The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-04-09
WHY HAS NOT THE LAW BEr,,
ENFORCED.
Criminal Neglect of Duty somewhe,.

Criminal Neglect of Duty Somewb.,.
Mr.. EDIToR:-By an act of the Ga,
eral Assembly, passed at the session
of 187l-'72, it is made the duty ~
every railroad corporation to make An
annual report to the Governor of the
operations of the year ending on tho
3Oth of September, to be filed in tho
Office of the Secretary of State by the
18th of November, of each year
which report shall state:
The amount of capital as by char.
ter; the amount of stock subscribed.
the total amount of capital stock paid
in; the total amount of funded debt.
the amount of floating debt; the aver.
age rate per annum of interest on
funded debt; and in detail the cost of
road and equipment; characteristics
of road; doings of the year in trans.
portation and total number of miles
run; expenses of maintaining and on.
Grating the road; receipts during the
year from freight, passengers and
other sources; dividends on stock,
amount and rate per cent. the mum.
Der of persons injured in life and
limb, the cause of the injury, ETC., and
many other things too numerous to
mention.
It is the duty of the proper State
officers to arrange the information
contained in such reports in a tabular
form and compare the same, together
with said reports, in a single docu.
ment for printing for the use of the
General Assembly on the first day of
it's session.
Though this law has stood unre.
pealed on statute books for seven.
teen years, l venture to say that some
of our railroads have never paid any
regard to it, and that. all of them have
for the most part ignored it. Why
have they done SO? Why do they so
continually and persistently violate
this law g? Are they afraid to turn on
the light and let the people see what
they are doing? If this law was
faithfully complied with, would these
reports show such facts as would be
damaging to the railroads ?
The law further provides that any
railroad corporation which shall neg
lect to make this report shall be liable
to a penalty of five hundred dollars,
to be sued for in the name of the State
of North Carolina in the Superior
Court of Wake county. Why have
not these suits been brought j? Is it
not clearly the duty of the Attorney
General to institute and prosecute
these suits?
Suppose there are, say, ten of these
railroads that have each for ten years
failed to make these reports required
by the law; the State might recover
in penalties fifty thousand do4lars,
the officer whose duty it is to institute
and prosecute these suits would only
attend to his duty.
The Governor who is now in the
executive chair has not been in Office
long enough to become thoroughly in
formed as to all his duties, and is not
to be blamed for failing to call to the
attention of the Legislature the almost
entire failure of the railroads to make
the reports required by law, and the
complete failure of the proper officer
to sue for the penalties prescribed;
but somebody has been exceedingly
remiss in the plain and simple per
Torrance of their duty.
l have much more that ought to be
said on this subject, but will stop for
the present for fear of making this
article too long. DOUBLE x.