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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). PAGE NINE