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PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, August 6, 1997 - 21 A a m-------- 'railway was enti- Sketches of Scugog by Paul Arculus Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star the first issue of each month. [J LJ [J The year 1870 was a critical one for the Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway. As was pointed out in last month's article the year was marked by an ongoing struggle between the railway company and some of the municipalities which had made financial commitments to the railway. On August 1870, the Ontario Observer, in its coverage of the Reach Council meeting, reported that the railway engineers submitted cer- tificates to state that one half of the entire grading of the road had been done and so request the deben- ture coupons and the interest the ) tled to receive according to the bylaw. Later in the meeting a motion to \. hand over the deben- tures was passed since the conditions had appeared to have been met. In Whitby on the oth- er hand, the delay of hand-- ing over its debentures con- tinued. The council meeting of Aug. 15 tabled a letter from the railway - company's lawyer, Cochrane. In it he stated that he was taking proceedings in equity unless the debentures were hand- -ed over. ) It should be remembered that the PWPPR contractor, Dumble and the com- pany's engineer had promised that the railroad would be running by Aug. 15, 1870. ~The Whitby Council meeting of Aug.. 22 recalled that promise and noted that the railway was far from completion. Furthermore, the rails had not been ordered from England, there was no roll- ing stock and the exact locations for sta- tions had not even been decided upon. Councillors commented on the absurdity of the original contract with the railway - company because of its lack of require- ments from the contractor. The deplorable state of the railway's financial state was then outlined. : It was revealed that Dumble, the contractor was owed $20,000. An addi- tional, $12,000 was due on the payments for right of way but the company's bank account was empty. The council had received a letter from Dumble repeating his offer to forgo half the interest on the debentures in return for $9,000 in deben- tures now due on stock subscriptions for the rails and the $20,000 now due. There were a number of lawsuits pending against a few subscribers who were unwilling to pay their subscriptions into such a corrupt and mismanaged com- pany. The reporter who covered the meet- ing for the Whitby Chronicle saw the sit- uation as desperate and urged sharehold- ers and council to dismiss the directors of the company, although he didn't make it clear as to how this was to be accom- plished. He said that the directors Dream of railway between Port Perry and Whitby in shambles further went on to say that "the company should resist this unjust demand for interest." "...have proved themselves foreign to eve- ry upright and honest action. Notorious for trickery and deception, and with a few exceptions, financial bubbles." He continued pleading with the council to get rid of the board of "...the designing tricksters; whose only aim is to fill their undeserving pockets... and whose very connection with any public enterprise would, of itself, create suspi- cion and contempt." Strangely, the reporter placed no blame for corruption or the mismanage- ment on Dumble. On the 8th of September, the Whitby Chronicle revealed, for the first time, information which became widely publi- cized and served to underline the deceit and incompetence of some of the PW&PPR board members and particularly Mr. Dumble. The article was titled "Railway Revelations." It claimed that Dumble had received $113,000 in cash and bonds, but not more than $20,000 of work could be certified by the company's own engineer. With this background, the reporter advised the Whitby Council to "hang on to the now due + debenture of $20,000. Councillor McMillan, who was the council's representative on the railway board along with James Holden, pointed out that on handing over the last debenture, the council had been assured that the station, - workshops and other sundry buildings were all ready to go the minute the mon- ey was received, but nothing has tran- spired. Holden laid the blame for demand for back interest at Dumble's door and says he . has received $113,000 from the company, done little work, and is drawing $12,000 a year interest on the bonds and debentures he has been given. On September 15, the editor of the Ontario Observer, James Baird, com- plained that Reach should not have paid the interest or the debentures to "This insatiable company a ring of railway sharks who appear bent on bleed- ihg the community to death." Cy Throughout the building of = ™ the railway, there was an ongoing - dispute as to where the workshops for the raiiway were to be built, Both Port Perry and Whitby wanted them: Finally it was agreed to have them built in Whitby. James Holden raised the issue of the completion date and the quality of the construction. Now, a month after Dumble's promised date for the first run- ning, it was quite obvious that the line was stil! a long way from completion. Holden stated that the contract with the construction firm is so slovenly the con- tractor has it all his own way. He claimed that there was no requirement for com- pletion, nor for quality. "To say the least of it, the directors who were the parties to the signing of such a contract, have evinced either an astonishing amount of imbecility, recklessness or dishonesty, and in either case have forfeited all claim to public confidence" and ougiit to be dismissed. The president (Bigelow) in particular should go and the director's grea- test blunder was in re- electing him. Holden repeated the claim that Dumble has ; received $113,000 and f§ has not spent one . third of it and now demands more payments. Ironically, at this time, a booklet written by Joseph Bigelow as a prospectus aimed at gathering more financial investment, was in circula- tion throughout the province. In it he stated, quite falsely that, as of August 1, 1870, the railway was three quarters complete and that the "...entire line will be ready for rail by the first of October." On September 22, 1870, the Whitby Chronicle reported on a special meeting of the Whitby Council. Mayor James Gerrie was in the chair. He stated that the coun- cil had been served with a bill in Chancery by the PW&PPR and the con- tractor, Dumble, to compel the counci! to hand over a further $20,000 of deben- tures and the back interest on all the debentures going back to June 1868. The council then went into committee with Mr. N.W. Brown, the Reeve of Whitby, in the chair. a Councillor Philp suggested that since the railroad looked as though it never would be completed, the council should * hold on to the debentures. The To council then proceeded into a discussion on the back inter- Nest. Various councillors stated that the company had no claim to inter- est before 19 September 1869, since the company was not legally organized until that date. Holden assert- ed that in handing over the earlier $30,000 in deben- tures that there was BY never any reference to back interest. He stated that Dumble himself had spoken to various councillors and had assured them that upon receipt of the initial $30,000 debentures that there would not be any demand for the back interest. Holden stated that in his opinion, it was only Dumble who was exerting the pressure to obtain the interest. Chester Draper, who was on the council and the railway board, agreed with Holden. ; Draper, later in the meeting stated that it was the understanding of the com pany that no demand for interest was to be made. He said that he could not believe that Dumble had made such a demand until he questioned the board members and found out that Dumble ha indeed asked for the back interest He fact-was that the company was only a one _ er's integrity. " revealed next month. Holden then went on to state: "...the man concern, a one man power, the company was Mr. Dumble, and Mr. Dumble was the compa- ny." He went on to say that Dumble was only entitled to receive pay after work had been satisfactorily completed. "And what was the character of the work done? Their own Engineer said that the culverts were of such a » character that he would not put them on the back streets of "Whitby." Regarding the suit ~ against the council, Holden said, "Let us fight the suit because the facts will then all come out. The project had been conceived in sin and born in iniquity and was a piece of deception from beginning to end." ca Draper then tried to put forward a motion proposing to create a committee to deal with the issue of the back interest. The mayor disagreed with the wording of the motion and at that point, the meeting began to deteriorate. The mayor accused Draper of duplicity. The mayor and Draper then began to question each oth- + "...and amidst much confusion, Mr. Brown vacated the chair, donned his chapeau and left the council making "con- fusion worse confounded." - Another chairman was appointed (Dr. Cameron), and the meeting con- tinued, but this also quickly became a name calling fiasco involving Holden, Draper and the mayor. "Mr. Draper went on at some length calling the conduct of his worship into question and severely criticizing it, and was repeatedly called to order by the mayor, but without effect, he still con- tinued amid repeated loud calls from the mayor of "sit down Mr. Draper," until at last his worship could bear it no longer, and laying his hand threateningly on the inkstand, Mr. Draper took his seat amidst some confusion. An immediate adjourn- ment took place moved by Dr. Cameron, for two weeks." Looking at the affairs of the PW&PPR today, we see a scenario which seems like a hilarious comic farce. However, at that time they were the actions of frustrated men, both on the railroad board and the various councils, desperate to fulfill a marvelous dream that had gone horribly wrong. The rea- sons for the tragic state of affairs were numerous and varied. More will be TOP LEFT: James H. Gerrie, Mayor of 'Whitby from 1869-to 1871. BOTTOM: N.W. Brown who preceded Gerrie as Mayor of Whitby. As chair of the meeting of September 1870 and walked out in disgust over the behavior of his fellow councillors. UPPER RIGHT TH McMillan who along with James Holden was the official repre- sentative of the Whitby Council on the Hoard of the Railway Company. . | [43 wr