Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1901-02-27
COMMUNICATED

l. uc MitbSI VI bnio iSbNCi 10 IckaTuSu,
| believe, by his uelghbors, as a good
citizen, aud far minded mar, aud
will not therefore say II was written
for the purpose of Iuhueucing the
! judgment OF your readers with re-
spect to the litigation now pending
IN the court between the creditors of
the BcrryvIlle Land Company aud
ats Stockholders, aud exciting their
preludices, against the tOruivr.
One of the charges made, is that l
aud the other directors, knowing
We were violating the law, voted
salaries TO ourselves, as President and
Directors. TINS charge is wholly
without foundation. la addition Ia
being the president Of the Company
held the responsible position OF
Manager, the dutl, OF which were OF
a uloSt UuerOus nature, taking all my
time 10 the exclusion OF my ordinary
pursuits, which were of necessity
abandoned. For this service | was
allowed reasonable compensation,
less IN amount than | could have
earued at my usual aVOcatiOn. IL
~ not suppOSaOle that ~ Y" whose
nome was IN Berryville, aud who
knew that this service was being
rendered, expected It TO he done as "A
/ 5ratuIty to the Stockholders; uOr is II
,uppOSable that he was not fully
twar- that compensation was being
made for IL. There was no violation
# the law, SO far as | am aware, IN
paying me for this service, aud WAS
not paid IA penny for any other sci
'lce | rendered the Company.
lie further SAYS that lit seems
specially hard that these saWe Di
rrctOrS should buy their own lands
cor the Company at an enormous
/ ,ilve, receive considerable part of
he purchase money aud get their
aud back. and still Le pursuing thu
stockholders for the balance of the
/ purchase money"
This charge Is likewise wholly
without foundation. One of the Ia
| rectOrs, and but one, sold his land
. the C0mpany,and b. received IN
taymrut, live rIghths of the price, IN
stock; he did not buy his laud back
md Is not creditor of the COmpa
uy. am the only Director who
5 a creditor of the Company, aud
NY claim is for cash, which in my
.eal for the interest of the stock
holders | took from my pocket aud
.Oaued to the Company. for the pur
1OSe of enabling IL 10 effect com
promise with one OF its creditors, Lv
which many thousands of dollars WAS
,aved TO il; aud this was done after
he stockholders had in general
meeting pledged themselves to the
payment Of all the debts.
Ia speaking of the proceedings OF
he stockholders meeting held at the
.Xpiration of the Grst year of the
;ompany's operation; aud particular
y of resolution offered bv Mr.
Price, " Y" SAYS that Joseph
Price and the stock holders generally
bought that his resolution AS To AS
,eSsmeuts tied the hauds Of the DI
.ectOrs US To mourning any furthei
lebts." The resolution offered by
Ir. Price aud which prevailed, dI
'rcIed the Board 10 assess the stock
holders with sufficient sum Oi
money To pay the debts of the COm
Jduy, aud TO make no further assess
nentS uutil 1t was ordered by tn,
,tuck holders. BY ;hiS resolution til,
,t0ck holders recognized their liabIl
~ for the debts of the Company
aud directed collections 10 be made
from themselves for their payment
IL is TO be Inferred from the lang
Iage used by " X'', though he doe
not say so In terms, that the Board 81
Directors violated the spirit of thi
resolution by mourning new debts il
prosecuting the enterprise. This J.
al error; the Board respected tn
wishes of the stock holders as implie,
Nv this resolution, and made M
iebts thereafter for any purpose. ex
.ept such small debts as were nee
.ssary to preserve the Company
property aud to keep its organization
alive.
Mr. Editor, with the exception oil
ny deposition given IN the pending
litigation, my lips for nearly eIgh'
ears have been scaled on The su bject
# the Brrryville Land aud Improve
nent Company. have fOrbOrue 1,
reply to the charges made agaIns
ne, for two reasons. First, because
At the time that unhappy enterprise
md all others of similar kind
went down in ii crash, those VINO had
gone into it with the expectation oil
making profit out Of all proportion
To the sums they invested, We're 81
excited and enraged that it Was more
than idle to appeal to their reason
aud sense of Justice. Aud secondly
because / was willing that all ques
tions relating to my conduct as AL
officer of the Company should be de-
Leruiined by the court IN accordance
with the law of the land. 1t would