TIIE DAILY EVENING TELEG R A PIT. PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, JULY 9, 18CG. Western Road was not bnllt In th right placs; bat that It ought to hare been built omwber between Meadvllle and Erie. How is it possible to Ret that question before ibe Court? I oao tank a railroad over my own lands, and It concerns myself alone It la an Individual right fiat wben I com" to make a railroad through the lands of other people and to Issue stock to Irresponsible parties, U be comes a franchise. It Is a royal prerogative In the bandsof the subject. How Is It possible for any private person or persons to raise any questions about my right to do tbist Suppose the Attorney Oeneral out of the case altogether, and that on had never beard of him In It. How le It possible that six sensible. Intelligent men, looking; at each other here, can doubt for a single moment about any question like that. Hut wben the Attorney General does come Into Conrt, and when he doee bring his quo warranto and does not touch a single question about this road between Franklin and Milton, but confines himself to other matters, are private parties to be allowed to take np these questions and nave a deci sion of them whenever they please J It has been said that the Atlantic and Oreat Western Company had the right to appoint a constable somewhere in the region of Erie. But the Pennsylvania Rail road Company has never been appointed High Constable I The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was never antborlzed by law to raise these ques. tions before the Court any more than any private man wltbln the State. . L Ah! Bat this Is to be a rival road. The com plalnant have printed this In their bill. They have pot It In their argument. They have averred It with tenfold earnestness npon this floor. Two thirds of the opposing argument was taken np with this question of rivalry. Is rivalry a ground fortbe jurisdiction of a court of equity I Fraud Is; account Is; trnst is: and the exercise of unlawful authority Is; but 1 nave never heard that rivalry formed such a ground. When the Pennsylvania Railroad Company finds that anybody is rivalling her Interests, is she to assume the place of the commonwealth, and come in here armed with so vereign power If every time anybody Is about to do anything which she thinks may injure her, she is to file a bill In equity and bring these ques tions here, where Is the thing to end I Your Honors sometimes reed the newspapers. The complainants' connsel certainly do. Perhaps you may have seen there some account of the la bors of that man in Jersey City who is construct ing a flying machine. His operations are care lully concealed, and he works In an enclosure closely boarded np, so that nobody can oversee him. Bat It Is a large machine, construoted so as to operate somewhat on the principle of the rotary lan. It Is to have a rudder and to go by steam. It is not to ge very high, just over the tops of the houses; but it is to accomplish something like 10 miles an honr. 1 believe from what I have heard of this adventurer, that be has just as much confi dence in his machine as the complainants' counsel have in the success of tbeir argument. Suppose the machine to succeed, and your Honors to desire to go to Pittsburg to open court there I You can go in two hours. Is not that rivalry? Should not the Pennsylva nia Railroad Company tile a bill to restrain the completion of this flying machine, by which their fares and tolls are to be taken away! After a few trial trips are made with it, I certainly shall not trouble myself to go borne In cars of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, or the Northern Central, or the Pennsylvania Rond, but I shall hurry home by a shorter passage through the air. The gentlemen on the other side may be waiting for the comple tion of the machine, but they may then be too late. Uught they not at once to file a bill in equity to restrain the Inventor from rivalling their roadf Is not this a lair case of rivalry ! Suppose two men should undertake to rnn a horse race, and thus violate the law. Your Honors might go after them and not catch them, and the race might develop the fact that the horse is the best locomotive a man can adopt. They might run faster for a while than tbe Philadelphia trains, and thus constitute a new rivalry to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Would not the gentlemen be justified in enjoining horses from running ! When are we to stop, may it please yonr Honors, if we are to get into this imaginary line of argument? Can it be possible that when judges such as you are come to consult over this case that questions like these will give you any trouble! If they are to say aa they do here for this is the ground of their case If they say that the commonwealth, the king, tbe owner of the toll, the great sovereign power to which we all ought to be obedient, shall sot raise these questions, but that a private party may raise them, what is to be the end of it! Take this away and where Is tbe Pennsylvania Rail road? She has no case at all. I will not abuse these parties as they did us, bat I wish to follow np some of tbe observations made before the Court. One of the connsel spoke of the serpent and the toad. He compared the Atlantio and Great Western Hallway Company to tbe ser pent, I am afraid that the Gettysburg Railroad was running in h's mind, for that looked more like a serpent than anything else in the railroad way. Or is the Pennsylvania Railroad to be called a ser pent and the Philadelphia and Erie the toad ! I believe it Is one of tbe chief uses of the toad to fur nish food for tbe serpent, as the Philadelphia and trie supplies food to the Pennsylvania Company, and the Pennsylvania Railroad seems to have swallowed the poor Philadelphia and Erie, as the serpent swallows the toad. But, may it please the Conrt, the State and not the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Is the proper party to complain of the aots alleged here as viola tions of law. The interference of the Pennsylva nia Railroad reminds one of the story that General Jackson used to tell of an old man in Tennessee, w bo, in the conrse of his life, amassed a large tor tune. When he was near the end of his life, and the secret could be of no further service to him, he divulged it, and tbe secret was minding bis own business.- That Is what tbe Court should say to these complainants. It is not the business of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to complain of the violation of me franchises oi ine uommon 'wealth. The State alone Is tbe judge of what is nereeeary to preserve and vindicate tbe law. I do not know that to establish so plain a prlnci Die of law authorities are needed: but take the case of tbe Schuylkill County Batik, at tbe suit of Murphy, where the inquiry was refused on tba same ground that I have stated as a reason here. Take' tbe case of tbe Beaver Meadow Railroad Company against the Lebiph Coal and Navigation Oomuanv. Everybody is familiar with the history of that case. Day after day and week after week it was contested before the present Chief Justice. Tbe Lehigh Navigation Company were required, under their charter, to do one ol two thiugs at a certain point. They were required to make an eleo- tlon whether at that place they would build their navigation works or build their railroad. We were building a railroad just ou the spot, so that we wanted to know what they would elect We said to them, "Gentlemen, please make your election. Let us know whether you will build a dam here, or whether yon will build a railroad ; because, by me terms oi your act oi incorporntiuu, you re quired to do one of these two things I" But tbe Chief Justice said, that Is amatter for the common wealth to decide and not for you. If the common wealth, were to say to this company, you must make your election and either build your darn or your railroad, then the Court wonld have to lake notice of the authority of the commonwealth, but you cannot raise tbe question. That was tbe doctrine laid down, clearly and unmistakably there. That is the doctrine that has been maintained in every imaginable case, in every imaginable form. That Is the doctrine for which I contend in this case. How is the Pennsylvania Company to raise the question about the right of the Atlantic and Great Western Company to com plete tbelr line from one point to another, to build a road between Frai.klln and Milton! Suppose tbey have no right, and tbe commonwealth chose not to contest it. Even if the aot be not lawful, (which we do cot for a moment admit, for it is a plain statute,) but even If it be not lawful, tbe comroonwealtn may decline to contest the exercise of the right. Can a rival company then do ill The Pennsylvania Railroad Company is not within sixty miles of the Catawissa Railroad Com- fany. It cannot set loot on it. It cannot go there, t cannot put a sill or a rail there. She has not even tbe right of massacre there a right which these railroad comoanies seem to be so reluctant to yield. She cannot go there and slaughter innocent people- How then does it concern tbe Pennsyl vauia Railroad Company, that we have made a contraot with the Catawissa by which we have leased that road! What right has she to dispute that lease Rivalry! Rivalry will not do! Bat Andrew Scott has a bill. Did I hear fall from such Hds as those of the r.nmnlalnants' coun el the word "sham?" Bid I bear aright! Apply that, doctrine to Andrew Scou. It is a very uuti- aual thing to hear in a court of justice language like this. It would not have been beard now but for the fact that the counsel was driven to it by the stress of his situation, by tbe meagreness of his oua. and br finding himself pinched round and round bv the Questions from tbe twnch and bv the arguments on this side of tbe case. Apply that same doctrine to Andrew Scott. Who is he I Where does he come from ! I thought when he was first mentioned that he might be descended from tbe old . hero of nndv's Lane, such belligerent qualities Old ue manliest iu tui iwo. u, iuuuu umo' wise. If he have any ancestral pride, he may per bans boast his descent from tbe "Author of Wa ' verlv." to fudrs from the romantic and poetic tarn of mind displayed in his bill. He has U shares of tbe old stock of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of Pennsylvania. Tbey are Trf valuable, he thinks, and so indeed thev are. The are worth KMX). He prize them. H wants to enjoy the Income while living, and dying, to be- queath them as a legacy to his children. He will not sell mem. tie will not take the par Tata oi tbem. He will not go, nnder this law, aa i have tbeir value assessed as the law point out. He op pose that. 1 , lie win not 'axe indemnity tor in m to-aay. He will not take a bond of sioo.OMO to secure him Hgainst tbe Ion of tooo. Not be I Andrew Scott Is eo virtuous, so lidignant, that he will have nothing on this wide earth but a bill In equity. What a tortunate coincidence tbatwason the part of Mr. Scott when he happened to get Into the bands of I wo such able and distinguished gentlemen as the mantel of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and trie nanroads; a coincidence almost as remark able e that other coincidence, that while for months, np to the trial of this cause in the Court below, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company bad nn advertisement in Appletou't G aide stating that their road connected with the Atlan'lo and Great Western Railway at Gorrv. and immedlitely after the matter came Into Court, by a singular chance the advertisement happened to sup out ana not to oconr there again! What does Andrew Scott say i tie says that he is afraid ol a quo warranto; that he Is afraid that the Attorney-General will sncceed In bB quo war. ranto taken ont against the Company in which he owns tft(0 worth of stock. Now mark it, your Honors, after the word "sham" which has been used here. Andrew Scott comes into court and as sumes the expenses of a suit which may amount to six, seven or eigni tnousana dollars. (Our own piper book cost us 15(H) just to print ) He says lie Is afraid of losing his stock. lie ought to be here by the side of his counsel to hear his case tried. Had he been here, to his amazement and horror be would have seen his ova counsel stand up in court and ask your Honors that this quo war- ranto shall be successful. And not only that. They not only ask for that which Mr. Scott says will strip him of everv dollar of bis rights, but my friend Mr. Cuylermust, in his argument, eulo gize the argument of tbe Attorney-General and call it by such phrases as solid, compact mass of reasoning that very argument which Is to take away from Andrew Scott every dollurof his rights in tins case, is tnat a sham ! was mere ever oe fore seen Mich a spectacle as that of a stockholder filing a bill to restrain a Company because he fears that a quo warranto will Issue against the Company, and that very stockholder, by bis counsel coming into court, and by an elaborate argument endea voring to show that the quo warranto ot which he is so much afraid ought to be successful ! Mr. Gibbons Can you ehow me how a qua warranto can hurt the stock of Mr. Scott! Mr. Porter I thank tbe gentleman for the sug gestion. Tbe answer to the question is given by Mr. Scott himself. He avers in bis billibathels alraid that the quo warranto will be successful, and that it will strip him of bis stock. ! Mr. Gibbons He does not say that! ' Mr. Porter He does so in subBtance; he says he Is alraid that bis stook is In peril, and as a proof of It says that a quo warrant) has been Issued, and the Inference Is direct. Andrew Scott comes here and says that the quo warranto imperils his property, and his counsel turn round and pray that tbe quo warranto may be successlul. They commend me Attorney General. They call his argument splen did, and say that nothing can be said in reply to It that nothing can equal it. Is not Mr. Scon's bill asbaml Does it not ehow that there was much force in the observation of that learned English Judge, who said that he would not allow a man to come into court who held such stock as this, when he made himself a mere pnppetof a rival company. I quote tbe words of the J mice. Must not a man come Into a court of equity with clean hands? Must he not come baying a real case I Is it possible that any party can come in and buy one or two shares of sto k in our company or any other company, and theu allege that he is In jured and refuse to take damages, refuse to be idem uifted, refuse any and every oiler cf settlement that can be made, set himself up as a real party, and then by his counsel ask for the success of the very proceeding that he says will injure hU stock! If there ever wag a sham surely tbis is. I come now to tbe main question in this case as I understand it; though other questions have been Introduced irora time to time, tbe main question is tbe consideration of these acts of Assembly. There was an act passed on the 13th of March, 117, which provided "that In all cases where two rail roads in this commonwealth are or shall be con nected. It shall be lawful for the company owning either of the said railroads (with the consent of the company owning the other of the said rail roads) to run its cars and locomotive engines upon said other railroad and to erect water stations and other buildings tor tbe due accommodation of the cars and engines employed thereon; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be constrned or in terpreted to release or exonerate any company owning a railroad from the obligation and duty which may be imposed by existing laws of trans porting, subject to the rule and regulations of said companies, by locomotive steam engines, the cars, whether loaded or empty, of all persons and companies who may rea uire such transportation, over and along so mnch and such parts of their railicad as locomotive steam engines shall be ran upon, whether they be run by tbe company own ing tbe road or by any other company." 1 That act speaks of two companies. It speaks of connecting with a company. There the railroads must be connected. There must be two railroad companies, and the companies must have tbe right to run their cars and locomotives npon tbe railToad of the other company. That is not this case. Twelve years afterward the Legislature took up the subject again. In tbe act of autb, March, 18r.it, it was enacted "that the act of 13th March, 1347,. shall be so construed as to authorize companies owning any connecting railroads In the (suite of Pennsylvania, to enter into any leases and con tracts with each other, in respect to tbe nse, man agement and working of their several railroads. Provided, That the company so contracting for or leasing any such railroad may have tbe right to fix the tolls thereon, but not at a higher rate than Is au thorized by the charter of either of the saldrailroad companies." "Of their several roads." They must be con nected and they may make leases. Now It is said that this was merely a supplementary aot. Not at all. It was a totally new and independent act, providing lor other and Independent matters, and differing In its provisions entirely from those of the preceding act. Then came the act of 1S81; "It shall and may be lawful for any railroad company;" not one or two companies, but lor any railroad companies, how iever great their numbers may be, "created by and existing nnder tbe laws of this commonwealth, from time to time to purchase and hold tbe stock and bonds, or either, ot any other railroad com pany or companies chartered by, or of which the road or roads is or are authorized to extend into thin commonwealth and It shall be lawful for any railroad companies to enter into contracts for the use or lease oi any otner ran roans, upon sucu terms as may be agreed upon with tba company or companies owning me same, ana to run, use ana operate such roads in accordance with such cou tract or lease; provided, that the roads of the com panies so contracting or leasing tuau ue uirecuy, or by means of intervening railroads, connected with each other." Tbey must be connected In one of two ways. First, either directly, or secondly, by an Interven ing railway. There is not one word in this act of It-ol about tbe cars of one road running npon the tracks ot the other road. AH that phraseology was dropped. i au ! lint they have not the right to nx tons or lares. I wish our opponents had been right about that. I see great personal advantages to be derived liom that construction. If that construction were put in lorce, then we would be relieved from the ne cessity of paying tolls or fares altogether, and w ould be allowed to ride tree. It would be a happy circumstance for tbe community to have tbe power of locomotion free, as tbey would If the power to fix loll ana lares am not exist under this act. i am afraid that th personal consequences that would ensue irom sucn a construction, wouia not be very permanent. I am alraid we shall have to pay our lures hereafter as heretofore. I am afraid that even my friends on the other side would aban don tbe position li tney naa we rigni to wane a railroad and nee it. Theie was an old writer who said: If I am in vited Into the grounds of another to play leap-frog, as leup-liog can only be played by two, 1 have a right 10 bring some one else with me. It is an In cident to tbe invitation he gives me to play leap ing in his grounds. On the same supposition, u a man luviti s me to dine with blm, I have a right to eLier bis lront door as wen as to su down amis table and partake ol bis cheer. If a roan has a right to do anything, the ordinary, practicable means for thedoingof it are In vol ved In the power to do it. It would be a fortunate thin for the people who ride over the Sunbury and Erie lUilroad if the Penn sylvania Han road leave ot the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad under this law stopped them from fixing tbe tolls and fares upon this road. What a delightful thing It would be for the people living near the confluence of these two rivers, to get into tbe cars and ride free to Erie or Corry 1 but that Is a privilege 1 fear they will never enjoy. ' ' His Honor Justice Read, In his opinion, o widely read and disseminated, and in regard to which tbere has been so much curiosity expressed, hung all tbe vast Influence of bis decision upon the meaning of the word connection. His Honor tbere fortifies himself by an, allusion W an opinion of the Chief Justice la the Lehigh Valley case. As that hu K.n alluded to bv the learned J astloe, I may be pardoned for saving a word npon it, a I happened to be concerned la it) and. was so during itbe greater nortum of last winter. It wa a very la bo rat an.dinlrloa.te case, and a It n,aw b con np in this case, let me strip It of any sapposed au thority from the Uarnlng and ability of .the pre fect Chief Justice. I can state It la a very few words, and wben I have finished I am sore .that yonr Horors, and even his Honor Justice Read, will see that it bas no bearing on tbe present case. J edge Packer, w hose fame Is now oo-extensive wnb tbe commonwealth, bad made a road from Enston up tbe Lebigb Valley, snd when tbe road bad been built as far as tbe town of White Haven, then Mr. Gibbons and Mr. Wharton, lot thelhigh Coal and Navigation Company, contested tbe right to go further. Two acia ot Assembly came np for discussion. The first act authorized them to con struct a. railway at a point on the Beaver Meadow Rond at or near Penn Haven, to a point at or near White Haven, Tbla was the case argued before your Honors, and It was a remarkable case from ibe fact that wben it commenced all tbe judges seemed to be against us, and wben It concluded the opinion as unanimous in our favor, or nearly unanimous, one of the bench, 1 believe, Judge Ag new, remarking that while he did not entirely co incide with tbe views of his brethren, yet be would not dissent. Tbe other act was supplementary to tble; authorizing the Company to construct a line of railroad fiom any point in the valley ot tbe Le high near tbe moaih of tbe luakake creek. In the county of Carbon, to another point upon tbe Le bigb and Suequehanna road, in Luzerne county, and tbe learned Chief Justice, In Illustrating his opinion In tbat case, need tbe language in ques tion. Unusually in Illustrating a case, the illus tration Is applicable to other subjects than the one In band. Tb Saviour of mankind never used a parable which was equally applicable to all views of tbe subject, but bad generally In view one ap plication, as in the case of tbe uujust judge. In deciding tbe case the Chief Justice said: "The bill and aflidavlt profess the corporate purpose to reach tbe Wyoming coal Held, and their charter requires them to connect with tbe Lehigh and Sus quehanna Railroad, and by a connection, I under stand, eucb a union of the two roads, at some point, as ehHll enable cars to pas from one rond to the other, for business purpoee. Such a con nection with tbe Lehigh and Suequehanna road must be formed by the plaintiffs before they finish tbeir work, bat I make no account of the fact that tbey bave not yet selected tbe point of connection, nor disclosed It in the bill and atlldavits." Tbe mind of the Chief Justice was tbere not npon busmen connictioni or running connections, as you will see by ibis circumstance. On the very day we were arguing the oase: on the very day tbe case wes decided and the Chief Justice delivered bis opinion, and afier that day tbe cars were running over both roads. We came np on tbem on Monday last, taking the cars at Bethlehem, which were not changed till tbey broegbt us here. There was no permanent connection at tbat time. There was not tbe most remote Idea that tbe companies intended to form a running connection at all. Hostility was tbe word. Your honor can testify In regard to tbat road, and tbe roads connected with It, tbat have been running several years, (I tbink It is twelve years sir.ee I first took np the cudgels for Judge Packer against Ihe Lehigh Coal and Navi gation Company.) that there was not the least Idea of these rouds forming a running connection. Why, tbe hostility was so great that at times it almost communicated itself to the counsel vicari ously, as my friend, Judge Black, would say, and in all of ihe discussions of the eve the acrimony was very great. Hts-lllty was indeed hardly the word. There was no such thing as connection at all. The mind i f the Chief Justice was npon tbe point w he her the power to complete the road had been exhausted when tbe road came to a certain iv i uuu cmuts iu a certain n ii, as a connecting roau, tun cursui me reniieyiva ukl extend the road when fl n la Railroad run to the Philadelphia and Erie the coal fields of Luzerne j RailroRd. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company point, or wbeihi r we co we got to tbat point to county. It was a different question altogether, aid Hieielore 1 propose to lay it out ot view entirely. Mr. Gibbons In that case each corporation de nied tbe tight of tbe other to make tbe change. Mr. Porter I think 1 may say that each of these companies denied everything that the other ever asserted. Mr. Gibbons That was the point argued before a fall bench. Mr. Porter That point was discussed before a full btneb, wben we got tbe case narrowed down to a point which could be argued. The fact was, however, that on the day of that argument and long afterward there was no permanent running connection between the roads, and they intended to have no running connection at all How, then, can the question there be called similar to this ! I will just bring tbis qnestion to tbe mind of the Chief Justice and of the Court. Suppose in the very beat ol that argument, as we were laboring with might and main, straining every nerve to win tbe caee, the Lehigh Navigation Company had changed lis gauge, just as ihey went down two or three feet in tbeir grade wben we bud reached the bridge, and thus dug what they hoped would be tbe grave ot our case. Suppose tbey had changed tbe gauge at Wbite Haven. Would that have changed the decision? Tbey bad a perfect right to make tbeir road of any gauge desired. They could have cl anged It in a single night, but how coald that have bffected tbe result ! I come back to what I deem the great point in this case, tbe meaning of the word "connection." It is a very singular circumstance, an event of very rare occurrence, that so many parties can bave a case of so much magnitude turning npon tbe meaning of a single word. There is nothing like it except tbe case beiore Jndge Marshall, be tween McCullougb and tbe siuue of Maryland, where be discusses the meaning of the word "ne cessary ." He runs that discussion over several pages, distinguishing between "necessary" and absolutely necessary." The discussion is proba bly one ot the flnett criticisms ever attempted. But here are these laige interests turning upon the word connect. It is of the very highest conse quence that we should get at tbe meaning of tbis word, and tbe proper construction of tbe proviso tbat combine the phrase. What 1m it that is to con i.ecil Ibe pbiase is not connecting rails. It is not connecting tracks. It ' is not connecting gauges. A railroad Is something more than tbis. It ia a railroad which is to be connected wLh another lailruad. It Is something more than con necting rails or oonuectiug gauges. It is connect ing roads Now just let me throw a consideration first to tbe right of this and then to the left of It. The con sideration I throw out to the right is, that where ruilroad gauges are not the same, cars can run from one road to ihe other. If there are two roads of dihYrtnt gauges, one belag a gauge of 4 feet b4 inches and the other a gauge of 4 feet 10 inches, tbe cars can pass lroiu one road to the other without a passenger knowing it. Your Honors saw by the model submitted by Mr. Go wen bow this was done. It was explained before your eyes. Children's toys," did I hear Mr. Cuyler say? Wt re they ? Ah, they were more than "children' toye;" ihey were the conceptions ot a very acute mind, very well presented, and you eaw the thing demonstratea before your eyes, ao man aouots that, where tbe dillerence between connecting roads be only an' inch or an inch and a halt in gauge, tbe car may pass to and trom tbe different roaue-; dui wno wiii say mitt, in ine progreeeion oi science, tbe time will not come when tbe Ingenuity of man may not pass cars Irom a road of lour feet eight and a bait inches iu gauge to one with a gauge of six feet! In England, where the gauges are veiy different, you find that the cars are halted and hoisted up for a lew minutes. The cars are held up by jackscrews or other appliances, while me old trucK are run out ana new irucus oi a an lereni gauue sre run in. Then tbe cars move on wiiboutany change, and with scarcely anybody in the cars knowing anything about it at all. This obviailou of tbe difficulty In tbe difference of gauge can be done by means of a new trnck or by mere a&ing the tread of the wheels. The fact is iu comestible that cars may rnn from one road to tbt other where tbe gauges are different, and we are attempting here by moral reasoning to find out whether dlfterence in gauge ought to make any difference in the legal interpretation ol mis terra. , But, may it please your Honors, I throw another consideration ont to the left of this, and tbat is tout the gauges may be tbe same exactly and tbe cars cannot run from one to the other, the gauge being tbe same and the rails united. You may cause on of the reads to enter the oiher at such an angle that the cars cannot enter upon the other at all, but will come to a dead stand. Y'ou may connect tbem in such a way that in tbe ordinary running of rail roads the cars cannot be run. Irom one road over tbe other, tbe grade being too steep. Take tbe Port age Railway for instance: we used to run up to tbe grade of tba Portage road, where ihe gauge was tbe same, but where the grade was so steep tbat tbe cars could not go uo at all, ana we naa to go to ward the heaven by the aid of new machinery. Tbere may be road of which the gauges are ue same, but where the tracks of the two roads are laid so differently with respect to each other, one set of tracks being four feet apart and the other only eighteen inches apart, so tbat the cars used upon oue road cannot be nsed on the other, because they would etrtke against each other the moment they met. Tbere may be such a difference In tunnels. Tbere may be such a difference In bridges. Tbere may be such a difference in the oar themselves which sre used and owned by one road that they cannot ran on another road of the same gauge. I therefore point to these two conditions ol the cast that cars can run from one road to another, when tbe gauges are different, and that car cannot run from oue road to another where the gauge are the taame. , . i . 7 , .. . Then comes another element into the case that "br the law of Pennsylvania the law at this very boar any railroad company has the right to estab lish or to change it gauge as it dssires. It a com pany connecting with another road of similar gauge desires to thwart that other toad, or tor any ;0thr purpose to change it gugj it ban a perteci right to do so. It I not even to be done by the stockholders; the power I committed to tb direc tors, nnder the law, to change the gauge of their tosd without consulting with anybody else. And row comes Into tbe case what I deem tbe over- belmit g consideration, tbat where there ar two rrada of the same gauge connected by an inter vening road also of tbe same gauge, and a road nt one end makes a lease wuh a road at tbe other end by virtue of being connected by en Intervening road of equal gauge, the lease Is perfect. Does anybody doubt tbe right to make the lease of the road In that state of the case Remember, that neither contracting party Is re quired toown the Intervening road. There Is no thing eald e bout the intervening road. Tbere is not one word In the statute, or In any statute, tbat al ludes to owning tbe road so Intervening. Now ecmes in the overwhelming fact that It my be held by an enemy In such a way that you cannot use it. It may be held by hostile owner, who, the moment that your lease Is completed, will torn round and al'er their gauge. Tbe lease I perfected; the bonds are Issued; the stock Is all taken; but tbe alteration of the gauge of the Intermediate rood feetroys tbe lease and destroys the bond and stock. Thirty million of dollars gone In the twinkling of P eye! Can this be possible I Yet tbis is the view taken by the other side. The fact tbat the bonds are held by foreigners, I suppose, bas no bearing npon the case, except that your Honors would be apt to be more tender to them, out of generosity. Tbe moment you decide fur tbe other side, you pronounce in favor of tbe most tre mendous repudiation ever known lo judicial his tory a state of things to which my friend Gover nor Walker will say that tbe occurrence in Mis- eiesippl a lew years ago were mere nothing. These I companies, your Honors, oan never take up tbeir critical status. How is It possible that stock which lies been cancelled and destroyed can be restored I A man Is not bound to surrender a franchise to the eovereign power, but wben be goes through tbe op t ration of surrender, and wben he goes through tbis ipeiatlon of consolidation, bow is it possible for any tourt to put him back where be stood before I To decide this case for tbe other side will be lend ing tbe seal of your official approbation to the rot st monstrous repudiation ever beard of on earth. Observe, I am supposing that one road bas been leased to tbe other road, with a perlect road running between tbem. 1 bat this bas been done in the most lawful man ner, in tbe most perfect manner that it has been Cone in such away tbat not even a Philadelphia lawyer could object to It, I am supposing tbe case ot a perfect and absolnte lease. I am supposing that these compnules have got together by virtue of tbe existence of tbe Intervening road tbat they have perfected their arrangements, cancelled their old stock, issned tbeir new stock, sold their bonds and put tbe whole thing into such a shape that it cannot be pnt back, and tbat af er all this has been done, this intervening road, this third party, fo reign to the contract and a stranger altogether to the agreement, changes Its gauge. What will then be the result I Is It possible that yon can control It in changing its gauge? Why, tbe law gives them tbe right 10 change It whenever the directors deem it advisable to do so. Shall another road say that tbey (hall not do this thing! Suppose we were to go to ibat other road and Bay to them "you must not change your gauge; that will interfere with our lease, and you must not put finger npon It!" They would at once answer, "We do not know yon; we bave not the honorof your acquaintance!" Here Is a railroad, owned, we shall suppose, In Baltimore, the Nortbern Central Railroad. Over It, as a connecting road, tbe carsof tbe Pennsylva leased the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, be cause they were connected by the intervention of the Northern Central road, me gauges of all three roads being similar. Now, suppose the Northern Central Company changes its gauge, Then the lease of the Philadelphia and Erie Is not a valid lease, the connection is not perfect. It is not a me chanical connection, and, therefore, tbe lease they bave made is no lease. Now, can any man answer me that point ! Will any one say tbat if th" con nection formed between two roads by aa Interven ing road of similar gaugt be broken by the change ot that gauge, the intervening road can be con trolled in tbeir gange. Sippose a bill be filed in equity to restrain them fron changing their gauge, rhe Conrt would promptly say there Is no ground lor tbis suit. The law declares tbat they may change tbelr gauge at w'.il, and that would finally deteimine the matter. 1 am trying to place before the Conrt the facts matenul to tbe great questions at issue. I am try lrg to speak es plainly as a counsel should speak. I am, '.ndeed, endeavoring to throw out the strongest considerations we can offer, not only to sway the judgment of yonr Honors, but to In duce bis Honor Judge Read to reconsider the opin ion that be guve In Philadelphia, and to show him, if we can, tbat In ibiB question the matter of gauges is wholly nnitrportanu Ah, but your mud is not completed, say our op ponents. You bave never built your road Irom Franklin to Milton. Does that affect the question! What prevents a company that has made a lease c fany other road, be that lease perfect or Imper fect, from building ten roads! What prevents It trom buildlrg any number of roads which the Siate may authorize It to build? Is there any re striction In tbat statute whether they build the road or do not build It! Tbe Intervening road is not tbe roud to be built; and suppose we never build tbe road fiom Franklin to Milton, how does tbataflect the construction of the act! Is there any intervening road required to be built? Is there tiny requirement on our part to build any road, or any inability to build arofd which tbe Legisla ture gives us the power to build I But then tbere Is a suggestion from the other tide w bich we had not thought of. It is so kind, to strikingly kind it is so amiable in its nature, that I do not know to wblcb of the learned coun sel on tbe other side to nttrioute It. They are both such amiable men both so lull of natural and proier sympathy that I do not know to whom to attribute this AUdden Interest in our welfare. The orjection they offer is "delays of transhipment." Is it not kind in them thus to Interest themselves in relieving ns from such difficulties? But what business is it of tbeirs what our delays are? If by having a different gauge we require a more expen sive transhipment than If tbe gauge were tbe same, wbose business is tbat? Suppose tbe delays are greater, suppose the expense is greater, will not that help ihe Pennsylvania Railroad Company! She bas a rival read In active operation. If people see that they can make a better arrangement with her, and have better accommodation and less de lay, will not that help her I If tbe transhipment Is bud, that Is a very bad thing; bnt for whom! For ue! This Is a kind of sympathy lor which we ought to be obliged to our learned friends, if It would in any way anect tbe decision in the cose, Let me, in what 1 have further to say on this cubject, call your attention to three things in de terroining how this word "conuect" is to be con strued. I say first that it is to be Interpreted ac cording to its popular meaning. In your philo eopbical reading your Honors must have made this observation, that the popular meaning of a teim is always the right meaning, ine technical meaning ot a term is generally unreliable, for the reason, tbat it Is usually the work of a few scholars, while the popular meaning embodies tbe sense ol all mankind, and therefore yon will find tbat it is tbe popular meaning of the word which is the tafci-t in ibe Interpretation of any written passage. Especially is this so in the construction of an act of assembly. Here we must take the popular meaning. These acts are not written by laweru. Thev are not nasaed bv lawyers. The Legislature happily or unhappily, I leave the ho- uuinuiv vuuu iu ueiei liuuc km uvh at way liikox with lawyers. Yon may remember tbe incident that occarred when the provision lor tbe revlsal of our civil statutes was before the Legislature; a blank was left In tbe statute for two names, and a member moved tbat it be tilled witb the names of one law yer and one man ef common sense! These bills may be passed by men of common sense, but not by lawyeis. Tbey are not written by lawyers, and 1' is therefore not to technicalities that we are to look in tbeir Interpretation. If you say tbat the con siruction of a term is to be something different irom the popular acceptation of its meaning, that would be just like writing a law and hanging it up where nobody could see It. It is the masses that are eminently affected by these acts, and therefore you are to give the terms employed such a construction as is popularly given to them. What Is the popular meaning of the word con nect or connection I This case was running in my mind wben I came to Wllkesbarre on Monday. I thought of it wben I left my borne, and thinking about it I determined to make an experiment on the conductor and see what he would say. When I entered the North Pennsylvania Railroad car I said to the conductor r "Does tbis road conneot with tbe Lbigh Valley Road I" "Yes, lr." "I It a close connection!" "Yes, sir, you will not bave to wait more than ten minutes." So when I reached Bethlehem I bad to change the cur and enter anether one. I did not object. I regarded It as a connection. It Is so regarded by nine-tenths of ihe mn with Whom yon ar daily thrown into contact. No idea of gauge ever rise In the mind of any man when yon pnt such a question as that to elm. He has no idea of the difference ot gauge in bis mind. Do not confound the word connect with the word unite. Similar things may be united, but wh n united they become one and the same thing. You can say tbat a man is united to his wife, and gene rally It Is a blessed and happy anion, "They t wain h't be one flesh" We steak of tbe United State united Into one compact and glorious whole., .Thttwoa thdocUlnof aofieral JackpA' pro. clsmatlcn of 1831, a doctrine which I always be lieved to be sound; one Union, a gtorlouv whole. Tbey are not cot nected State nor confederated States, where one may go out and withdriw to mot row II she choose. Tbey areUnited States, and tbe term ctnnec ed would be out of place. It Is rot ccanei tlon, but onion." Here is a paper book. Here Is tb contraot between tbe Reading Railroad Company and the Atlantio and Great Western Railroad Company, and here is another pamphlet which ere of the young gentlemen in my oillce connected, tied together with a string. Here Is anoiher bock, ard the me two pamphlets I first held op are here, boand within one cover. That Is a union. No man would call It a connection, or a connected book, any more than he would speak of tbe argument of the gentlemen on the other side as a connected argument. I suppose yon can say with the utmost propriety that a line of boats connects with a line of stage coaches. Bat they are not tb same at all. I sup. rote tba' I can say with perfect propriety that a luinplkels connected with a railroad, bat wben I do to, the idea of slmllnrity 1 not present to the mind. If yon were to take a drlv oat of Phila delphia, on what la almost tbe only pleasant avenue on wblcb 10 drive oat of tbe city the Township Line Road and were to ask any toll keeper, "What does this road connect with!" al though ft Is a turnpike ot a very different gauge frrm Brontf street, be would promptly answer Broad street!" We may say that this Susque hanna River Is connected with ths Ooean. Howl By means of Chesapeake Bay. But ths gunge u not the same, neither tbe gauge of Ocean, Bay, or River. So, with equal correctness, w may say tnat the French r.tnperor, mat marveions euibod! ment of intellect and energy, as useful as it is wonderful. Is connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, by a canal through the neck of land that in turn connects Asia with Africa. The em peror says he will perfect the connection; but any- noay wno nas ridd n on the mediterranean Tor a lew hours, as I believe one of yonr Honors has, will say that it is a different thing from the Red Sea. So we may speak of the Isthmas of Panama as connecting the two continents of America, one of wbich looks like a stout, well favored, broad shouldered man, and the other like a ham bone of the leanest tort. So, alto, we speak of the Strait of Dover and the bodies of water they connect on either side of tbe German Ocean and the English t barnel, without having present to the mind at all tbe Idea of similarity or Identity. Take the hu man bedy. A man' head is connected with his trnnk by his neck; and it is a very important con nection, a that gentleman wbose name was intro duced into this argume' t, tbe otber day, Mr. Probst, ascertained by that accident which hap. pened to blm in tbe jail-yard, In the presence of the sneritt. 1 he neaa is connectea with tbe bsdy by tbe neck, and yet I have known men between the ganges of whose heads and whose stomachs there was no identity. We may speak of the lungs being connected with that little organ, no larger than my list, tbat lies under my breast, the heart capable, were an ariery suddenly cutoff, of elect. Ing my blood several leet Into tbe air; and yet there Is no eimilarity or Identity between me lungs and me Deart. Take the external man. I may venture on an observation on these eye-glasses, which I seldom pat on when anybody is looking, but frequently nse wben no one Is observing it. These eye-glasses are connected by a slender arch. But tbere Is no similarity whatever between tbe glasses and tbe arch. Take an olo-lasLiuted watch seal. I do not happen to have one. Ycu say that a watch teal is connected with the wa r byacbalu. Here Is a bunch ol keys; they are connected by a ring, but tbere are none ol them alike. My horse is con nected with the vehicle in which I ride by means of the traces; yet nobody would think ot similarity there. Tbe branches of a tree are all connected to gether, and are also connected with the trunk; but 1 never saw two orancnes 01 a tree mat were auue A telegraph operator wonld say my instrument nere is connected wun me wires, but it is a very dirJerent tbtng from tbe wires. The members of a domestic family are connected, and in this sense we tpeak of brothers being connected. We say tbat a man connects himself with the church, or connects himself with a political party. Lawyers are connectea as colleague in a cause, ana to ue. cide it Judges are la a certain sense oonneoted on tbe bencb.bat there 1 no idea of similarity; and so, wherever yon go, round and roand, to any place yon please, you will never have the idea of similarity in your mind wben you nse the word connect. Ihis 1 the way in which the people use it. But tbere la another mode ot interpretation; I will therefore show yoa In the second place bow these parties have nsed it, and in the third place I will tbow yoa how the State bas nsed it. Theee complainants have nsed it in the sense for wbich I argue, that the word connection is nsed without reference to gange. In their annnal re l ort for last vear tbev sneak nf rnniiectlonn exist. ing between two certain road ol different gauges. J ' I if tun iovi tun. vitir j vuuucvb wiiu luoui ui different gauges on their tickets, and they charge a ratsenger lor such a ticket, which, if tbe doc trine of Mr. Gibbons be true, is tbe very highest injustice. They put Into a passenger's hand, and take bis money lor, a ticket, informing him that they are going to carry blm through from Phila delphia to Meadville over roads witb which tbey connect, and over roads which are of dissimilar gauges. In tbe contract of 1957, they say that the said companies do mutually covenantand domake cer tain connections and arrangements. Tbat Is, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company and the Sunbury and Erie do this. Tbey say: "lor the purpose ot forming railroad connections." And again, "provided further, that after tbe aforesaid connections shall be made." And tbis Is between tbese two Identical roads in ibis contract, agreeing that connections will have to be formed, or that tbey bave lormed them, and that tbey hereby make the connections. Tbe word was used in certain resolutions. These parties, the managers of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Company, called a meeting at their of fice 011 the ltith of July, 1H64, after tbe track of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company was built, and after tbe gauge had been fixed, for tbere bas not been a rail laid down since; and they taid this: Resolved, Tbat the President of this Company be instructed to notify (under tbe seal of the Com pany) the President and Directors of the Atlan tic and Great Webtern Railroad Company of the acceptance by tbis Company of all the obligations and conditions of tbe above recited act; and de mand ol said Atlautio and Great Western Rail road Company, ou their part, a fulfilment ot the same. How could the Sunbury and Erie Road form the some and equal connections with tbe Atlantio and Great Western Railroad Company, as that load then lormed with tbe New York and Erie, tbe gauge of tbe roads being so entirely different! What answer was given to the bench on this sub ject! "Ah! well," they say, "but one part of this act destroys the other," There is a part which says we shall make tbe same or equal connections, and there is a part which says something else.' Tbe part wbich salts us we will take, and ibe otber we will rtject. How could they get over the lact that tbe gauge of the Sunbary and Erie was fixed, and tbe gauge of tbe Atlantio and Great Western Railroad fixed I How could they call npon tbe Atlantio and Great Western Rail road Company to make tbe same connections with the Philadelphia and Erie that ihey made with other roads? How conld they make equal and tbe same connection with both, roade, one ol which had a gauge of 4 leet b inches, and tbe other of 6 feet. Tbey did not believe at this time that difference of gauge should be considered in forming connections, otherwise they would not have sat down and agreed about forming con nections, wbich they now say cannot be lormed at nil. Then again this contract wblcb was made on 3Ut ol April, lt-65, provided as follows. "All business to or Irom the Atlantio and Great Western Railway, at or near Corry, and all busi ness to or Ircm Erie and Cleveland, or each other points west ol Cleveland as may be determined by tbe Pennsylvania Railroad Company, destined by tbis route, sball be rated as through trade." Both the plaintiffs In tbis very case and the Catawissa Railroad, on the Hist of April, lbtiS, sat down to snake an arrangement together lor the purpose ol dividing the prod is that should result to both from trade and travel coming from Oleve. land over the Atlantio and Great Western to the rond of the Philadelphia and Erie and the Cata. wlesa road, and they state that mi shall be called a tbrongh trade a business connection. That is the way tbe parties use tbe term,.. I have now shown yon how the people use it, and how tbe parties themselves use it. ' But iblTdly, how bas tbe State used It, the great parent patria, toe State of Pennsylvania, not the Pennsylvania Railroad Company? The delusion that sbe is the State is one of those vagaries of the imagination wnich will be removed by tb de- i l' 1 8 11 ill . 1 1 0 LUDCi " . ...u uu HHU I k I Xy tbe act of Wd April, 1H63, It wa declared ''that the gange of all railroad heretofore or hereaitar to connect with the Philadelphia and Erie, ou wbich the track 1 not now wholly or partly laid shall conform to and be the same a the gang of tbe Philadelphia and Erie." Now at the time of the passage of this law, every rail was iat spon the Atlantic and Great Western road, and thereby we were specially exempted by the Legislator from making our gauge he same a the Philadelphia end Erie a clearly as if the Atluatln and Oreat Western had been named in the nn. The Lewisla- V tare knew that our track wa laH; tbey knew the '.stats of thing of which thy vtrn peaking sad. tbe Legislature said tbat the gauge of all railroad connecting with th Philadelphia and Erie should . be tbe same as the Philadelphia and Etie, except thote wbos trarks bad b en laid; that is, except tbe Atlantic and Great Western; thai Is, otber . companies (ball conform to tbis gauge wbose tracks bave not been laid; but a to the At lantio and Great Western, wbose tracks have been laid, while we include other companies In the act, wo except her. That is th way tbe State bas treated tbe subject. It was her Intention to say that the "Atlantic and Great Western need not conform ber gauge to th gauge of the Sunbury and Erie, because the track of the former was laid." But s to all companies that shall build roads hereafter, their gauges shall be lie same as the Sunbury and trie, in other words. the Atlantic and Great Western Is as folly ex. cepted as If It bad been excepted by name. Lock at the connections between ine roads or oar State and the New York and Erie Road. The New York and Erie Railroad 1 authorized to connect and does connect with tbe wuilamsport and ti lt ira Road. Ihe New York and trie Railroad bsvlng a wide gange of six feet, and tbe Williams port and Elmlra one of 4 feet 8), Inches IBS ntw x or ana crie jimirunu in niiinoni! to make a connection with the North Branch Rail road, a road of its own gauge; and by the same act tbe North Branch Company is authorized to con nect with tbe Elmiraand Wllliamsport Railroad of 4 feet 8 X Inch gange. A connection is also au- tnorizea to be made witn me new t ors: ana trie and the Delaware and Belvidere Railroads. The Catawissa and Towanda Company are au thorized to build a road of 4 feet t-X inches la gauge from Catawissa to some point not only where a connection can be made, but -a proper and con venient connection with the New York and Erie Railroad of 6 feet In gange. Then the Philadelphia Ess 'on and Water (lap Railroad Company, incor porated while tbe general gauge law requiring all roads to moke their gauge 4 feet X inches was In force, wa authorized to connect with th New York and Erie Railroads and with other road of different gauges. Tbe Allegheny Valley Railroad was authorized to connect with any railroad In New York, the Allegheny Valley being a railroad of 4 feet 9, Inches in gauge. Tbe Canton and Athens Rail road, which was Incorporated while tb general gauge act was In force, was authorized to connect Us road with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western RRilrond, the latter baying a 6 feet gauge. The North Branch Railroad, a narrow gng, wa authorized to connect with th New York and Erie, a broad gauge. The Towanda and Franklin Railroad was authorized to conneot with the New York and Erie Railroad, broad gange, and with, the Wllliamsport and Elmira, narrow gauge. The Mahoning and Suequehanna Is authorized to build a road ot any gauge deemed advisable, and to con nect with the Sunbnry and Erie Railroad. The Lackawanna and Laneeburg Railroad was au thorized to connect witb the New York and Erie Railroad or with any other railroad. Then there are numerous acts of Assembly into which I sball not travel far, one of which Is that ot !2tth March, 15 : "That it shall be lawful for any railroad company, organized under the law of this State, and operating a railroad either wholly within or partly within ibis State, Ita., to consoli date with any other company whenever tbe two railroads to be consolidated shall form a continu ous line of railroad directly or by an Intervening railroad. Provided, that railroads terminating on the banks of any river which art connected by a ferry sball be deemed continuous under this act." Here is a ferry intervening, and yet the connection is by Legislative authority declared perfect. I will not go much further Into this mass ot acts, which, however, you will find It extremely neces sary to do, when yon come to decide upon this question. The act of February 87, 1S5S, authorized the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to construct a railroad through Pennsylvania from Baltimore to the Ohio river, wl'h authority to connect within this commonwealth with any other railroad or railroads, carta! or canals, or other works. By the s me act the right is given to connect the City of Pittsburgh with tbe main railroad. - Then there is tbe Pennsylvania Canal act by which the Board of Canal Commissioners are required to locate a railroad across tbe mountain to connect ths Ju niata and Conetnangh sections of Pennsylvania Canal. Here you observe railroads are specially authorized to connect canals. The Canal Com missioners, by acttMth March, 184H, are authorized to survey the valley of the Monongahela from Pittsburgh to tbe Virginia line, and from Colum bia to the mouth of the Connestoga, with a view of connecting these streams by a canal or railroad. Then comes the act of '2d Febmary, 1836, to con nect the Cumberland Valley Railroad with the Pennsylvania Canal and with the Harrisbnrg, Lancaster and I'ortsmoutb Railroad. Then comes tbe act of March 13th, 1H37, by which authority was given to connect tbe North Branch Division of tbe Pennsylvania Canal with tbe slackwater navigation ot the Lehigh by a railroad. I bave thus shown you how the State defines this word connect; I have shown you how it Is need popularly; I bave shown you how it is nsed by the far ties themselves; I have shown yoa that Inevery nstance the Idea of Identity or similarity between the things connected is never once present to the mind. I will now go on to one or two other points Among others I will say a word about this con tract of 31st October, lbtJO. I touch this contract wbich relates to the Catawissa Railroad, tor a spe cial reason. Yon would bay heard a very able argument In conclusion, if the learned counsel for tbe Catawissa, Mr. Wharton, had not been confined to bis room at the hotel by Illness. I did not argae tbe case In Philadelphia, and I woald gladly have shrunk from the work now, but lor the kindness and generosity ol my colleagues who have as signed tome the duty of closing the argument. Mr. Wharton's company is specially concerned here, and I will devote a little attention to It. Yonr Honors will observe on page 47 of the large paper book, tbis contraot between the Sunbnry and Erie and tbe Catawissa Railroad Companies. It is very important that you should have what we believe to be a just conception of this contract. Our friends on tbe other side say this contract was a binding contract between tbe Snnbury and Erie and the Catawissa. by which the cars brought to Milton by the Catawissa Railroad were to pass over the road of the Sunbury and Erie from Mil ton to Wllliamsport, on certain terms. They say that that contract was abrogated and destroyed by the transfer of the Catawissa to tbe Atlantio and Greet Western; and that the decree of this Ooart at Nisi Prlns annnlsand destroys ii. How can they take this position ! They say tbat this con tract was annulled by the lease of 1H65, and then they torn round and say that that lease Itself Is void. Tbey say In effect that the contract of lStH) is void because the lease Is void. Did your Hon ors ever hear such a reason as that offered in a court of justice before? Judge Woodwarc Suppose the lease Is valid, What then ! Mr. Porter I was just coming to that. This is the language: "In ca e of an assignment for the btnellt of creditors by tbe Catawissa Railroad Company, a judicial sale or transfer of the road sball at any time take place, then this agreement sball thereupon, without any act upon the part of, tbe party of tbe first part, be thereafter null, void ' and ot no effect." Wbat is the meaning of this clause of the agree, menil The Catawissa Company bad been unfor tunate: sbe bad made an assignment for the benefit of creditors before. The parties tberefore said, sbe may make another assignment for tbe benefit ot creditors; we will provide lor that, so that If sbe makes such an assignment again, then this contract, without auy act of oars, bat simply on account of such an assignment for the benefit of creditors, sball determine and be at an end. Ia tbe argument In the Court below, somebody took tbe liberty of changing the punctuation of tbis claute, and putting a comma after the word sale. We took the ltbeny, as it was not In the original, to 1 ove It ont. Tbe Insertion of tbe comma was probably not intended by th learned coansel; it was no doubt doue by those unfortunate men, the printers, lor we all know that printer sometimes take such liberties, and that sometimes tbey make blunders even in the highest of all documents, a judicial opinion. I know this to my own cost, for tbere are some opinions on record which I would like to have corrected, if possible. Wbat is the kind of s transfer meant? A trans fer by mean ot an assignment for the benefit of creditors, taat is wbat is meant by a judicial sale or transfer. Not a judicial sale, and a transfer of some othex kind; we see this from tbe rest ot the sentence. The whole sentence is to be taken to gether and not divided by a comma, but whether tbey are right In calling that a sole, ot a transfer, tbat Is & matter of no concern to your Honors, It it be not b judicial sale or transfer. The paper means that th transfer 1 to be made by a sort of judlolal proceeding nnder a claim lor indebtedness. Sup pose It mean a judicial sale under a mortgage. There ha been no sale nnder a mortgage. Tbis is imply a leas of tbe road. 1 do not deem it ne cesbaryto cite law toshowtiat when I make a lea of my bouse I do not sell my house, and the lien en the property are sn dlstarbed by that lease at all. If I say to a man tbat 1 hav a house iu Walnut street which I shall lease to him lor a year, I do not sell It to Wai. I expect at the end ol a year to take my house back again. Observe trom tbe whole sectenoe that Ue word transfer is IndissoluMy joined to lb word sale. It is a very common thing with person drawing the con tract to nse aore words than ar necessary. They suppose It is a nexMssary legal form, bat it is al ways a fault. It is a red an dancy, and ought to be avoided in correct writing. It I frequeatVr done In thee, co'jirsois. Hat read It a It U, aa "assignment for the bean St . .. I l: I ' ! - ( I ' I I ' ' " :.t j II-..I v.., U;., ! ; ,., t.,,,i; , e , . ( ''! ( ( " I : ! : i. (I t, I. . I I : l! I - j ..'.. ! i ;.-..! t-'. l ii '.! i. j '... : . ' , t , I : I .:.:. I I .. - 'l t .7
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers