The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-11
A GREAT RAILROAD MANAGER.
The Vast Work Performed by Judge Thomas
DrummOnd.
in Cincinnati Enquirer


indianapolis Letter in Cincinnati Enquirer,
The great work of Judge Drummond
which has impressed itself upon the judicial
history of the country has been done since
he went upon the Circuit bench. The panic
of 1873 swept over the West like a simeon
and wrecked railroads in common with every
other expanded interest which had sprung
into life under the initiation which followed
the war By the middle of 1876 nearly 10000
miles of railroad which were in whole or
mainly in his circuit, had passed into the
hands of receivers appointed by Judge Drum
mond, aud this vast interest represente ted
over $500 100000 in bonds and nearly twice
that amount in stocks. Every one of these
receivers made their detailed reports of their
financial and operating actions directly to
Judge Drummond, and upon every act of
theirs he had to give his approval. In this
way he gave more attention to the actual de-
tails of their operation than Mr.. Vanderbilt
or Mr. Gould ever did, and yet he controlled
as many miles of road as did both of the great
railroad kings, with a large slice from Tom
SCOTS road.
These roads were wrecked when the court
took them, and the almost superhuman
amount of labor necessary to save the prop
erty and make it of any value to the credit
ors had to be done by this one man, who
marked out the policy of each one of his
managers, aud, although their interests often
saved every one of them. Not a pound of
iron or any improvement or betterment
could be put on one of the roads without his
order, and while he had selected the best
possible men, he never varied from his de-
liberate judgment as to what action was best
for each line.
1t would seem that this vast work, greater
than any other man has ever performed
alone, would have been all that one could
have done in lifetime, yet he did it in less
than seven years, and while he was
doing it he discharged all the other
duties on his circuit; and in that
time he did more to shape the policy
of courts in managing railroads in
the hands of receivers and in determining
the rights of creditors than any other judge
in the country. OF course, this would follow
his having control of so many miles of road
in the region where they had had such a
mushroom growth; but he had started with
the advantage of living on the seaboard
where he had acquired thorough knowl-
edge of admiralty law, and also of the prac-
teal relations of common carriers to the
public. His main policy in the management
of bankrupt roads was that his receivers
should not incur any debts except to put the
roads in a condition which would insure the
safe transportation of passengers and freights
When the strikes of 1877 stopped the oper-
alton of nearly every railroad in the West
they included several of those in Judge
Drummond's court. To deal with the men
who had invaded the rights and authority of
the court was delicate task, yet the Judge
did it with so much justice that even the
strikers did not complain of his sentences
And his reasoning in deciding the cases in
this State and Illinois was so profound that
every recent writer on the relations between
railroads and their employees, and the rela-
tons of both to the public have quoted him.
In all cases he has held that the claims of
the men who operate and care for the prop
erty of creditors of q railroad are a first lien,
and must be paid before any other debts.
Judge Drummond is, physically and men,
tally, only now in his prime. Senator Nc
Donald said to the writer recently, that no
judge of his acquaintance was in more active
mental condition than Judge Drummond
Yet behind stands the work of more than
ordinary lifetime; its monuments all credit
able, and so quietly have they been erected
that the public has never thought of the
guiding genius which has shaped each OF
them. Had he been railroad manager in
stead of a judge, the world would have
echoed his name if his success in dealing
with that interest had been only half what
IL haq haan