Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. v. Central Railroad Co.
| Decision Date | 01 May 1880 |
| Citation | 2 F. 751 |
| Parties | THE FARMERS' LOAN & TRUST COMPANY v. THE CENTRAL RAILROAD OF IOWA. |
| Court | United States Circuit Court, District of Iowa |
RECEIVERS-- ORDER OF COURT.-- Order of court construed requiring the receivers of a railroad to account before a master.
In the matter of the petition of J. B. Grinnell, asking an order restraining the master from reporting on accounts of Grinnell, ex-receiver, which had been made and previously reported upon.
The order or final decree under which the master's proceedings were had, orders that the receivers shall account before the master, and that the new corporation may contest or correct their accounts. It is immaterial about that. It undoubtedly gives them the right to appear and contest the matter. The question to be considered-- the main question-- and perhaps the only one, is, what was meant by that order of the court? And, in order to determine what was meant, you must consider what was the condition of things in regard to receiverships, because there were more than one, and the language of the order is in the plural, that the receivers shall appear and account before the master.
There had been three receivers, no one of whom has been discharged. One of these receivers had made monthly presentations of his accounts, which had been referred to the master, and were passed upon by the master and confirmed with the exception of the last one. That one had been passed upon and confirmed, except as to a few items to which the receiver himself took exceptions. The two other receivers had never made any final account. As regards them, their last accounts were open and not passed upon. The last receiver in the case, Mr. Morrill, had, as far as I know, presented no account at all. If he has, there is nothing to show but what his account is open to determination.
Under that state of the case the court came to make a final decree (as near as it could make a final decree.) Coming to make a final decree they tried to conclude as much as they could. Among other things, none of these receivers were discharged and they made this order that the receivers should appear before the master and pass their accounts. What did the court mean by that, under that condition of affairs? Did they mean to make an order equivalent to this, that all the accounts of all the receivers for all the time shall be open for re-examination? That is contrary to the usual course of proceedings in court; contrary to all the practices of dealing with accounts with administrative affairs; and if the court had meant it, it would have been very easy to say that the accounts of all these receivers are all of them open to full investigation, and they shall all come and pass their accounts, as they have never been settled at all.
That would have been the proper way to say that thing if the court meant it; and...
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