The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-28

violation Of law and cannot recover. That
/ is why Gen. Alexander refused TO answer
questions; he didn't want TO answer because
Of this claim, Mr.. West said, aud having
| refused 70 answer be cannot invoke pay
ment. Figure heads were called In in the
interest Of the great corporation behind
| them. Mr. West cited the code TO show
that having declined to answer, Gen. Alex
| ander, when he comes into court aud asks Tor
his honey, should be turned out, for that
is the law The acquisition Of the stock OF
| the construction company by the Central,
| Mr. West argued, is the reason why the
road is not built, and Gen. Alexander, IN
not answering interrogations, may have
his case dismissed as was done in like case
reported in the statutes.
GEN. ALExANDER's ONE ANSWER
Gen. Alexander, as president Of the Cen
trial, when before the master, had but one re-
/ Spouse to pertinent questions and
that was, Il decline to answer,
and now said the speaker,
when he comes before this court with
claims az president Of the defendant SaVan-
nan and Dublin Railway Company, presi-
| dent Of the Savannah and Fort Valley,
president of the Construction Company,
and president of the Central Railroad aud
| Banking Company of Georgia, his case
ought TO be dismissed. Every opportunity
70 the last.
The drift Of the argument relative to the
on-perfoTmance by the construction com
pany went TO show that Mr. West holds the
Central respOusib bic for the failure to build
tue road. He denied the legality Of the
finding of the master that the con-
struction company was entitled to S49,-
900, as it had done that amount Of
work. 1t was TO have completed the road.
1t had agreed to take the bonds, the local
subsc ipt.ons and complete the road. 1t
was not to build a part 1t was to COM
piete the road. 1t worked eight months and
did only about $44 900 worth Of work Then
II stopped. 1t was not compelled to stop
by the act of God, nor by the law, nor by the
ralease of the defendant railway company.
Unforeseen difficulties will not avail the
construction company. IL must have per-
formed all of It's agreement, and that was
to complete the road, and proof Of perform
ancS must be shown as a condition prece-
dent to recovery. Mr. Green, who gave
the extension as president Of the railway,
hadn't the right, Mr. West claimed, as presi-
dent TO grant the extention. Beyond this he
didn't own a dollar OF stock in the com
pany, and under the law of Georgia ne had
no right to act az president, and the COM
pany afterward pitched him out because he
had no stock.
4
Mr.. West cited vouminous authorities
showing that the president of a corporation
has no right to contract and read from the
minutes OF the defendant railway company
TO show that no such authority had ever
been extended to any president of the
Savannah and Dublin Company.
Capt. Cunningham interrupted Mr..
West to compel him to confne his readings
from the minute book of the company to
1rsshr .. 4
dence before the master
MIR. West declined to do So He said that
the minute book of the railway company is
a part Of tne record, and he would not re-
strict himself to any page. Mr. West con-
tiuulng, sad that an executive COM
mittee Of MeSsrs. Hughes, Warren and
Stubs was the recognized authority to
consummate and aid the contract with the
construction company, and protect the
rights OF the stockholders OF the rail
road company, and that when Mr..
Green was elected president of the
company it was in violation of
the laws Of Georgia. He had never pre-
sided at meeting and never performed an
official act except to extend the time for
the construction company, ana that 20
would have no right to do if he Lad been a
legally elected president. Mr. West read
from the minutes of Jan. 6. 1883, showing
the construction company, having violated
its contract having defaulted in its agree
ment, had forfeited all its securities, and it
is these securities that. the. Central now seeks
to recover upon.
SOME PLAIN TALK
Mr.. West was very denunciatory in his
references to the men into whose hands the
Savannah, Dublin and Western had fallen,
so much 50 that Capt. Cunningham objected
to the terms applied, upon which he said
there Is not scintilla of evidence before
the master or in the record TO Justify the
language. All the testimony, Capt Gun
ningham, said, had been read to the court
by counsel at tAe morning session, and the
court could see that the terms Of denuncia-
ton were not justified by the evidence.
MIR. West said that he was not trying to
please the other side i'll his argument.
AT this pom the court asked Mr. West to
suspend for recess until tomorrow morn
| ing, when he will give the entire day to the
further hearing of the case, which is prob
ably one of the most vigorously contested
cases that has ever been brought into the
courts, and one as full of complications as
| an egg is full of meat