The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-18

pany and their suretieS on their bond should
be liable to make good the difference 10 the
state 'as- 100
Thus you will see, gentlemen, that the
legislature waseareful 10 have the then con-
ditlon of the road looked into and TO provide
the means of ascertaining, at the end OF G Q
lease, whether the lessee returned the road
IN as good condition as they found it.
A written schedule or inventory was
made by the commissioners, returned to the
secretary of state, recorded in his office and
hled III the executive office, where they can
be consulted at any time, and the fact can
be ascertained as to what was the then true
condition of the Western and Atlantic rail-
road and its appurtenances. So that the
state has been careful to preserve the evil
dence upon which it can readily be aScer-
tanned whether she on her part and the
leSsees on their part comply honestly and
faithfully with the contract entered into
between them.
Under that contract the lessees must re-
turn the road in as good condition as they
received it. We received a certain number
of engines. We may not be able to return
those identical engines, as many of those
received from the state are so badly worn
by this time that nothing is left of them ex-
cept the frames, on each of which, however,
much better new engines have been built
We have, say, twenty excellent engines
more than we received from the state. 1t
is our duty to return the same number we
received from the state in exactly the same
condition we received them, and if
we cannot do that to approximate it as
nearly as possible, and by arrangement we
might sometimes return one good engine
in the place of two or three that were worn
out and condemned at the time we took the
road; but if the state prefers it, we are
ready on our part to comply literally with
the contract, of which we shall not COM
plain, and we will return to her at the end
of the lease the same number of engines we
received in the same condition that we re-
| ceived them, and the same number of cars
we received IN the same condition in which
we received them.
Whatever surplus we may have over will
| belong to the Western and Atlantic Rail
road Company, and presume that no law
yer who values his reputation will insist
that the state has the right to take them
| from us without paying for them, merely
because we have used them on the track of
| the Western and Atlantic railroad during a
| portion of the lease.
So with other improvements made by the
| lesSees. For instance, we have done most
| of the grading and laid the cross-ties and
| iron on twentv-three or four miles of addi-
tional side-tracks which were put down by
| our company for its own convenience. The
| condition of the road when we received it
as to side-tracks was worse by twenty-three
| miles, say, than it is now. AS we are to
| return it in the same condition in which we
received it, what right has the state to claim
| that these additional side-tracks belong to
| her?
When we return the same sidetracks that
| the state road had at the period of the lease,
in the same condition they were at that
time, we comply with our contract in letter
| and in spirit, and the state is bound to re-
| "a dot al
i'll as good condition as they were at the
| time of the lease, or she repudiates the con
| tract on her part.
Can the state afford to do this2 Can the
| people of Georgia put themselves in the
position before the civilized world where
they violate the sacred obligations of fair
contract, which has been made and APP
| proved by all the sanctions mentioned in
| the commencement of these remarks?
But | am aware that it mas been said by
many persons who oppose the payment of
| our claim, that the lessees have made a
| good deal of money out of the road, and
| that if the state owes them any more she
ought not to pay them; that they have had
| enough.
While I admit that the lessees have made
| money out OF the lease, | insist that they
had the right to make it; that they
made it honestly and fairly; that they made
| it by labor and toll and the use of capital
and mental power; that they made it in
| strict accordance with their contract with
the state, complying with it in every par
ticular as far the time has run, and ready
| to comply with it to the last moment both
| in letter and spirit
The gentlemen composing the Western and
Atlantic Railroad Company, leaving out
| my humble self, was an extraordinary body
of men. do not presume that such another
| their equal in every particular could have
been organized in the United States at the
time the lease was obtained. We had some
of the most distinguished railroad men,
north or south, as member of the COM
pany.
| Thomas A. Scott, who might be said to
stand at the head of our company, stood
| equally we'll balanced at the head of the
railroad fraternity in the United States of
America He had no superior; he had no
| peer. Mr.. Scott represented the northern
states.
John P. King. the old Nestor of railroad
men in the south, had the advice of William
| NJ. Wadley whenever he desired it. Will
lam S. Holt, president of the Southwestern
Railroad Company; Edmund w. Cole,
| president of the Nashville, Chattanooga
and st. Louis system; Thomas Allen, presi-
| dent of the st. Louis and Iron Mountain
| system at the time; Andrew j. White,
| president of the Macon and Western rail
road, all presenting an array Of railroad
ability and capacity not to be surpassed at
| that time anywhere in the union.
| h. b. Plant, president of the Southern
| Express Company, and William B. Dius-
| more, president of the Adams Express Com
| pany, we're the two strongest business men
| in that line probably in the union.
Then in reference to business men who
| had profession other than that of rail
reading, William T. Walters of Baltimore,
Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, William
B. johnson and William s. Holt Of Macon,
Ca, John T. Grant, Richard Peters and
William C. Morrill, of Atlanta, each of
these men stood pre-eminent in his profes-
sion either as railroad man or general
business man, to say nothing of a number
CT Others whose names might be mentioned
| but this was not all
The company contained men of national
distinction who were fully competent to
fill with great credit to themselves and
advantage to the country the first position
| in the government of the United States. /
refer to Alexander Fl. Stephens and Ben
jamin H. Hill of Georgia, who at the
period of the lease and for some considera-
Bile time afterward were both members of
the company.
Now, gentlemen, read the schedule filed
in the secretary of states Office giving in de-
tail the condition of the Western and
Atlantic railroad and its appurtenances,
and then look at the array of talent, ability,
aud character which l have mentioned as
lessees, and tell me if it was to be expected