New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-07-09
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 9, 1858
" ORLEANS, L4CKSO.N md GREET
NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY

" ORLEANS, LfCKSO.N md GREET
NORTHERN RAILROAD COMPANY
The attempts made by the enemies of public
Improvement to prevent the construction of this
road have been continued with an obstnacy
and a recklessness deserving of the strones:
public reprobation. A brief review of ths,P'e'
conduct will enable us to. judge of tb '"ou'e'
by which they are now prompted ne 1O
DIAL attempt to destroy the cye's'0 i 'ne 00rn'
pany.
of this work a few ,sejudiced men, who had
acou;red their sasknes in New EOrleans, but
Who were utta,5 indifferent to its prosperity,
have made deposition which has now degen-
Grated i'd factious, violent and insane hos
.stility> estructive of their own interests. When
sth1yfoad was first proposed the opposition was
us6t satisfied to make use of the legitimate
4 fare of reason and argument, but was aided by
journal which is notorious for its opposition
to every measure of public improvement
When the scheme of public taxation was first
brought forward, the same opposition made
by the same parties, aided by the same sheet.
When the tax had been voted by the citizens.
by a majority so overwhelming to leave
them without hope of reversing the decision
Of the people, an organized conspiracy was
formed to defeat that decision by preventing
the collection of the tax, for which purpose o
harrassing and protracted litigation was threat
ened,
This attempt failing, the citizens of New Or,
leans were insulted by the spectacle of a public
meeting at which these misguided men dared
to assail the motives of the Judges of the Su-
preme Court, just elected by the people, and
with impotent malice spat their venom at the
judicial ermine, whose purity they had no
power to soil and their organ was filed with
daily articles in which attempt was made by
wretched sophistry to represent the decision Of
the Court as being in contradiction of the de-
cisions of other courts, of high authority, on
the same subject.
Not satisfied with these repeated defeats.
new and insidious effort is now made to reach
the same end, and strange to say, they have
found aiders and abettors in the Council cham
bers of our Aldermen; and still stranger, the
majority of these servants of the people, thus
siding with the enemies of the people, are
members representing the Second and Fourth
Districts, which form the special object of the
jealousy and malice of the parties above re-
ferred to.
We shall set this matter plain in very few
words. We care not one straw whether the sale
of Bonds made by the Directors was wise and
judicious one, or whether it was i'll advised and
imprudent; but we say that the subject is ont
utterly beyond the cognzance of the Council,
and that the Directors are responsible to then
constituency, and to none others. If the men,,
bers of the City Council suppose themselves au-
thorized to administer the stock held by the
taxpayers, or to take care of their interests,
they show profound ignorance of the subject
on which they acted--as will appear by refer
ence to the law which authorized the subscrip
ton, and which prohibits their interference,
with the Company. 1t is well known that the
whole spirit of the plan for building the road,
was opposed to interference by any political
corporations, managers, or directors. The
people had had enough of directors of public
works chosen by the City Councils. The law
therefore contained the express command thai
"the stock SO subscribed shall Sc not belong to,
NOR BE ADMINISTERED BY, the Parish or ,h,tai-
cipal Corporation By tchich the subscription
shall be made but said stock shall belong to
the tax payers who have paid therefor" The
attempt Of the City Council to violate this law
which prohibits their interference with the adj
ministrstion of the stock, or to eyade its cleal
meaning by the shallow device Of a Committee
Of Inquiry, is as improper as it is ridiculous
No one supposes that the least attention will be
paid to their resolves and they would be sim
ply laughed at as foolish if there were not
other aspect Of the matter which makes them
mischieyous, and which does not seem to have
sufficiently awakened public attention.
The road to Canton which is now under CON
tract for 206 SS-lo0 miles, according to the pub
ished report made by the Directors to the
Stockholders at the first annual meeting, will
cost over five millions of dollars No one sup.
poses that the payment of these contracts is to
be made out of collections from the Stockholders
or from the tax; the payments will mature years
before the taxes will become due Unless there
fore, we are to await the completion of the road
until our commerce is irretreyahly lost to US,
the credit of the Company must of necessity be
used The Company is composed of Stockholl.
ers who are the taxpayers of New0rleans. 1t
is matter of public notoriety that two of our
most eminent citizens are now in England en-
deavoring to borrow the money to build this
road on the credit of the taxpayers of New
Orleans; and yet we have the spectacle of our
Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen, under the
precious pretext of taking care OF the poor
people" the poor tax payers engaged in doing
all they can to destroy the credit of the Com.
pany, to render the negotiations abroad onerou.
and difficult, although it is perfectly plain that
it is these very poor taxpayers" that mus
pay any loss resulting from such depreciatet
credit
Save me from my friends" Save the cit,
of New0rleans and its poor tax -payers from tn
tender mercies of such Aldermen,
cuba IND THE U.NTTED SIXTIES
TRADE or THE GULF.