The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-02-27
HOUSE.
TWENTY FIFTH DAY.
JACKSON, Feb. Is, 1873.

.hnpnr Hnntar

Affairs.
on the table. Carried.
Al act entitled aa act TO amend an &C
entitled an act tn change the time OF hold
leg The Circuit Courts in the Fifth Judlcla
Circuit Court District, approved April
1872. Passed.
ton:
Resolved. That when the House adjourn
on Saturday the 22nd inst, it adjourn 4
Wednesday, the 26th instant, at IL % CLOCK
meridian.
resolution. Lost
And the resolution was adopted.
The hour having arrived for the eonslcer
alton of the special order, an act 10 estao
1ish the legal and conventional rate OF In
terest, it was taken up. and Mr.. street oler
20 the following amendment:
Strike out all after the enactin2 clause
ana insert the following substitute:
That any rate Of interest agreed upon II
writing by fhe contracting parties may De
charged and collected. and ali laws acts. OF
| parts of arts. in conflict with Tits act. h''
and the same re hereby r"PsaIeft; Pr"Yld
ed, That 40 rate OF interest cNesedinG tel
per cent. per annun saaIt De chafg't
against or collected from the t>tafe OF any
deceased person. cXcepfing 20 much a may
have accrued t,rfof ~ lie death IF the con
tracing party: nor shall more than ten pei
| cent per anBum BE- charged or COLLECTED
from any minor, or person non c"inP"'
menfis.
/ Section 2. Be it further enacted, That
where no rate of interest is specified II
writing, the legal rate shall be six per cent
per annum.
Adopted.
Mr. Street moved that the bill, as amend
/ ed. be considered en0rOSSed, and read the
/ first time; and on that motion, demanded
! the previous question, which was sustained
and under tile operation thereof, the bill, as
amended, passed.
/ Mr. Gavles gave notice that he would on
tomorrow move 90 reconsider the vote
whereby the HeaSe adopted the resolution
! TO adjourn from saturday. the 22d instant,
until Wednesday. the 18th instant.
/ Mr. Grigg@ moved to reconsider the vote
whereby the House adopted the resolution
/ to adjourn frnn Saturday, the 22d instant,
until Wednesday, the 25th instant. and to
table the motion to reconsider. Carried.
| Mr. Hill presented the following report
/ from the special committee appointed un-
| der House resolution No. D:
| Ma. SPEAKER:-
Your Committee to whom, under House
! resolui ion No. p it was referred to inveSti-
gate ana report 20 this House the present
aspect Of the Judgment Indebtedness of the
y. o j. 4 Great Northern Railroad Co tn
tie STATE, and the action of His Excellency,
Govern n Powers, in respect thereto, have
had the same under cons Iteration, and beg
leave respectfully to submit the following
report
That the amount of the judgment of the
State against said railroad company, exclu-
siYe of interest, was three hundred and sew
| enty thousand eight hundred and thirteen
dollars and twenty-nine cents ($370Sl3 29) /:
that this amount was secured by first mort
gage bonds, deposited as cOllaterals in the
State Treasury for a total available sum of
| about four hundred and thirty thousand
dollars ($430.000); that on the 1St day of
July, 1872, Messrs. Murdoch, HUMPHREYS
and Smith, of Columbus. Miss. bought and
took up said judgment in full, together
with the collaterals by which it was secur-
ed, and that they paid His Excellency Tor
the same with cash acceptance made by
Messr~. Walsh, Smith, Crawford 81 Co of
New York city, for the full amount of said
judgment, and that said acceptOrs satisfied
His EXcellency, the Governor, that the
| United States currency tor that amount
was then on deposit, with them subject to
his order, and that therefore His EXcelleucy
actually transferred and delivered said jud g
ment and said collaterals to said Murdoch,
Hum phries IL Smith, We quote from His
Excellencv's annual message TO the Legis-
lature, p. z, " an Act of the Legislature, APP
proved April 4, 1872 authorized the Gov
ernor, upon certain conditions, to settle
with railroads Under the provisions of
this Act, Messrs. Murdoch, Humphries u
Smith, of Columbus, Miss, came forward
aud paid the debt due the State from the
n. o., j. Il G. n. K. L. Company. by plac-
ing in nv hands an accepted draft on New
ork for the full amount of the debt" and
your committee are of the opinion that
thereup0n the power and authority con-
TERED on the Executive by an Act entitled
Act to facilitate the collection of debts
due from the railroad companies to this
Stare. approved April 1, 1872. were entirely
exhausted. and that all subss qnent action
taken by His Excelleney was. TO say the
least. injudicious u the best interests of the
State, and utterly without authority of law;
nevertheless, we find that His EXcellency,
having already transferred the entire judy
ment and given up all the eollaterals, as
above stated did not pay over the money,
but mas ever since withheld the money to
enable Messrs. Murdoch, Humphries q
smith to buy State warrants at some indie
finite time, when they shall be purchasable
as the lowest price. Nor is this all, we find
/ that after the Attorney General had given
his official opinion. declaring that the
Ripley Railroad Subsidy Warrants were
/ worthless, His Excellency attempted to per-
/ form the functions of the judiciary by
/ publicly declaring the State liable for the
/ payment and redemption of these warrants
and that the Executive would accept them
All AZ par, instead OF the currency which he
already had.
that the subsidy warrants are in their pres
eat aspect legal nudity. and that whether
they are or not. Is q question which can
psoaerlv be decided only by the Judiciary
Your committee applied to His Excellen-
cY, the Governo~, for information. and here
with submit part of this report, his
/ statement. in which he attempts to explain
his aciion.
1t will be seen that the only part of his
statement having any tendency to relieve
his action from the conclusions we have
4 formed upon it IS that part in which he says
that he had stated in his message rs follows:
~T&fS draft was 10 be held until the first
f q of r 50
/ though now surrounded by His Excellency'S
+ quotation marks. Is to be found no where in
tue message from which he PROCESSES TO
quote:
Aud vaur committee have no hesitation in
saving that haa His Excellency promptly
asil over la. sum 81 N neg thus laced al
Ills disposal. oar Treasury warrants would
+ a W nave been at 81 iear par
Your Committee are advised by His Ex-
cellency that his reason for not paying over
/ the public funds in his hands is, that he is
NOT authorized to DO so.
We, ther-sore, recommend the passage of
the following Concurrent Resolution:
g.. it resolved by the House OF Represent
/ tatfves, The Senate ceneurring, of the State
of Mississippi. That His Excelleney. X. T..
Powers, Governor OF this State, shall imme-
diately pay over or cause to be paid over TO
the State Treasurer all public funds of every
kind now in his hands, and all valid State
Treasury warrants, excluding the Ripley
Railr, ad warrants. and all valid securities
IF every kind, which were i'm his hands on
the 2lst of January last, as the proceeds OF
the sale of the judgment of the State against
the \ o. & g n K Il Co. and the collater-
ais by which that Judgment was cured,
and that the balance, alter deducting valid
securities rs aforesaid, he shall pay in . 5
currency.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
JAMES Hill. Chairman.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Feb'y II, 1873.
To the Special Committee of the House of
representatives:
GENTLEMEN hereby acknowledge the
receipt OF the following interrogatories this
day handed me by your chairman, Hon