The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-09
GOVERNOR NOEL IN
 INJUNCTION CASE Explanation Is Made of the
 Bond Complication EDWARDS IS CRITICISED Former Attorney General Takes the Position That Edwards Is Very
 Wrong in Bringing Such
 Suits for the State
EDWARDS IS CRITICISED

court yesterday as attorney for the state in the injunction asked of Chancellor G. G. Lyell by State Treasurer George R. Edwards, enjoining the purchasers of the $500 600 bond issue from disposing of their coupons maturing before the first of this month, pending the settlement of the mandamus suit that had been instituted by Mrs. Emma Edwards, mother of the treasurer, to compel the payment of the interest, and test the validity of the sale of the bonds with coupons for six months attached, after the six months had prac- tically expired.
 This Injunction was presented to Chan cellor Lyell Friday but he declined to grant it until the governor and the at- torney general had been notified and given opportunity of hearing. Attorney Gen. eral Hudson declined to represent the treasurer in the matter. For these reas- ons Governor Noel appeared as the rep resentative of the bond buyers or at least against the treasurer and his state- ment to the chancellor was in effect an explanation of the case. He said in sub stance:
 The attorney general was requested by him to represent the state in resisting an injunction against the payment of the obligations of the state. The law, chapter ss, of the acts of 1910 shows on its face that the law did not contemplate the running of interest from the date of the payment of the bonds by the buyer, but from the first days of January and of July of each year as therein specified. If there had been purchasers by sealed bids, pursuant to the advertisement, required, the bonds would not have been delivered then, but at some future date after they had been Autographed and the rate of interest inserted in bonds and coupons, for the lowest bid of interest. on par bond, was to be accepted and certificate" given to each successful bidder, show ing the amount bid by him and the num- Der and amount of bonds he is entitled to purchase;" and thereafter the bonds and coupons were to be executed and de- livered to the successful bidder by the governor upon the payment into the treasury in the manner provided by law of the amount or amounts bid therefor All this proves that the state intended to sell bonds bearing interest coupons ma turing semi-annually upon the payment of the face of the bonds, as no bond could be Autographed immediately upon fixing the price, as such work requires weeks or months of time, and the purchaser merely paying his original bid, the cer- tificate being evidence of that contract. Besides, in coming into a court of equity. the state and each of its officers were bound by the same rules of fair dealing and justice applicable to individuals; and must come with "clean hands," must do equity" and could not claim the pro- ceeds of a contract, for the purchase of bonds, or anything else. without com plying in good faith with the terms of the contract and in this case the written contract, which was assented to and ap- proved by the states representatives, the governor, the auditor and the state treas urer, was to pay the bonds and all cou- pons, and after receiving the money, which was paid through the auditor 10 the treasurer, neither the state, nor any of it's officers should be permitted to re- tain money paid for bonds and coupons without paying the bonds and coupons ac- cording to their terms; and the treasurer could have refused to have assented to the sale of the bonds, or to have received the proceeds of such sale, but having failed to dissent, or to refuse to receive the money, he could not now be heard in court of chancery to deny an obliga- tion through which the money he ob- tained was acquired.
 After making this statement Governor Noel left the matter to the court, the as- sistant attorney general and the attor- neys representing the treasurer. The pro- ceedings was purely informal If the in junction be granted the granting will be temporary, and subject to dissolution on motion.
 In the meantime. ex-Attorney General Stirling, now president of the First Ma tional bank of this city, files a demurrer in which he points out to the chancellor that Treasurer Edwa.ds was a party to the sale of the bonds. and that Is no case is he authorized to bring such suits in the name of the state.
 Ex-State Senator Theodore G. Bilbo of Pearl River county was among the visit ors to the capital today. Asked when he expected to resume smelling the woods" he replied, Some time in the early spring.
 MT. Bilbo stated that he had received great many invitations to speak at diff ferent points over the state, but so far had not made out any list of appoint ments and would not till the weather got better. He had been invited to meet Gov ernor Noel at Ripley, but the invitation came too late for him to get there and he was forced to forego that pleasure.
 In reply to the question, Are you a candidate for lieutenant governor, as has been stated repeatedly in some of the newspapers" MT. Bilbo said that in the strictest sense of the word he was not a candidate for that office, but that if he became convinced the people of the state wanted him to offer for the place he would perhaps do so. In fact, he is in the
 hands of his friends. of I do run for lieutenant governor 1t will merely be in cidental to the campaign I am making | in turning on the light as to certain po- ltical methods in the recent secret eau GUS. and which are now prevailing" Francis Trevelyan Miller. editor of the Review of Reviews has written Dr. Dun bar Rowland of the Mississippi depart
 ment of archives and history, asking him to contribute short article of congratu- lations that will tend to further cement the two great sections of the country on the occasion of the fftieth. anniversary of the civil war, same to be published in a pictorial edition, and to the success of which many of the foremost men in the iand have also contributed.
 The Mississippi historical department contains about 15o photos of battles, men and stirring events of the war. the set These were presented to the state by Judge Sanders of Louisville an uncle of