The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-11-11

The stantons CT Boston got possession
of the Northeast and Southwest rail-
road from the Wad9lll syndicate to which
the stockholders had formally surrendered
it. No irregularity distinguished the
transaction. After faithful effort the
stockholders had failed to discover any
practical method of completing and equip
ping the road on their own account. They
remained citizens of the state overpow-
cred by an industrial and political revo-
luton forced upon it by its conquerors.
They were defiant amidst their environ
ment. Their greatest concern was the
resurrection of the past. Their road COM
pleted. must take Its place among the po-
tentialities of industrial and political res
toration. They were large adjacent land
holders yet and nothing could so act to
the appreciation of land values as this
road.
Governor Lindsay succeeded TO his Of
flee In November, 1870. j. C. Stanton was
in possession of the merged Northeast
and Southwest and Wills Valley rail-
roads, known then as the Alabama and
Chattanooga. Tho preceding governor,
Smith, scalawag, had been outwitted by
Wall street bankers in collision with
Stanton. (See Smiths letter written in
New York to Lindsay. then in New York.
in state department of archives and his
tory.)
The frauds were glaring and enormous.
The Wall street conspirators had pro-
cured from the plain countryman forced
upon the people by the sword to be their
governor, premature Endorsement of Ala
bama and Chattanooga railroad bonds to
the extent of $10OO,OO0 over and above
the limit of $4,000 per mile allowed by
the general state aid law, applicable to
Internal improvements undertaken by
private corporations. Besides this other
fraudulent transactions in abuse of the
confidence of the state were discovered.
The Alabama and Chattanooga railroad
was 290 miles long. When Governor Lind
say came into office Stanton had received
from the carpetbag state government in
dorsement of first mortgage bonds Of his
road and a loan of straight" state per
cent 20 year bonds to the aggregate of
81 300, 900; that is, in round numbers, less
than $4,000 per mile. In addition he re-
ceived from Waddill and associates, when
their contract was turned over to him,
as explained In No. 6S of this series, the
IL miles of completed track and its roll
ing stock from Meridian to York, the IA
miles of the Wills Valley road and the
rolling stock there. In addition, ne re-
ceived 200 miles of completed grading and
culverts, done before the war, but the
int NV d4fr.
ing the war
On December "a, 1870, Governor Lindsay
received telegram from j. c. stanton,
then in tho north reassuring him that
he was preparing to pay the interest on
the state indorsed and straight bonds
due January /, 1871. In truth, Stanton had
procured the necessary money or a great
part of 1t In this manner, namely: He
went to Philadelphia with a part of the
bonds prematurely Endorsed by Governor
Smith to help in building the road. and
there hypothecated them with WEIGH &
Coz, bankers, for given amount of
money. This money he used not to pay
tho interest promised to Lindsay by his
telegram of December "a, but otherwise at
his discretion.
Henry Clews & Co. of New York were
the financial agents of tho state. They
gave notice to the governor of the ru-
mored unreadiness of Stanton to pay In
terest. This intelligence was soon con-
firmed.
1t now developed that the. Stantons
had no money to meet their liabilities of
any kind. 1t would seem they had never
put any money of their own or any
that had come to them, except from the
state credit, into the railroad. j. &.
Stanton was the active man in the prem
ises d. N. Stanton WAS president of
the contracting corporation, a figurehead.
j. c. Stanton had gone out among the
farmers for miles in the vicinage of the
line and had persuaded many to quit their
crops to labor for high wages on the
railroad He had contracted with the six
Companies" corporation of Cinnamon In
San Francisco, to supply him with 1000
Chinese railroad builders. the best labor
for the purpose then available. He
could pay neither the farmers nor the
Chinese contractors.
The legislature was in session, the
house democratic by a large majority,
the senate the same that had been legis-
lated into office by Congress in 1868 for
four years.
The legislature proposed to maintain the
credit of the state at all hazards. Tue
work done by Stanton on the railroad
bed was well done. The value was great
to the state. The state had no money
and no credit. but the defaultng interest
en- the bonds held by bona fide pur-
chasers from Stanton must be met The
legislature desired to know from the ex-
ecutivc offices the character and limit of
the states obligations on account of the
Alabama and Chattanooga railroad. In
a special message of January a. 1871,
Governor Lindsay said Il have said there
is no record of the state liabilities In
behalf of this company: neither can there
be found any of the securities tpersonaD
required by law to be given to the state
by that company. What has become OF
them, or whether they were executed,
delivered and placed on file in any of the
offices of the government, | am unable to
inform you.
TIL public received this information
with intensified chagrin. The press rlv-
allied each other in eloquent philipics.
Already the house had passed a reso-
luton to appoint joint committe on the
Alabama and Chattanooga railroad mat
tiers. The senate refused. The house ap-
pointed its own committee, but could not.
on account of the conduct of the senate
make an appropriation to defray expenses
The investigation was therefore limited
The house committee was Jaul Bradford
chairman, OF Talladega; 3. h. Lewis of