The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-02
INTERSTATE POSTAL AND COMMON CARRIER RAILWAYS
 
R. Fl. LEINAD
ARTICLE NO. 3

Railroad charters issued by the states in the long ago differ in detail from those issued to corporations under gen eral corporation laws Many exemp- tions are found in the charters of the railways, granted by the legislatures of the states. The exemptions given railways, gives to such corporations ad- vantages over those formed today. Com mon carrier companies in 1880 were few, and the railways of that day were not nearly as good as the average tram way used by our larger sawnill com panies of today. At that period, the means to construct steam railways had to be secured in Europe.
 In 1880 there was only 23 miles of railways in the United States. At that time Chicago only had 10 small houses. The first railway in this country that was a financial success was the old Camden and Amboy railroad of New Jersey, afterwards known as the United Railways of New Jersey It was financed in Europe by Commodore Stockton in the interest of his state, and was given monopoly privileges.
 No other railroad could be built through the state of New Jersey. The terminals of which were within three miles of either terminal of the afore- said railroad. For this monopoly priv ilege the railroad company agreed to give to the state of New Jersey a cer- tain sum of money for each passen- ger carried across the state; and also certain shares of the capital stock of the corporation. Later on this railroad company paralleled It's railway; but in stead of the terminals of the new rail- road being at Camden and Amboy. the new line had the terminals at Jersey md J,1 1o1A ,fa hue fl,r~ any railroad from competing with this monopoly. It also built a canal known as the Delaware and Raritan, and this was owned by the same monopoly. In 1840 the revenue from the monopoly was only $40,000 per year, but the reve- nues increased rapidly, and the two large insane asylums of that state, as well as the model and normal schools, were built from the moneys derived from the tax on every person from ether states that crossed New Jersey; but there has not been a state tax levied on the citizens of the state for many years, due to the revenues re- ceived from this monopoly.
 The total population of New York city in 1880 was 203,007. while Phila- delphia had a population of 167,S11. Our country was languishing for the need of money to develop our resources, and this will be apparent when 1t is known that the total of gold and sil- yer mined in the United States up to July 31, 1884 (first half century,, was only s14,00o, ,000-hence the necessity of getting money from Europe to develop our resources.
 The taxing of the people of other states for the benefit of the people of New Jersey by means of the monopoly already alluded to was so satisfactory to the people of New Jersey that the legislature of that state opened up the avenue of wide open charters" in order to prey on the people of other states by giving charters to companies that desired to operate Anywhere so that 1t was somewhere" and to have their operations kept secret from the people. It will be noted that most of the trusts were chartered in New Jer- sey.
 I desire to call attention to some very important and instructive facts which are very often overlook ed, 1t is ''That the growth of our country cor