| Annual Report of the Central (of Georgia) RR |
| as of December 1, 1863 |
| President's Report |
| |
| President's Report |
| Savannah, Dec. 7th, 1863 |
| |
| From the Report of the General
Superintendent, it appears that the gross earnings of the
Railroad for the year ending 30th ultimo, has been: |
|
$2,288,708.06 |
| And the expenditures have been |
|
$1,399,983.23 |
| Leaving net |
|
$888,724.83 |
| Of which gross earnings there has been collected
and paid into Bank the sum of |
|
2,119,073.04 |
| Leaving uncollected |
|
$169.635.02 |
|
The earnings of the Bank have been |
|
$261,109.54 |
| The expenses have been |
22,936.32 |
| Net Bank Profits |
|
$238,173.22 |
| The payments from Road into Bank have been as
follows, to wit: |
|
|
| From earnings prior to December, 1862 |
$116,078.67 |
|
| From earnings of year ending 30th November, 1863 |
2,119,073.04 |
|
|
|
$2,235,151.71 |
|
| And the Road Expenditures have been |
1,339,983.23 |
$895,168.48 |
| Total net received from Road and Bank |
|
$1,133,341.70 |
|
Which amount has been disposed of as follows: |
|
|
|
Declared for two dividends |
$1,073,364.00 |
|
|
Appropriated for outfit of Road |
17,918.35 |
|
|
Carried to Reserve fund |
42,059.35 |
$1,133,341.70 |
|
| The expenses of the Road for
the current year will be vastly increased. Negro hire will be double
of what it was for the year just closed, and for all other things
necessary the price will be increased from one hundred to one thousand
per centum. To meet this state of things, and to afford to the
employees of the Company a decent support, the rates of travel and of
freight, both for Government and individuals have, within the past
month, been necessarily increased. In the present state of the country
it is needless to speculate upon the subject of net income for this
year; the Board will seek to carry on the Company's business in a
saving manner, and to give, in dividends, to the Stockholders, a just
and reasonable sum only. |
| The Road is in very
fair condition, notwithstanding the embarrassments under which we have
labored. The Rolling Stock has been largely reduced, by the sale of
Engines and Cars to other Roads at the urgent request of the
Government, and by unusual wear and tear. It is hoped, however, that
the Company will be enabled to do a reasonable amount of
transportation, beyond the heavy demand for Government transportation.
At the present time the wants of the armies of Tennessee and Virginia,
and the necessity of pressing on Government Cotton, give us full
employment. The continuance of the war swells up, every day, the
amount which we shall need, at its close, to reinstate the stock of
engines, cars and materials. The sum now standing, as the
appropriation for that purpose, is $213,124.20, and it would have been
increased two hundred thousand dollars but for the facts hereinafter
submitted. |
|
The Company has advanced to the Confederate Government,
on account of Confederate tax of the year 1863, one hundred and
seventy thousand dollars, and a further sum will be required to pay
the entire tax demanded. We have written opinion of eminent counsel
that the Congress of the Confederate States has no right or power
whatever to impose a tax on the Railroad of this Company. By our
Charter from the State of Georgia, granted in December, 1835, it is
enacted and provided that "the said Railroad, and the
appurtenances of the same, shall not be subjected to be taxed higher
than one-half of one per cent. upon its annual net income." The
State of Georgia has never undertaken to tax the Road beyond the
one-half of one per centum on the annual net income. We pay that tax
every year to the State. And further, the Legislature of Georgia has
never taxed the dividends derived by Stockholders from the Company. It
was by the contract, promise and undertaking of the State, expressed
in the Charter, that no greater tax than the one mentioned should ever
be imposed on the Company's Road and appurtenances, and the further
contract and promise that "no municipal or other corporation
should have power to tax the Stock of said Company" -- that the
Central Railroad was built. Without such exemption from taxation for
all time to come, the Road Charter being perpetual, it is certain that
the capital necessary to pay for constructing the Road could never
have been obtained. The State of Georgia, on entering into the
Confederacy, could not grant or carry to it any greater power than she
herself possessed, and it is very clear that the State of Georgia has
no power to tax our Road beyond the tax which, for many years, she has
continued to impose. Nevertheless, this Board determined that, for the
year 1863, it would not raise any question with the Confederate
Government on this point, but would pay the tax, under protest that
the Government had no power to lay it. Thus, notice will be given of
our claim to exemption, to the Congress of the Confederate States for
their consideration. When the Company's return shall be made in
January next, our protest will accordingly accompany it.
|
| Our account of damage has
been increased by the burn of cotton, thirty thousand dollars, the
first loss of the kind which has occurred within five years. |
| Respectfully submitted |
|
R. R. Cuyler
|
| President |
|