, 1869-03-30
ANOTHER RAILROAD norn c.sz

While the Lee County Qoxa) case il I'M.
DER d1scusnon, the Supreme Conrt Of tho
United States has rendered its Judgment on
parallel case in the State Of wisconsin.
In the year 1859 the town O; Belo;t issued
its bonds to the omount Of 800, ,oH}. in
pursuance Of vote Of the people, to aid in
tho construction Of tho Racine T. Miasissinn;
RAILROAD, tking tho stock Of tho
road therefor. Tho railroad counanv
sold or hypothecated the bonds 70
pay for lAbor and materials usod in
building the road Tho understanding waa
TINT the road should pay tho interest on tho
bondH, but the very object Of issuinR tho
bonds was to substitute tho larger c.oiit and
resources Of The town for those of tho road
The town assumed the risk Of tho railroaa
company's failure, and wna compensated
therefor by the building Of tho road. The
rullroad company became bankrupt, md The
bondholders thereafter locked to the tow,
Tor payment Of their coupons. Tho town
Fepudiased, and the bondholders brouQht
suit in the United States Circuit Court at
Milwaukee. The caso WIS cayried TO the
Supreme Court, where I'LL the points in
controversy have been decided against the
town and in favor Of the bondholders. It
has been decided
l. That the bonds are valid.
IL Tint the bondholde1s arc entitled to
mantnmus against tho Town Clerk. This
was applied for in the court below On the
ground that there were no legal supe1vi-
soss TO servo the writ upon, as two of them
resigned each year On the day Of their clcc-
ton TO avoid service Of n,0nd..mus.
ID. That the bondholdcrs may bring suit
IN equity against the city Of Beloit to asce.-
tain the amount for which it is liable. Tho
bonds were issued by the town before the
city was incorporated. By tho act OF in
corporation it was provided that the city
should pay its proportion Of the debts o;
tho town according 10 its assessed valuation,
which proportion is about four -fiftha Of tho
whole. But thus far it has shielded itself
behind the town, and this ia the frst de-
ciAion which enables the bondholdesa to
reach it.
There in ono more suit against tho town
OF Beloit which involves the question
whether private property may be levied
upon for debts Of municipal corpo.otious,
Upon this point the Court ordered 7eareu.
ment at the next term Tho alternative
process, in case no competent officers
can be found to bo served with
the writ of maadnmus, and in case
private property cannot be levied upon
to satisfy The Judgment, will, probably be
for court to appoint asscssoss to levy tho |
tax. Aa there can be, in law, no wrong
without a remedy, way must be found to
enforce payment, and the Supreme Court !
has recently decided, in ono Of the Iowa
cases, that the Circuit Court Of the United
States may direct the Marshal to levy the
tax, if the Supervisors or other local authori-
ties neglect to do no.
This series Of decisions arc Of the yery
highest Importance They involve the prin-
ciples upon which civilized society is based |
The question is this: Shall public corpo-
ration be required to pay its debts, the same
as pFivnte individual, OF private corpora
ionS The courts say, Yes. All the adverse
talk about States rights, prior jurisdic-
ton, local injuncsions, liberty Of the citizen,
foreign bondholders, ETC., is tho special |
pleading Of KNIVES against the ma1iIns Of |
common honesty.