Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-11
Let the investigation be Thorough.

Let the Investigation be Thorough.
The Legislature havin, determined to
| vestigate the charges made by tn man.
! ager Of the Marietta and Nor Georgia
! Railroad Company against certain State
! officials, and also the claim that the re-
lease OF the above named railroad COM
pany from the payment of certain bonds
due the State was unconstitutional, no
pains ought to be spared to make the ln-
vestigation thorough. There is an i'm
preston that there is rottenness some
where in this North Georgia and Marietta
railroad business, and the Legislature
ought TO find out whether the impression
is correct. The meetings of the commit
tee ought to be open to the public. II they
are not, it is not improbable that the
charge will be made that the Investga-
ton was not thorough, and that some
thing was covered up. The people are
chiefly interested, and there is no reason
why anything should be kept from them.
A secret investigation will not be salts
factory, and any effort looking TO secrecy
will be regarded with suspicion.
Let the point be clearly brought out
whether or not the people received any
consideration for the 800, 900 in bonds
which the Marietta and North Georgia
Railroad Company was obligated to paw.
but which the last Legislature released it
from paying 1t was the pc ople's money
that was given to the railroad company,
and they have a right to know whether
they were under such obligations to the
ga In 10 ~
gift.
the claim that the company was given
the bonds as a consideration for build
ing its road to the 5 ate line will hardly
mold good. The Legislature is prohibited
by the constitution from contributing,
anything toward the building of railroads
and, besides, it is altogether probable that
the road would have been built to the
State line even if 1t had received no assis-
lance from the State, because It's best in
terests required that it should be built to
that point
The claim that the company represented
to the Legislature that it had not been
dealt with fairly in the matter of the con-
cts ought OF course to be very thor
oughly examined. If the claim be a lust
one, and the State is to blame for any loss
that the company may have su ffered, 1t
OF course ought to make the loss good,
but has it ever been satisfactorily shown
that the State caused the company to
lose $50, 1000, or that the State was ever
benefited to that amount BY Its failure to
keep any of its agreements? Before the
bonds in question are cancelled the peo-
pie ought to be shown clearly that the
State has caused the company to lose the
full amount of them, or that it has been
benefited to the full amount of them.
Of course Mr.. Eager's charges ought
to be subjected to a most searching in
Vestigation. He mentions one instance
in which be paid money which he thinks
he ought not to have paid, and he gives
instances of numerous demands upon
him. The investigation may show that
he made disbursements of which he has
not yet made mention in print.
Let the entire Marietta ana North Geor-
gia railroad business be thoroughly
| slfted. Let the whole truth be made
public. If it is shown that the railroad
| company IS lawfully entitled TO the bonds
there will be no murmur OF dissatisfac-
ton when it gets them. There is no dis
position to treat the company otherwise
than justly, and any assertion that there
is, because it is composed of Northern
capitalists, is nonsense. The people of
this State, however, are not willing to
give Northern capitalists, or capitalists
from any other sections OF the country, a
very large sum of money unless they are
under an obligation to do so.