SPECIAL MESSAGE 
OF 
THE GOVERNOR 
WITH 
THE REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS To Consent in Behalf of the State to the Erection 
of a Niw Union Passenger Station on The Statets Property in the City of Atlanta. 
GEO, W, HARRISON, STATE PRINTER, ATL.UITA, GA. 
 
 SPECIAL MESSAGE 
OF THE 
GOVERNOR. 
Geo. W, Harrbon, ulate Printer, Atla.nta, U-a. 
 
  'J'o the Senate and House of Representatives: 
I herewith transmit to your honorable bodies copies of the report of a commission, appointed by authority of an act apprond on the 20th of December, 1898, to consent in behalf of the State to the erection of a new Union Passenger Station on the State's property in the city of Atlanta. 
When this act was passed, two propositions lo11king to the erection of a union station on the State's property were 
under discussion. The one, that the several railroads entering the city unite and build with the consent of the State, on the State's land; and the other that the State build her own depot and rent or lease to the railroads. After much discussion and several meetings of the cxecntin officers of the railroads and the State Railroad Commission, and of the same executiYe officers and this sp0cial committee, the tirst suggestion was abandoned, as the railroads were unwilling to build at their own expen,e on the State's land, unless they could get a long lease. The State's representatives were unwilling to yield control of her terminals for a period longer than the unexpired lease of her road-about twenty years. Hence 6111 ,,11e pla11 i~ possible, to wit: for the State to improve and control her own terminal. 
It will be seen that this commission unanimously recommend that the General Assembly assent to the proposition agreed to by all the railroads now entering the union station for the erection of a new union passenger station. This proposition is in brief that if the State will erect a new station on its own land on which the present structnre now f'tands, the present lessees of the State's railroad of iYhich this station is the terminal, will lease this new structure 
 
 for a period of years, to te:'minate on the day on which itspresent lease of the 'Western & Atlantic Railroad terminates, and 'Nill pay to the State in addition to the $35,001.00 per month ,vhich it now pays as rental for the vVestern & Atlantic Railroad, six per cent. per annum on the actual cost of the proposed new structure, or about $30,000 per annum, if, as is contemplated, the new structure costs $500,000.00. 
I fully concur with the commission in its conclusions and recommendation, the following reasons: 
First: It is a sound business proposition. An investment which yields steadily six per cent, per annum commends itself to the judgment of any good business man. Especially i" this trne if by making the new investment the productive nlne of another much larger investment already made, is greatly increased and fixed, as in this case. The State now owns a railroad worth not less than eight millions of dollars Jts terminal in Atlanta is the most valuable in a great raill'oacl center. If properly imprmed, while very valuable now, it wonld be rnnch more valuable and would add greatly to the renting value of the State's railroad, and make it, by reason of its location, the key to the railroad situation in Atlanta. 
Secondly: It is necessary to the preservation of the renting valne of the western & Atlantic Railroad. All the passenger trains now entering the city come into and go out from the State road's passenger station, and pay a good rental for the privilege, but the present old structure is entirely inadeqnate to the demands on it, and has been condemned hy the railroads, by the traveling public and by the State Raihoncl Commission, as insufficient and dangerous. ,\.nother larger and better structure mnst be erected quickly, or the State 11111st necessnrily lose the valuable tenants she now lrns. Should this hnppen, and happen it must 
 
 5 
 
1mless we provide adequate accommodation for them, the 
 
value of the State road instead of being enhanced and fixed 
 
would he_greatly depreciated. 
 
For these two business reasons, leaving out of the ques- 
 
iion the safety and convenience of the traYeling public, it 
 
seems to me that the State's interest and duty are too clear 
 
for discussion. If the proposition involYecl the imposition 
 
of an extraordinary tax to carry it out, I shou]d_oppose it as 
 
earnestly as I now fayor it, preferring to take the risk of 
 
losing the tenants to increasing taxes upon the people. 
 
But it does not. There are several ,vays in which the 
 
necessary structure can be erected on the State's own 
 
ground, already paid for, without the collection out of the 
 
people of a dollar for the purpose. I will snggest only one. 
 
There will he in the treasury on the first day of N ovem- 
 
ber, $-4)32,750.00 derived from the sale of public property, 
 
some of it from the sale of ,Vestern & Atlantic Railroad 
 
propert.v not wanted by the present lessees when they took 
 
the road. This money cannot, under the Constitution, be 
 
applied prernanently to any purpose other than the pay- 
 
ment of the bonded debt. No bonds of the State except 
 
those provided for by the sinking :fund, will be clue till 
 
1915. Hence this money must lie idle in the treasury for 
 
fourteen years, or be loaned to the depository banks as it 
 
now is, at a nominal interest, while the State's railroad prop- 
 
erty depreciates in Yalue for want of improYement. This 
 
money now idle, $432,750.00, supplemented by the one 
 
half rental of the ,,estem & Atlantic Railroad for four 
 
months, will pay for the union passenger station which will 
 
meet all the demands upon it for a generation. The month- 
 
ly rental paid to the State for it, onr and above the rental 
 
now pnicl by the lessees of the ,Vestern & Atlantic Rail- 
 
road ,...-ill beo-in to come in at the end of the first rnonth 
 
l 
 
b 
 
after the completion of the structure, and will continue to 
 
 6 
 
come in every month at the rate of thirty thousand dollars; 
 
a year, and every dollar of its cost will be repaid into the 
 
treasury from this source before the first bon<l is due, in 
 
1D15. Thus in 1915 the State will have on her present 
 
terminal grounds a splendid structure, worth a half mil - 
 
lion of dollars, the value of her railroad will be greatly en- 
 
hanced, and every dollar advanced in payment for the depot 
 
will be back in the treasury. 
 
I therefore advise that the General Assembly create a 
 
commission similar to that which built the State Capitol,. 
 
clothed with similar powers and liabilities, for the pur- 
 
pose of building a passenger station on the site of the pres- 
 
ent strncture in the city of Atlanta, to cost not more than 
 
five hundred thousand dollars; that each member of this 
 
commission, as ,vas the case with the members of the Capitol 
 
Commission, be required to give a bond of ten thousa1J<l dol- 
 
lars, and that instead of lending the money now in the treas- 
 
ury derived from the sale of public property to the banks at 
a nominal rate of interest of 2% per annum, it be lent to this 
 
commission for the purpose of erecting the depot. If it is 
 
constitutional to lend the State's money to the depository 
 
banks, the creatures, not of the Constitution, but of the 
 
statute law, it is constitutional to lend it to a commission 
 
created by ~tatute for the purpose of protecting and im- 
 
proving the State's o,vn property, when said commission i& 
 
hedged abont by all the safe guards that environ the- de- 
 
pository banks. 
 
A. D. CANDLER. 
 
 7 
REPORT. 
To the General Assembly of Georgia: 
The General Assembly, by an act approved December 20, 1898, (see Georgia laws 1898, page 77,) provided for the appointment of commissioners to consent in behalf of the State to the erection of a new union passenger station on the State's property in the city of Atlanta, said commission to consist of the Attorney-General and the Special Attorney for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, together with two members from the House, to be appointed by theSpeaker, and one from the Senate to be appointed by the President thereof. It was provided that the Governor of the State should be a member of this commission, as will appear from the engrossed copy of the act on file in t.he office of the Secretary of State. 
By authority contained in the first section o this act, the Hon. '\V. S. '\Vest was appointed from the Senate, the Hon. Morris Brandon and the Hon. Bryon B. Bower from the House, to constitute this commission, together with theGovernor, the Attorney-General and the Special Attorney for the "\Vestern & Atlantic Railroad. 
The commission had numerous meetings and conerences during the year 189\.1, the re::mlts of which will be found set forth in their report to the General Assembly, submitted December 2, 1899. 
To the commissioners thus appointed, was cnmmitted the serious and important task of solving the Depot Problem on the State terminal property in the city of Atlanta. The act imposes three express limitations upon the powers of the commission. 
1st. That it should not consent to the erection of a sta- 
 
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tion on property other than that belonging to the State, excepting certain modifications. 
2d. That the commission should not consent to the abandonment of the site at present occupied by the union passenger depot in the city of Atlanta. 
3d. "The commission shall in no way disturb any of the terms of the present contract of lease between the State of 
Georgia and the lessee of the "\Vestern & Atlantic Rail- 
road; but the commission shall be authorized, with the consent of the lessee company, to bind the State by an agreement looking to an extension of the lease in so far as concerns the terminal property to be occupied by the passenger station and its appnrtenances for such a time and upon such terms as may med with the unanimous approval of the commission; provided, that no agreement shall he made which would-deprive the State of the right and privilege of having or obtaining absolute control of this terminal at the expiration of the present lease." 
The commission deems it unnecessary to elaborately discuss the camplicated situation which exists in the city of Atlanta with reference to the depot facilities of the several Tailroftds centering in said city, but will refer to the Teport of the Hon. E. T. Brown, Special Attorney for the vVestern & Atlantic Railroad, for the year 1899, for this speci-fic information. 
The present union passenger station in the city of At1anta is built exclusi1:ely upon the property belonging to the Stste. This station was lrnilt in the year 1871, and, at that time, was folly adequate to all of the demands which could be mnde upon it. The station proper, was erected by the State', the Atlanta & \\Test Point Railroad, the Georgia Railroad, and the Macon & ,Vestern Railroad, pre(lecessor in right and title to the Central of Georgia, and the said raihonds, and the State road used the passenger 
 
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station in common, and in addition to these roads, it: is likewise used now as a union passenger station by the Southern Railway Company and by the Seaboard .Air Line Railway Company. The city of Atlanta has more than doubled in size since the present station was erected and fully three times as many passenger trains rnn into said station at the present time as were necessary at the time said station was erected. 
It will be remembered that the X ashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Company is the present lrssee of the State road, and said lessee compan,v, by virtue of the lease, has present possession of, and control oYer, the terminal property in Atlanta, including said passenger station, along with every other part and parcel of the State road. 
Two of the companies, the Southern and the Seaboard Air Line, now using the passenger station, do so by contract with the lessee company, and it wi11 be readily understood that this tends directly to enhance the value of the State's trrminal property. 
The~r greatly increased demands on the station have rrs11ltrd in much crowding and inconvenience to all the cornpanie,;, and it can only be a question of a short time "hen natural conditions 11111st bring about one of two things-either an enlargement of the present passenger station or some of the companies must withdraw and build depots for themselYes elsewhere. This, of course, would greatly reduce the Yalne of the State's terminal property. 
As has been said, the present station in erected exclusively on property belonging to the State. The title to the propery is clear and nndisp11ted, and it is sufficient in extent, in the opinion of competent engineers, for the erection of a new station which will be adeq11atc for the accommodation oi all passenger trains entering and departing from the city of Atlanta. In addition to the property whereon the present station is Nected, the State- owns a strip one 
 
 10 
huncln,d feet in wi<ith 1Yestwardly from said station, and also a small triangular strip lying just south of the right of 
,rn: of the State's road, and extending from l'r;or snn,t 
through to ,Yhitdrnll, to all of which the State has a ciear title, and whid1 could be ntifo:ed for depot purposes if necessary. 
Soon after the mljonrnrnent of the last legi~latnre, the comrni~sion took up anew the work entrnste<l to it, arnl early in the present year began to take steps looking to tlrn c;:oecticm of a new st.atio11, Pither h:v the State or the rai: roads, upon -the 1wcsent site. 
\\Te cleem it of the grPatPst importance to tlw State Jhat the prespnt site' he not abandoned, and with thi;; alwa:s in Yicw, we ha,e sought to ckvisr some plan which would prC'c-lTH' the tPrmi11al facilitirs of the Statp',, railroad propert_Y, and which wonl<l nt tl1e same time, be satisfactor: to the railroad compauies, so as to eontinne the present station as a union passenger station. 
,\Te haYe had a numlwr of interYiews and e011fcrences with the executive officers of the seYeral railroads, and all of these intcryiews arnl conferences have culminated in the following 1n-opo~itio11: 
PROPOSITJO:SS OF RAILROADS. 
Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 11, 1HOO. The uudersigned repnsentatiYes of the railroad companies 110w using the present union station at Atlanta, submit the following answer to this qnestion: 
QUESTION. 
"If the Stntc builds, at its own expense, a new union passenger station on the site of the present union station in the city of Atlanta, will thr lessee of the western & Atlantic Railroad receiYe the same under the existing lease, 
 
 11 
alld what per ce11tum of interest 11po11 the cost thereof will it pay as rental, being nnderstood that no taxes are to be, irnro~ul upon the improvement~" 
ANSWER. 
"If the 8tate of Georgia will agn'e on or before ,Januar_y 1, next, to build and complete withiu the calenaar ;ear Jtl01, a suitable station at ,:\tlanta, on substantia11:v the ,;ite of the present union station, which will be adec111ate for 1he rwcommodation of thr passenger traffic of the city of Atlm1ta <lnring the nC'xt hventy years, upon plans and specification,;: to be agreed upon het,veen the properl,Y eonstitnted representntives of the State on the one hand, and t lie various rnilroad companies which would use snch station as hereinafter J11'0Yicled on the other hand, and 1ea8e the sm11e to the presPnt lessee of the \Yestern & Atlantic Railroad npon the terms hereinafter stated, then the lessee of the \\' estern & Atlantic Railroall will accept such lease. 
~'The condition of such lease from the State of Georgia to the lessee of the 'Western & Atlantic Railroad to he rnhstantial l.v as fo]]ows: 
RENT. 
"(a) Tlie rentnl to 1ie a rnte eq11iya]ent to Jiye per <eutnm per amrnm upon tho actual cost to the State of Georgia of the new buildings a11cl improYments as certified to such le~sce. This proposed rental is based upon the theory that the State of Georgia shonkl obtain a return of 4 per centmn upon its investment for the nse of the capital therein erliployecl, and one per centmn additional to coYer the ordinary and reasonably tc, be expected depreciation of the propert_v during the term. If the plans for the said proposed statiou shall recp1ire the acqni,-ition hy pmchase or b;v lease h_v the State of Georgia, then it is nmlerstoocl that the rental 
 
 12 
10 be paid to the State shall be increased by the amount of interest, upon a 4 per cent. basis, upon the cost, or the rental value of s11ch additional property. 
TERM, 
"(h) The term of this lease shall be for a period to begin with the completi011 of such new passenger station and the <lelivery thereof under the lease, and to expire on the <late 
of the expiration of the present lease of the ,Yestcrn & 
,\tlantic Railroad, interest on cost during construction to be equitably adjnsted. The lessee "ill covena11t in the lease that on the date of such expiration, it "ill retmn to the State the said new station in the same condition as it was when received from the State, ordinary "ear and tear excepted. 
"In the event that such a lease is executed, then tho subscribers hereto agree that the railroad companies other than the lessee of the "\Yestern & Atlantic Railroad, shall use and occupy such new passenger station and its. facilities 
jointlJ with the lessee of the "\Vcstern & Atlantic Railroad. 
dming the whole term of the lease so to be cxoc1itea, so ns to make the said new station, so far as the use thereof is concerned, in effect a union passenger station, at and from which all passenger trains of the subscribers hereto shall arrive and depart. 
"The terms of such agreement, so far as compensation is concer11ccl, shall be that each railroad company using the said union passenger station shall pay to the lessee of the \Yestorn & Atlantic Railro11d as rent for the use of the said station and its facilities, a sum, in monthly installments, representing that proportion of the entire rental, paid by 1he lessee of the "\Vestern & Atlantic Railroad to tho State 
"T of (;eorgia for the said union station, and that part of the 
lan<l now conred by the ]ease of the estern & Atlantic 
 
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Railroad which will be used in the construction and operation of the new union passenger station, as the number of cars in the passenger trains of such company running in and out of sai<l station shall bear to the entire number of cars in all pa,:;senger tranis running in and out of said station during the period for which any installment of such rent may be Jue. 
"Such agreement shall furthermore contain such reasonable rules and regulations, governing the terms and manner of the joint use of such property, as are customarily contained in eirnilar agreements." 
NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA. & ST. Lours RY. Co. 
BY J. W. THOMAS, President. 
SouTHERN RAILWAY Co.MPANY, BY. SAMUEL SPENCER, President. 
CENTRAL OF GEORGIA RAILWAY COMPANY, BY JOHN l\l. :EGAN, President. 
LESSE OF GEORGIA RAILROAD COMPANY, IlY TuoMAS K. ScoT1', Gen'!. Mgr. 
ATLANTA & WEST PoINT RAILWAY CmrrANY, 
BY G1WRGE C. SmTH, President. 
KEPLY OF C0~DIISSION. 
"\Ve will receive the foregoing proposition and agree to present it to the General Assembly at its next session, and recommend its acceptance by the State, provided the roads will agree to pay six per cent. instead of five per cent. 
"The terms of this agreement not to become operative nntil the city of Atlanta and the railroad authorities, have 
 
 14 
begun the erection of a viaduct across \Vhitchall street crossing. 
ALLER D. CANDLER, Chairman, J.11. TERRELL, E.T. BROWN, W. S. \YEST, BiffO.X B. no,vER, MORRIS BRAKDON. 
ANSWER OF RAILROADS. 
"Xashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 17th, 1900. 
IT011. Allen D. Candler, Govp,rnrw State of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga.: 
Sir-Referring to proposition submitted to you on Oct. 11, hy the railroads with reference to the union passenger station, Atlanta, beg leaYe to say that the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, as lessee of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, will agree, as you request, to pay six per cent rental upon the actual cost of the building, the rental on any property that may he acquired by purchase or lease, not now owned by the State of Georgia, to remain at four per cent. 
Your;; respectfully, J. W. THO:MAS, President." 
"Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 20, 1900. 
To His Excellency, Hon. Allen D. Candler, Governor of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga.: 
Dear Sir-I am authorized to say that the Southern Railway Company will cooperate with the other roads entering the union passenger station at Atlanta, and accede 
 
 15 
to your proposition to pay six per cent. on the actual cost of said proposed station, as proYi<led by tho proposition of October 28th, 18D9, and as extended on October 10th. 1900. 
A copy of said proposition, as extended, and amended, is hereto attached. 
Yours truly, HA:l\llLTON :Mc'\YHORTER, 
Advisory Counsel. 
"Central of Georgia Railway Company. 
SaYannah, Ga., Oct 15, moo. 
Regarding Atlanta Union Depot. 
Hon. Allen V. Ca11dler, Goveriwr, State of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga.: 
Sir-The Central of li'.'(1rgia Railway Compan:v will agree to the terms nr0posed by you, namely, an increase from fin to s:ix per cent. rental, based on tho actual cost of the building erected on the State's property, the same to be apportioned among the different railway lines usmg the depot, in accordance with the cars they handle; in other words, the agreement as contained in the first part of the proposal which was submitted to your Excellency in N oyember, 1899, with the addition that the time be extended during the calendar year 1901, and the rate bechanged from five per cent. ta rea1l six per cent. 
Yours respectfully, JOH.N .1:I. EGAN", President." 
Georgia Railroad. Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 16 
 
Jion. Allen D. Candler, Goiemor State of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga. 
 
Dear Sir-I duly received _your letter of October 12, submitting proposition of the State Railroad Commission for the constructing of union passenger station on the State's property in Atlanta, and beg to adviee that the Georgia Railroad is willing to bear its proportion of the rental of said new structure at the rate of six ( G;f'.) per cent. per annum on the value thereof. 
Respectfully, THOS. K. SCOTT, General J\Ianager. 
"Atlanta & west Point Railroad. Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 19, 1900. 
 
JIon. Allen D. Candler, Governor State of Georgia, Atlanta, Ga: 
 
Sir-The Atlanta & West Point RR Co., hereby con- 
 
firms the proposition concerning the use of a uniou passen- 
 
ger station in Atlanta, if erected by the State upon the 
 
State's property, submitted by the repre,;;entatives of At- 
lanta terminal lines on October 11th, moo, as amended by 
 
the representatives of the State on same dl\te, said amend- 
 
ment being that the rental to be paid by the roads upon 
 
the actual cost of the union depot building so erected shall 
 
be six per cent. per annum instead of five per cent. the 
 
term for construction having been extended during the 
 
calendar year 1901. 
 
Yoms respectfully, 
 
GEO. C. S1IITH, President." 
 
This commission is unanimously of the opinion that the foregoing proposition of the railroads should be accepted hy the State, and that an act should be passed at this ses8ion of the General Assembly carrying the same into effect. 
 
 17 
"\Ve make this recommendation for the following reasons: 1st. It is essential to the proper preservation of the "\Yestern & Atlantic Railroad that the State should continue to own and control the terminal facilities in the city of Atlanta. This terminal property is now of large value and is increasing in value every year, owing to the rapid and continued growth of the passenger business of the railroads now using the property. 'l'he State now receives as rental from the lessees of the western & Atlantic Railroad $35,001.00 per month. If the State should erect a new passenger station, costing $500,000.00, it would receive six per cent. per annum on this amount, or $30,000.00 per y('ar, in addition to the present rental. 2d. The present depot building has become for the reasons briefly outlined above, utterly inadequate to accommodate the various railroads entering it. vVc will add further, that this q11estion has been determined by the Railroad Commission, which is the only tribunal under the Jaw, clothed with authority to compel railroads to erect suitable depot facilities. After thorough investigation  of this question, the Railroad Commission determined that the facilities furnished h,v the present station are inade1uate to meet the present demands of all the railroads centering in Atlanta, and ordered senral of said railroads to erect separate stations-having no authority to compel the erection of a union station on land owned by the State. In Yie,v of the great damage which this commission thought would result to the "\Vestern & Atlantic Railroad property ~hould this order be enforced, the Railroad Commission suspended the same upon the request of this commission, pending negotiations looking to the erection of a union station npon the State's property. 
3d. If a new and adequate station is not erected upon the site of the pre;;,ent nnion passenger station, it will be 
 
 18 
but a short time before some of the railroads will abandon the present site, and erect stations of their own elsewhere. Should any one or more of the said roads withdraw and erect a station, the State ,vill immediately be deprived of 3 good and permanent subtenant, and the value of the property will be proportionately diminished. 
4th. Because by the terms of this agreement the lease of the depot building will expire cotemporaneously with the 
w present lease of the estern & Atlantic Railroad, and a 
contract providing for a lease of the ground to be-occupied by the station for a longer period than the existence of the present lease, would be exceedingly detrimental to the interests of the State's property. 
Respectfully submitted, ALLEN D. CANDLER, Chairman, J.M. TERRELL, E.T. BROWN, vV. S. WEST, BYRON B. BOvVER, !fORIUS BRA~DON.