New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1858-04-16
lnton for additional subscriptions of stock forth.


with.
s. Resolved, That there are gentlemen here ready
and willing to take contracts for grading on said
Road north OF Canton reasonable terms, and look
to our own Stockholders for their pay.
Resolutions almost identical with these have also
been adopted by the people Of Winston county,
Now, permit me to say, that far as know or be-
leve that these resolutions express the true feeling
of the people, not only of Alfalfa county but of all
the people along the line Of the road and permit me
further to say, that the first time ever knew or
heard OF this meeting was since reaching your city.
had however received letters from parties along the
line, asking to have books opened for subscription OF
stock with a view to the election of the next Board
OF Directors and will venture the prediction that il
you will ever fairly and properly open books north OF
Canton, that you will have the question of extension
forever settled by the large amount of stock that will
be taken. This may appear strange to a Stock
Broker, when stock be bought at $40 for S25 paid
in, but it is accounted for the ground that those
people want the Road and not the Stock They
would subscribe the stock and pay it, even ii you re
quired them to give it to you when the Road was
finished, (uness their pride revolted at the Injustice
In fact the people of the interior know but little Of
stocks, and many OF them look upon their subscrip
tons as donations in aid of Agreat public enterprise
will here state for the Information OF the people
OF the State of Louisiana and the City of New Or
leans that there is no novelty in the opinion that the
people along the line of the proposed extension north
Of Canton are able and willing to make the road
Before your road was chartered, there was a com
pany 10 existence known as g the Canton, Kosciusko
Aberdeen and Tuscumbia Railroad COMPANY y organ.
lied and with stock subscriptions of near 81 600 900
for the purpose of making this very road and il il
had not been for the interpostiOn Of your Company
believe that this day the road would have been
completed from Canton to Aberdeen, if not to the
Tennessee river Other companies in the State (or
instance, the Central Railroad) have done what we
then proposed TO do and see no good reason why
we can't DO what others have done. But it was
found that your road required to pass the ident
.,r1
deem and Tuscumbia Road. and upon application
from your Company that Company agreed to surren-
der all its corporate rights, subscriptions of stock
ETC., to your Company, which it did and the only
complaint have ever beard upon, that subject was
that some of the Stockholders refused to renew their
subscriptions of stock to your Company, thereby
showing that they had faith in original road
than in your Company. They appear to have had
an instinct that that would happen which has now
happened ; that is, that time might come when
your Company would refuse to make the road north
OF Canton after you had expended their money south
OF Canton. Some of them did 90 on to pay to the
extent of about Sl00 600 and though paid with a
solemn pledge that the road should be made to Aber-
deem, what is now the fact? utter abandonment
of the enterprise north of Canton is now proposed I;
and unless prevented by the Legislature of Misss-
sipp will, fear, be effected. 1t is now very mod.
esty and eooly proposed by some gentlemen in the
Company to allow the old Canton, Koseiusko, Aher-
deem and Tuscumbia Railroad Company to be re-
vived and that possibly your Company will give the
enterprise some aid. And what do you suppose that
aid is? Why, to pay us the money which, long ago
was ours, and which they never could have touched
but for the confidence which we unfortunately re.
posed in the good faith of your Company.
The foregoing remarks are made upon the assump-
tion that the present Board Of Directors intend to
abandon the enterprise at Canton-of which | have
no douht-unless compelled by the Legislature of
Mississippi to comply with the Charter, and her four
times expressed will and it is their intention for the
present to disregard the law Of their existence and
to apply to the Legislature for a release. will here
however, not discuss the question of their success
and will only say that do not entertain the slightest
apprehension on that point. The selfrespect Of our
Legislature, and the rights and interests of the cti-
zens of the State, forbid the possibility Of such sue
cess; nor do believe that the Legislature has the
power, far, to impair the obligation OF contracts
to grant such release, however willing The evil
dence of the intention of the present Board Of Di-
reetOrs is to be found in the frequently expressed
opinions of individual members OF this Board and
In refusal tn adopt the following resolution, the
ground that 1t would further commit the Company to
extend the road north of Canton-and this refusal
took place even after the money had been received
Cby the Company appropriated by the Act. The
resolution referred to the per cent. fund which
was loaned to the Company at six years time and
without interest. The resolution was in the follow
ing words
Whereas the Legislature of Mississippi ut its last
session in November, 1857, passed an Act entitled
" An Act to aid in the construction of the New or.
leans, jackson and Great Northern Railroad and
other Railroads. whereby the Three Per Cent Fund
was loaned to said Roads, on certain conditions in
said Act named Therefore be it
Resoiued, That this Company accepts the loan Of
SAID FUND on the condition prescribed in said Act.
Resolved further, That the President of this Com.
pany is hereby authorized and empowered TO execute
and sign, as President OF this Company, the Bond OF
Bonds OF this Company, for the amount of the Three
Per Cent. FUND loaned to this Company, payable to
the State of Mississippi in accordance with the terms
of the above entitled Act.
Extract from the Act Of the Legislature Of WisSis.
sippi, referred to in the above Resolution.
"And Provided further, That the amount invested
in the New Orleans jackson and Great Northern
Railroad, shall be used in the construction of said
Road north of Canton"
The next evidence is to be found in the report Of
the minority on tue evening Of the 9th instant which
minority report was adopted by a vote of l3 to IL
every member of the Board being present Now. no
man OF common intelligence can read that report
without seeing that, though the term immediate ex-
tension is thrown aside the whole drift and force OF
the argument Is for non-extension, and that exten.
sion is an absurdity-beyond any present or future
means of the Company You are told in this report
that your Board of Directors (as il was adopted bv
the Board) are impressed with the profonndest
conviction that it (the question of extenson) has as
sumed an aspect, which if not overcome by the wis.
dom and iirmness o; the Stockholders of the Com
pany, must inict evils hurn to the credit of every
enterprise in the Southwestern States.r Now, as
have before said, from this a stranger would infer
tudt some great moral wrong or legal fraud was
about to be perpetrated. But not so the extension.
lists are not asking money from your treasury nor
are they such fools to destroy the credit or well.
being OF this once great national enterprise They
have never asked for one dollar which the Company
could honestly touch, intending to stop the road at
Canton. Aud ] submit, without fear OF the verdict
to candid public to say between u.s. which course Of
conduct is most likely to affect the credit of onr road.
that Is on the one side an honest and candid deca.
ration of purpose to execute our moral and legal oh.
legations or, on the other side, a delay or avoidance
or refusal to execute either. What would our bond.
holders say when they learn that the Company has
adopted line of conduct that must result f perse-
vered in) in forfeiture of the Charter Of the Com.
pany in the State of Mississippi, where the greater
portion OF the road is located ask has good faith
ever weakened the credit of an individual, company
or nation2 As to what is said about our action al.
lectng the credit Of every enterprise in the South.
West, this is magnifyng our Importance too much !;
1t is making mountain out of moie-hill-it might
do to brighten children, but not grown-up men-it is
but an extrayagant figure of rhetoric-Vor ct pro-
teTde Mill
You are told in this same report, that the extern
sionists wish to involve you in an outlay of between
six or seven millions of dollars Now let me be per.
mted 20 say that the writer of that report had twice
heard my views upon this subject, as can be proved
by every member Of the Board of Directors-and
they were precisely what have before stated in this
letter; never made any proposition to do aught but
what this Company could do and in good faith was
bound 10 do. have never stated either the expecta
ton or WISH that the State OF Louisiana or the CITY
Of New Orleans should ever be called upon for aid
further than that which had been already given But
the contrary I have always hofb in nuIlic