The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-08
Enough of Reccirershins.

| A receivership should be a last resort,
when it is absolutely necessary to take
care of the interests of creditors There
should be no employment of recemerships
for the purpose of equalizing freight rates.
or for getting even" with railroad corpo-
rations. There is in Georgia a railway
commission having full powers and a
function of which is to see that there are
no Determinations in rates. The inter-
state commerce law also bears upon the
matter of rates; hence there is a plenty
of law covering the subject. The courts
are open for the trial of specific fnfrac-
tons OF the law. There appears to be
nothing in the charge that the Southern
railway discriminates against Macon
which would warrant an application for
receiver for that property. Government
by injunction is not more reprehensible
than railroad supervision by receivership.
1t seems that the application for a re-
ownership for the Southern is to be based
upon the alleged violation Of the .constitu-
ton of Georgia, in the ownership by the
Southern of competing lines. Because of
this technicaity it is proposed that the
valuable and solvent property shall be
thrown into the hands of a receiver, with
what final outcome no person would dare
say. Who would benefit by such an oper-
alton? The lawyers, the receivers and a
few railroad manipulators, and most likely
nobody else. Other persons would suf-
fer. particularly the poorer classes who
work for the railroads involved, for a liv-
ing The people of this section have seen
a good dea; OF this sort of thing lately.
They have seen valuable properties de-
stroyed, the securities of widows and or
phans, and Of charitable Institutions, rem
dered worthless. and working people
ground down or thrown out of employ
ment entirely, through unnecessary re-
eeiverships which resulted in putting enor-
nous fees and profits into the pockets of
lawyers and others.
There are, unfortunately, certain classes
Of persons in this country--in all sections
Of it--who look upon corporations as legi-
innate prey for their rapacity. with
eagle eye they watch the corporations, and
when one is caught in a position Offering
opportunities, it is bounced upon. I'm
fortunately, also, the courts have seemed
to encourage this sort of thing. by APP
pointing receivers upon very slight and
sometimes inadequate grounds. 1t is too
often very easy to secure the ordering of
a receivership; it is nearly always very
hard to rehabilitate property after it
has been through the receivership mill.
1t is difficult to understand how the
interests of the people could possibly be
advanced by the success Of the movement
to place the Southern in the hands of a
receiver; and the laws are made for the
benefit of the people, not for the benefit
Of a few individuals. The people are very
well satisfied with the way things are
going. At all events, they do not relish
the possibility of witnessing another
demonstration of the receivership evil.
They believe that the railroads should be
dealt with fairly, and that those who in
vest their money in them should not be
required to fight perpetually to keep it
from finding it's way into the pockets of
lawyers, receivers and railroad manipula-
tors