This, of course, permitted the sale of all remaining investments, including that in the
Washington Branch, subject to conditions set by the legislature.
Acting pursuant to this authority, the General Assembly in 1892 adopted a set
of procedural regulations for the sale of these investments, other than the stock in
the Washington Branch, which was exempted from the act. Essentially the law re-
quired the Board of Public Works to advertise for sealed proposals and to select the
highest bid. The board was authorized to reject all bids, however, if the highest price
"should in their judgment be insufficient," in which event the board was allowed to
sell the securities "at private sale upon the best terms and highest prices which they
can obtain therefor." Finally, the act empowered the board to employ agents to assist
it in making the sales.65
With the exception of the first futile attempt to dispose of the C & O, nothing
much was done by the board under the 1892 act. In 1896 the legislature made it a
little easier. For one thing, the General Assembly specifically authorized, and indeed
directed, the sale of the 5,500 shares in the Washington Branch, plus the state's stock
in the Annapolis Water Works (600 shares) and the Farmers National Bank (1,549
shares), and the mortgage of the Northern Central Railroad Company, securing the
$90,000 annuity to the state. More important, although the act directed the board to
proceed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the 1892 act, it permitted it to
accept as payment an equal amount of outstanding state bonds.66 Aside from the sale
of the B & O preferred stock in 1898, there was little further activity, notwithstanding
this act, until 1906 when, after a great deal of contention, the state was able to dispose
of the Washington Branch stock.
The state, as noted, owned 5,500 shares of the Washington Branch stock, with a
par value of $100 a share. The stock carried a 10 percent dividend, which made it an
attractive investment in light of the 3-4 percent rate on state bonds. In 1897, however,
the B & O stopped the dividends. The railroad claimed that it needed the money in
order to help finance the cost of a new terminal in the District of Columbia; the state
argued that the railroad's action was arbitrary and filed suit.67
By 1906 the situation had become tense and, indeed, a bit nasty. The state was
holding an unproductive stock that it was unable to sell, primarily because no one
but the B & O had any idea of its value. At some point the B & O offered $200 a share
for the state's Washington Branch stock, an offer the state rejected. In early 1906 the
General Assembly got into the act. By joint resolution 1, adopted 21 February 1906,
it appointed four of the state's leading lawyers to assist the attorney general in pros-
ecuting actions against the B & O to compel it to pay certain moneys alleged to be
due to the Washington Branch and to the state. The resolution also designated a joint
special committee to "thoroughly inquire into the value of the shares of stock owned
and held by the state ... in the Washington Branch . . . and into the policy on the
part of the state of selling or retaining the same."
The legislature appeared to be in dead earnest. It conferred on the joint committee
the power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of records, to
administer oaths, and to report to the House of Delegates sitting as the grand inquest
