One of the numerous "railway wars" in New York has
very nearly ended in a proclamation of martial law. Mr. Fish has been trying to get possession of the Albany and Susquehanna Rail- way in the usual way, by buying shares, manufacturing shares, and getting himself appointed by " his " Judge receiver to the Company. Mr. Ramsey, however, President of the Company, keeps his Judge too, and was by him also appointed receiver. Mr. Fish, as owner of the Erie, ordered his people to seize the Susquehanna and Albany by force, Mr. Ram- sey ordered his people to resist, and two trains full of armed men met in a tunnel and fought till the Governor of New York, who, with all respectable men, is tired of this state of affairs, ordered out the Militia, disarmed the combatants, took military possession of the line, and threatened to place the district under martial law. The combatants then yielded, and the line is now managed by General McQuade, on behalf of the State. It is a pity the Gover- nor did not carry out his threat. It will come to that at last in New York, and it is better that the necessary killings should be ordered by a regular officer of the State than by a Vigilance Committee, though the latter would probably do more to amend the evil by hanging the corrupt judges. The worst feature in American life is not lawlessness, but the corruption of the distributors of law.
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