Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-04-02
ASSEMBLY,.


Adjourned till 10 A. VI Wednesday.
ASSEMBLY.
The House met at 10 NJ, Speaker IaRue in the
chair. Several members were granted leave Of ab.
sence for the dav The House by unanimous vote.
refused to grant Mott Los Angeles leave Of absence
for the term, or an indefinite lesve Of absence /,
was the expressed opinion Of many Of the members
that Assemtlymen Mc.itt Of Los Angeles and
Clements # Alameda, VINO have not put in an ap-
pearance this telm were not entitled TO per diem OF
mileage,
The special order, Barry's bill to prevent dis
elimination and abuses by railroad corporations,
WAS taken up and considered BY sections
Secticn $ s. tened very Objectionable 10 many Of
the members, and created quite q discussion. II
reSdS as follows All railroad corporations must
al all times, maintain ali their track and othel
structures in good and sufficient repair aud in .
state of complete efficiency for the purpose foi
which they were constructed or adopted. Any sucf
track or structure dec1yed, destroyed, OF removed
must be diligently replaced restgrcd T. as good
or better condition OF usefulness and efficiency a,
before such decay or removal"
Booth moved % amend by adding the following
Nothing in this section contained shall be con
strued to prevent such corporations from making
such charges in the location and grade Of their
roads as may now be made under existing laws
The amenCment advocated ably BY Messrs
Johnston, Booth, harton and Irwin, and opposed
by Barry, Granger and AtwelL
y
Ayes-Barnes, Bayley, Booth, Bowers, Brown
Camnetti, Campbell, Carter, Gary, Crumptou. Cut
YER, F6w, Hamilton, Harvey, Heath Irwin, John.
ston, heeer, Lewison, Martlu, Mathews, McClsskey
9cllale, Mckinley, Murdock, Murphy, Nico
Parker Piover, Reeves, Ryan, Stewart Wallace
Walratn NhartOn-35.
Noes Atweu. Barry, Beard. Bibb. Brcejand, Cal
laghan, Clark Doty, Farley Field, Fleming FLYNN,
ForJna, Gaussa Granger, Han, Head, Healey,
Hershey Hunter, herrick, Mcdonald, OConu5r,
Peterson, Rawle, khiel, Simon, stephens Storke,
Terry, Townsend, Weaver, Wheat, Wheelan, Yell,
Mr. spesker-S7.
Section was next considered, several amend
ments We're proposed, but all voted down.
Wallace introduced five constitutional amend
ments and bill. of these, there was one to amend
Section Of Article Nil. IJhe bill Is the same as
that introduced in the Senate by Spencer of Napa
and which is given IN the Senate proceedings above
The Amendment 10 Section of Article MIL, in
troduced by Wallace, provides that mortgage, deed
Of trust, etc, shall be treated interest in the
property affected thereby, except where such mort
cages, are held by or are made IN favor OF the
State or Of the United States. The value Of the
property, less the value Of such security shall be
taxed to the of ihe property in the county in
which the property is situated. When the property
Is in more than one county, the whole Of IL will be
assessed as a unit by the State Board Of Equaliza-
tion. The taxes are made lien upon the property.
The amendment to Section of Article NIL, by
the same author, is the same that introduced by
Senator Spencer, as above
The bill introduced by Wallace is for three per
cent income taX and is the same as the one intro.
duced in the Senate by Spencer OF Napa, au outline
of which is above given.
The bill and the amendments were referred to the
appropriate committees.
At Il O'Clock the House took recess to P. ".
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Long before the opening hour the Assembly
Chamber was well filed with spectators, among
whom were all the State officers, prominent San
Francisco journals and many ladies.
Immediately after the House was called n order
Murdock moved that the special order, the consd.
Grafton Of Judge Walace's resolutions, be post.
poned until P NJ. Wednesday.
Wharton Of Fresno seconded the motion, and said
he thought it better for the Assembly to apply
themselves to passing the laws for which they were
called together, instead Of wasting their time in
passing resolutions that never could become laws.
The motion was lost, and the Barry bill under
consideration in the forenoon was made the special
order for Wednesday morning
The Clerk then read the special order of the after.
noon, the resoldtious offered by Waiiace concern
ing railroads being public use. etc.
Wallace addressed the Assembly in a long speech,
in which ne said: The resolutions set forth the
that made it necessary for tle Governor to
convene the Legislature. He said for three four
wears past the principal railroad in this State had
refused 10 pay their taxes and at last in the Circuit
Court they had obtained Judgment that c0unte-
nanced their claim that there was no law in the
STATE to compel them to obey the revenue laws.
This he deemed sufficient for the call of the Gov
position OF the State had ben Overruled and the
Judgment entered, this corporation came f,rward,
and, in spirit of affected generosity, say "We owe
you nothing, but We will be generous and give you
payment Of these taxes surely, that was an eN-
traOrdnary occasion.
The decision of the Circuit Court he continued,
aroused the people, and We have come here 10 pass
some measures to preclude 4 repetition. The reso-
lutiOns are the simple assertion Of principles that
underlie the poll ical system of our Government
Owing to the fact that they called TO egislate
that particular subject, he claimed it was neces-
sary understand the nature snd character of the
property If the railroads were in truth and fact
the property OF the corporations, then he c ctimed
legislation would be unjustiflbe. Ii it is private
property, and they own 1t, the legislation should be
the same for them as for individuals but If it is
public property, then the legislation must be far
different. Some Of the san Francisco press say :
The assertion that raj road property does not be-
long to private corporations Is q heresy. Tney
claim that " the roads are private property" etc
These, he said, were examples OF the public press
which show ed enmity in high quarters where the
public look for information. They say il is heresy
Tor the introduction Of this resolution to assert that
they are public property These corporations exer-
csed the right OF eminent domain They were
armed with this power, and took the right OF way
of private individuals by paying for it, whether they
desired or not Should the public yield the power
of eminent domain for private purpose?
The speaker referred TO case decided in the Su-
preme Court of Pennsylvania in lS56-:he case OF
the Erie and Northeast Railroad vs. Casey. Jere
Black was Of the Judges on the Bench before
whom it was argued, and by whom it was decided.
The Northeast Railway Company had been granted
a charter TO build road within a limit of ten years
The company held subsidies, but were simply
allowed TO build the road at their own expense.
They had the right OF eminent domain, nothing
else. They failed to complete the entire length
within the time required by the charter. Although
they had spent $780, 600 and actively operating
the greater portion of the road, the Attorney Gen
era brought suit to compel them to build the bal
Of fhp q mo
company then completed the road at an expense of
$4,000 more, making total cost Of $50, 900.
Afterwards the Legislature forfeited the charter of
the company, because it claimed that they had
broken their contract in not completing it within
ten years The Governor appointed Casey to take
possession of the road. He was enioined by the
corporation claiming that 1t was their property
The Judges decided against the corporation, and
sustained the Legislature, alth 1ugh two Of them
said that while such the street pT ncipe OF law
they thought it should not have been done after the
State, through its Attorney General, had invited
the company into Court, aud the Court had deter.
mined what, under the circumstances, il should do
that it should complete the road, and after it bad
done so these two Judges Thought the char
ter should not have been taken away
The State Constitution declares that no mans
property can be taken for public use without COM
pensation. Railroads built under tins law are
public highways. On this principle alone can
lands be seized to build railroads. Twenty five
yeSrs later, Mr.. Black talked about this case, and
cision referred to. 1t is mistake for
gentlemen Of capital, who earn their money
by the labor of their hands and sweat
OF their brow, to imagine for a moment that this
affects their property There is no alliaEce-there
is no likeness whatever-between those who hold
the public property and those who hold private
property There is wide difference, said the
speaker, between tie learned jurst and the repre-
sentstives Of the San Francisco press upon the floor
OF the Assembly.
S nee Introducing these resolutions the speaker
said he had received news from the Circuit Ccurs
OF Tennessee where further than in the recent case
in the Circuit Court OF this State 5he railroads
declared to be private property, and that the Rail
road Commissioners are an unconstitutional body.
OF course if it is private property said he it en-
not be controlled by legislation. Private property
canIjot be turned to public use. The Tennessee
decision speaks in uumistakab1e words that ii is
private property.
In conclusion the speaker s2id there were efforts
being made to further and establish this view Of
the situation both by corporations and the press,
but these views must be met, aDd the principle that
railroaos are public property must be maintained.
Booth made an able speech Ia reply 10 that OF
Judge Wallace. He said the Pennsylvania case re-
ferred to vas not in point. Their charter was a
contract and the violation of the contract worked a
| forfeiture He read many and late decisions hear.
| ing upon the subject, in support OF his position
among which vas one Of the Supreme Court ot
| Pennsylvania rendered in OCTOBER 1883 He
claimed the resolutions introduced by Wallace were
| not in accord with the decisions OF the Supreme
Court of California, and clearly established this fact
by reading decisions rendered while Mr. Wallace 4
| whom he was replying, was the Supreme benc.
| aud Joined in the decisions.
Nicol moved that the further consideration Of IN,
resolutions be postponed until Tuesday next ct y
| N. This provoked lengthy and animated discus
| sion Many amendments were offered freuuen
motions to adjourn mads, etc., but the amendment