The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-28
WILMINGTON, N. c.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2s, 1906.
JUSTICE CLARK'S DISSENTING
a.. OPINION.

Tuesdays News and Observer has a;
long editorial ON the states ownership
of railroads predicat1d upon the re-!
cent decision Of the state supremel
court in the case brought to annul,
the lease of the Atlantic and North,
Carolina railroad Our readers remen-I
Der that the supreme court upheld she,
decision Of the court below sustaining
the validity of the lease The News
and Obeesver editorial contains about
a column and a half of a political
~haraHgue Haade by Chief justice Wal
tnr CLARK and rallied by courtesy Of
she court and fiction OF the law a
dissenting opfnion ON the questions
of Law involved in the conclusions
reached by the majority W the court.
We have sean onf Of Justice Clark's
opinion except dir extracts published
IN The News and Observer. They con
tajI no legal argument against the
position taken by tbs other five
judges, bnt are simply a TRADE. and
abuse of the Southern railrrGad, a
stump speech against The lease o. the
North Ca1 DINA railroad to the South
an argument in favor of state owner
ship of the railroads within her hOr-
,ders. Here is a paragraph cor Two
from the dissenting opinion on tie
x,rIrt:~. - latr 1oiI Iny-o ~ fin
cu.,., i. us decision Of the case Our
readrls viii see tna he, according &C
his - st-ttN1en,, goes Il Il. t&e i@-
cora I'll LIT caor Iuf his fats:
III. D-,.Gun Of tlc I-.t->c Of the
North Carolina .E:iHlrOad 60. Is pecu-
iIarI> Unfortunate The history OF
that first lease Is not Ill Ions record,
uul til.Ie was nothing in -,a negoLa-
.tlrn Which roulu recommend II as d
.preceucIi- The company now oper
atina II AS lcaa,-e ltportS 70 the tor-
,poration Commission tor the Year end
ing ST. June, 1906. over $1,000, U0G net
profits a.laf paying the rental, ali OPP
Grating e. teI->S "a III hlt4HH including
maintenance OF equipment and of
road vas danlac<S, salaries taxes
charges ~ -ttl KINGS. IhuS the PEG
pl< ui th.. state have paid their rent
anu AENfS ~ } ~ .iiu Oil ~
pe4Gsea OF every Mind. and NC are pre-
Senliu" 4bc ~lesSetS yearly = net profit
OF over 81 noe. 600. Tne corporation
commission reports are az ofhcia! as
those CT his court Or of the state
treasury AMI may properly be referred
to. With this annual loss OF Over ST.
100000 to the people Of the state
from the decision of a Divided esurt
which decision has not since been APP
approved. We might we'll refuse to ap-
prove il now that another piece OF the
states property is about To pass from
its control and. the sole authority in
Vokeo IL that decision. This lease
hold Of the North Carolina Railroad,
which cost the lessee nothing. and on
which tbe people are paying the rent
and ali expenses. besides 1laklnS the
lessee 81! annual present Of over ST.
00e. 1UO, - said to DC counted in the
assets ats worth $4,000. 0oo-a prineely
gilt.
AS iAns as the Wilmington and Wei
don l2atraaG Company recejVed 4 bare
support d SparCe population and
an iTnpQv4riShed unit il was un-
diStarbHt. but as soon as il gave un-
mi~i5'it1ntc SigIS Of becoming profit
abe q syndicate, by insisting that the,
state c,jtltd not properly manage it,
hecs,t-sr ii had not TIL then been prof
itahk. procured the passage of an act,
by which n state exchanged itSl
shares in that road for the am face
value OK its bonds. AS thosc bondsI
Were then quoted around 50 and there
is good reason to believe that the stocki
has since been watered z5-foid.'
Douglas J. 137 n. C. 25, the syndicateI
is npH receiving dividends or $50 from
the public for every 81 invested in ac-I
.quiring 0 the state this ~Naluablej
property. Next the North CaroiinaI
Railroad gave signs of becoming vail
liable and then the present northernI
syndicate has made it a leaseholdl
property. worth ove S12, 0t0. 600 from!
which they receive an annual profit OF
over $1.000oe0 as we have seen; next
came the Raleigh and Castor and Ra-,,
leigh and Augusta Railroads whose,
state stock was acquired by thel
process of being exchanged for depre-I
ciated state bonds and it's stock hasl