The morning news., 1897-01-31
CLOSE OF THE NELSON CASE.
THE DECISION NOT TO BE GIVEN
OUT FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

The Last Argument Not Finished I'm
til 10 O'Clock last Night-The At
| tOrneys for Nelson Looked UpOn As
Having Made Out n Much Stronger
Case Than Was EXpected-Their
Fight Made Closely Within the
! Lines of Their Allegations.
atlanta, Ga, Jan. SO.-The hearing of the
| Nelson bill, asking for a receiver for the
Atlanta and West Point railroad was
concluded tonight at 10 O'clock Argu-
ment was begun yesterday afternoon, and
was in progress all day to-day
Judge J. II. LumplSin, before whom
the petition was brought, will leave the
city on Monday to be absent for several
days and for that reason the hearing was
prolonged until finished tonight During
his absence from the city the court will
take the case under consideration, and
announce his decision when he returns.
1t is impossible to predict the result of
the effort to throw the West Point into
a receivership, but the impression pre-
walls tonight among those who have
watched the proceedings that the attor-
neys for the Nelson bill, King & Spalding.
! have made out much stronger case than
! was generally expected when the bin was
| filed. The question of railroad consolda-
| tions and the alleged effort of the South
! ern to gobble up competing lines in all
| directions was not brought forward in as
| prominent manner as was anticipated,
! but the attorneys for MIR. Nelson made
| their fight closely within the allegations
that the West Point as corporate body
has ceased to exist, and therefore
| 1t Is the duty of the court to take charge
of its properties and convert them into
cash for distribution among the stock
/ holders.
| Notwithstanding, however, that the con-
/ stitutional question of consolidation was
| not developed or made as much of as was
! expected from the sensational wording of
| the bill, the effect of the decision of Judge
Lumpkin will still be watched with the
| greatest interest in the railroad world.
| If receiver is appointed, andnthis is not
| considered at all probable, it means that
| the West Point will be thrown
upon the market, lock, stock and
barrel, to be sold outright to the highest
| bidder. In this way 1t may become the
entering wedge in the liveliest railroad
fight that has yet been witnessed in this
| section. According to the statement of
! Attorney King to the court tonight, COM
| petition would become rife for 1t. The
| Southern, which now is alleged to be seek
| ing to subVert and control it, would find
foemen worthy of its steel In the Sea-
i board, the Atlantic Coast Line, the Louis
| vile and Nashville or others.
!, The arguments made to-day were by j.
J. Spalding, representing MIR. Nelson, ex-
| Gov. Mcdaniel representing the Georgia
| railroad; Frank IL. Miller of Augusta
| representing intervening stockholders ID.
H. Brewster, for the Atlanta and West
Point company, and A. C. King, conclud-
ing for Mr.. Nelson.
The contention of the attorneys for Mr.
Nelson was that the old charter of the
company had expired and, therefore, the
property has become trust for the court
! to administer, that the new charter under
which 1t is sought to perpetuate the com
pany was illegally granted by the legis-
lature when 1t should have been granted
| by the Secretary of State, and that even
IL the new charter was properly granted,
it cannot become operative unless ac-
| cepted by the stockholders unanimously; I;
| therefore, a receiver must be appointed,
| as some of the minority stockholders will
| never agree to accept the provisions of
the new charter, which they claim is so
altered from the old one as to allow the
| dominating influence Qhe Southern, as is
| alleged) to cucumber the property with a
| dead-weight of mortgages.
The intervening stockholders represent
ed by Mr.. Miller, contended that the old
| charter will not expire until 1899, the
! amended, or extended charter which was
| granted in 1866 having been again amend
ed and extended for thirty years in 1869.
| Mr.. Nelson's attorneys, however, COM
batted this, arguing that the act of 1869
was simply an amendment without car
| rying with 1t the alleged extension. They
| took the position that the action of the
company in asking for a new charter in
! 1896 shows that the company itself consid-
cred that its charter had expired at that
| time, and therefore, the Miller interven-
tion ought to be set aside. The attorneys
| for Mr.. Nelson also dwelt upon the fact
| that the state constitution provides that
! all charters shall be issued by the secre-
tary of state, denying the legislature the
| right to issue them, and that the refusal
| of Secretary of State Gambler to grant the
renewal when he was asked to do so was
not because he did not have the authority
| to issue a new charter, but the fault vas
| in the manner in which the application
was made to him, It being in the form of
| an application for a renewal of an old
charter with certain specified changes in
| its powers.
The argument of counsel for the West
| Point was an elaboration of the right of
the legislature to Issue the charter.
Col. A. r. Lawton of Savannah, repre-
! senting the CentraPs interest was not
| present at the hearing to-day. Yesterday
! Attorney Spalding announced in court
| that II II was shown that the Southern
was not seeking to control the West
Point, as alleged, his clients would soon
settle his suit. Mr.. Lawton asked him to
| put the proposition I'm writing, and in
court this morning Mr.. Spalding stated
that he had reduced the matter to proper
| form, but Col. Lawton, who was a party
to the proposition, yesterday, was not
there and nothing came Of this phase of
| the case. When this proposition was
made yesterday II was expected by some
| that II meant the withdrawal of the Nell