The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-02

it Was Understood and what ne
Says Now That he Said---A Contrast
Judge Purnell has added to the his
tory of the famous Cuyler-Finch-M Nc
Bee hot air campaign against the At
lantic & North Carolina Railroad
new chapter in the form of nunc
pro tune order that would seem to
show, besides the fact that the judge
is wiser nunc than tune, that he is
also preparing a mattress for the fall
and seeking to slip out the back door
and dispose of the litigation pending
before the Circuit Court of Appeals
can have an opportunity to accom-
plish the same result in more en-
phatic manner.
In effect the order is this: that the
restraining order formerly made by the
court on May Ind, which in effect pro-
hibited a lease of the road, is so modi-
fed as to permit the stockholders to
make a lease in their discretion, the
court to maintain the vestige of au-
thority and consistency, adding to the
order this adroit sentence which, pa
tronizing on it's face, is in it's meaning
and effect an admission of error and
a plea for a cessation of hostilities.
'In the event Il lease is executed by
the stockholders and directors OF the
Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad,
and the same is presented to this court,
the court will consider il upon mo-
ton TO dismiss the bill, vacate the in
junction which is continued and dis
charge the receivers
Now, ''nunc pro tune" means ''now
for then" and the latest order pur-
ports to refer back and take the place
of an order made by the court on May
2Sth 1904, which was "misaid''-to
be- in fact. the order which it was then
intended by the court to make and
which was actually written and not
| filed because "mislaid.'
Aside from the fact that q court is
a place where orders in Importance lit
| igation are hardly apt to be lost when
made, the nunc pro tune references In
| this latest chapter seem to lack entire
| frankness in view of the fact that all
the papers of May 29th reported what
actually occurred substantially that the
court stated in reply to inquiry that
the stockholders and directors might
meet and consider a proposition TO
lease the road and submit il to the
court, and if satisfactory, the proceed
| ing would be dismissed.
Whereas the "nunc pro tune" order
makes the following recital:
'.The court said orally at the time,
| and makes it a part of this order nunc
pro tune that nothing contained in
1.-The restraining order hereinbefore
granted on May End. 1904 "(when the
| Cuyler petition was fled" shall be con-
: strued to have the effect of prevent
| ing the stockholders of the defendant,
| the Atlantic & North Carolina Rail-
road, from holding meeting in ac-
cordance with the bylaws of the SAID
company, and passing upon ana ail-
| thoriZing . lease of the Atlantic ~
North Carolina Railroad, and of the
directors of the said company eXecut-
/ ing the lease. if SO authorized by the
said stockholders
And this is "nunc pro tunc!" If so,
| is the information not little bit late
| in arriving? Was it quite fair to hold
the Governor and the stockholders and
directors of the road inactive-if they
desired to lease-under a restraining
order issued as long ago as May 2nd,
which read:
| and it is further ordered that in
| the meantime the defendant, the said
! Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad
/ Company, its officers, agents attorneys
+! and servants, be restrained, enJoined
! and prohibited from making any
said defendant railroad company, it's
property or franchises, other than
may be necessary in paying the neces-
sary current operating expenses in the
proper operation of said railroad Z"
That it must be remembered, has
been up to the fling of this latest "or-
der" the only official document in the
case which could possibly be con-
strued to have any bearing on the
question of a lease of the road.
That, and that alone, except the
well-understood oral offer of the court
to permit the officers and stockholders
to consider propositions to lease and
submit their desires to the court to the
end that, if satisfactory, the proceed
ing might be dismissed-a PROPOSE
ton which neither the Governor of the
State, nor the officers of the road, nor
the people at large, could in any wise
stoop to consider
And the nunc pro tune of this--a
Continued on Page Three.)