The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1853-04-01
MONSIEUR TONSON COME AGIN."

in whose behalf and support we fought and
bled so profuselya year or two back, had
instituted suit in the Court of Whitfield
county, Ga, against the East Tennessee and
Georgia Railroad Company, for damages al
legged to have been sustained by the surren-
der of his contract to build the road, entered
into on the first day of November, ls4S, and
surrendered voluntarily on the 9Th day Of
April, 1850. We say surprised, because, al
though we know the General .'cut great
many fantastic tricks before high heaven"
Immediately subsequent to said voluntary
surrender, and sent forth to the country pro-
clsmation after proclamation, and manifesto
upon manifesto, in which thousands, hun
drcds of thousands, and even millions Of
dollars, in the shape of damages" played IL
prominent part, we did not believe that, ut this
late day, when he had enjoyed ample time
for calm and dispassionate reflection, to see
the worse than idle folly of such a ground
less proceeding, and to realize the fact to the
fullest and largest extent that he had been
honestly and literally paid for all the work
he had done on the road, and richly reward
ed for the "many sacrifices" he alleged to
hayc made while contractor under the
Company, he would again come among us
to be guilty of such extravagances. But
it is true-whatevcr the mstive, and by
whomsoever backed, he has instituted suit
against the Company, modestly claiming, rs
we understand, the snug little sum of eight
hundred Thousand dollarS! Yes, only eight
hundred Thousand dollars! This is the pre-
else amount, no more, no less, that General
Green claims to have been damaged by vol
UNFAIRLY surrcndering contract which he
acknowledged he was unable to carry out
and execute. Eight hundred thousand!-a
little less than half the sum for which he
contracted to build, iron, and equip the whole
road from Dalton to Knoxville! Why if he
is entitled to red cent, over and above what
he has already received, he is entitled to u
million, and he loses just two hundred thou
sand dollars by his modesty in not claiming
the larger sum. We ask with all respect,
'dont he wish he may get it!' The General
is an old man, keen, and shrewd, and has
spent most of his life among the politicians
at Washington. He can perceive at glance
the difference between Il reality and fiction,
and knows rs well as any one that he has no
claim whatever against the East Tennessee
and Georgia Railroad Company, either in law,
equity, or justice, for damages or any thing
else Nor has he any well grounded hope
of recovering. Then why this suit-insti-
tuted with so much formality, and with all
the apparent earnestness of deeply injured
man! We have said the General was smart,
keen, and shrewd- sagacious, but not we'll
balanced nor overburdened with conscien-
tiousncss. The General is great on specula-
tiops. Schemes and enterprises that ordinary
minds would approach with great caution
AMI reluctance are but mere breakfast spells
to him. In fact, it may be said that he has
spent his best energies in gigantic concep.
tons without the attainment of correspond.
ing results. His powers of inception are
grand and imposing; his details and ultmates
dreadfnlly deficient In short, whenever he
approaches the practical he fails. Now we
suspect Gen. Green is about to engage in
some stupendous enterprise, and this trump
ed up claim against the East Tennessee and
Georgia Railroad Compan, is sort of left
handed lever to work with, in the absence of
available means. Whether the enterprise is
to drain the swamp lands of the Okcfanoke,
dam up the triple-mouthed Mississippi and
and roll its turbid waters back upon the fro
zen North, or to build n dredging machine with
which to level the Rocky Mountains for the
passage of the Pacific Railroad, we cannot
! tell. But there is no doubt Gen. Green is
just at the threshold of some great specula-
ton, and has instituted the suit against the
East Tennessee and Georgia Company, not
entertaining the least expectation of recov-
ering anything, for he knows well that he
has no claim for damages but to be used in
promoting his schemes upon other PARTIES
Eight hundred thousand dollars is nice little
sum to talk about, and with such hobby
gentleman of the Generals conversational
powers may produce considerable sensation
in quarters where the facts and merits of the
case are not known. There can be but one
other object, namely to annoy the Company
by alaw-sut, and we hardly think he has any
means to throw away simply to crafty a
feeling of animosity engendered by his in
ability to execute his contract, and which he
voluntarily surrendered.
We have already extended this article 10
IN undue length, and given to the subject more
attention than it really deserves, for We GER
tainly regard the institution of the suit by
Gen. Green to recover damages from the East
Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company,
under the circumstances, us the most arrant
piece of humbuggery that gentleman ever
was guilty Of, and he has figured pretty OK.
tensveIy in that line, we all know. We trust
it will be sufficient to state, for the benefit Of
those unacquainted with the circumstances,