Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1859-12-03

ton, and upon my refusal to. issue the Stats
hBdnds tb them upon any ethersterms,l Z VIII
OF Mandamus was applied for to the Supreme
! Court, by the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad
Company, to compeI-me to deliver to them
the Bonds of the State, without exacting the
exclusive first mortgage bonds Of the com-
pany in return, j desired the attorney Gen.
perai to attend on the part Of the State, and
the question was ably and elaborately ar
gned by hun beiorei the Suprme Court but
nevertheless, the majority of that tribunal de-
cided that my rul V was serropeons, and that
the Siateil, herlown scs hdf placed herself
! on like foo,ing with other holders of the
first mortgage bonds of the companies under
their deeds Of trust, and could not therefore
| legally require an exclusive priority of lien
upon the property of the Companies. .4S'
HE DIDN'T THINK HE WAS BOUND TO OBEY Tue
COURT, BUT STILL THOUGHT IT BETTER TO DO SO.
!"It was Questionable In my mini, whether
, the Supreme Court possessed jurisdiction in
the case. but as it was the tribunal Of final
resort in the State, 4 foresaw, that, IF disre-
.E,ied the mandamul directed to me, the
Rail Read Companies would probably consent
10 receive tie State Bonds under my original
ruling, but would then rpply TO the Supreme
Court to be released frUin what il had already
decided to be an illegal obligation imposed
upon them by the Governor, and, in such .
contingency, the interests of the State would
have been exposed to new complications and
perhaps new dangers 81, as.
BLOW. .,SUMBER one " AGAINST THE MARKET
VALUE OF THE BONDS. ..tt.-..
. d
~ therefore submitted TO the Writ direct
,iag the issie of the State Botls. bat the pub.
lici,y given tn the disagreement between the
Executive and Companies by the proceedings,
was the first blow to the market vane of the
bonds, which, under the original construction
were eagerly sought for at par, but after the
decision Of the Supreme Court, began to be
regarded WITH suspicion"
We shouldn't wonder! The whole world
AMI the rest oi mankind, just about tina,
time, began to have an inkling-that the Ell
tire Loan Policy was 4 cautiously and delib-
rate concocted "swindle " on the People Of
Minnesota to put money into the private
pockets of a few; hence, the g suspicious u
N" "1 BLOW NUMBER TWO.
This blow, Mr.. Sibley neglects to mention.
We will do it for him. All will recollect that
preparations were being made here to issue
currency extensively, based on the State Rail-
road Bonls A hundred thousand dollars Of
the . money" was signed in the Auditors
Office, ready to be pitched out upon the COM
munity. The bankers and mercantile men of
st. Paul became alarmed. A committee wait
ed, on ar. Sibley and the Auditor to uge that
the safety Of the people or bil-holders demand
ed that those Bonds should not be received at
more than about eighty cents on the dollar, at
furthest-as some contended, for not more
than fifty cents. The State officials agreed
not to receive the Bonds as . currency basis,
except at about twenty cents depreciation !;
and this fact, announced in New York, was
blow number "two'' to to the market value Of
the Bonds. 4.. ..r.
--------- BLOW NUMBER THREE.
When the Railroad officials in New York
and III Minnesota ascertained this, curses
!boih loud and deep were uttered. Party in
ilncnces were at once brought to bear to make
,en change their position! and sacrifice the
F5oPlr for the benefit of the Railroad Com
i',iies. they succeeded., sibley and Dun-
~ ron ;tnsed TO back out. a plausible pre-
IeSt gas all that was wanted. To give it to
them, base and di,rtputab!e expe!ient was
rrscrled to \ Mock Auction Sale of tine
Stock; was made at the New York Exchange
'na the Stocks were then duly quoted as hay
i:,,, ,',ri, sod 81 I0ot in New York, and the
}. iil"-f'rt, VISA telegraphed on to St. Paul to
justly SIhley and Dunbar in taking he bonds
a, :. tanking basis at par.
WHO does not recollcct the extras issued
from the presses of the Railroad organs, re-
J i>irg over the swinihng news. The MIME
s,r.As snno"aced the intelligence, with the
remark. that H.: over par was ''cut,ing it a
little tao .tias." 81 -a1F
What was to he done? In two or three
days hundreds Of thousands Of dollars of Gu =
'pncy, Eass!cS$ and nAdequately secured,
| va,It has. uycrwh .-,el the community, and
w re tue hcs oI' e ,vpt in ths days Of DID.
1T the risk OF ,nartyraon aiupItr from =
,ieiudc,i people To prevent their robbery, and
save them in spite Of themselves, this paper
the next morning came out and denounced
the raSeaiity Of the Mock Auction in New
York, and exposed to the gaze OF the COM
lnuty, the whole transactio ,,-the intended
pcrpetration of the swindle in this very style
IN i 'g been known 10 us week before.
SiDiey was frightened. He hesi,ated. He
dare not lake tie responsibility Of allowing the
currency 10 go out, in the face Of such an ex-
p,sure. twas then that he started to New
York, to See about things. His great genius
as- ancgotiator, would make it all right! They
were but bungers, those Minneso,ians already
there! But when he got there, he found that
tins Mock Auction sale had given the whole Of
the Bond negotiations most damaging blow.
1t was regarded by respectable operators in
Wall Street, as a disreputable transaction
and men of repute, shook their heads, and
remarked one to the other something was
wrong g-somebody was intended to be cheat
lsl--they would not toucn paper thus tainted
by sharper's tactics .-; sss
ABOUT MR. sIBLEY's VISIT TO NEW YORK.
| The several Companies having received the
the State Bonds due them, attempted to effect
their negotiation in New York City, but were
unsuccessful, and at their earnest solicitation.
and prompted by sense Of public duty, be-
ing also Vice President Of The Cedar Valley
railroad Company visited that city, and
spent several weeks, in the endeavor to sell