The Donaldsonville chief., 1906-09-15
Important Suit Against the Louisiana
Railroad Commission.

Railroad Commission
The controversy between the people
of the New River section OF this par
ish and the Louisiana Railway and
Navigation Company relative to the
location OF the station at Gonzales.
has given rise to what promises to be
one of the most important and far
reaching actions at law yet Instituted
to test the rights and powers OF the
Louisiana Railroad Commission. De-
spatches from Baton Rouge to the
New Orleans daily papers, dated the
1lth inst, state that the Louisiana Rau-
way and Navigation Company has
fled suit in the twenty-second judi
eial district court against the Louisi-
ana Railroad Commission to prevent
the commission from carrying into
effect its order Of June u, 1906, direct
ing that the railway company's depot
at Gonzales be built at a point west
and south of New River, and not at
the point north of the village which
the railroad company has selected.
The petition of the railroad com
pany claims that the commission s
order is indefinite and does not fix
with any certainty the location and
site for the depot; that it is illegal,
unreasonable, null and void, and is
not warranted by any authority
granted to the railroad commission.
The petition further alleges that the
commission is without authority to
select and establish stations along
plaintiffs railway and to require
depots to be built; that the site se-
lected by plaintiff at Gonzales is near
the postof1ice and convenient to travel
ers, shippers and the public generally
ID that vicinity; that the road has per-
fected arrangements for the purchase
of the lands necessary for depot
grounds and yards, and for the con-
struction OF the necessary sidetracks,
"Y' tracks, etc, whereas at no other
place in that neighborhood are
grounds for these purposes available;
and, finally, that to buiId the depot
and tracks at the point designated by
the commission would cost about Sl6,-
900 more than the expense that would
be incurred in doing the same work on
the site selected by the railroad com
pany's engineers.
The questions OF fact involved in
this controversy have been quite fully
covered by previous publications in
The Chief and are familiar to those of
our readers who feel an interest in the
subject, hence there is no present oc-
casion to revamp these questions.
Suffice it to say that public sentiment
in the section to be affected by the To-
cation of the Gonzales depot has been
shown to be overWhel lmingly in favor
OF the site designated by the railroad
commission, and 1t is reasonable to
assume that the people there are more
competent to judge for themselves
what will be to their interests and con-
yenience ian is the railroad company.
The company s claims Of fargre ater ex-
pense to be necessarily, involved in
building depot and its appurten ances
on the lower side of New River, and of
the lack Of available grounds for these
purposes, were eontroverted in the
newspapers and before the railroad
commission, and will doubtless be as
readily demolished IN the courts.
The only issue of vital Importance
raised and to be determined by this
litigation is presented in the allega-
tion that the railroad commission is
devoid OF legal authority to establish
stations, designate sites and order
depots to be built along railway lines,
and the judicial determination Of this
question will be awaited with general
public interest and concern, since it
strikes at the very found alton of the
spirit and intent Of the law creating
the railroad commission and defining
its duties and powers. 1t is to be re-
GREETED that the Louisiana Railway
and Navig alton Company should
manifest such deep-rooted antipathy
to complying with the reasonable
wishes Of It's present and prospective
patrons at Gonzales, which will be-
come one OF the leading traffic points
on the line between Baton Rouge and
New Orleans, but the legal aspect of
the controversy now overshadoWs all
other considerations, and it is per-
haps just as we'll that the issue be
joined now, in order that the powers
which the railroad commission is be-
lieved TO possess under the law may
be vindlcated, or that steps may be
taken to secure such additional legis-
lation as will confer these powers be-
yond question or caVil.