New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-23
WORMSER LOSES SUIT.
". S. r. LEASE UPHELD.
Losryer Tells Court Justice % as
Impeached an Similar Ccse

r,x.5ce Scott Yesterday dismissed the suit of
Jsidor wornser ir. brought 10 upset the led0'
os the Metropolitan Street Railway 10 the inter
.-ssn afte- Albert L. Suckncy had mace re-
mark that caused those in court 10 gasp VIII
..,on,sh7nent and led TO considerable comment
IT was IN ending his argument that Mr. SUN
nev spoke Of TIE impeachment OF SuPieH7
Court Justice in these words;
The case refer TO was that OF the Albany anq 1
s,iEopehsn1.a Railroad. a lease had heen -I Pb3s
through under circrrnSta.iceo Tx III tbe Judge
mo tr,ed il was found have an interest n LII
case There was an impeachment and removal
from the bench.
= ac,,.- know for what purpose counsel called
ny ettenrion TO the fact Of justice having been
;-77neached but such determination would TOT
lead me from what 1 esteem TO be my duty
..V-bv vour Honor" interrupted Mr.. Stickney'
-. =, +ears "novy could You think that
such 3 thing could enter my mind? beg your
Honor to believe thai you have H1iscohslrutu
MY intention.
Justice Scott then gave his decision OF as
-n:ssal. saying i'm part;
The granting Of the decree asked Cor at this time
would result in the introduction "I go C3 m
and would result in great loss TO the
-Tonjd rot o. s1Gficfent TO restrain the court did
the evidence justify granting the deere :,
As 70 the ilegality claimed by the Pialnul. =
t- The line ~ PROCEDURE laid down H. the rail
16sS LAW giving one railroad the right lease its
lines 70 another railroad. Another consideration
fiar 81 the siockhoders who consented to The
lease and accepted The benefits under me cos9 NJ
ENorr1ser in This suit and l am bound 10 ,oISiuer
''!SL ne y - sS 20 li1,1f 70 The range Of The ex-
animation here. No FRAUD has been shown ny the
animation Of the evidence and the papers submitted
that an Ins BE TO na any ac5oai 40 Iq IND any
fraudulent intent upon the part Of the two s{ook X
holders who are not directors who did much 10
bring about The combination.
As far as Mr.. Ryan or Mr. whitney is con-
fage over the other stockholders, except such as
they were entitled TO by their larger holo1n
ny any desire TO beneh- Themselves but 2niy 70
further the scheme they thought for the best IN
While this is not the phase TO discuss the fnan oial
dence showed the Metrop alitap company needed
Inoney me eEloehse Sh'S l1 ote1 -oe+hss
loan or stock issue would have resulted in cutting
down dividends for considerable time, in the hope
q eventually making increased profits.
". d Guthrie counsel for the Interurban.
made his argument first. He said in part:
The organizers made false professions II the
a guarantee OF the per cent which they had been
accustomed TO receive they could get it II they
wanted subscribe TO the shares Of the SECURITIES
company they could 90 SO. Those VINO GIG GIG. not
the plaintiff himself did.
Although thinly disguised. the real purpose OF
this suit is induce the court TO substitute the
Judgment Of this young man man ana amateur 5l
TiuanCier for that or all the directors ano pTdC-
iicaTy all the other stockholders.
The Metropolitan company required S25.@t"o tor
@ f6T lfT If it sod the securities in
Its treasury II would necessarily lose me income
" 40 cbarpe on those bonds of $4,000 per aInurn
The loss Of the income upon the stocks and bonds
Of other companies which 1t owned and the, m
creased fixed charge of $4,000 ahead OF the stock
compelled the reduction Of the rate OF dVidend ana
ali the contingencies which have been disclosed
of labor the increase Of taxes. continuing loss
or deficit under the Third Avenue lease, which
annum and the competition from the elevated
railroad under It's new system emo, oI eiel'i
II the Inter7Irhan sells ell the securities which II
bought from the Metropolitan and thus obtains
So 6oooeo it viii have that amount Of cash in It's
e@sg as F Wstraas com No or to acquire
new property and develop the franchlses OF Inc
Brn f GSt5Sa A me rfy 81 but SIS
Omit from the lease the provision as 1 to seIg
Metropolitan sell these securities TO some third
cash and the Securities company would then be
left with $50 10000 additional cash In the enterprise
can it possibly make the slightest difference that
instead Of selling those securities 10 third parties
the Metropolitan SOLD them 10 me lRt i Co
1hern and reimburse Itself for the money which it
Air. Stickney argued that the Kuhn, Loeb &
Co. deal with the Interurban company prior TO
the execution Of the Metropolitan lease. was
really . Morton Trust Company deal; that the
men who helped complete the Metropolitan Sc
curities Company syndicate we're Morton Trust
Company men, and included Thomas z. Ryan.
Thomas Dolan William L. Elkns and P. A. B,
Widener. all heavily interested in the stock of
the Metropolitan company. He continued in
part:
A company whose stocks were selling so per cent
higher than its bonds could easily have raised all
the money needed without disposing Of its entire
identity. I make no reflection upon any one.
don't know who is responsible for those figures.
don't know who drew them up. and do not believe
ThaI Mr. Whitney or MT: Ryan ever had knowledge
Of the fasity Of those figures Another significant
rhing is the agreement by Busy buy the Inter
urban system from Flynn for s1soo,oel The agree
made year before the lease was exc
(uted and IL stated that the system might be paid
for with per cent bonds Of the Metropolitan com
pany At that time no per cent bonds had been
conclUsivey that Busy acting for these gen
1leTnen. preparing scheme that was even thee in
contemplation
He read from the minutes OF the stockholders
meeting at which p. A 3. Widener presided and
81 which the vote cast that authorized the
lease. His extract showed that Tredwell Cleve-
land had protested against the lease and asked
Tor a statement Of some reason for leasing a
railroad company Mr.. Widener ruled him out
Of order and said that as the meeting was called
10 take vote on the lease nothing else was
pertinent.
when MI Cleveland asked particulars coun-
sci said. he told: My dear sir YOU have all
the information ] have: you have the circular
Of the company. and that is all that I have
L ever there was downright. knowing mis-
statement vital point Of fact that was one
Dir. Wi6ener knew all there was 10 know and
l7e knew matters Mr.. Cleveland could not know
No wonder they would not produce Mr. Widener
On the witness stand here TO tell Of the machine
politics system by which that vote was damned
through