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

. - .. u one i'ali by rr-
tue of the one Charter and the residue by virtue OF
the other But on the 18th Dee. 1915 the Charter
from South Carolina, under which The City Council
Of Augusta claimed, expired. Did they thercnpull
as they ought to have done, reduce their tolls to the
one half only Of their former rate Not so. They
continued 10 exac, then, before without abatc-
mcnt. When, for example. they received tell from
persons desiring TO pass from the Georgia side, did
they receive il for passage to the centre of the
Bridge only, or for passage across tho entire struc
,ure from bauk to bank3 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 tho right 10 take such toll is an
incident Of sovereignty-a franchise vested in the
Sl;tc--a privilege "f public nature, which cannot
legally be exercised without Charter grant from
the Legislature. And yet the City Council Of Au-
guSla, from 18th Dee. 1913 to Nov. 1852, contin-
ued TO exact such and the SAME tolls as had been
taken under Charters from both the States, making
no application whatever f,r the renewal Of the for
mcr Charter granted by S. Carolina. They never
would have applied for such renewal, infer, bnd
no, JONES 6 KENNEDY, in 1852, given notice, by
pub ic 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 lS4S,
proceeded to give notice that they also would apply
TO the Legislature for Il renewal of their Clare ,er-
The petitioners met and were heard before certain
Committees of the Legislature, in Dec. 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 the vilst amount
of produce and freight passing between tho DcpOts
Of the Georgia and South Carolina Il. Road Compa-
MES, across tic Bridge, the tolls had mounted
up as it is believed To thirty thousand dollars
annually The delays Of transportation-thc ex-
pclisrs Of drayagc and the burthcn Of the tolls
pressed sorely upon the trade of both the States,
aud especially upnn the South Carolina Rul Road
Company. That Company had authority from the
Legislature Of this State, TO erect their Bridge from
the South Carolina bank to the centre of the River
but from thence to the Georgia banl; they could not
extend it, except by the permission Of Augusta
This privilege the City Council of Augusta for years
wiihheIl-lhey would not forcgo the tolls--and
finally in 1852, when the pressure from the Com
mcrcial 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 Que hun
drcd thousand dollars. No better terms could be
had so the bargain was struck and the price paid
But 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-
ry between the two States, then the Bridge, though
extending in fact from bank to bank would in ia,c
he toll bridge only to the centre of The River In
that event the City Council Of Augusta, in respect
to the tOH.jridgc, would stand towards this State,
substantially in the same position the South Carroll
ma r. L. Company had recently stood towards them.
And now let us sum up-Thc 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, m
Act of the Legislature Of Georgia, extending her
jurisdiction almost in terms, over the whole River,
and under its authority they had practically and ne
tualiy given to il that operation They had usurpcd
an important franchise Of the State and appropriated
the large profits incident to it for the space Of four
years 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 SUN of one hundred thousand dollars.-And
now, at the very next Session of her Legislature,
tey petitioned that like privilege in respect to the
toll.brdge, be conferred upon them, grdtuitously
And to render the whole proceeding pre- cmincntly
uniaue the argument in their behalf, was introduced
with protcstation to the effect that the question OF
her rirht of Jurisdiction over the River waived
oniy for the present In the long tract Of time was
there application to the tau0r Of State, at