WATERED STOCK. NEW YORK CENTRAL. 487 



WATERED STOCK NEW YORK CENTRAL. 



As an instance of what the people would have to pay in 

 case the government should buy the railroads of the United 

 States, let us take the New York Central and Hudson Eiver 

 Kailroads, which affords a prominent example of watered 

 stock. 



Two years ago, Mr. Rufus Hatch, a broker of Broad 

 Street, New York, issued a number of circulars in relation 



Farm Sceae. The First Snow. 



to railroads, which, it is fair to presume, were intended for 

 speculative purposes. In his first circular, he said that, at 

 that time, 1871, there were 50,000 miles of railroads in 

 the United States ; the cost of which exceeded $2,000,000,- 

 000. The earning of these roads exceeded $400,000,000 

 annually, or eleven dollars per head for the entire population 

 of the country. This would give the average cost, per mile, 

 at $50,000, from the railroad stand-point. 



Just how the New York Central was manipulated to pay 

 dividends on a large and fictitious capital, we propose to let 



