Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-01-23
PHILADELPHIA, January Is, lSGt

| Druuk n Tds---l Important Tor LaNyefs---A hoh-
4 lmpriSOnment---AmuSemen ETC., etc'
| PHILADELPHIA, January Is, 1866.
To the Editor Of tie Wing;
George NJ. Wharton, on Saturday last, con-
| cluded his argument on the railroad controyer-
| sy now pending before Judge Read, III NS1
! Prius. lie submitted three propositions:
| |. That the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
has concluded itself from asking what 1t
| does ask by its deliberate act OF court.
| >. That the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
| is concluded from asking the relief 1t has
asked by the frame ofits bill.
3. That the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
| is not clothed with the power it claims under
general principles.
The PENNSYLVANIA Railroad Company has
concluded itself by its own argument, from
disputing the points which it seeks to annul.
| MIR. Wharton said, "Let us look at the bill and
see against what person this bill is Directed
| Is not the charter, and the very existence OF
the Atlantic and Great Western Railway Com
pany. admitted by the plaintiffs sueing it in ltS
| own corporate name And 1t Is Il uniform
principle that the defendant Is not bound 10
prove what the plaintiff admits. There can DC
no decree against anybody except party
named in the bill, and ifthe corporate existence
of the party sued is denied, there can be no
Judgment entered" Mr.. Wparton then said,
on the third pOint-"By the general principles
of law, the plaintiffs cannot get decree against
the defendants. Any body, or any corporation,
| might come into court and ask for decree
against defendants. The principle is that pri-
vatc corporations cannot Interfere with works
ofa public nature, intended for the benefit OF
the community at large. The compainants
do not represent the community, and if they
can bring bill, fifty or five hundred others can
do so likewise. The complainant must have q
special interest over and above everybody in
the commonwealth and the Pennsylvania rail-
road must come into court and show such an
interest in the contract complained of as would
entitle it above anybody else to equitable re-
lief.
Another allegation is, that, admitting plain
tiH's right to come into court, whether there is
such company existing as is formed by the
conjunction of these three companies. 1t Is
said that no articles to that effect have been
filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The merger agreement was sent by mail to the
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
lie returned it with letter stating that he
knew no authority in law for having the papers
filed with him. The agreement was sent back
with the law ON the subject, and the Secretary
again returned it, saying that he did so by the
advice OF the Attorney General. The filing
was accomplished finally. A mdnddmuS could
not have issued to the Secretary to compel him
to file it, but only to give certificate OF ITS
filing. Ii is said that these are not connecting
railroads and it Orier 10 make Cdld q lease De-
t,reen ttrO railroads Hey must be cOlmectRg.-
What does the language of the act import 1t
SavS that one railroad may lease the road oi
another company, with the provSo that the tive
roads hc connected with intervening rails. 4
r,,ilroad is not The rails Cf the rodd. The act
speaks of ihe rOd,iS connecting anil not Ct the
rails coaneciil,g. Neither the rats nor the rodo
is sHerdilrodd bW dOH are required, and it is tc
both that the act refers. There may he con
Meeting railroads, without the rails being Simi-
lar in gauge or style of rail. There is 4 mode
of connection, Il manner of connection, and 4
point OF connection, and the act makes provi-
sion of diSSimilarity of connection. One line
of stage coaches connect with another line, yet
no one will contend that the horses should be
of the same size, color or gender. The Strait,
of Gibraltar connect the Atlantic Ocean with
the Mediterranean Sea, but the gauge of the
Atlantic and the Mediterranean are quite diff
fircnt. The matter Of gauges IN the eye Of Tie
kur il an iutInpOrtdit element. They may be a.
tered bv the BigectOrS of the different companies
at anu time, rs the cGnYenienceS or interests oi
the several companies may require. A neccs-
sary consequence of the argument is That there
calt be no cOHnectiHJ rdihOGiS lnlleSS the rails
are absolutely placed upon the ground. Ii thi'
| were SO there would be no corporate existence
i'm ang road and il could make no contracts lol
the LAYING Of its road, or.tor any other purpose
whatsoever.
This case is of interest 10 every lawyer il
the Southern States, and hence quote freely
from the speech oi MIR. Wharton. 1t is an ap
plication for special injunction to stop tho
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad Company from complet,
i ing its road without application to the Attorney
| General of this State. The case will be con,
tnued during this week. Judge Church vii
rive history of the Atlantic aud Great West
ern Railway Company, and Judge Black follow
i'm argument. The Hon. Robert j, Walker viii
close the case for the responding parties, Mr.
Cuyler and Mr., Gibbons will also conclude iol
, the plaintiffs.
The only safe principle of law in relation t'
homicide, as a result of iDtoXication, is thai
drunkenness carries with it a fearful reSpOnsl-
lbility. On Saturday last, Judge Allison, pre-
siding at the Court of Quarter Sessions, en-
forced this theory. jefferson Spanier, convicted
of manSlaughter in killing Patrick J. Duncan
= non, was called up for sentence. Mr.. GuSta
| yuS Remack, his counsel, who by the way Is I
noted German lawyer Of this city, asked the
merciful consideration Of the court. lie Sait
: the prisoner was i mere hoy; that the testi
q 4
Huence of lquOr whcnthe stab vas given. The
: Judge decided that he had weighed all theSC
questions but that he was tired of hearing
| counsel plead fOF drunkenness, and sentenced
4 the lad, who is but twenty oac SelFS oil age, Il
; an Imprisonment Of ten years and SIX months ~
the Eastern Penitentary.
man who enters prison van for a iOnrne,
: to Cherry Hill, under 4 sentence Of incarcera
tion for One-SiXth of maximum life, look'
, utla the sunshine of the material world will
: peculiar LelngS. On Saturday last Judge
Allison passed ssReaiC upon John Conner, {
> man convicted of manSlahghIeI, Or murder IL
> the second degree, for the killing OF AiGh.e
e Fitzgerald. The affair occurred at a tavern ii
I Pascalyille, few miles from Philadelphia
ConBeg is a tall, good-loolling young fellow o
5 Irish descent, Eith black hair and black nous
tache, As he stood uy ~ th9 dock TO receive
sentence, there vas much sympathy fslt fol
him. Judge Allison said that the court did
not agree with the finding Of the jury, yet, a'
the law makes them the judges of the facts, the
verdict must stand. Ir the crime was moi
murder in the first degree, it was murder in the
second degree. If the jury had convicted OF
: murder in the first degree, the court would mol
/ have intcriered with il. The shooting took
, place after the fight was oyer, and appeared to
be without provocatiQn. 'LOOking at j il
that light" said the Judge, :swe feel that the
sentence ought to be a severe one. II is that
YOU undergo an Imprisonment in the Eastern
. Penitentary, in solitary confinement at hard
labor, for the period Of eleven years and six
months" The van rolled up to the door, and
the ppl,,;unate prisoner, kissing his friends
with weeping eyes, stepped in and was driven
| TO the towefy, fortress Ike walls of the Peni-
teuiiary, and twelve long years hug '..r will
be blank He was taken into, the prison, q
black cap put apo" ~ head, and for an hour
he was walked around, unconscious OF the
davli,I,t in the darkness" and then locked ap
in his cell. lie knows not in what corridor his
cell is placed, nor is he cognizant OF the exist
ence Of an outer world, save that in the loomy
hours OF might, ghep the busy city is hushed to
silence and to sleep, ne c4n !e2n.i he strokes
of the old bell at the State House as 4 &eaFS
away SO slowly the heavy hours Of that long
long decade.
In the organization Of lhe Stata Senate Of
New Jersey, last week, there was presented 4
! spectacle which must bring the blush of shame
; To the check of every one who has clung to the
D notion that the prominent men of the Conser-