Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-08-05
Decision on the Damage Bond Ones.
flOn.
Nh. Cook II :ampsa1t I'm his Positio p.
The Iniune ;or Isl TO Enter into Bond.

The iaos that jud, wy''e ycS;erdsv q el-
noon s.ar.ed an ~ iurc. on I'm NJ f'e L =
: set -JveTT E,- LON ing bords under TIE
St,co0, = imp ovemeut 'Oan PC o. l. - y
live Assembly, was biiehy noticed in The STAR
% lest evening. The de-. lied report of mo ID
ms reached rs jrst ss orr paper WIS going to
pre- % la, to be gwen 'u .uIl. 1t spp ears
that at the conclrS'On OF NJ. DuTan 5 cd
ment the COrrt remal ked tat he wood give his
dcc'siOn in the t','s (Sa,rTcav) morning,
ten opirion, ss i would require more time. IL
co.." Ell dc a q p views IN Nfi,;rg they wOp'd
baye - sabIr't 70 po ..onem sd,. 40 ira. d
a Nj Geo. TIE a. hey lUr lhe ID -. &C., j il
word e mere dcsirab'e 10 have an immedi ate
q c. on
Mr.. Cook (good hunor>flv) asked the Court
how much ,me he Won d want?
The Court rejoined, "How much time will you
allow neE'
tpe.i
Further CONVEX a on ersued in which Nj.
Cook IN. ma I'd tfat an appeal would "a taken
IN case OF a decision adver. : , the ID ics.
The Cont inqri.e cd II Mr.. Cook held ~ IL
the irjunc,ion should BE- granted. and an ag-
peal taken, as propo ed, mat the bonds miga.
be issued penc'r.: fhe hearing on the appeal
The COrTf-Tben 1 WI d,ciee the que..;.
MIR. Cook-We word rather yor- To 81,
would deliver L-ss.en opinion, ~ YOU co... q
conveniently do 30; bat o. cour-o we 10 no.
The Cor III had TIE time, ard did no.
90 much e=haUs d by Ire labo-s o. tbs iesm-
having zen on the bench T.. rly al TIE 81 u
me.-aBd the he VIZ ros .5Iery oppr 3
siye, u would afo d LIE pc. sure . we vou tie
1eneHt IN vi. ~ o. ! - Q. en- a'n.
where viii be picGeDt ard have another occ
sSon 10Th to .eview my decision and ave
You nv views ct leI's IA, VII simply n ounce
BeCo.e dOipg ,, WI merely say & .','s
Iorrt was Great 4 Jy Cor. re, and IS, } he'd
Conk.-~ csn d .oy what II has crea d. II Will
say. in reply to what L unders rod to be threat
on the part % the counsel for The District wien
he quoted the lang uage- OF Sir JAM MelR.Osh,
that, "thTough The taxpayers or over them, This
measure would DC ePIried-'
hr. Cook-No, SIR. III yOrr Horror ). " allow
The COurt.-Never mind now, Mr.. ( u. The
So1Tt has no near: Conefc s welcome, % far
minute il secs proper, and will resire; bat
viii iemalk that the Court cannot be alp med or
m.lm,dased BY any threats OF that sort, coming
nom tie pOpUlaCe or COl.rss.
Mr.. COok.-YOrr Horror V n DO me the jus. e,
am sure, - allow an e. Plana ion. There IS %
To refuse me, am sure, that privilege. The ex-
pre- sion that used 's this, as a reference - tbe
not, or the ssenographer viii sbow:-That "by
me taNPayers, or through the taxpayers, or over
the Taxpayers, ig 1rosegeRts world 90 on" did
nci refei , The Court, but the great Iacs that,
no matter whether this sp't prevailed or not, i'm
The COrIG-lf tnat was what you meant
Nj. Drrant.-l beg to say that thas Is the serse
The Corr--Then m'sunders. pod.
Mr.. COok.-Jf had insended 10 use any Ian
suase OF tn cha .ae,er that your Honor a,,.i1-
nses 10 me, should have done so with charac-
teris'-c eandor, and have = )ken C'-ectly.
THE DECISION.
The COurt-i nave no danh. that improys
men VII 20 on, and d. l would b, be very glad 70
promote the view which We all seem 10 have, on
both sides of the case. There Is no dispo lion
10 retard Improvements, take it; but the Court
Is called u.,on - decide this care upon The law,
Without regard at al 10 any o,her consider
a.iOrs, anu i shall do il in this case, - az ID
do in az OtbeTS-s) decide IL with reference to
the law, and in u,;er disregard OF all other
psatteTS.
1he decision may be gratiIy.ng, or it may rot
be erataIS ing, - the p-ople-the majOri,y OF the
people. III IL does not please Ttem, wiz rect
1t, Dut my dusy is plan. have Saken an ca Il
- q eide all ma te.s that cone be ore me ac-
rord'ng - law, without re-ar,i - r,ch or Tsor.
That = the languaye o. the oh / have Item,
and shall DO Ia. 1 regard the DIS :icS o. g.
luInba, under tbs new acs, Ps a corpora iOn. 1t
Is named corpora iOn-Bam-i a IIdPe 81
corpora on by the ret VIII Gu ere = ii /. Now.
OF the D.s.ricJ OF Colombia. That dos not make
defued.
Well il is not then, slei z cor poratlon ss il
be sued in its own cOpr's. IL is above the law,
Therefore. You cannot rcsGsin the ACTON of
the Strife except through the meaps OF its OH
eisl agen-s, In sSme cases. Even in regard D
the exercise OF the executive powers, the govern
ment and lhe Judiciary cannot interfere to con-
1fOl them as high icers of The government, bait
il may interfere to restrain the ion the sub
orcina. IS who are proceeding TO collect taxe- o.
perform any functiOrs connected it'll il.
But this is Lot such a case as that even, al
though the Stat themselves are not above he
reach OF the judiciary. II tbsy were, however,
tbs corporation, created by act OF Congress, is
not. II Is declared to be a municipal corpora
zion, and the act itself declares IL shall have te
PCvsr - sue and be sued. In that respect il
cerS6 My offers from a government. III this
court wee coordinate department of a gov
errment, sovereign government. within This
Dssfiet, why then the court Eight feel sreat
delicacy in interfering in such a case as this:
but tbs government : not a sovereign State. IL
cannot cnange ifself; ii cannot change its own
Saplc Act by which it was created 1t is the
cTe..tr-e OF COneroSs. II il be a creature of
COnSIcss, il is corporation; and If 1t be a cor
FORA. on, II Is liable 10 suit ss Peron In the
Without dwelling further upon this point, L
vii simply remark that my OE mind is very
strong in the conviction that this District gov
eminent is - be regarded in a court a. a coTIo-
Ia>lOn table ID suit. TheSe gentlemen-th@se
t9N-payer--come here and complain OF the act
Of this corporation, alleging that the Legislature
has passed a law which IS in viola ION OF the
charter o. the District, and utterly void. The
court IS satisfied upon that subject, u Wit: That
this corporation has DO power ID create a debt
which in the aggregate amount, including the
debts Of the prev ious corpora, sOps shall exceed
i've per cent OF the a ses-ed valuation Of the
propeIs - o. the Dissriet.
The words aggregate debit are used. Well,
inert NAV DC 2OOU utaf, anu tnerc mas been
good del, Of ingenuisy exercised ID get rid OF
chat vord 'agg. egate." Lut there II stands,
and Con &C. certainly meant the three debts Of
the old eorp0raGOrs which were abolished and
which the new corporation Is declared { D be the
successor Of Now, this new corporation Is sup
posed, or said to be, ike an executive. But it's
not 80 mucn Like an executive like an heir
with assets, who is bound for the debts Of his an
cestor. And, although Congress has prescribed
the way IN which proceedings shall be taken to
provide tor the payment OF the old debts, yet
those measures are % be taken by the new cor
poratiOn; and think the plain meaning OF the
act o. Congress on that subject is, that the old
debts were taken into consideration when II
spoke Of aggregate debts.
IL that be 80, then this proposed loan il is cor
ceded, would increa4e the debt of the new cor
poration beyond i've per cent. Of the assessed
value OF the property. But IL has been said thai
are not to be guided by the old assessments
Tho were not Assessments OF the corporation at
ali. Ii is 10 be on the p essed valuaison of the
new corporation We have no ass-Sed valuation
made by the new corporation rs yet, and unless
we ale guided by the old assessments In the de-
termination upon that subject, we have no as
seSsment at all. So that thee bonds would be
~