| Annual Report of the Charleston &
Savannah RR |
| as of January 1, 1864, |
| President's Report |
| |
| To the Stockholders of the Charleston &
Savannah Railroad Company: |
| Charleston, February 17, 1864 |
| |
|
Gentlemen,
|
| The Tenth Annual Report of
the President and Directors is herewith submitted for the fiscal year
ending December 31, 1863. |
| The Earnings have been |
$712,147.16 |
| Operating Expenses |
318,947.89 |
| Leaving as Net Income |
$393,199.27 |
|
| The Net Income, as shown by
the above statement, nearly equals the Gross Receipts for the year
1862, and would, no doubt, have been much larger but for the
commencement of the Siege of Charleston, which turned the travel,
properly belonging to this, to lines further in the interior. The
result presented, however, is very gratifying, especially when we bear
in mind the many difficulties under which the Road has been operated,
and that it must be affected by causes peculiar to its isolated
position. It was, indeed, altogether impossible for the Management to
have anticipated so fortunate a termination of its efforts, as the
activity of a hostile force, both by land and sea, along the coast,
gave rise to the apprehension that the business of the Road might, at
any moment, have been wholly interrupted or seriously damaged by
successful raids. Though these fears have not been realized, the
exemption of the entire line from injury by incursions of the enemy is
attributable, in a great measure, to its availability for its own
defence. Not only has the Road itself escaped violence at the hands of
the enemy, but it has also, by rapidly massing troops at threatened
points, materially aided in defeating whatever designs may have been
formed for the invasion of this section of the state. With the
progress of the war, its importance as the base of military movements
on the seaboard became more apparent, and the experience of the past
year has so fully demonstrated the magnitude of its services in this
respect, that no exertion should be spared to maintain its present
state of efficiency. |
|
The steady and large increase of the income of the Road
enabled the Board of Directors to authorize the payment of all the
interest which had accumulated upon the funded debt of the Company
prior to the month of March last, and also induced them to make a
strenuous effort to carry out the scheme for funding the floating debt
recommended by a Committee at the annual meeting in 1861, and
authorized by the Stockholders at an adjourned meeting held on the
10th of April of the same year. As an inducement to their creditors to
accept the Third Lien Bonds, the Board of Directors instructed me to
offer these bonds, with the coupons attached, for the interest from
the date of their issue (1st of March, 1861). In pursuance of their
instructions, I immediately caused notices to be served upon the
holders of the floating debt, through the Treasurer, that he would
deliver to them these bonds, with the coupons, in payment of their
claims, upon application to him -- the coupons then due to be paid on
presentation at the Bank of Charleston.
|
|
Those to whom the Company was indebted for work done on
the Road and materials furnished, very generally accepted; but many of
the largest creditors were unwilling to accede to these terms, and
took no measures to avail themselves of the offer. The offer, however,
was open to them for several months; in fact, until the month of
November last. By this time the increase of income and accumulation of
cash on hand made it easy for the Company to meet all those who
had not then accepted the bonds offered, with payment of their
demands in currency. Such of the Directors as could be convened under
this state of circumstances, agreed with me that it would be more
proper and better to offer to all such creditors full payment of their
claims in currency, and this offer was accordingly made to them some
time in the month of December, but was not accepted. One of the
largest creditors then claimed payment in the Third Lien Bonds. This
was not acceded top upon which a formal demand of these binds in
payment was made and declined, as that mode of payment, although
authorized under the condition of affairs in 1861, did not appear to
me, and to such of the Directors as I could consult, to be proper of
judicious under the then existing circumstances of the Company. There
still therefore, remains due by the Company a considerable amount of
floating debt, seeking our lowest grade of securities in preference to
the currency of the country. It will be for you to determine this
question.
|
| The debt of the
Company, at the close of the year (December 31, 1863), may be
stated thus: |
| Bonds guaranteed by the State |
|
$505,000.00 |
| "
First Mortgage (Second Lien) |
|
1,000,000.00 |
| : Second
Mortgage (Third Lien) |
|
297,000.00 |
| "
Payable, Bills Payable, and Miscellaneous Accounts |
|
302,017.54 |
|
Making total of |
|
$2,004,017.54 |
| The Assets on hand December 31,
1863, applicable to payment of Floating Debt, were: |
|
|
| Stock in King' Mountain R. R. Co. |
$30,000.00 |
|
| Confederate States Bonds |
1,650.00 |
|
| Due by P. O. Department |
7,114.75 |
|
| "
" Q. M. " |
55,169.50 |
|
| Agents' Balances |
24,846.93 |
|
| Connecting Roads |
11,567.64 |
|
| Cash on hand after reserving amount due to
Coupons uncalled for |
176,165.55 |
|
| Open Accounts (Balance) |
1,723.72 |
|
| Making total estimated at par value |
|
$308,218.19 |
|
|
It thus appears that, after providing for all the
interest due on the funded debt, the assets of the Company,
immediately and prospectively available at the close of the year, was
more than sufficient to cancel the entire floating debt.
|
|
This being discharged, there would remain to the
Stockholders a Road with a funded debt of only $1,802,000, the
interest on which would be only $121,090 per annum.
|
|
The Road, in its present incomplete condition, it is
believed would, in ordinary and peaceful times, be capable of
performing a business that would yield an income equal to this
interest, but can never do much more as long as the depletion to which
it has been all the while subjected at its termini remains unchecked.
A temporizing policy seldom fails to be the precursor of ultimate
embarrassment in the conduct of financial affairs, and it is
particularly productive of injurious consequences in reference to the
subject now under consideration. The expenses incident to the
employment of a steamer for transferring passenger and freight from
the eastern terminus of the Road to the city has been marked, as will
be seen from the annexed statement, by a large and constant increase
each successive year:
|
| For 1861 it was |
$12,279.48 |
| For 1862 |
24,973.25 |
| For 1863 |
33,978.66 |
|
|
Had a permanent railway bridge been constructed over the
Ashley river simultaneously with the prosecution of the work on the
balance of the line, the saving of this annual amount would soon have
absorbed the capital required for its erection. A more convenient mode
of crossing the river would also greatly enlarge the capacity of the
Road for the transportation of freight, and render it more popular
with the travelling public. Whatever causes, therefore, may have
induced a resort to a system so defective, the experience of the past,
and the present partial relief of the Company from its financial
distress, alike concur in recommending the adoption of some other
mode, attended with less expense and detention than the one now in
use.
|
|
Having made this brief allusion to the urgent necessity
of constructing a bridge over the Ashley river, it only remains to
mention particularly two other points on the line that claim your
earnest attention. The Savannah river is spanned by a temporary
structure, which was designed to be used only until it could be
replaced by a permanent one. Though up to the present time it has
occasioned no disaster, it is injudicious to expect for the future the
same exemption from accident that has marked its previous history --
for experience shows that even the severest scrutiny is not, at all
times, adequate to the detection of decay in wooden structures; and
even if, by diligent care and watchfulness, it can be kept in such
condition as to prevent accident and loss, the old timbers must, in a
few years be replaced by new ones to such an extent as will involve an
outlay bearing a large proportion to the original cost of
construction. In view of these facts, and also of the additional
consideration that the work already done on the permanent bridge has
been effected at a considerable cost, I suggest that it be resumed at
the earliest practicable moment. Second only in importance to this
measure is the continuation of the track from its present junction
with the Central Railroad to the City of Savannah. The privilege of
using three miles of their track and their depots in Savannah is
obtained at a considerable annual outlay, which, though reasonable in
itself, should be continued only so long as the means of the Company
are inadequate for providing a separate Roadway.
|
|
After providing, then, for all the liabilities of the
Company, I respectfully submit that it would be the dictate of a true
foresight to appropriate the surplus earnings, after applying the
current expenses and the interest on the funded debt, to the
completion of the Road at the three points named. If, from the
distracted state of the country and the scarcity of the requisite
labor and materials, it be found impossible to begin immediately the
work recommended in this Report, yet I am convinced that the best
interest of the Stockholders will be consulted if the delay be no
longer than is required by the now existing circumstances.
|
|
The Machinery has been subjected to constant and severe
service, and as the usual wear can not be avoided, it is impossible
that its present condition should admit of so favorable a report as at
the last annual meeting. Its efficiency, however, has not been
materially lessened, and, we are confident, is not surpassed, in this
respect, by that of any other Road. But the means at our command are
altogether inadequate to the maintenance of any one of the departments
in their original order, and, unless increased, must ultimately fail
to meet our necessities.
|
|
To provide against this contingency, preliminary steps
have been taken which, if successful, will enable us to procure abroad
such articles as are essential to the continued successful operation
of the Road.
|
|
For the condition of the Road, and all details connected
with the Operating department, I respectfully refer you to the report
of the Superintendent, on whose careful supervision is attributable,
in a large measure, the regularity of the trains, the remarkable
exemption of both life and property from injury, and the general
prosperity of the Road.
|
|
R. L. Singletary
|
|
President
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