For a while after Mr. Gould got control of the Manhattan company there was some show of fight between him and Cyrus W. Field, who represented the stockholders of the New York company. Soon Gould, Field and Sage came together and had an amicable understanding. An opinion was obtained from Judge Westbrook, who held court in Jay Gould’s private office, denying the application of the New York company to get its road out of the hands of the Manhattan company, and in the latter part of October the Gould-Field-Sage party entered into an agreement in behalf of the three companies by which the Manhattan stockholders were to receive only 6 per cent. dividend on their stock instead of 10 per cent. Next came an order from Judge Westbrook taking the Manhattan company out of the hands of the receivers, and that corporation, which was absolutely under Gould’s control, proceeded to rivet its hold upon the entire elevated railway system of this city. Immediately following Judge Westbrook’s action the Manhattan stock went above 52, and on November 9th, the day that Jay Gould was elected president of the company, the stock was quoted at 55. The steps which Gould and his associates took to “freeze out” the original stockholders of the Metropolitan company were exposed by the New York _Times_ in a series of articles beginning in December, 1881, and continuing until the Legislature ordered a special investigation into the matter in April, 1882. Specific charges were made against Hamilton Ward, as attorney general, and Justice Theodoric R. Westbrook of the Supreme Court for their part in the elevated railroad proceedings, and the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly spent several weeks in taking testimony. Jay Gould and others were examined, and letters and telegrams from Judge Westbrook to Gould’s lawyers were produced in evidence, showing that Westbrook had a very friendly understanding with Mr. Gould. It was also proved that on two occasions Judge Westbrook exercised his judicial functions in Gould’s private office. The committee was divided in its conclusions and Westbrook just escaped impeachment. The effective lessons of the exposure and the official investigation, however, put a stop to further “freeze-out” tactics in dealing with the honest stockholders of the Metropolitan Elevated Railroad Company. Those who had refused to be shaken off by the bearish assaults on the property finally received satisfactory compensation for their property from Mr. Gould and his associates.