CHAPTER XXVI.

OUR RAILROAD METHODS. DECEPTIVE FINANCIERING.—OVER-CAPITALIZATION.—STOCK “WATERING.”—FINANCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONS.—LOSSES TO THE PUBLIC.—PROFITS OF CONSTRUCTORS.—BAD REPUTATION OF OUR RAILROAD SECURITIES.—UNJUST AND DANGEROUS DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUBLIC WEALTH. The following chapter, on the subject of “Our Railroad Methods,” was delivered by me as a Fourth of July address at Mr. H. C. Bowen’s Annual Symposium at Woodstock, Conn., to an assemblage of over 3,000 people. It was so favorably received by the pre…