The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-02-24

A LOUISIANA CASE.

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printed IN the DEMOCRAT yesterday
morning, is Of interest to the whole
State. Perhaps In the list of swindling
claims against the State OF Louisiana,
which Radical domination has spawned.
there are none more rotten and scandal
Gus than the bonds issued to the North
Louisiana and Texas Railroad Com
pany. amounting TO $l,122,OOo, au-
thorized by the Legislature Of 1868.
and the effort TO force the Board OF LII
uuilation to fund q portion OF which
gave origin to this suit.
The history or this wicked claim is
briefly as follows; BY the provisions 81
an act, approved by Governor Warmoth
ia September, 1863, loan OF State
bonds was authorized to be made to the
North Louisiana and Texas Railroad
Company TO the amount Of $1.122,ooo,
bearing interest at the rate OF eight per
cent. which the company was required
To pay. This only obligation imposed
upon the company, however, II never
discharged, and not a cent OF
the interest did il pay. John
r. Ludeling, the Chief Justice
of the state, was at the head Of the com
pany for the benefit Of which this extra
ordinary loan was authorized, and which
had, by trickcry and fraud. obtained
possession of the North Louisiana and
Texas Railroad. Very recently tho Su.
preme Court OF the United States de-
creed the sale of the road to Labelling
and his associates fraudulent and void.
In the course OF the decision the court
said 1T Is impossible to sustain such
a transaction. Throughout II was gross
ly inequitable. That the property was
sacrificed by means OF an unlawful and
widespread combination Ia abundantly
proved, and that the directors, who were
parties to Il, and who became the pur-
chasers. werc guilty OF an inexctisable
violation of confidence reposed In them.
admits OF no doubt" And again
"Were we to sustain il, (the sale Of the
the road to the Ludelihg ring) we should
sanction great legal wrong, give on
enlargement to f,aithlessness to trusts
and confidence reposed, and counte-
nance combinations to wrest by the
forms Of law from the uniformed and
confiding their just rights" M
Thus Il will be seen that the highest
judicial tribunal Ia the country has, In
substance. pronounced the company In
whose favor the credit OF the State was
pledged in 1868 by band Of political
frcebooters for over a million dollars,
TO be ring Of conspirators and swim
dlers, without the shadow Of a title to
the property and franchises their fraud
ulent corporation claimed. Such Is the
character Of what is known as the North
Louisiana and Texas Railroad Com
pany, OF which the Chief Justice Of
Louisiana Is the head. Such Is the
swindling ring to which tho act of 1865
authorized the loan of over one million
dollars in State bonds. Subsequently
this robber- ring obtained the passage
Of an act authorizing the company t.
mortgage the railroad for $4,000 pei
mile, nearly twice its value. Several
years passed and the company paid nc
interest on the bonds, and they were
finally sued for the amount due.
But a ring OF plunderers, with the
Chief Justice of Louisiana ut It's head, is
hard to beat. and in 1879 the ring-it
ought not to be dignifled by calling it q
company got an act passed to give the
State stock in the road In exchange 70,
the bonds. The enormity of this trans
action will be better appreciated by the
readers bearing In mind the fact that
the road had been previously mort.
gagged for nearly double its worth. Late
In the summer of 1872 tho act author
izing this swindle was promulgated by
Gov Warmoth but IL appeared as ap
proved on the 10th Of April, neat lit
tie trick to defeat the suit which hat
been instituted by the Attorney Gene
raj against the ring for the interest or
the bonds, by antedating the institu
ton of the suit.
Such is the scandalous history OF tn,
creation of this fraudulent claim against
the taxpayers OF Louisiana. In 1856!
Gov. Warmoth issued to the ring SAC O
the bonds Of $1,000 each. and in 1873 the
wretched creature who now dishonors
the Gubcrnatorial chair issued to thu
swindlers SIG OF the bonds OF $1,000 each
nj. Morgan's Sons came into possession
Of these rotten bonds to the amount o.
$4,000; but on application to have
them funded the State Board of Liquida
ton declined to take action on the
ground that the extra session of the
Legislature Of 1875 prohibited them from
funding them until their validit,
should be established by final decree
Out OF this grew the legal proceedings
which have terminated in the Suprem,
Court declaring the bonds valid.
Only $4,000 Of the bonds were in
volved In this suit, but Of course il thes,
are valid all the others are valid, ant
the effect OF the decision, therefore, is tC
give validity to the whole claim o
81, 122, 900, with matured interest agains
the taxpayers Of the State.
We have not attempted to discuss til,
law Of this case; our purpose has sim
ply been to show the facts in the histor,
OF the creation OF this claim. We have
shown that the Supreme Court OF tn,
United States has pronounced the or
ganization, for whose benefit the claim
H., a.