408

AMERICAN RAILROAIJ J OURN AL.

Hudson River has advanced %; Harlem has been
in demand at a decline, selling at 9%a9%, and the
preferred stock at 21a22.; Wisconsin and Lake
Shore sold at 57-—a decline of 2 per cent.

MARIE & KANZ.

Extract from De Coppet so Cows Money Gir-
culnr for the European Steamer of the 24th
Jnnﬂu

 

['1‘R.ANSLA'1'ED.]
NEW YORK, Tuesday, June 23, 1857.

Since our last advices of 15th inst., we have had
a general decline in all the speculative stocks
dealt in at the ﬁtock Exchange. This falling off‘
can only be attributed to the lack of confidence in
railroad shares, as the m0I_l6Y market 0011111111195
easy in spite of theheavy shipments of specie for
the week. Stocks of a more pe1'maneni'» Clmracter
havevaried but little in price. '1‘1‘a»d6 gf91131'a11Y
is spoken of as being exceedingly du._ll In eV91‘.’>’
branch. State Stocks:--The . tyansactions have
been chiefly in Missouri, .V11'g-rv_ua and Tennessee
63; but little done and. without much change in
prices. City, and County Bonus have been rather
more active. We have to mention sales of B'roo_k-
lyn 6s, Milwaukee 73, St. Louis 6s, and C_me1n-
nati Gs; also, some Henry County 8s, luusklngulxl
7s, and Fayette County ﬁs, without material change
in price. Railroad Bonds--At the Board the most
important sales were of Illinois Central Const1:uc-
iions, Galena and Chicago 2d mortgage, and Mich-
igan Southern Sinking l‘<'und.IBonds. At private
sale some Burlington and lviississippi lst mortgage,
Milwaukee and Mississippi 3d section, and Peoria
and Oquawlra lot mortgage, all at atriﬁing decline
in price. Railzlosd Sllare-s.—-'}.‘he sales have been
large and the decline general in Reading, Eric, H.-
York Cientral, Cleveland and Toledo, Illinois Cen-
tral and Michigan Central. The last. two are quo-
ted dividend off. The prices of all shares at the

'3c’lose' were tending downward. Money continues

abundant ongood securities, but lenders are timid
and scrutinize closely the character of .collate§rals.
‘We quo ’ ,_ aper 8 to
12, according to class and

H “length.
DE’ COPPET &. CO.

vusnnnulm-—I

-m..""-

iAmer;lca.*n Railroad ournal.

Satuzreiay, June 27, 1357.

Causes of Depreciation of Railroad Property,
and their Remedy.

- One of the great causes that have operated to
injure the value. of railway property, is the unlim-
ited conﬁdence that‘ stockholders have reposed in
their directors. In a single body of men is vested,
without checks or restraints, supreme authority.
They are in fact a. completely lawless body. Their
appointment is the only function that stockholders
ever presume to exercise. N 0 rules for their ac-
tion are prescribed. N 0 account of their doings
is required. They enjoy entire immunity till they
break down of their own incapacity. Upon their
election, both they and the road cease to receive
any further attention or interest from the stock-
holders. Their re-election is usually matter of
form, till it is found out they can carry on the
road no longer. . .

Now the commonest experience of life shows
that no body of men in the position of railroad di-
rectors can with safety be trusted. Every such
body will soon resolve itself into two divisions.

' One of these, in the pressure of their own busi-
‘ . ness, will give no time or thought to their oﬁicial

duties. They have a good name ‘in ﬁnancial cir-
(3198, and are taken for thisreason alone. They do

[not expect to become working directors.‘ .We_re
_any;considerable call made upon_thei_r.time for at-
tention, they would immediately resign. This

_and faithfulness in the other.

class usually constitute a. majority of all boards.
The management of the road consequently goes
into a very few hands. In almost all cases it can be
secured by any man of ordinary capacity, but of
resolute will, no matter what may be his objects.
Its patronage, and the opportunities for money
getting, which it offers, render it a most tempting
prize to active and unscrupulous persons who seek
and use these positions, with no other object than to
serve themselves. But admitting what is usually
the fact, that directors on assuming responsible
stations, have no selﬁsh aims, they often fall under
the temptations to which they are constantly ex-
posed. Their cupidity is appealed to in every
possible way. In making purchases, sellers can
always be found who will give a. commission to
any one who will secure to them the preference,
In cases where the terms are equally advantage-
ous, a great many men will see no harm in de-
ciding in a manner that will beneﬁt themselves.
There is no company that is not constantly ap-
pealed to aid, in one way or another, kindred or
collateral enterprises. When the leading managers
are of the opinion that such aid should be given,
there are not a few who will very easily convince
themselves, that there can be no harm in receiving
from the party aided, compensation for services
which have been, in their opinion, valuable to
both parties. Cases are constantly coming up
where ‘men are to be obliged or disobliged; or,
perhaps, where the personal interest of the man-
ager is to be affected. In such it is almost impos-
sible, Where entire discretion is allowed, that the
moral sense of the oﬂicial should not become en-
feebled and dimmed, and he should not come to
consider the road merely- 
only for the advancement of his own interests.
Again, the relations of parties having a railroad
in charge are to be considered. They are not
those of one individual to another, where the
slightest unfaithfulness or neglect is at once seen
and called to account, and where constant exaction
and discipline from one party secure obedience
In the relations of
a servant to a State, or to an incorporated com-
pany, all the sanctions forrfaithful conduct come
from one side-—from the sense of duty in the
mind of the servant. To show how feeble this
usually is, does not require argument. We see
that the uppermost motive in the mind of such a
servant comes to be, to get the greatest amount of
compensation for the least service. To be vigilant
does not increase his stipend. To be slothful does
not diminish it. N o personal sympathy or feeling
of obligation is awakened. The consequence of
his acts, for good or evil, may be so remote, or
may affect the individuals that compose the aggre-
gate body, in so slight a degree as nearly to de-
stroy all moral distinction as to their character.
It is so usual for a person so situated to be indif-
ferent, if not unfaithful, that a really efficient and
conscientious public oﬂicer is the rarestvsight in
the world; so rare that the populace usually re-
gard him with a sort of contempt for—-what they
deem--his entirely superﬂuous zeal and labor.
, Another great cause of mismanagement of rail-

roads is the constant habit that directors have, of .

acting in matters of great importance without a
proper regard to the, consequences of their acts.
Inl‘their..own aﬂairs, they are sagacious and for

seeing in their plans and untiring in theoxecution

of them. Every step they take is in view of its
consequences. A relation is thus always main.
tained between acts and results. But the
moment such men come to their seats around the
directors’ table, they are changed men. They be-
come listless, inattentive and indiﬂ"erent. In their
own business, their maxim is, that the secret of
success is to save the amt ,- well knowing that the
dollar is only cents multiplied. But when they
come to act in their oﬁicial relations, that which
is the groundwork of all success in individuals is
forgotten. Because the money they are voting
away is not their own, it ceases in their mind to
have any value. So long as the loss that may be
sustained is not to be theirs, they do not trouble
themselves by being too critical as to the event.
If it prove unfortunate, they satisfy their con-
science with the reflection, that they did all that
could be expected of men who got noticing for
their labor. Such men, accustomed never to raise
a ﬁnger without being paid for it, cannot break over
ﬁxed habit, and become earnest and laborious in
a work that is not immediately followed by a.
pecuniary reward. In other words, they are too
selﬁsh to serve any but themselves. It thus fre-
quently happens that men most successful in their
own affairs make the poorest directors of rail-
roads. They are selected for the reason of such
success. The public is thus deluded into an idea
that, because they manage their own affairs well,
they will manage those of a railroad equally well,
and ﬁnd out their mistake only when the direc-
tors throw up their trust whicl1 they have so mis-
managed as to have become only a subject of an-
noyance, and which instead of honor, reﬂects deep

To render the management of our railroads
permanently healthy, and consequently, success-
ful, the causes from which they are now suffering
must be met and counteracted. Stockholders must
never lose sight of the fact, that the machinery of
railroad management as at present organised, tends
directly to encourage laxity of service, to confuse
all notions of moral accountability, and to lead
those having responsible positions to use them to
promote rather their own advantage than that of
the company. It is easy to see where such ten-
dencies unchecked, must end. We see the pitch,
to which they have already brought our roads.
We do not mean to say that we have not many
well managed roads, and that our boards of direc-
tors do not contain very many excellent men.
What we mean to say is, that a vicious system al-
most universally prevails, which, while uncorrect-
ed, directly tends to the results now staring us in
the face, of shipwrecked roads, with their securi-
ties reduced to values merely nominal. These
roads occupy some of our best routes. Every one
feels that there is no need for such a state of
things, yet every one is powerless to effect a re-
form. Ghange merely infuses a little temporary
vitality, but does no good in the end. As a ne-
cessary consequence, a melancholy conviction is
fast gaining ground that there is an inherent vice
in the management of railroads that must, in the
end, destroy the value of all. M
To understand the nature of the disease is half
the cure, because it shows us the remedy. Stock-
holders must never depend upon the directors for
any information touching the conditioner man-
agement of their road. While such management