The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1890-10-24

returned said stock, and without Of
fering to re-deliver said stock to said
stockholders did fraudulent and with
out any authority from said stockhold-
ers, sell and convey to another corpor-
alton, to-wit: ''The Railway Improve
ment Company, j. w. Bishop, Pres,
all of said stock so returned by said
| Construction Company of North AM
erica for large pecuniary cOnSidera-
! ton, the exact amount your commit
! tee can not state, but in the neighbour
| hood of forty thousand dollars. That
said Directors have been charged re-
peatedly in the public press that such
was the sum received by them, and,
as far as your committee knows, no
one of the aforesaid Directors under
his own signature has denied it. None
of this large sum has ever been re-
turned to the original stockholders,
but all of said Directors have been
very reticent in regard to this whole
matter. The written contract enter
ed into between said Directors and
said Railway improvement Company
as to the terms of said transfer would
throw some light on this matter of
good faith in relation to this transfer:
but the aforesaid Directors have never
given the stockholders the benefit of a
perusal of it's contents, and no report
has ever been made by said Directors
of their stewardship to said stOckhold-
efS, but the whole subject of this
transfer has been enveloped in cloud
of mystery. We further find that
Directors Campbell, Baker, Gilman,
Officer and Page received from the
/ Railway improvement Company, or
from some leading railway men inter-
ested in existing roads and whose rail
road interests are more or less hostile
to the completion of the whole line of
the St. Cloud, Mankato and Austin
railroad, for said transfer of stock,
which belonged to the original stock
holders of the seven hundred shares
and a large pecuniary consideration,
probably about forty thousand dollars.
We also find that Directors Baker
and Officer in interviews with prOmi-
nent citizens of Mankato, have re-
peatedly denied that they received
any consideration for said transfer
except for the money they had actual
ly put in said enterprise; but their
testimony is contradicted by that old
Directors Campbell and Officer who,
in their statement presented to the
committee of the legislature to in
yeStigate this matter as appears on
page $50 of the Journal of the House
for the year 1885, admit that on said
transfer they did receive partial
compensation for their services. The
testimony of Directors Baker and Of
ficer is further cOntradicted by the
statement of Director Gilman, who,
in an interview as reported in the ST.
Cloud Times of April 18th, 1886, admits
as far as the directors were concerned,
that on said transfer, 1--WE received
enough to poorly compensate us for
our time and labor"
We must therefore charitably con-
clude that Directors Baker and Officer
in their interviews had forgotten that
their share of the amount received on
said transfer also included compenSa-
tiOn for services as directors. The
evidence before this committee also
shows that Director Baker in inter-
views with citizens of MankatO has
repeatedly stated that he expected no
compensation unless the road should
be actually built. Directors Campbell
and Officer also in their statement
aforesaid as appears by the Journal of
the House for the year 1885, 500, also
admit that they expected no further
compensation unless the road should
be actually built. Why these Direct
ors should receive any additional
compensation in case this road should
| be built even in lands or in the local
bonuses voted to aid said contemplate
ed road as it was contemplated when
| the Directors above named were ap-
pointed, that they should regard their
official positions as honorary only,
your committee are at loss to know
| But their statements given above
strengthens the rumOr that by the
terms of the suppressed written con-
tract of transfer the said directors
were to be further financially remem-
bered, in case the road should be built.
| We also find that when the franchises
of said road were turned over to the
Railway improvement company no
guarantees were eXacted that the road
should be built; although there was a
valuable land grant attached to said
road, that some of the parties backing
said Railway improvement Company
were well-knOwn at the time of said
I transfer to be residents of this state,
and of sufficient pecuniary standing
| so their guarantee to build said
road could have been legally enforced.
but that some of these parties are so
connected with other railway enter
priseS that the completion of the st.
Cloud, MankatO and Austin railway
would have worked an injury to their
road, and your committee are COM
PEELED to find that said Directors an
peared to be more anxious to receive a
large sum of money for said transfer
! to be paid under the form of compen-
Sation for services as Directors, than
to secure proper guarantees that the
road should be built. We further find
that when Director Henry Foster and
some of the other Directors were in
duced to resign their positions as Di-
rectors, that their designations were
made on the distinct understanding
that all of said Directors should, at
the same time, tender their resigna-
tionS: that the conduct of Henry Fost-
er as Director was honorable in every
particular, and that he is deserving of
the thanks of this community for his
many years of work and large expendi-
ture of money in behalf of this road.
for which he has receiued no compen-