New Orleans Republican., 1872-09-18
Railroad Committee of Ffftv.

On Cdll VI bIlS IOlif sGN CIJCCu 4LcLI1DCIS
were announced to be present.
Mr.. Kennedy handed the following com
munication to the secretary, which was
read:
New YORK, September 9, 1872.
| S. H Kennedy, Esq, Chairman Committee of Fifty,
New Orleans:
DEAR SIR-Inclosed find proceedings of
meeting held here on Saturday last.
| Will you be kind enough to have them pub
! lshed in the New Orleans papers Con
siderable importance is attached to this
matter, as the conclusion of the contract
for the early building Of the road depends
| upon our restoring some confidence in these
| bonds. The only bar at present existing is
the fear upon the part of the contractors
that the State will not honor her obliga-
tions. If we can satisfy them upon that
| point the road will be finished at once
Respectfully,
P. Il. THOMSON, Secretary.
| AT meeting Of citizens Of Louisiana held
| at the New York Hotel on Saturday even
ing, September z, 1872, in pursuance of a
| call from the executive committee Of the
| railroad committee Of fifty, of New Or
| leans, to consult as to the proper steps
| necessary to be taken to insure the early
completion Of the New Orleans, Mobile and
| Texas railroad, Moses Greenwood was
called to the chair, and P. H. Thomson ap
| pointed secretary.
| Mr.. upper. at the request Of the chair
man, explained fully the present condition
| of the enterprise, and stated that the com
| pany was embarrassed by distrust OF the
| State securities, which had been created in
great measure by the action of our own
| citizens; that he believed an expression of
opinion upon the part of our citizens would
| tend to restore confidence, and facilitate
| the early building of the road
Mr.. G.. Il. Sl0comb referred to the circular
signed by 300 citizens OF New Orleans,
which had probably done more to depre-
ciate the bonds than anything else, and
added that as one of those largely inter
ested in real estate, he had not only signed
| it himself, but had procured the signatures
of many others; but that the demand for
this road had become SO urgent that he
was willing and thought it right when he
| returned to New Orleans to start counter
circular, and to use all his influence to have
| 1t even more extensively signed and circU-
lated than the original. He thought this
much the best way to give effect to the de-
sires of this meeting, and to meet the almost
universal wish Of the people of our State
for the early completion of this road.
After remarks by Messrs. Greenwood,
Urquhart, Price, General West and others,
the following preamble and resolutions
were unanimously adopted and copies of
them directed to be sent to the president of
the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Rail
road Company, to Messrs. Bushnell, BOyn-
ton & Co., and for publication:
WHEREAS, The early completion of the
New Orleans, Mobile and Texas railrOado
from New Orleans to it's western connec.-
tiOns at Houston, Texas, and Shreveport,
Louisiana, has become matter of vital imo
portance, and should be urged by all the
means possible in the power of the come
pany and the State; and
Whereas. Some doubts have been exc
pressed as to the validity Of the State bonds
issued to aid in the construction Ot the
Shreveport branch of said road;
RcSoJced, AS the sense of this meeting,
and representing, as we believe, the senti-
ment of our State that there is no intention
to repudiate any portion of said bonds
provided the company will, without delay,
proceed in good faith to build their road
to the Sabine river and the branch to Shreve-
port.
Res02ued, That so far from desiring to inc
validate said bonds, we pledge ourselves as
soon as they evince their good faith by their
works to assist the company by every
means i'll our p0Wero
ReSslreRo That in our opinion no further
delay should occur in commencing the
work, as should it be pushed with vigor to
an early completion al! opposition to the
subsidies granted by the State would cease
at once.
On motiono the meeting adjourned sine
die
MOSES GREENWOOD. Chairman.
= P. Il. THOMSON, Secretaryo
Mr. BurwelJ suggested tina: these com.
munications 6e referred 60 p committee,
which, if it deemed proper, should be au.
thorized to call public meetingo He then
called on Judge Alexander Walker, who
iad recently returned from New York, and
knew something of the working Of shc mate
ter in that cltyo
Mr.. Walker explained that the embarrasso
ment had been caused by feeling Of dis
trust as to the legality Of these bonds, &C.
casioned by protest signed by some 300
citizens of Louisiana, which had been gen
orally disseminated throughout the North.
The best legal opinions had been sought,
however, and the Attorney General had
prepared his opinion on this subject, and
was awaiting the return of the Governor to
atix his seal. The legal difficulty is shown
to be immaterial. The State las received
$4,000 shares of the stock in exchange for
the bonds issued. The bonds are in the
hands Of the directory, and matured cOu
pons have been paid to the amount of $780,,
090. The question of legality Of the issue
being determined, the speaker was assured,
the private funds would be forthcom-
ing, and the railroad be completed
from Yermilionville to Shreveport The
amendment to the constitution, limiting the
State debt to $25 900, was promulgated
December 90, 1870. Bonds amounting to
$l2, ,50Oper mile had been granted previous
ly to the company by the State on second
mortgage securities, and the contract sub
sequently made simply changed the disposi-
ton thereof, but did not increase the Gabil-
ity of the State.
Mr. Kennedy wished to know if these
bonds were still in the hands of the direct
ors, or had they been hypothecated.
Mr.. Walker had the assurance that these
bonds were not hypothecated, from Mr..
Van Hoffman.
Abiding to telegraphic information re-
ceiyed yesterday that Oakes Ames had been
elected president of the road, Mr.. Walker
stated that the former president, Mr.. Girls
void, had resigned some time since; that
there was quite contest for the succession,
and that it had probably resulted in the
election Of Mr.. Ames.
Mr.. Joseph wanted to know if there was
not some difficulty concerning an issue Of
bonds to the road before the change of its
name from Chattanooga to Mobile and