The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-06-18
Special to The Nea1s.

Harper, is one of the best historic,
as well as most interesting suits
pending in the courts of Mississippi.
The case involves not only about
100000, but also the validity of levee
bonds issued under the radical gov
eminent of 1871.
The suit was filed in 1888, and has
been through the chancery court three
or four times, the Mississippi supreme
court three times, and is now pending
before the special commissioner ap-
pointed by Chancellor Lyell to take
testimony. All the books, papers and
records and registry of the bonds of
Levee Board No. 1, which this suit
was based on, have disappeared. A
dilligent search was made for them,
but no trace of any paper bearing on
the bond issue can be found.
The bonds have been declared lille
gal and Governor Alcorn, whose broth
err was then on the levee board, has
declared the bonds fraudulent, He
fought them in every way, and his
Iutterance on this subject, both public
and private, were strong. A history
of the case follows:
In the year 1888, Amos Woodruff
of Memphis, as trustee for a number
of bondholders of the old levee dis
trict, No 1, created in 1871, under the
then radical administration, filed a
bill in the Kinds chancery court to
enforce the collection of about $780,
| 600 of the bonds of that levee district,
! which, together with the coupon
amounts to between 100000 and
| 100000
| The defendants in this case are the
| state of Mississippi, the Delta and
Pine Land Company, N. T. Burroughs
and the Illinois Central Railroad Co.,
the latter succeeding to the lands
owned by the N. o. & T. Railroad
Company
The first defense against these
: bonds was that of the act of March
, II, 1871, creating Levee Board No. l.
authorized that board to issue bonds
only to the amount of 81 100000, pay
able generally in dollars, and that the
board issue $1,0O0,OO0 of bonds paya
BILE exclusively in gold coin, which
: was then at high premium, and moi
in circulation. Accordingly, that the
81 900 900 of gold coin bonds, with its
high premium, was the creation OF
bonded obligations largely in excess
! of 81 100000 of bonds payable gener
Y ally in legal tender currency, Their
! the only currency in circulation, and
hence the limit of the law was ex
4 ceeded, and that the bonds were il
I legal and void.
They were sold by the chancery
court, on appeal by the bondholders
to the state supreme court, that court
held, all the judges concurring, anC
4 Judge ]. A. p. Campbell delivering
! the opinion of the court, that the
( bonds were not authorized by the
statutes of 1871, to be made payable
in gold coin, being for $1,000000 Of
gold dollars, salable or payable only
! in gold coin, they exceeded the limit
fixed by the statutes, and that the en-
tire issue was illegal and void. The
4 case on this appeal on a demurrer tt
the bill, and the demurrer was sus
= tanned and the suit ordered to be
i dismissed.
The United States supreme court
by a divided court, on a motion t.
y dismiss the case for the want of fed
eral jurisdiction, held that it had thu
Jurisdiction.
When the case was subsequent!
heard by the United States supreme
court, on its merits, which was the
fquestion whether the bonds were voio
being payable in gold and therefore
beyond the statutory limit, the cour
again held that the bonds being fo
Isl 100000, the board could have made
them payable in any Kind of dolar
it pleased, and, therefore, an issue o
81 100000 of gold bonds did not ex
coed the 100000 of bonds author
lied by the statute.
The case was then sent back t,
the Mississippi supreme court, AM
was, by that court, remanded to tn
, chancery court for answers to be file,
to the bill. Answers were filed TO
all the defendants. The case wa
I next heard on the plea of the stat
that it could not be sued by the CON
Iplainants On the decision of tn
chancellor on this point the case too