Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-05-03


sufficient public interest to warrant the
request.
My attention has been called to an edito-
rial article in the Southern Enterprise of the
10th ultimo, which here follows In full:
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.
"There is a big effort being made all along
this line of road-the Savannah, Florida and
Western-to get up feeling of opposition
to the Commission. We expect it will be
In part successful. Mr.: Haines, who is the
General Manager of the Savannah, Florida
and Western, is a most excellent gentle
man. a thorough railroad man and very
popular along the line of his road, and
when he sets himself to work to create
feeling against the Commission, he is very
likely to succeed. We believe Mr.. Haines
was the author of the Commission to this
extent, that be suggested to the committee
the idea of having a Commission of three
men, instead of fixed rates in the act itself,
| and he deserves great credit for the part he
| took In the matter. Now, however, there is a
difference between Mr.. Haines and the Com
mission, and he wishes the Commission
abolished, or the law modified. We feel
just this way about the whole matter. We
wish to see the roads generally, and espe-
cially this road, the Savannah, Florida and
western, make enough to pay all expenses,
u
fair percentage on all capital actually in
vested in the road. The present Commits
sioners claim that they have fixed their
rates so that this can be done; it seems very
evident that other roads have found it so
but Ii the Savannah, Florida and Western
does not find it so, let them present a show
! ing, based on actual experience, the actual
receipts and expenditures under the Com.
mtssioAers' rates, to the Commissioners,
and we believe they will give better rates, if
necessary. Ii they refuse then, we believe
the road can and ought to get relief at
the hands of the Legislature. We do
not believe any amount of theorizing or any
talk about the Commission standing in the
! way of the extension of the road or ANYTHING
OF that kind will have any effect on the
members Of the General Assembly-what
! they want and must have to act on is proof,
In figures, that the receipts are not enough
| to pay expenses, including interest, and
leave fair per cent. to the stockholders on
money actually invested.
"We have no desire to antagonize the
road, but on the contrary desire to see 1t
| prosper, and are particularly anxious to see
! it extended towards New Orleans suff
ciently far to place it on the direct line of
| Jay Gould's Pacific road. Still we think iC
! ought to do the very best it can to make
money under the Commissions rules, aud
| do 1t cheerfully, aud then, If it fails, we be-
lleve relief will come"
The article is considerably and kindly ex-
pressed, as might be expected from the
character OF the courteous gentleman who
wrote it. Indeed the complimentary re-
fereuces to me are more than l deserve.
If, upon our own line and among our own
friends, the course of the Savannah, Florida
and WesGern Railway Company, and the
acts OF its General Manager are misunder-
| stood, there is occasion for this eX planation.
This is not the first time that we have
been pointed at as "hghting the Commis-
siOn." Ii by "fghting the Commission" is
meant resort to peaceful and lawful means
of ascertaining whether the Commission
could establish freight and passage tariffs
for the Savannah, Florida and Western
Railway Company that would reduce
its income below its expenditures, thea
the bondholders aud stockholders
of this company must plead guilty
| to the charge, with whatever of
odium may attach to it. Bat have yet to
DE convinced that the people of Georgia
want anything of the railroads but what is
just and fair, or that the Legislature intend
ed anything else when it created the Com
mission. | believe this, despite Judge
Woods refusal to take this view of the case
| In doing Sc be followed the assertion OF
the United States Supreme Court that when
the constitution of State gave the Legisla-
ture the power to make railroad rates, that
| COuTb WOuIu HOG lHJeTI6Te, even GUOug0 q
| railroad corporation would be bankrupted
thereby. Able counsel thought, and still
| think, that neither the convention which
| framed our constitution nor the Legislature
which made the law, intended that private
property should be damaged for public pur-
poses without just compensation Be that
as 1t may, the courts will not, for the pres
ent, protect railroad property against any
damage that the Commission may do to
it.
What are the owners of this property, or
| perhaps | should not say the owners, but
those who bid it in at public sale ordered
by Judge Woods own court and paid their
money for 1t, what are they to dor Are
they to suffer and be silent? Are those who
are responsible to these stockholders for a
prudent, business-like management of their
property to kiss the rod that smites
them, and come Up smiling for
further punishment every time the
| Railroad Commission issues a star
chamber edict heard of for the first time in
a newspaper advertisement? | for one, say
No! As long as this is a country in which
free speech and free press is not forbidden,
| intend to make use of both in defending
the interests OF the company which l have
the honor to serve, whenever perceive that
they are in danger. | shall do this notwith
standing the official announcement OF the
Commission that its powers, 'like thumb
litigation to test them is dangerous" Truer
words were never uttered, as events have
| shown, and it will be we'll for the Legisla
ture, at It's approaching session, to let the
people see whether 1t will continue to dele
gate such despotic power to three officials
the power to condemn railroad corporation
to bankruptcy without trial and without ap-
peal.
The editor of the Southern Enterprise will
| please bear in mind in any future discussion
| of this matter that the complaint of this
company Is that the Commissioners rates
will not furnish an income sufficient to meet
its expenses. The complaint may not be
well founded, but, if we honestly believe it,
would the management of the company not
fail to do its duty IL it did not try by all
| lawful means to prevent such a catastrophe?
| 1t is OF no use to say that We should cry out
to the Commission; we have been there. We
have put up our piteous wall to spare US, but
in vain. A statement was made in detail of
the annual earnings of the road for the past
| eight years. A comparison was made of the
business of each station, showing what it
had been at our own rates, and what il
would be at the Commissioners rates, and
that the average loss would be
over $4,000 per annum. If the
| General Manager and the Treasurer of the
road are truthful men, then there was no
doubt of the result The so-called "stand-
ard" rates had been made by three gentle
men who never made freight rate before
in their lives. Indeed, they did not make
these. They copied them from the
rates of the Georgia Road and
the Western and Atlantic Road.
They borrowed the classifcations made
by the Southern Railroad and Steamship
Association, commonly known as the
"pool," and they applied these rates to the
| business of a company over whose line,
believe, neither one of them had ever been.
| What we asked was to leave our rates alone
| until it was seen whether we could earn a
dividend with them If we had been
permitted to do so, and had earned
too much money, then there might
have been some show of Justice in the
course Of the Commission. What wonder
that the stockholders sought elsewhere for
| relief? have been told that the Commits
sioners were very much offended at this,
aud that we need never expect favorable
consideration from them hereafter. l
| do not believe this. | agree with their
newspaper champions that the public
career of these gentlemen is sufficient war
rant that they would not misuse the des
potic powers delegated to them by the
Legislature. / do not wish to suggest such
a thing. only mention it to show the
| impressions that have been made by their
treatment of our company, and to call at
tention to the possible consequences IL this
| great and uncontrolled power should hap
pen to get into worse hands. | do not
doubt that they are honestly convinced that
we can make eight per cent. dividends on
| THAR I lIxyb bopocf fn