and treasurer, or any two of them, to sell
from time to time according to their best
judgment, all the State's interest in the works
of internal improvement. That second pro-
viso allows them to sell for the best price
they can obtain. If the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad stock is above par, they will sell for
that. if the stock of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal is below par, as it is, then they
are authorized by both propositions to sell
for such sum as they can obtain for it ac-
cording to their best judgment. My limitation
upon the sale, however,, is that it shall not
take place unless the proceeds of the sale can
be converted into a like amount of the public
debt. That is, if the sale of these public
works realize five millions of dollars, the sale
shall not be perfected unless with those pro-
ceeds we can retire five millions of dollars of
the public debt of the State.
Now I ask the convention for one moment
to consider what interest the State has in
these works of internal improvement. For it
is necessary to a proper understanding of this
subject that we should know exactly what
we are dealing with. The State interest in
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad consists,
first, of stock in the main branch to the
amount of $891,200; in the Washington
branch of $550,000; total $1,441,200. Then
the State owns the bonds of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad to the amounts of $260,000.
Then the State owns stock of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad to the amount of $2,372,-
222.22, upon which the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company pays the interest in Lon-
don, Then the State owns of converted
stock, $901,450, Making the entire interest
of the State in that work, including both the
main stem and the Washington branch,
$4,974,872.22; nearly $5,000,000.
Now, according to the proposition sub-
mitted by the gentleman from Kent (Mr.
Chambers,) I that that would be the only stock
that the State owns in any of these works of
internal improvement, which could by any
possibility be sold. Because the limitation in
his proposition is, that it "shall be the duty of
the legislature to provide by law for the sale to
the highest bidder of all or such part of the
stock owned by this State in any railroad or
canal company, as can be sold or exchanged
for not less than an equal amount of the pre-
sent public or stock debt of the State," There-
fore, under his proposition, looking to the
present, prices of stock in the market, there
could nothing be sold except the interest of
the State in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
because that is the only stock which by any
possibility could be converted into or ex-
changed for an equal amount of the present
public debt of the State. And that would
then leave the State in possession of the un
productive stock in the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, the Tide-Water Canal, and the various
Eastern Shore railroads. |
Now our propositions allow the sale of all
these unproductive stocks for whatever price
can be obtained for them; and also for the
sale of the Stall's interest in the main stem
and the Washington branch of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, provided that whatever
amount may be obtained in the market for
those stocks can be converted into a like
amount of the public debt of the State.
Sow what are the unproductive stocks of
the State? The State owns the bonds of the
Ohio and Chesapeake Canal to the amount of
$2,000,000; loaned to the president and di-
rectors of the Potomac Company $30, 000;
interest, $13,280; stock of the Potomac
Company, $120,000; Chesapeake and Ohio Ca-
nal Company's stock, $5,000,000; Annapo-
lis and Elk Ridge Railroad, which is entirely
unproductive, $294,000; Maryland and Del-
aware Railroad Company, a new company,
and just incorporated upon the Eastern Shore
of the State under provisions of a law recent-
ly passed, $45,000; Eastern Shore Railroad,
$86,000; Philadelphia and Baltimore Cen-
tral Railroad, $2,600; Nanticoke Bridge
Company, $4.300; Chesapeake and Delaware
Canal Company, $50,000; Chesapeake Steam
Towing Company, $25,000; then the interest
due on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Com-
pany, $9,000,000; Penitentiary, for premium,
principal and interest, $5,000; stock of the
Elkton Bank of Maryland, $10,000; stock of
Eastern Shore Railroad, $39,000; Susque-
hanna and Tide-Water Canal Company, for
interest, $95,000.
Under the proposition of the gentleman
from Kent, all these unproductive stocks
would be left upon the bands of the State,
without any power to sell or dispose of them,
because it is utterly impossible that they can
ever be converted into a like amount of the
public debt of the State
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a few
years ago, made a proposition for the sale of
the interest of the State in that company, and
there were persons here at the legislature
bidding a very large amount for it, some two
or three millions of dollars, I do not re-
member which. And the interest of the State
in the other works, in the Annapolis and
Elk Ridge Railroad, for instance, I have no
doubt would be sold for quite a considerable
sum of money, tor the purpose of getting rid
of the State direction in that company, I
know that the stock of that railroad company,
which is not worth more than five dollars a
share in the market, has been recently sold
for a very large amount, in order to get hold
of the stockholders' direction of the road.
Put the State stock in this railroad company
in the market, and let the persons who now
have control of the road compete with those
who want control of it, and you will find
that it will sell for quite a considerable sum
of money.
Mr. STIRLING. I would like to know what |
