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The New Board: 1864-1920 71
As the company slipped inexorably into insolvency, from which it was never very far
removed, the board was also faced with defending attachments and executions by
individual creditors against C & O property and periodically directing the various
state's attorneys to intervene in those actions in order to protect the state's interest.53
During the incumbency of Gov. William T. Hamilton (1880-84), a split occurred
on the board pertaining to the C & O, the governor consistently opposing (and being
outvoted by) Comptroller Thomas J. Keating and Treasurer Barnes Compton. The
minutes do not reflect the source of the conflict, but it may have been partisan in
nature. The president of the C & O was Arthur P. German, one of the undisputed
political powers in the state;54 on 7 June 1880 the governor voted to replace the pres-
ident and directors of the C & O, but lost. Thereafter nearly every issue involving the
C & O was decided by a two-to-one vote, the governor losing.55 This division on the
board spread also to other political or patronage decisions. The same split occurred in
August 1882 with the appointment of the insurance and tax commissioners, in No-
vember and December 1882 with the selection of B & O directors, and in April 1883
with the election of a captain for a new Fishery Force steamer.56
The state's investment in the C & O Canal Company was not inconsiderable. By
1904 it consisted of $3,375,000 in mortgages, $4,375,000 in preferred stock, and
$788,000 in common stock, not to mention arrearages in interest and dividends. The
board had made three determined efforts to sell the company, all in vain. In 1895 it
advertised for bids and received three. One was for $310,000 in cash, unconditional;
a second, from the Washington and Cumberland Railroad, was a ninety-nine-year
lease at $13,000 annual rent, redeemable upon payment of $300,000; the third, from
the West Virginia Central, was for $526,000, conditioned on the buyer being subro-
gated to the state's interest and the company property being sold at public auction
within one year. The bids were rejected.57
The second effort to divest the state's interest in the C & O was made in February
1899. Once again the board advertised, but received only one bid—from Charles Lord,
apparently on behalf of the B & O, for $300,000 cash. This bid was also rejected. Later
that year the board tried a third time and received two bids. Lord bid $425,000, but
that was conditioned on all liens (about $200,000 worth) being discharged. The West
Virginia Central bid $400,000 on the same basis, the highest net bid thus being
$225,000. These bids also were rejected by the board.58
Finally, in 1905 the Board of Public Works "bit the bullet" and got rid of the C
& O Canal Company for $155,000. But not without a struggle. The advertisement
produced two bids—one from J. H. Wheelwright, presumably representing the Western
Maryland Railroad, for $151,000 in state bonds, at par, and the winning bid from
Fairfax S. Landstreet, supposedly on behalf of the B & O, for $155,000 in state bonds.
When the Baltimore American learned of these bids, it ran a story headlined "Rumors
53. Ibid., 25 August 1875, 26 September 1877, pp. 280-81, 303.
54. German served in the House of Delegates from 1869, becoming its speaker in 1879. He later became a
state senator, president of the Senate, and chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee. From
1885 to 1897 he served as U.S. senator. According to James B. Crooks, "Maryland Progressivism," in Mary-
land, ed. Walsh and Fox, p. 592, "German controlled Maryland politics from 1875 until his death in 1906.
A personally devout, modest, and generous man, he was one of the most astute politicians in an age of rough
and tumble partisan politics." In 1920 the General Assembly sought to have his portrait painted and hung
in the State House, but Gov. Albert C. Ritchie vetoed the measure. See Acts of 1920, ch. 734. It was not
unusual, of course, for presidents of the C & O to be politicians, or for politicians to be president of the C
&O.
55. BPW Minutes, 7 June 1880, vol. 1851-83, pp. 332-33; 6 June 1881, pp. 360-64 (salary of C & O president
and directors, proposal to direct the C & O to lengthen certain locks); 5 June 1882, pp. 383-84 (election of
president and directors); 17 August 1882, pp. 394-95 (election of president and directors); 3 June 1883, p.
426 (election of president and directors).
56. Ibid., 17 August, 23 November, 14 December 1882, 6 April 1883, pp. 394-95, 406-7, 408, 418.
57. Ibid., 22 December 1904, vol. 1883-1905, pp. 354-67.
58. Ibid., 7 February, 11 December 1899, pp. 262-63, 267.
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