Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. v. Central Railroad of Iowa

8 F. Cas. 1037, 4 Dill. 533, 23 Int. Rev. Rec. 242, 11 West. Jur. 428, 1877 U.S. App. LEXIS 1941

• Court: U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Iowa
• Decided: March 12, 1877
• Docket: Case No. 4,663
• Status: Published

Opinions

LOVE, District Judge.

I have goné carefully over the papers, and given them the best consideration I could. I proceed to give my impressions as to the disposition which ought to be made of the case: I have a very decided opinion that the court ought not, at present, and upon the showing made by the majority of the bondholders, to order the trustee to execute the decree.

The case-is a peculiar one. The circuit court did not enter the decree upon any independent consideration of the rights and equities of the parties, but solely upon the assumption that the parties to be affected by it assented to the provisions of the decree. Now, it turns out that this assumption was not well founded, so far as the appellants (Cowdrey et al.), who are now resisting the execution, are concerned. The appellants are consequently seeking 'to get the decree reversed. It must be borne in mind'that they have 'never yet had the judgment of any court upon their rights and equities under the mortgage. If the court had passed its independent judgment upon their rights and equities, and had made a decree disposing of them accordingly, and if they had failed to supersede the decree, I do not see that they would have any reason to complain, even though they could not, in the event of a reversal, be placed, as to their rights under the mortgage, in statu quo. But in the absence of any real adjudication by the court, and by virtue of a consent decree, to which they were not parties, to have the property in which they are interested disposed of, so that in the event of a reversal they cannot be awarded the very relief to which they would be entitled by the terms of the mortgage, would seem to me not at all in accordance with the principles of equity.

Again, it is impossible for us to know what the decision of the supreme court will be, and what complications may consequently arise from the execution of the decree in the meantime. Will the supreme cóurt dispose of the case with reference to the fact that the decree below has been executed, and the trust property placed beyond judicial control; or will it determine the controversy with reference to the state of the case and property at the time when the decree was entered below? I confess I do not see the way clear in the future, if the status quo of the trust property be changed, as required by the terms of the decree. On the contrary, it appears to me that no complications can possibly arise if the decree be not executed. Nor can I see clearly that any special injury will result to the parties in interest by reason of the delay. If the majority feel aggrieved by the refusal of the court to grant their present motion, I suppose they have their remedy; they can apply for a mandamus, and thus submit their case to the judgment of the supreme court, and if it be a matter of right in them, and not of discretion in the circuit court, they can thus obtain redress. If the circuit judge feels any embarrassment in regard to the matter, he might consider the propriety of reserving his determination till the regular term in May.