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Jiily 21, 1994 Record and Guide. 85- De/oteQ to KeM Estate . E)■JllD!^'G i''^R,c>(iTECTjr\E,HousE:[ioiD Dreoi^notJ, Bas!i^ES3 A^foThemes op Gi:fJEj\d Wterest. PRICE, PER YEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS. Published eccry Salurday. Telepiion'f,......Cortlandt 1370 Commiinlcatlona should be addressed to C. "W. S"\YEET, 14-lG Vesey Street. J. 1. LINDSET. Business Manager. Beooklyx OFFifE, 27t)-2S:i \VAsnixnTOX Street, Oi'p. Post Office. " Entered al the Post-office al New Tork. jV. 1'., as second-class matter." Vol. liv. JULY 21, 189-1. No. l,37r, For additional BrooMijn waiter, see Brooklyn Department immediately followina -Vcfl! Jersey records (pane 101' i. THE imiirovement in Tjiisiness which wa.^ induced by (he prospect oj; an early end to tarilt' discussion disappesvrs ■\vitli tlie new outbreak of ditlereuces in CongTess, As the memorial from the Ohiciigo business men stated, what is wanted is a settlement, the details would not matter. Last fall saw a dispute with rlie President, House aud ma.iority of the Senate on one side and a minority of tbe Senate ou the other; now a con¬ flict has arisen wilh only the chaus'e of the majority of the Senate for the niinority in tbe parties, aud it remains to be seou whether victory can be achieved by the larger elements thi.'s time as it was in the case of the Silver question. The interim is, however, likely to be a very unsatisfactory period for the business world. Without some sucb e.vasperating cause it would be impossible to explain the weakness in the stock market which held so firm during the rail¬ road strike and which now ]iresent.s such a disorganized appear¬ ance, notwitlistantbng that Debs has shown a preference for the inner walls of the Cook Conuty Jail to meeting the men whom be misled. The simultaneous selling of several Southwestern railroads'bond issues sngge.sts foreiirn selliui,^ which may also be attributed to di.>
repariug to put forth their strength again. One of the best signs is the roovemeut of money away from London, aud the fact that banknipt countries like Greece and Italy arc finding a basis npon which to settle wifh their foreign creditors. London financial .journals ivcognize the ]n'obubiIity of gold coming this way soon. Active measures wvv being taken hy repre- sentalive commercial bodies in France to i^rotect and extend its foreigu trade through a group to be formed in the (.'hiimlier of Depuiies. tlerman iron exports increased 19.;i |)er cent in the hrst tive months of this year compared with the .same time in 1808, largely owing to the Knssiau demand. The project of establishing a (ierman bank at Mi.hui ha.s fallen through. Later advices from Austria are not more favorable for the wheat harvest which now cannot fail to be a poor oue. The City of A'ieuua has for the iirst time issued a loau witbout the aid of hiinkers and with complete .success. Fifteen Vienna banks jiaid dividends last year varying from 0 to 18% per cent. Business ou foreign exchanges is increasiug with prices .slightly better. THE value of Federal interference to protect comineiThal com- muuication from violeut aud lawless obstruction is natur¬ ally drawing atteiUiou to the ciuestion of the proper relations between the government at AVasliiugtou and the railroads. As a eouseiinence we may expect soon lo have a disi-ussioii which will not only coiilirm the position already takeu by the Federal authorities, but which may also open a way to (ransferring to them the whole supervision of these most necessary channels of commerce. Riotous strikers and their nnthiukiug sympafhizcrs are not flic only antagonistic forces from which the railroads need protection. Granger legislatures aud State courts have done so much more damage to railroad enterprise than mobs can ever do by their attacks ou investments iu them that ifc would be a good thing for the railroads directly and the prosperity of the country as a whole indirectly, if not only the dutyof kee])iug open the mai! routes aud iuter-state commercial conununica- tious, could be iu the keeping of the Federacy, but also the makiug of the laws necessary for their entire regulation, lu order to accomplish tbis there need he no thought of their purchases by the Goverumeut or of the relief of the rail¬ roads from their obligations to contribute toward the rev- eunes of the States through which they run, but simply that the terms under which they shall serve the public aud the Government itself shall be decided by reference to the only authority which is in reasona¬ ble probability likely to be freest from prejudice for or against either the railroads or their employes, the States or the individual shippers. To soaie exteut this is already Un¬ case, foreii;n railroad corporations have found I'elief byai»i>eal to the Federal courts against unjust demands ot State authori¬ ties, aud it would only need to offer the same refuge (o home railroad corporalions, and at the same time, of course, enlarge the regulative powers of tho ceutral authority. The Cost of Eaih'oad EaoTganiaatioiis, (CONSIDERING the many gTeat railroad companies Wiiich -^ rerjuire reorganization the fiuestion of the probahle expeii.se of returning them to the solvent list is a very pertinent and iui]iortant one. It is well known that trustees, money-lenders and lawyers always get fattest from insolvent estates; but if it was known how fat tliey get from insolvent railroad estates tiie public, and particularly that partof it which invests its money iu railroad securities, would receive a .shock quite eijiial tf) nny that has been caused by the investigation of the Police Depai't- ment, A Wall street hrui, that should kuow how these (hings are manatced, commenting on the Atchiseui plau, estimated the pi'Obable eost of the reorganization at a million and a-half of dol¬ lars. Thisestimateisuotoulyuotan exaggerated oue but amod- erateoue if the Atchison is to be reorganized on the same bnsisof cost thatother companieshave been. Besides this, while milroad companies are being reorganized their properties are always so expensively managed that any one who expressed surprise at the increase of operating cost under a receiver wouhl \ir. looked upon as a greenhorn in railroad aud financial circles. 'J'hat a. railroad receivership is an unusually lucrative otHce can lie readily understood when it is remembered that a Pennsylvania judge last year resigned a life position to take a receivership before the cpiestion of remuneratiou was settled at all, aud only recently a Massachusetts <^ourt fixed the honorarium of the receivers of the New England road for giving some fragments of their time to looking after the load's affairs at a sum for which a first-class railroad mau would devote the whole of his time and energies to the work. If then the courts, whi<-h are supposed uot ouly to watch over aud protect the interests of the creditors of a bankrupt coi'pora.- tion, but also of the debtors, ('. c, the stockholders, as well, are inclined to take such a liberal view of the extraordinary value of any services performed for the security-holders, it eaunot be surprising that the reorgauizers of the insolvent corporations who are subject to no supervision or control feel licensed to estimate the value of their own services at a very high rate. That the reorgauizers are accountable to no one but ihenisclves may seem extraordinary, but it is a fact nevertheless, and it is easy to see bow it is so. A reorganization committee, as at; present formed, usually consists of a voluntary organization of representatives of trust convpauies and banks who hope to loau large sums of money at high rates of interest in times when money is a drug iu the open market at ], or 2 per cent and to secure to themselves the trust fees and commissions for the issue of the bonds under the new mortgages and of the new stock certificates that maybe required. Sometimes a large holder of bonds, though holding relatively to the whole issue a small amount, obtains membership on a committee, and by throwing in his securities to back the com¬ mittee is more th:in recompensed for any loss his holdings ma.\- sustain by sharing the cununittee's fees and availing liim- self of the iuside information his position on the C(mimittee gives to him. The committee undertakes to issue certain new securities or readjust representations of indebtedness and to collect and disburse asse.ssments for certain imrposcs, among (he latter beiug the exiienses of reorganization, Hut for tlie moiR\y coming iuto their li;nids iu excess of rliat )-e(|uired to jiay off float ing debt and back interest oi' other tilings Niat can be deiiuilely known to the outside security holdei'
