Valdez daily prospector., 1914-01-05
MONDAY. JANUARY 5, 1914
HOWARD ELLloTTs BIG JOB.

The omniverous West, says an ex- change, will extend a large amount of sympathy to Howard Elliott, West ern product, who is trying to straight en out the tangles, moral and tinan- cial, of his new job as president of the New York, New Haven & Hart ford railroad. That road, under Pres ident Elliott's advice, passed a divi- dend the other day, for the first time in A years, and stocks went tobog- gaming. Thousands of New England CTS, who New Haven dividends have formed big share of their an nual incomes, have had a gloomy Christmas The road has already paid 5 per cent dividend on the 1913 account, but the shareholders were looking for another one with which to make the Yuletide season a happy one
 President Elliott has decided-and the directors have agreed with him that the road needs block signal system, new rolling stock, better equipment and roadbed improvements more than the stockholders need div idends. He figures, like the high-grade railroad man that he is, that the present dividends must be sacrificed, if the stockholders are to receive and be entitled to honest dividends in the future.
 More than 10000 of the 23,968 shareholders of the road are women. Over 5000 are individual men. Trusts and guardianships to the number of 3,702. hold stock. There are only 784 corporation stockholders. Ten years ago this stock sold as high as 225. It was hammered down the other day, by the passing of the dividend, to 72. The 10,474 women and other hold CTS whose yearly incomes from this source, generally small, had been $12,- 100000, are now cut down to none at all, and large numbers of them have doubtless been brought face to face with want at the start of win ter
 Men and not events are reSpOnsi- ble for this mighty wreck of a great investment property. These men were responsible fer the Billiard transactions which took away $3,- 100000 for nothing substantial in re- turn. For the payment of $13,5O0,- 900 for nothing in the Rhode Island trolley purchases. For the $12,000,000 which vanished into thin air" in the Westchester and Boston deal. For the disappearance of other great sums in rounding up perfected transportation monopoly of New Eng land. These men made of this great property never ending source of huge bankers commissions on new loans to cover these inflated acqui-- sitions and fatten the pockets on the halpies of high finance. Their names are known. There is no mystery ex-- cept the amount of their individual profits.
 These are some of the conditions that make MT. Elliott's job big and worrying one. Mir. Elliott learn ed the railroad business in the West He worked as district agent for tHe Burlington at St. Louis when the Bur- lington was 3 new and strange card in the Southwest transportation deck. He went to the Northern Pacific as president, after that road had been through the :,torm and stress of Wall street management and manipulation and he made railroad out of the stock-jobbing plaything He had been trained in the school that believes a railroad should be operated over ties and rails and bridges, instead of over the tape of the stock exchange tick ct. His job with the New Haven is to convince the stockholders that the Western system is the better. The West will hope he succeed not only on Ifs own account, but for the benefit and profit of the stockhol 'ers of the New York, New Haven & Hartford.