The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-03-03

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discretion. A charter issued to the or
binary corporation-this bureau, or new
department which Major Lanier was
clerk Of. and which Judge Crump had
| special charge of, was engaged In issu-
| Ing those charters: their acts wcre pure
ly ministerial. and the fact that the
chairman of the Corporation Commission
| saw fit to take share OF stock in a
corporation which prepared and super
vised those charters. It seems to me II
any error at all. was Il very slight one.
\ especially when you consider the fact
| that II would not como before him In any
judicial capacity. Would 1t be improper
for a judge Of one Of our courts. for in
stance. to own stock in corporation
| State?
No Moral Iniquity.
| noticed. coming up here this evening.
n drug store-the Polk Miller Drug Com
pany Would II be considered an Inn
proper thing for one of tho Judges OF our
Court OF Appeals to own stock in the
Miller Drug Cmpany7 I take 1t not;
but II that corporation came to have an
| interest before the court-if II came up as
a sutton In his court-that Judge could not
sit. and he would be wanting in self
respect and wanting In every attribute OF
an honect man, II he did not challenge
himself the minute It came. And that is
what Judge Crump meant when he said
he knew when he took this stock that II
an occasion arose when 1t became I'M
proper for him to hold 1t, It could be
| transferred at moments notice. That
lis all. AT any rate II that Is not COM
plete justification for his act. 1t iR ono
that weighs strongly In considering
whether this was anything more than an
indiscretion. Surely. no man. however
| strict he be. however suspicious he be,
would say that It indicated moral iniquity.
The amount is triHe. The mans charac-
| ter and manner of life is too we'll known,
| his explanation Is too clear and simple
| and look at the time and the manner
| In which 1t was subscribed to- It was In
the early winter of 1905. This was hard
worked commission. The clerks were all
| overworked. AT that time they were be-
ginning the most important work that this
| commission had to do. namely, the regu-
| laton OF the rates and charges of the
railroad companies.
There were pending two or three trout
| blesome appeals-one OF them in Alex
andria, which has been referred to-one
somewhere else. In the multitude OF
| the labors 1t is unnecessary for me to
| say for you gentlemen know, that the
labors in these matters fall mostly upon
| the chairman OF the commission he be-
| ing the lawyer member. and the man
who has upon him the burden and heat
Of all these controversies pending those
proceedings. Having before him these
| important contested matters. and hav-
Ing always had In mind that he ought
to be relieved from these purely minis
terial duties. there comes into his office
one of his clerks. Major Lanier and sug-
gests to him the formation of such
company as this. He tells him you have
the legal right to take the stock: see
no objection to It. but be careful not to
mix up your duties in this commission
with your acts In furthering the inter-
ests Of that company" ! don't profess
to give the exact language. but that is
the Idea. He subscribes himself to ono
shnre-one hundred dolars-at that time.
He tells you he would gladly have taken
much In any company that would have
come forward. the object Of which was
to prepare these charters.
His object was not to make money
that was not the thing-the thing was
an experiment, but 1t would tighten the
routine work and leave him more time
to grapple with the serious problems for
which this commission wasA,reated. To
say that he then deliberately made up LIS
mind to violate his duty would be to con-
tradict every act OF his life, and is con-
trary to the motives that influence men
of ordinary sense, leaving out OF ques-
ton the idea that a man OF his character
and In his high position, putting himself
in the power OF Major Lanier. at least.
and OF all the other corporate officers OF
this company, for the sake of the gain
In this Virginia Corporation Company. To
say that there was any Interior or I'M
proper motive there, Is to assert a propo-
stion, 1t seems to me, none but a mad
man would make and none but a mad
man would believe.
The Legal Right.
Mark you, he said. "Lanier, you have
the right-the legal right. What did
he mean by that? The constitutional
provision gives the rightAimpliedly to the
commissioners themselves. to own stock
in this kind of a corporat!on---not express-
~. but implicitly. When that provision
was framed there was an express pro-
vision inserted In 1t that the commits
sioners should not own any stock in trans.
mission and transportation companies
Those were all. Why? Because their
actions with reference to transmission
and transportation companies were not
ministerial but judicial. Their chief bus
mess was to manage. control, regulate
and restrain transportation and transmits
sion companies and the silence of the
convention-the failure of the Constitu-
ton to include any stock except the stock
of such corporations. Is strong corroboia-
ton of the statement make that ley
thought they had the right to hold other
stock.
Can you under those circumstances
wonder that Judge Erump SO considered?
And, hut for what has happened in this
case confess would say that he was
right.
can see now. as he can see. that there
are possibilities and probabilities which
render 1t best and proper that no mem
ber of the commission should own the
stock Of companies Of this kind evhn
though they deal mostly with matters
which are purely ministerial. That Is the
head and front OF his offending
Upshur Greatly Mistaken.
Speaking of Mr.. upshur's part in the