The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-11

carries with it the control of the st. Louis
Post-Dispatch.
The lawyer Is Mr.. James L. Lewis. He
Is now prominent attorney in st. Louis.
but his former home was Dalton and /
believe some of his family reside there
now.
"Of the 800 lawyers in ST. Louis, fully 500
believed l would lose that case" said Mr..
Lewis tonight in speaking of the fight.
The Post to-day has a statement of the
case which tells the whole story.
1t win be remembered that the Post
Dispatch has been one of the strongest Sill
yer papers in the country, and 1t was this
to which Mr.. Pulitzer objected to strongly.
Here is the story in a nutshell:
On Feb. g. 1885, a contract was entered
into between MIR. Joseph Pulitzer and Col.
Charles III. Jones, whereby the latter be-
came purchaser of one-sixth of the Pulit-
ger Publishing Company, paying for the
same $4,000. This agreement was signed
by lMr. Pulitzer as an individual, he and
his family owning at that time 8 1906 shares
of the entire stock of the publishing COM
panyi the remaining four outstanding
shares being in the names of employees. BY
the terms of the contract Pulitzer agreed
to give Jones fun management and con-
troll of the st. Louis Post-Dispatch for a
term of five years and a salary of $4,000
per annum. Discussions arose pretty soon
after Jones took possession, Feb. a. 1895,
over the bylaws, and new bylaws were
executed, by which Pulitzer endeavored to
secure moro favorable terms for himself
In August of that year, while at Asbury
Park Col. Jones received a letter from
Mr.. Carvalho, manager of the New York
World, telling him that his policy on the
silver question was not satisfactory 10
MIR. Pulitzer, and that he must change it
at once.
To this letter Col. Jones made no an
swer, but went home and knowing that
fight was inevitable, secured counsel The
first move was to ask Judge Wood for an
injunction restraining Pulitzer from dis
possessing the colonel. and temporary
injunction was granted. Mr.. Lewis went
to New York and put Pulitzer through a
cross-eXamination lasting four days At
the end of it he felt sure his fight was
won, but almost the entire bar Of St.
Louis believed that a verdict would be
given against Col. Jones. Puitzer's next
move was TO get "A change of venue, and
the case was taken before Judge Valiant
who decided as Judge Wood had making
the injunction permanent. Now the SUI
preme court Of the state has affirmed both
decisions and Col. Jones will stay in con-
troll of the paper for three years more
managing it's business and editorial de-
partments absolutely, as he has since the
beginning
1t may be of interest to state the legal
propositions laid down by Mr.. Lewis were
First, that Pulitzer having signed the
contract as an Individual, he and the cor
poration were one and the same; second,
conceding that Pulitzer was not the cor
poration the contract was ratified by the
corporation; third, that there was no adj
equate remedy against Pulitzer at law,
and therefore his client must resort to
equity.
There is nothing left to tell. except that
Col. Jones has carried out all the condi-
tons of the agreement. One was that the
gross earnings of the paper should be
greater for 1895 than for 1894. They were
greater by $4,000 Another was that the
net profits of 1896 should exceed the net
profits of 1893. In 1893 the paper cleared
net $lO1 600; in 1896 it's net earnings we're
$l05,O0O. In spite of a presidential year
and boycott of a certain element opposed
to it's financial policy.