, 1870-03-23

tho majority of hsm desire it. But her.
the Directors arc lott wholly 70 their :. sve..
wills on every day Of Tho year hut th,t
" the annual election. They ire the
governors rather than the aeonta Or ser.
'an.a OF the corporation, while tho owners
Oh tho stock hase no rights whatever for
keif-ppteetion except psoso vouehsafed to
the'la IN tho privilege Of annually re-olec.-
ing tho ofticers- When this is taken avay,
the stockholders have not vestige of pow
Or left This act keeps the present ruling
Spirits IN po~er Tor at least five yea1a, With
out any consent Of the atockholda1a aud in
violation Of the demand of two-thirds of
thcur Every State, city, and corporation
IN America which may hare occasion to sell
it's stock, abroad or at homo, is interested in
breaking down 50 prodigious rill.iny. II
ought not to be necessary to ash for ita IT,
peal. 1t is 30 aagranty vio-
lntion Of chartered rights and Of thu
obligation Of contract that the courts
ought to, and, when the case Is properly
brought before The United States Courts,
we believe they will, set it aside as utterly
void.
Mr.. Burt sheds soma light on tho man.
ner IN which the Erie ring carried its last
election. 1t is well known that thcy closed
The books tos the registration of transfers
Of stock SIXTY, instead Of thirty, DAYS p,ior
to the election, thus cutting of most Of the
organized opposition. Also, that thev
bought proxies in Wall street for the pur-
pose OF the election only. But, in addition
to this, Alr, Burt shows that the So, ,ooo.-
GOO OF fraudulent overiaues by Gould aud
Fisk we're Issued in tho names Of theirfirm
Fisk, Be'den d Co., aud Smith, Gould.
Smith, Martin i Co., and others Of their
friends, or brokers, and, having been thus
registered, the stock itself went To Europe
and passed from hand to hand without r.
registration On ali this stock, though it
had passed into hands opposed, in the main,
to The present management, Gould and Fisk
Toted for their own reelection.
Mr.. Bnrt, in closing, refers to a new
EEie bill, which aims To sell out tho royer-
sionasy rights the Erie Stockholders NAV
now be supposed to have, and clear the
title of Gould and Fisk individually Of any
clouds that may still be supposed to rest
on their clain to the road.
at wns seen Or feared by the sha.cho,d,rs in
England that there was danger Of this COMPANY
Icing utterly lost to ia Stockholders, and since
nass 81 tsen here hare seen things which have led
Inc 10 the cnDc3uson that that Is T no means TN
possibe- have seen bill introduced into this
LEGISLATURE providing for the reorganization Of
railroad companies Tint hare accune bankrupt,
and am told that that bill has been Into.
nneed by . gentleman representing the Erie
MAn*aJ Company. Now that Ia veFy alarmlng
SHl Meat + has ssn don done n the Pa, ven
rlatlon AZ wuutd Hecm to he implied by that bill,
the case wonld be far worze than anything tat has
,n nappened mh,tstto. m . because l. would then be IN
IanJ6 property 60 dispose Of It to WAon8oeyef
ahcT pleased, and cut OF the stockholders alto
who sent me have grcai confidence. thst W.. shaii
dbta1a justice here not only from this Legislature
nut also IN other plAcc8 where questions frlatinx
discussed"
Notwithstanding the confidence oppressed
by A1r. Bu1t in the Legislatures and courts
in which he is laboring, wo believe if bill
il introduced foreclosing the claims OF the
shareholders in title of Gould and Fisk,
the Legislatnre will pass anything it is paid
for, and few at least of the New York
Judges will declare the act not only conati-
tutiona1 but impesatively called for by
orcry interest of the stockholders.
The New York Tribune, in the same
issue in which Mr.. Burt's argument is pub
lishet, allndes TO Fisk, as tho i1zepress-
ible Fisk, Jr., the dro1lest creature that
ever stole railway." Is he not irresistible
in the line OF low comcdy-the clever dog!