Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1902-05-15

~AAANtJ " pAoo wv y IL 1odlI
in an opinion written, not by me as
charged by Wilson and the railroads.,
but by Judge Douglas and con-
Cured in by four judges, held
that the Legislature possessed that DOW
er, and the Supreme Court of the United
States approved the judgment of the
Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Learning that the Wilson's
would probably contest any action to
turn them out if one should be brought.
and that my immateria1 correction of the
mmo (Which was never usc6) and
Which had been made by me in the Su-
pren1e Court room openly, in presence of
Mr.. Burton, who was their counsel, had
been criticised by j. w. Wilson, rather
than be subjected to Misrepresentation
by Wilson and the Southern Railroad.
who l knew would gather up anything
that could be used to misreprescnt me,
1 wrote Governor Russell to DESTROY that
unused paper which 1 had corrected.
Had he used the paper as process of
course he gould not do so. MY overcau-
ton to prevent uncalled misrepresenta-
ton has brought upon me the worse
misrepresentation to which 1 have now
been subjected by the same railroad
crowd.
The ninth and last piece in the batch,
is the above referred to notice to show
cause ~or int which Governor
Russell intended to issue to the Wilson's,
but instead of which he issued another
one differently expressed.
The public will hardly believe that the
above is the whole of the CLARK: Rus
sell correspondence about which there
has been SO much noise. But 50 it is.
according to the above certificates of F.
Fl. Busbce and w. H. Day.
l have been thus lengthy because the
: only resource of the other cjJo hoe boOp
to confuse the public by vociferous
charges, and my aim has been t. make
the matter as plain and explicit as pos
sibie. When the letters are understood
fully and the attendant circumstances
the public will be amused at the efforts
of the corporation lawyers to- hunhug
them.
The whole effort on the part of the
political management of the railroad cor
poTations has been to create an impress
sion that there was political affinity or
intrigue between Governor Russell and
myself. The above correspondence
shows plainly that there was nothing Of
the kind
To understand the reason of the cor.
respondence and it's purport an ~intelIi-
gent public has only to recall the cond;-
lions as they existed at that time. now
nearly five years ago. Governor Russell
came into office with a load of unponu-
larjty which had been laboriously accu-
mulated by him. He came in by the
votes of 10000 negroes and a few thou
sand white allies. The great mass OF
the white men of the State bitterly re-
scented this reversal Of the proper order
of things which demands Anglo-Saxon
supremacy. Governor Russell seemed to
think that then was his chance to redeem
himself by en- impartial execution of the
duties of his office. The Southern Rail
road thought, as a matter of course, be-
ing a Republican administ1 alton. that
they were to be in control. Its officials
gave him a grand reception. Russell
surprised them next day by declaring in
dependence. He found the Southern
Railroad effecting a ninety-nine year
lease of the States best property, six
years before the expiration of the +"
vious lease. He used his power as Gov
ernor to veto it and called in the Legis-
lature 20 his aid. He found that the
statute which forbade the issuing of free
passes under a penalty of So, Geo IL each
case was openly and VIGOROUSLY vio-
lated, and that influence bought by these
'pasteboard favors' was the most pow
erful weapon in the hands Of the cor
porations; he found that railroad fares
and freights in this State were (ard they
still are) sixty per cent higher than the
average in the Union and that the taxes
paid by the railroads were over half a
million dollars less, in proocrtion TO
mileage, than in Tennessee and were the
lowest IL the Union. He round that two
of the Railroad Commission (Which had
been created to reduce rates and fares
to a fair basis, and to see that railroads
paid fair taxation) were partners with
the railroad in running a railroad eating
house.
He thought he ought to remedy this
and may have thought he would remove
some of the odium against himself by
doing so. But he was the last man who
should have undertaken it. instantly
every railroad paper, every railroad law
> agent every influence the corporations
could appeal to were set in rloriun to
call up the odium he had acquired in the
past and to make it a party fight against
him. He struggled, and struggled, but
he had too much load to carry. Fo- some
treason. he finally absolutely and uEccn-
ditionally surrendered and for tie rest
O fhis administration he merely drew tho
salary. The Southern Railroad had
made itself Governor and was in the
saddle.
When he first sought to enforce the
law against the powerful criminals who
family and openly issued free passes.
when he sought to secure more reason
able passenger rates, when he sought
t to make the rdllrOaQS pay Il ldliei ohol'
of taxation he desired information from
me and 1 gave it. When be decided
5 to call upon the two Railroad Commits
, sicners, who were running an eating
} house. in partnership with the railroads
and submitted to me the form of sum-
mons, or notice to show cause whv they
| should not be suspended and [ made some
: slight changes in it, though he did not
S use that form, as it turned out. Know
Y ing that the Southern Railroad would
: get held of it and use and misrepresent
any paper, from me, l asked him to &C.
5 stroy that paper. The correspondence
49, l.; -a.nl- = rLGA,-n na4hinLr