The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-06-22

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MIS-
SISSIPPI: AS is we'll known through.
out the District, am candidate for
Congress. There has been manifested
in the campaign, so far considerable
interest. My effort has been, and will
be during the entire campaign, to show
the influence of corporate interests
upon The politics of the Sixth District
as in contradistintion to the interest
of the general public. To this end,
have addressed the greater part of my
remarks. i
l have taken as the basis of all cor
porate interests, the Gulf C Ship Is
land Railroad Company, And to have
a complete and through understanding
of the workings of this Railroad Com
4 pany in the politics of Mississippi, 1
will have to go back to its organization,
which was effected under the charter
granted it by the Mississippi Legis-
lature in 1882. Immediately after the
organization of the Company 1884, the
Legislature of the State of Mississippi
: donated to the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad, every alternate Section of
Land from Gulfport, Miss, to Jackson,
Miss, averaging six sections to the
mile. In ad 'ition to this, the Legis-
lature donated $1O,00OQO to pay for
surveys, plats and profiles of the route
of the road
: Harrison County voted to the Gulf
& Ship Island Railroad Company,
$50.000.00 in bonds, to. run twenty
years. The total amount paid by Har-
rison County on these bonds is some
thing like $1OO.O0O.00 to 011O, 900. 90.
Upon taking the land donations as
above stated, the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad Company issued first mort
} bonds to-the amount of $4.2OO.O0O.O0;
second mortage bopds, $3.50, 100000.
Z The Legislature thereafter passed a
law by which the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad Company contracted with the
: State of Mississippi to work the State
/
} 1t took the convicts and graded the
/ road TO something like eighteen or
twenty miles North of Hattiesburg,
and laid the track for about half of
THAT distance. The cruel treatment in
fiicted upon the convicts aroused such
} Indignation in. the mind of the people
: against the Railroad Company, that the
} Legislature was forced to cancel the
: contract and. take the convicts from
, the Railroad Company
t The Railroad was completed to Jack
t son in the summer of 1900. In 1894.
5, or 6, the Railroad Company was
placed in the hands of receiver.
II Judge H. G. Niles, the Republican
Federal Judge for Mississippi appoint
|, ed Hon. E. J. Bowers as attorney. for
Il the receiver. Upon the winding-up OF
j the receivership, and the discharge OF
the receiver, Mr.. Bowers was employed
as General Counsel for the Gulf &
Ship, Island Railroad Company.
Although Harrison County had do
mated something like 500, 100000 to the
building of the Railroad, the Railroad
officers, with Mr., E. J. Bowers, as
general counsel, declined to pay Its
equal burden of taxation for Harrison
County, and George P. Hewes, Sherif
Of said County had to levy on some
property belonging to the Company tc
Il
force payment OF its taxes. Mr. Bow
ers. as Attorney for the Gulf & shiI
island Railroad Company. obtained an
injunction in the Chancery Court o
Harrison County. against Mr.. Hewes
The motion was then made by Hon
$ w. c. Evans, Attorney for the Count,
d Of Harrison. to dissolve this Injunction
and the motion was sustained by Chan
IL" "a.