[682] In the case of the Rock Island in 1902 there was no floating debt to be considered, while in 1885 the Erie funded overdue coupons and issued a 6 per cent mortgage on its Jersey City terminals to cover accumulated liabilities, but did not disturb its outstanding mortgage bonds, and cannot, therefore, be said to have reorganized.
[683] This was, in fact, a prominent feature of the reorganizations between 1893 and 1898. The Atchison surrendered the St. Louis & San Francisco; the Erie absorbed the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio into its system instead of continuing the lease thereof; the Northern Pacific surrendered the lease of the Wisconsin Central and cancelled various unprofitable traffic contracts and traffic agreements; the Reading gave up the Lehigh Valley and its New England extensions; the Southern reduced its mileage by over one-half; and the Union Pacific shrunk from 7674 miles in 1892 to 5399 in 1899.
[684] See Interstate Commerce Commission: In the Matter of Consolidations and Combinations of Carriers, etc., 12 I. C. C. Rep. 319.
[685] Testimony of C. F. Adams, United States Pacific Railway Commission Report, 1887, vol. 1, p. 45.
[686] “It is only by the fullest knowledge of the affairs of the company that a correct judgment of the best manner of meeting its wants can be formed, and there is no other practicable way to manage the business of the company to its best advantage than for the stockholders to elect directors worthy of confidence, and to leave the management to them.” Annual Report, 1887, Robert Harris, President.
[687] In the case of the Atchison, old income bonds were retired by new second mortgage bonds, with the result that the aggregate value of creditors’ holdings was largely increased.
[688] Speech at Columbus, Ohio, August 19, 1907.
[689] Forum, September, 1890, and March, 1894.
[690] The percentages for the Atchison are corrected according to the report of Mr. Little. Owing to the lack of available detail it has been necessary to increase operating expenses by the total amount of the errors which he discovered, and this figure is, therefore, unduly inflated.
[691] In 1893, after the Northern Pacific failure, the consolidated 5 per cent bondholders formed a committee; Mr. Brayton Ives invited bondholders to send in their names and addresses to him (1894); and later in 1894 the falling off in the railroad’s earnings induced the formation of the Livingston and Van Nostrand committees, and the announcement of the consolidated committee that it would accept the deposit of second and third mortgage bonds. Finally, within four months after the Atchison failure of 1893, four important reorganization committees were asking for deposits in the United States and one was soliciting deposits in London.