Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-04-13

ings among its stockholders to the
danger of its creditors, it is violating
the law of its existence.
Mr.. HILL do say einphaticaIly
that no creditor of the road has any
right as Il legislature to pass acts
and to administer a law tor pre-
vent the debtor from using the in-s
come of his property before the debt
becomes due. He has a right to use
the rents, issues, and profits of the
property, and no law ever arrested
it or can ever arrest it unless by SO
| doing he is violating a contract. IF
he has included the rents, issues,
and profits of the property in a
mortgage, then he is bound. IL he
has not, then there is not any court
on earth that can impOund the in
come of a mans property in adj
vance of the debt being due; nor
was it ever done. / say broadly it
never was done. lit cannot be done
in the nature of things, because
when a man dedicates the corpus of
the property to the payment of the
debt, to that the creditor must look.
The, creditor has elected his security;
the creditor has dedicated his secu-
rity;; he has fixed the debt on that
security and he must rely on it.
There is no lien in favor of an ordi-
nary creditor against debtor-none
in the world. But / beg pardon of
the Senator from Tennessee fol hav-
| ing interrupted him. 3ig
Mr.. Bailey-Although that may
never have been done by a court,
yet such is the temper, and such are
the convictions of the American
| Congress to-day, that it cannot here
after he brought as a reproach
against the courts of the United
I States that they will not entertain
! Jurisdiction where debtor has pub
| licly and solemnly announced to his
creditors that his purpose is to adj
minister his affairs as not only to
bring debt to mature at a future
day in peril, but to bring it to abso-
/ lutte, positive. and certain loss
Mr.. Hill-Of course the unauthor-
lied announcement of an officer
/ amounts to nothing, but if there is
any announcement by the corpora
ton that they intend to bring this
debt in danger by their act, the
courts will give you ample remedy.
to restrain them. n
Mr.. Harris-Will the Senator not
admit the fact that by reason of the
dividends that have been paid and
are being paid the ultimate security
of this debt is not only hazarded,
/ but it is rendered almost certain
that it viii prove a loss to the Gov
eminent /?
Mr.. Hilton the contrary, / say
that by the appropriation of the in
come, the security selected by the
Government for its debt is not only
not impaired, is not only not les
sened one dollar, but / say emphat-
ically in this very contract which
| the Government made it has stipu-
lated that the company shall use
those earnings. 1t stipulated that
as an inducement, in the eighteenth
section, for them to build this road.
Who suppOses that anybody would
have undertaken to build this road
on an agreement that for thirty
years there should be no earnings
| from it? Who supposes that any
! men would undertake to build the
road ON a distinct stipulation that
they were to have no earnings for
thirty years? There is stipulation
to pay the Government; but there
! is no stipulation that they shall have
no earnings for thirty years. But
the danger the courts viii remedy /;
| the future will give you a remedy
not leSsening the security which the
contract has dedicated to the pay
ment of your debt. / beg pardon Of
nay friend for having interrupted
him so long.
Mr.. Bai1ey-Not at all. 1 am
very much obliged to the Senator.
[ was a little fatigued, and it gave
me an opportunity to rest.
! But the Senator asks in his con-
Guiding sentence who supposes that
the parties contemplated that the
| Government of the United States
would take all the earnings of these
companies and leave nothing for
! them to distribute TO their stock
holders as a compensation for the
capital that they have invested. i
do not understand that to be the
case. l understand from the read
| ing of the bill presented to us by the
| Judiciary Committee of the Senate
and the report which accompanies
| lIlC DIll lAi6Al CNCll elllCl lk4C9SC
appropriations to the sinking fund
there will be left from year to year
to the stockholders of one of these
companies a dividend of per cent,
and to the stockholders of the other
not less than Al per cent.
Mr. Hill-HaVe you any more
right to take half the income than
you have to take the whole of it?
Mr.. Bailey-NOt hit of it. We
have a right to take it all if neces-
sary to prevent the meditated fraud.
The Senator seems to suppose that
| because the law as it exists
Mr.. Teller ask the Senator if he
will submit to an interruption ?
When the Senator says they have
right to take it all to avoid this
meditated fraud, ] should like to
know to what he refers.
Mr.. Bailey-I refer to what they
have announced to the extracts
from letters and speeches / have
already read.
Mr.. Teller-I should like to know
what they have annOunced.
Mr.. Bailey-They haveannOunced
it to be their purpose to divide their
net earnings as between themselves
and to leave this debt of the Gov
eminent of the United States to ac-
emulate; and they declare that
natural consequences, the almost
necessary consequences of their acts
will be to bring these companies to
absolute bankruptcy and to cause
the Government to lose a great part
if not all Of the debt that will be due
in the future.
Mr.. TelIer-Will the Senator
answer this question; When the
Government took this lean and
postponed the payment of the debt
until the maturity of the bonds, in
terest included, did they not guar
antee not only by that provision but
by special provision that the COM
panies might take these dividends?
Are they not then living strictly
within their contract when they
take these dividends?
Mr.. MISUNDERSTANDING the ques-
ton from the point of view that |
have now presented, | do not say
that they have not the legal right to
distribute this money. They have
the legal right; | will concede that.
Mr.. Teller understood the Sen
- cav fho+ hn1 not fhn