The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-12-08

lend an unwilling ear to some filn1y plan suggested to enable the bond holders to get control of the w. g' and R. B. Railway, which, he saids was the peoples railway, built ans financed and operated by the people and for the people, omiting tS apologize to the late MT. A LincO1@ for the apparent borrowing of a verD good idea in speechmaking.
 After the applause had subsided, the Governor called on President Burgess of the West Gap Bank. President Burgess, with his fence of white whiskers and keen gray eye, repre- sented the vested interests too thoroughly to get any verwhelnlingly cordial greeting. He was the money power in a white waistcoat and 2 dicky collar; so his remarks, which were incisive and direct, were receive ed with chill silence.
 Clarke Pollard could see that the Governor was giving all the best Of the situation to Wilton, saving for the railway president the last punch. And just as he was waking up to the fact that the bondhOlderS had been out generated in this respect, he heard his name called The Governor spoke that far-away city of gold and glory" and predicted with thinly yelled sarcasm that we will now be en- frightened concerning the Wall Street method of handling such problems.''
 Clarke was pretty mad when he got up to speak. Never having ad- dressed a large audience before, he forgot to talk loud enough, al.5- he was embarrassed when voices from various parts of the house kept ad- turing him to speak up." But after q while ke got into his stride and this is what ae rclCs the people:
 That he had been to New York and obtained the financial backing of the Superb National Bank, subject only to verifcation by properly ac- credited engineers and appraisers as to the value of the property. He had been assured by the Universal Elec- tric Company that the necessary new equipment for the road would be rul.- nished on sufficiently long credit in view of the said banking support In return for this support, the bOndh old CTS proposed to assign their bonds 10 the Superb National Bank, as secure the bank; and they, the bond holders, would in turn ask the stock holders to pool their stock under d voting trust agreement for five years That would give the bondholders ana the Superb National Bank virtual con- trol of the road for the fve-yesar period, during which. by good man. agement, it would undoubtedly be put on healthy earning basis; it's phy- sical condition would be greatly 1m- proved; it's rolling stock, power plants and other equipment brought up to date; and it's traffic developed by Rci- entific and suitable methods.
 That was all there was to it. Pollard stated the case simply and fairly, without flourish or bombast; and when he sat down he got gGoo round of applause, and could see a rot of heads bobbing in approval of hNs proposition. Of course he had very carefully refrained from stating that one of the first acts of the manage ment as soon as the bondLhO Olders an0a the big New Y ork bank got control of the road, would be to fire MT. William D. Wilton.
 But William D. Wilton didn't have to be told that under the arrange nent proposed by MT. Pollard his own days would be numbered.
 The Governor, in introducing the president of the w. c. and R. B. Railway, pronounced just the kind or euIoogy that the admirers of Mr Will ton were there to hear. It is unneces- sary to repeat it. Just think of all the superlatively laud'atory adjectives you know and look up in the dictionary the ones you don't think of and you'II get an idea of what the Governor said he thought of William D. Wilton.
 Lucy Takes the Platform
 It Is just as unnecessary to quore Wilton's speech as 1t was to repeat the gubernatoriaI eulogy of Wilton. In brief, he tore the Things all out Of Mir. PolDard's plan and hung the poor, denuded thing upon the, belt of his e1oquence as a savage handles his enemy's scalp. He pointed out rns folly of letting any bank get a hook into the affairs of the w. G. and R. E. AS soon as a bank gained a tooth old. he said, the stockholders were as good as wiped out. Compared to a bank, an ordinary highwayman beRon to look like one of the Twelve Apostles. The practical. possible plan of the bondh olders for making a profitable little local enterprise of the road was perile. picayune, and petty, he said. He saw that bankers and bondholders lacked the vision which alone could accomplish great things He ended by painting a picture or waving cornfields, r2Iethoric barns and plump pocketbooks which made tl.e farmers mouths water and. not rot getting the children and their chil- dre 1'& children and their ch;ldren-s children, even unto the seventh gen . eratiOn or SO he lifted his eyes 10 heaven and sworc that with the ce- lestial cooperation he was there TO dedicate himself anew tC the cause of the people of West Gan. Rocky Bottom and way stations if it cos. him his last breath. his last drop of blood and his last cent.
 Then he sat down, and while the popu1ace was renewing it's attempt TO dislocate the roof with applause, o1anced triumDhantlv around av M essrs. Pollard. Burgess and the other ma 9lefaCtors who had dared advance m oney to the ". c. and R. B. at five per cent. and then presumed to ex- 0ect some assurance that they would ret their interest.
 (To Be Continued Tomorrow) Copyright, 1922, Thompson Feature