Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-06-27
HOW GREAT FORTUNES ARE MADE.

CrUsus; and the great Astor who died
"worth" five mill ions and who was the rich
est man on the American continent was re
gardcd as a perfect marvel of wealth In
these times man who has no more than
million is not accounted rich, there are
scores of Americans who are richer than the
original Astor, and private fortunes ascend
in size 10y easy gradations from the humble
possessions of the five millionaire
to Nanderblps colossal fortune of
two hundred millions In what man.
ner these great fortunes are accumulated
is something of which the general public
know but little. Speculation" is the gen.
era answer to the question, but the term is
a very indefinite one, and of the transactions
it covers there is little knowledge. How
some fortunes are made, however, and
through what form of speculation, is very in.
structlvcly shown by the New York Ecen
ing Post. 1t seems that eight years ago
Jay Gould obtained possession of the
Missouri Pacific railroad by means of the
foreclosure of third mortgage for S4,O0Cs
600, and that he got great deal OF property
for very little money may be inferred from
the fact that since the foreclosure securities
OF this road to the amount of some $54,.
100000 have been put on the market 1t is
claimed, too, that the foreclosure title upon
which the whole fabric rests is fraudulent.
The foreclosure pro ccedings were conducted
Judge Dillon. They were resisted by the
county of st. Louis, which had lien of,
$4,000 and by some of the stockholders, on
the curious ground that the mortgage had
been put on the road for the expressed pur-
pose of foreclosure This mortgage on $50
miles Of road, which was the backbone" f
the system, it was asserted, was issued
three months before foreclosure, and
the coupons dated back to make
the mortgage come down at an carly day
Parties representing st. Louis County were
induced 10 withdraw their opposition to
the foreclosure on the assurance OF full pro q.
lection to the county's interest, which has
been established as first lien against the
property. The protesting stockholders, reI =
resenting some 100000 of the 81, 900 900
capital stock, !. C., a majority of it, were
also induced to withdraw their opposition, on
the promise that they should receive 81, OOO.-
900 of the new stock in the new company to
be organized by Commodore Garrison, who
has just made an assignment, for whom the
road was to be bought and who is charged
with having been party to the fraud The
plan OF foreclosure and reconstruction, it is
said, was that Commodore Garrison should
buy in the road, for the benefit of all con-
cerncd; it was actually purchased by third
person, who had been attorney for the old
corporation. and turned over to new corpo
ration in which Commodore Garrison held
most of the stock, Garrison, however, re.
fused to redeem his promise made to the New
York stockholders and to st. Louis County.
The county took its case to the Supreme
Court, aGdi its lien was sustained. The New
York stockholders, Mr.. Marie and 9TH
ers, brought suit against Garrisonfor dam
ages for breach of contract, and their
suit is still pending in the courts of New
York. 1t will be seen that their claim is for
money so is that of st. Louis county. But
the S., 900, 900 stock which was supposed to
have been wiped out by the foreclosure pro-
ceedings is still in existence. The minority
stockholders, if the foreclosure was frsudu-
lent, are entitled to have all the proceedings
upset, and such result would seem TO
throw very serious cloud upon the value of
the whole $54, 100000 of securities which
rest upon this foreclosure. Some of the
stockholders fled bill of review insisting
that the foreclosure was fraudulent. The
bill was demurred to, and the demurrer was
sustained by Judge Dillon. An appeal was
taken to Washington and was there argued
for the demurrer by ex-Judge Dillon,
now retired from the bench and
practcing as counsel for corporations
more or less controlled by Gould. The
Supreme Court however. have just rendered
a decision supporting the bill, and when we
learn that one of the allegations in it is that
the third mortgage, by means of collision
between the directors and officers of the road |
and the bondholders, was made to fall due |
within three months after the bonds were |
issued, and that the stock was actually |
earning dividends at the time, we can not |
be surprised. II the stockholders recover
damages from Commodore Garrison, then
they can recover possession of their pror-
erty by tipping up the foreclosure proceed
lngs, and vice versa. If the charges of fraud
are sustained by the evidence, Mr.. Gould's
Missouri Pacific has no existence, and the
property will be handed back to the old COM
paDy and the old stockholders, and the per-
sons guilty of the fraud will be liable TO &C
count for earnings and disbursements from
1876 down to the present time This suit
connot be brought TO trial until the autumn.
Another suit known as the Marie Garrison
SUIT, is in far more advanced condition.
The complaint has been sustained on demur-
rer in the Court of Appeals and was in pro-
cess OF trial before Professor Dwight when
he defence suddenly resOrted to the extra
ordinary device of asking for writ of pro-
liblion against the referee to prevent his
,oing on with it, on the ground that he was
exceeding his jurisdiction by converting the
nit into an equity proceeding 1t was also
lleged that he was prolracling the suit in
rider TO increase his fees as referee. OF
curse the Commodores enemies say that