Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-08-01
rhA oole Railroad Charter.

nox bsfore the Legislature for the GA.
Ter Of tie Atlanta and Rome hsi4f0.-'
We naturally supposed tbs; 4 ne ~
ion Of lis opponents there were ~
substantial grounds for sucn ppCs-''.-'
-, :. here Is 10 necessity Tor the
construction Of the proposed io4u' u
-. i-s construction would oepreclale
80 vsrne Of the state Road and conflict
=. - tights and interests Of existing
.---o-stioas chartered By The state
RIDER this conviction We expressed me
o-fnion that Il q necessity existed ior
he DroDosed road, and the Interests
Of the people would be promoted By rs
construction. the charter should Dc
GRANTED Bat OF the other hand, Il the
only interest 70 be subseryed 'sas thai Of q
foreign railroad combination, then Il
would be well for the Legislature y
besitste before It granted a charter 10 the
de,rfnept q los Fozted Interests Of the
state and people. We intimstesl further
more. that il granting charters 70 Tor
eiyn combinations ''the Legislature
should take care that We do not depreci-
ate the value nor hurtfUlly disturb the
p road system Of our State, that has
cost 90 msny years OF labor and 50 many
millions Of money 10 build Up.
For utteriBg these views our esteemed
Contemporary taxes Is TO task AID 81
raigns Us not only s. a. opponent Of
Colonel Coles road, but as opposing the
Interests Of Savannah. Il Is surprised
that We should fail 10 perceive tLat the
reaI Interests Of Savannah impersiively
demand the completion Of Colonel Coles
lines, and sdds;
s-Ors o. t. res1l-s q Colonel Coles con-
r.z-=5 system vii te - gre -sVsnnsn s1o
-svsrns1 Interests g c1npe-lnE Lac % TIE
Wes- an = adj % ne volume q Ire sll
which g1es % ths- Port for water tr@nsIoEls-
ton and distributor { h AoES-S1 SL-s -
sf.or1 % ignore these facts perhaps oul they
are q VI q interest . the business CONN unity
Of bs-sZ1sh-
We must confess that We lack penetra-
ton TO see wherein the vital interests Of
Savannah are involved il the completion
OF Colonel Coles line Of road from
Brunswick 70 Rome. Colonel Coles
! lire IS L Il z competing line f0r what.
For the through commerce from the
West 70 New York. 10 successfully
compete with the lines already existing,
he must make through bills Of freigh; BY
r.L and steamer 10 New York. To DO
this lie must have 3 continuous il
dspe1den. I1e % The sea We
tzL % see wherein ''the business
community Of Savannah would X bene-
f.ed By such : lie connecting with
steamers 2. another port Tie Atlantic
terminus q Col Coles line : ID. tie
port e S-vz1nz5, a.d tie iniinz.on
thz. treig1ts over lis LIE would "sGd
70 he volume q freight which Eoes .
IL. ~ SzTz--zt 20 water trz-spo--
-z.-5-. j. suggestive z bzd tzi,h . IL
po-r which : lie p-sse-: ALz-t-- ts-u--
us q lis Ines
We are 70; arguing sgz-z: he grant
i-E q E charter tor Col Coles -oz5. t--
oily 70 show hat the vital Interests
Of Savannah il lis line are 1ot 80 sppz-
rent
But We are Tot 20 selfish a. 70 oppose
. proper charter for Col Coles extension
u his line simply because It promises 10
benefit 10 our port As We have said,
the question Is one Of necessity, sound
policy and justice for the Legislature 70
determine. II there is necessity for
the road from Atlanta 70 Rome, or If It
Vii, without injustice 70 other corpora
tons OF detriment 70 the STATE property,
benefit tie people let the charter Be
grauted. Our c3temp0rary says ne
cessity7 for the Toad does exist Il says
WIN resp=ct % this. Il nay be said that the
Srs-= i-z=lf. through The medium o. the pres
s1- L-gislztu--. has created TIE necessity.
" len -Le Lzc1l and Brunswick Railroad was
SD tL- purchasers were emp led 70 enter
iE-o - 15llgstlo1 % complete the extension o.
-1z -1zc 20 Atlanta This was one Of tbe con
-l-oLs - TIE ssle BY which the purchasers
were C1IC1 To compel these men 70 build
1nIT % Atlanta where they would Dc prscti-
czIF oc-lsd uu-Ehere they would Be- al ths
mercy II a powerful combination controlling
re o1ly outlet 70 The West-Eould Be a. out
rsys-
L IS very certain that when the IA"
regulating the lease Of the Macon
md Brunswick Road was passed
5y previous Legislature. max
ing il obligatory on the lessees
u extend the road from Macon to At
la1ts, no such necessity" as our cotem-
p0rzry all1des 70 was contemplated.
The trainers Of the lease bill had other
objects IN view thsn competition with
the State Road. Their object was to
flank the Central Road, and to open a
competing line 10 the sea, in which no
citizen Of Georgia owning stock II any
other road leading 10 the sea should be
interested If this sort Of proscriptive
legislation created 3 necessity" for still
further hostile enactments, II was not
known AZ the time. Colonel Cole was
under 10 obligation to assume the full
fIment Of the terms Of that extraordi-
nary lease, and We cannot see how his
having stepped into the shoes of the
original lessees necessitates g charter for
an extension Of the Atlanta and Bruins
wick Road to Rome. The Constitution
maintains that it does. and says:
For the state . sep in row and say that
Z the road shall stop here. where il is az the
I mercy Of rival system, is not only an outrs ge
[ rut clear violation OF contract Il is as If
I the tate should compel one o. its citizers 70
make Al investment and then enact legisls-
zion intended 70 make his investment worth
less
We cannot see it in that light. Col.
Cole was not compelled to invest his
money in the Macon and Brunswick
lease If it was hazard the Legisla.
ture was not to blame Il would have
been very wrong for the Legislature to
have compelled Col. Cole, OF any one
else, ito make an investment and then
enact legislation to make his invest
ment worthless" But was it not equ.
ally wrong for the Legislature to grant
q charter by which citizens were induced
10 invest their money in g railroad, and
Afterwards enact legislation to impair the
value Of their investment?
But We have said more on this subject
than we intended We make no war