The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-12-01
The Report of tho Railroad oomm,s,,o,

'"' we HSis and Courier, NoreniJtr 2Il
NO topic comes nearer homo IN ,,,o .
PIE Oh , s'uth Carolina than the relations Of
.ne sa'iroads TO the public. There is No
douDt that the people have felt that ,ba
powers conferred Oh the railroads are =,
''mes abused, and the shippers of freight
'i'aoe 10 pay more than the service rem
uered Is worth. This feeling is strongest
"heh The merchant or farmer finds th,, ho
pays less money for the transnortat;o, NJ,
ieient lor long distance 10 a cnnnntin..
point than for shorter distance whore
.i'ese Is no competition. Then, too there
~ 'nc belief in personal and cornorote
'".ois' allowances to individuals and dis
examinations in favor of allied corporotions
the whole going counter to the nonu,,r
idea that the railway must be q nnh,ic
foA'i 80 lar as is consistent with safety
eoou management and an adequate return
III the shape of profits, 10 the actual
owners OF the property There is an in.
tense desire in the State to keep the rail.
roaus within due bounds, but there is
no WISH to impair the value of
railroad property, by arbitrary regulation
at q time when so much new canitoI ;s
coming into the State for railroad purposes
ana uses. South Carolina is n conserva.
tive State, and at the last session or tbe
General Assembly Joint Committee was
appointed to whom should he referred all
memorials and bills relating TO discrimina-
tion by common carriers, with instructions
to report by Bill at the next session of tbe
Legislature. The Committee SO raised
consisted of Senators Smythe and Gaillard
ana Representatives John C. Haskell
James Simons and II. H. Newton. The
Dill they have presented, as the result of
their iabors, is an elaborate one, the intcn-
ton being to cover in it the whole law
relating to railroads in South Carolina.
The Committee had before them, we can
conceive, three distinct lines of thought.
l. 10 let the railroads alone =. To super
wise or overlook the railroads, in the inter
est of the public, rs is done in AIassachu-
sets. 3. To undertake the actual rcpula-
tion OF the railroads as is done in Georgia.
The Committee wisely, rs we think, took
the middle course, with important varia-
tlons. The purpose Of the bill is to secure
oversight and knowledge and thence cor
rectlon, but this correction must always be
made by the tribunals of the State. II is
the aim of the Committee, as we under
stand their bill, to tell both the railroads
and the people what their obligations and
privileges are, and give them the means in
the Courts Of enforcing the one and main
tanning the other
The Committees bill opens with the
ruling that corporation which maintains
and operates raaroad other than that
which it built shall be subject to the
same responsibilities as the original
road. This is, we presume, to put
purchasing or leasing companies in the
shoes Of the concerns they get possession, Of
There are, Of course, many new provisions
in the bill. and we cannot hope to do more
than give the tenor Of them. For exam
pie No railroad company shall take or
hold bonds or stock Of other companies, or
guarantee them, except by special author
ity of the Legislature or under the terms of
the bill, and "the amount Of bonds of one
cor more other corporations or companies
Subscribed for and held by any railroad
corporation, or guaranteed by it, shall not,
together with the amount of its own
"bonds, exceed at any time the amount of
"its capital stock actually paid in cash.
The bearing of this is not hard to see.
There is another provision in the same di-
rection, viz: That no railroad corporation
shall subscribe to the stock of, or retain
liabilities upon, a.y bran or connecting
railroad, in excess Of . per cent. of its own
paid up capital stock, or shall mortgage its
property to secure loans or subscriptions,
except by vote Of three-fourths in inter
est Of all the stockholders. The provisions
regarding proxies are made very stringent.
No one, rs proxy, shall cast more than one
represented or owned Ivy the same person
no officer of n corporation shall ask for or
receive proxies, and no salaried officer shall
vote as proxy
1t is needfnl in order to an intelligent
comparison of the statistics of railroads,
that they shall run to the same time and be
made up in the same way. With this view
the bill requires that railroads shall make
specific reports in forms prescribed by the
bill, at fixed time. All reports arc re-
quired to be made up to June 80 in each
year. The forms are taken from those re-
commended by the meeting of Railroad
Commissioners of the United States
In the matter of Determinations by rail
roads the bill follows the general line of
the Reagan bill now before the United
States House of Representatives. The
special sections against discrimination are
as follows:
SEC. %. It shall be unlawful for any person or
persons engaged alone or associated with others
In tho transportation OF property ny faiiToa1
within the limits OF this State. directly or IN
directly to charge receiy. from any person or
persons any greater or less rate or amount OF
freight. compensation. or reward than is
charged TO or received from any other person or
persons for like and contemporaneous service
in the carrying, receiving. delivering, H'or-
ing, or handling of tho samo articles OF the
same character and description. And all persons
engaged as aforesaid shall furnish, without dis
l.f f1r tI,nr nvria
delivery, storage and handling OF all
property of like character carried by him or
them. and shall perform with equal expedition
the same kind OF services connected with tho
transportation thereof as nfore-
said. No break, stoppage or interruption, nor
any contract, agreement or understanding sEaii
be made to prevent the carriage of any property