The Opelousas courier., 1882-05-27
Suits for Damages.

In the case of Edmund c. Quirk VS..
the Morgan Rail Road Company for
damages and compensation for the
killing of o fine mare by one of the
trains, the Hon. G.. W. Hudspeth, on
Wednesday last, gave judgment for
plaintiff, which we trust will be follow
ed by similar judgments in all other
such suits now pending before the
court, or which may hereafter be
brought against the company. 1t mat
ters not under what circumstances an
animal is killed by passing trains, there
should be law compelling them to
pay . fair valuation in eUery case.
Their engineers would not be so reck-
less, and the officials weuld learn to
respect the rights of the people. A
great many animals have been killed
by the criminal neglect of engineers to
check the speed of their trains when
approaching stock on the track, and
it has really appeared. by the frequen-
cy of these accidents (I, that they did
not care whether they destroyed them
or not. Since the institution of these
suits there has been noticeable diff
ference in the precaution of engineers,
which goes to prove that they have
been careless and reckless, heretofore,
and that they recognize the liability of
the company, under the law for dam
ages. But our legislature shonld pass
an act clearly defining the liabilities of
railroad corporations in such cases,
and fix the penalties so as to lessen the
expenses aud delays by suits in our
courts of justice. In most of the states
where stock is killed by passing trains
the only thing required by the railroad
companies is for the owner of the stock
to prove his property before the agent
at the nearest railroad station. Then
the value of the animal is settled by
arbitration, the owner of the animal
selecting one man, the railroad agent
selecting another, and these two third
as an umpire, who assess the actual
value Of the animal killed and then
sign the articles of arbitration. The
agent then pays the owner the amount
so assessed without any further pro
ceedings in the matter.- By this just
and equitable conrse there is never any
trouble between the railroad authori-
ties and the people Why cannot the
Morgan Company proceed upon the
same principles of simple justice and
make friends of the people of Louisi
ana, instead of making them enemies
by their persistent course of oppres-
sion?
The railroad authorities are in streng
force at Baton Rouge attempting to
defeat the bills introduced in the legis-
lature to regulate tariff of charges
upon travel and freights, alleging that
such law would put stop to railroad
building and drive capital out of the
state. This is all bosh, because just
such laws exist in nearly all of the
states, and all of the lines of railroads
are making money under said laws,
and new railroads are sill being built
Notwithstanding these regulations con-
trailing them. You might just as we'll
say, that you will drive immigration
from the state, because people will not
be permitted to do as they please when
they settle here Railroads must be
af1enable to the law as we'll as the peo-
Pile, otherwise they are bound to be
lawless and oppressive. We hope that
oar legislators will do their duty to
their constituents in this matter.