To the well-wishers of the road this failure may have seemed an opportunity as well as a disaster. It was now possible to accomplish what the management in 1888 had refused to attempt, _i. e._ a reduction in the fixed charges of the company which should remove the burdens under which the road had labored, and should open up the way for a long period of improvement and prosperity. At least one more unpleasant experience was, however, to be passed through. With a view to determining the Baltimore & Ohio’s real position, an expert accountant, Mr. Stephen Little, had been set to work upon its books, and from time to time notices had been appearing that he was at work, that his examinations confirmed the statements of the company, and that questions raised by hostile critics would be considered in his report. Thus in April a reorganization committee, composed of Messrs. Alexander Shaw, C. Morton Stuart, and six others, with whom were deposited the Garrett shares, issued a circular referring to the large amount of new capital, estimated by them at $30,000,000, which had been received by the company since 1888 “without adequate or satisfactory results,” and to the floating debt, which they asserted had been increased from about $3,500,000 to $16,000,000. “We make no charges, or even intimations of wrongdoing,” wrote their secretary, “but desire and require that a full explanation of the management of the property from the year 1888, when the road was set on its feet by Mr. Morgan, shall be given, and that the causes which led to the wrecking of the property shall be clearly shown.” To which another committee, which directly represented the management, replied by reference to Mr. Little.[64] The much-heralded report came out in December, having been withheld since the previous March for fear of the effect on the company’s securities; and so far from sustaining the management, it contained charges of irregularity almost as sensational as those made against the Atchison at an earlier date. The books of the company, according to Mr. Little, were in error to the amount of $11,204,858. During the period of seven years and two months which his report covered he found: An overstatement of net income of $2,721,068 A mischarge of worn-out equipment to profit and loss of 2,843,596 Improper capitalization of charges to income under the head of construction, main stem, 2,064,741 Improper capitalization of so-called improvements and betterments of leased and dependent roads, 3,575,453 ----------- Total, $11,204,858[65]