The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1886-01-20

authority for the company from time 10
time TO Ok, regulate, and receive tolls and
charges bv them to be received for lrAns-
porfation OF persons and property" did
not amount TO a contract of exemption,
aud the commission was flowed TO proceed
under the Law.
From What has thus been said, it is not
10 be iaferrsd that this power Of limitation
or regulation is itself with ut limit This
power TO regulate IS not n power 10 destroy,
aud limitation is not the equivalent OF con-
hscation. Under pretenee OF regulating
fares and freights the State cannot require
8 railroad corporation to carry persons or
property without reward; neither can il do
that which in law amounts 10 a taking OF
private property for public use with NJ
Just compensation, or without due process
Of law. What would have this effect We
need not now say, because no tariff has vet
been hxea by he commission, and the
statute Of Mississippi expressly provides
that in ali trials Of cases brought for
violation OF any tariff Of charges, as fixed
by the commission, it NAV be shown in
defence that such tariff 30 fixed is unjust"
Ii is also claimed that the charter con
tains a contract binding the Sttte to allow
the company, at all times and in ali ways,
to manage its own affairs through its own
bosrd of directors, and that the obllgat on
of this contract will be impaired if the pro
visions of the statute are enforced by the
commrss ioners As has already been seen,
the power of the directors is coupled with
a condition that their management shal
be in accordance with the laws of the
State Tnis undoubtedly means with such
laws as may be constitutionally enacted
touching the admin straii0n of the AFT tirs
of the company. The present statute re
qHires the company, ], 10 furnish the com
missioners with copies Of its tariffs Tor all
kinds of transportation; 2 to post in some
conspicuous place each OF its depots the
tariff approved by h commissioners, with
the certificate of approval attached; 3, to
conform to the tariff as approved thout
discrimination in favor OF or against per
sons or localities; 4, to furnish the commas
sioners with all the information they
require relative to the management of its
hne, and particularly with copies of all
leases, contracts, and agreements for trans
portatiOn with express, sleeping car, or
other companies TO which they are parties !;
s. to report all accidents within the limis
OF the State attended with any serious
personal injury; 6, to make quarterly
returns ofits busino IS to he comm ssioners,
which returns shall embrace all The receipts
and expendi ures of its railroad I, to pro-
vide at least one comfortable and suitable
reception room at each depot for the use
and accommodation of persons desiring or
awaiting transportation over its road and
8, to keep at all times in such reception
rooms a bulletin board which shall show
the time of the arrival aud departure OF
arains, and when any passenger, or other
train for tr lnsporting passengersis delayed,
notice of the extent of the delay and the
probable time of arrival as near as il can
be ascertained.
The second and third of these require
ments relale only to the duty of tn" com.
pany to keep its charges within tn limit OF
the tariff approved by the commis toner's
without discr, mination in favor of or
against persons or localities. The first,
fourth, aud sixth are clearly intended as a
means of furnishing the commissioners
with the information necessary to enable
them TO act understandingly in fixing the
tariff. Whether under these provisions the
company can be required to make report
of or give information about its business
outside of Mississippi is question We do
not now undertake 10 decide. The second,
fifth, seventh, and eighth are nothing more
than reasonable police regulations tor the
comfort, convenieGse, and safety Of those
travelling upon the road or doing business
with the company in the State.
The commissioners have power, /, to
approve, and ii need he to fix the tariff OF
charges for transportation, both of persons
and property, by which the company must
he governed, and to exercise a watchful
aud careful supervision over such tariff
2, to notify the company of the times
and places when and where the pro
priety of change in existing tariffs
will be considered; 8 to entertain com
plants made by any person against 8
tariff which has been approved, on thu
ground that the same is in any respect fol
more than q just compensation or tina
the charges amount to or operate so as Il
effect unjust determination, and after du'
notice to the company and proper inquiry
had, TO make any changes that may b'
deemed proper; 4, to repair to the scene o
an accident within the State attended
with serious personal injury, and inquir
into the facts and circums, ances thereof, b
be recorded in the minutes of the proceed
ings aud embraced in the annual repor
they are required to make to the governor
for transmission to the legislature; 8, Il
inspect the depots of all railroads operated
in the State and to see that comfortable anC
suitable reception rooms are provided ant
6, to institute all necessary suits for tn
recovery OF the penalties prescribed by tn
statute for q violation of its provisions. Tn
first three of these relate entirely to pro
ceedings for fixing charges and supervising
the tariff, and the rest like the corr elatlv
requirements Of the company, are mer
police regulations which the commiss on
ers are TO enforce. All this comes clearl
within the supervising power OF the Stst
in the administration of the affairs OF IL
domestic corporations.
We conclude, therefore, that the charte
of the company contains no contract tn
obligation of which is in any way impaire
by the statute under which the commission
ers are to act
2 There can be no doubt that eac
of the States through which the Aobil
and Ohio Railroad passes incorporated tn
company for the purpose of securing th
construction of a railroad from Mobile
through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee
and Kentucky to some point near tn
mou Of the Ohio River, where it woul
connect with another railroad TO the lakei
and thus form continuous liue of intel
state communication between the Gulf Q
Mexico in the South ami III Great Lake
in the North. Ii is equally certain tina
Congress aided in the con ,truetiOu of par
of this line of road so as to sabiish sue
n route of travel and transportation. Bu
il is none the less true that the cOrpOratiO
create by each state is for all the purpC
ses of local government a dome tic esrpC
ration. and that its railroad within tn
the State is a matter of domestic concern
Every person, every corporation, ever
thing within the territorial limits of
State is while there subject to the coustitI
tional authority of the State goyernmen