Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-01-17

ltule cannot create an equitable right, YET
where such right exists the Legislature
has the power to provide process, o.
remedy, by which that right may be Sc
eured.
A large and respectable class Of our citi-
zens have become involved in serious DIFF
fculties, which, in all cases, either have led
or will lead, to great losses, and in many
cases to absolute ruin. There is class of
securities called Railroad Farm Mortgages,
(which are hanging over some of The best
farms and are embarrassing great many
of the best men in the State The aggre-
gate amount of these mortgages is esti-
MATED at about five millions Of dollars
They cover lands valued at least at fifteen
millions Of dollars Between five and six
Thousand men are involved in these peculiar
liabilities. They were executed upon the
pretense that they were to be used MS col
lateral security for loans Of money made
by the railroad companies. They were
conceived in fraud, executed in fraud, and
sold or transferred in fraud, by the direct
lors, or agents, Of some of these COM
lpanies While some Of the directors and
agents were innocent Of these receptions
upon the farmers, the men who controlled
these financial operations were dishonest,
and sought not public benefit, or to aid
lpublic enterprises, but their own aggran-
ldizement It furnished short and easy
method Of getting money without earning
lit, and provided ample means, at the ex-
Ipense OF laboring citizens, Of living with
out labor. An ancient nation had no law
for Furnishing man who murdered his
mother The reason was that it had never
been conceived that any man could commit
such a crime. In the history Of he tinaa-
cial speculations Of this country, 50 bold,
open, unbushing frauds, taking in a large
body Of men, were never perpetrated--
There was, and is, no law to punish them;
because such rascality could not have been
anticipated.
1t becomes a matter Of State impor-
Itance. The State cannot afford to lose the
labor, and energy, and enterprise Of five
thousand of its best citizens, nor can the
State afford to suffer fifteen millions OF dol
lars ofthe earnings Of these men to feed the
hungry NAV Of gigantic swindle. Ey-
cry legitimate means, warranted by law and
good faith, should be used for their ! f..
/ The railroad companies ought to be able
to relieve these mortgagors.
AS a measure Of relief, new disposition
Iof portion Of the Grant Of Lands, made
Iby Congress to the State, in trust fJr rail-
iroad purposes, and turned over by the State
to the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad
Company, might be made, with the con
sent of Congress. In case all that portion
lof the Grant not sold to the St. Croix d
Lake Superior Railroad Company, is not
to be given to new Company, to carry
out the designs Of Congress, and under
conditions which shall beyond contingency
save the farm mortgagors, suggest for
lyour consideration, q memorial TO Congress,
asking that the act making the grant TO the
State be 50 changed as to give the State abb
solute control Of the same, SO far as rights
of private parties or companies have not be-
come legally, permanently fixed. That re-
lief granted by Congress could un-
IquestionabIy be obtained if an energetic ef-
fort should be made for the purpose-the
lands could be sold at some price, the mini
mum Of which should be fixed by law, and
the proceeds used to relieve the mortgagors,
directly, or to aid the companies, or their
representatives, in relieving these farmers
Of such uncomfortable burdens.
.Evc,rr,NaEs
The recent emtarassments under which
merchants and business men Of the State
have labored from the arrangements in fl
nancial affairs, are deserving of your atten-
ton. These difficulties have evidently
arisen from causes quite out of the ordina-
~ course of events; although, in their eff
fects upon us, traceable to peculiar exigen-
eies in our export trade.
The law of commercial exchanges is Of
course subject to the law of traffic; that Of
supply and demand in foreign trade ex-
ports and imports being nearly equal, mon
ey is only required to adjust balance; while
lin the internal and export trade Of this
State, large disbursements are first requir-
ed COR the purchase of products. Time,
for shipment and sales in eastern marts, is
a very important element in the grain traf-
fic, and has necessarily at all times a con-
trolling influence upon the rates offinancial
exchange; and this was especially true Of
the late temporary panic.
The surplus wheat crop Of our farmers,
for sale after the last harvest, was full
TWENTY-FIVE millions of bushels. To pur
chase and remove this immense surplus, or
even a considerable part Of it, would re-
quire the disbursement Of several millions
Of dollars. In past years grain buyers usu-
ally brought into the state eastern eurren-
cy to effect their purchases; but our local
banks having now a circulation adequate to
the public wants, has rendered this course
no LONGER necessary. Accordingly, thcpur-
chases Of the late harvest, so far as made,
were effected mainly by eastern acceptanccs
or by drafts drawn against the grain IN
transit, negotiated at western banks which
furnished buyers the currency used in the
traffic. In all ordinary conditions Of the
money market, no difficulty could have
arisen from these accommodations; since
the maturity Of aeceptances at eastern banks
IL