by John Marshall Harlan

“ There is nothing in the record upon which to base any imputation of collusion or bad faith. The action was taken under such circumstances of publicity as to notify the tax-payers generally of all that was doing; and we are not prepared to say that the court had not the power to transfer the subscription from the North Missouri Railroad Company to the St. Louis and St. Joseph Railroad Company, and deliver the county bonds to the latter, upon its agreement to build substantially the same road for the construction of which the original subscription had been made. ”

“ It is not an unreasonable construction of the statute to say that, in determining what steps were proper for the protection of the interests of the tax-payers, the court had authority to adopt such measures as prudent men managing the affairs of others ought to have adopted. It evidently regarded the arrangement made in 1868 as essential to the protection of the county's interests, so far as they were involved in the subscription of stock previously made, and in the obligations thereby assumed. ”