The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1876-01-01

IS law, and they shall hold their Office for tn
= term of four years. They shall hold coUl
in each county at least twice in each veal
h ana shall receive such compensation as ma
= be provided bv law.
# Economy demands that the number G
: Chancellors should be reduced to the mini
= mum compatible with the efficient discharg
j OF the duties of the office.
RAILROADS.
1 The educational FUNDS OF the State, whicl
former Legislature granted to railroads
has been under litigation during the pas
year. Time but confirms the views enter
I tanned by me year ago, and which l nov
e reiterate:
Il L recommend the repeal of So much of al
81 act entitled ian Act to aid in the construc
en of the Vicksburg and Nashville Rail
ad," approved April Is, 1873, as surren.
Sers to the Vicksburg and Nashville Rail.
road Company, under certain conditions
trust funds known as the three per cent,
and the agricultural land scrip, which
am unit to some $3.50, 1000.
also recommend the repeal of so much
of an Act entitled can Act to amend the
several Acts now in force concerning the
Grenada, Houston and Eastern Railroad
Company, and for other purposes" approved
January IL, 1875, as exempts said railroad
company and its acquisitions from taxation.
The agricultural land scrip fund was
| recently bestowed by the United States, to
constitute perpetual fund-the capital of
which shall remain forever undiminished-
and the interest of which shall be inviolably
appropriated by each State, which may take
| and claim the benefit of this Act, to the en-
dowment, support and maintenance of at
least one agricultural college.
| The State was authorized, at the same
time, to invest this fund in ''Stock of the
| u. S. or of the States, or some other stocks"
Has the State done so?
The railroad company to which this fund
is proposed to be surrendered, has not COM
pleted single mile of road. As projected,
| it will when completed, extend some $50
the State of Tennessee, making total of
some 400 miles. The section now being
worked on is between Okolona, on the Mo-
bile & Ohio railroad, and Grenada, on the
Mississippi Central, (nOw the New Orleans,
st. Louis and Chicago) railroad, q distance
of some 65 miles. 1t is asserted that some
twenty miles are now ready for the iron.
Judging by its progress to the present
time, a number of yes RS must elapsc before
these six.y-f five miles can be completed and
in condition to pay interest on its bond.
Were 1t in working order to-day, between
Okolona and Grerada, it would run through
but one county untraversed by railroads
and would be but q feeder to two great rail
roads.
Its Southern terminus is some two hun
dred miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and
almost equi-distant intervals the road is in
tersected by three rich and powerful lines,
H.
The history of railroads has taught that
only through roads, which carry the pro-
duets of country to market, are successful,
and especially is this the case in sparsely
new roads are rarely, if ever, able to meet
the powerful demands of stock and bond |
holders.
Is a paper railroad. like this, one but lit |
tie more than projected, a safe Investment |
Is it one that can, in any reasonable period |
of time, from its legitimate business, pay an
interest OF eight per cent to its bondhOlders
Is it an Investment from which the principal
can be withdrawn at will? If n t, it GER
tainly is not the best investment that could
be made, nor even a safe one.
In the consideration of this subject, ii
must not be forgotten that the Vicksburg /
and Nashville Railroad is not railroad in
reality; 1t is but q projected one.
Observe the security extended by that
Company to the State. Four hundred miles
of road, at $4,000 per mile, supposed to be
a fair estimate when Completed and in good
running order, VIII cost some twelve mil
lions of dollars (Sl2,0O0OON: The State is
expected to advance to the road $320000
and receive, in return, the note of the Com
pany, secured by first mortgage bonds to
the same amount. Can this note be regard.
ed as safe stocks ?" Could the United
States, In bestowing this fund for the educa-
ton of our youth, have contemplate such
an investment
The first. mortgage bonds, proposed as
collateral security, cannot be deemed OF
much value; for other first mortgage bonds,
to the amount of some ten millions ($l0,O00,-
O0O) may be Issued. In fact, the law places
no restriction upon the amount of such
bonds.
The experience of the State, in aiding
railroads with its trust funds, has not been
of such a character as to cause its tax-pay-
ers to contemplate the effects of this law
with any very lively satisfaction.
In our reasoning as to the safety of this
investment. we should not neglect to con-
slider, should the law remain unrepealed,
the possible action of some future Legisla-
ture, when this company, in days of adver-
sity, appears before it and pleads poverty
or misfortune.
The success of this road can in no wise
depend on the sum of 100000 expected
from the State, which, though insignificant
as compared to the cost Of the road, is highly
important to the State. To withhold it,
cannot embarrass the road or impede its
progress. However. if 1t should, then the
"stocks'' of the Vickshurg and Nashville
Railroad cannot be regarded as safe, and |
the sooner the fact is known by the people
who are paying taxes in the interest of the |
road, the better.
We should be, if possible, more cautious
and circumspect in the disposition of the |
funds of the State, than with our own. Are |
We prepared, as individuals, to invest our
own funds in this enterprise?
By the original charter, and by. the Act
of January "a, 1872, heretofore referred to, |
the road is authorized to buy, with out re-
striction or limitation, and all its prop erty |
and acquisitions, of whatever character, |
shall he exempt from taxation for thirty |
years, or till the road shall pay dividend |
of eight per cent. to its stockholders.
Under such provisions, all the roads in |
the State can be consolidated, and their en-
tire wealth, amounting to tenth or a fifth
of the property of the State. would be ex-
empt from taxation. And this, too, though |
only a small section, of the road, in whose
interest the law was passed. should be built.
Who cannot foresee that such corporation |
would delay for many year the announce
ment that the stockholders were to be paid |
a dividend of eight per cent, and with such
announcement expose their millions to tax
alton.
Railroads, when friendly to the people |