Morning journal and courier., 1880-09-22

The St. Louis Globe Democrat has the fol- lowing sensible criticism upon the extraordi- nary amount of campaign speaking in this canvass, and the amount of money it costs Seriously, the question may be asked wheth- CT anything at all is accomplished by the tra- ditional tactics of sending out campaign speakers we doubt whether single instance could be adduced of a man who had changed his mind, or of citizen who had been per- suaded to change his vote, by any eloquence or argument of a campaign speaker. Nor is the reason far to seek. The opinions of the people are formed by an almost infinite null titude of facts and circumstances, very few of which are within the range of any speakers influence. The utmost that the speaker can do is to present very small number of facts or arguments for the consideration of his hearers, and in the existing condition of hu- man knowledge it is, almost impossible that these should be new. The most powerful speeches of the best orators when analysed consist merely of facts and arguments which have been published and repeated a thousand times by the daily. press, in which, indeed, they first made their appearance.
 It has been the general opinion among those in Massachusetts who have to do with stock certificates that transfer recorded on the stock books of corporation is a neces- sary feature in ownership, but two recent decisions by the Supreme Court of that State seem to show that record of transfer is not essential. One of the cases is as fol lows LuGus W. Pond, the Worcester for ger, secretly conveyed his shares in the Gen. tral bank of Worcester to l.. Goes & Co.,, but for three years after and, until his exposure, he regularly receipted for the dividends, and as regularly made oath, director of the bank, that he was the bona fide owner of the stock After the exposure the bank, acting by advice of counsel, issued new stock cer- tifcate to Goes & Co.,, taking a bond to pro- tect themselves against adverse action. This was opposed by the assignee of the Pond es- tate in bankruptcy, and he brought action against the bank for an improper conversion of the stock, claiming that the stock was Ponds at the time of the exposure. The court, in the rescript just issued, declares that the bank cannot be held for conversion of the stock, for delivering the new certificate to the party. holding good equitable title under Ponds delivery to Goes & Co.,, and that the bank had no notice of the secret transfer and cannot be affected by it. The other case is one brought by the Music Hall association to determine the ownership of shares in that corporation which had been seized by sher- if and sold on execution, after the owner had secretly transferred them to another per son, but without recording the transfer on the books or notifying the corporation. In this case the court declares that it is not necessary that transfer of stock should be made on the books of the corporation, to be valid against an attaching creditor, when not required to be so made by positive provision of the statutes or of the charter.'' Both these cases declare bank and other corporation stocks, in the absence of special charter or statute provisions to the contrary, to be trans ferable like any other personal property, by a bill of sale, and without any notice to or record by the interested corporation.