Evening journal., 1910-11-04
BY "HOlIand."

UOu6nl many
railroads, built some, partly built
others, which he abandoned, like the
one in Nicaragua, and he Is probably
the only American railway promoter
and capitalist who ever had the stock
holders Of a railroad present the
road to him.
II you ask railway men Of to-day,
and even bankers, how the Canada
Southern railway happened to be
built. you are likely to get an answer
from the majority OF them that it was
built by Commodore Vanderbilt for
the purpose of forming a link between
the Michigan Central and the New
York Central. Nothing o. the kind
The real story is one of the strangess
Of the many romantic tales linked
with the promotion and development
of American railroads.
Kenyon Cox, brotheg OF Governor
Jacob d. Cox, of Ohio, and Grants
first Secretary Of the Interior; Daniel
Drew, Sydney Dillon and John f.
Tracy, who were men of great finan-
cial repute at the time of and inn
mediately after the Civil War, con-
ceiyed the plan of building a railway
from Detroit to Buffalo through Cana
da, expecting to continue II TO Toledo,
and there, having got control OF the
Wabash system, to unite this Canadian
railway to the Wabash, thereby secur-
ing a new and great railway system
from the Mississippi river to Lake
Erie.
They did get control OF the Wa
bash, only to find that a very cum
ming, silent man-Azariah Bonney of
Toledo. president Of the Wabash
could hold them Off at least for
year. He knew what they had for
gotten, or, perhaps, never knew, that
the laws of Ohio required classical
tion of the directors of the railroads
chartered by that state, the power of
classification being delegated TO
railroads president. So the promoters
OF the Canada Southern route, al
though they controlled the Wabash
stock, nevertheless, by the classifica-
tion made by President Bonney, had
only one-third representation on the
board Of directors. So, perforce, they
decided TO wait for another year or
two-when there would be new
classification, at which they would be
sure of securing at least two-thirds of
the directors-before putting into ef-
feet their great consolidation scheme.
AS a sort of compromise at the end
Of a year, Governor Cox, who, three
years earlier, had retired from Grants
Cabinet, became president of the Wa
bash; and everything was going along
\ to the utmost satisfaction of the rail-
way capitalists. bent on effecting the
consolidation, when, OF a sudden,
came the Jay Cooke panic, in the fall
of '73, and disaster fell upon many
railroads, among them I'm Canada
Southern and the Wabash.
Jay Gould stepped in and bought
the bankrupt Wabash, and his family
hold it to this day. The Canada
Southern was woefully bankrupted /;
there was a heavy mortgaged indebt-
edness upon It. and the stockholders
were in despair. They held a meet
ing, and at last one Of them said;
Il propose that We send a commit
/ tee TO Commodore Vanderbilt and
make this proposition TO him; namely,
that IL he, in the name Of the New
/ York Central. will guarantee the in
tcrest and the principal Of the Canada
Southern's bonds. we will turn over to
him as an absolute gift all of the
stock we hold I'm the road, and we
hold much more than a controlling
I interest"
II took only a few minutes to find
hope and reasonableness I'm that pro-
position. AS matters stood. the stock
was worth nothing to these stock
holders. but II the Commodore and
his New York Central would guar
antee interest and principal upon the
bonds, then there might be something
saved for the stockholders who had
invested in the bonds.
Within a day or two a Canada
Southern committee was with Com
modore Vanderbilt, and laid the pro
position before him. The Commodore
was Just beginning to feel the ap.
proach of the disease which, a yeal
later, proved TO be mortal. But his
eyes glistened when he learned tha
by simply guaranteeing the principa
and interest upon the bonds OF thu
! Canada Southern he would have a fire,
gift Of all the stock, or. at least. thu
; great majority OF It, for he believe,
, that under prudent management III
; railroad would be able TO earn enough
in the course Of a few years to NEE
principal and interest, and when tina
, was done, the stock would be velvet
And at the Commodore's death. Il
1877. when his son, William H., sue
? ceeded to the control, the latter foun
l i'm his possession the majority of tn
\ I CfocE of railroad fhof el,,., .