Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-10-02
DECIDED.
The Railroads DO Not Owe the
Debt.

Judge Whitney, of the United
States circuit court. has given judg-
ment in the suit of G. Avery Ste
vens and other holders of Tennessee
bonds against the Tennessee rail-
roads. This suit was brought to
test the truth o. the assertion, SO
loudly made by the men now OPP
posing the payment of the railroad
debt, that the present railroad COM
panies are the true debtors of the
bond-holders. This assertion has
now been put to the test of fair
trial in open court; it has had every
advantage that could be conceded
to it; some of the ablest lawyers of
the United States have been retained
to plead in its favor, men like
OConor, of New York, and Hoad-
ley, of Tennessee, and they worked
for it as lawyers do when vast sums
of money are at stake and vast fees
in sight, but the cause was hopeless
from the first. Men of common
sense, not to speak of lawyers, must
haveseen that the states lien against
the railroads was discharged when
one class of roads settled dollar for
dollar with the state, and another
class, being bankrupt, had the prop
erty on which the lien rested taken
in execution by the state, which
held the lien, and sold an unincum-
bered property to a new company.
And so the court decided. Tech
nically the decision is as follows:
After reciting the tenor of the bonds and
the statutes under which they were issued
and the claims of the parties, the court de-
cides that the state was the principal debtor
and not surety; that the contract between
the state and the company is that the state
shall have a lien for the payment by said
company of said bonds, but it is nowhere
required by the state, and therefore not
assented to by the company, that the latter
shall pay the bond-hOlders; that the lien
secured by the statute was lien in favor OF
the state alone, and that the state had NO
lien upon the roads; hence he did not find
it necessary to decide whether the bond
holders had become estopped by acquies-
cenee in the sale of the roads, or funding of
interest, or otherwise, nor whether the pro-
ceedings resulting in the sale were legal ; |
and finding under section twelve, of the act |
of 1872, it follows that by this judgment I
neither the foreciosed nor tie non-fore-
closed railroads are subject to any lien in /
favor of the holders of the INTERNAL improve I
ment bonds issued by the state OF Tennessee 4
under acts passed by the state The decree /
will be entered in each case Diminishing the /
bill of colnplainants therein, with costs TO |
defendants.
1t remains to be seen what infiu-
ence this decision will have upon
the canvass now going on. Prac-
ticalIy the decision cuts away from
the platform of the boilers all the
props it rested on. Their trump
card was the assertion that the rail-
roads owe the bonded debt. This
has been over-trumped by Judge
Withey's decision, and the logical
result would be for the boilers to
throw up the game, but we do not
anticipate this from the leaders
their game is one of desperation,
and they will scruple at nothing.
The courts having decided against
them, they will attack the courts,
proclaim them ignorant, interested,
corrupt-anything. But win the
voters take counsel of desperation ?
They have no offices, no private in
terest dependent upon the issue.
Win the honest constituency hold
On to an exploded dogma and still
support men who have staked their
claims to it on an assertion, false
rom the beginning, which has now
had its falsehood judiciaily stamped {
Upon it? We do nat think so light
v OF the sense and honesty of the !
oeopIe as to deem it possible, and !
while we expect the denagogues to q