The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-07-04
Signed Away.

The power, then, 10 supervise corpora
tons within Constitutional limits" 80
far as Mississippi is concerned-"by
Legislative authority" was signed away
by the Legislature of 1882 to the new
companies that it chartered, and only
exists, if at all, in reference to the old
roads. And even in the instance Of one
of the old roads, its right and left arms
are free and carefully protected, while
our contemporary and those who thiRk
with him, are clamorous for an oppor-
tunity to shackle the parent STEM
Aberdeen Examiner
The foregoing declaration has been
repeatedly made by the Examiner whose
zeal outruns its discretion, as we have
taken it for granted that no railroad at
torney, nor accredited representative Of
the corporations, would venture so rash
an assumption. We will venture to say
that therewas no bargain" contract, FOR
anything else, expressed or implied, to
authorize the declaration. A general
supervisory bill passed the House with
but fifteen dissenting votes. 1t failed
in the Senate for want Of agreement
among the friends of supervision as to
the details. Numerous friends of super
vision, among them the able and distin-
gulshed champion Of the doctrine, Hon.
i. Ill. Woods, Of Lauderdale, knowing
the existence of the power in the absence
OF such clause, opposed its insertion in
the charters because not only superero-
gatiys in its effect, but embarrassing
to the companies, Nobody thought
that the Legislature was tying the hands
OF the future Legislatures by the liberal
charters it gave. II could not have
done 80 If it would, and would not if it
could.
The Examiner to prove that the Legis.
lature has disarmed the State of its
right OF control, cites provision in one
OF the charters fixing maximum be-
yond which the companies could not 20
in prescribing its tolls. We happen to
have before u.s. an extract from decision
of the Supreme Court of Tennessee
(Ragan vs. Aiken, 8 Sec. 6O9) on that
very point. "That the intent was X vi
to fix a maximum beyond which
the company could not go, and leave the
tariff OF charges within that limit to the
company subject to the rule of the com,
mon law that the charges should be
reasonable and to the regulating po,oer OIL
the Courts and the Legislature" Mean |
ing, as expressed by an eminent iurist
that charters like the one referred to bv
the Examiner, do not imply any legisla-
tive contract not to regulate the rates
Of the company even within the maxi.
mum rates beyond which the companv
= forbidden to go. But there is still |
higher authority, 1t is the very recent
decision of the Supreme Court of the
United States, from which there
$ no appeal, that clause in a
charter authorizing a company to
TX its rates of toll, is not contract
restraining the State from enforcing
legislation. How in the
ace Of this decision our contemporary,
he Examiner, has reached its conclusion
hat the Legislature has forever tied the
lands OF the State in the matter of
regulating corporations, we are utterly
1t loss to conceive. At all events the
Extraordinary assumption of the Exam
ner, if it speaks byauthority, will neces-
arily precipittee settlement Of the
ssue, so that the people and the corpor-
tions may, exactly understand their
lights respectfully.
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