212

ABIERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL.‘

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad-

Twenlietli Annual Report of tire Presiderit
and Direclors to the Stoclrz/iolders of the
iBa..7tim.0're and Ohio Railroad Compton}/.
In submitting to the stockholders the twen-
tieth annual report, the President and Direc-
tors of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad com-
pany have it in their power to state that the
President, having returned to the United
States, has resumed his duties at the head oi
the company. Returning to his post only at
the close of the year, however, it has been

thought best that the general operations of

the company should be stated by the president
pro tem pore, by whom they were conclu,cted_:
and for that purpose the board refer to his let-
ter addressed to the president, and dated the
7th of the present month.

The affairs ofthe company are accurately
exhibited in the following and annexed state-

men ts.

The statement A presents the state of the

company's affairs on the 30th ultimo; and
the revenue and expenses of the Main Stem
for the year endingon the same day, are shown
by the statement B.

The tabular statement marked 0, prepared
by the engineer of machinery and repairs,

tion power and machinery for the accommo-
dation of an increasing coal trade, and on ac-
count of a subscription on behalf of the coin-
pany to the capital stock of the Pittsburg and
Connellsville railroad, the further sum of
$284,184 '76, making together $349,934 40
-and leaving ofthe net revenue ofthe year
at the disposal of the board the sum of $90,-
540 941-—or about 1% per cent. _
The motives which justified the board in
determining upon the reconstruction of the
road, under the circumstances, are stated in
the letter of the president pro tempore. The
board could not doubt their sufficiency, and
they were believed to be too urgent to admit
of delay. The board at the same time de-
termined to raise the means for the recon-

quence of the operations at the mines and
the nature of the demand, has already ex.
tended beyond the limits of special, defined.
contracts, and there is neither any necessity
nor advantage in continuing the separation of
this from the other branches of transportation.
The determination recently made of recon-
structing the entire road between Harper’s
Ferry and Baltimore from the general funds
of the company superadds another reason
why the expenditures on account of thetrans-
portation of coal hereafter should be placed
upon the same footing as all others incurred
on account of the miscellaneous trade of the
road.

Under these circumstances, the board deem
it only reasonable now to return to the stock-

struction of the entire length of the road be-
tween Harpcr’s Ferry and Baltimore by the
sale of the coi'npany’s six per cent. bonds,
payable in 20 years; and believing‘ that a
sullicient sum for this purpose might in this
way be raised in season to meettheir engage-
ments, they directed 30 miles of the road to
be immediately put under contract. The
contracts were accordingly made, and the
work embraced in them will cost not less
than $360,800--and may be expected to be

presents in detail the operations» of the main completed before the first day of March next.
stem, and the actual expenses. of working The Sale Oflhfi 00mp§lhy’S h0hd5,h0W6V_0I‘i
that part of the road during the year :,;to- was not effected according to the expectation
gether with the amount of receipts from’ all Of the board ; and, to meet the payments un-
sources during the same period. And, in der the contract, it became necessary to sell
order that the series ofthese statements should the hoflds at ‘:1 Sacrifice varying from 8 to 10
bernade complete, a similar statement in re- PB!‘ Cent, 01’ temporarily to apply the revenue
gard to the main stem during the year end- of the year, to be hereafter reimbursed from
jug the 30111 Sept,’ 1845, and omitted in the future loans. _The board thought they best
report ofthat year is here supplied, marked D, consulted the interests of the stockholders, in
_ These statements show a steady increase adopting the latter alternative.

in the transportation, both of passengers and It would seem also that the time had now
butthen. It willbe observed thatthe increase arrived when the board should make some
in the number, and in the revenue from the definite arrangement for the reimbursement
conveyance of passengers in the year just to the stockholders ofthe moneys taken from
Closed, C0mP3TBd Wllhlhe preceding, has been the annual revenue and applied to the pur-
m0I‘e than 14 P81‘ Cent During the Same chase ofthe power and machinery on account
period the augmentation in the amount often- of the {1'a[)spo|'[a{iQn of coal,

-“age “‘a“SP°“‘3d~ has been more than 30: and The coal trade, in its origin, was, in some

‘hi’ increase in the "Venue from, the Same degree, experimental and intended, for the
5°“'°er 35 Compared with the re°‘3‘Pi5 of the most part, to be confined to special contracts,
Pfecedlng Years has exceeded 26 l3e1'f’e“t- It comprehending large amounts, to be conduct-
W'” 315“ aPPe‘“'f_r°m the C°mP‘“'ai1V‘3 state‘ ed with particular regularity and at times
ments accompanying this report, that the cost d,fl~e,.em {mm me ,,e,,e,.,,, ,,,,sCeH,,,,e0,,S b,,_
0f ‘V°"l_‘l“g‘ih9 mild has “Oi bee“ gmmeri l“ siness. It was inteiidcd therefore to embrace
P'°P°1’f‘°“ “the Work done: ma“ during the this particular branch df transpoiitation in a
preceding year. . i distinct account, and by charging it only
It will be seen that thenet revenue, includ- with the capital actually employed and the
ing the receipts of the coal trade,’ after de- expense of conducting ‘it, apart from other
ducting the expenses‘ of working and keep- transportation--to be able to tracewith great-
ing the road in repair, amount to the sum of er certainty the results of the trade, and the
$440,475 34-—being $65,713 60 greater than extent to which it might hereafter be advan-
the previous year, and more than 6 per cent. tageously carried on. These objects were
upon the capital of the company. Of this stated in the answers of the board. to the in-
surn,_ however, besides $65,749 64 (being quirics ofthe legislature in-1844; and in the
principal, interest and prerriiiim in sterling annual report of the same year, the board
bills) on account of the debt due the Messrs. acquainted the stockholders that for the pur-
Baring, there have been applied during the pose of successfully conducting this trade
year to the reconstruction of the road and to they had borrowed the capital from the reve-
the con§§ifuc.tiori of bu_rt_hen cars adapted to nue, and of their intention to reimburse it
(tjlere .geiie3a: tradlpzy tplrmproveinents at the from the profits of the trade. The capacity
Oftllgpcgotiperlgl to way. to the purchase to transport coal,l_1owever, at cheap rates and
V H   _ ,g'l“¢$ -an the, constriiciiori at a good profit, it appears has been practi-
Ol “dim «ti-«1lf0h,s . to they purchase of addi- cally ascertained ;' the trade itself, in conse-

holders what has been taken from the reve-
nue during the past year, for the purposes of
the coal trade ; and for its conduct in future,
to rely upon the same provision as is usually
made for transportation of any other descrip-
tion.

Upon this principle, adding the sums ap-
plied from the revenue for the reconstruction
of the road and for the power and machinery
for the coal trade (after deducting the sum of
$43,312, 14, with which that trade has been
crcdited,) amounting together to $146,816 05,
to the residue of the surplus as above stated,
there would remain a net surplus of revenue
over and above all other expenditures, of
$237,356 99.

As a distribution of this amount among
the stockholders could only be effected by a
sale of the company’s bonds at the depreciw
tion already stated, or by the delivery of the
bonds at their par value to the stockholders,
it became necessary to decide, not only the al-
ternative thus prcsented, but the expediency
of dividing only the balance of revenue actu-
ally in hand, amounting, as already shown,
to about 1}; per cent.

In considering these questions, the board
has reason to believe that, with a knowledge
ofthe general increase in the trade and reve-
nues ofthe company, if not on other grounds,
the stockholders generally, including the state
and city, had been led to expect a dividend of
at least three per cent., and it was officially
represented that the authorities of the city,
relying upon that expectation, had omitted to
make any other than a correspondent provi-
sion for the accruing interest upon the city
debt
Yielding the fullest force to these conside-
rations, it was at the some time, deemed inex-
pedientto reimburse the amountapplied from
the revenue to the objects stated, by a sale
of the company’s bonds at so great a depreci-
ation, and at rates which might have a ten-
dency to impair their value in future, at least
until an opportunity could be aflbriled of
adopting reasonable means calculated to esta-
blish their just and full value.

Up to this tirrie the amount of bonds which
the company proposed to issue, and the spe-
cific pledge by which it was designed to se-
cure thevpayment of both principal and inte-
rest, had not been limited or defined, and this
had a tendency to depreciate their price. The
bonds, when issued, moreover, and in the