New-York tribune., 1886-03-18
TIE BROIDU'AI FRlNCHISE
SHALL TIE CHARTER BE ANULLED3

SHALL TIE CHARTER BE ANuLLED7
! TIE SENATE RAILROAD COMMITTEE HEARS JAMES
&C. GARTER IN OPPOSITION,
IRON GUAR CORRESPONDENT or TIE TRIBUNE.
A1r,\N- March ier-ous who entered the Sen
ate Chamber this afternoon mu-t have been astonsAed
AZ The gathering of people they found there The ioor
of the noble room aud gaIeics were crowded with
men women and children. II looked il the Senate
wa in sc--ion hut . moments tlquiry showed that
the Railroad Committee were giving their first hearing
on The 4 to annu the charter OF the Broadway sur
face Railway Company ana to sell tie franchise to the
highest bidder. The lawyers who gathered TO de.end
and attack these bills were among the most dls-
ting lshcd in the State. The committees counsel, who
drew up the bills. Roscoe Couklne ard Clarence A.
Seward were present. he Broadway Surface Railway
Company was represented 10y James G. Carter, EHhu
Root Ashbcl Green George Bliss 0nd Robert A Sew ell.
There were also pres, Ira SLaicr Gilbert H. lIawes.
and Lawson ~ Fuller. All the members Of the Rail
road Committee Senators Low, Knapp, Pierce,
Walker Nelson and Reilly were present.
James C. Carter made the Ist address. le op-
Do-eI a favorable report the bills. lie 4lil in
substance:
rcure.crt the ,tockholder. of the Broadway and
Seventh Avenue Railway Company. They are ac.m3
in concert with the boudh0ldcIs OF the bIoIway sur
face hallway Company. They supposed thai they held
threatened hy tribunal where th'y nave no eciHI
rig,fs Noa have been ondraV oriug to a-c-rt.u the
influences, whether legitimate or licSrlmlte mat
caV-ed tie granting ot th~ franchise. You have
formed your conclusions. You believe that there has
been "A dIsgrac 'ul use of money. lou believe tuat
the municipal officers have betrayed their rast. You
have reported bill, for rcdfe-,HI these owls Let IA.
say at once that iH the statements OF facts e.,
% not how you could have come 10 any other con
clu-Ion ou do not make any charge against any par
tcaiar person. But that money has been irauduIrny
used gigantic scale this You believe and thr c'l
drucc warrants IT, The seamless deHlal> bri"re Jo1
II 10 ere confessions Of the use 81 money IL
was uatural Il at yuu shoulI make such report. 10
many Of the features these bills Ohcr 10 ohlcc
ton You propose 10 annual the charter Of the Broad
way Surface Hallway and 10 sell the franchise to the
highest bidder.
Ir considering these two bill. yon will have to re,
member that - 500 900 of bonds have been ISSUED
for the construction Of this road. They Hrr hed 10y
bona Gdc owners They bought them al q high price.
hey were considered gt-edgcd securities. They
we're tht on the faith that tine state would uphold
them III the scclLd place the Seventh Atrnuc and
Broadway Railway Company has bound itself 10 pay
the rrucpal aud interest on cl.5OO,pO9 OF thc'r
bonds and the interest on Sl.3OOGOO more oi the
bonds IN addition thr of >i5j 900 has been pad
u the of stage nc- in broadway To remove
their omnbuSrs. These three classes oi property are
held By nde holders. There Is no elias, OF Your
Community vi ch not interested in tn tate Of these
bills
these securities are property Whatever there is of
sacIrdness in property attaches tu them. But 1t may
tc said that this property Is pIecarOuo that Its value
qualified by the tact that The Legislature may annul
II u
the stock and bonds of the New-l Central Hallway
Company well. he stockholders IN this Broadway
road invested their money IN the same lath You can
make distinction between one class Of proper and
another. The hundreds Of millions of property III this
State oi this KIND threatened oy This bill
WHAT do you propose to do with The property lou
do not propose akc away the bonds OF esc peOl e
NOu leave them pieces OF paper lou propose 10 sell
this railroad aud give the proceeds 10 the City of New
Ork In other words you propose 10 take away prop
erv from ore man and without compen @atiou and be
stow il upon another know II IS questioned whether
the Legislature has the power to DO this Let that
y .s- IT can be lett 10 time when II these bills be-
come laws the courts will have 10 consider the uucs
tor What j. the excu-. for such sweeping act of
coniscaion as this IL will be said that this
sary that in order repres5 these practices the bills
must he passed. deny IL. assert that l. would be
u hagran; violation Of the public faith. People have
been asked by the State To invest their money III these
enterprises aud hey have been told that if they do
invest their money in good faith they shall nor be dis
turl td in their possession of the franchises These men
have complied III good faith with all the requirements
of law he State directly declares that when these
prerequisites have been complied WITH the franchise
will be granted and that the property is security 1t
valid contract. My argument Is shortly this: lou
say that these laws necessary to correct bribery
agree as 10 the importance OF the object but deny
that the good fatl of the State should he broken.
This Is breach of the public faith which no excuse can
Justify paliale Is Il ere any excuse to-day for re
fusing to pay the debt of the state Is there any ne
cessity Ought to 1rt to any such pea Is the
state of New York reduced tie plea that she
subduc corrupt practice, Are there not methods OF
repre~sng bribery gCan yon not appoint capable
sufficient. Can you ~ make It more difficult To get
these fIn chise> Then there are the courts which
will fraudulent franchises. 1t amOdnts to this
that the courts. the Legislature, the COmml"soners,
the Boards of Aldermen, are undermined with cOrrup
tCn-th that is the confession you make. IL s confcs
sion thai the legislature cannot protect capital. but
SUMMONS capital to defend it. They summon capital
lists to spend millions but they say to them that their
investment can be taken away III an hour
You propose to do this, do not because great cor
rupt0n has been discovered and yOu think you pre-
vent boards of Aldermen being corrupted IN tbs
future Have you established the bribery Oh no.
Ou have heard the liars only on one SHE GU pro
pose this momentous legislation on the slender toun
dation of cx partc testimony from few persons Who
are the guilty parties Have you found out can
guess and 20 YOU Ou make no Investigation rs
to which one sis guilty. Did the men who bought
these bonds know all the facts that you learned They
knew shht the Broadway Railway Company had com
piled with the conditions for IT'S incorporation. hey
knew also, that the Common Council Of Newfor has
given it, consent to this franchise VIII you say that
the Board OF Aldermen was notOrousIy corrupt 6e
that a. it may you the men who the Board of
Aldermen that power. II in the Constitution of
the state. Are you sure that this would secure purity
in obtaining franchi-esi Ii will be declaration TO
capitalists that they will have security for their
franchises pom any prctext the franchises will be
declared invalid. Honest men will net take sncl a
frarchse. Dishonest men will take the risk lhercwll be
lack of to pay the Aldermen the sums necessary
10 gain the c.nsent. They Sll give the Aldermen a
lite sum IN order to have the larger for TIA"
rupt members of the legislature TX Is quarter
corruption has been rife the halls Of the
Legislature. What is the policy OF this legs ation
To restore certain powers 10 the body Wmci the
stulon as deprived Of them. will transfer leeis
lation from New York to Albany There would be the
plea that it necessary to protect property by
bribery.
Addre~se. were also made by George Bliss, Mr. Nash
aud AshDcl Green.
Inspector Bynes had another long conference yester
day with Distrct-Attorney MARITIME and Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Delaney Nirol The three officials
together several hours The Grand Jury not iu
session, having adjourned because the courts dd not
IL III "~ 2 pa afNal