St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-31

actors chuck their tongues into their
cheeks and wink sagely at each other
and retire chuckIing at their adroit-
ness
A HARD CASE.
Hard cases make bad law" said
old Lord Eldon. What he meant was
that those cases in which the sympa-
thies of the court. the men as distin-
guished from the judges, were strongly
appealed to, are apt to make law that,
becoming a precedent, has bad after
effects. The difficulty with a decision
Of court Of last resort is that it does
not end with the particular case de-
cided, nor is it limited to cases that
are on all tours with the one passed
on. Certain general principles Of law
are established that form a guide in
subsequent cases. And thus the swerv-
ing by such court from correct and
tried principles to obviate the hardships
Of the application of those principles
to particula. case becomes the justif-
cation for later misdeeds and the shell
ter Of INSCRIPTIONS men.
The Stanford case is in point. It is
now being argued before the federal
supreme court. A decision for the gov
eminent will entail hardships on inno-
cent persons and will impair, if not
destroy, one Of the most munifcentIy
endowed educa tional institutions in the
nation. The case goes back to the be-
ginning Of the Pacific railway con-
struction. 1t hinges on that vicious
action Of congress granting subsidy
bonds to the roads and waving it's
first mortgage lien as security. STAN
ford, Huntington and the others who
manipulated the deal acquired immense
wealth out Of it. The government is
now faced with the problem of collect
ing the debt due on the payments made
by 1t on it's subsidies, amounting to
some $50, 000,0 600. The law Of California
made the stockholders of corporation
liable for the debts. The government Is
pressing claim against the estate of
Stanford for $15,000,000 as it's share of
the debt. The debt is due; the COM
unable to pay it; the stockholders are
liable and able. If the company can
not pay they should.
So far there is plain sailing. But there
the appeal to sympathy comes in. Lee
land Stanford devoted his millions
to the establishment Of the college
which bears the name Of his dead boy,
his only child. Mrs. Stanford cordially
assented to this disposition of the i'm
mense fortune. The school lis cstab-
isbed and fourishing When the Unit
ed States filed its claim for Sic, 900, nNC
against the estate. after Stanfords
the school depended. Mrs. Stanford
came to it's relief, pledgirg or selling
her diamonds and other jewelry to
provide the means on which to keep the
school open. If the claim of the United
States is held valid, the school will be
ruined and Mrs. Stanford Impoverished
Secondary to these consequences is the
claim that the nation, as whole has
been benefited far more by the con-
struction Of these transcontinentaI lines
than the amount of it's subsidy should
it lose the whole $50.
Two courts have decided against the
government, and the case Is now on
final hearing in the highest court. It
is hard case. The defense appeals
strongly to ones sympathy We do
not know what the legal points of the
defense are. if there are any. We infer
from the comment made whenever the
case is discussed, from the prominence
given to the consequences of decision
adverse to the estate, that it is the
hardships involved that are the real
defense. If this is the case, a de-
cision for the estate will certainly make
what Eldon called bad law" It will
provide a shelter for men in the fut-
ure who shall be able t. wheedle states
OF congresses into similar deals. It
will further weaken public confidence in
a court already suspected of being too
indulgent to suitors who are merely
wealthy. The decision will be awaited
with interest, and, 1t favorable to the
Stanford estate, it is to be hoped that
good legal grounds will be its founda-
ton and that no effects of sympathy
will be visible in it.