Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-02-22

sneW the entire discussion.
Mr.. Houston looked at II In q different
mlnner. he considered the whole sub
jet Of the lease still before the conVen-
ton.
Colonel Tate said that ct the last con-
vention the contract which WIS submitted
and voted upon was to be ratified IN thirty
days. Thss was not done; therefore the
whole instrument would have to be con-
sidered de noUo.
Mr.. Beirns,held that the only question
they had to consider was the proviso, upon
which a disagreement arose between the
parties.
The chair argued that was the only
question that was submitted to the con-
Yentiou.
Governor Chapman, Of Alabama, said
they could never come TO q conclusion
until the discussion could be narrowed
down to a point. The only question be-
fore the house was the acceptance or 70
lection Of the modified amendment. II
tbs amendment be rejected, the effect will
be to destroy all the work previously
done.
At this point Colonel E. W. Mumford
moved to take q vote on the question Of
accepting or rejecting the original lease
and the modified amendment.
MI. Houston said he was not ct the pre-
vlous meeting OF the convention, and was
not, In consequence of that absences, in g
condition to speak on all the points Of
the lease IS intelligsntly rs he could wish.
He felt, however, called on to give some
Of his reasons for voting against the rsti-
deatiOn of the lease. The convention at
its former meeting attached an amend
ment to the original lease, which amend
mens was rejected, and thsreupon the di.
rectors, Whsther with authority or not,
does not appear, agreed to modify that
amendment, and now bring It up here for
ratification. My mind is 50 thoroughly.
convinced OF the truth Of the facts upon
which l base my opposition to this pro-
posed contract, that even the recommen-
dstion Of the directors. high opinion as I
hsYe of them, cannot change iE. He de-
msnded to know II there wa any power
In the chsrtera He asked the president,
Major Wieks, 20 answer that question.
Colonel MunfOrd answered that the lat
ter part OF b charter contained a clsUse
which authorizes the company to farm out
the Transporting capacities of the road.
with certain restrictions ss to rates, ETC.,
and another section gives the corp0rstors
the power 70 carry out all the provisions
Of the charter.
Mr.. Houston continued his remarks by
saying that there was no power in the
charter granted TO lease out the rosd in
the way proposed. There we're no gusr-
sntees in ths lease as to tariff rates. UnlsEs
there were provisions of that sort IN the
lease, there would be infinite complies
ton. The charter did not contemplate,
nor does it give thspoWer TO dispose Ofthe
road; to sell three hundred miles OF rail
road which at one time paid a dividend OF
eight per cent, that was regarded as one
OF the BEST in the whole South. Lastly,
TIE property has gone down and dwindled
so that b trumpet of resurrection can
not reach il. Ths arguments used to in
doce me 70 vote for this lease is an 4
ment against the management Of the
road. You cannot produce better argu-
msnt against the management OF that
road than the n adcuced here to sho
that it has bssn reduced down TO a point
of worthlessness. IWRnt other hands 20
try that road, The last year the earnings
of the road aggregated half q million dol
lars. I remember when We we're canYas-
sing the country for stock subscriptions
TO this o my eloquent friend from Ala
bams, Governor Patton, enforced his sp-
pesls by saying that in q short time afser
the completion OF the enterprise iE would
esrn q million dollars per year.. The
success Of the road has gone bsyord ven
his ssnguine expectations. It earns q
million and q half dollars per year, and in
stead OF the dividends goingup,theY have
come down to nothing. The expenses are
8 hundred thousand dollars greater than
the earnings. Why does it not make
money? Because 1t Is run Ia tbs interest
OF the employees, and not Of the owners
President Wieks said thst the earnings
Of the road were spent in rebuilding rot
ten bridges and keeping this property
from going 70 utter ruin.
Mr.. HOustOn-That shows that the prea-
ident OF the Memphis and Charleston rail-
road is very shreWd; that he does not
make tracks until he is prepared to cover
them up. What you spent last year you
will not have to spend again. These I'M
prOvsments will not have to be made
again. Thsy sre permanent. They
are a prospective relief to our treasury
which guarantees future dividends. They
are solid and lasting. Why do you now
propose to give them all away ard not re-
ceivs the benefit of them? [Oheers
Why shall we not, after so much improve
Risnt being effected, and spending 81
much money, keep our rosd7 Your rot
ten bridges have bsen thrown ssids, and
permanent iron structuressplaced in their
stead, for WHAT the benefit OF the Sscuri-
ty company. He eaksd the members of
the convention II, after making all these
upon ths none ths5
to have been paid out In part divi-
dends they were willing TO throw IL all
sWsy now, or turn il over for the bsle6t
of s company Of which they knew moth
and who wiz give no substantial
guarantees of making their contract 3
solid and settled thlngf
He then attacked the manner In which
the vote was to be taken upon the impOr-
question; there were two hundred
and twelve thousand shares In the whole
stock Of tina road, only one hundred and
twenty Ave thousand OF them were rep
resented in person and by proxy, Sup
pose twenty-five or thirty Thousand of
these shares wers given against the con-
tract :hen there would be one hundred
Thousand shares Is minority OF the whole
making this eontrsct) giving sWsy the
property upon conditions 80 Nlmay
that no gentleman In the house would
consider them at all adequate security In
1isposing Of his private means. Those
gentlemen ofthe Security company may
AXE the rosd upon 8 lease so ratified be-
,zuse they can lose nothing by 30 doing
and after running Il months, perhaps
years, return il back u there would be
40 means OF recovering a cent from them
the lease was invalid. The law
IF the State Of Tennessee in regard to
Iuch cases make it necessary, in leasing
,ut railroads, thst two-thirds Of the stock
shall vote for the lease. He held
hats msjority Of the whole stock was
TO vote for ratifyiuS the lease
before it could be considered q valid oon-
rsct. Various circumstances have con.
ipired to affect unfsvorably the opposi-
ion TO this lease. Large purchases of
took are reported to have bean made in
Alabama by parties interested In and fs-
to, the lease. A great deal had
,een said about the responsibility Of the
Security railway company.
1s thought 1t did not signify 9 straw
the men that compose that COM
,sny were worth $40, OO0, COO OF so, 900;
hey could be held responsible for the
mount Of their incorporate stock. The
ropossd lease allows them the option of
browning the road back on their hands by
living ninety days notice. They may
il half q year and falling 10 give divf-
ends they are still In possession for three
lonths longer, absorbing all the earnings
I the institution during that time, and
there il no means Of collecting
cent, for 1t is said that their four millions
{ stock is already tied up by thousands
I miles Of road 81 over the country.
The bond feature of the lease was then
lssees would be empowered to issue
wen per cent. gold-besFing bonds with
'hioh to buy up all other sorts of the
)mpapYis bonds. With those seven per
mt. bonds they could buy up the Tan !
9sses State bonds, valued at sixty-hve J
;nts on the dollar. The transaction !
ould enable them to make four hundred {
dollars. We give them power
issue our bonds to buy up our bonds
! such terms Is will be favorable to them
I'd not TO as. Seven per cent. In gold {
stead of six per cent not in gOldI '
here Is the s~dvsntsgef Why did we I
" the Winchester snd mcMinnville g
for 5000 O002 Because we thought Il 7
Guild enhPncs the prc6ts of our road. c
lst al we were about to stretch forth our S
lnds to reap the harvest, If there is G Il
lrvest, we are asked to give mp the trunk L
ne and retsin the feeder, which derives g
| its value rom the property We propose d
renOunce. B
Mr. Houston continued to address the a
invention on various polnts In the &
ase. upon which he based his opposi- a
N arguments, but the principal are
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