The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-01-23

domain. frem their former possession
Of stock which they have since sold, or
from joint ownership once, but not
now, held by the State-all coed citi-
Zens should unite in claiming the bene-
fits which the assertion and mainten-
aEce OF that right will secure.
But, on the other hand, let il be ad-
mitted that the railroad companies have
rights which commend themselves to
an impartial consideration. They be-
lieve that they are entitled To make
rate-TegulatiOns within the limits of
their charters, and that the grant and
acceptance of the charters constitute
contracts which cannot in good faith be
&nnulled. They fOrtify themselves in
their position by reference 10 the 10th
section OF the first article OF the Consti-
tuition OF the United States, wherein
states are prohibited from passing laws
Imparing the obligation Of contracts. ."
They quote, moreover, from tue 20th
| section Of article lst of the Constitution
Of our own State, the guaranty that mo
law imparing the obligation of contracts
shall be made" and they cite from a
weil-known decision Of the Supreme
Court Of Tennessee the declara.io that
"a charter Of incorporation is a scon-
tract within the meaning of this pro-
vision"
The East Tennessee, Virginia and
Georgia Railroad Company is making
no factiOus opposition TO the law which
created n Railroad Commission. The
management has no disposition to OBJ
struct the execution of any constitu u
tional enactment, but il is the privilege,
as well as its duty 10 those whose inter
ests are intrusted TO its charge, 10 as
ceTiOin both the cOmpany's rights and
ITS obligations. This obiect-and
nothing mOre-it is seeking 10 effect
through an application TO the judicia.
tribunals. No other course Of procedure
was available, and, in resOrting to this,
the company has done only what, under
SIMILAR circumstances, would have been
done by any corporation or any indi-
vidual in tho land.
y common (perhaps the most com
mOn) objection urged against railway
management Is that il inequitably dis
eliminates in rates of transportation by
carrying through, for less than LEGAL
passengers and freights. Let us
see whether there is any validity In the
objection.
A railroad must, in order to sustain
its own life, make money enough to
meet its expenditures. The amount
derived from the local travel and freight
Of East Tennessee would not, at exist
ing rates, keep up the East Tennessee,
Virginia and Georgia Railway. The
company, IL no other than local bust
ness presented itself, would therefore,
be compelled to raise its rates or to dis
continue its operations. But to a large
proportion OF the travellers, aud TO vast
quantities OF the freight, which are
continually passing between the North
ern and Eastern and the Southern and
Southwestern States, ;he East Tennes-
see, Virginia and Georgia Railroad
offers as good a route as any other.
Those interested in the matter say, give
Us the same rates that are proposed by
competing lines which are not hamper
cd by demands tor tariff uniformity,
and we will adopt your route. The
road being already established, il is
manifest that this business can be taken
AZ rates which, for the addition, are
profitable, but for the aggregate, would
be ruinous. Uniformity cannot be
secured by n general adoption Of the
higher, or average, rates, for that would
drive all the foreign business away,
while the universal application OF the
lower rates would render the msinten-
ance o! the road impossible.
The local traveller and shipper can
hardly fail, upon a careful examination
Of the facts, TO see that the foreign
business, although done at a lower
tigures than are charged to them, inures
90 their benefit in making their own
rates lower than they could be with out
IL, aud (by the increase Of the NUN Der
trEins,l in enlarging their facilities for
travel and shipment. 1t is OF advantage,
too, 10 the entire community in this,
that il increases the employment Of Ia
Dor, and the distribution Of money
which would never in any other way be
brought into the State.
While railroad companies, like all
public organizations and public men,
are properly the subjects of judiCio Is
criticism, they have the right Of exemp-
ton from attacks that are either unfair
Jr vindictive. The position they hold
as factors in the creation of individual
and national prosperity ought TO secure
for them the hearty cooperation of the
PEOPLE in all their legitimate under
takings.
Let us imagine the condition OF East
Fennessee-shut up in her mountains
without a railroad.
Some OF US KEW what it was in the
past. / am not an old man, but re-
member the time when corn was sold
Oy the single wagon load at fifteen
cents a bushel on eur streets; when the
agent Of a New Orleans house bought
ia East Tennessee 1O0, O60 bushels-shel-
led, sacked and delivered on the river
bank-at ten cents per bushel; when the
expense and losses incident to river
transportation were so great that, al
fhnuuh gnrrt NE than wunrfh Al n five
cents a bushel IN New Orleans, the East
tennessee purchaser lost money. ! re-
member, too, when the Knoxville price
for wheat was SO Is cents per bushel In
cash, and 40 cents in barter; when dres-
sed hogs were dull At two cents n pound
and the best beef met with slow sale al
The same price; when land on Gay street
between Church aud Clinch, was bought
az eight and a third dollars per frost
loot, and when all these purchases were
made in currency that was worth but
"a per cent In coin, and only 90 per CT.
Ia New York exchange. / remember
when the pay Of a common laborer WAS
from 40 20 90 cents a day, and Of me-
chanic dollar; ,when the wagonage of
many classes Of goods exceeded their
Northern cost, and when the heavy pro-
ducts OF the farm could not be sent TO
distant markets az all.
Wonderful changes have taken place
since that day. This little village OF
5000 inhabitants has expanded into a
beautiful prosperous and still rapidly
growing city Of %, 900. The merchant
prince who prided himself upon annual
sales amounting 10 500, 0c0, now runs
his business every year into millions.
Manufacturing establishments have
sprung up. giving employment and
good wages 10 hundreds OF people; and
farmers all around Us, who formerly
titled their lands in hopelessness, have
bean imbued with new life, and have
largely improved the methods and in