On the consolidation of the company he transferred 27,000 shares of Union Pacific Railroad stock for new stock.
He had transferred his Union Pacific stock at one time to some other parties on account of a peculiar law in Massachusetts, which enables an attachment of stock on a suit, whether there was anything in it or not.
“I found out about that law,” said Mr. Gould, “and put the stock in somebody’s else’s name. You can’t tell anything,” he continued, sharply, “about any stock list. There are many shares of stock held by brokers for years.”
After the consolidation he had begun to distribute his stock among other holders.
“I made up my mind,” he said, “it would be better to have four or five stockholders do a little of the walking instead of one.”
Q. That idea was very much stimulated by the rise in the stock after the consolidation, was it not? A. Yes, because the stock went up then so much that there wasn’t enough to go round.
The witness told the story of the employing of General Dodge and Solon Humphreys to recommend the consolidation. They were fair men, he thought, and would make a fair report.
He had not talked to them after they went West to make their report.
Q. How is that? A. Well, he naively replied, while they were making their examination my interests had changed.
Q. They had changed? A. Yes, I had bought the Missouri Pacific.