| Annual Report of the Virginia &
Tennessee RR |
| as of July 1, 1865, |
| President's Report |
| |
| President's Report |
| Office of the Virginia & Tennessee
Railroad Company |
| Lynchburg, October 5th, 1865 |
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To the Stockholders:
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| Gentlemen, |
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The Board of Directors herewith submit their
annual report for the year, ending June 30th, 1865:
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Operations of the Road
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| The gross earnings of the road were |
$3,291,907.37 |
| The expenses of operating |
2,990,504.76 |
| Net earnings above operating expenses |
$301,402.61 |
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The net earnings are 9 16/100 per cent.
and the expenses of operating 90 84/100 per cent. of the gross
earnings.
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Under the head of gross earnings of the road are included
only those receipts from earnings made by the operations of the road
itself -- premiums, interest, &c., not being included therein; and
under the head of operating expenses are included repairs of every
description, new buildings, taxes, salaries, insurance and all
expenses properly incurred in operating the road.
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There have been six different raids during the year by
the armies of the United States, and the road destroyed each time for
long distances; much property was also destroyed by the soldiers of
the Confederate States, and to such an extent were these injuries
committed, that there is now upon the road only three (3) bridges,
original structures, left standing, and but three (3) depots.
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The road was open for its entire length 143 days during
the year; for 91 days was closed nearly its whole length; and for 131
days closed the entire distance.
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The depots are yet unbuilt, but the bridges were repaired
as speedily as possible, and the entire amount, 7,729 feet, replaced
with new structures, (tressle work,) which will, in a majority of
cases, last four or five years. One or two are in danger from high
water, and will be replaced by truss bridges similar to the original
structures as quickly as possible. The wood sheds, water stations,
&c., were destroyed at the same time with the depots, but are now
repaired, and freight cars are now used for the reception and
distribution of freight until new depots can be built. There were
destroyed at the same time, 72 passenger and freight cars, and 3
locomotives.
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The expenses of management affords no reliable data from
which to judge of the future operations of the year. The paper in
which the earnings were made being almost worthless, and the supplies
costing such enormous prices, together with the short time the road
was worked, and the large destruction of property to be continually
replaced after each raid, makes it impossible to make a fair
comparison with former years, or to estimate from this our future
business.
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Financial
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The reports of the Auditor and Treasurer will show the
receipts and disbursements to have been as follows:
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| Receipts |
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| Cash balance in hands of Treasurer and other
agents at commencement of the year |
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$172,252.02 |
| Confederate States bonds |
|
110,900.00 |
| Sterling bills, L1660 cost |
|
27,666.66 |
| Due from Confederate States |
|
740,156.60 |
| Due from State of Virginia |
|
553.39 |
| Due from other Roads |
|
3,999.18 |
| Due from individuals |
|
48,693.52 |
| Earnings of road for transportation |
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3,302,299.82 |
| Collections of delinquent agents |
|
2,582.66 |
| Collected of individuals for interest |
|
7,383.49 |
| Collected of F. L. Phipps (money unpaid) |
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20.00 |
| Received of other railroads |
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2,701.71 |
| Received for other railroad companies |
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2,439.89 |
| Received of Southern Telegraph Company |
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292.50 |
| Received of Purchasing Agent -- balance in hand |
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2,527.18 |
| Received of Paymaster at sundry times |
|
787.79 |
| Sale of articles not needed |
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172,125.80 |
| Sales of L660 sterling |
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2,932.00 |
| Sales of loans to the Company |
|
62,000.00 |
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$4,662,314.21 |
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Disbursements
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| Operating expenses for the year |
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$3,226,996.58 |
| Paid debt June 30th, 1864 |
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102,278.31 |
| Paid bills payable |
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12,129.38 |
| Paid first mortgage coupons |
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2,100.00 |
| Paid enlarged mortgage coupons |
|
4,860.00 |
| Paid income mortgage coupons |
|
1,275.00 |
| Paid for 13 income mortgage bonds |
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1,000.00 |
| Paid dividends to Stockholders |
|
660.00 |
| Paid interest on preferred stock |
|
3,330.00 |
| Paid engineering expenses |
|
955.99 |
| Paid other railroads |
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32,439.89 |
| Loans to companies |
|
50,000.00 |
| Profit and loss |
|
11,917.58 |
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$3,449,942.73 |
| Cash Resources |
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| Debts due from individuals |
$162,591.49 |
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| Sterling bills, L1000 cost |
24,734.66 |
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| Confederate States bonds |
196,300.00 |
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| Due from Confederate States |
526,655.18 |
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| Due from State of Virginia |
186,382.87 |
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| Due from other railroads |
6,382.00 |
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| Cash in hands of Treasurer |
109,106.35 |
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| Cash in Freight Agent's hands |
120.08 |
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| Cash in Ticket Agent's hands |
98.85 |
1,212,371.48 |
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$4,662,314.21 |
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The following is the floating or current expenses debt:
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| Due individuals on open account, negro hire,
etc. |
$194,957.99 |
| Due other railroad companies |
2,283.01 |
| Due officers and other agents |
7,014.22 |
| Due plain bonds |
1,113.24 |
| |
$205,368.46 |
| The funded debt is: |
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| First mortgage bonds |
$494,000.00 |
| Second mortgage bonds |
23,500.00 |
| Enlarged mortgage bonds |
998,000.00 |
| Third or income mortgage bonds |
320,000.00 |
| Salt Works bonds |
9,500.00 |
| |
$1,845,000.00 |
| In addition there are coupons of bonds
outstanding amounting to |
306,975.00 |
| Total debt for bonds and outstanding coupons |
306,975.00 |
| Total debt for bonds and outstanding coupons |
$2,151,975.00 |
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Nearly the whole of the current expense debt was
contracted in Confederate States currency, and will have to be settled
by compromise in like manner. Your cash resources amounting to
$2,212,371.48 is in Confederate States currency, or in debts due in
that currency, these debts due to and from us will have to be settled
by some compromise, and it is probable will balance each other. Your
whole debt then will be the amount included under the head of bonds
and coupons due and unpaid, which together, amount to $2,151,975.00.
Besides these debts, there must be incurred during the year, a large
debt for re-building the stock burned, and replacing iron bent and
burnt. This will require about $400,000, and with this amount the
road-bed and machinery can be placed in a better condition than ever
heretofore, for this amount we must provide, as well as for $320,000
of income mortgage bonds due Due. 31, 1865, and for $306,975 for
coupons due and unpaid. These debts can be easily met by obtaining
permission from the Legislature of Virginia, to mortgage the Road for
$1,000,000, for ten or twenty years, with which, and the earnings of
the Road, all the liabilities for payments of debt and for
re-furnishing the road can be met. Your debt would then be --
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| First mortgage bonds |
494,000.00 |
| Second mortgage bonds |
23,500.00 |
| Enlarged mortgage bonds |
998,000.00 |
| Salt-Works bonds |
9,500.00 |
| Mortgage to be issued |
1,000,000.00 |
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$2,525,000.00 |
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Salt Works Branch
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There were 37,847 tons transported over this Branch
during the past year. Of this amount, there were 12,836 cords of wood,
or 25,672 tons, 11,238 tons of salt, and 897 tons of miscellaneous
freight. The receipts for this freight on this Branch was $169,494.73,
and on the Main Stem, for freights furnished by this Branch
$665,641.84, making a total of $835,136.57.
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There has been about one-fifth of the machinery of the
road employed on this Branch.
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By a resolution adopted at your last meeting, a dividend
of 5 per cent. upon the increased stock was ordered to be paid in
current funds, on 1st January, 1865. This could and would have been
easily done but for the destructive raids made immediately after your
adjournment. So destructive were these raids that, with the usual
resources of the Company cut off, it was deemed by your Board not only
advisable but absolutely necessary, in order to repair the road, that
the money to be used for this purpose should be applied to repairs.
The dividend was therefore suspended, and the Company has never since
been in a condition to pay it.
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Increase of the Capital Stock
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In the event all acts passed by the Legislature at
Richmond since 1861, up to June, 1865, shall be held to be null and
void, the authority given at the session in 1864, for an increase of
the Capital Stock of this Company, may be of no effect. It is
therefore recommended that the Board of Directors be authorized to
apply to the next Legislature to ratify the acts of the preceding
Legislature, upon this subject.
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It affords the Board great pleasure to state, that the
entire length of the road at the date of this is in running order;
that the travel is rapidly increasing, and the connections in every
direction nearly completed, while freight is beginning to move in each
direction, and the road once more beginning to pay.
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Arrangements have been made in the last few days by which
through tickets can be sold from New York and intermediate cities, to
points South and vice versa. The present system will allow
goods to pass through without pre-payment of through freights, the
charges following the goods and allowing them to be forwarded without
delay. Under the present system, trade and travel are beginning to
assume the old aspect, and we may confidently look for brighter times
during the next. year.
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To Maj. J. W. Goodwin and his assistants, I feel greatly
indebted for the skill and energy shown in re-building the road when
it had been destroyed, and to the officers generally, my thanks for
the alacrity with which they have performed their duties during the
trying scenes of the past year.
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Respectfully submitted,
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Ro. L. Owen, Pres.
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