Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1858-11-27
REPuD1ArIoz, REPUTATION !

EAl ~ NAkA ~
IL our City Council bad set apart the rcve-
nue. OF the Navy Yard rents and taxes for the
81 use and benefit Of the city Instead Of APP
propriating Il to the payment Of the interest
on ths Memphis and Little Rock Railroad
Company's bonds, we might with Il, IN addi-
ton 10 the assistance which We could derive
from other sources, establish water works,
build a good Court House for the city and rem
der all the assistance to our common schools
which their importance demands. But, under
tbs action OF our Board Of Aldermen these
great interests are being neglected, and the
money which should be applied to them is sent
abroad to pay interest on a debt which prom
ises no return, at least to the present genera
ton, as the only consideration We receive TOR
the assumption and payment OF the debt and
interest is the stock Of the Company or the
Company's bonds at thirty years, neither Of
which, We presume, IL placed IN market, would
bring more than ten cents on the dollar.
s. 7. NJ.
The foregoing extract from a letter address,
ed to The APPEAL By a worthy Alderman, is
the best evidence on record Of the progress Of
the age. Every son Of this century is wiser
than bis father ; every daughter is an improved
edition Of her spinning-jenny mother, and each
successive Board Of Aldermen lie inhnetely
superior to its predecessor. In ten years the
COUNTRY viii be filled with Wsbstsrs, Clsys and
CalhOuus; greatness will become contemplate
from our familiarity with it, and to the attain
ment OF this end our Aldermen are addressing
themselves with unparalleled energy.
The gist OF the extraordinary letter, from
which The above excerpt is made, is, that the
mortgage Of the Navy Yard to secure the pay
msnt Of the bonds Of the Little Rock Railroad
Company is illegal, unauthorized BY the City
Charter, and, therefore, that the liability ac-
cruing under it should be repudiated-
Second, That the city cannot use her in
come to pay the interest on the cOmpany's
bonds when the revenues Of the Navy Yard are
exhausted.
Third, That the execution Of the mortgage
was unwise originally, ndthst the Navy Yard
should have been appropriated TO the construe-
ton OF Court Houses, water works and school
buildings.
The suggestion made under the third head,
efeetusily demolishss 4" 5. T. M's7 first argu-
msut. T. is an admission by himself OF the
fact that the Board OF Aldermen could have
appropriated the NavJ Yard to any purpose
deemed BY it advantageous to the city. as.
T. M has too much good sense to argue that
il it were necessary to locate the machinery
for the water works in the limits Of Arkansas,
that, therefore, an appropriation Of the Navy
Yard to such a purpose would be illegal. True,
be squints at this idea, but the Well-spring Of
his intellect was deep enough to drown the
miserable conception before it became any
thing mere than an unsightIy abortion. Tie
fact that the Little Rock Road is located in
Arkansas does not then affect the legality Of
the mortgage.
But it is grsvelg urged that the city charter
prohibits the issuance Of city bonds having
longer than twelve months to run, and there.
fore, it could not mortgage The Navy Yard e
make the bonds Of the Little Rock Railroad
Company marketable. This conclusion is Z
'EOn ssguitgT." The power to sell the Ma.
w Yard for any purpose is admitted, while ID,
lesser power, to mortgage for any purpose, il
denied. The Railroad Company has the power
to issue thirty OF fifteen year bonds, and thu
city having the power to dispose Of the Nav
Yard " ad hbiium, p mOrtgaged it to give credi
to these bonds legally issued. The city hat
the right to buy the bonds Of a railroad com.
pany, or to buy it's stock, OF 10 loan it money.
az a former Board OF Aldermen did, when j
advanced for stock in the Memphis and Obi
Road SO 600, without submitting the question
to a popular vote. II this transaction werr
legal, the sale Of the Navy Yard for stock il
the Little Rock Com pany was also legal. /
the interest and bonds Of the Little Rock Com
pany are not paid, and the Trustees sell tn.
Navy Yard to pay both, it amounts to nothiDl
but the purchase OF the bonds or stock Of tn.
company with real estate, instead of money
This is BOT a case in which the city is doinJ
that iadirecflv which she cannot do directly IN
der the charter. The charter 20 more prohib
its the exchange of the Navy Yard for ~railros,
stocks, or railroad bonds, than 1t does is sx
change for money, OF for water works an,
school houses. IS. I. NJ" admitted every.
thing when be yielded the point that the Boar,
Of Aldermen had supreme powers Of dispose
over this property. II the Board can lease
it can mortgage if 1t can sell, it can do either
L it can build water works with it, it can bulk
a LdtalOdG VIII TIC lAN~NCA1s NANALNA 0res
proceeds be credit, cash, bonds, or stock.
AS as. T. NJ" Is given to deductions fron
the action or non-action Of the Legislature, ]
viii suggest an idea which it seems did moi
occur to him The Legislature has made To,
Navy Yard part and parcel of the city, and Il
it had 50 intended to limit CT direct the city'i
supreme powers Of disposal over it, such legis.
lation ss " S. 7. M suppOsss to exist some.
where in the broad realms Of legislative Gin
teafiOHo would have now appeared on the
ststute books. The Navy Yard was a special
subject Of consideration, and yet, no limitation
is imposed upon the powers Of the municipal au-
thorities, with rsfersnee to 1t. Congress gave
it "fOr the use and bensf.'' Of Memphis, and
there the legislature left it, and for this pur-
pose q former Board Of Aldermen used il.
IS. T. NJ . makes a point which, doubtless,
startled many old togy lawyers, who have been
doubling cspes and rugged Promontories, and
avoiding tke breakers 10 he ocean-deptbs Of
legal lore from time immemorisl. He argues
that il the Legislature bad designed to sutho-
rize the city to issue bonds, shs could not have
made them draw more than six per cent. inte
rest, and hence, that the whole transaction is
Illegal, ard should be rspudiatsd, since these
Railrssd bonds dfaw 7 per cent. Here Is another
gross mistake. II the Legislature bad sntho
rjzed Memphis % issue her notes without, at
the a time, fixing the rats Of interest, rua-
ming 4 months CT 90 years. the city could
bsF. made them bear the legal rate IN any