New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-07-13
the WEST WASHINGTON MAaKt, CASE.
ARG UMENT
OF Hon. Greene C. Bronson, Corporation Counsel,

ARG ENT
| OF Hon. Greene C. Bronson, Corporation Counsel
Tile Motion 10 Vacate tie Judgment agaira the City
SUPREME CoURT-cH.xspRs-yuI II end i2--Bs.on
Justice IsoRAHAn.
Judge Bronson addressed the Court as follows;
the Court please: rise for the purpoee OF closing
this long discussion under circumstances of good de
OF emtafra, eDent owing TO the fact that have hsard
but tpali portion Of the discussion which preceded
me- heard only part Of wha. said BY the open
ing council Mr. McKeon, and have heard nothing OF
Whit hss been sad by my friend, Judge Edmonds and
ny associa'e, Mr.. Eoyes, except few words at the
close Of hs address, and have only been privileged to
listen to the Argument of my friend, Mr Evarts.
place no. at the seaside with gentle breeass but with
the doctor and pills. and therefore it is that have not
listened as otberwiee should have to this Argument
and that have not the sdvsniage of knowing what has
been said by tie gentlemen on the other side low
ever, au now in q condition tina. hope shall be
able TO 60 on and say something Of the merits Of this
motion.
II Is important at the outset in this case % It il 10
all oibe,s to know, as accurately as we can, what lie
asked On what ground the application is made and
what Ia tie al swer to 1t, If there be any. Now,
ask that three judgments which have been recorded
against the city should be BET aside. We ask that upon
several grounds. First Of all, upon the ground that
We nave merits WnlcN nave not Dc6u uitu ~ tley
should have been tried That Is first ground and
we have others which aball notice by and by. Now
in respect to meriie stand here not only with the
ufual affidavit Of the clients, as they are advised by
their counsel, tut with the aHdavs Of tie conf se
Themselves, showing that they have not given advice
which they DO not themselves credit ard the aflda-
wits of the council all concurrng that this case hes rot
been properly tried, and that notwithstanding these
Judgments, the Corporation Of the City Of New-York
has good deense upon the merits Ia addition to this
q bv he olstl aaaf hot
examination rs he has given to the trials, he does
not believe that ey have beer tried In TIE bes manner
10 the rights Of the city to verdict or to afford
h,r the right to review bills Of exceptions. We have
got all that IL uay shown On such occasons and some
more; and here, suppose, we might rest this Discus
sion, and ask your honor If it DIT and proper that
such judgments shonld stand without better oppor-
unlty to Try the merits Of the controversy and you
will couple with what has been said the other facts
which remain undisputed, in respect to the mode in
which this litigation was conducted the part Of tho
Corporation IL seems to NE 10 70 very plain case,
~ where the Court should say that these
should be retired. But Sir we shall zee more Of that
we 60 We say, also, that there have been un-
authorized scs and therefore illegal acts On the part
of the gentleman who Representa- the Corporate IN
this litgaton cay tere unauthorized acts ana with
out spe ding more time LEI ne point you 70 the fact that
The Corrorstou of The Cit. of New York; madea party
in tbs litigation wbort process and without its consent
Has the Corporation Counsel any such discretion as
that Has be any such power1 know. Sir that
very large powers sre chin ed for that omcer, ana
larger than si.h 10 be vested with. l have been
sometimes the ught be man of reasonable courage;
but Sir, whether ] have more or les, like TO fai!
bs. sometimes and see that there is platoon In the
rarf never felt any ambition either private coun-
eel or as a public officer to fgh! battle all alone.
Now has the Corporation Counsel any such power AS
that, suppose Lot. Has be ary power TO admit the
liability OF the Corporation for tho acts Of the tenants
put the Corporation in their place and say that il
sbsll respond suppose not Has he any power to
l. Ill d. .r.nIt1 mt
Now it matters little IN this discussion, in any aspect
Of it, whether this is the result Of accidental mistake,
ignorance or design. Ii Is enough Sir that the Cor
po,at;on has been injured, sid that they come here
taken his du y and they have thereby suffered injury,
Why then they oDght TO be heard and If he has tres
red al aDsi the rules OF propriy why then certainly
the gentleman who represented the city has miscon.
Quoted himself. l don't mean In these words, but
broader words used but IL 10 stated that ne mis-
conducted tho litigation the part OF the city 1t Is
also added in our papers, more particularly IN taose
which come on the part of the Controller, that he
ia mixed up with the parties who assisted in the att.
,uds of advisers. and tia, there has been ooilu-
SOB and fraud in the management OF this case Now,
II your Honor pesse, shall speak with great resrrt
of ything that sy have taken place on th part OF
~, PREDECESSOR in flee. have no il-will toward
him, lie well knows, or at least SIS ne might ~ei
knew. He has always treat.d me with ciyih'y ana
c0utesy, and can tee! nothing but psn IL ePeaAing
of him ia ans manner which he would not please to
hear. Bot s,ill your Honor have duty to perform
even at the peril OF mourning bis dirpleasure. he is
ebs,g,d. say, with misconduct as an attorney. Wei,
Sir suppose many persons woula regard that to be
lie tact IN nskiI his cen,s-not his clants-for they
Were not his clehts-bnt making the Corporation Of
This city party tc this litigation hen they never Were
served With process and we're lot before the Court.
Tbt CouIi-Do you mesn In the secofd suit
Judge Bropsop-I speak more particularly your
Honor, Ct the fret suit for here may cay that on
that pivo. everything biugs.
4 r. ~ et;np farn in aar-
end snd third il s stared process was served.
Judge Brorsor-We don't say that il was not. No,
Sir but ttis 90 cay that in the first suit, when the
CORPORATION We're out Of Court by the consent Of all
psrtes tia. il is the in effect if they had never
been IN Court AID they could not again be made par
ties without their consent without process to bring
them in against their will. an barely mentioning
now what propose to refer to at length hereafter and
nv the Mayor ard Common Council of the CITY to do
So Was that right conduct for officer OF the Cor
pcration having charge Of It's law business submit
thst it wss not. / submit also Il your Honor please,
in controversy Of this kind in solvi"g millions Of dol
srs il one of tee suits and eectIent In another OF
toe SUITE That it was not competent for the Corpora
ton Counsel 10 consent to refer ence, ard take
these cas. cut OF the od-fashioled mode OF trial
by July without consulting any otcera Of the Cor.
poraton. Our ancestors thought the right Of trial
by Jury worthy enough to secCre 1t as iunda-
mental law; and it 10 too dear thingt Engi,sa,
men or Americans TO DO thrown away or trined
with. Now had no discretion to withdraw the ap-
cesls? Il Is broad exposition Of the word discre-
lion to say that in such matter It should be done
without tie knowledge snd without the consent Of tie
men WHOM be Undertook to represent. But theae
things will cone out more fuly az we go on sDd as
proceed with tha few words have 10 say on this mat
ter AID here let say before go any further that
we have imputed 20 wrong to any Jndgo-Judge Pot
Ter or any ether Judge from the legnning to the end
Nur DO we imputs any wrong to tbs Reierees-nor do
we impute anv wrong the Counsel who appear here
10 orposr us We have rrsde charges against any OF
them. We have 10 destinations to maks. We are
dealing with other persors. The Referees found a