Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-01-25

- ~ one ran DS VIZ
tue of the one Charter. and the residue by virtue Of
the other But on the 18th Dee. lS4S. the Charter
from South Carolina under which the City Council
Of Augusta claimed, expired. Did they lhrrcnp"n,
us they ought to have DONE reduce their tolls to the
one half only of their former rate Not so. They
continued TO exact then, as before, without abate-
ment When, for example. they received tell from
persons desiring TO pass from the Georgia side. did
they receive it for passage to the centre OF the
Bridge only, or for passage across tho entire struc-
ture from bank to bank Undoubtedly and auo,r-
cd!y the latter. Then they were taking tolls for
passage over bridge within the territorial limits of
this State? But the rig ght 10 take such toll is an
incident Of sovereignty-a franchise vested in the
Sl;tc-a privilege IF public nature, which cannot
legally be exercised without Chartcro or grant from
the Legislature. And yet the City Council Of Au-
gusra, from 18th Dee 1913 to Nov. 1852, contn-
ucd 10 exact such and the SAME tolls as had been
taken under Charters from both the States, making
no application whatever for the renewal Of the for
mcr Charter granted by S. Carolina. They never
would have applied for such renewal infer, hnd
not JONES 6 KExNEDY, in 1852, given notice, by
pubic advertisement that they would petition the
LEGISLATURE, at its next Session, for IN amendment
OF their Charter Thcrcupon the City Council of
Augusta who had remained quicsccnt since l84S,
proceeded to give notice that they also would apply
10 the Legislature for Il renewal OF their Char
The pc,toncrS met and were heard before certain
Committees of The Legislature, in Dee. 1852. To
appreciate fully the claims of Augusta upon the IA
vor of the State, other matters must now be taken
into consideration. by reason of tie vast amount
Of produce and freight passing between tho Drpois
Of the, Georgia and South Carolina L. Road Compa-
ncs across the Bridge, the tolls had now mounted
up. as il is believed to some thirty thousand dollars
rb, nf tru thn
pcnses of drayagc and the burthcn Of the tolls,
pressed, sorely upon the trade of both the States,
aud especially upon the South Carolina Rul Road
Company That Company had authority from, the
Legislature Of tbs State, to erect their Bridge from
the South Carolina bark TO the centre Of the River
bu, from thence to The Georgia bank they could not
extend it, except by the permission of Augusta
This privilege the City Council of Augusta for years
wi,hheld-,hey would not forego the tolls-and
finally in 1852, when the pressure from the Com
mcrcia interests Of both States grew too strong to
resist they yielded only upon the condition that
they should receive from the South Carolina Rail
Road Company, IN which the State herself was
large Stakeholder, the moderate sum Of one hun
drcd thousand dollars. No hotter terms could be
had. so the bargain was struck and the price paid
Bat the City Council Of Augusta were possessed Of
the franchise of tolls in respect to the Bridge, solely
under the Charter from Georgia. If the central
thread of the River should prove TO be the bounda-
nv between the two States, then the Bridge, though
extending in fact from bank to bnnk would in lac
he toll bridge only 10 the centre of The River. In
that event the City Council Of Augusta, in respect
to the toH.Jridge, would stand towards this State
substantially in the same position the South Carroll
ma r. r. Company had recently stood towards them.
And now let us sum up-'rhc City Council of Au-
gusta had placed upon the records Of our Court an
explicit and formal denial that any portion Of the
Savannah River was within the territorial limits Of
this State They had procured TO be passed, an
Act of the Legislature Of Georgia, extending her
jurisdiction almost in terms, over the whole River
and under its authority thcy had practically and ac
tualiy given to it that operation They had usurpcd
an important franchise Of the State, and appropriated
the large profits incident to it for the space Of four
wears They had long denied to the South Carroll
ma Rail Road Company, what was loudly demanded
by the Commercial interests of both States, the
right of extending their Road from the centre Of
the River to the Georgia bank, and had not con-
scntcd until they had wrung from the State, with
the other Stockholders of that Company, the enor-
nous sum of one hundred thousand doars.-And
now. n, the very next Session of her Legislature,
they petitiuned that like privilege in respect to the
tol-bridge, be conferred upon them, gratuiously,
And to render the whole proceeding pre- eminenty
unique the argument in their behalf, was introduced
with protestation to the effect that the question Of
her right of jurisdiction over the River, was waived
only for the present. In the long tract of time was
there ever an application to Jaror OF State at