Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-08-30
THE STATE ROAD LEASE
Interview with Major j. b. Cnm-
ming, Counsel for the Lesseea-
Correct Statement or tho Quo W.
rantO Proceeding.
augusta Chronicle

~A"S"StW CftFOfttCtGa
AS our accounts from Atlanta IN referaro.
70 tnls case nave been meagre and NOS
wholly clear and Ineligible to the nD-,s ~
fessionsl reader, Major CUNNING ona -
the counsel OF the railroad, kindly furnisbe5
to Chronicle and ConStitatjonalfst ronor+e
who called on him Yesterday, the foIiowiro,
statement as TO the case and its I,ressr3
status: P'esehu
The suit Is an information In the nat,ro
OF quo warranto, the object of which is n
forfeit the charter of the "Western ana
Atlantic Railroad Company" and to mt
the railroad again in the hand of the state
Ihe western aud Atlantic Railroad Com.
pany is none other than the lessees of the
railroad, who We're incorporated under that
name by the lease act of October, 1870. The
lniormation" is filed in the name of the
state OF Georgia by Attorney General Gift
Ioro Anderson. The two violations of the
cnarteT alleged In the information are (6rst)
that the bond required by the lease act fo he
given by the lessees, is invalid: and (second)
That the company has permitted Transfers of
lts stock 10 De made to persons forbidden bv
bne lease act 10 become stockholders. The
alleged tnvalidity OF the bond is that the
sureties, who are various railroad corpora-
tiCns, are not bound by it. The alleged iUe-
gality Of the transfers is that thereby ma
j0r1ty OF the stock has passed into the hands
of persons not Georgians.
The case is not before Judge Simmons. ss
stated In the dispatches OF Saturday to tbe
Chronicle. but is being heard by Judge WI
lis, of the Chattahoochee Circuit, sitting in
the place Of Judge Hillyer, who is absent.
The first defense off cred by the railroad
company to tie information was a motion
to dismiss the whole procedure on the
ground that the Attorney General was pro-
ceeding under statue which authorized a
quo wsrranto only in the case of a contest
between the claimant and incumbent Of an
office This motion was overruled by Judge
Willis.
The second defense, interposed bv the
railroad company, was demurrer A de-
murrer IS every lawyer understand admits
for the sake Of the argument the truth of
the facts demurred 10, but claims that those
facts do not In law make a case against the
party demurring. Judge Willis overruled
the demurrer also.
Both the motion and the demurrer were
fully argued during Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday by all the counsel on
both sides. They are for the State, Attor-
ney General Anderson, ex- Supreme Court
Judge Lyons and ex Supreme Court Re-
porter Henry Jackson; and for the railroad
company, Mr.. Julius l.. Brown, attorney of
the company, Governor Smith, Gen. Law
ton ana Major Cumming. Gen. Toombs
was present, but took no part in the argu-
ment, as, he said, he was not representing
the defendant corporation, but only large
stockhOlder, and the time had not vet ar
rived to move in his behalf
The railroad company having failed to
defeat the case at the outset by these two
defenses, filed a voluminous
answer, cOntesting all the grounds taken In
the information. The case will now 20 to a
jury, drawn specially for the purpose, who
will hear the case in Atlanta September
14th. Then the real battle will be fought.
What has been done up to this time is only
skirmishfng.