Opinion of the Court. "It is further ordered, for the convenience of the Supreme Court of the United States, that the opinions of Judge Taft and Judge Lurton in this cause be also certified to the Supreme Court of the United States. "It is also further ordered, that all proceedings of the cause be stayed until the instructions of the Supreme Court upon these questions shall be received by this court." Mr. Attorney General Harmon and Mr. John G. Milburn for appellant. Mr. John H. Doyle was on their brief. Mr. Rush Taggart and Mr. Henry Crawford for appellees. MR. JUSTICE SHIRAS, after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court. When by virtue of the decrees of foreclosure in the several Circuit Courts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, entered March 23, 1889, the entire line in the three States was, on May 15, 1889, sold as a unit to the purchasing committee, and when that committee organized a new company, called "The Wabash Railroad Company," to which, on August 1, 1889, was conveyed the entire line so purchased, it would seem that all questions and disputes pending between the several mortgage trustees were settled and arranged upon the terms fixed by that decree. At all events, no appeal appears to have been taken by any party except Compton. What are Compton's rights under the saving clause of the decree for sale; whether he is entitled, in case of a sale or redemption, to have the principal and interest of the prior mortgages reduced by the net earnings received by the purchaser since the sale, and what effect is to be given to the decree of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Indiana, are the questions certified to us by the Circuit Court of Appeals. It is true that the form in which the first question is put in the certificate would seem to go on the assumption that Compton's only right is to redeem, and that the disputable matter is whether the redemption is to cover Opinion of the Court. as well the Indiana as the Ohio division. In the view, however, that we take of the subject, we prefer to read the certificate as propounding the question of the real meaning and effect of the decree of sale as affecting Compton's rights, and to thus enable the Circuit Court of Appeals to finally determine the controversy. It is, indeed, contended in the appellees' brief that this court is precluded, by the form of the question, from going back of the decree of the Circuit Court, requiring Compton to redeem, but the Circuit Court of Appeals has certified to us for our consideration, in connection with the questions propounded, the entire decree of the Circuit Court, a full statement of the history of the whole case, and copies of the opinions of the Circuit Judges, in which are fully discussed the various questions that arise under the appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals; among others the very question whether Compton's right is or is not a right to have a resale. And this alleged right of Compton is considered at length, in every aspect, in the briefs of the respective counsel. It may be well to have before us the very language of that portion of the decree which we are asked to construe : "And the defendant James Compton, having in open court, on the final hearing herein, objected to the rendering or entry of any decree in this cause at this time, on the ground that the issue raised by the amendment to the complainant's amended and supplementary ancillary bill and to the cross-bill of the cross-complainants, Solon Humphreys and Daniel A. Lindley, trustees, and the answers of the defendant, James Compton, to be filed herein, have not been tried and determined, the court overrules such objection, and the defendant, James Compton, duly excepts to such ruling and the entry of this decree. But it is adjudged and decreed in the premises that the rendering and entry of this decree in advance of the trial and determination of such issues is upon and subject to the following conditions, to wit: "If, upon the determination of such issues, it shall be adjudged by this court that the decree rendered by the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, in the suit brought by said James Compton against the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Opinion of the Court. Company and others, referred to in the pleading herein, and the lien thereby declared and adjudicated in his favor, continue in full force and effect, then the purchaser or purchasers, at any sale or sales hereunder of that portion of the property sold, covered and affected by said lien, or the successors in title of said purchaser or purchasers, shall pay to the said James Compton or his solicitors herein, within ten days after the entry of the decree herein in favor of said James Compton, the sum of three hundred and thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars and forty cents, with interest thereon at six per cent per annum from May 1, 1888, being the amount found due on the equipment bonds by him owned, by the Supreme Court of Ohio in his said suit, upon the surrender by him of the bonds and coupons owned by him, referred to in his petition in this suit; and in default of such payment this court shall resume possession of the property covered and affected by the said lien of the defendant James Compton, and enforce such decree as it may render herein in his favor by a resale of such property or otherwise as this court may direct. "And it is further ordered and adjudged that, notwithstanding the entry of this decree, the said issues concerning the claim and interest of said Compton shall proceed to a final determination and decree in accordance with the rules and practice of this court, and any decree rendered thereupon shall bind the purchaser or purchasers at any sale or sales had hereunder, and all persons and corporations deriving any title or interest in said property affected by such lien, from or through them or any of them, and nothing in this decree contained shall be construed as an adjudication of any matter or thing as against the said James Compton, or to prejudice, annul or abridge any right, claim or interest, or lien which the said James Compton may have in, to or upon the premises hereby directed to be sold, or any part thereof, or in, to or upon any property whatsoever embraced in this decree; it being the intention to hereby preserve the rights of said Compton in the relation in which he now stands towards the mortgagees parties hereto." Opinion of the Court. The masters reported the making of the sale in accordance with the decrees, which sale was confirmed May 18, 1889, and on June 18 an order requiring the masters to execute a deed and to deliver possession was made. On August 17, 1889, the court ordered "that the issues presented in this cause as to the lien and claim of James Compton, made by the various pleadings herein upon and concerning said claim and lien, and reserved in the former decree herein saving the rights of said Compton, be and the same are hereby referred to Bluford Wilson as special master," etc. The special master reported that Compton's lien was a valid one, and that he was entitled by the saving clause of the decree to have the Ohio division resold if the purchaser did not pay off his bonds, principal and interest, in full. The Circuit Court sustained the master in holding Compton's lien valid, but decided that his only remedy was to redeem the four divisional mortgages, two in Ohio and two in Indiana. In refusing Compton a right to a resale of the Ohio property, and in restricting him to a redemption of the Ohio and Indiana divisions in favor of the divisional mortgages thereon, we think the Circuit Court erred. The language of that court was as follows: "There is nothing in the reservations of the decree of March 23, 1889, which requires the court to order a resale of the property covered by Compton's equitable lien. That lien was in fact discharged by the foreclosure of the four mortgages ahead of it, which foreclosure Compton had no right to interfere with or delay. The reservations in the decree of sale were not intended to and cannot affect the purchaser's title acquired under those mortgages. We cannot properly, therefore, direct a resale without disregarding the prior right of said mortgagees and of the purchasers who have succeeded thereto. If we had the discretion to do so, it should not be exercised in his favor, for it does not appear that any larger sum could be obtained on a resale; it is not shown that it sold for an inadequate price, and Compton offers no guaranty or security that a resale will bring a larger amount and realize a surplus to which he would be entitled. It is not proper for Opinion of the Court. the court to order resales as a matter of experiment, and thereby cast clouds upon the title of the purchasers or present owner. As stated by the Supreme Court in Robinson v. Iron Mountain Railway, 135 U. S. 522, his failure to offer to redeem is evidence that he does not think the property was worth more than it brought at the sale. Besides he was as free to bid at the sale already made as he would be upon a resale. Under such circumstances we give full effect to his equitable lien by allowing him to redeem the property upon the terms indicated." We think that these observations show a plain oversight or disregard by the learned court of the terms and obvious meaning of the decree of March 23, 1889. When the terms of that decree were fixed, all parties to be affected thereby agreed to the same. The issues raised by the pleadings as to Compton's claim were still pending and undetermined. It was evidently the wish and the interest of all the other parties to have the sale effected at once, and, in order to avoid the further delay that would be occasioned by awaiting the determination of those issues, the provisions or reservations in Compton's favor were put in the decree. Substantially those provisions were that the entry of the decree of sale should not foreclose Compton's claim, but that the issues concerning it should be inquired into and determined; "that if upon the determination of such issues it shall be adjudged by the court that the decree rendered by the Supreme Court of Ohio, in the suit brought by said James Compton, referred to in the pleadings herein, and the lien thereby declared and adjudicated in his favor, continues in full force and effect, then the purchaser or purchasers at any sale or sales had hereunder of that portion of the property sold, covered or affected by said lien, or the successors in the title of said purchaser or purchasers, shall pay to said James Compton or his solicitors herein, within ten days after the entry of the decree herein in favor of said James Compton, the sum of three hundred and thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars, with interest at six per cent per annum from May 1, 1888, and in default of such |