614           JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS            [Mar. 3;

management, by which they believe it can be made a dividend
paying road thereby enabling the private stockholders to get some
return for millions of dollars that have been locked up in this road,
as dead capital, for more than a quarter of a century, (except a few
dividend bonds).

If the State disposes of all the unpreferred stock that she holds
in the road, then she has no interest left except the $3,000,000 of
preferred stock, for which she holds a mortgage upon the whole
line of road, rolling stock and all, to the amount of nearly twenty-
six millions of property, and the Court of Appeals have decided
that her claim is preferable, and must be paid prior to all other
debts, (the ordinary expenses for the repairs of the road not ex-
cepted,) then the State of Maryland has no more right to hold a
supervisory control over the road than any other "mortgagee."
The history of Rail Roads clearly proves, that whenever a Rail
Road is represented by several sets of directors, who are parties
representing different interests, which are more or less antagonisti-
cal, that no permanent and well regulated system can be matured.
What interests does the several sets of directors in the Baltimore &
Ohio Rail Road represent ? The ten directors on the part of the
State represent the citizens of the State outside of the city of Bal-
timore; their duty is to manage the road so as to make it pay an-
nual dividends to the State upon the amount of stock she has sub-
scribed to the road, and to protect her people against imposition
by high tolls and other undue advantages the company might at-
tempt to practice upon them. Has the State directors been able to
control these influences, or to effect the object for which they were
appointed? The local toll-sheets prove that they have not; then
their powers are a nullity, and why keep them there? The eight
directors for the city of Baltimore represent the citizens of Baltimore,
and their object is to bring trade to the city, therefore they dis-
criminate against every interest that stands in the way of this de-
sirable object, the payment of dividends sinks into the merest
"insignificance" when compared with the "paramount" interests
of the mercantile classes, making the through toll-sheet as low as
they can possibly get it, so as to give the advantage to Baltimore
and the Western States,—forcing the local trade to come, at any
price they may think proper to charge,—what can the people living
along the line expect from such selfish policy? The twelve direc-
tors on the part of the private stockholders wish to adopt a perma-
nent and well established system for the working of the road, so
that she may be able to pay her debts, and some interest, At least
upon the subscriptions of the State and city, as well as that sub-
scribed by the private stockholders. These are the interest which
the three sets of directors represent in the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
Road Company; then if this statement is true, and we think they
are beyond contradiction, can any same man believe that a Rail
Road, nearly 400 miles long, with higher grades and sharper
curves than any other Rail Road in this country, (with a single