Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-09-26


carving on their own shoulders million
and a half of its Indebtedness, were forced
for the first time in their administration TO
ask that temporary indulgence which some
nj their creditors were ready and willing to
Grant and which others, Tor reasons by no
means clear, fatty refused because OF tins ;
and when YOU have no more proof that
dollar has ever passed into these receivers
hands which they have failed or Will ial to
honestlv account for, than that am guilty
of MURDERS it fair or is it lawyerllke to
saw that GOV. Smith, sometime President oil
the Northern Pacific Railroad, sometime
and to-day a king among railway managers,
and whose very moments are gold, muH
have stolen the wealth which has steadily
risen IN crown his arduOus labors? by such
an assertion YOU commit legal injustice
and absurditv. the liberation OF which Will,
| 5rieye TO say. long be a stain upon the iair
fame Of certain Legislative Committee
that ofassuming that a man has stolen pro
merry. before showing that the property has
been stolen.
II irqs a notorious fact that the people OF
Massachusetts had become turned against
Vermont railroads and their managers and
Vermont courts, but that such i now the
rulin.- sentiment the writer i not 80 certain.
Tie ha, recently been told by prominent bus
ne,s men of Boston that in that city at least
the tide Is rapidly turning that curses SUI
wing their homeward flight as in the old
adage and that the glazing and too evident
IL malicious ialsehOOds of the Irdreier anu
Reua5lcqu are beginning TO tall back hcaVi-
IL upon their authors. But be tins a II
NAV. YOUR correspondent himself says the
sentiment of hostility Is a mistaken one, and
il should be our pleasure as 1t certainly :
our duty To correct this mistake, instead OF
tanning its smouldering embers into flame
Of bitterness and hate and willul lalschoods
Founded upon the merest presumption
again Is your correspondent assertion tna'
the people of Massachusetts who have IN
vested in the securities of these roads have
seen them passing from first 10 eighth liens
l. has not been decided by the court, mol
can il be until an accounting Is made ana
proceedings had thereon. that the rent ol
the Vermont * Canada Railroad J. not a
first lien upon the trust estate after the Dare
operating expenses are paid. ana that lol-
lowed IN regular succession by the first and
second mortgages Should IL eventually be
held that the rents due on the Rutland
Ogden>burg. and other leases take prece'
dence hv reason of the assent OF the Securl-
" holders to the taking OF those leases, Ger
tainlv complaint would come with III grace
from them But, you say, as prima tGc''
evidence that they did not honestly and au'
thoritativeiy consult. They can have no
interest in increasing the facilities, business
and receipts of the line, for they can at best
only receive interest on their Securlues-no'
dividends.
Very true. but would they have no in
tere-t in recommending and assisting Il
carry out such measures for an increase OF
the money-making value Of the property, a
would not only render the payment OF that
interest more prompt and certain, but vast
IN enhance the market value of the securl-
ties themselves? And had these leases
proved as Immediately profitable in the out
set a they promise TO become IN the future
would any voice of complaint have been
heard? Oh fable Of the fox and grapes
thou art strangely suggestive
Your correspondent remarks upon that
Free Press editorial should more properly
be answered by the accused journal itself
and in a recent issue it did, at least partial
", define its meaning and its position.
look upon the paragraph quoted a simply
a carelessly ambiguous expression, just such
as YOU and |, my friend, use every day. \
court is not an independently executive
power. 1t l. tribunal, and a such Is en-
tirely dependent. for the material and justl
fcation Of its decisions, upon the evidence
presented before il by the parties TO cause
Literally it would be absurd to say thai
the Court OF Chancery runs these railroads
The court was sought by adverse parties IL
the cause Upon the issue a made up ana
presented by them it rendered its judgment
and appointed officers TO see that judgment
carried into effect. So, in somew hat slangy
phraseology, it may be said, that, to the
extent of its connection with this cause
these officers, and nth them all the partis'
10 the cause run" the court. because the
court is a. powerless as you or | to act il
this matter, save upon such complaints and
evidence rs these parties see fit to bring be-
fore it.
The court cannot stand in the relation oil
a father to all these interests and persons,
watching all their movements and ready to
catch them when they fall, but Is as a
guardian, kind and just TO whom they may
bring all their grievances, assured that, il
rightly presented. they will be patiently
heard and faithfully adjudicated.
Your correspondent asserts, apparently
on authority, that Gov. Smith and hi
friends now own both sides of this suit.
Then whence comes such determined oppo-
sitiun 10 thcn2 We fear such a statement
would tend to confirm certain whispers, to
which We have ever refused credence even
for Il moment, that the pens that have writ
ten and the mouths that have spoken were
supplied with motive power from COnnec-
ticut, New Hampshire and New York, by
powerful hostile corporations and by pri-
vate individuals who are troubled with an
Unsuitable yearning after publicity and
power.
Again we meet an assumption which We
beg may be withdrawn-that the receivers
have realized gain from their neglect in
filing their accounts 1t is impossible for
any one to know or show this until the ac-
counts are filed and passed. After most
singular and unaccOuntable opposition to
the rendering of them and that by parties
whose honest interests at a time like this
would seem imperatively to demand their
production, they are now, under the order
of the court, TO be forthcoming, and we feel
justified in demanding that all accusations
or assertions of fraud, whumsOever they NAV
be against, which are based purely and en-
tirely upon these accounts, be withheld until
they can be supported or denied upon tan
gible authority.
consideration. from his standpoint, of the
order of court made on the 2Ist of last
June, appointing the Central Vermont
Railroad Company receivers of the vast
trust estate of the security holders of the
Vermont Central and Vermont ana Canada
railroads He considers the appointment
improper in the first place because the Cen
trail Vermont should have taken possession
of the property in its corporate capacity
under the charter. In support of this posi-
ton be quotes part of the language of
the act which refers to that subject. He
then inquiries how, if unable thus to take
possession, it could in its corporate capa-
city take leases of the New London, Sulli-
van and other railroads.
Sec. III. of the act provides that
THE Central Vermont Railroad Company may
and perform all the contracts of the trustees
or receivers and managers Of the Vermont Central
and Vermont and Canada Railroad, and may mod-
fy, enlarge or renew the same, and may make any
contract by way of purchase or otherwise, of any
rail road Of or in respect TO the stocks, bonds,
contracts property OF any railro ad or ranspora
ton company, within or without this State Tor the
purpose of facilitating connections or increasing
their business
As this section is not in any way qualified
or explained, il must be construed as apply
ing to the Central Vermont from the very
of the corporate organization, and
gives that company undoubted power to
take the leases already made to it, as cor
poration, and as many more as it sees fit.
Besides, the company couldn't very well
have taken the leases of the Montreal and
Vermont Junction, New London and North
ern and Sullivan Railroads in its capacity
of receivers, because although the Vermont
and Canada Railroad Company and certain
Of the hondhnlders felt themselves bitterly