N&W in 1911--Lease

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
January 20, 1911

WILL PANHANDLE LEASE NORFOLK & WESTERN?
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Question Among Local Shippers as to Whether Pennsylvania Control Will Work to Their Advantage
    It seems to be generally believed among the business men of this section that the Norfolk and Western will be either leased, or its management changed in some way, so that it will come under the control of the P. C. C. & St. L. railroad.  The rumor that the Panhandle would get the road has been going the rounds of financial circles for several years, but the market now seems to believe that the time has come when the plan will actually be carried into effect.  Through the adoption of the plan, it is believed, the Pennsylvania will guarantee a five or six per cent dividend on the property, which should drive the stock up to 112 or 113.
    There is some question among the local shippers as to whether the plan will work to their advantage and many are rather outspoken in opposition.  The Norfolk and Western under its present management has made enormous strides and has been eminently successful.  It has worked out the problem of developing a new country and has been a wonderful factor in the development of this section.  Whether the same energy will be evidenced under the control of the Pennsylvania is not known and there is where the rub comes.
    In 1907 and 1908 Norfolk and Western fell below fifty-seven on the stock market and since that time it has been constantly increasing in value as a marketable stock with the result that it now shows a net gain of almost fifty-three points.  It is safe to say that it will reach the 112 mark soon.  As an adjunct to the Pennsylvania system the road will be valuable.  It is on a paying basis and has a brilliant future before it and therefore cannot do anything but good to the new owners.
    There may be considerable objection to the new plan among employes of the road who are not warm admirers of the Pennsylvania.  In the first place the present Norfolk and Western management has the confidence of all the men connected with the system.  Their troubles are willingly listened to and the company never fails to give them due consideration.
    The men and officials of the line, as well as many of the largest shippers, have grown up together and worked together to such as extent that almost a family relationship exists, and anything which would have a tendency right now to radically change these relations would not work for the best interests of all concerned.
    The Pennsylvania is one of the greatest railroad systems in the country itself.  Controlling railroads, mines, steamship lines and many allied industries it plays a most important part in the making of the country which it serves.  Only a short time ago, when the steel trust felt that the time had come for the closing down of its plants for lack of orders, the president of the road gave the company orders which kept its mills running for months, or until such time as the market had adjusted itself.  It is true that by placing orders at that time he saved the Pennsylvania nearly a million dollars, but the fact that a company is large enough to place orders which would tide a company of the magnitude of the steel corporation over a bad place is proof enough of the fact that the Pennsylvania is a big line.  If the road desires to help this section it is in a fair way to do so, but will it be done?
    It is supposed that the same meeting of the Pennsylvania stockholders and directors which approves the control of the Norfolk and Western will also act favorably on the leasing of the Northern Central, another line which is a most important part of the Pennsylvania system.
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Gordon Hamilton
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