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go back to the forks of the road and take the
other prong.
What is it the Railroads have been doing in
Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama? Hold
ing up states from enforcing state laws, reg
ularly passed by State Legislatures. In Vir
ginia, indeed, the Railroads sought to enjoin
a legislative commission from exercising a leg
islative function.
Have the Federal Courts got the right to
suspend a State law, or to enjoin States from
carrying on the State-administration ?
Certainly not. If the Louisville & Nashville
Railroad can get a Judge to suspend a states
law, then John Smith and Tom Brown, and
Silas Jones can do the same thing.
Whenever a citizen does not relish a State
law he has just as much right to defy it and
enjoin its enforcement as the Railroads
ha-ve. Thus John Smith of Georgia,
could be eternally hampering the Gov-,
emor of Alabama; and Tom Brown of
Alabama, could be everlastingly obstructing
the Governor of Georgia.
The Thirteenth Amendment forbids a Fed
eral Court from taking Jurisdiction of Suits
brought by individuals against states.
The L. & N. Railroad is, in law, nothing
but an individual—a private citizen, an artifi
cial person, with no more rights than the
humblest natural person in Alabama, or Ken
tucky.
Therefore, when a Federal Judge grants ap
injunction against the State authorities of Al
abama at the instance of the L. & N. Railroad,
he is exercising an authority expressly denied
by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States.
In North Carolina, the Southern Railroad
sought to enjoin the State authorities from en
forcing criminal statutes. Judge Pritchard’s
action, in that case, was clearly illegal and
Governor Glenn did right to defy him.
In Virginia, the same Federal Judge was a
usurper when he sought to enjoin a legis
lative body from exercising a legislative func
tion ; and Governor Swanson did right to defy
him. In Alabama, the course of Judge Jones
has been equally illegal and usurpatory; and
Gov. Comer is doing exactly right to defy him.
When a State, or a people, lose the spunk
necessary to a firm stand for what they know
to be their rights, they will lose those rights.
When we do happen to have Governors and
Legislatures who are inclined to do something
to moderate the greed and tyranny of the
Northern corporations that are plundering the
South and West, we ought to stand up for
those Governors and Legislators. It is a patriot
ic duty, to strengthen their hands as much as
possible.
All honor to such noble Governors as Brow
ard of Florida, Glenn of North Carolina, Swan
son of Virginia, Comer of Alabama, and Smith
of Georgia.
The Jeffersonian will always be found ready
to help them fight their battles.
Well Hone, Mr. Finley!
The President of the Southern Railroad told
the New York crowd who own the property
that they would have to be content with small
er dividends. In effect, Mr. Finley declared his
purpose to use a greater share of the earnings
in fixing up the road.
This is precisely what the Southern ought to
have done long ago. The failure to recognize
an obvious necessity, and to discharge an ob
vious duty, cost Samuel Spencer and hundreds
of others, their lives.
It is late enough, God knows! to be aroused
to the fact that criminal negligence, causing,
loss of human life, is murder.
It is late enough to reverse the policy of
operating our roads for the sole purpose of
adding to the millions of greedy capitalists in
New York.
Bpt, better late than never; and the Jes-
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN
fersonian, true to its fixed purpose to be just,
. recognizes that Mr. Finley has done exactly the
.right thing, and is glad of the reason which
moves it to say,
WELL DONE, MR. FINLEY!
M M M
Macon Umpires.
The State of Georgia should give the city of
Macon a rest, in the matter of umpiring the
tax assessments of Railroads. *“
Two or three years ago, the state got a knock
down from Mr. Nottingham of Macon, who
acted as Umpire in a dispute between the State
and the Southern railroad.
And now we get another throw down from
Mr. Lawton Miller of Macon, who was umpire
of a dispute between the State and the Coast
Line.
In choosing umpires, hereafter, let us give
the Macon lawyers a rest.
Not because the Macon lawyers need the
rest, but because the State does.
nan
Criminal Negligence.
Friends of the Old Reliable, the Georgia Rail
road, will regret to learn that it continues to
behave in away which is calculated to annoy
the Ohio expert who declared its condition o. k.
At Robinson station there was a slightly low
place in the roadbed where the trains as they
passd over it, seemed to behave queerly. Two
or three men who live at Robinson had noticed
this bad place in the track, the curious be
havior of the cars in passing it, and had pre
dicted a wreck, if the road-bed were not worked
on.
At least two of the citizens of Robinson say
that they reported the matter to the section
force. But the cars continued to come and go,
and nothing happened until the appointed time.
The rotten ties and the sunken ground, and
the loosened rails lasted till Thursday night,
August 23; and then something happened.
There was a general smash-up which did a
large amount of damage to cars, trackage, and
which narrowly missed being an awful calami
ty to a trainload of passengers. As it was, no
body was killed, though several were painfully
injured, and nearly everybody, jarred, shocked,
frightened and thrown about.
In their private car, attached to the passen
ger coach, were Col. Thomas K. Scott, mana
ger of the Old Reliable.
Also, Maj. Joseph B. Cumming, senior
ner of the firm of Jos. B. and Bryan Cumming,
General Counsel of the Old Reliable.
Doubtless Messrs. Scott and Cumming had
received some imperative call from up the road,
else they would not have been caught in the
wreck. Surely they are aware of the perils of
railroad travel nowadays, and it is not to be
supposed that they venture out on the Old Re
liable unless the call is imperative.
Col. Scott! Why don’t you do what the Pres
ident of the Southern has done?
Go to New York and face those greedy ras
cals who own our Georgia Railroad, and tell
them that you have got to have more of the
earnings to keep the road in a respectable con
dition !
Do you want to face a jury on an indictment
for murder?
Watch out, Col. Thos. K. Scott. t
It * tt
Mistrust lhese Greeks.
The Southern Railway Co., is not such a
monster as some people think. Under the 2 1-4
cent rate the laws of North Carolina say that
they can charge half fare for all children under
twelve years of age, but instead of taking ad
vantage of this law, which would mean many
thousands of dollars to them, they are trans
porting all children under five years of age
free. We believe in giving honor to whom hon
or is due, and in our opinion, the railroads de
serve credit for this voluntary act on their part,
We clip the above from the Davie Record,
which J. Frank Stroud is now editing.
When the Southern Railroad decided not to
charge for tots under five years of age, the mo
tive was perfectly mercenary. The mother can
not, as a rule, leave the little one at home;
and if she had to pay for its way on the cars
she would not make many a trip which she will
make if her child can pass free. That’s all there
is to it. The Southern saw that it would lose
the parents by charging for toddlers of that
age; therefore to encourage the parents to trav 7
el, they let the babies ride free.
Railroad generosity has nothing to do with
the case.
nun *
Harry Fisher's Lunch.
It was the Hardeman Resolutions which pro
vided the machinery by which those who want
to resort to judicial proceedings against the
Southern Railroad could have got the evidence
necessary to prove in court that the Central
is owned and controlled by the Southern.
The Hardeman Resolutions, therefore, were
feared by the railroad men who do not mean
that their illegal doings shall be uncovered.
The railroad lobbyists inside the Legislature,
co-operated beautifully with the railroad lob
byists on the outside.
Joe Tiill Hall in the House was a useful ally
to Hamp McWhorter, “Special Counsel”; and
Thos. B. Felder in the Senate, was a useful
ally to Harry Fisher, Prince of the Lobby.
Hall and Felder, both* from Macon worked
manfully for Major J. F. Hanson, also of Ma
con, nominal President of the Central. Han
son acts as dummy for Barbour Thompson and
W. W. Finley of the Southern.
The real facts behind all this, the Hardeman
Resolutions sought to get.
Major Hanson dares not disclose those facts.
Barbour Thompson dares not do it. W. W.
Finley dares not do it. Those facts will estab
lish the truth of what the Jeffersonian has
said: that the men who are using the Central
as a cog in the Southern’s Railroad System,
are violating the law. Like all other wilful
violators of law, these big criminals ought to
be punished.
The Hardeman Resolutions were drawn with
a view to getting at the facts, so that they may
be used in court. ,
And that’s the reason why the railroad lob
byists, in and out of the Legislature, were
determined that those Resolutions should nev
er pass.
Time was consumed in every conceivable
way, and the Resolutions did not get into the
Senate for final action till very late in the
session.
On the last day, Saturday, Hon. R. N. Hard?
eman spent the whole day in the Senate, try-t
ing to get his Resolutions to a vote. After
midnight, about three o’clock in the morning
of Sunday, Senator E. K. Overstreet, who has
shown himself to be one of the most able and
valiant of the reform leaders, succeeded in get
ting the Resolutions up. x
A majority of the Senators undoubtedly fa
vored the Resolutions and if a fair vote on a
full Senate had been had they would have been
passed. But see how the artful and accom
plished lobbyist plays his game—Harry Fisher,
in the very nick of time announced that he had
in the corridor, lunch for all Senators; and the
tired, hungrv Solons went out into the lobby to
partake of Harry Fisher’s lunch.
Seizing his advantage, Senator Thos. B. Fel
der, of Macon, moved that the Hardeman Res
olutions be laid upon the table.
The motion was carried—for the railroad
gang inside the Senate were too smart not to
do their part inside, while Harry Fisher was
doing his part outside. THE RAILROAD
GANG DID NOT GO TO LUNCH.
While unsuspicious Solons lunched, a most
(Continued on Page Twelve).
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