Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1888-01-28
THE PENITENTIARY BOND
SUIT. ~
The Supreme Court Decides that
Mississippi Must Lose her Blood
Money.

last Saturda, sreleasing the s1reties on
the bond Of Jones s. Hamilton an
other Penitentiary lessees, was the
eliminating fifth act in the shameless
drama, planned and carried out by
Col Hamilton for the plunder and rob-
berry of the State Of Mississippi.
On March the 18th, 1884, two or
three days before the adjournment of
the Legislature, bill authorizing the
transfer of the convcts from Hamilton,
Allen & Co., to the Gulf and Ship Is
land Railroad, was introduced and
amid the ,hurly burly incident to the
last days Of the session, was railroaded
through. without its provisions being
understood or even known to the ma
iOrity Of the Legislature.
One Of the most prominent and faith
iul members of the last Legislature said
to us he never heard Of such an act until
the ipH.itution of the present suit.
This act related in its preamble the
general dissatisfaction with the inla-
nous lease system and spoke of the de-
STABILITY Of building the Gulf 4 ship
Island Rqilroad, and then authorized
Hamilton, Allen & Co., to transfer the
convict lease to the Cult and Ship Is
land Railroad, up II filing a copy of the
terms Of agreement with the Secretary
ofState, aud upon such transfer of the
convicts to the railroad, Hamiltoa,
Allen and their surities should be re-
sIased. In the second section of that
act, it further provides that the railroad
should give a bond of one hundred
thousand dollars, conditioned that the
railroad should assume and carry out
the leasee's contract as far as it related
to expense of convicts, etc.
As it was said this measure was
passed in the hurry Of the last days OF
she session, and then quietly printed
and assigned to oblivion in the back
part of the acts Of 1884.
It will be evident from glance at
the contents Of the acts that It Dur-
posed the immediate transfer Of the
eonvicts to the railroad,
But no such transfer was made or at
tempted to be made, The law was
practical nullity. The conyicts con-
NAaed to be leased out to be driven to
death and to fill the Golfers Of the
lessees with gold coined and minted
out of their life blood. and the Cult &
Ship Island pufed on its laundering
course only on paper and in the delu-
ded cerebtum the easily duped
But though slum5ering the law was
not dead and it woke in due time. to mar
velous uses.
Two ssyears afterwards in Deeem-
bsr 1886 the rent ter the Peni entiary
for that year became alarmlngly due.
So many improvement had been charg
ed for and not made. it was deemed best
to work another scheme for cozening the
State out OF the rent due,
Consequently Dec, %, eight days be-
fore the rent was due, this two year old
dormant act was resurrected, the Gull
& Shsp Island Railroad brought into
prominence and transfer OF the lease
Was proposed to be made. A copy OF
the proposed transfer, not of an actual
trsnsfer, was fled with the Secretary
eFState. Then the governor asked for
the one hundred thousand dollar bondFe-
quirsdb BY the Statute Apaper, strange
" and uniquely Worded. and entirely
invalid as bond,w handed him. Ho
rightly refused to accept any such im'
perfect document, and in consequences
sf this refusal it was Withdrawn and
hidden in shame away from the light OF
the world by It's authors.
In the meanwhile the Gulf 4 Ship
Island Railroad went into possession OF.
the conviets without furnishing the
bond required to be given by the State
Now this Gulf & Ship Island Railroad
though different corporation in tdw,
was In reality composed almost en-
tirely of the lessees. Col. Hamilton
was its president and Col. HoskiOs and
others interested in the lease turned
nm .s the chief men Of tie railroad
eompany. So then the transfer Of the
eonv;sts from the lessees to the railroad
was but in fact a transfer OF the couvicts
from Hamilton to Hamilton. The
whole thing was sharp trick BY which
Col. Hamilton sought the twin objects
Of retaining possession OF the conviets
and avoiding the payment ofthe rent
due. It was not real transfer, but a
pretended, bastard transfer.
The convicts being safe in the hands
Of Hamilton, the railroad corporator,
Hamilton the lessee, made default in
in payment OF rent, and suit had to be
instituted by the State against the sur
tiles. .Tolthe declaration Of the Statesthe
sureties set up the plea that they were
released by the Ingenious act Of 1884
and by the abortiye transfer.
The State claimed that an invalid
bond, orrather no bond at all, bad been
gwen, and hence in fact there was no
legal transfer and the sureties, there
fore, we're liable.