[352] Chron. 53:674, 1891.
[353] R. R. Gaz. 23:870, 1891. The composition of this committee was severely criticised, partly on the ground of the relations of Norton and Schiff to the Louisville & Nashville and to the Norfolk & Western respectively, and partly on the ground that the other members were creditors only and had no interest other than the repayment of their loans. It would seem, however, that the property was likely to have fared better in the hands of reputable New York bankers than in the hands in which it had formerly reposed.
[354] Chron. 53:922, 1891.
[355] Chron. 53:969, 1891. The members were: F. P. Olcott; Col. Oliver H. Payne; F. D. Tappan, president of the Gallatin National Bank; W. H. Perkins, president of the Bank of America; and Henry Budge, of Hallgarten & Co. These gentlemen appointed Messrs. Olcott, Budge, and Perkins a sub-committee to prepare a plan. Ry. Rev. 32:14, 1892.
[356] This excluded the Central of Georgia and the Alabama Great Southern. The figure was based on existing bonded debt, floating debt, and rentals. It included car trust payments, but excluded taxes, which were included in operating expenses, and excluded also the interest on securities owned by the system or the various corporations composing the system.
[357] The plan in full is reprinted in Chron. 54:487, 1892.
[358] Consider for instance the treatment of the Richmond Terminal preferred stock. This was quoted in December, 1891, as low as 45. The plan accorded it 100 per cent in new bonds and 20 per cent in new preferred stock. Per contra, the Richmond & Danville consolidated 5s were quoted the same months at 75 and received 100 per cent in new bonds and 40 per cent in new preferred. Was it any wonder that the holders of prior liens refused to come in?
[359] Chron. 54:846, 1892.
[360] These notes were to be secured by the same securities that were then pledged to secure the floating debt and were to be exchanged for $170 in new preferred stock if the plan should prove successful.
[361] Ry. Age, 17:414, 1892. It was not proposed to retain control of the Central of Georgia, but instead certificates of aliquot parts in the holdings of the Georgia stocks were to be issued to each stockholder, making him the actual owner of his proportionate share.