Billings

“ Too self-sufficient to listen to argument, they are keenly sensitive to ridicule, and a little of Josh Billings is more effective in doing good than the best sermon a foreign friend could preach them. ”

“ In America a popular author has much more scope for gaining publicity and popularity than he has in England. The newspapers of the Union are always ready to receive pithy paragraphs from clever men, and to attach the authors’ name to them. The great secret of the popularity of Artemus Ward and of Josh Billings is simply that which the late Albert Smith of England so well understood years ago, never to publish any article, however trivial or lengthy, without the signature or the initials of the writer to it. ”

“ All whom he kills die with a smile upon their faces.” In directing his shafts against humbug, pretension, and falsity he worthily carries out the true vocation of the comic writer. Many authors there are who write funnily merely to amuse. There is always a higher purpose peeping out from among the quaint fancies and odd expressions of Josh Billings. Just inasmuch as America is prolific of humorists and satirists, does she require them. The bane and the antidote grow in the same garden. ”

“ The people of the United States are fun-loving and fun-makers. Of the peculiar character of the fun a word or two may be written presently. There is xxviii always some popular man wearing the cap and bells, and reflecting the humor of his land. At one period the author, whom all the papers quote, is Sam Slick, Doesticks, then John Phœnix, then Major Downing, then Artemus Ward, then Orpheus C. Kerr, and then Josh Billings. As fast as one resigns the position, another takes his place—“Uno avulso non deficit alter.” ”

“ Tolls are the compensation for the use of another's property or of improvements made by him, and their amount is determined by the cost of the property or of the improvements, and consideration of the returns which such values or expenditures should yield. ”

“ If he becomes responsible for the payment of the principal's debts generally, or lends his credit to a proposed purchaser of goods, he knows the amount of his liability, and the means of his principal to meet them. ”

“ It is incredible that a man should purchase this large amount of bonds for half their face value without looking at them, or even noticing whether they were signed or sealed, without making any inquiries with regard to the responsibility of the town, or the circumstances under which the bonds were issued, the nonpayment of the overdue coupons, or the title of the person-to him an entire stranger-through whom he purchased them. ”

“ Sometimes his mule would be kind and tractable, and sometimes not. Of course he would saddle him, and start to ride him to camp; but the mule is not always docile under the saddle. He too often has a mind of his own. He may go along all right, or, if he is tricky, he may suddenly pause, bracing his forefeet and settling down on his hind ones, as if he had suddenly happened to think of the girl he left behind him, and was debating whether or not to go back after her. It is when the mule strikes such an attitude as this, I suppose, that Josh Billings calls him “a stubborn fact.” But the driver! ”

“ Any person holding bonds, warrants or other evidence of indebtedness of the territory or any county, municipality or school district within the territory, existing and outstanding on the 31st day of December, 1890, may exchange the same for the bonds issued under the provisions of this act at not less than their face or par value and the accrued interest at the time of exchange ”

“ St., the total liabilities for money borrowed to any national banking association of any person, company, etc., should at no time exceed one-tenth part of the capital stock, but the discount of biills of exchange drawn in good faith against actually existing values, and of commercial or business paper actually owned by the person negotiating the same, is not to be considered as money borrowed. ”

“ The general legislative powers specified do involve in them the power of reducing the profits of the banks, and of affecting their operations and their charters, as fully as such a power is involved in the power of taxing. ”

“ In the careful and satisfactory report of the master the plan of the complainant is briefly described 'as a plan for securing money from a constantly increasing large number for the benefit of a constantly increasing smaller number, with an absolute certainty that when the enterprise reaches an end for any reason the large number will lose every dollar they have put into it, and in the meantime the smaller number will have realized such amounts as may have resulted from the growth of the larger number ”

“ It is a well-known fact among houses accustomed to extend credit that ministers are the slowest to pay, and the most difficult from whom to collect. In the smaller towns it would be difficult to find a grocer without an uncollected account against some minister who had left the place. Over five years ago such a preacher boasted in his farewell sermon that all his bills were paid in the village, and he ‘owed not any man’ ”

“ It is true that by the tenth section of the act of congress of June 25, 1890, the loan commissioners were authorized to refund municipal bonds 'upon the official demand of said authorities' of the municipalities ”

“ The return to members who have been able to secure a large number of other members, and to pay their own monthly dues, may be very large in comparison with the amount paid in, but the amount of such return depends so largely, and, indeed, almost wholly, upon conditions which the member is unable to control, that we think it fulfils all the conditions of a distribution of money by chance. ”

“ Under the laws, rules, and regulations for the government of sections of the endowment rank, it was the duty of the secretary of each section to keep a financial account with each member of the section, and, in January of each year, to furnish, to the master of finance of the lodge to which the members of the section belonged, a list of the names of such members, and to request the officer to promptly inform him whenever a member on said list became in arrears for an amount equal to one year's dues. ”

“ His general character was good, his reputation for integrity and financial capacity excellent, and he possessed the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Upon the 10th of January, 1882, he was the owner of two-thirds of the stock of the bank, and had apparently a greater interest than any other person in seeing that its affairs were so managed that its capital would remain unimpaired. ”

“ Later on, in the chapter on the actual money-making operations of the foreign department, the risk in buying various kinds of bills will be fully explained, but in passing it may be mentioned that "clean" bills are of such a nature that bankers will touch them only when drawn by the very best houses. With a documentary bill, the banker holds the bill of lading, and if there is any trouble about the acceptance or payment of a draft, can simply seize the goods and sell them. ”

“ Cary, 82 N. Y. 65, 71, which involved the question of the degree of diligence to be exercised by directors of a savings bank, Judge EARL, speaking for the whole court, said: 'Few persons would be willing to deposit money in savings banks, or to take stock in corporations, with the understanding that the trustees or directors were bound only to exercise slight care, such as inattentive persons would give to their own business, in the management of the large and important interests committed to their hands. ”

“ The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. ”

“ The president and cashier of every national banking association shall cause to be kept at all times a full and correct list of the names and residences of all the shareholders in the association, and the number of shares held by each, in the office where its business is transacted. Such list shall be subject to the inspection of all the shareholders and creditors of the association, and the officers authorized to assess taxes under state authority, during business hours of each day in which business may be legally transacted. ”

“ The instrument was variously called a 'deed of trust,' an 'assignment,' and a 'mortgage.' It contained an express provision that the grantors were to remain in possession of the property, and continue to sell the goods for cash only, and to collect, under the direction and control of the grantees, the proceeds to be deposited in bank weekly, and applied, under the direction of the grantees, to replenishing the stock by such small bills as might be agreed upon, and to the payment of the debts of the firm in a specified order ”

“ We proceed to examine the title of the several holders of these bonds from the time they were delivered to the railroad company, which, of course, was not a bona fide holder, to the time they came into possession of the plaintiff.
1. Leonard, Sheldon & Foster. These were New York bankers, to whom the bonds were pledged as security for a loan of $50,000 to the railroad company. They also received them with power and instruction from the company to sell them. ”

“ Even the specter of socialism is conjured up to frighten congress from laying taxes upon the people in proportion to their ability to pay them. It is certainly a strange commentary upon the constitution of the United States and upon a democratic government that congress has no power to lay a tax which is one of the main sources of revenue of nearly every civilized state. ”

“ I stand by the doctrine that the Constitution is the supreme law in every territory, as soon as it comes under the sovereign dominion of the United States for purposes of civil administration, and whose inhabitants are under its entire authority and jurisdiction. I could not otherwise hold without conceding the power of Congress, the creature of the Constitution, by mere nonaction, to withhold vital constitutional grarantees from the inhabitants of a territory governed by the authority, and only by the authority, of the United States. ”

“ It thus enables the proprietor to ascertain at the close of each day's business the amount of sales, and also operates as a check upon the dishonesty of clerks, who are held accountable for the amount of money indicated by the register. ”

“ It was customary to charge quartermasters with peculation in such cases, and it is true that many of them were rascals; but I think they were sometimes saddled with burdens that did not belong to them. Some men used more light than others. Indeed, some men were constitutionally out of everything. They seemed to have conscientious scruples against keeping rations of any description in stock for the limit of time for which they were drawn.
ARMY CANDLESTICKS.
As to candlesticks, the government provided the troops with these by the thousands. ”

“ The acceptance of the money, with notice of its ultimate destination, is sufficient to create a duty on the part of the bailee to devote it to the purposes intended by the bailor. Taylor v. Benham, 5 How. ”

“ No such power exists; neither the man who holds the real bill, nor the man who discounts it, has any property in the specific goods for which it was given: he as much trusts to the general ability to pay of the giver of the bill, as the holder of any fictitious bill does. The fictitious bill may, in many cases, be a bill given by a person having a large and known capital, a part of which the fictitious bill may be said in that case to represent. ”

“ Every branch of trade, every conceivable species of amusement, is forced upon the public eye in this way. Bill-posting is one of the fine arts. Its professors are among the most notable characters in Virginia. They have a specific interest in certain corners, boards, boxes, and banks of earth and rock, which, with the brush and pot of paste, yield them a handsome revenue. To one who witnesses this bill-mania for the first time the effect is rather peculiar. He naturally imagines that the whole place is turned inside out. ”

“ The possession of the trustee consisted in his having the key to the storehouse in which the goods were situated, and in attending at the store some hours every day. He signed all the letters and checks, and kept control of the general cash. ”

“ Indeed, proceedings under these statutes, which are common to many of the states, are in the nature of an equitable attachment, and operate to impound the debtor's property for the payment of the claim. ”

“ A dealer who has sold goods, for which he is to be paid in six months, but who desires to receive payment sooner, draws a bill on his debtor payable in six months, and gets the bill discounted by a banker or other money-lender, that is, transfers the bill to him, receiving the amount, minus interest for the time it has still to run. It has become one of the chief functions of bills of exchange to serve as a means by which a debt due from one person can thus be made available for obtaining credit from another. ”

“ The first section of the act requires the funding of all outstanding obligations of said territory and its municipalities, and all outstanding bonds, etc., of the territory and its municipalities, 'heretofore authorized by legislative enactments of said territory, bearing a higher rate of interest than is authorized by the aforesaid funding act, approved June 5, 1890,' which said bonds, etc., 'have been sold or exchanged in good faith in compliance with the terms of the acts of the legislature by which they were authorized' ”

“ Breaking and dwindling, will vanish away.
While, scattered like stars in the glancing glow,
Lilies gleam out from the lake’s deep gloom;
And trees rich chequer of shadow throw
Where wild birds warble and wild flowers bloom,
And waterfalls tinkle in foamy flow.
Symbol of life in its shadow and sheen! ”