tSts ly, 12S miles. It seems also 'st .n few years been progressive enough 10 IouhIe-track some thirty-four mlles of it's line. of the roads because they increase tn number anu power of thair locomotives lmpsosS p tbeir roadbed, and make eVerytnlns nertaining to the road more sups a,,a tial, and thus add to the saaTG anG t5e snnad of moving the freight? For my mart I wish every road in the state ,, Tl Alabama might have uouole-.rT ThiS dTS from one end to the otner' ir,nort. ent road and this end should pc kept in view in all legislation anectins rates. .1A oass no acr that would properly tend to prevent oa rntarT the double tracking Of all tne ,o;Irosds in Alabama. Double-track- ing all the roads of the Uhlteo Sea ..eo years ago would have preVentteI So ane os the terrible catastrophes which nave recentlv occurred in this country nS tho collision of trains running III op nosite directions. The terItpie terIiee tha dents which have recently pelaitJn peiIn+,,re corntrV are calls upon the Legislature coun,S to mt no obstacle in the way of the desired improvement.
 wants Improvements Made.
 favor another bill now pending m this State which gives the tSa haiironu roiIl .oads ro1d,ni1 in nroper cases to add to the accommodations for the public; Tn nanW nlaces we need better depots' which separate apartments anu a. o veniences for white people ana coloreu nennle, We need something to prevent sptorIf along the line of the road from hoine iniured or killed by passing trains. ,ourro. ord i'm. ,royemrnts. But all these things re- nuire money Money no more SIows on frees for the benefit of railroans than it grows on trees for the D, 2enent ,il of DrlVSJe tItlHNi' Drovements. railroads must eithel eat" money. or borrow money.
 We wish to do two things Wnlch can hardly he done at the same tlne we desire to put the railroads to great expense in making improvements ana at at the same time we are T ITying gant uo reduce the': revenues. We Wa' larger and better service on dimin- ished revenue A farmer had culti- vatnd twenty acres of land in cotton with one horse On the first of the following January. he said to his horse that he intended to cultivate during that year twenty-five acres. The horse thought he had done all that he could the previous year. but he simply said to the farmer. Well. if I must culti- vatc twenty five acres this year, you must feed me we'll"
 "No. indeei' replied the farmer; expect to reduce ,vour rations" And railroads that there must be more work on leTs rations.
 Reduction of Thirty Per Cent.
 Y appears from the statements of Sena- tors on the other side that the average re- duction in the present bill in freight rates Is from ten to thirty per cent. On the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. between Colum- bus and Montgomery. it appears the nveraga reduction in freight rate7 is from twelve to fifteen per cent. And, yet. 1t was stat ed by the general manager ot that road few days ago. this road had been in opera tion about seven years and has not yft paid to it's stockholders one single dollar of dividend. It's earning have been used in it's operation and improvement.
 To meet the force of the figures above mentioned. it has been suggested that the stock of some Of these roads is put down in the official reports at an inflated O.