The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-06-22
BARBER EXCORLATES
CONGRESSMAN BOWERS

suitable terminals for the prosecution
of its business, thereby greatly in
creasing the commerce of said State
and deepening and improving the nat
ural harbor aforesaid. Now, there
fore, in order that the said railroad
company may be enabled to prose-
cute it's work as aforesaid, for the
ends aforesaid:
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representative of the Unit
ed States of America in Congress as
sembled, That the grant contained
in section seventeen of the charter of
said railroad company, recited in the
preamble of this said Act, be, and the
same is hereby, ratified and confirmed
unto the said Gulf & Ship Island Rail-
road Company; and the said corpora
ton shall have and enjoy all the pow
ers and privileges granted by section
seventeen of the Act aforesaid.
Sec. 2. That this Act take effect and
| Dc III lOlCc llOI anu dltCl I'D pdood5C.
This bill failed to pass Congress, as
will be shown by an extract from a
letter written January 2, 1906, to Hon.
orable H. D. Money, United States
Senator from Mississippi, as follows:
Sir
Replying to the letter of Mr..
Barber herewith enclosed, l have
written to state, that at the first
session of the fifty-sixth Congress,
Mr.. McLain introduced in the
House, Bill No. 1892, the title of
which is as follows:
TO ratify and confirm section
seventeen of the charter granted
| to the Gulf & Ship Island Rail-
road Company by the Legislature
of the State of Mississippi
There was no action on the bill
in the House, and it was not in
troduced in the Senate"
This letter is signed George H.
Boyd, Acting Superintendent" This
letter was forwarded to me by Senator
Money, upon my request for copy of
the bill.
1t will be noticed that Mr.. Bowers,
representing the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad Company, had doubts as to
the validity of the grant made by sec
| ton seventeen, Acts of the Legislature
of 1882, to the Gulf & Ship Island
Railroad, and he, to make the thing
safer for his employer, the Gulf &
Ship Island Railroad Company, passed
the resolution through the Legislature
above recited, being Chapter 2O4 Of
the Acts of 1900. But Congress de
clined to ratify this illegal and mo
nopolistic grant to this railroad
Mr.. Bowers ideas and mine were
the same, as to the invalidity of this
grant along this line, up to this time
l believed, the first time l ever saw
the charter of the Gulf & Ship Rail
road Company, that section II was ar
illegal grant and tended toaa perpet
ration of the greatest monopoly Their
or now, in the State of Mississippi
But it will be noticed in the resolu
ton that l now direct your attention
to, that my ideas did not run in the
same channel with Mr. Bowers, any
further, for, on March 2Sth, 1906,
was member of the Legislature Of
Mississippi, representing Harrison
County through which the Gulf & ShiI
Island Railroad runs, and introduced
the following resolutions:
Concurrent Resolutions of the Leg
islature of Mississippi, memoralizins
the Congress of the United States rel
alive to certain grant made by sec
ton II, chapter 542, acts of Mississip
pi of 1882, to the Gulf & Ship Islant
Railroad Company of submerged lands
in Mississippi Sound, named in sal,
section; and memorializing Congress
. | to appropriate a sufficient sum to re
/ imburse the Gulf & Ship Island Raj
r road Company for the amount eXpent
: ed in constructing pier basin, an
a channel in the territory named i
said section II, so that the FEEDERS
Government may take charge of sal
improvement for the use of all railroa
companies desiring to use the same
and requesting Congress to appropr
ate sufficient sum to complete an
maintain said Improvements.
/ WHEREAS, The Gulf & Ship Islam
Railroad Company was incorporate
by the State of Mississippi by act {
its Legislature, approved February q
l 1882, which said act among other pow
ers, contained the following.
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