IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 [frllllM IIM •^ i» 1122 i, 40 2.0 1.8 U 11.6 Photographic Sdences Corporation Wf-J^ 'O '1j^" "^^ <> %^ '^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ,.,> ic^^-^ci. Til i.i- „ ^ ^^i till V -v-iLioJu^ LiiU i:5SUC XUUU LllU whole expense of printing was iJSll. Therefore, I %. Tresidenfs Speech, 6th October, 1881. 13 irt, which rards the 2,500,000 3\v words e letters Dme few esults of classes Dvs of the who took gards the ought to L' the able (juite cer- ordiaary Tom that market, ficalty on 1 believe, ide. The at we did oat — was uentlv in blic from 3 see that ar, hear.) jlass, and ining the entlemen )een very it a great ni i.i-„ i-UCU luC refore, I think, as far as the company are concerned, there certainly can be no ground of complaint of the way that issue was made, or of the result of it. I come next to the individuals who took part in the issue. They have our warmest sympathy. There is no doubt that a good many of them, having had experience of our previous issues, applied for more than they expected to get; and they received more than they wanted; and there is no doubt that there has been a great depression of price since that issue was made. I can sympathise with them, perhaps as warmly as any- body, because I am one of the sufferers. I have mado it a rule whenever I have sent out an issue to the public to identify myself with that issue. I will not under any circumstances send my name forth upon any prospectus to tlie public without taking part, as my means will allow, in that issue. (Cheers.) I did so in this case, and I mean to hold the stock until it goes to a much higher price than that at which it was issued. A gentleman wrote the other day, and said he would be much obliged to us if we would return him his money, because he would now be able to buy some of the same stock at a much smaller price, and save money by the transaction. (Laughter.) I really wish we could accommodate the gentleman, but we were obliged to reply that it was entirely out of our power. We had made the issue in all honesty and in good faith ; we liad no idea there was going to be any reduction of rates, and it is quite out of our power to return the money or alter the conditions on which thn issue was made. Then there are other gentlemen who, since that issue,, have been, it is understood, bearing the stocks, and +,, who at one time complained that we ought not have made that issue, and considered that we knew, or Id- The Grand Trunk Eailwat/ of Canada. if not that we ought to have known, that there was going to be this fall of rates. I can tell you on that subject a little secret : I may reasonably conclude that those gentlemen did not know it either, or they would not have been subscribers to that issue. (Laughter.) Any- body must have been endowed very largely with the gift of prophecy to have been enabled to say what was going to happen, and to foresee what has been happening, during several months after that issue was made! It is true that ever since that issue we have had a continuous fall of rates, and a lamentable competition going on, with regard to which I shall have something to say presently ; but you may believe me when I say we had no more idea of what was going to happen in that respect than the Man in the Moon. Nor can I tell you now what is going to hnppen in the next few months. Well, there is not much to be observed upon in Mr. Hannaford's (the chief engineer's) report. The money spent in the first half of the year always varies accord- ing to the season, and tlie quantity of the rails that can be put in, and the quantity of ballasting that can be done. He has done what he could, and made a very plain report ; but when the end of the yerr arrives he will tell us what he has done for the whole year. You will observe that he says—" The sidings are being extended between Toronto and Belleville, and on the Detroit district, so as to provide for i)assing longer trains, now being hauled by new engines. These works are beino- executed so as to form part of a double track." That is tiie system on which wo are going. We are extending the sidings from time to time in order to i-i-.-T...... ^^vyxo iauiUties lor the crossing of trains, and as our traffic becomes heavier it will become neces- Preudcnrs Speech, {Mh October, 1881. 15 sary to dc so to a still greater extent, ia order to avoid delay to the trains ; and v^hcn these sidings have been sufficiently extended we shall link them up into portions of double line by degrees, so as to avoid the large ex- pense of doubling the whole line at once. The report of the locomotive superintendent, Mr. Wallis, is very interesting. He also refers to the con- templated sidings, and he says, " when they are complete it will be possible to effect a considerable reduction in shunting, and a diminution in the delay to trains." He gives a list of the 434 engines, and you will see that we have now 19 duplicate engines. He gives us all the reasons for the excess in the expenditure of the present half-year, which you will see on page 12 :— Increased con- sumption of fuel caused by much severer weather during the past winter. 2nd. Advance in prices of fuel, wages, and materials. 3rd. Outlay in working the extra traffic, which of course requires extra fuel, and so on. As regards fuel, I should like to tell you what we are doing in that respect. We are gradually economising, and using more coal and less wood. In the half-year ending June, 1S80, we used 60,000 cords of wood, and in the half-year ending June, 18S1, only 48,030 cords. Fer contra, we used in the half-year endin.? June, 1880, 109,000 tons of coal, and in the half-year up to June, 18S1, 143,000 tons of coal ; so that we had a decrease of 12,000 cords of wood and an increase of 34,000 tons of coal. As wood becomes more scarce, and there are extra facilities for getting coal, we shall hope, in working our traffic, to effect further economy in this respect. Then as regards the car stock, you will observe if you look at pngc ^-j, .iiSu vre xiave no less than 412 duplicatfi carsj we have increased the number of cars to 9,806, and besides I 16 The Grand Trunk Maihcay of Canada. those we have 412 vehicles. There is also an interesting statement, at the bottom of page 16, and on page 17, of works and maehinery provided at the cost of revenue, with the details of which I need not trouble you. Mr. Wallis also says, "The standard freight engines, twenty- six of which, since January, 1880, have been built in the compary's workshops, would have cost 30 per cent, more if ordered from manufacturers, with the addition of 25 per cent, customs duties." So you see we are also making a large economy in extending our worKS at Point St. Charles. He adds—*' The same remark would apply in a still greater degree to twenty-three engines of the same class at present under construction, which could not now be purchased exclusive of the duty at less than 50 per cent, advance on what they will cost." There is one item at page 27, in account No. 12, of which, perhaps, you w^ould like to have an explanation, and that is the increased value of materials on hand. It is there mentioned that the stores, fuel, old material, &c., on hand for Juno, 1880, was £208,000, but for June, 1881, it is £281,000, an increase of upwards of £70,000. Now, that arises because we have ties, that is to say, sleepers and rails, in considerable numbers on hand for renewals and other work yet to be done ; and our stock of fuel was rather too low last year, in consequence of the strikes which occurred at the collieries, and we have, therefore, a much larger stock of fuel on hand this year. Then, again, we have a quantity of seasoned timber in store, which will be brought into use in the construction of further rolling-stock during the present half-year ; and 1 may mention that this timber was bought at a much cheaper rate than that at which it would be possible to buy it at the pres(}nt time. 'ft' Fresidenfs Speech, 6th October, 1881. 17 terestins: ge 17, of revenue, )u. Mr. twenty- ilt in tliP nt. more on of 25 are also vorKS at k would engines Q, which duty at ill cost." . 12, of lanation, m hand, naterial, or June, £70,000. \ to say, hand for \xv stock lence of WQ. have, his year, mber in itruction ilf-vear ; ^•ht at a ou Id hi^ I spoke of the relative proportions of the local and through traffic, but I should like to say also a few words on what we were doing as regards the west- bound and east-bound traffic, which is of great import- ance to our working. Now, the relative proportions of the local and through tons running one mile in the two half-years were as follows : — In the June half of 1880 the proportion was 38 of local, to 62 of through traffic. And you will see how that has increased during the past half-year— the local from 38 to 42, while the through ton-miles have decreased from. 62 to 58. In fact, we had an increase in tlie ton-miles— that is to say, of the total number of tons of freight which we moved one mile in the half-year— from 489,000,000 to 508,000,000 ; that is to say, an increase of about 19,000,000. But the in- crease of the local ton-miles was 26,000,000. Then the division of the traffic into east-bound and west-bound is as follows :— In 1880 it was as 34 local, to QQ through, east-bound ; and 51 local, to 49 through, west-bound : whilst in 1881 it was as 37 local to 63 through of east-bound; and as 56 of local traffic to 44 of through traffic west- bound. But whilst the volume of the whole traffic has increased 4 per cent., the relative proportions of east and west-bound continue to bear almost the same proportion to each other as in the corresponding half-year. Here I have a comparison between the years 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1881, and this shows that in the years 1875—77 and 1878, the proportion was 80 east-bound to 20 west- bound, whilst in 1879—80 and 1881 it lias been from 77, 72, and now 73 east-bound to 23, 28, and 27 west- bound. Therefore, although the percentage of the whole west-bound is slightly less, the volume of the 2 18 The Grand Trunk Mailway of Canada, west-bouiid lias incrensed from :35,000,000 tons, ono mile, in 1880, to 130,000,000 in 18S1. I mentioned in opening my statement that the pro- hibition that prevented us from takiu,^ liye stock from the United States and brins^ing it to England stili con- tinues, but you will be interested to hear that the result of that is that there has been a very large increase in the dead meat traffic; so much so, tliat whilst in the half- year ending June, 1S80, we carried only 1,264j tons, in the half-year ending June, 1881, we carried 7,128 tons. We received on account of that traffic for 1880, $7,834 and for 1881, $37,198. That, you wiU see, is an enormous proportional increase. Now, as ri'gards the tonnage of freight conveyed for the use of the company, which is not repre- sented by money in tha receipts, the return I have in my hand sho- s tha"^^ 23,U00,000tons were carried for the use of the company, whilst 508,000,000 tons were carried one mile as general merchandise, making a total of 531,000,000 tons moved one mile. The number of freishi cars hauled ono mile have increased, too, very much. It was 36,000,000 in 1872 ; it is now 68,000,000. But the most remarkable feature of the statistics I have, before me is the enormous amount of extra weight that we are carrying in our cars. That amount has in- creased, as regards the average number of tons carried in each car from June, 1872, Avhcn it was rather more than 5 tons, up to 7 J tons in 1S80, and no less than 7f tons in 1S81. That is tlie averai?e running of all our cars. They carry 7} tons per car. Of course, that leads to economical working, as far as it can be done safely, but they have boon rather over-doina* it. It seems to have become the fashion now to load up the. Ida, ) tons, ono It tho pro- stock from i still con- fc tho result [•ease in the a tho half- 64) tons, in 7,128 tons. SO, $7,834, see, is an 1 conveyed lot repre- I have in led for the ere carried a total of p of freight ery much. 000. But cs I have eight that it has in- ms carried ther more less than ing of all )f course, as it can r-floina« if )ad up tha> Freaideiifs S^eechy Gih October, 1881. 1^ cars almost without reference to their strength, so as to carry as much as they can in them. We haveheen working, therefore, a little on the opposite tack lately, and de- creasing the a mount carried in each car, because we found those going eastward were loaded to an excessive weight, and loaded so as almost to be dangerous in running. The total amount which we received per ton per mile has sli;:htly increased over tho corresponding half-year, from '72 to -75 of a cent. That, of course, is a miserable receipt, audit will be even lower, considering the rates at which we are runnfuGr now. As regards what we are doing in passenger traffic, the number of passengers we carried increased from 892,000 to 994,000, whilst the receipts increased from $1,251,000 to $1,330,000 ; and the number of passengers carried one mile increased from. 63,000,000 to 66,000,000, and wo get a little more per passenger for carrying them. The average receipt per passenger per mile increased from l-97c. to 2c. Tho average distance travelled by each passenger decreased from 71 to 66 miles. Whilst we are not able to carry live stock from the States, and whilst tho prohibition of that traffic exists, it is interesting to see how the increase of Canadian exports of live stock to Great Britain has progressed. I have hero the reports of the two last whole years of 1879 and 1880. I find that the number of cattle from Canada to Great Britain increased from 26,000 in 1879 to 50,000 in 1880, nearly double. The number of sheep was 78,000 in 1S79, and 81,000 in 1880. The number of horses decreased from 386 to 1-9 ; and the number of ]iogs decreased from 3,091 to 700 ; but the total value of those exports increased from $2,600,000 to $4,738,000. 20 The Grand Ti-imk Bailway of Canada. The total exports of agricultural and other products from the United States (these are taken from the returns of thoUnited States Department of Agriculture), show an enormous increase of what is coming to this country though I am afraid it is a very bad story for the farmers and landowners of this country. There was an increase as between 1875, we will say, and 1880, of from $85,000,000 to .$101,000,000~nearlydouble-in "animals and their products." Then, as regards breadstuffs, it mcreased from $107,000,000 in 1875 up to $208,000 000 m 1879, and $288,000,000 in 1880. Then other exports -cotton, wood, and miscellaneous articles, also increased 1866 to 1870 was $351,000,000, whilst for the year ending 30th June, 1880, the total exports were $823000 000 And here is a table which shows you something of what the American railway companies are fighting for It is a comparative export of cereals from the five prin * cipal Atlantic seaports for the last six years. New York IS always trying to monopolise as far as it can those exports, and we shall see here in what proportions those exports have been shipped from the different ports of Ne^y York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Montreal during the last few years. In 1875, 56 per cent, came from Kew York ; in 1879, 49 per cent. ; and in 1880, 50 per cent. ; so that the proportion from New York has been reduced to that extent, whereas the pro- portion from Philadelphia it has increased from 9 or neaiOy 10, per cent, up to 12 per cent. Baltimore had a still larger increase-and that is what the New York companies like least of all-from 12 per cent, to 19 per cent. The proportion from Boston had increased from - per cent, in 1875 to 7 per cent, in 1880, and that 3 -S I ada. ler products the returns re), show an lis country, >i7 for the lere was an !80, of from in "animals ;adstuffs, it 208,000,000 hor exports 10 increased ' the years ^ear ending ,000,000. lething of :hting for. 5 five prin- New York can those tions those t ports of Jton, and 5, 56 per ent. ; and 'rom New i the pro- mm 9, or nore had lew York 19 per sed from md that PreaidenVs Speech, Qth October, 1881. 21 from Montreal had fallen off from 17 per cent, down to 10 per cent. The numbers and amounts of failures! have generally menti(med here, and, of course, they are indications of the prosperity or otherwise of the United States and Canada. (Cries of " Time " and " War of Eates.") Well, I will pass over these statistics, of which I have still a great number of a most interesting character, as affecting the progress and prospects of the Grand Trunk and the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railways, and I will, witli great pleasure, come to what you would evidently wish me to pass to— this burning question of the war of rates. I wish some of you would tell me what is the cause of this war of rates, because that is a very difficult question to answer. A great many causes have been assigned for it, one of which I told you of at the last meeting, which was a special meeting. It was then supposed to have commenced with the unfortunate agreement between the Great Western and Wabash Companies. That agreement has never been published, and we do not profess to know what the contents of it are. But there are people who do profess to know, and they say that the Great Western Company agreed to carry traffic from the Wabash system at less than half the cost at which it Avas before carried over the Lake Shore system; and that Mr. Vanderbilt was exceedingly angry on that account, and naturally de- manded that his Michigan Central traffic should be carried at the same rate as the Wabash traffic was carried over the Great Western. That may have given it a start, but still that could not account for all that has happened since, and for the existing competition that is still going on. \ I 22 The Grand Tmnk Railway of Canada. Thea it was stated that Mr. Vaiidorbilt was very much dissatisfied with the building up of Philadelphia and 13altiraore, and that is the reason why I p^ave you the statistics on that subject. It was said that he was very much dissatisfied with the traffic carried by the Penn- sylvania and Baltimore and Ohio Ilailroad Companies, and he was determined to put a stop to it as far as he eould; but he will find it a difficult task to accomplish, lor the Pennsylvania road is very powerful, and Mr. (jrarrett, also, the President of the Baltimore and Ohio I load, who is a redoubtable antagonist, is reported to have recently had a good deal of altercation with Mr. \'anderbilt. That is assigned as another reason. Then, again, we are told that Mr. Vanderbilt was . not previously understand it, but he had come to the conclusion that Mr. Vanderbilt wanted to buy the shares of the Michigan Central road at a cheap rate. That appeared to be the main reason why the rates had been kept down. Mr. Vanderbilt has recently refused to allow the freight rates to be put up, and he has been doing a good deal to keep them down ; but what his object is I certainly cannot tell. I will now read a letter to you which I have received from a gentleman thoroughly well informed on the subject, but I will not mention his name. He says, in plain terms, that at the present time it is alleged, without causing the slightest surprise, that the war is being raged for the express purpose of lowering the price of stocks, in order that large operators may repurchase securities which they had previously sold at higher prices. There is some colour for the accusation, because we heard that people were selling on this side and on that side, and there seemed to be some preconcerted scheme for bear- ing the stocks at a particular period ; and this, I sup- pose, must have been known, and that something would happen to enable them to buy them back at a lower rate. Of course, we who wxre not in the secret could not see any reason why the stocks should be sold at that par- ticular time, but we may reasonably assume that there must have been previous knowledge if there w^as a pre- concerted scheme for such operations. This gentleman goes on to say—" Shrewd and frequently accurate obser- vers give this complexion to the present contest. It would be difficult to imagine the chairman of the North Western, Great Western, or Midland operating in the stocks of those concerns, lowering rates throughout England, and after accomplishing the purposes of the President's Speech, m October, 1881. 25 movement restoring tariffs and resuming their ordinary posztions at the head of those systems as if nothing Tad happened. Personally, of com-se, we can have no kuow- k Mr^ «"«h transactions on this side of the Atlan- b;v! r ''"'"*' ''' "P^^'y ^-^^ without rebuke, and are accepted as oae of the probabilities of and we do no know why passenger fares are day b^ day approaching the zero point." •Now, we the Grand Ti-unk, had something to do with passenger tares after that letter was written." We hid a me of our own to take - I want to be perfectly rank with you, and to tell you all that we have done m this matter. When we found the p.ssenger fares going down, and down, and down, at last we thoif" ^e would go to the bottom, and we put the passenle ares own to ?5 between Kew EnglaL and 'cMcafo 1 will tell you why we did it. It was because i we carry mostly frei.'ht tnffi,. n„ „ ^ i-l,o^„ „« 'i«-ij,nt tiauic on our system, and til se other compa„,es carry more passengei- traffi; and ^ obteinlargeprofltsfromit. We were not ge^ng so m^eh ' out of our passenger traffic, and by filling our trains in this way we could better afford to carry at low fares. vhilc the other companies could not afford to lose what we took from them. But. in order to show exactly what happened, I will read the official report of what was done in this resj-ect :- " On the 5th ult. w^c were notified that the Boston and Albany and Hoosac Tunnel Companies would, on and after 6th, put in force a reduc- tion of $1 on first and $3 on second. Our rate was con- sequently reduced. On July Uth tlie other lines further reduced to §16 first and f U second. On July 15th first class tickets were reduced to $15, and on the 18th inst 26 The Grand Trunk Hallway of Canada, to $12 ; and these reduced rates were put in force at Springfield, Worcester, Eutland, and other internal points. Tliese alterations were consequent upon corres- ponding reductions from New York to Chicago. They were made through the agencj of Scalpers, and, as already advised, tickets reached the price of $7." Scalpers are persons who buy tickets from one man and sell them to an other, and by methods which I need not explain diminish the profits of the railway companies in doing so. But lately they have been allowed to buy tickets from certain of the railway companies at low prices, and sell them out cheaply to the public. In my opinion it would be Vv'ell if, instead of employing them for such operations, all the companies would unite with one another to crush out the Scalpers, like Sir William Harcourt would stamp out his " nest of vipers." The report goes on : — *' To meet this New York price, the other routes again reduced the Boston rate to $9"50, and on the 29th ult. (Julv) to $8 Boston to Chicago." Now, here we began. When it came to this we thought it was time to act, and " in order to accelerate a settle- ment, and to reach at once a bottom figure, we reduced, as you know, to $5, and, as that was not effectual, on the 2nd inst. (August) the same charge was made to passengers from Chicago to Boston. Hitherto the other lines have not followed the Chicago fare, but it has probably acceleiated recent proceedings and declara- tions. Since the establishment of the $5 rate from Chicago— *.(?., from the 2rid to the 10th inRt.-'2,602 tickets have been issued, 906 tickets have been pur- chased in Boston, and 95 from New England points. We are informed that passengers have expressed tlicmselves highly *>leased witii the Grand Trunk rout© t' Fresldenfs Speech, Glh October, 1881. 27 >i )> and the service." I should think the passenger: ought to be satisfied with being . carried at that price. (Laughter.) I want you clearly to understand what part we have had in this cutting of rates. As regards freight rates, we have had no part in it whatever, and have all along protested against it ; but as regards the passenger rates, when they were found to be going down, and down, and down, at last we went to the bottom, and there we are. And next, gentlemen, as regards the remedy for this state of things, for that is a most difficult subject. All sorts of remedies have been proposed, and many tried. Mr. Fink has long been appointed Comm•^5iouer, and a very honest Commissioner he is, and w(3 are always ready to go before Mr. Eink and let him settle all these disputes, and are ready to abide by his decisions, and Mr. Fink knows it. (Cheers.) But, unfortunately, others wil 1 not always agree to do the same. The Ameri- can companies have appointed three other gentkvnen, as Ai'bitrators, very honest and able gentlemen ; and those gentlemen are so disgusted with the position taat they have declined to draw their salaries until something is done to bring business before them. Money pools are ineffective, because there is no means of enforc- ing payment from defaulters ; and physical pools, that is to say, actual divisions of traffic, have broken down, because certain of the companies will not adhere to their obligations. So those remedies have not been effective. Tlie only remedy I have to suggest is one of which I hare had some experience. "When I was a Government in- spector of railways, I set to work some fifteen years ago to see how I could best— what is not so directly in accordanco vvith my present position — bring about a I uS The Grand Trunk Maihmy of Canada. reform in enforcing improvements in the interest of safety on directors of railways in this country. (Laughter.) We had a great deal of discussion at different times as to how we could cjet imnrovements made upon railways. Many people advocated legisla- tion ; some advocated one thing and some another. I always said there is only one way in which we can act upon railway companies, and that is by public opinion. All you have to do is to find out the truth of everything that happens and clearly state it, and the public will do the rest. The remedy I should now propose for the state of things in America is just the same. I have seen it succeed admirably for one good object in England, and I believe it will succeed equally well with our present object in America. If American gentlemen w ould themselves set to work to discover who are these people Vv^ho lower the rates, and what they do it for, and would publish witho t fear, favour, or affection the results of their discoveries , I believe the cure would not be far distant. I have given you the various theories which have been started to account for it, and if they w^ould set to work to find out what are the causes operating — whether there are speculators bearing stocks, or buying up stocks — if they v.ould discover the true *' inwardness," as they term it, of all those recent opera- tions, — and set it cleaily before the American public, I am sure it would do more to stop this abominable state of things than anything else that we candevise. (Loudcheei's.) As regards our half-year, I will only repeat, in conclusion, that vou will see with satisfaction how, in the face of all these adverse conditions of low rates and the disadvantages of imdue competition, of the rise in the cost of fuel, labour, and materials, of ^residenfs Speech, Qfh Oofoher, 1881. 29 we have achieved the best results thnf ^o i before aoWevea in an, .„„e h^^;;";: tj ,,. ^ ^ aU, very encouraging. Nohnrlv l^i ' ^ the other side of th^e tatle tt u wLlo ot Z^'T^^'r advantage, and even the crueltv t y ' '''^ ""'- of whatever na^onj ty "f tt ''-l-ay shareholders. ««j • -L . '^ -i^^uciiicy, ot the present conditinn nf affairs, but we are perfeetly powerless to put an end to it I .s. however only temporary; itcannotlast fo°vernd some day we shall hear that the mtes have been rM Perhaps, when these speculators have bouX I , bought up. or settled their arran^eTontr n ' " or other, rates will be restored. antrhaU Z 7"' you howmueh traffie we can calron . ? "^ ^nd w,,t amount of profit we ean^LTo lelST;' h vltd TirvT "^-""-''^ '"^"-y- -oh as we ave i.ad. They have experienced similar effects re nave had another very serious disadvantage in this cessors W^Ln^^tdl^ ^^^ J^ur r^ aoeum 1,« for 10 years at the l^T^J^T that we ha.e somewhere about double the Inouut to pay on our Preference Stocks than we ouX bave had if our predecessors had exerc^s d alut e tC ::!i°!'i_ ^"»--- «'"^- - wiiinuir^ 'o..e ....uvaaoages. aud satisfy you before we have 80 The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, done, if we can only get fair play as regards these through rates for traffic. Our task is a very easy one compared to what it was when I hecamo your chairrmin four years aijo. Then we were almost in the Bankruptcy Court, and some people thought that notliing could save us ; but now the condition of our credit and our rolling- stock and our road will bear favourable comparison with any railway in the world. And we are not going to stand still. (Cheers.) There are many projects in America which will, as they are carried out, be of very great value to us ; and many lines are being made which will connect with us. If T>Ir. Vanderbilt Avill not work with us from Buffalo to New York, there is another line being made which will join us at Buffalo, and be ^lad to exchange traffic with us as soon as it is completed, I have no doubt. There is also another line projected from Chicago to the North-w^est, near Duluth, and I believe that \\W\ also be a very valuable line. It is already commenced. We shall, when it is made, have a- straight connection from Chicago to the west end of Lake Superior, connected with the Northern Pacific, which will add another grand link to our system, to counteract the disadvantages with which we have other- wise to contend. Gentlemen who have at their command ten or twenty millions of money, have in the past done much, by buying up railways, towards cutting us off from the sources of traffic. But we are quite ready to encounter them in all respects ; and though we have not these large amounts of money in our pockets, or securities in our strong rooms available for such purposes, we have 12,000 good shareholders to support us, and we have the British public at our back ; tmd with your kind favour vre intend to go on and ensure suGcess= I beg to PreHdent's Speech, m October. 1881. gj move "That the report nnri .. and -hereh, .jZZl:::;::, fr --^-'"eC he about the cxpenditu ci S '''"°"' '1"''''°"^' «'^t. too money. I hope the res?..". > ''' """^'^ P^^' "^ and I am sure it .,1 Lt i '" """ '"'"'•^«' 's going on upon the faith J\^\' ^^Penditure that and which J, be 1, bv f' """"^^ •^"'"'"S in. direetion of economSw ■ "'°"'^' '^ ''" '" "'o va^ profitable to ZSr;;- J!"'^ "*-^ore „,„ he gradients where we are putZ in T '"'"'"^" ""^^ portions of the lino, so as t h^ J^'T "" ''°"""''" number of oars i„ our (rains, which il.!" ' """'^^ great economy; and we sh-,11 IV "^ '°"™^ °*" result by continuiuc tL ''°'"'^'' *''*' «ame engines and haX: ^oJ "' ''"'^'""=" "wavier ■noney will be S^'oted TJTo "I T *"'" ^'^"^ in roUing-stock-which wi also b" " "'"'°'""" and in many other „, , "^''^ Profitable- i-provementf in d L r;.2 t^T^r' ^"^ " ""'- of course, all tend to profit l^n anTt: f' "') economy of u^orkinn.. ^^buus and to increased hari:;r::s:7:s''2': """•^"- "^ ^"--^-3. they about 6,000 orsoil 18^5? TT'' '''''' «'^' ^-- -^OOOintheprertJLf^^rS"^-^^--^ I was also asked in re-ard fn ^)J -.1,7 some of the annl.Vn.f / .f ^ withdrawals of ino applicants for the recent f^n^ rf j- stock. There were ihnui f 1 ordinary l^etwoen the time "i. en "he '"'''"'" "^°' ^Ph- ^ ^^ the issue was mp^A ov,,j x. ^ applied to bo allowed to withdraw the :i2 The Grand Trunk Bailway of Canada. ivliole or a part of their subscriptions. When the directors met to make the allotment they considered how they should deal with the matter, and they dealt with it as the simplest matter of business possible. They said, *' Those gentlemen who have applied to reduce or with- draw their subscriptions shall be allowed to do so, and the balance will be allotted." I do not well sec how they could have adopted any other course, or how any- body can suggest that theycould have adopted any other course than that which they did adopt. Then there are three questions asked by a shareholder who is in litigation with the company on this subject. He used to send a clerk, or whoever he was, to the office making inquiries. We received him in a good- humoured way and we answered his inquiries to the best of our power; but, apparently annoyed by something or other, he has commenced proceedings against this company, and now by way of assisting those proceedings he asks these questions at this meeting. (Derision.) I think I should be justified, as chairman of this company, in refusing to answer those questions, but I am. not inclined to take that course. I will answer the questions, because I never want to conceal anything at all. He asks why, as the directors knew nothing of the reduction of rates, was the issue made when it was made. The answer to that is perfectly simple. The issue was made when it was made because we thought that the time had come when it should be made. There was no reason on eartli why it should not be made. The market price was high, and we knew nothing of any reduction of rates. The second question is, whether we had any intimation I'rom Mr. Hickson or anybody else on the other side of the water to induce us to make the issue at once. The answer Preeident's Speech, m Oc/oler. 1881 33 havo proba),ly suspected ^1 *t '''"'" "'« '''°«''l Who tMnts t.fat M^mLZTZTr ^'"''"'^ over there would send sueh , L ^ """ "'' *™^t understands the position .'. , '?° ^''^ '""<='' «'«- of Mr. Hicsou .rrr :':nr i"" '^"r*- fflumcation passed between Air wL f " """'' «°«- The next question had f T h " ""'""^ '"'^'='°••^• reference to traifies '°"''"'"^' "^htly. some At certain times of the vew tha ■ competition for the stuff toTe e'ri^ ;\ ^ f""' '^ times, and sueii a condition e T ' ''"' ^' °*''M «t the present time; Se I.te^atT !' '''^™^="'^= than we can all ear^y Bn . ^ '"' "°''" ^^'S^t freight to be carried Le .1 Tr? "" """""^ °^ we should fight for it wlT , '' "° '■^'''^''" "'V - .- if ,;; el^- a!^^e :X!^^^^^^^^ before, we are re-dv to J. T !^^ ^' ^ '''''^« «aid P-kandhave:;;tll^l^^.\'tr "^ *" ^^• other companies do tC" Zi ' m f ''""" ''^* matter of fact, scarcity of Lde is 1 /T^' "'"'•^ ^^ ^ n:tt-=Xbe^t^rr^^^^^ -.t,.LestrbXtt\rnor°^^^ bee::iS!rnrt^^SSr^^- ■«^"--'- set our faces entirely a" W, ' "°"'^""^' ""^ ''"^« very great abuse 0^^^ It usedtobea many railways. We h-,Z Railway, as on executive oificers from lILTt •''""* "*" *° °"^ eo-operated with us in ^ ""' ™'' *'"=y I'^^e put a stop as far as I Z T' ''™''* ^''^y- *" as 1. possible to all tree passes 3 Si The Grand Trunk JlnVioay of Canada. on tlio Grand Trunk llailway. Of course there are cases where you have to exchange passes with other railway companies — where you have to give their officers the opportunity of travelling over your line, and there are little courtesies which are exchanged in that Avay. ]^ut as regards any ahuse of passes being given too freely, there is nothing of the sort on the Grand Trunk system at this moment. Many gentlemen have come to me, shareholders and others, asking for free passes on the Grand Trunk Line, and my answer has been plainly that I would not only not give free passes myself, but that if I heard of anybody giving them a pass on the Grand Trunk Railway that man should be dismissed from the company's service. That is our feeling in regard to free passes. As regards the Auditors' report, Mr. Chjibb has undertaken the duties of Auditor, and has done what Mr. Creak and Mr. Newmarch always did before him ; he has made his report and conducted his investigations very carefully. I do not think you would wish to place upon him any heavier duties than he has at present. I will myself stand responsible that the dividend which is to be paid on the 12th October has been earned by this company. (Applause.) As regards the rolling stock, an amount of £18,000 has been expended out of revenue sources towards the construction of 21 new engines. This is equal to providing in the half-year about 11 new engines out of revenue. The Chairman then put the resolution, which was carried without dissent. He then announced the formal resolution for the payment of the dividend on the Pirst and Second Preference Stocks, on October 12. I i a] nc ti( i Pre^clent's Speeel,, 6« OcMc, 1881 85 The Chairman : WitW "°^ '""'"''''^^ ? '- paid at Mids„a>^e/i" r'^-."°'""''- « "^^-^ *" October. ' '*"'' ™^ 1' '3 not paid until The CHAinMAN- T hon. paid at Midsummer ^°"'' P""^"" ' " "^^er was A"g«st. Itusedt^bep'aidT^ 1 Midsummer nor in An Ac, which was Z^oZtCT" ' '"" '"'^''^ '■ afterwards passed, providirtw^ ^' P'-°P"'"ors, was paid within 15 da^f o7 hi'!' *," '''''''"' should bo »ow paving it within six days"^''''^ '"''""=• ^« «« and Board of Dir" 0^' !^? ^'"'"^ *° ^""^ Chairman question of the rites ^nn.'°^' '""^ *'"''*' '^ ""l^ the -o diffieulty inJZ ZV\'T'' "'^^ -"^ he «on -j^ the «. --^u?:f s:r s ^^"^^ ^*^- The meeting then terminated.