Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-21
THE COMMISSION.
How 1t Works to Perfection in Five
of the Leading Southern States.
Railroad Building Going On at a Rapid Rate.
They Have Better Passenger Service
and Cheaper FreIghts.
BAIRD, TEX, June 10, 1890.

| 1ue WTlIer recently uHu OcchslOu
to visit Florida, Georgia and South
| Carolina, and because of the
great interest now felt in Texas
IN the subject of railroad regulation by
means OFT commission, some time and
| attention was given during the trip tC
an investigation of matters and facts con-
nected with that subject. OF the six
states traversed, including Louisiana
| Mississippi and Alabama, ali save one
have commissions. Louisiana being very
much engaged just now in trying to man
| age a lottery corporation will not reach
| the railroad question until later. In the
| states named the commission law has
been longest in operation in South Caro-
| lima, and has been latest adopted in
Florida; the latter having quite recently
enacted the Georgia statute almost vsr-
batim. AS these two states adjoin, aud
several of the Georgia roads extend into
Florida, it may be fairly presumed that
the people of Florida are well informed
as to the working of the commission law
in Georgia, and we'll pleased with the
results.
Soon after the decision of the Dart
mouth college case as to the vested rights
of corporations, it was enacted in South
Carolina that the charters of all corpora
tons granted by that state should be
subject to legislative alteration or repeal;
so that the right of the state to control
her corporations Is not there an open
question. Indeed the salaries of her
commissioners are paid by means of a
state tax levied on the roads alone-pre-
III Al
the dog should be taken to cure the bite.
One noticeable feature observed was
the absence of any serious friction in the
workings of the commission plan. 1t is
there the established order of things, and
seems to have been so accepted from the
outset. The Georgia commissioners in
their last report covering eight months,
say that all their rulings and decisions
have been acquiesced in and carried out;
and in South Carolina it is very rarely
necessary for the commission to call upon
the attorney to institute suit for
the enforcement of its rules and require
ments. Railroad building is going on in
all these states, and is unusually active
in Georgia and Alabama. In all of them
the road-bOds are in better condition
than Texas, better passenger cars are
furnished, and the average speed of pas
senger trains is nearly forty miles an
hour. These things lead one TO the con-
clusion that the roads are neither crippled
by, nor seriously dissatisfied with the
commission plan. Yet the people,; espe-
clally the merchants and business men
among whom | was thrown, seemed TO
be also satisfied with the law. OF course
tn ere are some who are not satisfied. but
they must be the exception to the rule,
for if there were any serious extent of
dissatisfaction among the people, 1t
would certainly manifest itself in the
public prints in charges against the COM
mission, and in efforts to repeal or amend
the commission law.
Iii said that Georgia affords no cri-
terion as to the value and expedienoy of
a commission in Texas because of great
difference i'll conditions. - Indeed,
one of our candidates for governor has
declared Georgia to be "densely popu-
lated - and that ''no extensive portion
of Texas is as densely populated as the
most sparsely settled district in Geor-
gia. An examination of the country,
and comparison of census and business
statistics show this statement to be ex-
trayagantly beyond even the license of
campaign matter. The population of
Georgia is now considerably less than
that of Texas, and averages but little
mora than twenty-five persons to the
square mile, and while this is above the
average for the whole of our large Texas
territory, it is far from being ''dense. -
Besides about one-half the population of
Georgia, as also of the other states
named, consists of idle, shiftless ne
groes, who contribute comparatively lit
tie to the travel or the traffic of the rail-
roads. Nearly all of Southern Georgia
is poor, sandy pine woods but tLinIy set
tied; and the average population of the
counties of that section ia not as great as
that of the counties of Palo Pinto, East
land, Callahan and Taylor. passen-
ger car going through this region usually
contains about five to eight persons,
while the Texas and Pacific trains that
pass Baird are ordinarily full, if not
crowded. No road of Georgia, Alabama
or South Carolina passes for the same
distance through as populous and pro-
ductive a region as does the Houston and
Texas Central from COrsicana to Denison
or the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
from Taylor to Denison; or the Santa Fe
from Brennan to Gainesville; or the
Texas and Pacific from Texarkana to
Fort Worth, or from Marshall to Wealth
erford.
In Georgia the duties of the commits
sion are confined almost exclusively to
the fixing of rates and to preventing IN
just determinations, and do not extend
TO such matters as inadequate depot and
station accommodations and the like.
The commission acts on behalf of the
legislature and as legislative agency,
appears to operate efficiently without ex-
crossing either judicial or executive func- |
tons. The commission fixes a schedule |
of rates, requires monthly reports from
the roads, examines their books and off, |
Gals and prescribes rules to guard against |
determinations, but they can neither
confscate, nor fine, nor imprison, nor
render final Judgment If railroad Off !
GERS and agents refuse to appear before I
the commission to testify, application for |
an attachment is made to the judge of
superior court. Penalties for violating |
the rules and rates fixed by the CON- |
mission are declared in. the statute law,
and are to be enforced through the courts |
at the suit Of the state or any person in |
jured by the overcharge or diserImina- |
ton. In all suits the rates fixed by the |
commission are prima faoie taken to be |
the reasonable and proper rates OF |
charge. The courts are at all times open |
TO the citizen and the roads alike. and |
8 A..