The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1874-12-18

company to be formed Of the purchasers
upon a basis to. be previously agreed
upon and signed by the several interests,
the bondholders 10 be placed In the class
Of preferred shareholders, and the other
| creditors and preferred shareholders to
have common stock. This plan pro-
posed the extinction of common stock
and the creation of new mortgage for
the purpose of repairing and stocking
the road. Horne's commission was In
writing. On his way to Monroe he met
Gordon in New Orleans, and there
learned for the first time that proceed
ings had been instituted to bring the
property to sale. Gordon then proposed
to him to unite his interests and those
OF his constituents with those of the
party in Monroe, namely,. the party
that had combined to purchase the pro-
perty. Upon Horne's arrival at Mon
roe he had several Interviews with
ludeling, and 1t appears that he en-
de'svorel to procure II postponement OF
the sale, representing that Gordon had
consented to such postponelnent. To
this Ludeling replied that Gordon had
no authority to make such an OTTER or
consent. Considering that Ludeling
was then party to, and the active
agent OF, the combination that had
been formed, that reply Is most RS
eracy had then the control of the exc.
cutory process and of the sale, aud that
the directors Of the company had put
themselves into the position Of both
sellers and buyers of the property they
held in trust, for IL Gordon had no
authority to consent to tho postpOne-
ment of the sale, 1t must have been
because Of his arrangements with the
directors. But, passing this by, after
many propositions, Horne was persuad.
ed by Ludeling, and without any COM
mnnication with his constituents, to
enter into an agreement, which waa
made ON the second Of February, 1860,
one day before the sale. Tho material
part of this agreement was that Gordon,
ludeiing, Baker, Stubs, WaddeIl,
and John Ray, of the first part,
and Horne, of the second part, for HIM
self aud friends should club their
funds to buy the property or the
Vicksburg, Shreveport and Texas Rail.
road Company, advertised for sale. ON
the morrow, in partnership, and, IL
the property should be bought by
them that the party Of tho first
part should own two-thirtls and the
party of the second part should own
one-third. The agreement reveals
that the sale might be
stopped by injunction, or declared
null and void. It was signed ssJohn
II. Ludeling, for himself and friends,.
and 81. U. Horne, for himself and
friends" and 1t is proved that when
1t was entered into Ludeling was iu-
OF Horne's mission aud OF tho
plan he was instructed to carry out.
1t is impossible to characterize this
agreement us anything else than a gross
fraud. Its obvious purpose was to re-
move competition Mt the sale. It was
a migrant breach of trust on the part Of
Horne, and il was fraud In LudellnR,
with knowledge of the trust Horne had
u to persuade him to violate
his instructions and sacrifice the inter-
ests of his constituents, elfbecomtng
n party to the violation. t' a'.
Such were the combinations organ
ized, and such was tho object OF the
when tho day arrived
on which the sale had been advertised
to be made. This large property was
about to be sold for claim OF 872O, att
village remote from the residence Of tho
great body of those most interested In
it. 1t must have been known that no.
tice of the sale in all probability had
not reached those parties. Their agent,
sent to protect their interest, had been
tampered with and overcome. Not
one of the defendants, who were resi-
ucntS mt Monroe ana directors or tho
new company, not even Bry himself,
the Vice President, had lifted finger
to stay the sale, or, so far ~ appears,
had requested any delay, or had made
any effort to prevent the probable
of the property, and when Mr..
Garrett, lawyer aud resident stock
holder at Monroe, obtained an injunc-
ton against the sale, he was bought OH
by the payment Of $25OO for common
stock, confrsscdly not worth IA cent,
yet taken nt its par value, and he was
required TO stipulate that ne would
take no fee from, or in any tnanner
counsel or advise, either directly, OK
Indirectly, any person who might desire
to attack the sale. This arrangement
was negotiated by Baker, and the
money was paid by Ludeling. We
have already noticed the appraisement
made after 10 o'clock on the morningor
the sale by two person appointed by
Gordon and Bry. OF it's character we
propose to say little more. Manifestly
it had been prepared before the
apDraiScr3 were selected. 1t waA