The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-01


have spoken.
May il please your Honors, what we are to act
upon is the provisions of the Constitution,
taking them In general view for the public
benefit, for which they were designed, and give
to all their principles fair application. The
first question which has been considered by our
learned friends on the other side is what this act
does. We say that, in fact, II discharges the |
truttees from the administration of the trusts. |
We have said that IL Is either one or the other |
of these things, and they are equally unlawful. |
The Legislature has no right to do either the |
one or the other. The answer is do not know |
what.
The gentleman on the other side said, in the |
first place, that you are mistaken In this theory
entirely mistaken about It, IL is no discharge
of the trustee at all The plea is under the other
thumb. You say that we have the indecency to
charge the Legislature with trick We charge
nothing of the kind. We have no idea of such q
thing. 1t is the furthest from our thoughts.
beyond any other construction of this act IL is
an unlawful violation of our rights given to us
by Mr.. Girard, by Mr.. Wills, and all the rights
of their testators If you cannot support the
trusts from 1t there is an end of it. 1t does not
undertake to dot 1t demolishes the trustee
as an active agent in the matter, and constitutes
in his place other parties.
1t was admitted-I was glad to hear it-in
Judge StroBgs argument, that If this were pri-
vate corporation It could not be done; but being
n municipal corporation it can be DONE Why5
Because the Legislature have the power to repeal
any municipal corporation. They can destroy
organization. Well anil good. Let us see how
it stands. For every charitable trust established
since 1855 the Legislature have by an act of that
year, the same power OF repeal. Therefore one
or the other must be taken back. Either they
cannot confscate that property, or they can do
the same with every charitable trust in Pennsyl-
vania that has been created since the year 1855.
Our Bank of the United States was private
corporation. The Bank of England is public
corporation.
There is no distinction in England among
those corporations which we should call private
corporations here. Their rights are all the
same. You will find it laid down clearly in all
their books on the subject. The right of gov
eminent is one thing, and the right of property
is another. They have no right to levy taxes
| in England. They have never done this. Their
property Is derived from the contributions of the
members. / do not look for cases TO cite here.
They are very numerous and stare us in the
face. The public branches of the Government
| are in the hands of the king and their right to
| the property remains unaffected. Our Consti-
tuition was certainly not intended to leave lis the
| miserable slaves which our ancestors refused
| to be.
| May it please your Honors, we are met again
with the difficulty, and have exercised the power
of changing our organization Of course they
had. Iou may say that they have the right to
change the Constitution, and the administration
of the trust follows it, That is very different
| thing from what has been attempted in this case.
| Now we come to the townships, we then come
| to the county officers, and then to the city. The
L
| any time they please. Nobody objects to that.
| 1t was when the Government appointed all the
| officers You appoint county commissioners,
| you appoint sherifts. What have you to do with
| that They have not here constituted any mu-
| ncipal government. They have not provided for
| the appointment of councils. They have directly
taken the administration of these trusts from the
| hands of the municipality thai lawfully held it,
| and thrown the whole of it upon body of men
whom they called the agents of the city, but who
are not the agents OF the city and cannot be
| made so. The city, therefore, can have nothing
| TO do with it, of course.
Will anybody show me any sanction for this
| Any body show me what becomes of the clause
| that property shall not be taken but by the law
of the land? This property was taken from the
hands of the city and placed in the charge of
other persons with whom they had nothing
whatever to do. They are called our agents.
| We say you cannot draw line of practical dis
| tinction between taking my property from me
and appointing an administrator to take charge
| OF it for me. You are changing the property or
you are unlawfully plundering us. Well, may
it please your Honors this being so we rely
upon this clause in the Bill of Rights and in the
Constitution which protects us. We have said
this is judicial power in the first place, by re-
moving the trustee in fact, This is a judicial
act. 1t has been answered in no other way
except by the idea of the hand.
Otherwise it is admitted that this is judicial
act and therefore void on that account. 1t is
void as taking away our property 1t is treated
here as if nobody was interested in 1t except the
others left their property to the municipal gov
ernment of the city of Philadelphia. They
doubtless had their own reasons for doing so.
They relied upon the municipal government as
long as there was anything left capable of form
| ing government in the city. 1t was left to the
city. There is no doubt whatever in this matter.
These are large estates, very large estates Mr..
Girards design was to leave his trust with the
people, and it should never leave their manage
ment. He knew perfectly we'll that Councils was
political body. He knew all about that, buthe
left his trust in its hands.
| Your Honors have been much among us. Who
ever heard of a complaint against the Wills
Hospital institution? Whoever heard of the
misInanagement of its funds Who has ever
heard distinctly of the mismanagemenJ of the
funds of the Girard College? Look at its Off
GERS. Look at the superintendent. Look at
him. the latter named gentleman, who has been
in Office there, should say, for nearly thirty
years, a man with as good character as any man
in the community, and as incapable of commit
ting a voluntary wrong action. In regard to
other matters we have had great complaints.
speak of this in a general way. They are not
referred te in this bill.
! This municipality may be abolished tomorrow
If the Legislature choose. Has the Legislature
: done SO !? No. They may take the private pro-
peTty also. This is what they say. By this act
of power we are to be discarded from the ad
l ministration of the trust. Let me say word al
; TO this matter of contract. Girard had right
7 to say how his trustees should be appointed
, AS to the contract, the only answer to that in
the defendants remarks is one hardly fit tC
make. They said it was no contract at all
Take the case of two private men; one agrees II
writing that the other shall pay him $500, 600
1 ana that he will convey to him a certain estate
| He then files a plea to get it back again. Ii
such case your Honors would hardly listen Il