The New York herald., 1867-04-13

weight OF the debt would De Immensely In
creased, and we should find great diflculty in
discharging It With the present volume of
currency we should be able to pay 1t on at its
proper value and within reasonable time.
We are going along very well now, and we
should let well alone.
The Vote Message and the Central Railroad
Cempromiso Measure.
Has Governor Fenton ever read the Legal
Tender acti We Judge not He was in Con-
gress, It is true, when It was passed but how
many members Of Congress ever read this law,
or know, to this day. what its terms and Its
meaning ares Mr.. Fenton was too busy In
Eiguing for the Governorship Of New York to
pay much attention to national legislation on
the subject Of finances and his head being
small one, It would not hold many ideas at
the same time.
The Governor In his veto message lodges
the only question Of any magnitude involved
and that is the relative rights Of the corpora
ton under the law a. it now stands and under
the new bill. At present the road can exact
two cents mile In specie, which, at the pre-
sent price Of gold, l. more than two and three
ffths cents in currency. Under the proposed
bill they can exact only two and half cents
in paper, which Is less than they are now en-
titled to.
The Legal Tender act applies only to debts
Railroad fare is cash transaction the com
pany have legal right to exact the fare in
advance, and it never becomes debt As we
understand the law, it Is construed SO strictly
that where lessee had the option to pur-
chase leased property at price agreed on,
Judge Grier, of the United States Supreme
Court, held that the option was to take it at
such price in specie, and not in paper, as it
was not debt, and consequently the Legal
Tender act did not apply.
Suppose paper should depreciate, as 1t did
in the time of the American Revolution, to one
hundred dollars in paper for one in gold, or,
as 1t once did in France, to sixteen hundred
in paper for one dollar in gold, does anybody
suppose that the Central Railroad could be
compelled to carry passengers at two cents .
mile in papers And yet that would only be
strictly carrying out the principle which would
require them to transport passengers at two
cents o mile in our present deprecated cur
rency. The principle results in confscation
and enslavement. It would confscate the
property of the corporation, and, if 1t could be
executed, would compel the officers and en-
ployes to labor without compensation, which
Is slavery.
Undoubtedly, as matter of common sense,
the company have right to exact two cents .
mile in specie now5 undoubtedly, as matter
of law they have it, for the principle has been
decided. What, then, is the meaning, what the
object, of the bill now before the Legislature
If the company have the clear right to two
cents mile in specie why do they ask for q
law authorizing them to take lessi It means,
simply, an offer Of compromise. The directors
Of the road are not lawyers; they are simply
business men, who, like all business men, dis
like litigation. So they offer to take, by agree
ment, less than they are entitled to in strict
law. This is the correct view Of the bill. The
Senate may adopt this view and pass it over
the Governors veto, which is very weak
and wholly evasive document Otherwise the
company win have to turn down the specie
brakes on all the cars. That is all. If the
present directors do not do it board will be
put In who will. Then the stock win be worth
one hundred dollars in specie. instead Of
seventy or eighty, as at present
Senator Sherman's Speech af tho Union
League Club.
The speech Of Senator Sherman, delivered
at the Union League Club rooms, in Union
square, on Thursday evening, and reported
exclusively in yesterdays HERALD, although
nothing more than cursory review of the
most interesting political topics Of the day,
delivered without preparation, was vet q very