Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-10-25
TROUBLE In THE q. l. o. CAMP.

The annual meeting of the q. 81 0
Ry. stoc kh olders took place in Rich
mond on Tuesday last, and was stormy.
Of course those now controlling the
road had large majority of the stock
and the minority holders were very
CONTEMPORARY treated. SO much so
that Mr.. John z. Branch a stOckhold
er and very influential and wealth,
citizen of Richmond, and several
others, got up and walked out of the
meeting. Mr.. Branch later made q
statement reviewing the president 3
report, In that be said in part:
This road in the past AZ years has
paid 8 per cent. dividend, an average
of less than LIS of per cent. per an
mum. A large amount of this stock is
cid by individuals, costing them fl ON
$50 TO 800 a share, and they have re
ceived an average of less than / 5 per
cent. per annum for AZ years. This,
III the face of the fact that the annual
reports from year to year have shown
large profits, and they were certainly
entitled 10 larger dividends than they
have received. The management claim
that the profits have been used from
time to time for betterments and
equipment. l claim that the money
spent for bettelments and equipments,
in addition to what is necessary to
keep up the physical condition of both
the road and equipment to its condi
tion a year ago, should be. capitalized,
which, understand, is the practice of
The New Y ork Central and the Penn
syivania railroads, who control the q.
& D. Ry., and also the practice of the
English railroads, and L claim that the
same policy should have been pursued
by the G. & o. Ry., and larger dis
tributlOn of net earnings should have
been made in dividends to the stock
holders.
This statement is startling. 1t dis
closes either the worst possible man
agement. or the worst possible loot.
We are not surprised, and have often
SO stated, that no dividends are paid
now because the road is in the clutches
If the Pennsylvania and pos sibly the
New York Central, and these got con-
troll for the purposes of lOoting it and
have generally believed to have done
30 successfully. But we are surprised
that AZ years have passed and only s
per cent. 10 dividends has been paid
in that time. Mr.. Wickham, chief
counsel, and Mr.. Branch had some
sharp passages,i In which Mr.. Wickham
displayed unusual loss Of temper,
lacking facts to refute statements
made by Mr.. Branch. The following
report of the proceedings is made by
the press, showing temper:
Another exciting moment came
when Mr.. Wickham said that Mr..
Branch was allied in his sympathies
with the Corporation Commission and
the Interstate Commerce Commission,
and had favored laws which would re.
ally be hurtful to the stock holders.
Mr.. Branch answered that these bodies
did q eat service, that they had put
an end to Relating, which was unfair
to small shippers.
That Mr.. Wickham should have
tried to refute the power of Mr.
Branch charges by an attack on the
Va. Corporation Commission and the
Interstate Commerce Commission and
disparagingly allying MIR. Branch with
these is remarkable, to say the least,
and demands rebuke somewhere. But
that stockholders could be worse hurt
by unfavorable laws than by such re-
port as the @. g. o. has turned out this
year or by the payment of is of per
cent. dividend for AZ years. is incon-
ceivable. Evidently there is trouble
brewing, and the day is not far dis
tant when laws will be passed which
will prevent majority stockholders
from taking all the property of COR
pOration and doing with it what they
please, to the entire loss of the min
ority. This is what the G. s. o. seems
to have done, and what all corpora
lions imagine they have right to do.
The G. & y. needs Stuyvesant Fish.