SECOND
SemiAnnual Report
Railroad Commisn
OF GEORGIA
NOVEMBER 16 1880
ATLANTA GEOKGIA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING COMPANY 1880
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
CAMPBELL WALLACE V Commissioners
SAMUEL BARNETT
R A Bacon Secretary
i
SECOND ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
RAILROAD COMMISSION
Office of the Railroad Commission of Ga
To His Excellency Alfred H Colquitt Governor j c
SirIn making a second semiannual report to your Excellency it is our purpose to present a simple review of the action of the Commission and of the general effect of such action upon the railroads of the State It was our intention to make the present report full and elaborate upon all matters of interest connected with the Commission and its labors j but this has been rendered impossible for the present by the severe illness of one of the Commissioners We hope to be able at no distant day to present to your Excellency a report covering the entire field of our duties and labors
In the action of the Commission we have sought to keep constantly in view the two great objects of the law viz the prevention of extortion and of unjust discrimination in freight and passenger rates The whole animus of the Commissioners has been to do equal and impartial justice to both railroads and people In our view we have come much nearer this end by our present rules and rates than by those of force
Atlanta November 16tln 1880
action
4 Report of Railroad Commission
at the date of our last report We reasonably hope for more constant approximation as study and experience familiarize us with our duties
There have been complaints more or less well founded of the correctness of our views but in general the comment applies that local prejudices have yieded on discussion to broader views and that many of the complaints as to discrimination on our part have come from places or classes once the beneficiaries of partial and unfair advantages It is not unnatural that those favored by unjust discrimination should desire a continuation of that policy
It would be tedious to go through with the entire work of the Commission in detail in the body of a report We submit herewith to your Excellency documents showing our action in establishing rates rules and regulations for the railroads and the means adopted by us to prevent unjust discrimination in freight and passenger rates
RESULTS
Since the organization of the Commission very material reductions in rates have been effected as a result of its operations and much has been done in the way of graduating and equalizing rates to standards One of the most useful effects of the labors of the Commission has been to enlarge the mutual knowledge of the railroads and the public and to bring each to a clearer recognition of the rights and duties of the other Increased knowledge of rates has been achieved and to tenndency resulting from our work has been to reduce speculation and encourage reliance for success on sound business principles
PASSENGER RATES
The maximum passenger rates on many of the railroads of the State have been reduced by the Commissioners tariffs from five cents and in some instances six cents per mile to four cents per mile Experience
Report op Railroad Commission 5
has shown that this reduction while greatly beneficial to the public has not injured the interests of the railroads On the contrary the increase of travel occasioned thereby has added materially to the earnings of the roads The right to reduce passenger fares below the maximum fixed by the Commissioners has not been restricted The law places these upon a different footing from freight rates and the Commission has therefore left with the railroads themselves the power to fix their respective passenger charges at any amount below the maximum of four 4 cents per mile established by the Commission
FREIGHT RATES
Since our rates went into operation the revenues of the roads from the freight traffic the most important branch of their businesshas largely increased over corresponding periods in previous years 5 and this too in the face of the fact that large reductions in rates on the principal articles of production and consumption have been made For more particular information at this point we respectfully refer your Excellency to the statements contained in the accompanying document marked Exhibit A
COMPETITION
It is evident that there is no advantage to be secured t the people nor to the railroads of the State by allowing other roads not under the jurisdiction of the Commissioners to take the business uncontrolled by what we regard to be the legitimate principle of competition yet not of force or recognized by roads without the States limits It should be remembered that competition affects the whole round of transportation from end to end and back and that this complex condition so largely affecting our roads exists principally beyond our jurisdiction
The most important regulation adopted by the Commission in regard to competition was briefly referred to in our first report and is as follows
Reeqrt op Railroad Commission
Rule 6The freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a re duction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
When however from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdction of the Commission then the line o lines which are so subject and are working at the lowest rate under the rules may at such competing point or other point injuriously affected by such competition make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competion without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
By this rule it was intended to make competition conform to principles of right and justice Thus instead of a war of rates being confined to any little village along the line of two countries say for example Canada and the United States such war if made would under the operation of this rule be declared along the whole line The roads may thus make legitimate war but it would extend to every station on the line Such we regard to be legitimate competition as distinguished from illegitimate and injurious competition If rates are lowered at strictly competitive points alone the neighboring stations are injured and a result brought about of freights being shipped back and in the opposite direction to their destination to be carried a second time over the same part of the road more cheaply than by direct shipment to the point of delivery To avoid this result when the rate is lowered at the immediate point of competition a graduated
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7
rate is supplied to neighboring stations so as to make the direct charges something less from the initial point to that of destination than the sum of the two rates from the shipping station to the near competitive point and thence back to the place of destination
The Commissioners are of the opinion that they have no power to force competition between the roads nor do they think that they ought to be invested with such power Experience proves that unrestricted competition is often detrimental to the best interests of the public as well as the carrier We claim the right to restrict competition within legitimate limits and we think this object can be accomplished by the enforcement of Rule 6 of our regulations
EMBARGOES PREVENTED
The Commissioners have always believed that shippers are entitled to the benefits of any market they may select according to the natural or artificial advantages it may possess unrestrained by arbitrary ruleSi Our labors have been diligently and systematically devoted to the accomplishment of this end
One of our most recent efforts in that direction is shown in the accompanying order dated October 29th 1880 The effect of this order we think will be to remove the practical embargo which for some time past has been lid upon commerce between certain points in this State and other points without the States limits Heretofore there seems to have existed some reason which induced a number of railroads in the State to decline to receive for shipment more than certain percentages of freights of a particular character or class
j The order just referred to is as follows
State of Georgia
Office of the Railroad Commission Atlanta October 29 1880
In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at this point and elsewhere in this State md ah injurious
Bepot op Bailhoad Commission
blockade of freights anticipated and now partially existing the railroad companies in this State are hereby notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will be permitted and that when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies fr distributing amongst themselves for transportation according to percentages the cotton or other freight offered for shipment such companies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unnecessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that may exist amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective companies
By order of the Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary
Your Excellency will observe that this order contemplates nothing more nor requires more of the railroad companies than a faithful discharge of their duties as contemplated by the laws of the State governing common carriers irrespective of the powers conferred by the act creating this Commission
MANUFAOTOKIES
It has been the intention of the Commissioners to permit the railroads to offer such inducements to manufacturers as would encourage them to make investments in the State This is clearly effected by Note 1 of our rules from which we give the following extract
The rates specified for ores sand clay rough stone common brick bones lumber shingles laths staves empty barrels wood straw shucks hay fodder corn in ear tan bark turpentine rosin tar household goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of said road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left
Report op Railroad Commission 9
free to reduce tliem at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6
This note permits the railroad companies to make lower rates for articles manufactured on or near their own lines or the lines of connecting roads without coming under the restraining clause in Rule 6 provided that no more is charged for a less than for a longer distance
COMPLAINTS
Numerous requests and complaints have been received by the Commissioners both from the citizens and the railroads and occasional discussions have been heard of conflicting interests Considering the number and importance of the questions presented for solution the changes made in our tariffs and regulations have been few The railroad companies in some instances casually omitted to furnish us with full information of their unprinted or special rates Most of the changes made by us after the first publication of the standard tariff were rendered necessary by these omissions
With a view of placing ourselves in possession of the information needed for a proper revision of our standard tariff we issued a circular addressed to all the railroad companies of tle State calling on them to furnish us a comparative statement of the earnings and expenses of their respective roads during the months of May and June 1879 and 1880 The action of the Commissioners based upon responses to this Circular is embodied in Circulars Nos 7 8 9 and 10 herewith transmitted
The operation of Circular No 10 has led to some discussion not so much in regard to actual as to relative rates The Commissioners gave the whole subject their most thoughtful consideration and we think that their action will be found satisfactory
The question of the operation of the Central Railroad as a unit or in the several divisions expressed in Cir
s
10
Report of Railroad Commission
cnlar 10 was much argued In our opinion the conclusion readied by the Commissioners was correct and the only one consistent with authority Enforced unity against the consent of the railroad companies we did not consider within our province
The whole subject of joint rates between railroads in this State is gradually opening before us the chief principles having been to some extent involved in tile ielation of local and joint rates on the several divisions of the Central railroad The Commissioners have never believed that they had the power under the law to make a joint rate between points on any two roads which would be less in amount than the sums of the local rates charged on such roads between these points except by the request or consent of the roads interested
CLASSIFICATIONS
The classifications of railroad freight tariffs have ever been undergoing changes That adopted by the Southern Railway Steamship Association and stereotyped in February 1880 it was thought by many prominent railroad officials would remain unchanged for a considerable time Since then however another and different classification has been found necessary Some persons have thought the Commissioners too unyielding because of the very few changes made in our standard tariff and classification since they went into effect As every change involves heavy expense for printing we have made only such as in our judgment strict justice and pressing necessity required
PRINTING
The Commission has no choice in the method of publishing its tariffs revisions etc as the law specifies how it shall be done A large amount of printing expenses has been saved however by adopting a standard tariff and then adapting it to each particular road by circulars This was done upon the most
Report op Railroad Commission
careful consideration as the best means of economy consistent with carrying out the law
The first publication of tariffs rules and regulations was necessarily very expensive as it embraced a ful classification of all freights covered by the rates
Had we attempted to make a separate tariff and classification for each road in the State the expense of printing the same would necessarily have been the amount of the present expense multiplied by the whole number of railroads in the State
No law exists providing the means to pay the expenses of printing the tariffs etc issued by the Commission
The law requires that the rates and revision of rates established by the Commissioners shall be published once a week for four consecutive weeks in some public newspapers published in the cities of Augusta Albany Atlanta Savannah Macon Rome and Columbusin this State before going into operation We found it necessary to appeal to the proprietors of the newspapers to make the required publications and to await the action of the General Assembly for compensation A copy of the circular letter of the chairman on this subject is herewith transmitted Your Excellency furnished the Commission with twelve hundred dollars to be used as an advance on account of printing expenses Accompanying this report will be found a full statement of the disposition made of this amount Werespectfully suggest to your Excellency the propriety of recommending to the General Assembly an appropriation for the payment of such just balances as may be found due on account of printing done for Commissioners
OFFICE EXPENSES
The Legislature appropriated the sum of five hundred dollars to pay for office rent stationery etc Commissioner Wallace furnished us rentfree the commodious offices over the Merchants Bank on Alabama
Report op Railroad Commission
street which we have occupied during the present year lhe whole of the appropriation mentioned has been drawn from the Treasury and appHed to the uses directed by law There is still a small balance on account of expenses incurred amounting to 3913 irtynine dollars and thirteen cents remaining un
Below we give a statement showing the disposition made of the appropriations paid on the following accounts
Office furniture
Office gas light fixtures
Office matting for office floors
Whitewashing offices
Mounting three maps
Office boxes for pigeon holes etc
Office two signs and placing them
Postage and postoffice box rent
Gas Light Company bills
Wages of Porter
Coal and wood for fuel
Stationery desk furniture books etc
Subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals
Express charges on books etc from other commissions Telegraphing
Printed matter tariffs etc for distribution
98 75 9 30 60 63 2 00 2 50 36 30 9 25 49 86 13 20 44 15 21 15 27 85 24 95 12 45 7 70 79 96
In the spring of the present year Morris K Jesup rustee c filed his bill in chancery in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Georgia praying that the Commissioners be restrained from enforcing their rates and regulations on the Savannah Florida Western Railroad Upon the hearing of the application for injunction the bill was dismissed Immediately thereafter another bill was filed however by George H Tilley in the same court asking for a similar remedy A restraining order was granted in this case by the court enjoining the Commissioners from enforcing their established rates on
Report op Railroad Commission 13
said railroads until the further order of the court The application for injunction in the case of Tilley has been continued from time to time at the instance of the complainant and is still pending
In consequence of this action by the court the Commissioners rates have not yet gone into operation on the Savannah Florida Western Railroad No other litigation that we have been advised of involving the action of the Commissioners has been instituted We transmit herewith a copy of the affidavit filed by the Commissioners in response to the application for injunction in said case which will furnish your Excel lency with a clear statement of the reasons which controlled us in establishing our standard rates and regulations The railroad companies with the exception mentioned have complied in the main with the rates rules and regulations of the Commissioners although the law gives us no power to summarily enforce our action In view of the great interest effected by our action this may justly be considered a most gratifying result
BOOKKEEPING AND OPERATION OF RAILROADS
Our report upon the condition and operation of the railroads of the State cannot be as full and satisfactory as it would be with a good and uniform system of bookkeeping on the part of the several roads Some have very good systems but they are diverse and for some purposes connected with a report intelligible to the public are not the very best Few persons appreciate the difficulty of getting at any facts from such reports not intended specially to be presented and of tabulating such facts in any satisfactory form
We are preparing forms for a more complete system embracing all the needful particulars to record the business of the roads and make it intelligible to all To achieve these desirable objects not only bookkeeping but the principles of tabulation need to be studied and thoroughly mastered
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Report op Railroad Commission
The system we are preparing will comprise full information of the capital invested in each road the annual earnings of each road the rates and tonnage of each the annual expenses the profits made and the use made of the same the effect of the action of the Commission on each road the actual savings to the public due to the action of the Commission the light of comparison furnished to the railroads the need of economy on the part of the roads and the inward and outward tonnage and business of each station c
A general as well as a detailed view necessary to render reference back and forth easy thereby reducing the area of conjecture and enlarging that of calculation will be supplied The comparative methodthe great means of improvement which gives a sense of security and mastery will be provided for This system will enable every one to obtain a better general idea of the extent and importance of the railroad property of the State and of the great interest of the public therein
In addition to the value to the public and to the railroads of such a system of reports one of the chief advantages resulting therefrom will be the establishing of proper bases for taxation of railroads and railroad property in the State which information the operations of the Commission under this system would always exhibit
SECRETARY ETC
The Commissioners believing it best to secure the services of a Secretary thoroughly versed in railroad busines elected Mr R A Bacon to that position The salary now allowed him by law does not compensate him adequately for the labor and peculiar skill and knowledge required in performing the duties of his place We respectfully suggest that your Excellency recommend to the General Assembly the propriety of authorizing such an increase of the salary of the Sec
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retary as will j ustly compensate him for his services
In submitting this imperfect report to your Excellency we desire to state that it will be our pleasure as it is our duty to furnish to your Excellency and to the General Assembly all the information in our power with reference to the important interests which have engaged our attention during the past year
Respectfully submitted
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace
Samuel Barnett
Railroad Commissioners
Circular to Newspapers
Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga March 5th 1880
gIRThe Railroad Commissioners have selected the
as the paper at Georgia in which
the required publication of the rates established by them for the railroads of the State will be made In our letter of 23d ult we suggested that on account of the failure of the Legislature to provide the means of paing for the work the papers publishing the rates c would be expected to await the action of the next General Assembly before receiving their compensation therefor The Governor has furnished from his Contingent Fund however a sum which enables us to make a partial payment for the service
Upon consideration we have concluded not to make contracts with the papers fixing their charges for doing the work We think it would be fairer to both them and to the public that this question should be left open to be ascertained and settled upon a quantum meruit
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Report op Railroad Commission
In view of this conclusion upon our part we beg to say that former correspondence on this subject is considered as withdrawn The corrected printed copy will go to you in a few days
James M Smith Chairman
Balances due the following Newspapers for Printing the Schedule of Just and Seasonable Bates and the revisions thereon to and including Circular No 10 as per their bills
Atlanta Constitution
Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist
Albany Advertiser
Columbus EnquirerSun Macon Telegraph and Messenger
Home Courier
Savannah News
1603 80 566 10 546 75 566 10 566 10 500 00 566 10
3914 95
Account of Disbursement of Twelve Hundred Dollars 1200 00 furnished by Governor Colquitt from Contingent Fund to pay on account to Newspapers for publishing Schedule of Just and Seasonable Bates and the revisions thereon
PAID TO
Atlanta Constitution
Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist
Albany Advertiser
Macon Telegraph and Messenger
Columbus EnquirerSun
Rome Courier
Savannah News
300 00 150 00 150 00 150 00 150 00 150 00 150 00
1200 00
The Atlanta Constitution set up from manuscript made all the changes required and kept the type in form for some months while other papers set up from printed copy
CIRCULAR NO 7
Office of the Railroad Commission of Georgia
Atlanta May 71880
ce Fresh Pish and Meats on Ice or otherwise when heretofore transported on passenger trains was permitted to be charged double firstclass rates This permission is hereby revoked and the maximum freight rates on these articles will be on less than car loads 6th class on car loads class L on any kind of train
2dRailroad companies will observe rule 11 strictly
3dBran and Millstuffs in car loads will be class P
By order of the Board of Commissioners
James M Smith Chairman
R A Bacon Secretary
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CIRCULAR NO 8
Office of The Railroad Commission Atlanta Ga June 191880
Upon a full and fair showing of two months business by the Columbus Rome Railroad the allowance of 25 per cent on the u Standard Rates is continued as the maximum rates as to Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber and on all other classes one hundred per cent on the Standard Rates is
allowed as a maximum I
James M Smith Chairman
R A Bacon Secretary
CIRCULAR NO 9
Office of the Railroad Commission Atlanta Ga July 291880
Upon careful consideration of the report of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad its relation to the Standard Tariff is changed as follows viz
1st Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber maximum remaining at Standard
2d On all other classes maximum rates can be estimated at 25 twentyfive per cent above Standard Rates
James M Smith Chairman
R A Bacon Secretary
CIRCULAR NO 10
Office of the Railroad Commission Atlanta Ga August 131880
Upon a full and careful consideration of the elaborate reports of the Central Railroad and Banking Company the Atlanta Charlotte AirLine Railway Company and the Macon and Brunswick Railroad Company showing the effect of the rates authorized by the Commission on their business for May and June 1879 and 1880 the following changes are made in the relations of these Companies to the Standard Tariff
THE CENTRAL RAILROAD AND BANKING COMPANY
1st The Central Railroad and Banking Company is authorized to operate their railroads in the following divisions The Savannah the Southwestern Railroad the Atlanta the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad
2d On the Savannah and Southwestern Railroad Divisions and the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad upon all classes other than Specials the maximum Freight rates between 30 and 40 miles to be 50 per cent on Standard Rates between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent and one hundred miles and over 20 per cent as heretofore fixed
2
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Report op Railroad Commission
3d Upon the Atlanta Division on all classes other than Specials the maximum rates to be 30 per cent over Standard
4th Upon Cotton Class J the maximum on either Division or on Savannah Griffin North Alabama Railroad for all distances shall be 15 per cent above Standard All other Specials K L M N O and P remain at Standard
5th A tariff of joint rates on all the roads operated by the Central Railroad Banking Company prepared with the approbation of the Commission will be furnished by the Company on application
THE MACON AND BRUNSWICK RAILROAD COMPANY
6th The rates applied to the Savannah Division of the Central Railroad apply also to the Macon and Brunswick Railroad in lieu of rates heretofore in force
THE ATLANTA AND CHARLOTTE AIRLINE
7th The maximnm rates on this road on Fertilizers are fixed at 15 per cent and on all other classes at 10 per cent advance on Standard Rates
RULES RATES AND CLASSIFICATION
8th In car loads the maximum rates on Rosin and Crude Turpentine shall not exceed Class K of Standard and on Spirits of Turpentine shall not exceed Class D of Standard and reduced rates may be made under Note 1
9th Shingles Laths and Staves are hereafter included in Class O
10th To Rule 1 prefix the words Unless otherwise specified
11th Note 1 having been sometimes misconstrued is altered so as to read as follows
NOTE 1 The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tan bark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household Goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads m Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
R A Bacon Secretary James M Smith Chairman
Report op Railroad Commission EXHIBIT A
19
ANSWER OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE BILL IN CHANCERY OF GEORGE H TILLEY
George H Tilley 1 Bill for Injunction c in the Circuit vs L Court of the United States for the South
The Savannah Florida I ern 5i8trict of Georgia
Western Railway Co J
In the above stated case we James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Samnel Barnett being duly sworn do make the following statement The first work of the Commission was a very careful study of the various freight tariffs in actual operation on the several railroads in this State and also for a broader basis of induction of the roads of some other States both contiguous and remote This study was embarrassed by the complexity arising from the large number of classes of freight and the variety of distances To avoid this complexity in the prosecution of results the rates in the tables to be presented are given only on selected classes and for selected distances approximating sufficiently for a general view the results of a fuller comparison The material for this fuller comparison however are also givensee Exhibit 2 but they will be found not largely to vary from the briefer and more general view The selected classes are as follows viz Class 4 as representing about the mean general merchandize embraced in the numerical columns B Bacon and D Grain as representing the lettered columns and Cotton the most important single item of freight
The general result as to the relative results of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad as compared with other leading roads in the State is to b seen ip the following table

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Report op Railroad Commission
TABLE
Showing a comparison of the Tariffs of all the leading Railroads of Georgia over 75 miles in length operating these rates in actual operation in March 1880 as established by the Railroad authonties untrammelled by the Railroad Commission and furnished the Commission as the basis of information as to the Rates then existing
rates eor fifty miles
4th Cl Bacon Grain Cotton Mean of
1 Western Atlantic Eailroad 24 12 9 20 4 Classa 16
2 Georgia Railroad Banking Co 21 21 12 27 20
3 Atlanta West Point Railroad 32 21 14 25 23
4 Central Railroad Atlanta Div 30 20 15 30 24
5 Savannah Div 30 22 18 30 25
6 Atlanta Charlotte AirLine 24 20 17 21 20
7 Macon Brunswick Railroad 35 23 25 20 26
8 Brunswick Albany Railroad 30 20 20 45 29
9 Savannah Florida Western RR 55 30 20 75 45
RATES FOR 100 MILES
4th Cls Bacon Grain Cotton Mean for 100 miles
Western Atlantic Railroad 35 20 15 25 24
Georgia Railroad 32 32 15 38 29
Central Railroad Atlanta Division 45 25 22 30 30
Savannah Division 35 25 22 40 30
Atlanta Charlotte AirLine 33 29 24 26 28
Macon Brunswick Railroad 40 25 29 40 33
Brunswick Albany Railroad 45 30 30 45 35
Savannah Florida Western R R 65 35 23 75 49
RATES FOR 140 MILES
Western Atlantic Railroad 40 25 19 25 27
Georgia Railroad 36 36 17 42 33
Central Railroad Savannah Division 38 28 23 40 32
Atlanta Charlotte AirLine 40 32 28 26 31
Macon Brunswick Railroad 40 30 30 40 35
Brunswick Albany Railroad 55 30 25 45 39
Savannah Florida Western RR 65 35 28 75 50
GENERAL RESULT OF COMPARISON
50 100 140 Mean
Miles Miles Miles Distance
Mean rate of all the other Railroads 23 30 32 28
Mean rate of three weakest Railroads 25 32 3o 30f
Rate of Savannah Florida Western RR 45 49 50f 48
Mean general result 3 weakest roads being 100
And Sav Fla Western RR being nearly 160
The material for comparison of the rates of expenses to gross receipts at our command was quite imperfect
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Repoet of Railroad Commission
There were no recently printed reports of the Western Atlantic Railroad the Macon Brunswick Railroad the Brunswick Albany Railroad and the Savannah Florida Western Railroad The following
Central Railroad Atlanta Division Central Railroad Savannah Division Central Railroad Southwestern RR Div
Georgia Railroad
Atlanta Charlotte AirLine including some
reconstruction
Atlanta West Point Railroad
Sav Fla Western Railroad 3 years average U u 1879
Ratio of expenses to Net
Gross Receipts
58 42
56 44
59 41
65 35
68 32
55
69 31
71 29
AS TO REASONABLE AND JUST PROFITS
the views taken by different railroad presidents and experts as to a satisfactory rate of profit were diverse In the argument of Gen E P Alexander Presiden of the Georgia Railroad before the railroad committees of the Legislature and before the Commission he stated that six per cent if reliable on the value of the Georgia Railroad stock would be satisfactory Col Wadley fixed upon seven per cent The Railroad Commission inclines to the view that eight per cent would be about the proper rate viz seven per cent as lawful interest and one per cent for contingencies spent on road and other investments Bonds of the Upited States and of various cities and corporations and of the different States bearing less rates were at
par or above
Mr Haines view required 10 per cent Presenting these views in a tabular form the result is as follows
Profit rate
m 6 per cent
General Alexanders views p
7 per cent
Colonel Wadleys views F
TT 10 per cent
Mr Haines views o cent
Railroad Commissioners views v
A road charging high rates would do well to get 7 per cent perhaps while a road with low rates might properly not be checked so low
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Report of Railroad Commission
The inquiry Upon what sum should a given road pay interest involves many and nice considerations Evidently in the opinion of the Commission the value of the property as distinguished from its original cost is the criterion But to determine the value is different Still practically this determination must needs be frequently made and acted on Valuation is necessary annually for taxationalmost daily for sales and purchases such a valuation as determines practical application
These general views of principles and facts open the way for a closer discussion of the action of the Commission and its reasons The objects as set forth in the law were twofoldthe prevention of extortion and unjust discrimination
The general mode of procedure of the Commission is set forth in the first serhiannual report herewith appended as exhibit No 1 from which it will be manifest that a very broad basis of induction was before the Commission in many particularsderived from the action of other Statesfrom reports of Commissioners of other States and from the railroad reports of this State In some respects these reports however fail to furnish adequate information and hence the need of improved methods of keeping accounts fundamental to the decision of the question as to what rates are just and reasonable for each road
The basis of estimate as to what is just and reasonable may be briefly set forth as follows viz In their double aspect as corporations of a quasi public character and also private corporations in their means and resources the same railroad corporations are entitled to a reasonable profit on the value of their corporate property We pray for light from the court if it can give better methods being very desirous of a right basis
The value must be ascertained not merely the cost for railroad property like 11 others fluctuates in value
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Report op Railroad Commission
and the cost is but an element or factor in the estimate of value
Various methods have been adopted to determine value There may be difficulties in the way of such determination but they are exactly the same for this purpose as for all others and are of a sort that have to be determined for other purposes as say for taxation for sale or purchase or for a proper report etc Practically an estimate is put upon the property in every respect in the general exhibit To rectify this and make it as accurate as possible is really one of the chief duties and functions of the higher officers who profess in their reports to give information to the stockholders and the public Without entering more into the exact means of estimating the value it may be remarked that the proper and frequent use of the Profit and Loss account is indispensable to reconcile the fluctuations of actual value for information and for action for sale and taxation Reports etc are intended that the condition of the corporation should be intelligibly stated Huge errors of the most practical character and disastrous to all interests arise from the failure to do this thing The huge lumping standing item with which most exhibits begin The Road and its outfit is really subject to these very changes most important of all to be known and understood As well have a thermometer of solid contents instead of quicksilver and complain that it is too tioublesometo use one with liquid This is the final result the resultant of all the bookkeeping and needs to move up and down according to the facts the value meter Upon this value as actual and important though an annual estimate will perhaps suffice etc a reasonable profit is to be made
This profit is the excess of the earnings over the operating expenses The measure of its reasonableness is another thing to be determined and this depends upon the general profits of other investments of
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Report of Railroad Commission
capital It should generally be such a profit as to embrace legal interest and a certain increase for the risks of stocks as compared with bonds Probably in Georgia about 8 per cent7 per cent interest and 1 per cent insurance This profit should be the excess of earnings over expenses with average economy of management If the road is managed with superior skill it is entitled to the gain thereby effected If without proper conomy the profits must be reduced the loss and waste to tall where it belongs on the poor management
It has been our aim constantly to reduce the domain of mere conjecture and to enlarge that of calculation With a proper system of book keeping and tabulation not less important the question of reasonable rates can be made about as soluble as many other practical questions and much more certain than the conjecture and fluctuating and guessing work actually resorted to The fact that it is difficult argues more diligence in solution instead of more guesswork The system under preparation by the Commission it is believed will go some ways toward furnishing data for a well advised estimate of value of rates
The Commission would gladly have waited before any approximate tariff of rates for the proper information in full form But there were grounds of necessary promptitude of action on its part which are only partly set forth in the report Chieflythe first approximation was much closer in the opinion of the Commissioners than existing rates and so pending the needful additional action they came as near as they could to a just schedule on which to act till a clearer approximation was possible The rates in operation were more unjust to the public than the new rates to the railroads It was not intended to make the new rates unjust in any degree to the railroads yet in the first approximation to err rather in favor of low rates than high rates coming as near exact justice as pos
Keport op Railroad Commission
25
sible On the Savannah Florida Western Railroad existing rates were largely excessive in our judgment
Our report and circulars all show for themselves that the system of thought is provisional and to be modified as may be necessary The basis of induction however already in use is far wider than the individual action of any one road It is founded on the broader and not narrow views by comparison of road with road and roads in Georgia with roads in other States
The first principles have been carefully considered and studied and incorporated
If questions of doubt as to constitutionality exist these are questions for the Court We are bound to pursue the law It is claimed that the Savannah Florida Western Railroad had the legal right by charter to fix its own rates and by virtue of contract was protected from change Were this true in fact it was none the less the duty of the Commission to report as to the justice and reasonableness of the rates and justice or injustice of the discriminations made in order that the Legislature might know the extent to which the contract right was abused The Legislature might think it even proper to exercise its rights under Section of the Constitution quoted in Complainants bill and protect the public by buying the road But by the act of 1863 and the construction of the law in 8 Otto the Commission considered this road to stand on the same footing with all the roads chartered since 1863 viz not on contract but on the same broad ground as all other individual or corporate citizens entitled to protection and subject to proper legal restraint against doing wrong and of special restraint for special reasons of monopoly or otherwise
It is also to be remembered that the whole subject is not yet so definitely settled that we could always venture upon first principles as definitely fixed and established We were necessarily compelled to modi
26
Report of Railroad Commission
fy to a considerable extent by the experience and practice of the railroads
The court appreciating the difficulties of the case and the great labor used in trying to overcome them will see that there has been no abuse of discretion
Taking up the railroads seriatim the special case of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad came up in its order It is hardly necessary to say that it was considered without prejudice of any sort whatever or any reason therefor Any allegation of prejudice is wholly gratuitous and the actual facts afford a full explanation of the action of the Commission reasonable and proper without any need of aspersion of motives
Comparing the various tariffs the Savannah Florida Western Railroad was strikingly exceptional unless the other roads in the State were wrong in their tariffs and many of them doing themselves injustice The SavannahFlorida Western Railroad was wrong in both the respects which the General Assembly desired to regulate and correct viz excessive rates and wide discrimination which to the Commission seemed unjust discrimination though with no imputation on our part of improper motives
Indeed if any call for constitutional and legislative interference existed in this State it was developed in the tariffs of this road beyond all others If the rates of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad were really reasonable and just as to amount and discrimination then the other roads certainly with few exceptions were badly managed and worked without reasonable reference to their own interest This conclusion seems to us inevitable
COMMENTS OX THE TABLES
The tables show the freight tariffs of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad to be the highest charged by any road in the State and we may add of any road without the State within our knowledge The
Report of Railroad Commission
27
rates of other weak roadsfor example the AirLine the Macon Brunswick and weakest of all the Brunswick Albanyrun far below those of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad The rates of these roads were such as were fixed by themselves all untrammelled by any rules or regulations governed only by a sense of their own interests and obligations High above them all towered the tariff of the Savannah Florida Western Railroadabove any other submitted to us for consideration in or out of Georgia long or short weak or strong They were also very discriminating in their relations to distances as will appear more clearly by reference to the accompanying diagrams
These were the considerations which influenced the action of the Commission and no feelings whatever of prejudice against any interest corporation or locality
To compare next the relation of earnings to expenses
After proper allowance for relative tonnage it seemed to the Commission that this ratio was also very high The ratio of net profit to gross receipts on the Central Railroad being over 42 per cent that on the Savannah Florida Western Railroad seemed out of line So the comparison with the AirLine Railroad was not favorableit also having a small tonnage and a more expensive road to maintain The Georgia Railroad worked at very low rates showed a larger ratio The exceptionally high rates of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad counterbalanced the relative lack of tonnage That road too is level straight sandy and easily drained and kept in order Fuel and crossties are cheap Long trains relatively can be drawn by its engines Take it altogether while the data at command were not adequate to a solution they clearly indicated a want of proportion in this regard And the Commission takes occasion here to express its conviction that in this very particular of ratio of net to
28
Report of Railroad Commission
gross earnings lies one of the chief reforms really attainable in railroad management
It is to be remembered also that a fall in rates is by no means necessarily a fall of like per cent in income as illustrated by postage by Georgia Railroads passenger and by Savannah Florida Western passenger rates
Mr Haines the official head of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad in response to our Circular No 1 of March 4th 1880 appeared before the Commission It is proper to remark that by his temporary absence the Circular did not reach him promptly so that there was some delay in his response to it Meanwhile any delay in our action would necessarily affect the whole operation of the tariff not only on his road but throughout the State This explains the attitude of the Commission which of necessity required promptness as before explained
Mr Haines presented his argument and had a full and complete hearing His presentation was excellent and characterized by great clearness and power and to a considerable extent was approved as to the principles included
The Commission differed from the views presented however in certain particulars The valuation was regarded as too high The following will show about the relative views of the authorities of the Savannah Florida Western Railroad on the one hand and of the Commission on the other
Estimate of value Proper rate of profit Proper income relative tariff rates
Relation
Gross Earnings
Expenses
Per cent of gross earnings
Net earnings
Per cent of gross
S F W R R Commission
4710000 00 4000000 00
10 07
471000 00 300000 00
1 00 60
1000000 00 850000 00
I 700000 00 550000 00
70 65
300000 00 300000 00
30 35
This estimate deducts 20000000 according to Mr
Report op Railroad Commission
29
Haines views from the gross earnings as the result of the standard rates leaving 80000000 then add 5000000 as the result of the increase of 20 per cent subsequently made
These figures cannot of course be exact but are approximate Data for exactness in some particulars did not and do not exist
But the Commission accompanied its action by cir culars indicating its readiness to review this action upon the presentation of sufficient data It may have erred in its judgment there was room for honest error there was a difference of view in the Commission itself as to the proper percentage to be added on the standard tariff of rates But there was no intention to wrong any interest nor to adhere to any error when shown to be such The subsequent action of the board from time to time has illustrated the general spirit it has endeavored to cultivate of candor and justice to all interests Nor was this any mere afterthought Their Circular No 1 and their report were both written in advance of any complaint or suit The circulars modifying rates on the showing of the railroads illustrate the desire of the Commission to conform by closer and yet closer approximation to improved information
The annexed table shows the general tenor of the reports made by the railroads of the business of Jnne and July 187980 It is to be remembered that even the light afforded by the operations of these two months is insufficient and especially as to expenses which are distributed through the year according to convenience
Complaints are made also in the bill of the Rules and Regulations of the Commission These rules and regulations are directed against the chief matters of public complaint and legislative injunction especially against unjust discrimination Their object is to apply to communities as far as possible the same rule of im
30
Report of Railroad Commission
partiality as to individuals There are great difficulties in the way and conscientious efforts have been made to meet them
To some extent our action in the premises will be perhaps best explained by reference to our second semiannual report not yet complete but a copy of certain portions of which is hereunto appended Exhibit
In all these matters so difficult in themselves our judgments may have been often erroneous but have been honest Seldom we believe has a more painstaking and elaborate consideration been given to the problem in all its length and breadth or more anxious provision made for the correction of errors We trust that patience and diligence will enable us to add something to the solution of the difficult and important problem
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace
Samuel Barnett
Sworn to and subscribed before me this sixteenth day of September 1880
C D Woodson
N P and exofficio J P Pulton County Ga
SEAL
EXHIBIT 3
TABLES
CUmnn rates of freight on principal articles of production amd consumption charged
accmdin a to published tariffs by t ailroads m Georgia over to miles tn lengtn
nrior to the issuance of Commissioner s Standard lamff for lu mites U
miles 140 miles 200 miles and 250 miles same articles and for same distances and Standard s t o e jr Tariff P3 m u Q 1 rates m o on 2 0 S
1st 4th 5th 6th R 6 o o
RATES FOR 10 MIXES
Central RR Sav Div 65 25 22 20 20 20 15 25 08
Central RR AtlantaDiv 30 18 15 13 13 13 10 10 05
Northeastern Railroad 18 12 10 08 10 08 08 07
Atlanta C AirLine 23 15 12 10 12 10 10 10
Georgia RR Bankg Co 07 07 06 05 07 05 05 07 10
Sav Fla Western RR 35 20 18 15 15 15 10 30
Western Atlantic 18 10 09 08 08 06 05 10 04
A tlanta West Point RR 30 20 18 16 12 12 08 15 06
Macon Brunswick R R 45 20 15 12 12 12 12 12 08
Brunswick Albany RR 45 Commrs Standard Tariff 16 20 18 15 08 15 15 15 45 05
10 09 08 06 05 12
RATES FOR 50 MILES
Central RR Sav Div 70 30 25 22 22 22 18 30 08
Central RR Atlanta Div 60 30 25 20 20 20 15 30 15
Atlanta C AirLine 40 24 20 17 20 17 17 21
Georgia RR Bankg Co 27 21 19 16 21 16 12 27 06
SavFla Western RR 65 55 45 35 30 35 20 7t 15
Western Atlantic 32 24 20 14 12 10 09 20 6f
Atlanta West Point RR 40 32 28 23 21 24 14 25 09
Macon Brunswick RR 68 35 30 25 23 24 25 30 08
Brunswick Albany RR 60 30 25 20 20 20 20 45 s 08
Commrs Standard Tariff 30 22 18 13 13 10 09 20
RATES FOR 100 MILES
Central RR Sav Div 80 35 30 25 25 25 22 40 12
Central RRj Atlanta Div 70 45 30 25 25 25 22 30 15
Atlanta C AirLine 58 33 29 24 29 24 24 26
Georgia RR Bankg Co 48 32 25 20 32 20 15 38 15
Sav Fla Western RR 90 65 55 45 35 42 23 75
Western Atlantic 45 35 30 24 20 15 15 25 9
Macon Brunswick RR 75 40 35 29 25 25 29 40 10
Brunswick Albany RR 70 45 35 30 25 25 20 45 i
Commrs Standard Tariff 45 RATES FOR 140 MILES 30 23 18 18 15 14 30 10
Central RR Sav Div 85 38 33 28 28 28 23 40 12
Atlanta C AirLine 67 40 32 28 32 28 28 26 15
Georgia RR Bankg Co 62 36 27 22 36 22 17 42 15
Sav Fla Western RR 90 65 55 45 35 42 28 75
Western Atlantic 50 40 35 25 25 20 19 25 10
Macon Brunswick RR 85 40 35 30 30 29 30 40 12
Brunswick Albany RR 85 50 45 35 30 30 25 45 11
Commrs Standard Tariff 57 34 27 22 22 19 18 34
RATES FOR 200 MILES
Central Railroad 120 65 55 40 40 40 35 55 20
Atlanta C AirLine 82 52 42 33 42 33 33 42 15
Georgia Railroad 65 40 30 25 40 25 20 45 15
SavFla Western RR100 70 60 50 40 45 30 75
Commrs Standard Tariff 70 40 32 27 27 23 20 37 13
RATES FOR 250 MILES
Central Railroad 130 70 60 45 45 45 40 65 20
Atlanta C AirLine 93 61 48 38 48 38 38 42 15
Sav Fla Western RR110 65 65 55 45 47 30 75 15
Commrs Standard Tariff 75 45 35 30 30 25 22 40 T5
THIRD SEMIANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
Submitted to the Governor May 1 1881
ATLANTA GEORGIA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING CO STATE PEINTER8 1881
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE SAMUEL BARNETT
Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary
THIRD SEMIANNUAL REPORT
Office of the Bailroad Commission Atlanta Ga May 11881
To Ilis Excellency Alfred H Colquitt Qovernoi
The act of 1879 organizing a Bailroad Commission makes it their duty from time to time to recommend such legislation as they may deem expedient under the provisions of this act
The provision was a thoughtful one doubtless suggested by the experience of the General Assembly which passed the act in regard to the magnitude of the interests to be considered and their special character of complexity and intricacy To get to the bottom of the subject much thought and study are necessaryit is indeed a profession Each General Assembly is of course inexperienced and must rely mainly upon committeework and the committees themselves are likewise largely inexperienced The solution in Georgia right or wrong was a very thoughtful and longconsidered one
In other States large volumes have been published embracing the decisions of the courts and the discussion of special questions In the United States volumes of testimony have been taken before any action in the premises In Great Britain there are large folios of information before Parliament Several volumes of the United States decisions bear chiefly on the transportation problem A whole literature of confused information exists and is constantly extending and well it may be since nearly the whole business of the country and all its interests are included in it the difficulties of the problem indeed being not inferior to its importance
We propose once for all to sketch the whole outline of thought and present the argument on the merits to which we may hereafter refer and expand any particular portion needed for a special purpose
While much has been done to aid their solution during forty years of experience throughout the civilized world the present General Assembly addressing itself to the study will find the problem to grow upon it with reflection
and if at the first it may seem easy and obvious selfconfidence will gradually give way to selfdistrust This at all events is the usual history of students of the railroad question and it has certainly been so with ourselves Eighteen months of careful study has satisfied us that the guidance of experience is essential notwithstanding all the light to be derived from the study of first principles Indeed in this as in many other studies experience has gone ahead of political economy and corrected its errors Under the provisions of the law requiring such recommendations from us we propose to give to the General Assembly the best views suggested by our reflections and experience with modesty and candor
By reason of the importance of the subject we shall discuss
FirstThe grounds of the right of the State to regulate railroads by law
SecondThe limits of that right
ThirdThe proper manner of its exercise
FourthThe legislation now needed
These topics will not be discussed in perfectly formal order but are so closely related as necessarily to be much intermixed in the treatment
To begin with the right of the General Assembly to regulate railroads by law Upon this as a legal right all students of law are now agreed
It might suffice simply to refer to
THE CONSTITUTION
which provides as follows article 4 section 2 paragraph 1
The power and authority of regulating rail road freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforcethe same by adequate penalties
4
Par VII The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation
Under these sections the regulation by law became not only a legislative right but a legislative duty The Constitution on this point is not simply permissive but mandatory It might therefore suffice to refer to these provisions as already settling the whole matter by the same broad authority as that under which the General Assembly itself holds its sessions and under which it exercises any legislative authority whatsoever
But there is no need to rest the right upon mere authority Powerful and discriminating views of the just grounds upon principle on which the legislative right rests form
THE BEST BASIS OF LEGISLATIVE ACTION
in the premises These grounds will grow clearer and yet clearer by discussion and reflection In a word the Constitution itself hafe a solid bottom of right oh which to rest Georgia moreover in this matter is in good company The same conclusions with hers as to the right and the mode of its exercise have been reached by many of the most advanced states of the Union an the most enlightened countries of Europe The laws enacted on the subject have likewise been tested by the judicial tribunals and sustained by them thoroughlyboth abroad and at home in the State and Feberal Courts so that no right of legal regulation is now more thoroughly recognized than the right in question that of regulating railroad corporations by law
Yet there are intelligent and thoughtful men possibly members of the General Assembly ai well as private citizens who not having given special study to this subject have entertained doubts upon it and who will be really surprised at the mass of careful reasoning by which th right is sustained With such minds while authority may command respectful consideration it is always best so to deal with their doubts that they shall rather be convinced satisfactorily by argument than silenced by mere authority In addressing this class of thinking menit is to be remarked that there are principles as old as the civil law and the common law which rightly applied govern the whole matter These principles pertained to the subject matter known in their days as well as in
ours as the regulation of roads bridges ferries and turnpikesof common carriers innkeepers and the likenearly all of these subjects relating it will be observed to transportation
We give a rapid summary of the classes of cases in which legislative control has been for ages exercised as a mere matter of course and without question
1 Corporations being dependent for their very existence on legislation are subject to whatever conditions the Legislature may originally impose either expressly or implied
Here we would observe however by way of proper caution that while as a mere creature of Legislature it is so subject to conditions the action of the creative body should never be capricious or arbitrary but the conditious and regulations imposed should be themselves well considered reasonable and just
2 Franchises carry with them the right of regulation unless exceptions are granted of such exceptions more will be said hereafter
3 Special privileges for a yet higher reason carry the same right for instance the right of way through private grounds in which the right of eminent domain is brought into play not for mere private use but for the public use so as necessarily to involve the right of protection against abuse
4 Reasonable facilities under such circumstances are to be secured to the public and the failure to provide for them is a failure to fulfill the legislative duty
5 Again monopolies are subject to regulation by law Such a monopoly exists in the case of railroadsoften by law always in fact The reasons are well worthy of close consideration Almost any one of the railroads in Georgia could do fourfold the business it actually does on its present track without addition thereto No new road could afford therefore to set up a rivalry as it would ruin both roads Again the ruin would be unavoidable for a railroad is immovable A rival steamship can be transferred to some other route but a railroad is an absolute fixture Even if the rival roads combined they could but share a business of which either is capable of doing the whole and much more More commonly they fight one another and the work of both is done in the dark with a scramble for business and a system of rebates by which unjust discrimination is introduced
5
Finally as to monopoly if competition exists anywhere it is limited to terminal points there is no practical competition along the line Between terminal points it ends either in combination or in absorption which is the most complete form of combination
6 The right of regulating turnpikes bridges and ferries has always been conceded and exercised In general and as covering the whole principle when two parties deal upon wholly unequal terms the law protects the weak as in the case of minors femme coverts and of the insane or imbecile It protects the weak making them the wards of the State and providing Ordinaries etc to see tc their rights and guard them against imposition
Not to he tedious upon any one of the foregoing grounds the right of regulation can safely rest Each has supplied the actual practical ground of legislation for ages Any student will find perhaps somewhat to his surprise that in the case of railroads the right rests not on any one of them singly but upon them all combined In a word that the regulation of railroads by law is better fortified by principle as well as by authority than that of any other single subject of legal control
Corporations as such being a legal entity dependent on legislation for their very existence franchises special privileges monopolies turnpikes bridges ferries common carriers these are each and all of them subject to legal control The railroad is
ale of these in one
It is a corporation endowed with franchises and with special privileges a monopoly a common carrier and it takes the place of ordinary roadsfor all considerable distances superseding them entirely Nor is this by any means all In each case the need of regulation of railroads as compared with the old methods is intensified both on public and economical grounds The argument is highly cumulative combining all the grounds in one in a way seldom paralleled and each ground far stronger than in the original analogous case The old analogies have grown some of them to be false and all of them feeble
To illustrate by the functions of a railroad as a common carrier It has in great measure displaced the highway it has displaced the equipment of the same it has displaced the old common carrier Thus the road theequip
ment and the carrier are all special The owner too is special no longer the general public The conditions of competition are in a large measure displaced The private methods scarcely amount to competition at all It is a stupendous and absolute revolution still difficult to appreciate but at length the facts are forcing themselves on our attention
COMMON CARRIERS
On the public highways before the days of railroads between important places there were always several common carriers between whom you could choose or else use the highways yourself on equal terms with the public carrier There was real competition and protection here and yet for the public convenience the government regulated even the old common carrier so subject to competition
RAILROADS COMPARED WITH OTHER MONOPOLIES
But the railroad is not thus free from competing carriers or tor the customeis own use When first introduced it was indeed regarded as simply a new kind of roadbed which customers could hire by paying toll But soon it was evident that the railroad company must of necessity itself run the road Other carriers or the customers themselves could not provide the new and expensive rolling stock engines and cars In like manner experienced enginemen were necessary Almost any one could drive a wagon not so an engine In a word the monopoly was greatly intensified by the needful specialization of machinery and workmen Rapidly the railway became for large sections the only road available The monopoly of this special way is no v usually the monopoly of all available transportation As already seen the rival road if built would ensure the ruin of both roads and be a waste of capital since either could do all the business which offers and much more nor could either withdraw from the competition
The roads so shut up are condemned unless they combine and exact double rates to pay interest on a double capital to a bloody duel It is a war to the knife as though both were shut up in a dark room with doors locked and no escape for either for a railroad if once built in the wrong place cannot be moved It must fight it out on that line
Common carriers having always been regulated by law this particular common carrier
6
needs regulation tenfold more tlian any other ever did and for a hundredfold more business The public highways of old were common to all This particular sort of roadbed so splendid in the improvement it presents needs regulation more than ever did any other road bridge or ferry
The railroad being thus a monopoly of a peculiar character entirely too powerful for private competition who shall fix the rates Not the monopolist the railroad on the one hand not the shipper also a party interested on the other hand but the law by some method capable of properly and impartially fixing them and from time to time adapting them to varying circumstances The object on the one hand is to save the public from force fraud secrecy extortion and unjust discrimination Any failure to do this is a deprivation to a large extent of one of the most important privileges of the citizen On the other hand however in the protection of the citizen every just right of the monopolist is to be protected with like impartiality
We have dealt thus far chiefly on the law and the practice of governments But the right rests on a deeper foundation viz on the strong
BASIS OF NATURAL LAW
At the hazard of some repetition or even tediousness we propose rapidly to trace to their foundations the origin of this right beginning very far back and showing what seem to us to be the bottom truths and principles on which it rests It is imbedded in the whole constitution of nature
In the gradual rise iu the scale of being the most obvious distinction even between plants and animals is the animals power of locomotion The plant can get its sustenance all that is necessary to its living in one spot without moving about from place to place while the animal must necessarily roam for its food To this rule man is no exception on the contrary in getting his support he moves over larger surfaces than any otfier living creature Nature furnishes both the need and means of locomotion But man is distinguished also from the lower animals by another powerthat of
TRANSPORTATION
This power exists in the world of lower animals in hut a small degreea few of them can drag their prey seizing it with their teeth the
elephant can handle things with his trunk but even the powerful horse except under human control cannot adapt himself to such work Man alone transports His natural means of locomotion are not superior to those of numerous animals but by artificial means he cannot only change his own location but can transport what he needs for comfort or enjoyment or exchange
EXCHANGE
The chief end to which his immensely enlarged powers conduce is that of exchange which is the great instrument of civilization being also the necessary foundation for the
DIVISION OF LABOR ITS PRECURSOR
As a means of locomotion even the lower animals made paths for themselves So probably man begun by clearing a path for conveniently making his own way Then he improved as his needs increased by adapting his paths to each stage of progress He first learned to make use of the lower animals by riding them by packing burdens upon them then by teaching them to drag a brush or sled and after no short while he reached at length the great improvement of a cart on wheels thus immensely reducing friction Every new device being fruitful of other improvement afterwards came wagons coaches carriages upon springs and other vehicles and to suit the improved vehicles came also cleared roads turnpikes graded roads and the like and at the last railroads really but another device for removing friction
LAND AT FIRST FREE TO ALL
To his right of locomotion and transportation in the savage state man found no bounds nor limits except such as were imposed by his enemies The obstruction of this right of locomotion indeed is the loss of liberty itself its loss is equivalent to prison or jail bonds
PUBLIC ROADS
When the right of property in land began to be exercised it became necessary for government to provide adequately for this same universal and natural right of locomotion therefore public roads were laid out atpublic expense And when the exigency did not require a public road the right of needful private roads over a neighbors land was made an exception to the general right of private property in land Even in the government of the United States
7
a government of specified and limited powers one of the powers distinctly conferred is that of laying off post roads and by implication a second powerthat of making military roads Each State likewise either provides roads or allows the counties to do so and makes provision also for bridges ferries etc Every statute book contains numerous provisions relating to roads bridges ferries turnpikes and the like
TRANSFER TO PRIVATE PEBSONS
Instead of a road built and maintained at public expense under some circumstances the right to build and maintain such a road is transferred to a county a corporation or an individual But the government can rightfully do this only on conditions which secure the public properly against loss of the right of use upon payment of just and reasonable rates The road must be open to all A ferry will illustrate this principle The public convenience requires that some one should keep the ferry so that when the traveler reaches the obstruction of a river crossing the highway some man will be on hand to help him across without the delay of hunting up a ferryman The ferryman must be on hand all the while with his ferry boat As usually it would not pay two or more men the law here bestows a qualified monopoly upon one No one can compete with the ferryman But then the law fixes the charges and requires that they be posted conspicuouslyso much for a man so much for a horse so much for a buggy and so on and imposes penalties for exceeding these rates The traveler might protect himself perhaps by going to another ferry some miles up or down but for the general convenience a regally regulated monopoly serves the best purpose for both parties So in the case of toll bridges The continuous highway is kept up and this is best accomplished by a regulated monopoly
GRADUATED PAYMENTS
Observe that in these cases the burdens and benefits are rightly distributed more exactly even than in the ordinary case of a road or bridge kept up entirely by the public They pay the expenses who specifically get the use Government instead of itself maintaining roads as well as bridges frequently transfers the right or the duty generally requiring each county to maintain its own and adjoining
counties to divide expenses of bridges etc so that the payment shall be by the parties most interested Again government authorizes a corporation or an individual to build a bridge or to provide a turnpike or a causeway regulating however the charges to be made It being the province of government to provide roads it is only upon condition of security to the public in the use of the needful roads that it can rightfully transfer this right otherwise it abdicates an important part of its functions and leaves the people unprotected
From these little beginnings many of them still the best methods known among savage nations arose our present grand system of common carriage on land and sea With every improvement the
IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION
has had a corresponding increase Its prodigious growth even in our own daygreater by far than in any preceding agemay be illustrated by such facts as these within the memory of a man a merchant has carried a load of cotton by wagon from Middle Georgia to Philadelphia and returned with a wagon load of goodscamping out by the way occupying three months in the journey and making his will as a proper preliminary to such an expedition Now pot a week is needed to go and return This remark read in the conference of the Commission over the present report elicited other facts of the same sort The father of one Commissioner rode on horseback from Savannah to New York and back A second member of the Commission had a similar fact to relate his father having driven a sixhorse wagon from East Tennessee to Philadelphia loaded with furs and skins and returned with a load of goods meeting with no detention by the way except that he was arrested in Pennsylvania for driving his wagon on Sunday
So too in regard to the spread of information Less than one hundred years ago in framing the Constitution of the United States the difficulty of getting the returns to the seat of government was urged as a serious objection to frequent elections of President In the Federal Debates 5 Elliott p 339 we read Mr Butler was against the frequency of elections Georgia and South Carolina were too distant to send electors often Mr Williamson remarked The expense will be considerable
8
and ought not to be unnecessarily repeated If the elections are too frequent the best men will not undertake the service Now the returns from California are read the next morning after the election at the breakfast tables of the citizens of remote villages The day after the assassination of the Czar of Russia two pages of the New York Herald were filled with the particulars and with the details of his history Is it wonderful that changes so huge should need some corresponding changes in the means of regulation
WITH THE GROWTH OF FACILITIES
the growth of business has kept pace train loads taking the place of wagon loads and this is a growth which will not cease while civilization extends in range and depth How much more important is the question of transportation to the white man than to the Indian to the civilized man than to the barbarian In some advanced countries it is even held that the railroad is no exception but that the government is itself under obligations to build and operate railroads as the best known means of transportation Another reason urged is that they fall under that class of cases which present to the community collateral advantages greater than the direct advantages to the stockholders Accordingly the whole history of legislation among civilized people shows such provisions for protecting the great rights of locomotion and transportation on which fseedom and prosperity are founded For many ages the turnpike or macademized roads were the best known and legislation was adapted to them while these still exist their use is confined to short distances or to thinly settled regions
Only a half century ago the railroad was introduced and with it a huge train of consequences The graded roadbed and parallel iron rails being a new device as a road a new power also accompanied it in an equal degree superior to the old To these were adapted new cars holding many tons And in place of the old wagondriver a much more highly trained expert controlled the new power on the new road with these immensely increased loads while a separate conductor discharged the duty of the common carrier as to receiving and delivering and the care of the goods The change was
AN ABSOLUTE REVOLUTION
perhaps the most momentous in the material progress of mankind Yet for a long time its magnitude was not appreciated Men looked with wonder on the imposing appliances of the magnificent engine and its long loaded train but the imagination was even more excited than the business faculty and they failed to perceive that its utility surpassed even its astonishing display of power and speed
If the old methods of common carriage needed regulation by law how incomparably more important is such regulation now with the immensely increased volume of business with the absolute impossibility of private competition or selfhelp and with the complexity of the management such that not even the owners and shareholders can at all understand the business except as reported to them by the managers How much more is the public at the mercy of the railroad management with our present huge commerce than it was in the power of the old common carrier with his small and comparatively insignificant littl barter Slowly mankind has been adjusting itself to the problemrevolutionary in factestimated to be very great but not estimated at a tithe of its real greatness
TRANSPORTATION IS KING
He who controls it controls everything else He can set up one business man and put down another He can set up one whole community and put down another Government itself has not greater powers indeed governments are among the things controlled We have seen the foundation of the right of regulation in the common law as well as the civil and also in the deeper seated law of nature Not less necessary in this right is its
POLITICAL BEARINGS than in its legal and economical aspects
We begin to see the answer to the question How is the railroad distinguished from the plantation or the store or from its yet closer analoguesthe factory the mine or the rolling mill and the like properties Because it is a monopoly and cannot well be otherwise because its powers are immense and of a public character so in fact and so held by law and legal decisions It is important and instructive to study these distinctions which are real and
9
practical and such study makes the right not only apparent but imperative Suppose in former days a monopoly of
A NAVIGABLE RIVER
conceded to a company wholly unrestricted by law How stupendous the consequences and how the grant would need to be hedged about with proper regulations and restrictions Suppose the yet more unlimited monopoly of the great ocean itself or of the right of shipbuilding yet even such grants would fall short in importance of the monopoly of internal transportation
Imagine a proposition of this sort seriously made in the Legislature of the State To give to a particular company or set of companies the exclusive right to all the highways and public roads of the State they to make such terms as they shall think proper with travelers and carriers of freight what a shout of universal indignation would this raise Yet this power over the real transportation of the country has ignorantly and gradually been actually thus transferred to the railroad companies of the States Virtually the highways actually used and the only highways which in the present state of commerce man can afford to use for any considerable distance to compete to advantage in the struggle of life are the railroads For distances over thirty miles the common road bears to the railroad the same relation which carrying burdens on ones back bears to the common road It is merely a means of getting the freight to the proper vehicle
Government was called upon to confront a new problem which at the first neither government nor the railroad companies understood No wonder that the huge and absolute revolution in transportation was met improvidently The railroads themselves did not understand it And we have seen among these new rival corporations when rivalry existed as it did between distant terminal points the old process of civilization and
GRADUAL SUBJECTION TO LAW
reenacted before our eyes The competition was murderous the old savage history of war to the death then of subjection to slavery then of alliance and finally of regulation by law has been repeated in the advance towards civilization of these new powers just as we have
seen at depots the fierce struggles of hackmen ending sometimes in murder and restrained only by the strong arm of the law Combination or absorption gradually served the purpose of stopping this warfare among themselves indeed but this did not necessarily save the public On the contrary the alliance among themselves simply subjected the public to their own termsfor better for worse for use or abuse
Legislation too was improvident for the needful conditions were not as yet understood and so of course could not be incorporated in the law The experience of a thousand years was at command in regulating common roads even now the experience of less than fifty years in regard to railroads with their vastly larger interests and relations The projectors of the Georgia Railroad estimated that its cost would be not less than 3000 per mile and that its business would amount to thirtyfive passengers a day counting both ways and perhaps to
10000 bales of cotton with other corresponding freight Special privileges were granted which would not have been thought of with a knowledge of the facts Some of these were for limited terms others for unlimited Some of these exempted the road from taxation others from regulation in sundry particulars It has been supposed by some that the reservation of the right of regulation would crush enterprise Yet on this head the fact is that by the act of 1863 reserving such rights of regulation no such check was given but on the contrary immense building even overbuilding has since that time occurred
There has meanwhile been a steady progress in the improvement of the various parts of the railway and its equipment in engineering in machinery for grading and masonry in bridging and in the heaviest item of all the rail in which steel has superseded iron in great measure Also the telegraph the airbrake the lessened amount of fuel the improvement in locomotives etc have added new facilities Bessemer the inventor of the Bessemer steel rail is estimated to have saved to Great Britain alone during the life of a steel rail not less than 800000000 A steel rail on one side of a track has outworn a dozen iron rails on the other side
So vastly different are the present railroad advantages from the first rough experiments
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The railroad company does not simply furnish a track as does a mere turnpike company hut it furnishes also the vehicle the driver the conductor and in Great Britain conservative and free trade as she is following the actual development it is made not a common carrier only but a forwarder also and this by law not merely by consent For such is the relation required by the public convenience the law regulating it however so as properly to protect the forwarder
Complaint has been made that the Legislature of 1879 was improvident Certainly much more improvident was all the legislation prior to that date the act of 1879 being on the whole perhaps the most carefully considered and cautiously criticized of any legislative action had in the State for many years and containing in itself studious provisions for the rectification of any error in its own provisions RELATIONS OF TRANSPORTATION TO CIVILIZATION
Facilities for transportation are at once the measure and the means of civilization itself Water transportation where practicable far surpasses that by land the first civilization was developed along the indented shores of inland seas and on islands It followed the course of navigable rivers and the heads of navigation were the most important points in a country Facilities of navigation promoted intercourse the exchange of products and the exchange of ideas Exchange rendered division of labor practicable and such division underlies special skill rapid work and indeed all improvement
In Georgia especiallythe cotton crop being her main productnearly all production is expressly intended for excahnge and return transportation in like manner being necessary no people are more interested in this general question But everywhere production itself is guided stimulated or limited by transportation which has become now incomparably more important than at any former time because the increased facility of exchange has immensely increased the division of labor and thereby in corresponding degree the necessity for the exchange of its products Labor does not aim to produce merely for its own consumption but almost exclusively for exchange Men now wear on their persons the products of distant lands eat or drink daily at their tables the
fruit of the tropics or of the most remote regions warm by coal brought from afar and are sheltered by buildings the very framing of which was done hundreds of miles away Indeed transportation is the chief question of modern times unless it be free trade which itself is but the removal of impediments to freedom of transportation
We have seen that upon all the grounds of government regulation the railroad is peculiarly subject thereto whether the grounds considered be legal or natural economical or political Coming closer home they are especially and more authoritatively and impressively implanted in the fundamental law of Georgia ratified by an unprecedented majority of its people for this thing was not done in a corner nor in a day It was not until after much consideration by the Constitutional Convention of 1877 and of the Legislature during two protracted sessions that Georgia following the example of Great Britain and a number of the other most enlightened countries in Europe and of many of the most advanced States of the Union established a Bailroad Commission as the best means of dealing with this most important question of transportation
Acting with the knowledge of the legal tests severely applied to the lawfulness of such a board in its general scope and to the lawfulness in detail of its constitution and powers her own Commission was established upon a basis derived from so large an experience and such critical tests
THE CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA
contains perhaps the most complete and careful safeguards for the rights of the people and the rights of corporations to be found in the fundamental law of any State in the Union This is said advisedly and a careful comparison will justify the remark Accordingly in bestowing the right and duty of the regulation of railroads upon the Legislature the Constitution carefully and anxiously provided against any abuse in the method It provided against any breach of contract previously made against the revocation of grants and against any interference with vested rights it provides also for impartial and complete protection of property and for the general application of 1 aws In the regulation of railroads it provides further against any want of adaptation to varying conditions by requiring action to be had from
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time to time and by declaring the objects of reglation viz simply to prevent extortion and unjust discrimination in conformity with the universally conceded right and duty of government to regulate common carriersclothed in this case with special privileges possessing also a virtual and often a legal monopoly and being pure creatures of law subject to terms in their creation and renewal
The same cautious instrument places numerous restraints on legislative power and requires the courts to declare unconstitutional laws null and void Such is the general scope and character of the fundamental law of the State unusually and remarkably clear in its provisions for the protection of all rights It contains no better considered or more argued feature than that which provides on the one hand for the protection of the public against the unjust and unreasonable exercise of corporate powers and on the other hand against any interference with their just and reasonable exercise
LEGISLATIVE ACTION OF 1879
In carrying out the constitutional provisions the powers and duty of the Legislature were exercised with like caution and care The General Assembly might have acted directly in the matter by an immediate exercise of its rights and itself have prescribed tariffs rules and regulations Obviously however the want on the part of the General Assembly for fitness for a work of such detail was like that of the Constitutional Convention itself which preceded it For such work the organization of a legislative assembly consisting of one hundred and seventyfive Representatives and fortyfour Senators certainly does not in anywise adapt it All experience has shown this The Legislature therefore wisely forbore to undertake the task of framing tariffs and making rules and regulations for so complex a state of affairs as exists on any one road much more in the railroad system of the State The whole of the forty days session once in two years would not be sufficient merely to put it in attitude for this purpose As well might that body fit itself for the work of the Superior Court or the practice of medicine The proper regulation of railroad business is in itself a profession and requires a distinct tribunal to acquire by experience and reflection the special knowledge of facts and principles for which even the courts
of the country can scarcely be fitted compatibly with their other functions In thus establishing in conformity with the precedents of so many enlightened States a Commission charged with this special business the Legislature took great and unusual pains Such pains were necessary by reason of the magnitude of the interests involved and the complexity of the subject Committees of both Houses like the committees of the Constitutional Convention had the matter long under consideration both during the sessions and in the intervening vacation and heard argument upon it invited discussion from citizens business men and railroad men The press was largely called into requisition for the representation of conflicting interests and views and the whole subject was elaborately discussed and considered A number of bills and many amendments were introduced and members were kept informed of the action of other States and corresponded with leading minds on all sides of the question At length the bill was prepared and passed It is thought and we believe correctly that in the preparation of the bill and in the criticism of it before it was offered leading and influential railroad men were freely consulted and their objections and suggestions well considered
The bill also in like manner with the Constitution was framed with careful reference to all the rights and interests affected by it as well those of the railroads as of the public It was no violent and indiscreet action made recklessly and in haste but was a carefully considered act so framed as to gauge the powers of the Commission in order to adapt them to the protection of all interests
Following the English law one Commissioner was to be of experience in the law and one in railroad matters while one should represent the general public interest To secure experience and stability the first appointments were for two four and six years respectively afterwards each appointment for a term of six years It was designed thus to educate impartial experts as a guide and servant of both the Legislature and the Courts Impartiality between railroad interests was also secured by requiring the Commissioners to hold no railroad stock and a very searching oath prepared by the Governor for the faithful and impartial discharge of their duties To provide for any improvidence or mistake in legislation the
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Commission was charged with the duty of making to future Legislatures any suggestions derived from reflection and experience
Such were the surroundings of the act Its actual provisions when framed make extortion and unjust discrimination in general terms penal The Commission is then required to make rules and regulations against extortion and unjust discrimination and against secret rebates etc and as its chief and first duty to prepare a tariff of just and reasonable rates for each of the railroads of the State and to pub1 lish the same Proper powers are given them to investigate and examine so as to ascertain what rates are reasonable and just in each case Freights starting or going beyond the State are excepted from the act
But the Commission has no powers of its own to enforce its decisions It simply prepares the case for judicial trial Its action must be passed upon after all by the Courts in which both parties have their regular day in Court before the enforcement of any penalty whatever Ample notice and opportunity of rectification is given and then if not rectified no execution issues but only suit is instituted and the matter is settled by the Court the Commission having simply served as amicus curiae not even as arbitrators hut rather as advisers The law requires the publication of all the rates on all the roads at the same time so as to secure a systematic and comparative study of the subject as a whole and a wide basis of induction and comparison covering the whole field of the State and indeed of railroad operations everywhere Such are the provisions of the law and the Constitution
THE COMMISSION
with such careful provisions constitutional and statutory before it as an example and sworn to the discharge of its duties entered upon its work Of the nature and results of that work two reports have already been given As ample time as possible was taken to adapt their work to the exigencies although there was much pressure by the press and from communities and individuals for expediting it So cautious were they however that their first tariff went into operation on the same day with their first semiannual report nearly six months after their organization
Railroads being of a mixed characterrpartly public corporations and partly privatethe
object of the Commission in dealing with them in their quasi public character is to serve as the means of regulating them in their various relations external and internal to acquire and diffuse information by reports to the State and people to act as an inquest on behalf of the State in its relations to these corporations and as an arbitrator between them and the public and between the corporations themselves in matters of public concern After so much time concentrated on this one work they can but appreciate the unfitness of a great legislative body to deal with its details It would be difficult even to explain intelligibly the needful expedients devised to simplify the work and bring its great mass of details within grasp
Before the proposed tariff of rates went into effect a circular was issued for criticism and suggestion as to any and all of its provisions In conformity with information thus developed various changes were made and incorporated in the full publication of May 1 1880 which was a clean sheet to date embracing the whole matter of rates without need of outside reference Legislative adaptation would here again have failed Circulars subsequently were issued chiefly because special rates not being printed were not furnished by the railroads to the Commission and these specials included some new factors Here again legislative adaptation would have been inadequate to the correction of its own errors from want of information or changes of condition
On the whole it is obvious that the general provisions of the act are well considered and judicious providing a proper tribunal well fitted to accomplish its purposes viz for the thorough study and preparation of tariffs rules and regulations and also to change modify and vary them as conditions change to correct its own errors and to sift facts and arrive at correct informotion
The action of the Commission is a well considered
REPORT NOT A JUDGMENT
It prepares cases for trial but does not try them finally Upon a proper case made their action inoperative unless sustained by the courts can be taken from one court to another in due order to the Supreme Court of the State or the Supreme Court of the United States
The composition of the Commission and its duties as to rates are really those of
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A MASTER IN CHANCERY appointed by the Legislature instead of the courts and constituted with such powers and limitations of power as to furnish it with the best opportunities of comprehensive and general views to be reported to both the Legislature and the Courts How inadequate is a session of forty days in two years with numerous other duties to the performance of such a work
Our object in the foregoing discussion has been to show not only the constitutionality and legality of regulating railroads by law but more especially to show its rightfulness also nay its necessity and the beneficial effects which reach not only the general public as we have already shown but in no less degree as we shall hereafter see the real parties in interest on the other side the stockholders themselves We shall see that no other portion of the general public is more deeply interested in a properly constituted commission than is the stockholding public to whom legal regulation secures far greater real advantages than the apparent ones it displaces
We think these considerations make it clear that the exceptions concerning regulation are to the full as well founded as the rule Nay to quote from a recent wellconsidered article in the Fortnightly Review So fundamental are these limitations that they must be looked upon not so much as exceptions to a general rule as definitions of the essential elements of the rule itselfas to the conditions of a proper contract Whenever ti one of the parties is in condition to dictate his own terms the Legislature consequently must make provision for the protection of the other party Marked inequality between the parties when the transaction arises out of the necessities of one of them and is of such a nature as to put him to some extent in the power of the other these are the conditions which require legal regulation
In a word monopoly on the one side and necessity on the other furnish the highest possible ground of regulation by law and in the relations in question these conditions usually exist and often in their greatest intensitythe monopoly being ofteu absolute and the necessity always so
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limits of the right of regulation
These arise out of the constitution itself or out of previous contracts and the limitations
are quite as important as the right itself Indeed the general concurrence now prevailing as to the possession of the right renders the reasons for respecting its limits all the more powerful The reasons for such consideration of the exact breadth and extent of the power and its limits go to the very bottom of the social structure to the foundations on which the right of property itself is based And the more plausible and seductive the opportunity of attacking these sacred rights in any case especially in that of corporations which may to some extent have abused their powers and provoked discontent the more sacred the trust of preserving the strong foundations on which all property rests The strength of the brakes should ever be proportioned to the power of the engine
It is to be remembered that the railroad is itself private property though clothed with a public trust It is a regulated monopoly and the regulation must be in conformity with all lawful regulation viz just and reasonable Whatever the agency for the purpose whether direct legislation or a commission it should be
A BULWARK AGAINST AGRARIANISM
in any and every form however plausible The interest of society in the maintenance of law and right is never for an instant to be ignored The sense of security in property and rights of the impartial protection of law and the general steadiness and confidence of a stable community governed by known laws administered by just tribunalsall this is of inestimable worth and the very thought of confiscating any portion of the property of any portion of the people for the benefit of any other portion is dangerous to the rights and liberties of all Such a policy rel axes the bonds which hold society together and tends to anarchy public plunder and a return to a savage state Society must not only forbear to rob but must itself by its organized forces protect every interest and class from robbery
A suggestion already made is here again in point viz that as a corporation being a mere creature of law is not therefore the creature of caprice the lawmakers being bound to impose no conditions except such as are just and reasonable in themselves even so in the right of regulation the exercise of the right should be in all respects just and reasonable and such as not to affect the confidence of the parties regu
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lated in the justice of government and in its impartial administration
To require just and impartial rates on the part of the railroads is a just exercise of the power but there must be no reduction of rates below what is just and right and ample provision should be made for testing the question whether or not the rates are really such
Of course in addition to this broad principle of impartiality towards the railroads and the citizens owning them as toward any other citizens all constitutional restrictions State and Federal are to be observed and all lawful contracts and engagements made with the railroads by the State to remain inviolate
All this is consistent with the most pronounced and decided maintenance on the part of the State of the right of regulation the State itself being likewise under law constitutional and natural
THE DELEGATION TO THE RAILROADS
of this right of regulation to one party however would be an abdication by the State of a great public duty The repository of the power must be as impartial as any judicial tribunal or juror
In many ways in the proper exercise of its right the State will really have greatly subserved the interest of the real owners of the railroads against arbitrary and irresponsible agents
Many nice questions have arisen as to the power of government to depart with its pawer of regulation taxation etc and to grant special exemptions The Constitution of 1877 deals with most of these questions and provides means of rectifying the errors of the past asserting even as a last resort the right of eminent domain and the purchase of the property for just compensation if this should become necessary to correct the errors of the past also in the novation of any charter it provides for subjecting the railroad to legal regulation under the act of 1863
It will have been observed that in the wholeof the preceding line of argument we have not assumed the advanced ground taken in some recent discussionsthat the railroads are themselves public property Whether this view be a correct one or not it is certainly not essential to the argument which is perfect and complete without such assumption
Nor has there been any reference to the legal decisions abundantly sustaining the views above presented both in their general aspect and their details especially the learned and powerful decision of Judge Woods printed in the appendix to this report meeting the exact issues each and all of them with singular clearness and fullnees We have preferred to present rather the general principles which lie at the basis of the authorities on the subject
NO WANT OP POWER
The limitations we have referred to on the right of regulation do not depend upon any want of power in the General Assembly nor arfy want of jurisdiction of the subject matter but rather upon the just exercise of legislative discretion Nor does the right of legislative regulation depend merely upon the principles set forth in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Munn vs Illinois as expressed by a majority of the court it falls fully and clearly within the minority decision also upon the views above set forth the court were unanimous Under that decision indeed the power of each and every State Legislature is limited only by the Constitution of the United States and of the State itself In Georgia on this point there was no need for this decision Within the limits just named the Legislature of Georgia is as omnipotent as the British Parliament The State Constitution itself settles the question aside from a 11 other considerations or decisions by the broad grant of authority in article 3 section 8 paragraph 22 which provides that
The General Assembly shall have power to make all laws and ordinances consistent with this Constitution and not repugnant to Constitution of the United States which they shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State A wide grant not peculiar however to the last Constitution but continued from those previously in force
Now in the Constitution not only is there no inhibition of th regulation of railroads by law but a direct and express provision requiringsucli regulation as a legislative duty The Legislature is not straitened as to power but only as to its just exercise and to a careful use of its discretion On this point we fully concur in the view presented in the article already referred to in the Fortnightly Review that legislation cannot
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be too cautiously applied by virtue of the infinite variety of conditions and circumstances ever shifting and changing It must of necessity indeed provide to meet these shifting occasions by a tribunal ever ready to consider them and to make the needful modifications and adjustments
3
MODE OF EXERCISING THE RIGHT OF REGULATION
At all the latter stages of transportation by high road turnpike etc there was appropriate legislation for the protection of the public sotnetimes direci sometimes through the medium of the county authorities or commissioners of roads
In the fifty years of railroad experience there have been many efforts for proper means of regulation the final result of which has been the establishment of Railroad Commissioners for the purpose These have proved by far the most satisfactory and successful means of dealing with the problem being a welladapted instrumentality now so well established as not likely to give place to any other and which would indeed probably survive even the great change contemplated in some of the European States of direct government ownership Government even in such case in order to act advisedly would need to act through a commission Its adaptation is as complete as that of the judiciary system itself Analysing the different views held on this subject by various persons to the state of parties in a deliberative assembly expressed by the terms
LEFT CENTER RIGHT
Extreme LeftLeft CenterEight Center ExtremeRight
the commission occupies a central position at once conservative and safe The extreme Left would leave the railroads wholly unregulated by law the extreme Right representing only the interest of citizens would consider the railroads wholly as public property forgetting private right Again as to the manner one would leave regulation entirely to the railroad officials the other would trust as entirely to direct 1 legislation As to the fact of regulation the extremes and proper means would stand thus the extreme Left the total failure to regulate would be abdication the extreme Right exces i
sive regulation would be usurpation while proper regulation would simply be the fulfillment of a constitutional duty
As to the mode of regulationleaving the whole matter to the corporations interested would be but a rope of sanddirect legislation would be an iron rod inflexible and harsh while regulation through the medium of a commission is both efficient and safe this furnishes a link flexible elastic and adjustable
In comparing the different instrumentalities we have already seen that the legislative assembly is as little fitted for this special business as it is for those of a court of justice No such functions are exercised by it except in the one case of impeachment very costly and of rare occurrence
The judiciary itself is not well fitted for the task except through the medium of experts and the very object of the law creating a commission is to educate a board of experts to aid judicial decisions The great principle of THE DIVISION OF LABOR
applies in this case In great Britain for example there are separate tribunals for the trial of common law cases equity criminal cases etc each court being educated to its special duties The study of the transportation question involves matters really requiring more distinct and special study and wider apart in their details than the several departments of the law With a properly constituted board of commissioners this board would naturally be better informed upon railroad matters to which its attention was exclusively devoted than any one department of the judiciary could well be with its seldom and occasional contact with the railroad problem as but one of many subjects Except as informed by impartial experts the courts would rather advise an appeal from the courts to the Commission than vice tersa from the Commission to the courts
Indeed the Railroad Commission as a special department for dealing with one of the most important and delicate departments of public regulation stands now in Great Britain and elsewhere upon a basis not less impregnable than that which supports the judiciary system itself It is indeed a special department of the judiciary
There are a thousand questions nice and delicate to be settled of a peculiar and professional sort requiring a special education The
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need of a special tribunal is obvious enough by reason of the number and importance of the principles involved requiring nicely adapted study and long experience The questions which arise as to classification of the thousands of articles to be transported such as cotton breadstuffs provender manufactured goods coal fertilizers etc etc through the endless catalogue of all production can only be understood by experts So the principles of prorating fairly per mile and per ton the relative influence and effect of distance and of way and through business the expense of loading and unloading billing and bookkeeping of rates as affected by value weight bulk convenience cleanliness season of the year etc all these are involved
Nor will it do to say that the railroad officials themselves have this matter in charge and are competent to deal with it The public have an interest to be represented and a right of regulation not at all secured by this means Really this is one of the troublesof the evils to be remedied viz that these railroad officials do understand it and no one else does and so the information and bias are all on one side The lack to be supplied is that of experienced and
EDUCATED EXPERTS
without bias To study and decide upon these questions gives ample occupation to a separate tribunal The questions to be settled are not inferior in importance to those settled by the Supreme Court of the State They involve as much property and as nice questions of right
The effort accordingly has been in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe and in many of the States North and South to constitute a tribunal of the highest character in point of intelligence integrity and impartiality It is to acquire special knowledge of railroad matters business and laws just as the Supreme Court of the principles of jurisdiction
Again it must be prompt for often the delay of justice is equivalent to its denial and accessible to all so that no one will be too insignificant to get his rights or too poor to contend with the most powerful corporation Such a tribunal is useful to both parties to the railroads and the public and hurtful only to corrupt and dishonest officials Its results in England and America have been eminently satisfactory
Of course the Commission may err and it is
said are such powers to be entrusted to three men with human frailty and liability to mistake and passion They are nothowever so entrusted in fact for the action of the Commission in Georgia is a report and not a judgment And even were it final must there not at the last be finality somewhere Are not the lives liberties and prosperity of the whole people of the State subject now to three men who constitute the Supreme Court of the State To quote a homely saying we cannot have better flour than can be made of wheat we cannot get better judges than men And the law in this instance provides for the
COKKECTION OF ERROKS
and mistakes in the most complete and informal way by an appeal to the Commission itself without any motion for a new trial and before and aside from an ultimate appeal to court after court to the Supreme Court of the State and the United States So much for mistakes As for corruption it may well be said that the railroads rather than the public would have thp advantagehaving by far the best means for that purpose And the law moreover provides for the removal of a Commissioner in an informal way should there be reasonable ground of suspicion of any sort whether of corruption or other maladministration without awaiting the necessity of a formal conviction The law certainly was intended to be very prudent in this as in all other points
The number of appeals from the decision of the Commission has been small Of the needed facilities for such appeals we shall say more hereafter We have been compelled by the Tilley case to a very careful review of the act of 1879 and the powers of the Commission
Almost every form and mode of dealing with the question has been the subject of actual experience in Europe and in this country Government ownership of the whole as is proposed in Germany government ownership of lines sufficient to establish competition as in Belgium government suppressing competition among the lines and itself regulating rates as in France government regulating the monop oly but not prohibiting competition as in Eng land The great point and most difficult of at tainment is not so much the prevention of ex tortion as that of illegitimate form of competi tion which affects not the whole business but special points or person and is the parent of
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unjust discrimination Not improbably the establishment of a national commission will be essential to this result
A very large part of the efficiency of a commission is really in the
PUBLICITY
given to railroad affairs This conduces as much to the interest of the stockholders as of the publicespecially of the small stockholders A mere formal compliance with a law requiring publication of statements however is wholly insufficient and illusive The publication often
CONCEALS RATHER THAN REVEALS
the state of the companys affairs Huge fortunes have been made by misrepresentation Examples are to be found in the Glasgow Sank abroad and the Tallassee Factory in a neighboring State in numerous Insurance companies etc etc Perhaps indeed it is not necessary to go beyond the limits of the State for illustrations No other corporations have greater facilities for misrepresentation than railroads indeed no other is so difficult to represent properly with the most honest intentions and efforts How to do this effectually has been one of our chief studies as it underlies all else
On the whole a railroad commission is the best adapted means yet discovered or likely to be discovered of dealing with the subject as is seen by a comparison of its adaptation with that of any other means say of regulation by the government or by the Legislature or a committee thereof or with a court Superior or Supreme State or Federal or with a jury in the various needful qualificationssay of experience opportunity relative study and means of knowledge and of the division of labor as a means thereto
The duty of making a tariff of just and reasonable rates instead of making rates on one or two articles at a time is obviously fit and right because a preparation for part involves a preparation for all The study must be systematic else its results will be a piece of patchwork
The chief engineer of the Cincinnati Southern railroad which travels a difficult country suggested a fit illustration of this necessity of studying the problem as a whole Many plausible partial routes were proposed over this line of road but he had ever to bear in mind the whole Ime and usually found that while best for
a short distance these suggestions did not fit in at both ends and so could not carry him through
Here too a comparison of the Commission as an agent with the president and directors or the general freight agents or soliciting agents of different railroads is in point as to impartiality between the railroads and the public as to breadth of view and careful computation of all the elements and factors of valuation rates profits expenses etc and as to covering the whole field and more than a single year or administration
As the decision of the Commission affects the one interest or the other so will the complaints be Thus circular No 10 brought out complaints from certain portions of the public circular No 11 from the railroads So it is in each case The Commission can only hope to escape censure by real justice capable in the course of time of being made obvious justice
It is found that local prejudices do in fact gradually give way with increasing light and information and that in like manner railroad prejudices yield to time and reflection Usually it is found also that those who are hurt in one respect are helped in others so bringing about an equilibrium The action and its results need to be studied as we endeavor to study them as a whole The separate study of each item without the reduction of all to correct principles and systems is like the search for a word in a dictionary not arranged in alphabetical order It is almost as troublesome to find a single word as to alphabet the whole
REVIEW OF EXISTING LEGISLATION
This has been to some extent anticipated The Georgia system is based on the idea of a systematic view of the whole subject and a comprehensive report of what on such a view are reasonable and just rates and rules and regulations A large field of comparison and basis of induction are secured of comparison of railroad with railroad in the State and of our own roads with those of other States
In the study of the subject and in the practical operation of the conclusions reached just as the shoe pinches this dr that interest is the representatives of such interest sure to be heard A large view of the several
CONFLICTING INTERESTS has been developed in the State of New York There the railroads themselves are very power
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ful and anxious to be let alone entirely The city of New York raised the first loud outcry regarding itself as threatened with ruin by rates discriminating against it and in favor of rival cities The power of the city was also great though of course since much of the railroad stock was owned in the city this interest was not a unit As this outcry called attention to the matter the country too began to see its interests and an equally intense agitation began representing the agricultural interests and complaining that the high priced lands of New York State were virtually placed west of the Mississippi and all natural facilities subverted and turned upside down by the huge discriminations between through and local freights After all it has ever been the question of discrimination which has given the greatest trouble
As we have already seen
ILLEGITIMATE COMPETITION
as distinguished from fair and legitimate competition has been the prolific parent of all the abuses of unjust discrimination The termini have usually not merely gotten their rights but much more at the expense of the way stations As each case involves these principles the propriety of the Georgia system of studying the subject as a whole is manifest The greatness and difficulty of the question render it one of slow and patient and gradual solutionpatiently to be worked upon Through freights especially and classification are the most difficult features
In the endeavor of the Commission to meet the exigency Rule 6 with modifications was adopted reading as follows viz
u Kule VI Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a reduction of the same per cent at all stationsalong the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
Competing lines not all within the
JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION When
however from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then the line or lines which are so subject and are working at the lowest rate under the rules may at such competing point or other point injuriously affected by such competition make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
This rule has given perhaps more discontent to the railroad authorities and more satisfaction to the public than any other rule or regulation adopted by the Commission Even the termini affected have to a large extent however admitted the reasonableness and propriety of the rule It has done all that is within our power to equalize and distribute burdens and benefits within this State Were its application general it would largely remove the evils of unjust discrimination affecting the public interest and act as a flywheel giving quietness and reliability to rates and steadying all railroad operations
The modifications we were compelled to make arose from the fact that the Legislature of Georgia could only control the railroads within her own borders Of course it could not interfere with business without her limits though needing a like control
The cooperation of the contiguous States and even of States beyond them is necessary to complete the beneficial action of the rulesay in Georgia the cooperation of the States of Tennessee and Kentucky especially and also of Alabama and the Carolinas
Such cooperation of a properly harmonious character it is almost impossible to obtain The States and their special interests are too numerous and either too conflicting in fact or supposed to be so to make it at all probable that they can concur in the same exact policy It is possible that that feature of the United States Constitution by which Congress is empowered to regulate commerce between the States will have to be invoked as a necessary and proper means of effecting this object of common and harmonious action The efforts of any State are necessarily cramped by its territorial limits and yet just here it is that the strongest safeguards are needed by virtue of the excessive discriminations between way and through freightthe very point of complaint
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Perhaps the exercise of this Federal power distinctly granted for such purposes in the Constitution can alone supply the needful protection and certainly the reasons for interstate regulation are in a manifold degree greater now than when the Constitution was framed While the States do not themselves directly throw obstacles in the way nor use the railroads as indirect agents for the purposethe latter are themselves too powerful in this particular respect for State control and the States are powerless to enforce the necessary regulations If the constitutional power is so invoked then a Federal Railroad Commission would seem to be indicated as the proper solution for precisely the same reasons as those given for the delegation of power within the State to a Commission instead of a direct exercise of legislative authority for evidently Congress is no more fitted for the direct adjustments needed than is a State Legislature Herein lying the chief trouble viz in getting the several States to cooperate in a common policy here seems to be the best remedy and the best mode of applying it by an exercise of Federal authority through a Commission not conflicting with State rights but on the contrary cooperating with and supplementing them and giving effect to sound State policy by preventing irregular and jerky action just at the border lineslevelling off the transitions and letting State lines for purposes of commerce be what they should be but imaginary lines offering no impediment This absence of impediment to commerce has been one of the chief causes of American progress and prosperity There would be no more invasion of State authority in this case than in furnishing aid to the State in suppressing an insurrection within its limits Each is but the exercise of a constitutional right and duty on the part of the Federal government expressly conferred and for wise purposes
INTERNAL RELATIONS
RELATIONS OF THE STOCKHOLDERS TO THE MANAGERS OF RAILROAD COMPANIES
Any view of the railroad question which left out the very remarkable and unique relations of the owners to the management of the railroad corporations of the country would be strikingly incomplete and yet these relations are little understood and dwelt upon
Two important distinctions are to be ever
kept in mind 1 The distinction between the railroad interest and the public interest these are not identical as is often alleged 2 The distinction between the stockholders interest and the managers interest no more are these identical
Indeed errors as to the supposed necessary identity of these two distinct intereststhe stockholding interest and the managers interest underlie half or more of the current fallacies which have been diligently cultivated and extended by corrupt managers whose personal interest is widely different not only from the public interest which they do not professedly and exofficio represent but even from the corporate interest which they do professedly represent and in fact control but too often with the widest difference of actual interest both in feeling and in fact
Let it be observed here that the doctrine of modern political economy is sound and true which teaches that the
REAL HONEST INTERESTS
of all men are harmonious and so the real honest interests of the public and the railroads and their officers are in harmony If men pursued simply their honest interests there would be no trouble in these nor in any other relations But then law would become unnecessaryeach man being a law unto himself and the millenium would have arrived
In our present mundane state however supposed selfinterest erects itself over these honest interests and needs to be governed by restraining laws We have not yet reached that state of social progress in which law has become unnecessary and even law itself is often made the instrument of injustice Just such a supposed identity of interest as we are discussing exists also between
THE RULERS AND THE RULED
Yet on the whole the great problem of government is to prevent rulers from abusing these necessary powers of government The very use of a Constitution is to accomplish this object to throw checks and restraints about the rulers whose honest interests are identical with those of the ruled but who are prone to see it otherwise and abuse their powers The whole machinery of government is devised to correct this evilby limited delegation of authorityby reelectionsby impeachment and the like
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preserving the responsibility of them who are in power
Even so with the railroad management It would happen even if the corporation were controlled in the exact interest of the stockholders as seen by the directors that the selfish element would prevail and the general public be left out of the calculation This accords with human nature and there is at least as much human nature at all events of its selfish elements in corporations as in individuals Indeed the corporate conscience has become somewhat proverbial
Now this argument applies still more strongly in the relations of the railroad management to the general public than it would apply if the corporation could act as a whole instead of through the agency of a board of directors The reasons for this we shall presently see for it is very important to explain it fully and it can be made very clear
But yet a higher climax is reached when we consider the relations of the official interest to the mere stockholding interest Not only is the public fair game but the stockholders themselves are still fairermore completely within the reach and power of corrupt managers
The natural tendency of human selfishness in an agent is to make the principals interest collateral and subordinate and to make personal benefit and advantage the main object The means for accomplishing this end are greater perhaps in railroad management than in any other management whatever political or corporate and why Because stockholders are less informedmore scatteredmore powerless and more manageable than any other like body of men There are more chances of deception more opportunities of imposition than in almost any other business The business is very varied in its formsextends over a wide territoryis related to numerous outside enterprises and so it is hard to understand and keep up with it even with the best intentions on the part of the officials to make it intelligible
THE MACHINERY
for keeping the officers right and responsible is very imperfect On the whole the diversity between official duty and selfinterest finds no higher expression than in this very case of railroad management
High official character has heretofore been
almost the sole safeguard of the stockholder and it must ever be his chief safeguard Yet there are various means which may aid his interests especially publicity in all corporate transactions and a supervision exercised over them unaccompanied by selfish interest in rerults
THE AGENT STPERIOR TO THE PRINCIPAL
This case of railroad management belongs to that class of cases in which the agent is vastly superior to the principal in knowledge and power in knowledge of the business and in power to control it The old rule of the masters eye is here reversed The master is ignorant and powerlessthe servant understands the business better than he
Whenever this is the case the master may well look out There is danger with him just at hand and danger hereafterdanger now and danger all the time
Now this superiority exists perhaps nowhere else in so remarkable a degree It begins at the beginning for the stockholder is not an engineer nor surveyor and cannot understand what selfinterest may mislocate the road to build up a town or break one down And it goes step by step through the whole management even when that ends in the bankruptcy of the road and its stockholders and the overgrown fortunes of those who control its operations the nominal control is not always real There is sometimes a ring within a ring and a central figure within all
NEED OF LIGHTRAILROAD ACCOUNTS KEPT DECEPTIVELYMISLEADING
The necessity of light and openness is illustrated in the following remark of Mr Sterne
One of the crying evils of our railway mismanagement is the wretched system of keeping railway accounts of which we recently had such a glaring illustration in the New Jersey Central Railroadthe President of which lost a million and a quarter of his property for no other reason in the world except the abominable condition of the accounts of the railway of which he was in charge It caused him to believe that it was a sound concern when it was hopelessly insolvent
The stockholders have not fared any better than the public as to the treatment they received at the hands of the managers The former are but a fluctuating disorganized mass
21
called together but once a year to pass upon a prearranged programme to elect a ticket made by the directors They are quite powerless
The two great passions of cupidity and resentment which play so large a part in human affairs both affect the railroad official in the direction of least resistance both being gratified at the expense of others In railroad wars the stockholder pays for the ammunition He is the cats paw and the bui nt fingers are his the enjoyment and sport are his nominal agent and real masters
The usual safeguards of selfinterest are not invoked The fighting superintendents in wars of rates enjoy a victory costless to themselvesdear bought to the stockholders The character of the soliciting agent is thus sketched hy Colonel Fink
It is well known that the general instructions which are given to soliciting agents to do as others are doing or supposed to be doing are carried out with great alacrity by these agents as their importance and occupation depends upon such contingencies
Under these instructions the management of the competitive business is practically turned over to these agents and the proprietors of the roads or its managers lose all control over it and become mere figure heads as far as this important branch of the business isconcerned upon which to a great degree the financial success depends
Now really the entire corporate management is as independent of the corporators as the soliciting agents are of the managers Even if rates are lowered by such means it is not a wholesome method for the community being irregular and uncertain partial and spasmodic It is beneficial to sharpers and speculators not to honest and steady industry and is unprofitable to the commonwealth Speculators stock jobbers and railroad jockeys often including officials of the highest rankare opposed to stability and prefer a scramble in ti e dark or rather with darklantern in hand in an arena dark to others but lighted up for themselves
Were it the selfinterest of the real owner the case might be different but this is really inoperative The whole wealth and power of the corporation is wielded by one or a few handsirresponsible to the true owners The great ship is turned about by a very small helm and the helmsman fortified and out of
reach The ship goes flipflap with his whims caprices or resentments and no one can stay his hand The general public is greatly interested in the protection of the true owners for its own sake as well as theirs
Never in former history was there such a concentration of great financial power in a few irresponsible hands The harness ought to be made to fit closely and not to pull and haul by jerks and with uncertainty as to time direction and who is to be hurt
How does the distinction between the owners and the agents manifest itself In many ways The ways and means of mismanagement are numerous and intricate
In the controversy between experts and nonexp erts the experts have all the advantageNow the nonexperts are not the general public alone but the stockholding public as well There are three things that ought ever to go together Interest Information and Influence To combine these three ins is to steady and settle things wonderfully It is the best security to both the publicsthe general public and the stockholding public For the general public it secures a proper and healthy uniformity and regularity The stockholders it saves from speculation and peculation One other in is suggested forming a wholesome and wellmatched quartetteas safe as human affairs can be madeIntegrity
It may be well to name some of the not uncommon means by which stockholders are deceived deluded and defrauded The management has all the advantagethe poor stockholder has interest alone without information except such as it chooses to give or influence except such as it chooses to allow Sometimes deception sufficessometimes intimidation or force becomes necessary
One method is first to bear the stock and buy then bull it and sellrepeating according to taste and opportunity The control of the books and the expenses being in their hands this is an easy process The income of the road is all expended in improvement in the purchase of iron and steel in ballasting and bridging etc etc thus enhancing the actual value of the property Meanwhile dividends are suspended and no unnecessary show made of the improvements till the tired stockholders or needy ones sell out Thus the real value appreciates while the market value goes down
and the stock is in a condition for purchase The process is now reversed and preparation made for sale Nothing is expended on improvements but the old improvements made to show to advantage and written up while all the income goes into dividends or a stock dividend is declared Then comes the sale after which the controlling ring is ready for repeating the process and probably rich enough to buy up another road or two and enlarge their operations
A smart unscrupulous superintendent can easily make a reputation in the same way letting the road go downand the dividends UPleaving as a legacy to his successor if honest the hard duty of restoring the condition of the road by using all its income in renewal and facing the hungry stockholders used to excessive dividends while giving them none
Sometimes the method is rather to make the road subsidiary entirely to some outside interest as that of a city The management then relies in making the whole road in which their interest is comparatively small bend to the support of city property in which their interest is large Both the public and the stockholders here suffer
Sometimes yet more special private interests are built up as by building expensive improvements to enhance the value of contiguous property
Sometimes the road is made to embark in new enterprises in the interest of the management not of the stockholders Personal cupidity is not the only ground for this often personal resentments against a rival corporation are gratified the stockholder alone bleeding But the ways are endless in which an irresponsible management can take advantage at once of the company and the public Who could be unreasonable enough to ask for a better chance or to have things more his own way It is all carte blanche dependent only on will and honor The stockholders are kept ignorant the reports are either untrue or unintelligible the directors keep in power by a vicious proxy system nepotism plays its part also and the controlling ring becomes invincible so that it is a rare case for the honest stockholders ever to escape its grasp They are squeezed out and shouldered off till not the actual control only but the majority of the stock gets into the hands of the ring
Sidney Smiths illustration is partially in point of the anaconda which after swallowing a bullock digests it quietly and at ease as a court of chancery does a great estate The parallel does not hold all through however as the railroad anaconda does not even temporarily lose his activity his digestion is rapid and he never needs rest
The temptations which power and secrecy present are great One false step leads to another and men who begin with honest intentions rapidly lapse into evil ways and sustain bad conduct by worse and are comforted by colossal fortunes and these without loss even of social positiontheir bad practices sometimes concealed sometimes condoned
But the name of the methods is legion and we cannot catalogue them
Power and fortune enable the managers to grow unscrupulously in power and fortune both having that developing facultylike a rolling ball of snow they gather everything in their pathand they have the means of corruption and bribery to an unlimited extent in their own hands and the same want of scruple which accumulated the fortune suffices to use it for such corrupt purposes Consequently Legislatures and the press are constantly plied in this way
The railroad journals and leading articles generally not always represent the opinions and wishes of the officers The arguments convince the dupes the system of accounts keeps them uninformed a little occasional show of candor or of zeal against a rival corporation goes a long ways and this furnishes a scapegoat to explain whatever goes wrong The better informed minority is powerless The organization has the patronage the command of friends the allies and employees along the whole line of road the opportunities of deceptionindeed all the strings of power
When the stockholders meet in nominal convention to exercise a nominal supervision the management with its batch of proxies quietly laughs them to scorn for thinking that right and actual interest can have any power If concealment and chicanery fail of their purpose arrogance steps into their aid Even such a spectacle has been seen as that of the agents and servants of a corporation adminis tering public and official rebukes to the owners
and masters for the offense of looking into their own business
While all these evils have not invaded the South as they have the North and Europe they are inherent in the nature of the system and are bound to come out in time as measles or smallpox Of course there are good Eulers and good Eailroad managers conscientious and upright men who will not abuse their opportunities and powers but these are the advocates of checks upon power and of the protection of stockholders and minorities They see the evils and dangers and cooperate willingly and anxiously in providing safeguards
POWERS TOO HUGE
These powers are too great to be trusted in irresponsible hands Never in former history were such known Powerful in wealth and patronage powerful to bribe and to punish powerful in the lobby and on change this power is all concentrated and organized and resides not in the stockholders but in a single board of directors usually controlled by two or three directors and these by one manthe ringmaster
In many States it is already
STRONGER THAN GOVERNMENT
stronger than the people With heavy means and heavy stakes in the result it assaults the Legislature in the lobby or anticipates the lobby by sending its own members It puts judges on the bench of the State courts the Federal courts and even of the United States Supreme Court It makes legislatures and governors and plays a huge part in president making Said we not well that the regulation of railroads by law is as importantnay more importantin its political than even in its legal and economical aspect
While here in Georgia the abuses have been relatively small save in the losses by State aid it is to be hoped that before they ripen we shall ptofit by the experience of other States The era of combination which is an era of danger has begun with us Constant vigilance and supervision is necessary Legislation must keep even pace with events the right to regulate should never be surrendered No one legislature has the right to surrender it this power of protection is the chief function of legislation The whole future is not to be given away by a stroke of the legislative pen
Is this extravagant Is it an overdrawn picture This is hardly the day to ask the question for so common and so monstrous have been the abuses that the public mind is thoroughly aroused and the danger is now rather of excess The proper policy is regulation by law not by passion nor yet by letting evils alone and uncorrected
Not in this country alone is the stockhoding public as much in need of protection from their own officials as the general public but in England and in Europe generally this has been equally true A very distinguished writer and thinker years ago gave a clear view of the abuses in Great Britain and the relations especially of the directors and proprietors in an essay on
RAILWAY MORALS AND RAILWAY POLICY
The direction ceasing to fulfill its theory as a deliberative body whose members possess like powers falls under the control of some one member of superior cunning will or wealth to whom the majority become so subordinate that the decision on every question depends on the course he takes Proprietors instead of constantly exercising their franchise allow it to become on all ordinary occasions a dead letter retiring directors are so habitually reelected without opposition and have so great a power of insuring their own election when opposed that the board becomes practically a close body and it is only when the misgovernment grows extreme enough to produce a revolutionary agitation among the shareholders that any change can be effected
Threats of resignation which ministries hold out in extreme cases are commonly made by railway boards to stave off a disagreeable inquiry With most this assumption of offended dignitp tells and under the fear that the companys interests may suffer from any disturbance measures quite at variance with the wishes of the proprietary are allowed to be carried The directors are greatly aided by their officials in their struggles with shareholders
Meanwhile had been developing a secondary set of influences which also contributed to foster unwise enterprises namely the business interests of the lawyers engineers contractors and others directly or indirectly employed in railway construction
If we are toid of squires soliciting interviews with the engineer of a projected railway
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prompting him to take their side of the county promising support if he did and threatening opposition if he did not dictating the course to be followed through their domains and hinting that a good price would be expected we are simply told of the special modes in which certain private interests show themselves If we hear of an extensive landowner using his influence as chairman of a board of directors to project a branch running for many miles through his own estate and putting his company to the cost of a parliamentary contest j to carry this line we hear only of that which was likely to occur under such circumstances
Kemembering all this and remembering that those who were successful are not likely to have forgotten their cunning but rather to have yearly exercised and increased it we may naturally expect to find railway lawyers among the most influential of the many parties conspiring to urge railway proprietaries into disastrous undertakings and we shall not be deceived To a gxeat extent they are in league with engineers From the proposal to the completion of a new line the lawyer and the engineer work together and their interests are throughout identical While the one makes the survey the other prepares the book of reference
Gentlemen are now in some cases elected on boards simply because they are members of Parliament The reverse process also occurs a gentleman becomes a member of Parliament because already a member or attorney of a board
Shareholders occasionally find that their directors have given to Parliament pledges of extension much exceeding what they were authorized to give and they are then persuaded that they are bound to endorse the promises made for them by their agents
In pursuit of their ends directors will from time to time go directly in the teeth of established regulations
Proxies are obtained mostly from proprietors scattered everywhere throughout the kingdom who are very generally weak enough to sign the first document sent to them Then of those present when the question is brought to an issue not many dare attempt a speech of those who dare but few are clearheaded enough to see the full bearings of the measure they are about to vote upon and such as can see them
are often prevented by nervousness from doing justice to the views they hold
The tactics of the aggressive party are commonly as skilful as those of their antagonists are bungling
Finally consider that the classes interested in carrying out new schemes are in constant communication and have every facility for combined action
This belief in the identity of directorial and proprietary interests is the fatal error commonly made by shareholders It is this which in spite of many bitter experiences leads them to be so careless and so trustful
Such was the pictureof affairs in England years ago sketched by a master hand It has been matched in all its details in parts of our own country The expressions look hard but the expressions are moderatethe facts it is which are hard
How is all this to be remedied It cannot all be remedied but the best method to deal with it and cure what is curable is to make the showings of the directors real not nominal A good honest showinga real exhibit of the affairs of the company true and intelligible is the best security for good management Fraud loves darkness and flees from the light a city well lighted at night is already half policed
This leads us from the unpleasant subject of corporate abuses to the more attractive one of the remediesthe chief of which and most important by far is
BOOKKEEPING
Perhaps all our readers will without argument concur in the view that good bookkeeping underlies the whole railroad problem A mans individual success in his own limited affairs depends on his understanding his business Ordinarily his own private business is not too big for him yet even the ordinary lawyer physician etc needs to keep booksmuch more the merchant Certainly not less important is it to the success of a railroad that the business should be understood but to understand it properly is a thousand times harder to do When a business passes beyond a certain degree of complexity the whole of it becomes confusedthe manager becomes dizzy and dazed is lost in the wilderness ofdetails and perfectly bewildered
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Nearly all joint stock companies are too big for an ordinary mind and need men of unusual talent system and clear headedness to manage them In England the number of stockholders in corporations is usually small and each stockholder has a larger portion of his whole property invested and has a particular department of the business under his immediate personal superintendence so that the management is not by agents but by the actual parties in interest and not with a mere nominal interest at that but a real interest bearing a large proportion to the whole means of the stockholder He is in the best attitude not only for attending to his part of the business but for seeing whether the other partners are attending faithfully and honestly to theirs It is really but an enlarged partnership in management as well as ownership
In America the state of affairs is quite different the stockholders are numerous and their interest in the particular enterprise frequently bears a small proportion to the entire property Hence the small stockholders have little influence or importance Bhe whole system is vicious and slacktwisted Really the owner has no hold of the reins and no control over the driver
RAILROADS COMPARED WITH BANKS AND OTHER CORPORATIONS AS TO BOOKKEEPING
If other corporations need a good systema fortwrirailroads need such a system imperatively for the difficulties are peculiarly great A factory or a bank is all in one spot and all capable of supervision from the same standpoint But the operations of a railroad are numerous and scattered there is a great mass of facts to be recorded and rerecorded covering hundreds of miles of space the business being as varied as all the productions of the country occupying hundreds sometimes thousands of employees dealing with many thousands of customers having millions of transactions and extending over long periods of time The proper record of such a huge mass of material is no small task and the proper exhibition of them is still more difficult Nor are the advantages less than the difficulties It is yet more important to understand a big business than a small and the evils of failure are more aggravatedand less remediable
When we see the difficulties that beset the 4
public with the fairest and best intentions we must also be struck with the power of dishonest officials to hide evade and conceal the truth or to pervert it to their own gain and the loss of stockholders and the public
When we consider the thousands of bookkeepers engaged in the railroad service we see at once the importance of their working to the best advantage
The solution is equally
IMPORTANT TO ALL INTERESTS
to the railroads managers stockholders and creditorsto the general public the Commission the courts the Legislature and the State at large which for want of this has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxation It is injurious only to those to whom ignorance and darkness are desirable Uniformity of methods is also of much importance so that mastery of one system is mastery of all
In accordance with its importance has been the study of the subject by railroad men by the commissions of States and the State and Federal authoritiesthe latter being interested especially in the Pacific Railroad reports Many of the railroads have most elaborate and valuable systems the Convention of the Railroad Commissioners of eighteen States recommends a particular form We cannot say after all that a satisfactory solution has yet been reached The field covered by railroad accounts is like that of a census Could one see the piles of folios in one great railroad office accumulated and dusty and then compute the number of roads he would be struck with the immensity of the labor involved And yet after all the view afforded of railroad operations is often as different from a real repoit as is a pile of brick from a house Many years ago the Astor House started a new era in hotels with its various parts all corresponding with broad hays consecutive stairways story over story alike and all easily understood A like improvement is needed in railroad tabulation It is easy to err and hard to make clear
We may be met here with the objection that to require such reports of the railroads is inquisitorial and wrong But not so the railroads are
NOT ENTITLED TO SECRECY
no more so than the banks which are required by law to publish statements semiannually
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Not so much so indeed as the banks for the public regulation of the roads is even more essential Indeed publicity to the stockholders themselves is usually incompatible with secrecy to the public they are so numerous that reports need to be in print If but few the public is in the greater danger The bank statements also like those of the railroads seldom furnish the exact information needed
THE STOCKHOLDERS ARE ENTITLED TO INFOR
MATION AND THE PUBLIC IS ENTITLED TO
INFORMATION
The bookkeeping forms are not intelligible to the stockholders no not to the average directornot even to the average bookkeeper
Really tabulation needs to be as carefully studied as bookkeepingthe mode of exhibiting results as that of recording them Tabulation is a science just begun not yet solved The whole work of the census department is to develop the best system of tabulation that is the best method of presenting results to the mind and this must ever be done through the eye the quickest and most varied of the senses Without proper tabulation the facts gathered into immense volumes in the census department or the railroad office are almost as inaccessible as if still scattered in nature The facts exist anyhow to express them readily is the thing to be accomplished
Whether as a corruption fund or to buy steel rails to bribe a commissioner or a legislature to build a bridge or to give a dinner or pay the coupons of another concernsuch things have all been knownthe showing is important in either case and interesting reading besides If the fact exists it ought to be knownand if known reported
There should be
ONE ALLCOMPREHENSIVE TABLE embracing the whole and exhibiting it at one view and suggesting all th other tablesa Trunk table whose limbs and ramifications reach out by successive stages to the original transactions To do this all the resources of bookkeeping and tabulation are necessary but these resources properly applied are adequate to the exigency
Reference should be had in the ingathering of facts to the object in view of setting them out again in proper form They are all to be uttered owiered and the mnering process should have reference to this result
Are these considerations of practical use Why they lie at the very bottom of all sound knowledge of the affairs of a company
Aside from the profit and loss account no company however absolutely broken and unable to pay a cent on the dollar shows by its books that it is broken On the contrary by the very principles of bookkeeping this account neglected
IT CANNOT BREAK ON THE ROOKS
were it to break a score of times in fact Its accounts always balance to a quarter of a cent The note of any pauper sho vs as high on the books as personal gilt edge secured by bonds
Oh the heartbreakings that would have been and may hereafter be saved by honest showings on the part of corporations We talk and write of it easily coolly but the hard earnings of many a poor workieg man the savings of the widow the bread of the orphan have fallen through the gaps which bad bookkeeping left open
It is the chief trick of the knave the heartless speculator on theignorance and misfortune of others The fact that could be told the history of suffering and distress the hidden meaning involved in the expressionthe Glasgow bank has brokentherailroad com
pany has gone into the hands of a receiver we need not go out of Georgia for illustration would make one shudder and pray for some remedy by which such pitfalls should not lie hidden in the dark but a beacon light be placed by each trap
We would not disparage the efforts made to avoid these evils but we do mean to say that huge evils still exist and that many reports are but shams as to any showing of actual condition and serve as convenient hiding places for poor or corrupt management And yet the Railway Age remarks When the railway accountant can be found who will concede that the system of bookkeeping of any other accountant is superior to his own the millenium will have set in It very properly adds Most men however expert in anyvbranch of science can learn something from those similarly engaged
There are many good tables Iiere and there to be found In the reports of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company for example for a number of years past are to be found two unusually complete tablesone showing the busi
27
ness of the road from its opening to the date of the report now over forty years giving the miles of road in operation passenger receipts freight receipts operating expenses and net profits with special items of an interesting character showing for example the cotton grain and flour transported This is an admirable table giving remarkable insight complete and chronological into the history of the business A table of dividends is also given necessary to complete the foregoing The second table to which we refer presents the business of each station and of each connecting road and is also very useful
In 1859 there was a valuable estimate of the annual cost of renewal of road equipment etc
The more recent reports incorporate a number of additional improvements of great value In the report of 1879 the very full statement of NET INCOME AND ITS APPLICATION
Page 1 gives real information to the stockholders On page 20 is another valuable table showing what interest is to be paid before dividends can be reached and also what outside sources of revenue are to be relied upon aside from road profits A comparison of five years business on page 21 is also vry instructive A comparison of bank profits page 49 for ten years furnishes also the best sort of data for estimating the probable future
The use of the Profit and Loss account on which we lay so much necessary stress is exemplified well on page 52 by which many worthless assets are relegated to the oblivion to which they belong
In the Central Railroad reports also especially the reprte for 1870 and some years thereafter we find much to commend although still incomplete A fresh start is occasionally taken and a new broom sweeps clean After a time the familiarity of the officers with the condition of affairs has a tendency to interfere with the completeness of the reports these seeming almost unnecessary to them yet not being at all unnecessary to the public and the stockholders The late reports do not come fully up to the standard of those of the years above referred to
The reports of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad especially as to expenses are tobe commended for clearness and fullness
The whole country and the whole railroad interest are indebted to
THE LOUISVILLE AND NASHVILLE ROAD
for the admirable improvements inaugurated by Col Fink and continued and improved from time to time by Col DeFuniak and others connected with the management of that road We desire also to express our great indebtedness to the system of Col Talcott of the Richmond and Danville Road and to his admirable analysis of the elements of business
The reports of the United States Commissioner upon the Pacific Railroad the forms prepared by the Wisconsin Commissioner especially and by the Ohio Commission and those of the eighteen Railroad Commissioners in convention have all furnished valuable suggestions Finally while making acknowledgments we must refer to the class tonnage furnished by Mr Carlton Hillyer as perhaps the most valuable of any single report received Scarcely less valuable are the passenger analyses The forms of the Western and Atlantic Railroad are also excellent in many respects
After the careful study and comparison of all these forms however we have been satisfied that there are missing elements still in the material recordedand yet more essential omissions in the manner of tabulationwhich to the general public is the important matter The want of a clew to the whole system is usually fatal
We have endeavored in the system elaborated during many months past to incorporate all the good elements possible and to eliminate the unimportant and the sources of error and confusion
System alone can exhibit a complex array of facts without confusion and the effort has been to reduce the showing into the form of an intelligible systemshowing the whole and all the parts and this in their
PROPER RELATIONS AND PROPORTIONS
To suppose that we have been entirely successful in this would be presumptuous but we hope to have contributed something towards the solution
The exact methods suggested will be found in the appendix being of too technical a character to interest the general reader who however is greatly interested in the results if not in the means
The public has no use for a report that does not report an exhibit that does not exhibit Worse still is a report which substitutes error
for mere ignorance and stands like an index at I the forks of the road pointing the wrong way
Knowledge we must have and pay the price for it whatever it costs it is cheaper than ig norance and error
THE BOOKS MUST CHANGE WITH THE FACTS
Books are but a dead thing after all the men it is who are alive Books are but instruments they rapidly lapse into empty forms Men must use them and keep both themselves and the books alive It is easier of course to show to the stockholders when they meet the same old showing made last year but of what use is it
These showings are just like the hands of a clock which doesnot run and so is useless as a time piece such a report and such a clock are equally worthless
Is it too much trouble to keep the clock running Then a change of management is already necessary
Let us have the present tense the present tense in each report Unless the facts are unalteredlet the expression be altered to correspond
What sense is there in a system which makes exactly the same showing of a solvent concern and an insolvent Day and night white and black yes and no are not more contrary and yet the report is the same
It is all important that the showings of the corporations should be true to date and known to he true Bottom should be felt
If we have contributed anything to the correction of this evil we have hit the nail on the head Every day exhibitsin a melancholy waythe absolute need of corporate showings at once true and intelligible Only perjury should be between the public and the needful information no mere sham of form
THE DEBT OF GRATITUDE ARGUMENT
It has been said and with the utmost truth that the railroads have bestowed immense and unspeakable benefits on the country at large have helped human progress have benefited all outside interests etc and indeed that the collateral advantages surpass those pertaining to the stockholders themselves It were difficult to overestimate these collateral advantages and certainly the public should be considerate in subjecting the donors to any disadvantage
It is well however to let the thanks and consideration go to whom they belong They are very liable to take the wrong direction
To whom are they really due Partly to the inventors of the road the improvers of the rail of the power etc the cheapeners of processes etc The inventing public are entitled to large credit
Again The original stockholders are usually entitled to these collateral considerations as public benefactors They often contribute more than their due share and the selfish and indifferent reap the collateral results along with them The original stockholders in all corporations often indeed usually break and a new set comes in who buy both the property and the experience at low rates
To a third class the public is perhaps indebted in a somewhat different sense viz to the managers who have pushed new enterprises on the stockholders rather against their will certainly beyond their interests and knowledge Not always wisely but no small proportion of the railroad system has been thus built Not public spirit but private interest has often dictated such enlargements and the debt of the stockholders to such manager is naught and that of the public small
A fourth class is the most forward to press the claim of gratitude who are entitled to the reverse viz the stockjobbing class who have gobbled up roads and whose claim consists in having ruined the real benefactors of the public with selfish ends in view No other classes are half so loud as the last two3 and 4 No 4 scoop up the road as the transaction is significantly called putting in nothing but a net and drawing out the fish
They get blocks of stock form syndicates etc etc So it happens that much of the sympathy and consideration is wasted To pension off those who broke in public service were perhaps the better way At all events to protect them from sharpers
THE TRUE WAY
to pay the debt of gratitude is to prevent the shocking abuses to which they are frequently subjected
THE MISSING LINK
in political economy is knowledge If real supply and demand and supposed supply and demand were the same its problems would be greatly
29
simplified Not now the real but the supposed controls human action Not the fact but the opinion Advantage of this is taken by sharpers to create artificial demand and supply to glut the market or denude it flood or drain They use short cuts in bulling and bearing the telegraph the press and brokers as instruments and make exchanges betwixt right hand and left and so the knaves prosper
They purchase often not so much the stock as the control excepting to confiscate the minority
When the era of combination begins the stockholders acquire real control and then the small stockholders are in danger also the honest managerfor he must either be bribed and enter the ring or give way to a man of less scruple So it works The current changes direction and not Scylla but Charybdis is now to be avoided
The same old human nature is here only with greater temptations and fewer impediments It is the property of water to wet and of fire to burn so of temptation to seduce so of wealth to grow to him that hath shall be givenand he shall have abundance He is like the swingrising higher and higher with each stroke
Modern times have developed such easy ways of making fortunes in comparison with which frebooting is respectable as to modefor the freebooter has never been trusted and as to amount freebooting is utterly insignificant Fallstaff should have lived at this day and had an easy time of it
Burglary from safes has kept up with all improvements so stock jobbing has grown into a fine art The 6ommon stockholderreally entitled to gratitudewakes up good easy mam to find his all licked upas by a sponge He learns the yanity of riches which take to themselves wings and fly away
We are not ministering to a mere popular prejudice and fanning a flame which is to consume what is most valuable in the accumulations of the past but on the contrary guarding against serious dangers and endeavoring to extinguish the flame by removing the fuel There is a method in our madness Light is good for all While the showing of the facts may reduce the apparent corpulence of many a road it will reduce in like proportion al those which have been exhibited alike If they dwindle down to reality that is all right Only
those really empty will collapse under the prick of this pin
There must be enough vigor and spirit left after the losses by the friction of wrong methods to correct the evils even if some harm is done in correcting them by reason of ignorance of the exact means
The roads are right to make selfdefense against ignorant and reckless interference but should rather guide than resist the efforts to correct real evils Many know the evils who are ignorant of the remedy and this remedy is not in the denial but the study of the facts There are many railroad officials of the highest character for probity and intelligence who gladly cooperate as experts in these studies and efforts
We quote the following strong and pertinent views from a paper by Henry C Lord in The Railway Age
SPECULATION IN STOCKS AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE MORALE OF RAILWAY OFFICERS
AND EMPLOYES
The president of a railroad company with his board of directors has no moral right to speculate in the securities of the property of which they are guardians and sponsors
A board of directors of a modern railway company convenes in secret session The president in his chair in the receipt of a salary larger than that paid to a judge of the Supreme Court and quite often larger than that paid to a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States the directors are gathered around him and the question before them is a financial policy the payment or passing of a dividend They have the power to do one or the other If a dividend has been earned they can either pay it or under the excuse that more equipment or additional tracks or shops are wanted they can delay or pass it and their proceedings are secret until they choose to reveal them to anxious and expectant stockholders with perhaps their whole income and support dependent upon the results or to impatient brokers seeking whom they may devour Mean whilethese excellent gentlemen in the faithful execution of a legal and moral trust proceed in their own interest to buy or sell and to give points to personal friends to the terrible upturning of the market and the possible and more often probable loss of thousands of private investors guardians of minor heirs administrators of ea
30
tates who have confided in them Meanwhile these officers are enriching themselves by buying short or selling long as the case may be One director devoted to the welfare of his constituents will upon his own knowledge of the policy determined upon by himself and his colleagues but not yet made public deposit five or ten thousand dollars as a margin and buy a hundred thousand dollars stock a director of another company equally well advised will deposit the same amount and sell at thirty days a thousand shares and the poor and anxious shareholder has to foot the bill
Now these parties represent a sacred trust one which they have no right to trifle with or to imperil The man who frequents a faro table knows what he is about takes his chances and there is and should be no sympathy for him if he loses his all but I pity the poor boy who without knowledge runs the risk He is on a dangerous pathway to ruin and while he must suffer now the grown men who lure him on encourage and stimulate him will suffer more in the bye and bye It is impossible to draw a sound moral distinction between the officers of a corporation delegated and sworn to administer a special duty or charge involving property individual rights and too often personal comfort and support using their official knowledge and position in the market and over the market for their individual gain and the gamester who invites patronage to his bank and his richly laden table In fact the latter will make a better record and show a cleaner one when weighed in the unerring scales of justice and humanity
The law recognizes the opportunity of the trustee to convey a public impression as to the value of the property which may influence the opinion and action of buyers and forbids him to take any advantage of that opportunity Alas how true in the speculative dance of the present age is that proverb of Solomon It is naught it is naught sailh the buyer but straightway he goeth and boasteth I have sometimes thought that this wise man must have been a speculator in stocks or in his maturer years he would not have written his book of proverbs or been able to support so large a family Fortunes are made out of individual owners who do not act intelligently being misinformed or not informed at all by those whose duty both legal and moral it is to give them full and exact information
These things often occur where no certificates of stock change hands and the books of the company show no record of the transactions of its officers A trustee and those relying upon his fidelity loses his self respect and just in proportion as he loses his own he loses that of his subordinate officers and employes He becomes demoralized and unworthy in his own estimation or greatly conceited and his influence if not wholly lost is greatly lessened The less constant he is in the discharge of the immediate duties assigned to him the more exacting he is apt to become his rules and orders are not well considered his employes understand it they become too independent of authority too often careless and are tempted to take risks and ventures themselves which they have no right to do and thus the moral of the whole railway system is disturbed and endangered 1876This was a year of great excitement in the market when speculation was at fever heat and when the chief executive officers of our railroads were fighting one another in an utterly destructive competition doing business for no profit and often at a great loss ruining innocent shareholders and creditors and destroying railway credit both in this country and in every market of Europe at the same time being buyers and sellers of stocks The word trust might as well for the time being have been stricken from the English language The direct natural and necessary result of a wicked and wholly unnecessary competition and speculation in which and by which the guardians the legal and moral custodians of great railroad trusts sacrificed their constituents without mercy and most cruelly
Now what was the result upon the moral the conduct of the employesand I use these two words as synonomous in this connection They were by the thousands unpaid at all or deferred or paid in scrip which they were glad to sell at any price and the rate of their hard earned wages was reduced involving great suffering not only to themselves butstill greater to their wives and children
Now who were at fault Was it the engineer with his right hand on the throttle of his engine his watchful eye peering into and through the darkness the unpaid fireman by his side the companion of his danger feeding the fire which created the steam to draw a train which George Stevenson never dreamed of Was it the brakeman at his post of danger the
31
conductor responsible for the discharge of his peculiar duties the mechanic or blacksmith in the shop or the trackman on his round of duty and hard labor No The fault lay with their superior officers presidents and directors speculators in the securities of their own and other companies with which they had contracts or running arrangements competing for business at ruinous rates without any regard to the laws of trade of commerce of ordinary business transportation but thoughtful all the while of market vales rather than the property under their charge and of their own private gains rather than the benefit and security of shareholders and the poor brave men who hourly imperilled their lives in their service
Before dismissing this part of the subject we will refer to one additional illustration of wholesale fraud and mismanagement to show what can and does go on under the sun
The President of the Boston Hartford and Erie Railroad at their recent annual meeting addressed the stockholders13500000 of stock being representedexposing the frauds which had been practiced upon them by their trusted agents and official protectors The facts alleged are virtually that the whole corporation and its assets have been swallowed like a bolus at one gulp Its very name has been changed to the New York and New England Railroad Company so that the original stockholders and parents do not now know their own bantling by name The proceedings of the scoopers are set forth as follows It seems that a mortgage on the road known as the Berdell mortgage was given in the creation of which the stockholders had no voice The conditions even of this nonvalid mortgage were violated and little value received for it by any one The trustees named in the mortgage were all bought off but one who was in collusion with the fraud To comply with the forms of law sham suits undefended were instituted the trustees acquiescingand such proceedings were had that the bondholders took possession and the stockholders found themselves left out in the cold
Such are the allegations We do not prejudge the matter but a huge grab is contemplated on the one side or the other
One crying abuse the Pennsylvania law endeavors to checkthat of railroad officers speculating in their own stock with special advan
tages to betray Contrary to public policy and private honesty they create the very exigencies on which they speculate They virtually by telegraph and through the agency of brokers and the press employ bybidders at auction they operate upon those whom it is their duty to inform and protect and are thus morally guilty of larceny after a trust and so they graze hard by two or three penitentiary offenses in their unscrupulous ways of cheating those who have trusted them
No better means of preventing such frauds can be adopted than that of putting all persons ON A LEVEL
as to railroad information
Knowledge possessed by sometrustees unworthy of trustand concealed from others owners entitled to informationis the great lever of fraudulent speculation
We acknowledge with great satisfaction the earnest cooperation in this matter of many railroad officers of the highest position and character in and out of the State both in regard to obtaining and diffusing information Said a railroad man referring to the forms of report proposed by the Commission in no disapproving way why you wish to know all we do Yes and to tell all we know
The rights of minorities are
1 To have the charter stuck to
2 To be free from byends and sideinterests whether of communities individuals directors etc
3 To be informed fully
4 To be properly represented within the limits of the charter
5 To have proxies honestly represent them
6 To be protected from blocks syndicates violent fluctuations etc
7 To be informed of negotiations and probable arrangements stock dividends etc in advance
Speculators of a private sort may not require these limitations but stock speculators do The dodges have been actually reduced to a nomenclature
FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION
The chief function of the Railroad Commission is the same with that of all the machinery of law and political economy viz to improve and apply remedies Rights are unaltered but better remedies provided For this pur
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pose as we have already seen an adequate or1 tions as to publicity and as to impartial rates gan is needed to represent the general public in not robbing Peter to pay Paul
its relations to the railroads with judicial impartiality
While the discussion has to a large extent anticipated this topic it is well to have a systematic view of the office and functions of a Railroad Commission
In general terms it is the duty of a Commission to see to the proper fulfilment of the duties of the railroads growing out of their relations external and internal Those relations are chiefly as follows
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
1 Relations to the State at large
a As corporations or artificial persons
The Railroad Commission must see to the obedience of the railroad companies to the law of their creation
Must act as a grand inquest for the State to scrutinize and see to the performance of all their chartered obligations express or implied and report any and all violations of the same and suggest means of correcting abuses
The Commission is expected to acquire the qualifications of experts to understand and investigate just such matters
Especially to represent the State in proper tax returnsa matter of peculiar difficulty and in which great errors and losses have occurred to the general detriment of taxpayers
To provide safeguards against the peculiar dangers arising from the existence of corporations of immense realative wealth and power with an almost inevitable tendency to concentrate in a few hands and with insufficient knowledge and consciousness diffused among its stockholders even when numerous They do not know what is going on with their own property
b As special persons viz 1 as common carriers with duties to citizens of reasonable facilities accommodations etc and 2 as monopolists specialized highly Here really the chief duties of the Commissioners reside
c Lastly their relations to the State by contract as to exemption from taxation and from regulation as to the limits of each and the continued obligation of the contract by virtue of its fulfillment by the corporations themselves
2 Their relations to the Public as to just rates as to proper facilities rules and regula
3 To CreditorsBy proper publicity and fairness of showings
4 To other Roads1 Tocompeting roads an intensely practical matter to which Rule 6 and its modifications apply 2 To connecting roadsby proper forwarding and by impartiality act 1874 To insure fulfillment of contracts Examine and approve or modify with refence to public obligations Publicity among themselves
INTERNAL RELATIONS
To stockholders and the inside public the Commission has really the functions of an Ordinary between the trustees and the owners By reason of the want of consciousness and power on the part of the owners and the need of selfinterest as ballast to prevent trustees from speculating in their own stock To provide for get ting together the three InsInterest Influence and Information as the best safeguard of the stockholder and the general public
Various views are held of the proper limits etc of the powers of a Commission The American idea is that one man is as good as another man There are few specialists relatively and small division of labor and rotation in office exists in politics With railroad magnates there is no rotation and so superior training They are all experts vs nonexperts
The Commission is based on law and on public opinion In Massachusetts it is advisory not systematic In England compulsory not systematic In Georgia it is just between the two as to powers it has piima facie powers and is systematic
RESULTS OF THE COMMISSION
In Georgia the railroads are made amenable to law and opinion The recognition is effected by railroads of their public obligations and the recognition by the publie of railroad rights By accounts reports publicity and tabulation a torch is lit up in what has been a dark cave Social laws exist but still there are needed legislation and a judiciary so with the economical laws which obtain in the case of a monopoly there must be a tribunal to regulate
An important use of the Commission is so to acertain the actual value of stocks and so to publish the same as to give greatly increased stability and confidence founded on satisfactory information A Commission in every State
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would do much to stop speculation by stopping the cutting of rates etc for the purpose of low ering values of stock We have seen that these quasi public corporations are not entitled to secrecy What would be inquisitorial in private matters here becomes matter of public investigation and necessary for all interests Indeed secrecy to the public is incompatible with openness to a thousand stockholders and creditors etc
The Commission indeed is an Exchange in which railroad information is collected and by which it is diffused By means of proper bookkeeping the facts are all obtained and by proper tabulation they are really made known and not nominally only Thus real publicity is reached
Thus it protects from ignorance and error both the public and the owners and so acts as a flywheel giving stability to values by giving publicity to the elements which enter into estimates
ACTION OF THE COMMISSION
The distinct objects set forth in the law are the prevention of extortion and unjust discrimination and the whole action of the Commission bears on these two subjects to ascertain what is just and reasonable and to make rates rules and regulations in conformity with what is so ascertained
The circulars issued have been fewstability as well as adaptation being desirable Compared with the changes made for example both as to rates and classification by the Southern Bailway and Steamship Association those made by the Commission are comparatively few
CIRCULAR NO 11
concerning passenger rates is one of the most important ever issued by the Commission It is one of great and general interest for all persons producers and nonproducers old and young male anc female white and colored have an interest in passenger fares Even those who cannot travel have friends who come to see them Like taxes this rate comes home to all classes and conditions
Now of all the possible accommodations and facilities for travel cheapness is the greatest facility People will travel if they can afford to do so
In regard to the rates of fare it is to be observed that if a reduction of rate increases the 5
number of passengers it does not make any material increase of expenses The same trains and employes needed for twenty passengers will need little added expense for fifty
Again it is to be remarked that the reduction not being confined to one or two roads each road is better fed as to travel not only along its own line but by increased travel fed to it from other lines
Nor is the effect limited to State bounds The increase of distant travel corresponds partially with that of local travel Indeed in the present case the example set in Georgia was catching this time health being catching and not disease and rates without the State were also affected favorably by the Georgia reduction
Aside from the direct increase in travel there is a consequent general increase in business for persons who go from home are apt to make purchases and ship them home They see the stocks in the cities and towns they visit and are induced to buy
TRAVEL IS A GREAT EDUCATOR
People learn by contact with one another and with new things As they learn they are stimulated to improvement they acquire new wants which spur them to new efforts A higher standard of knowledge and of life is attained and an increased civilization with its added wants and industries largely increasing transportation
Our own State furnishes in the AirLine road an admirable illustration of all this How great the relative development of that section as compared with its condition before railroad facilities were supplied Compare the business now and a few years ago Production has increased towns have sprung up and the country is alive
The population naturally intelligent was isolated and needed only intercourse to develop habits of enterprise and increased indnstry
Such considerations of general policy induced the adoption of circular No 11 reducing passenger fares not with intent to injure the railroads or with indifference to their interests but with the conviction that the collateral advantages would certainly compensate for any partial or temporary loss and the belief that the direct results would themselves be satisfactory
So far as reports have yet reached us they have been more than satisfactory The in
Creased travel has more than compensated for the reduction of rates and there being little increase of expense the increase of gross receipts has really been an increase of net
Thus the railroads have not only not suffered but as a general rule have been benefltted by the change while the general public has received a very grateful relief and improved facilities
The exact effect on all the roads has not yet been reported to us but will be embraced in the supplementary report of the Commission when received
If it shall be found to have worked any hardship upon any road or branch the evil will be remedied by an increase of rates if need be unless another method be practicable viz a diminution of expenses On this subject it may be well here to state as to the result of our experience and observation that low rates are better on the whole than fast or frequent trains In a thinly settled country it is easy to adapt ones plans to a triweekly instead of a daily train The cost of the travel is the great impediment Ninetenths of the people can start oh Tuesday instead of Monday with little inconvenience and by saving one daily train the road can afford cheap rates We know this to be true from actual experience A fejv persons will grumble at it of course but the great majority can spare time better than money and really a mere change rather than loss of time is involved
Circular 11 was received by the public at large as working a valuable change if it should be just to railroads On the part of the latter there as considerable anxiety and it was by some regarded as a rash experiment It was not rash however but well considered at the time even had it proved erroneous Its actual operation has been alike beneficial to the roads and the public
Circular 12 relates entirely to the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad The injunction imposed by the United States Circuit Court having been dissolved the Savannah Florida and Western Road was promptly placed on the same footing with the Macon and Brunswick and the Savannah division of the Central Railroad
Circular 13 relates entirely to classification and part of circular 14 to the same subject The rest of circular 14 refers simply to the Waycross and Florida Road
A very considerable portion of our work has arisen from lack of information as to
SPECIAL UNPRINTED RATES
This is but one of the numerous illustrations of the absolute need of light in order to correct action
We cannot indeed too strongly express the need of knowledge as a guide in this complex matter of railroad regulation It is just as necessary as a light when one rises in the night it were as easy to arrange the furniture of a room satisfactorily in the dark as to regulate railroad tariffs without knowledge of the conditions Special rates unrepresented to us have given more trouble to the Commission the public and the railroads themselves than any other one cause
This is one of the numerous reasons for the great pains we have taken in the forms of reports and the principles of bookkeeping and tabulation In the appendix will be found the method adopted and the accompanying letter sent to the railroads
Numerous applications have been made to us from time to time for the correction of alleged grievances and action had thereon which would not interest the general public As a general rule we have endeavored to have the railroads and the shippers to arrange between themselves with such suggestions as we deemed proper and quite frequently this has been satisfactorily done When necessary of course the Commission took such action as their duty under the law required
AN IMPORTANT RULE
adopted by the Commission will be found in the appendix concerning notices of any proposed action in order that the parties affected may be heard in advance The regulation is analogous to what is known in courts as a rule nisi nisi unless being a notice that such and such action will be had unless cause is shown to the contrary
Accompanying the supplementary report there is
A CORRECTED RAILROAD MAP
of the State with some additional matter adding much to its value and little to its cost It is impossible to study railroad relations and affairs without a map It gives to the eye superior information to any which can be conveyed
35
by mere description just as a portrait does of a person
The report contains also a complete copy or else a reference to those parts of the Constitution and laws of the State applicable to railroads and the work of the Commission also of the rules and regulations and tariffs adopted by the Commission revised and corrected making
A CLEAN SHEET
up to date so as to let the reader be assured that he has all the data necessary to understand our action
This is very important as it is confusing even to an experienced railroad man to have to look here and there for this rule and that and not be sure whether this is still of force or whether that has superseded it leaving him doubtful and uneasy
The object is to give the private citizen information on which he can rply to understand his own rights and relations to the railroads
With no part of our work have we taken greater pains than with the system of reports to be made by the railroads to the Commission as the foundation of our reports to the public The system adopted after much and anxious consideration and frequent comparison with other systems is set forth in a folio pamphlet marked form No 10 and with the title Report of theRailCompany to
the Railroad Commission of Georgia for the
ending188
Infinite pains have been taken with this form and more will be as the light of experience guides us If we have not gone to the bottom it is because we have not known how and one or two years experience will enable us to go deeper There is no greater desideratum
Reduction to measurementto figuresis the first step towards science and proper means of verification the second There is ever danger of error and so need of repeated verification only thus can we know that we know
How can the Commission report to the Public unless the Railroads report to them
How can the railroads report unless they know
How can they know except by bookkeeping and how can we report except by correct tabulation
If any one can suggest a cheaper and easier method we shall be glad to learn and will be attentive scholars
A system of Blank Forms is very important as a set of pigeon holes in which to put information Equally important is it that the information put in should be true and according to the facts
Truth and error look alike but are very wide apart One may fill every blank with a falsehood and it is of no use but to mislead An intelligible system filled out with the truth is what is needed
Some complaints have been made that we have not given information concerning the actual condition and operations of the railroads In the present report the complainants will find probably as much or more than they can readily digest although put in the most convenient and digestible form We did not know ourselves how to get it and how to present it uhtil after prolonged study Forty or fifty years of railroad experience has not yet developed a complete system We have been grappling with a big problem and trying to do our share towards its solution We are not ashamed of our contribution as the result of a few months of arduous study One or two years will suffice to revolutionize this matter of real reliable intelligible information level to the capacity of all and furnishing information which hitherto even the railroad officials have not had in so complete and systematic a form
IN THE CASE OF TILLEY YS THE RAILKOAD COMMISSION
the discussion of principles as well as the constitutionality of the law and the legality of our action as a commission were all brought up very thoroughly The rights of the State the rights of the Legislature the rights of the Commission of the railroads and of citizens were all involved
The whole policy of the State concerning one of its most vital interests was involveda policy settled by the Convention ratified by the people and put into operation by the General Assembly after prolonged consideration and that not by a mere act of ordinary legislation but by means of a specially devised organization established for the purpose and intended to carry into effect the important ends contemplated by the people of the State speaking through their most authoritative mouthpiecea Constitutional Convention
The chief point discussed was not so much the legislative right of regulation as the right
3 6
of delegation The constitutionality of the act the legality of the delegation and the action of the Commission were all sustained by the court
The bill of complaint as argued by brief was a bold and unsparing attack along the whole lineomitting no objection not even sparing motives but more than hinting partiality if nothing worse on the part of the Commission and attacking also the Legislature the Executive and the State itself and by indirection the courts also There was no stone unturned and the appeal was made to rhetoric as well as logic to passion as well as reason Of this we have no complaint to make We desired a fair and full judicial testthe parties speaking their mind and they did speak it very plainly We were however in good company for the attack was unsparing upon the State and all its departments as well as upon the Commission
The upshot of the decision was to hold that the Constitutional Convention did not exceed its powers nor the Legislature theirs nor the Commission theirs
Indeed the Legislature not only did not go vitra vires by legislation but would have gone so by failure to actthe Constitution just as definitely requiring action on this as on a score of other points Failure to actnot action would have been a violation of the Constitution In the Constitutional Convention there were several distinct efforts to make legislative action optional and permissive not imperative but these all failed some sort of legislative action was obligatory under the oaths of the members
The mode of action by delegation was also sustained It was not only a right method and allowable but needful and the only proper method See Illinois case
The right to delegate municipal powers is universally conceded and acted on There is in the Constitution no more express grant of such a power to the Legislature than of the right to delegate this of regulating railroads The reasons for the latter far surpass those for the former for the needful municipal regulations are much more cognate to the ordinary action of the Legislature than are those pertaining to railroads and require far less special even professional knowledge and power of adjustment and frequency of modification
Nor was the action of the Commission ultra vires On the contrary it was sustained by the court as prudent and conservative and with evident and laborious intent to do justice Its report as a master in chancery was sustained
The powers of rate making rule making and regulation making on which the changes were so rung are exercised in detail in Great Britain and in Europe and in many of the States If each separate rate be so allowed why not a systematic review and report of the rates as a whole by class and distance So rule making being allowed in detail why not a consistent and harmonious system of rules and regula tions The British system ends at last in the j Georgia system
In establishing an orderly system the Commission in Note 1 in which larger discretion was left to the railroads endeavored carefully to include those special cases in which such discretion seemed necessary Why should a whole field be left unregulated because a spe I cial department of it is hard to regulate right
ly
Some of the objections were obviously tech j nical the railroads for example would prefer to rely on a Commission with its relative accessibility to argument and its flexibility than on direct legislative action and so to a far j greater extent on the Commission than on a jury which is the special detestation and dearest foe of the railroad
One exception might he made perhaps viz THE HOPE OF LOBBYING
to exert improper influences over legislation That method is now criminal under the law Yet the offense is difficult to define and the law hard to enforce
Whatever the present innocence of such of j fenses may be here in Georgia there are not wanting many examples abroad State and Federal
To dislodge a mans convictions it is some 1 times necessary and important to know the hole they came in at if they entered at the hole of bribery they are hard to drive out through the hole of argument The reverse is not always true howeverconvictions based on argument have gone out by corruption
Among the most important subjects which have engaged our attention has been that of valuation the principles of the valuation of
37
property and of fair and reasonable profits and so of rates
Property fluctuates in value We must from time to time estimate its present value Railroad property is not more stable than is a hotel a store or a farm and on its present value it should pay taxes and realize profits
THE QUESTION OP KATES
is a difficult and intricate onea most interior question But it is to be remembered that it is just as difficult to an interested party as to a disinterested
Again We cannot too strongly express the conviction that it is not to the interest of the public to get work out of the railroads for less than it is worth It is the general interest that capital and profits should be distributed aright It is just as unfair to discriminate against railroad capital as against mercantile or agricultural capital and either of these is fully as unjust on the part of the public as railroad discriminations among customers entitled to equal rights is on the part of the railroad Such unfairness on either side drives capital out of its natural channels into artificial channels less suited to the general welfare
There should be among the members of the body politic a normal growth and development and nothing analogous to the Chinese foot cramped out of all shape and proportion
Nor let it be supposed that we underrate the intricacy of these questions of value and just rates and of the distinctions between just and unjust discrimination They are very deepseated and profound questions
What for example are the bottom facts in the valuation of railroad property We know some of tl e elements the actual cost or money invested is an important factor the extent of country drained the railroad basin so to speak is another and this varying as to population wealth exports and imports the subject matter of transportation The through business by which the roots of the road as it were extend far and wide over more distant regions and again the rates of work are large factors And these rates may themselves be too high and thereby prohibitory or repressive or too low and not adequately remunerative
Perhaps no other expression conveys a better idea of the exact criterion of value than the Run of Business to which the road is entitled
And yet the railroad basin itself and its run
of business are both affected by outside competition and the laws controlling them are more like the laws of an unstable fluid than of a stable solidlike hydraulic laws more intricate than the laws governing solid bodies The troubles in dealing with river courses especially with the Father of waters illustrates the varied conditions hard to foresee and provide for
Still after some way or other necessity forces men to value railroads just as they do other property If we went to the bottom of it the value of hotel property of a factory a store or a plantation is reached imperfectly but approximately
Yet year by year these things
HAVE TO BE VALUED
for taxation or by appraisement at death etc etc If the owner does not fix the tax assessors do fix it The market value of other property however affords a standard not so obviously attainable in railroad property A railroad is too big and valuable generally to have a market value as a whole Not often is so large a thing set up for sale to the highest bidder and when it is so sold the conditions of competition at the sale are so peculiar that the real value is not so well ascertained perhaps as in other sales Combinations of sufficient magnitude being difficult it is usually bought by a ring very much at its own price
But while railroads are not sold usually as a whole the shares frequently change hands We thus know the apparent market value of a definite and known part and so can approximately compute the value of the whole in market provided that the value of the shares themselves is fair and bona fide and not the result of speculation corners watering etc carrying it above or below its true value We have already illustrated how this is often done by getting up a boom to bull or bear the stock by efforts to get a controlling interest or the like
In accordance with this view a law prescribing such a mode of estimating value has been sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States as not erroneous in method while the court does not hold this to be the sole way of reaching value The decision does not seem sufficiently guarded in all respectsnot referring to the unfunded debt as an element of value and not discriminating fully between real and fictitious values
In the form of systematic reports adopted by the Commission to be made to it by the railroads there are four methods suggested One of these is the foregoing viz to add to the debt of the road which must be paid before the stock has any valuethe market value of the stock itselfand regard the sum as the correct value
A second method is to take the average net income for the preceding five years as the basis of probable income and compute the capital needed at legal interest to yield such an income
If the net income has varied from 100000 to 180000 but the average has been 150000 then it is easy to estimate what capital will yield such an income at legal interest In Georgia the principal is 14 27 times the interest and so the capital would be 150000x14 27 2132856
The third method suggested is to compute the capital corresponding to the net income of the preceding year
This needs no illustration the calculation being the same as in the second method
The fourth and last method suggested is intended to furnish in the light of all the foregoing and with all other lightsthe best judgment of the railroad managers as to the value of their property It is expressed thus Estimate the value from all the data in possession of the company including the past business and any new factors favorable or unfavorable stating what they are
These methods may seem and may be crude and imperfect and whenever better occur to us or are suggested we shall be glad to adopt them Crude as they may appear however when compared with actual reports they will be found marvels of exactitude and that whether the reports consulted be to stockholders or to the ComptrollerGeneral The value as reported in the ordinary annual statements bears about the same resemblance to actual value as a photograph taken in infancy bears to the venerable gentleman with a gray beard who represents the present It was usually moreover a bad likeness even at first
The information received by the ComptrollerGeneral is even more valuable It is not the baby picture of an old man this time but a document so curious that there is no anticipating what you will find before the actual view
It is as if the value of an ox were to be assessed and he was first slain before assessment and his value given as beef The carcass not the road is valued the franchise the living breathing thing the animating soul is left out This may be the fault of the law itself but at all events the crude modes above suggested compare not unfavorably with it
Before leaving the subject of valuation of the property it is to be remembered that the buyers and sellers of stock use their best knowledge of facts and prospects in determining price and that all the elements of all the methods are brought in so far as they have the data in the first method suggested
Difficult as the valuation of railroad property may seem it is really not so extremely difficult in comparison with other property to arrive at sufficiently approximate results the
QUESTION OF RATES
is much more difficult and this difficulty is real and not merely seeming
The questions of classification of the effect to be given to distance and of the actual rate for each class and distance are all intricate and perplexed
How far shall the cost of the railroadshow far shall the value of the service to the customer extend in the computation
Shall the cost of the road or its present value or the amount of the business done be the controlling element on which to calculate the fair percentage of profits
How far shall individual itemshow far shall averages control
If percentages are to be estimated on the value of the road the rate reacts on the value and which shall be first determined
The solutions are as various as the questions are puzzling
The analysis of railroad business has been gradually improving however and by degrees some light shoWs through the tangled forest
Our effort has been so far as possible to make a just distribution of the burdens and benefits Products must pay reasonably for transportation The expense must be as equitably distributed as possible
The three chief items are
1 The cost of the service
2 The value of the service
3 The amount of the business
Beally the first two are so affected by the
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third that they cannot be regarded as independent factors
In the midst of all comes the question of competition and the immense influence it is obliged to exercisea great principle like the survival of the fittest in the struggle for life
Combination has gradually solved this question in a way which lets both or all the railroads live but not always quite so merciful in its results to the public
Beginning with the two ideas
1 That production must pay the reasonable expense of transportation and
2 That there should be as fair a distribution as possible of burdens and benefits
We see that one of the necessary elements is the cost to the railroad of rendering the service
Now this cost is itself distributed into a large number of petty items There need to be many provisions in advance for the simplest railroad operationarrangements for the reception and handling of freight for weighing billing and booking it then come movement expenses and then arrangements for receiving it at the end of the line The actual cost of any one freight service is quite complicated
It were right if it were practicable to let every tub stand exactly on its own bottom and each separate service be apportioned properly as to its exact cost But to ascertain this with absolute exactness would really cost more than the service is worth so
THE PRINCIPLE OF AVERAGING
is necessarily resorted to
Averages serve the purpose of the railroad better than of the public If the railroad for
1000 services gets th proper average it is all right with the railroad but as each individual has but one or two services it may be all wrong with him His number is too small to average
He does not have business enough to make up on one article for the loss on another or vice versa Accordingly some individuals necesarily get their work done too high and others too low
To a large extent this is unavoidable
Again as to averaging Suppose a railroad system under one management composed of long main lines worked in several divisions and sundry branches to each
If the rates are averaged some parts of the road will work too cheap and other parts too dear but the system as a whole may be fairly
paid Not so the communities on the line however The errors in the railroad compensate one another while those to the communities do not One community is served at less and the other at higher rates than are just
And so it becomes necessary to some extent to equalize results by varying the rates according to the facts and this by reason not so much of the railroad interest for averaging will suffice for that as of fairness among communities that burdens and benefits may be rightfully distributed among them
Carrying the matter still further Suppose the whole complex system of railroads in the State to be owned by one company or by the government itself
It were still necessary to vary the rates else were the benefits unduly distributed in relation to the burdens
And the same would be true if the net work of the whole Union were under one control It would still cost more to serve a thinly settled community with a small transportation than a thickly settled and populous region abounding in travel and freight
And so the question of what constitutes
A RAILKOAD UNIT
has more importance to the public than to the railroads themselves
In fixing rates there are two scales to be studied the Class Scale and the Distance Scale
Classification itself and the Class Scale vary greatly on different roads But there is a growing tendency to uniformity of classification The scale of charges per class1st class 2d class class A B C etc varies also Perhaps a wider divergence of charges according to class may not be amiss
Nearly all the roads at the South in the adoption of the classification of the Southern Kailroad and Steamship Association as a basis make sundry exceptions to it in their local tariffs Natural and artificial circumstances often made this necessary
The scale according to Distance also varies To one at all familiar with the subject it is evident that the cost of transportion as a whole does not vary in exact proportion per mile There being numerous elements of cost mileage is but one of these elements
One very large element in the calculation of cost is the amount of empty haul necessary for certain business This one element often makes
40
increased charges apparently wrong but really well founded
And so it happens that on some roads the scale approaches more nearly to the pro rate per mile than on others
It will be observed in the tariff adopted by the Commission as a standard using 1st class goods as an illustration that while the rate increases with the distance the increase is not uniform but the successive increments are reduced
From special circumstances the usual rate of slope would not apply to the Brunswick and Albany Road and so a variation was made and the slope made to run as from 70 miles on
So as to the Central Railroad the slope was varied on a satisfactory showing
After all the study possible and with all the light attainable the question of rates is full of difficulty It may be said that the suggestions we have been making are only a statement of the difficulties andnot of the solution A
CLEAR STATEMENT OP DIFFICULTIES
however always helps towards the solution
The information to be obtained from the railroads in reply to the inquiries in our Blank Forms of Report will be of the greatest service in enabling us to do more exact justice We expect the zealous cooperation in this work of the leading minds in the railroad service
Those who are qualified to judge appreciate the difficulty It is a task of great embarrassment If however the cost cannot be definitely ascertained and is at last an approximation who is to fix it
The same embarrassments attend the railroad officer and the Railroad Commission
Some one must actually decide on rates Who shall it be
Availing itself of all the light possible the ultimate decision must be by the disinterested and not by the interested
This because the railroad is a quasi public corporation subject to legal regulation as a monopoly
The same data facts and principles are accessible to the Commission as the representative of the public and of the real rights of the railroads And here again we would say that the terms which define our dutyjust and reasonable rateshave two limits by which we are equally boundan upper and a lower limit It is as much our duty to observe the one as the other and to see to it that the maximum rates
we fix are not too low as not too high They are to be just and reasonable which terms are as incompatible with unremunerative as with extortionate rates
Our guide for fixing rates was set forth in our second semiannual report in substance thus
The rates shall yield a fair profit with good average management upon the value of the property as distinguished from its cost
The things to be estimated therefore are
The value of the property what is a fair profit and whether the management has been above or below the average in skill and economy
We have already given our views as to estimates of the value of property
Upon the question of fair profit in some States abroad and in America 10 per cent is adopted In our second report we represented General Alexander as considering 6 per cent under certain circumstances satisfactory He has since disavowed intending to make this impression on us and we take pleasure in recalling the statement made under a misapprehension of his views In our report we suggested 8 per cent as a fair average profit It was a suggestionnot intended as conclusive either on the one side or the other
The limitation as to fair average management is intended to supply the needful stimulant both ways viz to reduce the rates unless the management is good and to allow the companies the benefit of skill and economy To fail to do this would be a failure to recognize a perfectly sound and just principle and would take away all stimulus to diligence and painstaking
THE PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION
we shall not now discuss but in a future report will recur to them It has been well observed that while classification is discrimination it is not unjust discrimination It is a well founded discrimination relating to things and not to individual persons or communities which are but collections of individuals We hope that by degrees the sound principles of classification will be better understood and a unified system adopted applicable to the whole country for through freights with local exceptions set forth in each local tariff
If the principles of local rates be complex those of through rates have added elements of
41
complexity sometimes overruled however by the one unifying element of competition But whatever the difficulties of joint rates through rates extra State rates etc it is ever to be remembered that the data on which the calculation or conjecture is made are the same whether the conclusions are reached by one of the parties or by a Commission The selfsame data control
THE WHOLE HOUND OF EXCHANGES
is to be considered external and internal of exchanges between the sections of the State the United States and foreign countries The strictly interState exchanges in Georgia are i comparatively limited except that products stop on their way out or in at certain centers for redistribution Nor is this a vain process For example cotton is assorted into lots according to its quality and the purposes for which it is to be used and this can as well be done in Savannah or Augusta or Charleston as elsewhere And there are some advantages in having it done near home This assortment takes place in a more distributed way now than formerlythe buyers being more scattered through the interior towns and villages
Again merchandise and provisions are distributed from local centers and now a considerable wholesale trade is done by our larger cities
The merchants in these cities have facilities of knowledge and business connections which enable them to deal to better advantage than small purchasers can do
In all these cases the laborer is worthy of his hire and the middle manif his rates are not excessive and he at least is checked by competitionis as valuable a member of society as any
THE GRANDER INTERCHANGES
for us are between the Northeast the Northwest and the Souththe Northeast furnishing finer goods and the nicer and higher priced and more labored manufacturesthe Northwest furnishing grain hay and hog products as also the heavier manufacturers of wood and iron agricultural implements furniture and the like and the South supplying almost exclusively cotton with some rice sugar syrup etc
The contest for through business is between 1 Eastern lines including water transportation and 2 the direct lines running from the Northwest to the South The immense business
of the populous section through which the east6
ern lines pass and into which they penetrate enables them to work at very low rates
The close competition between these rival routes led to the formation of the pool
Still other extensions of commerce reach to the markets of the outside worldto Europe and all quarters of the globe and the islands of the sea
In the matter of direct importation the South has little share This commerce comes by the way of the eastern ports and its freight reach her by coasting vessels steam or sail The whole current both ways is to be considered for the facilities may depend largely on return freight Sometimes the exchanges seem to be triangular involving considerably empty haul
The Commission in estimating the value of railroad property has presented four
approximate methods
to aid it in its decisions as to the real value These methods will not lead to the same exact result and so cannot all or any one of these be absolutely controlling Each is liable to careful consideration For example the calculation based on net income for one year again the calculation at 7 per cent as the rate again the market value may have fictitious elements that enter into it such as are alluded to in other parts of the report
In the Blank Forms questions are asked also as to what would be the present cost of building and equiping the road and its cost to the present owners The value has to be looked at on all sides as a prudent man would examine carefully before making a large investment In some cases one in other cases another may prove to be the most important factor The method of computing by the sum of the stock and bonds needs many precautions If we consider the market value to be our index for example we must be sure it has not been manipulated Suppose we should agree to tell the time by the clock that would of course mean by the hands of the clock as governed by its own machinery and not as set back or forward by outside interference We feel well aware that the discussion of valuation and rates is a difficult one and the whole subject as yet unsettled We see through a glass darkly yet the dawn begins to show We have dwelt upon it rather to show the difficultiesto set forth the questions and familiarize the public with the problem Also to
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protest against the view that because it is hard to arrive at exact conclusions therefore the whole matter should he left to one of the parties This were no better than the judges reluctance to hear both sides because it confused him
The ultimate results of
THE POOLING SYSTEM
have not yet been reached and are not fully to be anticipated It has its great advantages so far as the railroads are concerned but it certainly makes the Railroad Commission an absolute necessity for it destroys much even of distant competition And even the railroad interests find in an upright and intelligent commission the legal authority necessary to protect them in all lawful and proper engagements with one another
Unchecked competition had in like manner its evils in its public aspect as well as in its relations to the railroads It was almost sure to become what we have characterized as illegitimate competition by unjust discriminations of a local or personal character not distributed at all in conformity with any just principle
Indeed in this whole matter the actual rate is less important unless very excessive than the relative rate If equally and uniformly distributed a rather high rate does comparatively little harmjust as deep water fish can stand heavy pressure when equally diffused which would crush them into fragments if applied unequally
Equality and fairness are the great matters The effect of this system
ON SMALL SHIPPEKS
is generally good while large object to it Suppose larger and yet larger combinations until to reach the ultimatum the whole railroad system of the country should be combined under one management
It would certainly be a formidable and fearful power Could even government control it Would it not be King Emperor Autocrat Despot
The pooling system however gives rise to a new order of dangers which unless prevented by wise precautions will appear in due time The public must take care both of itself and of the railroad interest by needful regulation
On this subject we quote a very thoughtful article from the New York Commercial Bulletin
THE RAILROAD POOLING SYSTEM
When the railroads adopted the system of pooling their competitive traffic they supposed they had effected a complete cure of the inconveniences arising from competition That system consists first in apportioning the through traffic among the several members of the combination according to an agreed percentage for each next in determining among themselves the rates that shall be charged for such traffic and binding themselves each to the other to faithfully observe the schedule of charges thus agreed upon and finally in appointing a board of commissioners who shall arbitrate all disputes between the members of the pool and supervise the management of its business This regulation applies only to traffic to or from points which the several roads touch in common and has no reference to way or local business Before the adoption of the pool this through business was done at constantly fluctuating rates and for a compensation so inadequate that the traffic frequently incurred a loss to roads and compensation for that loss was sought in charging proportionately higher rates on the local business thus giving rise to gross inequalities in rates for carriage
These results of open competition unquestionably produced manifold evils and they very seriously threatened the finances of the companies especially of the weaker ones And it is very generally supposed that the pooling arrangements have largely if not entirely remedied the dangers and inconveniences of the former competition There is a marked diminution in the complaints of discrimination in charges upon local freight and jf the Hepburn Committee had to sit today it would probably discover no such gross inequalities under this head as it did two years ago During the eighteen months for which this system has been in operation the rates on through traffic have been about doubled as compared with the average competitive times the earnings of the roads have shown an enormous increase the finances of the companies have been marvellously strengthened dividends have been increased corporations that never before paid a dividend are now making regular distributions among the stockholders some companies have so augmented their earnings that they desire to water their stock in order to conceal the largeness of their dividends railroad bonds
48
formerly scouted as untrustworthy now rapk among sound investments and the market value of railroad securities has in the mass nearly doubled With such results how is it to be expected that the pooling invention should be regarded otherwise than as the most magnificent financial success of the times No one is found ready to distrust the perpetuity of the arrangement for all such doubts are met with the very pertinent questionwhat company would be so insane as to permit its desire for a little more traffic to lead it to imperil a system that has so enormously increased its earning ability
And yet there is another side to this question that has hardly been mentioned but which demands very serious consideration before the pooling arrangement can be accepted as a permanent success While it is conceded that pooling has made railroading for the time being the most remunerative branch of corporate enterprise what is that fact likely to lead to To a large extension of railroad building When for instance the New York Central can earn eight per cent on 200000000 and the New York Ontario and Western can build a line between the same termini for less than 30000000 where is to be the end of constructing competing lines Taking the railroads of the country as a whole it may be safely asserted that their capitalization is double their actual cash cost and when a system has been devised that enables the companies to earn interest upon this excess of nominal capital what kind of enterprise can be found that affords anything like the profits afforded by railroadbuilding It is the most direct method of realizing fortunes by the million that the times presents it is a chance for making sudden wealth that does not happen once in a century and what can possibly prevent an enormous future flow of capital in this direction Such a drift of enterprise becomes all the more certain from the fact that the pool stands committed to the necessity of backing these new constructions In order that the new roads may be prevented from competing they must be admitted into the pool copartnership and being thus assured of a portion of the through traffic at good rates their success is guaranteed for so long as the pool exists What can prevent a virtually unlimited supply of new roads under such circumstances
It will thus be seen that the direct and inevitable effect of the pool is to bring into the field an overwhelming flood of new companies How will that affect the interests of the older roads The facilities for transportation will be augmented far in excess of the natural growth of traffic As a consequence the competitive traffic will have to be divided among a large number of corporations and the quotas in the pool distribution will be less than they now are for each of the existing companies Competition will thus take away from the older corporations a certain portion of their business but the pool will still have rates under its control and therefore the next step will be to compensate each for the distribution of the traffic among a large number of members through enhancing rates With each successive addition to the number of competing lines the advance of rates will become a necessity to realizing the objects of the pool and affairs will thus run their inevitable course until the intolerable burthen of charges will bring the railroads into open conflict with an outraged public opinion to which the existing complaints will be as nothing and that will deal with them certainly without mercy and probably with as little wisdom
u If this be a correct representation of the natural working of the pooling arrangements it requires no great s igacity or courage to predict the ultimate total failure of that system That outcome is probably so comparatively distant that it may not be regarded as a matter ter immediately afiectiDg either the railroads or the holders of their obligations but the result is not therefore the less certain It is already clearly apparent how the contrivance designed to defeat competition is increasing it Since the pool was established arrangements have been made for two additional trunk lines connecting New York City with Buffalo The Baltimore and Ohio is working out plans for extending its western connections through to this city and the Jersey Central is to be made the eastern link of a system connecting this port with the Southwest Thus during the first eighteen months of the existence of the pool arrangements have been put in operation for increasing the lines connecting New York with the West from three to seven Mr Gould having secured ample earrings for the western system of roads through an alliance
with the southwestern pool now feels at liberty to establish a great barge line the effect of which will be to divert the export of western products via the Mississippi river It was thought safe to carry through the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe because it was foreseen that the Union Pacific must pool with it and this week we have the announcement that the two companies have agreed to divide their traffic at common rates rather than run in open competition These are but a few illustrations of the way in which the ample earnings secured J under pool compacts are encouraging the paralleling of existing roads with new ones The device that was intended to extinguish competition is thus increasing it tenfold The pool therefore not only fails in its object but is creating a state of things infinitely worse than it seeks to remedy We forbear to foreshadow the condition of affairs calculated to result from the expansion of railroading thus being encouraged It is not our object to excite alarm but to point out to reflecting men the tendency of the causes now in active operation and to incite circumspection before it is too late to avert catastrophe
Here is certainly food for thought for the railroads as well as the public for the legislative authorities looking ahead at the public interest and for the Commissioners of the various States
PRACTICAL RESULTS
Georgia is a practical State and prone to look at results and this is the true policy of a State
The two objects to be accomplished by the Commission and for which chiefly it was instituted were to secure 1 just and 2 impartial rates
And therefore the true test of its success is a comparison of the rates before and since its action in these two respects
Rates apply to passenger and freight service and a full exhibit of these will be made in the supplementary report There are two sides to the question to be just they must neither be excessive on the one hand nor too low and so unremunerative on the other
At the close of the second report of the Commission a table was presented showing the changes of freigh t rates on a number of roads classes and distances selected as fairly representative
The roads selected were the Georgia and the Western and Atlantic representing the roads able to work at the lowest rates the Central two divisions the Northeastern and the Atlanta and West Point representing the next grade and the AirLine the Macon and Brunswick the Savannah Florida and Western and the Brunswick and Albany representing the last class
It is difficult to present the general result either in percentages or in dollars and cents Yet the actual reduction has been very considablein per centand will amount to several hundreds of thousands of dollars perhaps over 1000000 in actual saving in freights and to a less amount but still probably not falling below hundreds of thousands in passenger fares A closer estimate can be given in the Supplement in reviewing the reports of the various Railroads
The results as to
DISCRIMINATION
are very marked yet less so than they would be were the whole subject within our jurisdiction Upon the operation of the chief means for preventing unjust discriminationRule 6 and its needful modifications and limitations we have already commented See page 18 The exhibits of the tariffs of various roads given in the supplementary reports will show that the relative discriminations within our jurisdiction have been greatly equalized
As to publicity intelligibleness convenience civility etc and accommodations generally the comparison is also favorable
The public feels that it has some one to go to and is better satisfied and the reign of law is not unacceptable to many of the railroad officials who can in like manner refer to the Commission as lawfully requiring such and such action
The presence of a sentinel gives quietness and order to the behavior of both parties
There is a growing feeling of steadiness and confidence and this will continue to grow Already it is great and satisfactory on the part of the general public and it will at no distant period pervade the railroads also Especially will the stockholders and all the most valuable railroad managers feel this growing satisfaction as the steadying influence of the Commission is felt and appreciated and as the increasing information makes all parties better see the
45
light and the justice and reasonableness which it is our aim to introduce The people in fact want no injustice if so we are not the right agents We may err in opinion but our intention is to do justice
Meanwhile
HAVE THE RAILROADS BEEN HURT
by all this Has there been a mere transfer from the railroads to the people of so much towit of the exact amount by which rates have been reduced and is the public satisfaction merely that of one party benefited by anothers loss
It has been no mere transfer from one pocket to another
Even were it so if the change was a rightful one from the wrong pocket to the rightthat would be all which the judiciary system of a country accomplishesand it would be of itself a great and valuable result Justice between conflicting interests is worth all it costs
But this is not all in the present case There have been added benefits compensating the roads for reduced rates and a reduction of rates is not necessarily a reduction of profits Witness the postoffice reductions as an illustration
The proofs of this are easily to be found and they are quite ample
The reports of the companies themselves the profits realized the increased business freight and travel the value of their stocks and bonds and the prices paid abroad as well as at home all attest that the railroad interest was never before so prosperous Of course the credit of all this is not due to the Commission There has been an increase of general prosperity and with it of trade and traffic and travel There has been what is called a boom But at the least the existence of the Commission has not crushed the roads nor prevented the boom On the contrary value being dependent on confidence there has been increased confidence
The safeguards against one another indeed help them all
So far from ruining enterprise there is more enterprise than there has been for years except under the unhealthy stimulus of State aid An unusual number of roads is in progress and more are in contemplationperhaps as many as a wholesome proportion of investments justifies
THE STOCK SALES
are the largest and highest ever known The exhibits of travel and freight are verv fine The same newspaper which a few months ago contained a doleful view of the railroad future growing out of the interference of the Commission contained in another column Reportof
theRailroad CompanyA splendid
exhibit etc Yet the road was operated under the Commission rates and despite the ruin caused by the Commission the exhibit was fine
New articles have been largely added to the list of freight more vegetables fruit grain and fertilizers have been transported than ever before Sc of fish ice etc
The prices paid for stocks have greatly risen perhaps with an unhealthy rapidity and fluctuation
For example sales of the Atlanta nnd West Point stock at 160 and in a day or two after at 125 show too much fever in the market
Prices of
GEORGIA STOCKS ABROAD
have caused the rise at home The extra State purchases have been unprecedented To this there fiave been objections raised in the view that the management will not be in the general interest of the State This however is really with ourselves If the State maintains its firm attitude of regulation the sales abroad are helpful not hurtful
The railroads and the money they sell for all remain in Georgia The capital and the investment are all here Just so much as is bought abroad releases just so much for new enterprises at home The capital so released will go into Georgia enterprisesinto manufacturing mining trade and other railroads into factories into new industries into improved farms and homes of the people
Meanwhile the roads remain undisturbed and subject still to regulation by law
The only danger is our not being true to ourselvesof the corruption of our rulers of the press or the Commission If true to ourselves we are masters of the situation
The usual result of nonresident ownership of stocks and railroads is not injurious It is timid not disposed to domineer and easily subject to law Moreover it is usually content with moderate rates Indeed it is the friend of government regulation through an upright
46
commission the mutual friend and ally of all honest interests and attracted by confidence in it to new investments The Dutch are not afraid of us
The Commission appreciates the importance of the maintenance of the railroads of the State in
GOOD SAFE CONDITION
as to road and rolling stock Also the propriety of the gradual laying up of a reasonable but not large surplus to provide against a rainy day meet occasional heavy losses and maintain regularity in dividends Any considerable surplus has however a bad tendencylessening diligence and making it too easy to earn apparent good profits Is not 10 per cent enough
So too in regard to easy and hard times these come to railroads and to other enterprises alike and it is rightand proper that the railroad interest should share in times of general prosperity and be content also to conform to times of depression
Hence our view of profits embraced the idea oifair average profits sometimes going higher sometimes lower than the average about which they fluctuate
From the whole tenor of this report it is obvious that the regulation of railroads by law is a problem of great magnitude and that the action of the Commission from time to time and its reports as to just and reasonable rates rules and regulations amount virtually to the continuous trial of
THE GREATEST CIVIL CAUSE ever tried in the State and this as well in the importance of the matters involved the amount of property and the amount of income as in the number of persons affected and the delicacy and nicety of the principles also in the opposition to be met with the severity of the criticism and the degree of responsibility There is need of independence incorruption and a high sense of responsibility on the part of the Commission both to the public and to the railroads regulated
The tests of character and independence are of the highest We stand between the strong and the weak not to injure the strong but to protect the weak If in the discharge of this duty we have unwittingly injured the stronger party we stand ready to repair the injustice whenever convinced of its existence Our ef j
fort has been to satisfy ourselves of the right more than to satisfy either party Our hard est taskmasters have been ourselves We i claim in all our actions integrity we lay no claim to infallibility Yet perhaps our views J approach the infallible quite as nearly as those of some others who seem to take the decision j of officials as necessarily unerring When the j mark we shoot at is perfect fairness between the railroads and the public we are as likely to hit it as they whose aim is rather to represent one side
If we seem to have leaned first towards the general interest
IN DOUBTFUL CASES
the reason was set forth in our first report viz that the onus of showing cause for a change belongs properly not to the public who are not organized and have not the means of informa j tion but to the railroads who are organized and have the data for exhibiting results The very action which led to this explanation was accompanied by Circular No 1 and was modified before it went into operation in accordance with information thereby elicited In refer j ence also to Circular No 11 It was well known that the Commission was open at all times to hear objections and modify its action upon a proper showing The books and minutes are always open to inspection and the body i ever ready to revise and review and to hear argument on fact or principle
The favorite star chamber comparison grown somewhat stale finds a much more apt illustra j tion in the ordinary Directorsroom than in the j office of the Commission with its doors ever open its books ever subject to inspection and j its actions all published
We have seen the absolute need of regulation j by government through a proper organ adapted j to the purpose of these powerful corporations useful valuable indispensable but needing control We have seen that all considerations reach this same result of needful control whether we look to the Constitution and laws to the law of nationsto the principles of economy and trade or to the enormous political consequences
All these considerations are intensified by the tendency of corporate power
TO CONCENTRATE
in the officers who possess power organization secrecy and all the means of unchecked con
47
trol operating under the ordinary impulses of humanity viz caprice cupidity resentment vanity and the power of playing on the passions of stockholders and the needs of employes While there are men to be found superior to all these temptations it were strange if other men more in number were not led astray by them perhaps gradually yet surely It were strange if huge abuses did not grow up Accordingly we find in the popular vocabulary words suiting the facts by which these officers are called Railroad Kings and Magnates Is irresponsible power so trustworthy In th is case the power is practically as independent of the owner as of the public The small stockholder has substantially the same interest with the general public in regulation by law He is as little capable as the outside world of selfprotection against stockjobbing operations which exclude him from his own platform
The temptations are infinite and constant the danger of detection small there is plenty of power and plenty of darkness
We are not alarmists and are hopeful that the maxim will prove trueforewarned forearmed But there are surely rocks ahead to be avoidedstupendous political dangers The air is full qf complaints So false a distribution of wealth to the unworthy and unscrupulous awakes the resentment of the honest and industrious It is our wisdom to draw off this thunder silently not to let it burst upon our heads
No wonder that there should be a disposition to regulate by law a management under which men with the principles of pickpockets grow ignobly rich and fill the high places of the earth An operator of this class soon becomes accustomed to get something for nothing the exact vice of the gamblerwith all its demoralizing influences upon himself and others
High in wealththere is nothing high or elevating in his example He contemns honest industry and scorns to labor for wealth he bas cheaper methods When acquired he has still the instincts of the low and the habits of the vile Perhaps he may make some hypocritical show of virtue but without its first test the restitution of illgotten gain
Shall this state of things reach us also Is it not beginning already to show itself
All the side places of principle and lawthe exceptions to rulesthe eddies of the current
close by the cataract are filled with these operatorsin the struggle for sudden wealth ready to run great risks and provided they can steer skillfully enough to escape the penitentiary in the present life willing with Macbeth to leap the life to come
Nothing is added by them to the wealth of the country there is no production no industry but merely adroitness in turning anothers wealth into their pockets
Why should society put down Brigands of Force who watch the mountain passes to plunder the caravans which pass by yet leave honestly accumulated wealth to the Brigands of Fraud still more secret and dangerous
Can all this be regulated Law is strong and men are intelligent How shall it be done By law and public opinionacting through proper organs and taking things in time
We must escape the bondage of such an Oligarchy not Aristocracythe rule of the few but not of the bestinvolving all the evils of the one with none of the alleviations of the other It will be the rule of men spoiled by sudden wealth with no hereditary sense of honor and dignity no character to support and no narOfe to preserve untarnishedwithout the training of gentlemen or the habits of the upright poor The god they worship is Mammon Mammon the least erected spirit that fell It is an oligarchy not even of honest wealth acquired by industry but an oligarchy of fraud and generally of fraud aggravated by violated trust
There are difficulties however even in government regulation Says one My whole taxes for the support of government amounts to 50 per annum my freight bills amount to 400 Now I cannot afford to pay 500 towards a corruption fund nor 100 and I desire no corruption My interest in corrupt management is not sufficient even to subject my integrity to a test All I want is fair reasonable rates of freight and a just distribution so that in the indispensible expense of transportation my neighbor is not favored at my expense But what I cannot afford to do the railroad can afford and the motives wanting to me are present to it The railroads if disposed have means and if not disposed have at least the temptation to make corrupt use of their means and to test the honesty of Legislatures Commissioners and Judges and Editors toofor
the press is not exemptlooking of course to the weakest link to see which to assail
Nor is this at all a party question nor a sectional one Leading men of all parties and all sections interested in the true welfare of the country are agreed in this regard and in earnest too
We quote one view of the subject from the highest Bepublican authority
The modern barons more powerful than their military prototypes own our greatest high ways and levy tribute at will upon all our vast industries And as the old feudalism was finally controlled and subordinated only by the combined efforts of the kings and the people of the free cities and towns so our modern feudalism can be subordinated to the public good only by the great body of the people acting through their government by wise and just lawsJames A Garfield
To which one of the newspapers adds
And government and people must act independently of the counsel and advice of the newspapers owned by the modern barons if they would subordinate 1 our modern feudalism
The Democratic party perhaps more naturally still concurs in this necessity Witiiess the Beagan bill and the attitude of leading men in the State Legislatures and in Congress
Unless the corporations are wise enough to acquiesce in government by law it will simply be the case of the People without distinction party against the Corporationsthe resistance to legal regulation meanwhile greatly aggravating for a time at least the sternness of that regulation The bonds of law will be in proportion to the violence of the struggle and its continuance
It has been said that government regulation of railroads means empire True but it is the Empire of the People not of the Corporations The failure to regulate means still more it is to surrender the legitimate rule of the whole people and submit to the domination of the worst form of Oligarchy Begulation escapes Empire and maintains free government
Proper control is essential and really enlarges liberty and makes safe the future whether attacked by combinations within or by purchases without The firm adherance to regulation by law is the safeguard of the public interest
The moral and social consequences of these corruptions are even worse than the political they are simply appalling We contemplate them with anxiety and dismay The demoralization is worse than that of waras fraud is meaner than force and trickery than violence Aside from their own corruptions the operators aim directly at the corruption of the press and the government The storm of a righteous public indignation will yet burst forth unless allayed by fit diversion and then will be heard the cry of King Lear above the storm
Oh ye great gods
Find out your enemies now Tremble thou wretch
That hast within thee undivulged crimes Unwhipped of justice
Worse even than a purifying storm is this malaria in the air which poisons all the body politic and corrupts the youth of the country by presenting the highest prizes of society to its most unscrupulous and unworthy members
To avoid such speculations in stocks manipulations of the market by means of brokers and the telegraph setting the clock hands of value back and forth at pleasure and all the deceitful arts of the operator and the unfaithful trustee good true and intelligible reports are needed in full detail and brought up to the present timea torch lit up in a dark cave These evils like bats and night i birds thrive best in the dark
The good and wise cannot afford to let this matter take care of itself they must bestir themselves to avert the evil day The habit of getting something for nothing and of living on others must be severely discountenanced and rebuked Such trickery is a real confiscation worse than agrarianism To get it all concentrated into the hands of the tricksters is worse than a mere divide
Nor will the toiling poor always submit to a state of things in which the unworthy and vulgar can afford to spend on a single banquet for vulgar apetite and mere vulgar showmore than the hard earnings for years of the real sons of toil who bear the burdens and heat of the day
These are the seed germs in the air of Communisn and Nihilism and even as a pestilence can pass from country to country so unless our moral atmosphere is purified they may well reach us too Nor can we plead in exten
49
uation of our blindness that we were without warning of danger The Grange movement in the Northwest the premonitory symptoms at Pittsburg give us notice and government should not wait till violence becomes necessary but prevent the need by wholesome laws We must quarantine this plagueventilate the dark and damp places let in the light and air let the sun from heaven shine in
We hope for better things for the whole country is awake to the danger and we trust there is salt enough left to save it We have written to little purpose if we have not made it manifest
1 That the regulation of railroads is legal rightful and needful
2 That in such regulation the stockholding public is quite as much and as favorably in terested as the general public and
7
3 That honest and faithful Management is also aided by the avoidance of cutthroat wars and of breaches of faith among the railroads themselves
The needful legislation at the present time and the statement of the condition of the railroads of the State will be presented at an early day in a supplementary report When complete returns shall have been made by the railroads invaluable information for the general welfare will be in our possessionputting the knowledge of their situation and operations on a substantial basis worthy of public confidence JAMES M SMITH CAMPBELL WALLACE SAMUEL BARNETT
Commissioners
R A BACON Secretary
i

58
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
To the Third SemiAnnual Report of the Railroad Commission of Georgia
To present the Legal Aspect of the matter the supplement will contain such portions of the Constitution of the United States and of the Constitution of Georgia as are applicable to the general subject of the right of railroad regulation by law and its proper limits also the generals laws of the State on the same subject or references to them also references to other cases and the full text of Justice Woods decision in the Tilley case with briefs of the arguments of counsel
Concerning the Condition and operation of the Bailroads it will contain a map brought up tp date and as much statistical information as possible When once the system of reports is fairly in operation this will be of a far more satisfactory character we think than was ever heretofore attainable
In regard to the work of The Commission it will contain some added matter including a clean sheet to date with the substance of all circulars etc so as to incorporate all the needful information in one paper without reference to anything outside Also an explanation of the Bookkeeping Forms
After all this will come suggestions as to Needful Legislation properly delayed to the last for obvious reasons viz that these suggestions may be made in the light of all information legal or statistical concerning the operations of the roads and the action of the Commission and that we may be guided by these principles and facts in our recommendations and the Legislature in its deliberation and action
EXTRACTS
FROM THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
AND THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA
RELATING TO RAILROADS
Together with the General Laws concerning Railroads and the Law Creating a
Railroad Commission
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
Article 1 sec 8 par 3The Congress shall have power
To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes
Sec 101 No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts
Amendments to the Constitution
Article 7 In suits at common law where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars the right of tonal by jury shall be preserved and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law
Article 11 The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State
Article 14 part of sec 1 Nor shall any State deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
54
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA
ARTICLE IV
POWER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OVER TAXATION AND RAILROADS
Section I1 The right of taxation is a sovereign rightinalienable indestructibleis the life of the State and rightfully belongs to the people in all republican governmentsand neither the General Assembly nor any nor all other departments of the Government established by this Constitution shall ever have the authority to irrevocably give grant limit or restrain this right and all laws grants contracts and all other acts whatsoever by said government or any department thereof to effect any of these purposes shall be and are hereby declared to be null and void for every purpose whatsoever and said right of taxation shall always be under the complete control of and revocable by the State notwithstanding any gift grant or contract whatsoever by the General Assembly
Sec IL1 The power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable ratesand enforce the same by adequate penalties
2 The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridgednor so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies and subjecting them to public use the same as the property of individuals and the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be abridgednor so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well being of the State
3 The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existingnor alter or amend the samenor pass
any other general or special law for the benefit of said corporationexcept upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to this Constitution and every amendment of any charter of any corporation in this State or any special law for its benefit accepted thereby shall operate as a novation of said charter and shall bring the same under the provisions of this Constitution Provided that this section shall not extend to any amendment for the purpose of allowing any existing road to take stock in or aid in the building of any branch road
4 The General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation to buy shares or stock in any other corporation in this State or elsewhere or to make any contract or agreement whatever with any such corporation which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition in their respective businesses or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and void
5 No railroad company shall give or pay any rebate or bonus in the nature thereof directly or indirectlyor do any act to mislead or deceive the public as to the real rates charged or received for freights or passage and any such payments shall be illegal and void and these prohibitions shall be enforced by suitable penalties
6 No provision of this article shall be deemed held or taken to impair the obligation of any contract heretofore made by the State of Georgia
7 The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation
ARTICLE VII
FINANCE TAXATION AND PUBLIC DEBT
Section IThe powers of taxation over the whole State shall be exercised by the General Assembly for the following purposes only
For the support of the State government and the public institutions
For educational purposes in instructing children in the elementary branches of an English education only
55
To pay the interest on the public debt
To pay the principal of the public debt
I I po suppress insurrection to repel invasion and defend the State in time of war
To supply the soldiers who lost a limb or f limbs in the military service of the Confederate
it I States with substantial artificial limbs during
r life
Sec II1 All taxation shall be uniform n upon the same class of subjects and ad valorem
5 I on all property subject to be taxed within the
d I territorial limits of the authority levying the
tax and shall be levied and collected under
g general laws The General Assembly may how
r ever impose a tax upon such domestic animals
0 aS from their nature and habits are destructive
y I of other property
4 All laws exempting property from taxa
U tion other than the property herein enumera
i0 i ted shall be void
5 The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or sus
Ij I pended by any contract or grant to which the e State shall be a party
a Sec YThe credit of the State shall not be
5 pledged or loaned to any individual company 1 corporation or association and the State shall not become a joint owner or stockholder in any company association or corporation
j gee XIIThe proceeds of the sale of the
r Western and Atlantic Macon and Brunswick
1 or other railroads held by the Stateand any
7 other property owned by the Statewhenever 1 the General Assembly may authorize the sale e of the whole or any part thereof shall be applied to the payment of the bonded debt of the 3 State and shall not be used for any other pur
1 pose whatever so long as the State has any ex
f isting bonded debt Provided that the proceeds of the sale of the Western and Atlantic Rail3 road shall be applied to the payment of the
bonds for which said railroad has been mort
gaged in preference to all other bonds
ARTICLE I
Section I2 Protection to person and prop erty is the paramount duty of government and Bhall be impartial and complete
3 No person shall he deprived of life liberty
or property except by due process of law
4 No person shall be deprived of the right to prosecute or defend his own cause in any of the courts of this State in person by attorney or both
9 Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted nor shall any person be abused in being arrested while under arrest or in prison
23 The legislative judicial and executive powers shall forever remain separate and distinct and no person discharging the duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of either of the others except as herein provided
Sec III 1 In cases of necessity private ways may be granted upon just compensation being first pai d by the applicant Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid
3 No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation
Sec IV1 Laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation throughout the State and no special law shall be enacted in any case for which provision has been made by an existing general law No general law affecting private rights shall be varied in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all persons to be affected thereby and no person under legal disability to contract is capable of such consent
2 Legislative acts in violation of this Constitution ox the Constitution of the United States are void and the Judiciary shall so declare them
ARTICLE III
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
Section YET22 The General Assembly shall have power to make all laws and ordinances consistent with this Constitution and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States which they shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State
ARTICLE YI
JUDICIARY
Section XVIII1 The right of trial by jury except where it is otherwise provided in this Constitution shall remain inviolate but the General Assembly may prescribe any number not less than five to constitute a trial or traverse jury in courts other than the Superior and City Courts
ACT CREATING THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
The following is the law under which the ration organized or doing business in this State
Railroad Commission was organized being Act No 269 Part 1 Title 12 of the acts and Reso
lutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia 1781879 approved October 141879 The sections have been arranged in logical order for convenience of reference however the original numbering is retained
AN ACT
To provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates charged for transportation of passengers and freights and to prohibit railroad companies corporations and lessees in this State from charging other than just and reasonable rates and to punish the same and prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto and to appoint Commissioners and to prescribe their powers and duties in relation to the same
Whereas it is made the duty of the General Assembly in article 4 paragraph 2 and section 1 of the Constitution to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia
Section XIIDefinitionsThat the terms urailioad corporation or railroad company contained in this Act shall be deemed and taken to mean all corporations companies or individuals now owning or operating or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad in whole or in part in this State and the provisions of this Act shall apply to all persons firms and companies and to all associations of persons whether incorporated or otherwise that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railroad in this State street railways excepted the same as to railroad corporations herein after mentioned
Sec IIIExtortionThat from and after the passage of this Act if any railroad corpo
under any act of incorporation or general law of State now in force or which may hereafter be enacted or any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State and doing busi I ness in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car J upon its track or any of its branches thereof or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right license or permission to use operate or control the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec IYUnjust DiscriminationThat if any railroad corporation as aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimination in its rates or charges of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freights of any de I scription or for the use and transportation of I any railroad car upon its said road or upon j any of the branches thereof or upon any rail I roads connected therewith which it has the right license or permission to operate control or use within this State the same shall be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of this Act and upon conviction thereof shall i be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec XIIIDuplicate ReceiptsThat all j railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight shipped the freight charges over the i road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt If any railroad company shall violate this provision of the statute such railroad company shall incur a penalty to be fixed and collected as provided in section 9 of this Act
57
Sec IOrganization op Commission That there shall be three Commissioners appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate to carry out the provisions of this Act of whom one shall be of experience in the law and one of experience in railway business After the expiration of the terms of office of the Commissioners first appointed the term of office of successors shall be sir years but at the first appointment one Commissioner shall be appointed for two years one for four years and one for six years The salary of each Commissioner shall be twentyfive hundred dollars to be paid from the Treasury of the State Any Commissioner may be suspended from office by order of the Governor who shall report the fact of suchsuspension and the reasons therefor to the next General Assembly and if a majority of each branch of the General Assembly declare that said Commissioner shall be removed from office his term of office shall expire The Governor shall have the same power to fill vacancies in the office of Commissioner as to fill other vacancies and if for any reason said Commissioners are not appointed during the present session of the General Assembly the Governor shall appoint them thereafter and report to the next Senate but the time until then shall not be counted as part of the term of office of said Commissioners respectively as herein provided Said Commissioners shall take an oath of office to be framed by the Governor and shall not jointly or severally or in any way be the holders of any railroad stock or bonds or be the agent or employe of any railroad company or have any interest in any way in any railroad and shall so continue during the term of office and in case any Commissioner becomes disqualified in any way he shall at once remove the disqualification or resign and on failure to do so he must be suspended from the office by the Governor and dealt with as hereinafter provided In any case of suspension the Governor may fill the vacancy until the suspended Commissioner is restored or removed
Sec IISecretary Office Expenses EtcThat said Commissioners shall be furnished with an office necessary furniture and stationery and may employ a secretary or clerk at a salary of twelve hundred dollars at the expense of the State The office of said Commissioners shall be kept at Atlanta and all 8
sums of money authorized to be paid by this Act out of the State Treasury shall be paid only on the order of the Governor provided that the total sum to be expended by said Commissioners for office rent furniture and stationery shall in no case exceed the sum of five hundred dollars 500 pr so much thereof as may be necessary per annum
JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION
Sec VPowers and Duties as to Rules and RegulationsThat the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this Act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights shall make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State shall make reasonable and just rates of charges for use of cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned or carried and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to prevent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly or indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State and on which freight less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freights as they possessed before the passage of this Act and said Commissioners shall have power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances
58
Sec VIDuties as to Maximum Rates That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads and said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for four successive weeks in some public newspaper published in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Savannah Macon Rome and Columbus in this State and after the same shall be so published it shall be the duty of all such railroad companies to post at all their respective stations in a conspicuous place a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people Provided that the schedules thus prepared shall not be taken as evidence as herein provided until schedules shall have been prepared and published as aforesaid for all the railroad companies now organized under the laws of this State or that may be organized at the time of said publication All such schedules purporting to be printed and published as aforesaid shall be received and held in all such suits as prima facie the schedules of said Commissioners without further proof than the production of the schedules desired to be used as evidence with a certificate of the Railroad Commission that the same is a true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named and that the same has been duly published as required by law stating the name of the paper in which the same was published together with the date and place of said publication
Sec VIIInvestigation Examination
EtcThat it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to investigate the books and papers of all the railroad companies doing business in this State to ascertain if the rules and regulations aforesaid have been complied with and to make personal visitation of railroad offices stations and other places of business for the purpose of examination and to make rules and regulations concerning such examinations which ruls and regulations shall be observed and obeyed as other rules and regulations aforesaid said Commissioners shall also have full power and authority to examine all agents and employes of said railroad companies and other persons under oath or otherwise in order to procure th necessary information to make just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to ascertain if such rules and regulations are observed or violated and to make necessary and proper rules and regulations concerning such examination and which rules and regulations herein provided for shall be obeyed and enforced as all other rules and regulations provided for in this Act
Sec VIIIContracts EtcThat all contracts and agreements between railroad companies doing business in this State as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and correction that it may be seen whether or not they are a violation of a law or of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act or of the rules and regulations of said Commissioners and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the division of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval in so far as they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as to such contracts and agreements as may be then deemed necessary and proper and any such agreements not approved by such Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be deemed held and taken to be violations of article 4 section 1 paragraph 4 of the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
Sec XVWitnesses Thait said Railroad
59
Commissioners in making any examination for the purpose of obtaining information pursuant to this Act shall have power to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses by such rules as they may prescribe And said witnesses shall receive for such attendance two dollars per day and five cents per mile traveled by the nearest practicable route in going to and returning from the place of said Commissioners to be ordered paid by the Governor upon presentation of subpoenas sworn to by the witnesses as to the number of days served and miles traveled before the clerk of said Commissioners who is hereby authorized to administer oaths In case any person shall wilfully fail or refuse to obey such subpoena it shall be the duty of the Judge of the Superior Court of any county upon application of said Commissioners to issue an attachment for such witness and compel him to attend before the Commissioners and give his testimony upon such matters as shall be lawfully required by such Commissioners and said court shall have power to punish for contempt as in other cases of refusal to obey the process and order of such court
Sec XVIRefusal by Railroad Officer That every officer agent or employe of any railroad company who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to make and furnish any report required by the Commissioners as necessary to the purposes of this Act or who shall wilfully and unlawfully hinder delay or obstruct said Commissioners in the discharge of the duties hereby imposed upon them shall forfeit and pay a sum of not less than one hundred nor more than five thousand dollars for each offense to be recovered in an action of debt in the name of the State
Sec XIVReportsThat it shall be the duty of the Commissioners herein provided for to make the Governor semiannual reports of the transactions of their office and to recommend from time to time such legislateon as they may deem advisable under the provisions of this Act
Sec IXPenaltiesThat if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall be guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and pre
scribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shall not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State wnere such violation has occurred or wrong has been perpetrated and shall be in the name of the State of Georgia The Commissioners shall institute such action through the AttorneyGeneral or SolicitorGeneral whose fees shall be the same as now provided by law
Sec XDamagesThat if any railroad company in this State shall in violation of any rule or regulation provided by the Commissioners aforesaid inflict any wrong or injury on any person such person shall have a right of action and recovery for such wrong or injury in the county where the same was done in any court having jurisdiction thereof and the damages to be recovered shall be the same as in actions between individuals except that in cases of wilful violation of law such railroad companies shall be liable to exemplary damages Provided that all suits under this Act shall be brought within twelve months after the commission of the alleged wrong or injury
Sec XI Evidence Fines Remedies CumulativeThat in all eases under the provisions of this Act the rules of evidence shall be the same as in civil actions except as herein before otherwise provided All fines recovered under the provisions of this act shall be paid into the State Treasury to be used for such purposes as the General Assembly may provide The remedies hereby given the persons injured shall be regarded as cumulative to the remedies now given by law against railroad corporations and this shall not be construed as repealing any statute giving such remedies
Sec XVII That all laws militating against this Act are hereby repealed
Approved October 141879
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A CAREFUL ANALYSIS
Of the Act Creating the Railroad Commission
This act being very important and the order of the sections confused and embarrassing we append a brief of it in less technical form Definitions12 The terms Railroads or Railroad companies embrace Street Railways alone excepted all common carriers by rail and so they include all Railroad Express Sleeping car and Transportation companies by rail whether owners of the railroad or not
Extortion 3 defined to be charging more than a fair and reasonable rate 5 provides for the making of a full schedule of such rates by a Commission and 6 only expands this provision more fully
Unjust discrimination is forbidden but not fully defined in 4 The rules and regulations under 5 complete the definition
The Object of the Law is set forth in the Title and Preamble viz to prevent Railroad Companies from extortion or unjust discrimination i
The Means provided are chiefly
1 The creation of a Railroad Commission with proper appliances viz
2 A Secretary an office furniture etc and suitable rights
7 As to investigation and 15 As to witnesses including 16 Railroad officers Also 8 As to railroad contracts and with proper powers and duties
5 As to rules and regulations and 6 As to making rates and 9 As to penalties and 14 As to reports and suggesting legislation Jurisdiction5 The Commission is to make rules and regulations as to rates of freight and to fix the limits of distance affecting the same charges for hauling freight charges for use of cars it is to provide against rebates or any other way of misleading or deceiving the public and against unjust discrimination It is also required by 6 expanding the first clause of 5 to make for each railroad company a schedule of just and reasonable hates of freight and passenger business and to revise the same from time to time as circumstances may
require Freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State on which less than local rates are charged are excepted however from the jurisdiction of th Commission This exception excludes all Imports all Exports and all Transit freight It does not apply to Passenger rates
Publication of these schedules is to be made in dne paper in each of the following named cities viz Atlanta Augusta Albany Columbus Macon Rome and Savannah for four weeks as a whole and system not separately and one at a time
Contracts between railroads as respects rates and divisions of earnings are to be submitted to the Commission that they may see whether they violate any law or rule
Effect of the action of the Commission
The rates established as maximum are made 6 sufficient evidence construed to be prima facie evidence for both railroads and the public of reasonableness and justice
Violating the rules or exceeding the rates is made penal by 9 and upon application of the party aggrieved the Commission directs the recompense to be made therefor and if the railroad refuses for thirty days to make such recompense then it is their duty to institute suit through the Attorney or SolicitorGeneral in the county where the inquiry occurred for the penalty prescribed viz1 from 1000 to 5000 Fines go to the State treasury
Evidence is as in civil actions unless otherwise prescribed 11
Damages also can be recovered by the party aggrieved as between individuals in case of wilful violation of law exemplary damages are allowed 10
The remedies for individuals are cumulative 11
Penalties are provided against railroad officers refusing to obey the law 16
By a direct legislative provision 13 duplicate receipts must be given on demand stating class of goods charges on the road and on other roads as far as possible and the consignee is declared entitled to receive goods on payment of such rates
61
the course of railroad legislation in
GEORGIA
There has been very little general legislation with all other laws will of course be found
in the early history of railroads special charters were from time to time granted to particular companies embracing for each road all the law applicable to it afterwards a few general laws applicable to all were passed but these were for a long time limited in their range chiefly concerning the right of way stock killed and the like Still later came provisions concerning taxation State aid etc etc The subject was not fairly grappled with until 1879
The Constitution of 1868 superseded by that of 1877 contained the following provisions
Art 1 27 included as one of the objects of taxation taxes for public improvements
It also provides that
The General Assembly ma grant the power of taxation to county authorities and municipal corporations to be exercised within their several territorial limits
By art 3 6 p 4 No citizen is compelled to contribute to any internal improvement municipal corporations by a majority vote may contribute
5 The General Assembly shall pass no law making the State a stockholder in any corporate company nor shall the credit of the State be granted or loaned to aid any company without a provision that the whole property of the company shall be held for the security of the State prior to any other debt or lien except to laborers nor to any company in which there is not already an equal amount invested by private personsnor for any other object than a work of internal improvement
This Constitution was of force for nine years and under it very large sums were expended by the State and endless troubles and debts incurred well illustrating the need of the strong constitutional checks imposed in 1877 We may hereafter give this instructive history in detail as a guide and warning
HOW AND WHERE TO FIND THE LAW
In the pamphlets of the several sessions of
an easier method however may be indicated
The olcer digests were before the days of railroads The later contain much of the railroad legislation towit Princes and Cobbs Digests the Code and Harriss Supplement A new Code will probably be issued during the present year
Princes Digest contains in full between pages 300 and 381 under the head of Internal Transportation all the Railroad Charters passed to December 30 1836prior to the seesion of 1867 including the earlier charters and amendments of the Central Railroad the Georgia the Monroe and other roads
References to all the Resolutions of the General Assembly to the same date are to be found on page 381
In these private acts occasional new features are incorporatedand these sometimes run in shoalsthe charters of each session containing the same new provisionssay of individual liability banking privileges taxation exemptions conditions of increase of capital stock etc
Cobbs Digest brings the Private Legislation up to the 23d February 1850 containing references to all acts prjor o the session of December 1851 see pages 423 to 426 with the full text of all the laws concerning the Western and Atlantic Railroad pages 401 to 419
The General Laws also prior to the session of 1851 are given in full Pages 395 to 400 On page 419 are references to the Resolutions of the General Assembly and on page 420 the action of the State of Tennessee in regard to the Western and Atlantic Railroad
For legislation subsequent to Cobbs Digest beginning with the session of 1851 consult the pamphlet laws and the Code under the heads Internal Transportation Railroads Corporations and Taxation
We preface the railroad legislation with two notabale incidents in the early history of Georgia
1 The invention of a steam engine and a
the General Assembly Railroad Laws along patent for the same See No 402 Watkins
Digest p 382 February 11788 An act to secure to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet for the term of fourteen years the sale and exclusive privilege of using a newly constructed steam engine invented by them This was intended for use on one of natures water ways the Savannah river railroads being as yet unknown
2 The first steamship which ever crossed the Atlantic the Savannah was a Georgia enterprise The impossibility of this had been demonstrated but the scientific impossibility became a practical reality As in other cases it cannot be was confuted by it is
SUMMARY VIEW OP RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN ORDER OF TIME
Act 1837See Code 44378Intruding on railroad obstructing railroad etc
1838 Railroad crossings See Code 706 713
1839 Pam 191Right of way See Code 302234 3032
1840 Pam 151Stock killed Code 3042 1845Road exemptions Code 638
3847Pam 250Passengers or stock Code
3042 Baggage checks Code 2072
1850 Pam 337Stock killed 338 Sunday freight 338 slaves need permits See Code 816
Several of the foregoing acts are given in full in Cobbs Digest
1851 2 January 20 1852Pam 1078 Through rates by consent authorized and publication of same p 283 Road Duty See Code 636 Tax Co4e 816
1852 January 22Pam 18512 p 1089 Road crossings sign board engineer compelled to whistle etc See Code 708910 Facetiously perhaps truly pronounced by a distinguished Judge an act to compel horses to run away when they encountered a train They often stand trembling till the whistle blows and this is the signal to be off 1852 January 23Pam 1089Railroad hands commutation fee road duty
18534Pam 93Stock killed damages etc P 95 note Code 3038 In charters of this session company presumed at fault Supreme Court decisions etc shown P 110 See Code 816
1856 February 17Pam 110Tax on stock and assets See note
1855 6Pam 155Freight lists See Code
2078 Damages Code 3033 3036 3368
1856 Pam 154Costs of suit service etc Pam 155Freight bills
1857 December 22Pam 65Checks for baggage Code 2072
1858 December 11P 105Tax J per cent on all roads not exempt Code 818
1859 P 48Jurisdiction of courts in what county P 64Whistle posts Code 7089 P 65Road duty Code 636
1860 P 57Road duty Code 636
1861 P 69Building bridges Code 4383 P 81Tax war legislationCentral Railroad and Savannah Albany and Gulf Railroad authorized to connect in Savannah
1862 3P 60County tax P 158Stock killed P 161Suits vs Lessees P 180 Transporting provisions
THE CODE
went into operation July 11863 There have been two revisions so that now the editions are those of 1863 1868 and 1873 A supplement has been published to 1877 including the new Constitution and a new edition is now in progress The numbering varies in the different editions The numbers of the sections given below are those of the edition of 1873
The main titles are CorporationsRailroadsRailroad CompaniesRailroad CrossingsTaxes
Many of the acts referred to elsewhere are repeated in the Codebut not in chronological order and so not conforming to the principle of the present arrangement which is intended to exhibit the order of growth of railroad legislation
PROVISIONS OF THE CODE
5 The word Person includes corporations EXEMPTIONS
636 Railroad hands exempt from road duty on conditions
659 Road duty
1060 Military duty
RAILROAD CROSSINGS
705 Railroads may cross each other terms
706 Railroad crossings
707 Railroad crossings
708 Whistle posts
709 Whistle failure penalty
710 Whistle failure to blow
63
711 Cows on railroad
712 Suits where brought
713 Keeping up crossings
714 Penalties
715 Exemption
716 Use of money
717 Defences
719 Railroads not to use public roads unless by express authority
RAILROAD TAXES
815 Tax same as on other property unless exempt
818 Tax J of 1 per cent on net income on certain conditions viz dividends not exceeding 6 per cent till they reach 8
819 Tax on new branch railroads
826 Tax returns to ComptrollerGeneral
876 Defaulting corporations execution
877 Penalty forfeiture of charter
878 Threefold tax
881 ComptrollerGeneral to assess if no return
882 ComptrollerGeneral to issue executions
RAILROADS AS CORPORATIONS
1651 Artificial person subject to modification
1674 Charter of corporations
1676 Organization by courts
1681 Public corporations subject to be dissolved by General Assembly
1682 Private corporations In all cases of private charters hereafter granted the State reserves the right to withdraw the franchise unless such right is expressly negatived in the charter
1683 Heretofore granted not so subject to dissolution
1685 Conditions of forfeiture
877 Nonpayment of taxes or nonreturns grounds of forfeiture
LIENS
1979 Lien of contractors
1980 Proceedings
1981 Proceedings
COMMON CARRIERS
2065 Defined
2066 Diligence
2067 Diligence exempts
2068 Cannot limit liability by notice may by contract
2069 Must receive goods
2070 Responsible after delivery
2071 Baggage
2072 Baggage checks
2073 No unreasonable delay
2074 Stoppage in transitu
2075 Stoppage
2076 Carrier cannot dispute title of consignee
2077 Carriers lien
2078 Freight Lists to be specified
2079 Lien on baggage
2080 Fraud on carrier
2081 Baggage value
2082 Certain passengers may be refused
2083 Railroads are common carriers
2084 Connecting roads how far responsible
RIGHT OF WAY
3022 Railroad right of way telegraph may use on terms
3023 Terms
3024 Compensation
INJURIES BY RAILROAD CARS
3032 Damages for right of way
3033 Damages by trains
3034 Effect of negligence
2972 Effect of negligence
711 Onus
1680 Responsibility for officers
3035 Equal accommodations to persons of color
3035 Injury to coemploye
2083 Responsibility for employes
3037 Record of stock killed
3038 Record report of overseers
3039 Posted
3040 Overseer when liable
3042 Railroad when liable for live stock
3043 Notice by owner
3044 Notice by owner
3045 Trial
3046 Appeal
3047 Levy and sale
3048 Disposition of proceeds
3049 Tender and its effects
3050 Suits by partner or joint owner
SUITS AGAINST RAILROADS
3367 How sued
3368 Liability of agent
3369 Service
3370 Service by publication
3371 Notice to stockholders

64
3372 Judgment or decree
3373 President to give names
3374 President may defend
3375 Illegality
3376 Cumulative of common law remedies
INJURIES TO RAILROADS
4333 Arson of bridges
4437 Intruding on
4438 Obstructing injuring etc
4603 Overcharged by agent
References to pamphlets resumed
1863 4Pam 656Stock killed
P 132 Water and lights in passenger car Code 3038 and on
1864 No general law
1865 6No general law but see Code 1676
1866 Pam 165Tax per cent on stock
unless exempt
1866 Pam 150Burning railroad bridge
Code 4383
1867 No Legislature
1868 P 141State aid
143Tax
143State aid AirLine road I860P 167 and onState aid
170Taxes J per cent on net earnings
Act 1856 as to county jurisdiction repealed
1870 P 398Equal accommodations for
colored personsCode 3035 628Same
428 Railroad crossings Code 705
429 Registry of State endorsements numerous State aid acts See Index P 523
1871 2P 16State aid cautions
77Tax J per cent net earnings
1872 P 10Road duty Code 636
78Telegraphic use of right of way 567Certain State aid bonds void
1873 P 17Buying roads endorsed for
24Employe injury to by emyloye 63Live stock on Sunday Tax on nonresident railroads Profit and earnings
65Tax 1 per cent on net earnings Code 819
69Telegraphic use of right of way Code 302234 Lien of railroad contractors Code 1979 1980 1990
1874P 94To prevent monopolies Hill I yers law
Passed February 28 1874 A brief abstract is appended viz
3 Forbids any discrimination for or against I any connecting line
2 Gives the right to join tracks
4 On refusal provides for right of way
1 Allows any railroad to switch oil and deliver to connecting road all cars consigned to points on or beyond such connecting road Failure to receive and forward is treated as conversion of the goods and damages allowed of from 10 to 25 per cent unless owner himself in default by rebate
5 Exempts extra State freight unless by sea or Western and Atlantic road
1874 P97Explosive oils Sunday freight
trains till 8 a m
98State aid repealed
103Feb 26Tax J per cent net I earnings
107Feb 28Tax on railroads as I on other property McDaniels f law
1875 P 10South and North Railroad
14To protect State
26Intruding on track
118Tax
1876 P 118Purchasers may form corpo
rations
121 Service on railroads
122 Receivers creditors lien State as owner Macon and Brunswick sale North and South Railroad Tax laws
1877 P 115Sale railroad stock by ad I
ministrator taxation
124Act 1874 Feb 28 confirmed J AttorneyGeneral to sue etc 126ComptrollerGeneral to scrutinize
1878 December 16Tax sale unclaimed
freight Dec 5Corporation formed by purchasers
18789P 125October 14 1879Railroad Commission
167Purchasers of unfinished roads
163 Obscene literature
164 Obscene literature at depots Tax
1880Tax act 11 reaffirms tax laws
65
The validity of the Aet of 1879 was tested in the case of Tilley vs the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Co and the act sustained after full argument
The test was a most thorough onenot of one particular feature but of the whole system in its entire scope and in all its details The bill of complaint being what is sometimes called a fishing billfishing for all possible objectionsthe assault was perfectly fundamental The act was assailed as contrary to the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Georgia in numerous particulars The validity of the Code for two years viz till affirmed by the Constitutional Convention of 1865 was impeached the authority of the General Assembly denied and the application of the law to the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad and the action of the Commission under the law contested No nook or corner escaped the dragnet searching for objections The appeal was made to the Constitution to chartered rights to the United States Court lest the State Courts might be biased and even the motives of the State the Legislature and the Commission were not spared
The case being a very instructive one covering the whole field and the argument comprehensive and thorough and well worthy of study we present as much of it as possible
The bill was filed by Robert Falligant Esq and briefs prepared by him and Messrs Chisholm Erwin
These briefs characterized by learning and ability we cannot present in full by reason of their great length but we give extracts from them showing the main grounds and authorities
BItLFOR INJUNCTION AND RELIEF IN THE U S CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
George H Tilley Complainant vs The Savannah Florida and Western Railway
Company et al Defendants
EXTRACTS FROM THE BKIEF OF MESSRS
CHISOLM ERWIN
The purpose of the bill is to restrain the defendant from putting in operation and enforcing on the Savannah Florida and Western Railway the said act and the said standard schedule of tariffs instructions and rules for
n 7
the reasons that the said act is unconstitutional the said instructions rules and rates are illegal unjust and unreasonable and so improvident that the enforcement of them would bankrupt the defendant impair the contract Contained in the said trust deed and compel this defendant so to conduct the business of the corporation in the interest of one class of individuals only though practising the most rigid economy as to default annually to the amount of from 40000 to 50000 in the payment of said coupons
The company decided to obey under protest the orders of the Commissioners in all things This decision was induced by the severe penalties and the multiplicity of suits and prosecutions threatened against any railway company which might attempt to resist these orders and honestly assert a constitutional right
In this argument none of the principles settled in what are known as the Granger cases will be disputed although it is believed that in time as the railroad problem approaches a solution they will be modified if not altogether changed
From these Granger cases the following selections from Chicago etc R R Co v Iowa reported in 94 U S pp 161 162 may be stated as the law now settled Railroad companies are subject to legislative control as to their rates of fare and freight unless protected by their charters Whatever is granted is secured subjeet only to the limitations and reservations in the charter or in the laws or constitutions which govern it It was
within the powers of the Company to call upon the Legislature to fix permanently this limit and make it part of the charter5 If that had been done the the charter might have presented a contract against future legislative inference
61 Mo 24
S C 21 Amer 397
Under this authority the points in the case at bar resolve themselves into an investigation of the following propositions
FirBt Are these complainants protected by the charter of the A and G Railroad or by their contract with that Company and its stockholders from the threatened wrongs and losses about to be imposed upon them by the Commissioners under the act of October 141879
Second Are the provisions of the said act under which said Commissioners are proceeding constitutional Are those provisions or
66
any of them in conflict with rights guaranteed to the complainants either by the Constitution of the State of Georgia or of the United States
Third If these provisions of the said act are constitutional when interpreted do they not constitute these Commissioners managers of all the railroads in Georgia vested with powers to be enforced by most extraordinary penalties And if this be true are the Commissioners not subject like other managers when their administration threatens to be improvident to be restrained by a court of equity to prevent unnecessary and irreparable loss and damages
98 U S 359
6 Barr Penn 515 516
Cooleys Constitutional Limitations 177
Sedgwick on Constitutional Limitations 117
14 Ga 83
17 Amr R 427
8th N Y 483 488
42 Ga 505
10 Wheaton U S 42 43
U S Digest ST S Vol VL p 728
The exception to this rule is the well recognized distinction between general laws and local laws For local purposes the power to make ordinances may be delegated to cities towns etc
54 Ga 324
Cooleys Constitutional Limitations 191
But it will be said that under the authority of Munn v Illinois 94 U S pp 133 134 and of Peik v Chicago etc Railway Co 94 U S p 178 the Legislature and not the courts must decide what is reasonable and that the management of the Commissioners however partial unjust and improvident cannot be restrained by the courts
To this proposition the answer is plain In each of these cases the Legislatures had under Constitutions altogether different from the Constitution of Georgia passed laws fixing maximum charges
But in the case at bar the Legislature has not fixed the rates on the contrary under the act of October 141879 the questions what shall be a fair and reasonable rate or toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight and what shall make any unjust discrimination are particularly made matters of judicial investigation And this is consonant with authority The rates fixed by the Commissioners are but rules of evidence A few
of the cases collated in the argument of Gen Farnsworth before the committee of the House of Representatives are referred to on this point
61 Missouri p 24
52 Maine p 451
Brown on the law of Carriers p 258
4 C B N S p 139 and 8CB 709
4 C B N S
4 Brewster 620
4 C B H S p 63
67 111 37
S C 16 Amer Rep 611
If the words sufficient evidence should be heldto mean only prima fade evidence and this view is somewhat strengthened by the latter clause of said section in which the schedules y are spoken of as prima evidence then it seems plain that the intention of the Legislature was that they should be reviewed by the courts
95 U S pp 24 325
99 U S 720
15 How 309
16 Wall 203 232
9 Wheat 907
13 Peters 12
Hamiltons Works vol 3 pp 518 519
99 U S 759
99 U S 7312
99 U S 749
73 N C 527
S C 21 Amer Repts 473
52 Ga 629
54 Ga 379
49 Ga 158
4 Ga 38
12 Ga 43
2 Woods 370
95 U S 708
10 Wheaton 46
8th Ga 220
Cooleys Const Lim p 368
67 111 11
S C 16 Amer 599 610
15 Ga 479
47 Ga 564
19 Wall 675
94 U S107
99 U S 746 747k 99 U S 7378
18 How 272
4 Dev N C 115
1 Curtis 3256
67
96 U S 101107
95 U S 715
Howard v Moot 64 N Y 268
13 Wall 268
93 U S 223
57 Ga 346
99 U S 722
18 How 341
U S Revised Statutes secs 721 862
2 Black 427 431
7 Wall 4307
16 Amer 610
Brief of Messrs Mynatt Howell for Defendants
The Bill filed in this case belongs to the class quia timet No harm or injury is alleged to plaintiffs shares in the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company It is all apprehended It is not like the case of Woolsey vs Dodge 18 How There the State of Ohio was levying a tax upon the property of the bank in which Woolsey was a shareholder and taking from the bank more money for taxes than it was entitled to do under the original charter That was an actual taking of the money of the bank and to that extent an injury to the bank and its shareholders But the case at bar is a very different one The State has passed a law under which the plain tiff fears the corporation will not make as much money as it would have done without this law The plaintiff ventures to make this guess All this bill invoking the power of the Federal Court to stop the enforcement of the laws of the State and which contravenes its entire policy as to the railroads of the State is based upon a guess The corporation and the shareholder are as distinct as any other persons It is not for the shareholder to complain that the constitutional rights of the corporation have been violated unless that violation has resulted in detriment to him
The complainant states no fixed or other amount that he is entitled to recover as a dividend upon his shares The corporation owes him no particular dividend It may or may not pay him a dividend Then the case is that the corporation which may or may not owe him a dividend may not be able to make as much money under the rates fixed by the Commissioners as under the rates fixed by Mr Haines
This interest is too uncertain Story Eq PI sec 261 But concede that he has such interest
as will be recognized by a court of equity Does he make such a case of apprehended injury to his shares as will entitle him to an injunction Is it not a question of policy May he not be mistaken in the opinion he entertains of the proper charges to be made for the carriage of freights and passengers May not a low rate of tariffs induce more transportation and finally make more money In short is it that sort of apprehension that will induce the restraining action of this court The Supreme Court of Georgia in one of the early decisions Hannahan vs Nichols 17 Ga 77 said that the quia timet power of a court of equity is quite a vague one and therefore a dangerous one Hannahan had sold a slave the purchaser had become insolvent and was trying to sell the slave and he desired him enjoined fearing he might lose the debt The injunction was refused with the statement above made by the Court Subsequently the Legislature puts this section 3232 in the Code of Georgia The proceeding quiatimet is sustained in equity for the purpose of causing to be delivered up and cancelled any instrument which has answered the object of its creation or any forged or other iniquitous deed or other writing which though not enforced at the time either casts a cloud over complainants title or otherwise subjects him to future liability or present annoyance and the cancellation of which is necessary to his perfect protection This statute seems to limit the bill to the cancellation of instruments likely to injure the plaintiff Its purpose seems to be to define and render certain that which was before vague It is a statutory definition of quiatimet It is an expression of its application and an exclusion of any other application Sedgwicks Stat and Const Law page 39 If then Equity would afford no relief in the State Courts it would afford none in the United States Courts Emory vs City of St Louis 5 Wall 413 Morgan vs R R Co 1 Woods 15
But if the matter of relief by bills quiatimet be not limited by the specifications in the Code then it must be limited by the precedents and the principles upon which those precedents are based In this State those precedents are in the protection of remainder interests and the cancellation of deeds and instrments as provided in the section of the Code read In addition to these Story names the protection of a surety against the laches of a creditor We
68
think these embrace about all the purposes for which bills of this sort have been sustained No case has ever been sustained of mere apprehended loss or injury to plaintiffs debtor or to the corporation in which the plaintiff was a shareholder
Again the matter in dispute is not alleged to be any particular amount That the plaintiffs shares will be injured in any particular amount does not appear by this bill The Court therefore has no jurisdiction
We colne now to the constitutional questions made by the bill The complainant insists that the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company succeeds to all the corporate rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and that the latter succeeded to all the corporate rights privileges and immunities of all the railroads in the State at the date of its charter towit in 1863 One of these privileges is to charge not exceeding certain maximum rates fixed by the charter of the Georgia and Central Railroads The Act of October 1879 authorizes Commissioners to fix rates of freight and passenger tariffs The Commissioners have fixed rates below those which the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was allowed to charge This the complainant charges contravenes section 10 of article 1 of the U S Constitution It impairs the obligation of a contract The State had contracted with the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company that it might eharge certain rates and then subsequently had denied to it that privilege The complainant claims for the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company the same chartered rights and privileges of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company Let us concede for the present that it has them What are those rights and privileges None except those that the State may revoke or alter as it chooses It was a part of the contract of the State with the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company all of whose rights and privileges the complainant claims for the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company that the State should change modify or destroy the franchises of that company whenever kit should choose to do so Code of 1863 section 1651 Also that the State might Withdraw its franchise whenever it should choose to do so Code 1682 This has been expressly decided in the case of that road againBt the State of Georgia in 8 Otto page
365 The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company whose boasted rights and privileges George H Tilley so elaborately portrays before the court in this bill had no right or privilege that it did not agree that the State might take away whenever it should choose to do it Two sections of the Code quoted above were a part of its charter To every sentence granting a right or privilege there is a reservation of the right to change modify destroy or withdraw it whenever the State should think proper to exercise that right This is certainly settled by the case cited above and needs no further argument or citation of authority
If then this claimant is correct in claiming all the rights and privileges of the Atlantic arid Gulf Railroad for the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company the only appearance of any purpose to violate a contract is in the complainant himself who seeks to use his corporation and the power of this Court to prevent the State from exercising a right which the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company solemnly contracted it might exercise in its discretion
But let us look to the charter of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company as it appears in the act of 1876 That act provides for the organization of the purchasers of a railroad sold under a mortgage or at judicial sale into a corporation The 8th section of said act provides That nothing in this act shall operate to vest in any purchaser of any railroad and its franchises any exemptions from taxation existing or claiming to exist in the corporation which shall have been the owner of said railroad and its franchises or to limit the powers of the Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided These are the terms upon which Mr Tilley and his frightened associates succeeded to the rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Is it any wonder that the company as such declines to resist the State in the enforcement of the act of 1879 Well may it fear the penalties of the act and impose upon a foreigner who is presumed to be unacquainted with our Constitution and laws the responsibility of charging the State with a breach of its contract
In the case of Tomlinson vs Jessup 15 Wall at page 457 the court uses this language The
69
act amending the charter of the Northeastern Railroad Company passed in December 1855 provided that the stock of the company and the real estate it then owned or might hereafter acquire connected with or subservient to the works authorized by its charter should be exempted from taxation during the continuance of the charter This act contained no clause excepting the amendment from the provisions of the general law of 1841 It was therefore itself subject to repeal by force of that law
It is true that the charter of the company when accepted by the corporators constituted a contract between them and the State and that the amendment when accepted formed a part of the contract from that date and was of the same obligatory character And it may be equally true as stated by counsel that the exemption from taxation added greatly to the value of the stock of the company and induced the plaintiff to purchase the shares held by him But these considerations cannot be allowed any weight in determining the validity of the subsequent taxation The power reserved to the State by the law of 1841 authorized any change in the contract as it originally existed or as subsequently modified or its entire revocation The original corporators or subsequent stockholders took their interests with knowledge of the existence of this power and of the possibility of its exercise at any time in the discretion of the Legislature The object of the reservation and of similar reservations in other charters is to prevent a grant of corporate rights and privileges in a form which will preclude legislative interference with their exercise if the public interest should at any time require such interference It is a provision intended to preserve to the State control over its contract with the corporators which without that provision would be irrepealable and protected from any measures affecting its obligation
In the same case at page 459 the court uses this language The reservation affects the entire relation between the State and the corporation and places under legislative control all rights privileges and immunities derived by its charter directly from the State
In Railroad vs Maine 96 U S Rep at page 510 the court uses this language By the reservation the State retained the power to alter it in all particulars constituting the grant to
the new company formed under it of corporate rights privileges and immunities The existence of the corporation and its franchises and immunities derived directly from the State were thus kept under its control
These cases are cited and affirmed in the Sinking Fund cases 9th Otto at page 720
In the case at bar not only is the right to alter modify or withdraw the franchises not u expressly negatived in the charter in the language of the Code of Georgia section 1682 but it is expressly reserved and affirmed by the State
But the complainant is not content to risk his case upon the irrevocable chartered rights and privileges of the corporation He relies upon paragraph 3 section 3 article 1 of the Constitution of 1877 No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation
Can it be said to work injustice to corporators to revoke the privileges and immunities of the corporation when by the very act of incorporation they have contracted that you may do so WRen Mr Tilley took his 100 shares in the stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company as one of the incorporators of said company under the act of 1876 he said to the State of Georgia your power to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided shall not be limited You may alter it as you please modify it as you please withdraw it as you please In other words the State says to Mr Tilley the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company organized under the act of 1876 shall possess all the powers rights immunities privileges and franchises ofthe Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company but I reserve the power to alter modify or withdraw them as I choose to which Mr Tilley consents And without that consent he could have had no charter Now when the State proposes to alter his rates or the rates of his road he rails and declaims in all the glosses of the most prolix equity precedents quoting all the political axioms in all the Bills of rights from King John to the present He says it works injustice to him to limit his railway in its charges because he fears his dividends are not going to be as large as he thought they would be
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When the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company organized in 1879 as a corporation it did so under the provisions of the Constitution of 1877 and with full notice of all its provisions The corporators knew that the power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs were conferred upon the General Assembly Constitution 1877 article 4 section 2 paragraph 1 There is no inconsistency between this paragraph and the one relied upon towit No grant of special privileges and immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation To regulate their charges is not a revocation of the power to charge Both paragraphs are in the same Constitution They must be construed together so that both shall stand One part must not be allowed to defeat another Cooly Con Lim 71 If clauses are irreconcilably repugnant that which is last in order of time and in local position is to be preferred Quick vs Whitewater Township 7 Ind 570 That it has been the policy of the State to control the powers and privileges of corporations is manifest from the provisions of the Code of 1863 and the general purport of the Constitution of 1877 No incorporator of a new corporation can say that he has been entrapped
Again the power to revoke is implied in the very language used Shall be revoked except in such manner etc Th gravamen of the paragraph is the manner of revoking Who is to judge of the manner Of course the Legislature It is the Legislature that is making the revocation Then this paragraph is addressed to the discretion of the Legislature and the judiciary have no control of it Cooly Con Lim 51
But there is still another view of this paragraph so confidently relied on It appears in what is called the Bill of Rightsa prefix to the Constitution Sedgwick says of these as follows These great truths will thus be found set out in a large majority of the State Constitutions They are of no little value as safeguards against errors and injustice but I think they must be regarded rather as guides for the political conscience of the Legislature than as texts of judicial duty Important as they are
still they are expressed in such general terms as necessarily to admit of great and prominent exceptions Sedgwick Stat and Const Law 179 and 480
If this be correct and certainly it is the plain common sense view of it the court can have no difficulty in determining between this paragraph of the Bill of Rights and a paragraph in the body of the Constitution if there be a conflict between them
We next pass to the argument in the bill that the Legislature had no power to appoint Commissioners to regulate freight and passenger tariffs It is assumed to be a delegation of legislative power And it is assumed that paragraph 1 section 11 article 4 of the Constitution means to confer the powers therein provided for upon the Legislature and to prohibit the Legislature from delegating them That legislative power properly so called can only be exercised by the Legislature will not be questioned The power to fix rates of freight and passenger tariffs must necessarily be conferred upon some one by the Legislature If not the Legislature would have to fix the rates for each railroad as it is chartered If the Legislature can confer this power upon the officers and directors of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company why can it not confer it upon Commissioners It is the same power coming from the same source whether exercised by Mr Haines or by the Commissioners If it be a delegation of legislative power when exercised by the Commissioners would it not be when exercised by Mr Haines or the directors of the company
So it seems that the argument of the delegation of legislative power proves too much It perhaps never occurred to Mr Haines when he was fixing his horseleach rates that he was a Legislature in full blast This was left to the fertile resources of the equity pleader whose mental productions were stimulated and enhanced by the importunate cry of give give If fixing these rates be legislation then every ferryman tollgate keeper and bridge keeper who fixes tolls is a legislature You had as well call the assessor who values property to be taxed a Legislature Paragraph 1 of section 14 of article 7 of the Constitution of Georgia provides that the General Assembly shall raise by taxation each year in addition to the sum required to pay the public expenses and inter

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est on the public debt the sum of one hundred thousand dollars which shall be held asa sinking fund etc Will it be contended that the Legislature must per se raise this fund And that it is a delegation of legislative power for the tax collector to do it Raising the fund is a material and necessary part of the constitutional injunction Literally the Legislature is required to raise it But who would say that this would be a valid defense for the taxpayer that the Legislature was not collecting the tax but the tax collector
Now on the subject of intention or rather of proper construction of the paragraph in question let us look to the particular language used Whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties to pass laws
to regulate etc The power and authority to regulate is conferred upon the General Assembly and it shall pass laws for that purpose There is not a word saying it shall fix the rates But it shall pass laws for that purpose It is clear from the language that the Legislature is not required itself to fix the rates but to provide for it by passing proper laws This remits us then to the question as to whether this fixing of rates by the legislative power of the State vests in the General Assembly by article 3 section 1 paragraph 1 of Constitution 1877 It seems to me that the emphasis of this paragraph is upon the word legislative in contradistinction to executive and judicial The English Parliament might exercise all sovereign power But it is a prominent feature in all American constitutions that these departments of government are to be kept distinct Then is not the force of the language quoted simply to deny to the legislative executive and judicial powers Cooley Con Lim 106 Does the Constitution mean that all that the Legislature can do must be done by itself and that it cannot authorize anything to be done May it not use agents That it may delegate powers to municipal corporation to make laws fixing the amount of taxes to be gathered enforce their collection and make general police regulations has been held over and over ngain is a matter of everyday practice in every State
in the Union and absolutely necessary to the existence of municipal corporations Cooley Const Lim 143 Mayor and Council of Brunswick vs Finney et al 54 Ga 317 Commonwealth vs Judges of Quarter Sessions 8 Penn Stat 391 Commonwealth vs Painter 10 Pennsylvania Statute 214 Hobart vs Supervisors etc 17 Cal 23 Bank of Chenango vs Brown 26 N Y 467 Powers et al vs the Inf Court of Dougherty county et al 23 Ga 65
At page 80 of last case Judge Lumpkin uses the following language The Constitution as we have seen gives to the Legislature power to make all laws which it may deem necessary and proper for the good of the State which shall not be repugnant to the Constitution And it does not say anywhere that the Legislature must not delegate any of this power nor does it say anything equivalent to saying that True it says The legislative power shall be vested in two separate and distinct branches towit A Senate and House of Representatives to be styled the General Assembly But what is legislative power It is the power to make law If unlimited it is the powfer to make a law for the creation or destruction of any right Therefore if unlimited it is the power to make a law that creates or delegates the right to make laws
In the case of the C W and Z R R Co vs Commissioners of Clinton county 1st Ohio St Reps at page 85 the Supreme Court of Ohio says They the Legislature have therefore the most undoubted right to delegate just as much or just as little of this political power with which they are vested as they see proper and to such agents or departments of the government as they see fit to designate Again at page 88 lb the court says The true distinction therefore is between the delegation of power to make the law which necessarily involves a discretion as to what it shall be and conferring an authority or discretion as to its execution to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law The first cannot be done to the latter no valid objection can be made
In the case of Brunswick vs Finny supra Judge McCay says at page 326 It may also be remarked that notwithstanding the universal recognition of the rule that the legislative power cannot be delegated the immemorial usage of all the States has deen by the creation of municipal corporations and the organization of
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counties townships and districts to delegate to local organizations many local matters which the Legislature might in its discretion provide for Even so grave a matter as taxation has always in this State even without special c6nstitutional provisions been delegated to cities towns and county organizations
Can it be said that fixing rates under the act of 1879 is making law Is it not a mere ministerial act done under the authority of law
It may be that the acts and doings of this Commission are judicial They determine as to the right and justice of rates as between the people and the carriers Section 6 of the act provides And said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules It is like the power granted to some municipal corporations to fix the license for retailing spirituous liquors See Perdu Clerk vs Ellis 18 Ga 586 and especially at page 592
And it is so in all countries and forms of government whatever whether monarchy aristocracy or democracy or whatever form of government it be for the supreme jurisdiction cannot have leisure to inspect into the small matters that concern the whole order and regulation of matters within that society or community as they that are members of it shall
Hobart 221 says that all corporations as such have power to make laws and ordinances and need not special words in their patents to enable them thereunto
The point in issue in the second branch of this discussion was directly made in the case of the Commonwealth vs Duquet 2 Yeates 493 One of the positions laid down by Messrs TRawle and Du Ponceau counsel for the defendant was that the Legislature of Pennsylvania could not confer upon the corporation of the city of Philadelphia the power to pass ordinances to prevent the erection of wooden buildings in certain parts of the city as they might judge proper but that such power must be exercised by the Legislature directly But the court held tle law to be constitutional and the ordinance founded thereon good
The act of October 14 1879 is objected to because it givestoo much power to the Commissioners This is not an objection to be urged before a court If no fundamental law is violated by the provisions of this act the labors of the court cease The amount of power conferred
on the Commissioners is a question of policy for the Legislature That the law is a wise or unwise one is not for the courts to determine If no legal right or rights of property have been interferred with then the court will not heed the apprehension that the corporation will not make as much money as it could have done under the law as it existed before It is a political and not a judicial question Stanton vs Georgia 6 Wall 50 Cherokee Nat vs Georgia 5 Pet 1
Again it is urged that the act of October 14 1879 is unconstitutional because the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners is to be deemed and taken in all the courts of the State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights
It is strangely contended that this takes away the right of trial by jury It makes a rule of evidence But instead of taking the matter from the jury this rule expressly refers it to the jury Greenleaf says at section 2 of vol 1 By satisfactory evidence which is sometimes called sufficient evidence is intended that amount of proof which ordinarily satisfies an unprejudiced mind beyond reasonable doubt Questions respecting the competency and admissibility of evidence are entirely distinct from those which respect its sufficiency or effect the former being exclusively within the province of the court the latter belonging exclusively to the jury Code 3748 It is common for the Legislature to fix the character of evidence Ifr makes the report of an Auditor primafaeie evidence It makes the return of the Sheriff conclusive evidence Cooley says this whole subject is under control of the Legislature Const Lim 45789
Again it is insisted that the act of October 141879 is oppressive because the Commissioners are authorized and required to investi gate the books of the various railroad companies and to issue subpoenas for witnesses on the subject of the rates charged by the railroads
If the Granger cases be now the law of the land and the Legislature has the right to fix rates and alter them as it may choose where it does not interfere with vested rights how is it possible that it may not inquire into the rates charged by railroads And if it may inquire into these matters why may it not get information and evidence from the agents and books
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of the railroads Does not every natural person in Georgia have to testify himself and produce his books and papers for public inspection when legally called on to do so If this has ever been made the occasion of any Magna Charta eloquence I have never heard of it
It is needless to discuss the question made that the reduction of rates made by the Commission is taking private property without due process of law etc This and some kindred questions made in this bill are fully disposed of in the Granger cases Also the question of the Code of Georgia was not read three times in the Legislature This was disposed of in the case of Eailroad vs Georgia in 98 U S Eep
The bill presents no equity on the facts stated It states that the capital stock of said The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company is fixed at 2000000 and made up of the money invested in said second mortgage bonds the actual cash paid for purchase of said railroad and the actual cash paid out in fulfilling the executory contracts of said Receiver that the aggregate of prior liens to which said railroad was sold subject and the said capital stock amount to four millions seven hundred and ten thousand dollars Elsewhere it is stated that the road was sold for three hundred thousand dollars and that the second mortgage bonds amounted to fifteen hundred thousand dollars Now it is clear that the present company bought the road for 300000 That sale rid the property of the second mortgage bonds and there is no legitimate capital stock except the purchase price The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company might as well assume to pay on any other amount of capital stock as to assume to pay on this 1500000 of second mortgage bonds The complainants might as well complain that the company couldnt pay the interest on any other sum as this This statement in the bill looks as though the decree of the court at Savannah was used to make a new corporation in the interest of the bondholders of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company The road was sold to pay the second mortgage bondholders to whom legally speaking the purchase money went and now those second mortgage bondholders are here asking through Mr Tilley the privilege of fixing rates contrary to the law of Georgia that they may he paid a dividend on their bonds which must aV6lOeen canceed by the sale of the road
They were the bonds of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and not the bonds of The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company
It is objected that the act of 14th October 1879 confers unusual powers that it is unprecedented in giving power to fix rates and investigate the management of railroads That this court may see that this is not correct we copy below the 8th section of the act of Illinois as finally amended in 1874 The act of Minnesota is very similar in its provisions Both have been tested in the courts The act of Illinois has been especially the subject of attack and is finally sustained in the case of Rugles vs The People October 1879 8 Rep 817
8 The railroad and warehouse commissioners are hereby directed to make for each of the railrord corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in all suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is in any way involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as prima facie evidence that the rates therein fixed are reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads for which said schedules may have been respectively prepared Said commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of said commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for three successive weeks in some public newspaper published in the city of Springfield in this State All such schedules heretofore or hereafter made purporting to be printed and published as aforesaid shall be received and held in all such suits as prima fade the schedules of said commissioners without further proof than the production of the schedule desired to be used as evidence with a certificate of the railroad and warehouse commissioners that the same is a true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named and that the same has been published as required by law stating the name of the paper in which
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the same was published together with the date of such publication R S 1874 ch 114 93 p 819
It is held on good authority that the State courts have no power to restrain by injunction the acts of officers of the State who are proceeding under the authority of law and the fact of the statute in question being unconstitutional forms no ground for granting the injunction Sedgwicks Stat and Constitutional Law 577 citing Thompson vs Commissioners of the Canal Fund 2 Abb Prc Bep 248 This does not contravene the principle that the Federal courts will enjoin officers of the State enforcing a law violative of the Constitution of the United Stateslb
RESPONSE OF R R COMMISSIONERS BY SOLICITORS MYNATT HOWELL TO THE REPLYBRIEF OF COMPLAINANT
George H Tilley Complainant vs The
Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company et al Defendants
The demurrer admits the truth of all facts well pleaded It does not admit the truth or correctness of the legal positions assumed in the bill Council in their argument may call the act of October 14 1879 iniquitous This but reflects upon the Legislature They may call the rates rules and regulations made by the Commissioners more iniquitous This attacks the Commissioners either for improvi4ence or want of integrity We presume these denunciations do not aid the cause of complainant The court will be governed by the law and facts
As to apprehended injury to the corporation our position during the argument seems to have been misunderstood by complainants counsel What we say is the apprehension is too remote Suppose the railroad management had adopted of their own motion this schedule of rates made by the Commissioners upon the ground that in the end it would be better for the road it would build up the adjacent country and make more business for the road Could any stockholder by bill in equity have compelled them to change this policy and charge more For error in judgment on the part of the management no bill will lie 1st Abbott Dig Law of Corporations page 777 and Dodge vs Woolsey 18 How 342 et seq announces the same doctrines
Questions of management must be left to those in authority Now that those in authority do not resist the schedule of rates prescribed by the Commissioners and as nothing short of Omniscience can foretell the results of a thorough trial of the rates it is certainly beyond the power of man to point out to the court the alleged wrong to Mr Tilley as a shareholder Like any other policy that might be adopted by the officers and directors if there be no fraud negligence or breach of the charter a stockholder cannot complain But if he could complain he cannot show that he would certainly be injured by the submission on the part of the railroad management to the rates of the Comissioners The directors may regard it as the best policy in their management to submit to the rates
It is stated in the supplemental brief of complainants that the State of Georgia was the largest stockholder of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company It is stated in the bill that Georgia owned one million of the stock We think the exhibits to the bill show that the entire stock of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company amounted to about eight millions Then the State had a voting power of oneeighth in the actions of the stockholders But suppose the State had had a majority of the stock and by its vote had made the mortgages was that giving to the mortgagees any more than a lien upon the entire property and franchises of the corporation The mortgagees got that and by a proceeding in chancery at Savannah have sold it The sale occurred on the 4th day of November 1879 Mr Tilley states that he became one of the purchasers In October 1878 more than a year before this sale to Mr Tilley and others who are now owners of stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company the Supreme Court of the United States the case of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company vs Georgia 98 U S Rep p 359 decided that the State had a right to change modify or withdraw any or all the franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company Then to put the case as strong as possible suppose that the State had made these mortgages of 1877 of all the property and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company did it mortgage any irrevocable franchise Did not the Supreme Court in the case mentioned hold and decide that the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company held its franchises subject to be
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changed modified or destroyed by the Legislature If this is what was mortgaged this is what Mr Tilley and others bought If the State were the mortgagor there is no charge or pretense that it attempted to mortgage more than what the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company had But it is absurd to charge the State with being the maker of the mortgage any more than was any other stockholder
The foregoing response to complainants supplemental argument is made upon the supposition that the State was a party to the mortgages This is by no means true It is needless to cite authorities to show that a stockholder is not a party to the contracts of the corporation
Passing all the assumptions of the supplemental briefs of learned counsel for complain ant relating to the alarm of the people because of the Legislature reserving the right to change and revoke charters and the censure visited upon political hacks and leaving these subjects for those who profess to feel and know the state of the public pulse we dome to the argument so much relied upon before the court and now again so earnestly repeated towit That made upon par 3 sec 3 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1877 of Georgia
Counsel for the railway company and for complainant seem very desirous to have it expressly understood that this is a part of their charter Well if this is a part of their charter so must be paragraph 1 of section 2 of article 4 of the same Constitution though counsel for the road do not seem so anxious to incorporate this paragraph into their charter Now let us take section 8 of their charter which is the act of 1876 and the provisions of the Constitution which the people made in their alarm and anxiety about the rights of corporations and read them all together
Nothing in this act shall operate to limit the powers of the Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided Provided that the special privileges and immunities herein granted shall mot be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation and provided also that the power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly
whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various r ailroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties In Munns case 94 U S R at page 134 the court uses this language The controlling fact is the power to regulate at all If that exists the right to establish the maximum of charge as one of the means of regula tion is implied No comment is necessary upon this charter read thus connectedly The provisions are read in the order in which the Legislature and the Constitutional Convention passed them If this be the charter of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company it has contracted with the State that it may fix its rates
The supplemental argument of the complainant and railway discusses next the delegation of the power to make rates and says that the fallacy of the Commissioners argument on this point is all contained in the assumed declaration that the power to fix rates must necessarily be conferred upon some one by the Legislature The supplemental brief is very far from establishing any fallacy in this position It is not denied that carriers at common law had aright to charge for carrying But what has that to do with the above proposition When the Legislature makes the carrier the powers necessary to its existence and to the transaction of its business are implied if not expressed By implication then they proceed from the Legislature In other words the Legislature is understood to say when not expressedi You may charge reasonable and just rates I permit you to exercise this common law right of every carrier Then it is clear that every artificial person made for the purpose of carrying innst receive from the Legislature that makes it either by expression or implication the power to charge for carrying The parts of the common law applicable to its existence and business enter into and make a part of its charter where thereis no contrary expression
The proposition of the Commissioners criticised in the supplemental brief would have the same meaning if you strike out the word legislative and insert the word law The power to fix rates must be conferred upon some one by law It is a legal right of the corporation to
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charge for its work The power to charge must exist somewhere The Legislature can confer it The law must confer it otherwise it would not be a legal right of the carrier to fix his rates If the Legislature may make and repeal laws then by a statute it may confer the power to charge for carrying upon the directors or officers or agents of a railroad company which it creates It may confer the power to fix rates rules and regulations upon those in the management of the railroad The learned counsel would not gainsay this This indeed is what they are especially contending for Then if the Legislature can confer the power to fix rates upon the directors of a railroad itcan confer it upon the Commissioners And as argued in the original brief of the Commissioners if it be legislation when exercised by the Commissioners it must be legislation when exercised by the Directors
But we are asked several questions by complainant and the railroad company in their supplemental brief on this subject
1 Does not fixing rates under the act of 1879 change the common law We answer No The common law never fixed any rates It allowed the carrier or his agent to do it And the Legislature which can change the common law can take away the power from the carrier and his agents and confer it upon any other proper authority to fix the charges or rates for the carrier
2 Does it not substitute for the verdict of a jury the whim or will of three men ex parte j We answer No The act of 1879 expressly refers the whole matter to a jury By the provisions of that act not a dollar can be taken from the railroad company except upon the verdict of a jury The provisions of the act on this subject are too plain for argument
3 Does it not revoke the special privileges and immunities of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company to charge as fixed in the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company We answer Yes if the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company had that special privilege and immunity The Atlantic and Gulf Railway Company bargained away to the State any special privilege and immunity of that sort that it had when it received its charter in 1863 so says the United States Supreme Court 8 Otto 359 And again the Savannah Florida and Western Railway
Company expressly surrendered to the State all right of that sort that it had when it received its charter in 1879
4 Does it not withdraw a franchise of the corporation Yes But with its express permission
5 If the fixing of the rates by the Commissioners under the act of 1879 has these effects has it not all the elements of a law
No It is not the fixing of the rates by the Commissioners that produces these effects If the same rates had been fixed by the Legislature the same effects would have been produced The Commissioners have done what they were directed to do under the act of 1879 towit made a schedule of just and reasonable rates j Making rates is not making laws If it were then every time a court and jury sits to determine what rates are reasonable and just between the shipper and carrier the court and jury make rates But we will not further discuss this question of the delegation of lawmaking powers We refer to our original brief for the Commissioners and the authorities there cited from page 10 to 14 inclusive
The supplemental brief gravely presents again the question of taking property without due process of law If this question had not been expressly decided in the Granger cases and if the act of 1879 had not provided full and ample legal process before one dollar can be taken from the road then we might discuss this question
The statement in the supplemental brief that we admit this position upon the force and meaning of the provision that the Commissioners schedules shall be sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable will appear quite unguarded by reference to our argument in the original brief at page 15 we there expressly state that the act makes a rule of evidence and we argue that it is competent for the Legislature to make rules of evidence to give one character of evidence more weight than another We cite Cooleys Con Lim saying that the whole subject of evidence is under legislative control That the Legislature says that certain evidence is sufficient to establish certain facts is not saying that other evidence may not be introduced to contradict it
As to the Commissioners examining the books of the roads etc we think we have fully ans
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wered this in the original argument If the Legislature can authorize this inspection by a court why can it not by the Commissioners If the government has the right to fix the rates of carriers it must have the right to see what those rates are and to see that legal rates are observed But these are mere incidentals of the act of 1879 and the bill does not allege any act on the part of the Commissioners violative of their rights in this particular
In the arguments of the complainant and railway company many unkind reflections have been made upon the act of October 1879 as well as upon the Commissioners appointed thereunder As to the act we state upon good authority that it was drafted by one of the best lawyers in the State who is and has been for years a prominent director in the management of one of our best railroads
The policy of appointing Commissioners under that act was long mooted before the Legislature when the act was pending Leading railroad men in the State appeared before the committeess of the Legislature with able counsel arguing in favor of the appointment of a Commission citing the example of foreign countries and urging it by all means In fact but for their persistent efforts a Commission would not have been provided for in the act but rates would have been fixed by the Legislature
Now if these rates of the Commissioners are iniquitous and if the Commissioners are partial and incompetent as intimated why not impeach them Such outrages as are portrayed in the argument of counsel ought not to be tolerated Attack them and let them have a fair hearing We are authorized to say that they court the investigation
We desire to call attention of the court again to the argument on hearing
That while the Federal courts have enjoined the officers of the State enforcing a statute of the State where the officers had no interest but the entire interest was that of the State in cases where the statute was violative of the Constitution of the United States as Osborns case in the 9th Wheat Dodge vs Woolsey in the 18th How Davis vs Gray in the 16th Wall yet we think the Federal courts have never enjoined such State officers having no interest but where the entire interest was that of the State and where the effect of the injunction was therefore to enjoin the State because the statute of the State was violative of the Constitution of
the State If the Federal courts should grant an injunction in such a case it would certainly be where the State statute was clearly violative of the State Constitution and where there was no doubt remaining
BRIEF OF CLIFFORD ANDERSON ATTORNEYGENERAL OF GEORGIA
1 The apprehended injury is too uncertain to authorize a court of equity to interpose by injunction It is by no means apparent that the complainant will suffer loss or damage if the court declines to interfere A reduction of rates always results in an increase of business and often larger aggregate earnings It seldom produces a diminution of the income of a railway Injunction is a harsh and extraordinary remedy and is not granted except in cases where real not imaginary injury is threatened to prevent which the complainant has no other available or adequate remedy
Nor is it apparent that the complainant has no sufficient legal remedy If his stock suffers depreciation by the enforcement of the rates prescribed by the Commissioners why can he not recover the damage in an action against the directors of the road Or if he can show that the business of the road for any given year would at different and proper rates be productive of dividends on Lis stock why may he not make the directors liable in an action of law for such dividendstaking them as the measure of his damages It is not alleged that the directors are insolvent or irresponsible
But it is argued that the complainant in order to avail himself of his remedy at law must institute numerous suits and that equity should interpoose to prevent a multiplicity of actions One such suit as is above indicated would it is respectfully contended in reply be quite sufficient One recovery against the directors would necessarily decide that the rates prescribed by the Commissioners could be safely disregarded by the railway company and this being settled all ground of complaint by Mr Tilley would be instantly removed for the company is in perfect accord and sympathy with him and will not hesitate to demand other and higher charges lor freights so soon as their right to do so is judicially declared But it is said that Mr Tilley could not prove the amount of his damage Why not If the rates prescribed
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by the Commissioners are enforced it can soon be ascertained whether they have affected the value of his stock in the market or by comparison of the earnings of the road during a given period under the rates now charged with the earnings of a corresponding period under the rates of the Commission the difference can without difficulty be approximated Enough at least can be shown to authorize a recovery assuming that the directors should refuse to enforce the rates of the Commissionersand this as has been shown would be quite sufficient to prevent a repetition of the injury If it be said that unless the exact damage could be proven and recovered the injury done to the stockholders would not be repaired for the time consumed by the litigation I respectfully reply that all courts presume an act of the Legislature to be constitutional and are slow to decide otherwise and that a court of equity will not arrogate to itself jurisdiction for the single and only purpose of inquiring into its constitutionality where only a temporary and slight injury at most will result before a full and adequate remedy at law can be made available If it cannot be demonstrated by proof that some real substantial damage and wrong have been inflicted then certainly no cause is shown for equitable interference
The case under consideration is distinguishable on this point from Dodge vs Woolsey 18th How 331 in this In that case the directors were actually misapplying the money of the bank to the payment of an unconstutitional tax There if the tax was unconstitutional the damage done to stockholder was absolute and certain The money misapplied was partly his money Besides it does not appear that the question of a remedy at law was raised or considered in that case It was assumed that there was no such remedy and that there was no relief but in equity
The case of Dodge vs Woolsey is distinguishable m another point of view There the bank could havefiled a bill to restrain the collector of the tax But could the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company ask an injunction against the enforcement of the rates prescribed by the Commission It has the remedy in its own hands It can refuse to regulate its charges by the standard prescribed But it is said if it does it runs the risk of incurring the penalties inflicted Not if the act is unconstitutional The act provides a way of determin
ing in an action at law whether it is constitutional or not If the road refuses to obey and is sued for the penalties it may plead that the law is unconstitutional and the chancellor cannot hesitate to presume that if it is the court will so declare it and refuse to enforce the penalties The railway company in this case therefore has no excuse much less good cause for filing a bill Can its stockholder Mr Tilley do what it cannot do and what he has no right therefore to demand that it shall do In Dodge vs Woolsey the corporation having refused the stockholder was allowed to do what I it could and ought to have done but would not Here the company cannot neither can its stockholder
2 But let us inquire into the principal grounds on which the constitutionality of the act under consideration is assailed
A It is contended that it impairs the obligation of the contract between the State and the company
We answer it does not for three reasonsor rather that to this allegation there are at least three responses 1st Where a business is clothed with a public interest it ceases to be juris privati only and is subject to legislative regulation A railroad company being a common carrier accepts its charter with this power reserved to the grantor This is clearly and emphatically decided in the case of Munn vs Illinois 94th U S Reports 2d Both the Code of Georgia of 1863 and the act of 1876 by virtue of which the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was incorporated expressly reserve to the Legislature the power to repeal alter or modify any and all privileges or immunities granted to such corporations by their charter 3d The present Constitution of Georgia adopted in 1877 before the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was organized not only clothes the Legislature with the power but imposes on it the duty to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and requiring them to be just and reasonable
It seems to be conceded by Mr Chisholm that the act has a constitutional intentits purpose being to provide for the establishment of jvM and reasonable ratesbut he contends that it is still unconstitutional because he says the method it provides for ascertaining what are just and reasonable rates works injustice to the stockholders and creditors of the corporation in
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violation of the clause in the bill of rights prefixed to the Constitution of 1877 which de i declares that no grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporation 1
Of course any statute passed to regulate railroad tariffs must aim to do justice to the corporation and its creditors and I will go further and concede that the agencies or methods it I provides or adopts for this purpose must be reasonably calculated to accomplish that object If the purpose of the act is just and the methods it employs appear to be wisely selected with the view of securing justice the courts can inquire no further The power to pass laws to J regulate tariffs necessarily implies the power to choose in good faith such means or agencies for that purpose as may commend themselves to the legislative wisdom and discretion What is absolutely just cannot be determined by the finite mind Justice pure and simple springs from Infinity alone If a human lawgiver owns to do justice and honestly provides reasonable safeguards and means to secure it those which appear to him to be the best calculated to proi mote it no more can be required
The inquiry therefore simply is in exercising this granted power to make laws to regulate railroad charges has the Legislature honestly sought to do justice to the railroad companies and their creditors as well as to the public and has it employed agencies wisely or reasonably calculated to secure this object If so it has exercised the power constitutionally it has not transcended the bounds but is clearly within the limits of legislative discretion If notwithstanding injustice in some instances still results and few laws fail to operate harshly in some cases let those who are aggrieved apply to the Legislature for such changes in the law as will make it more uniformly equitable
All laws should be just or should seek to be and it would have been the duty of the Legislature without the clause referred to in the Constitution of 1877 as to working no injustice etc to execute the power to pass laws regulating freights in such way as to do no injustice which could reasonably be avoided Shall courts declare laws to be unconstitutional because they believe them to be unjust The Legislature must necessarily be the judge of the justice as well as the wisdom of its enactments 6th Cr 87
If it be said that the power given by the Constitution and sought to be exercised by the act in question is one which may be greatly abused it is replied in the language of Mr Justice Swayne in Gilman vs Philadelphia on p 731 3d Wallace The possible abuse of any power is no proof that it does not exist Many abuses may arise in the legislation of the States which are wholly beyond the reach of the government of the Nation The safeguard and remedy are to be found in the virtue and intelligence of the people They can make and remake constitutions and laws and from that tribunal there is no appeal If a State exercises unwisely the power here in question the evil consequences will fall chiefly upon her own citizens They have more at stake than the citizens of any other State
But it is said that the act delegates to the Commissioners powers which can be exercised by the Legislature only This argument is based on a misapprehension of the nature of the power with which the General Assembly is clothed The language of the Constitution is The Legislature shall from time to time pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs etc not that the Legislature shall itself fix and prescribe theates to be chargeda thing wholly impracticable The power to pass laws to regulate or for thepurpose of regulating implies the use of means or agencies for the accomplishment of that object The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to lay and collect taxes but who ever supposed that this requires Congress itself to assess the property of the taxpayer and collect the amount assessed The Constitution of Georgia provides that property shall be assessed for taxes ad valorem or according to its value but must the Legislature declare the value of each article of property for taxation or can it not as it has often done provide for the appointment of boards of assessors for this purpose The Constitution of the United States confers on Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the States and with the Indian tribes Under this grant of power can it be doubted that Congress can pass lawsproviding for the appointment of agents or officials to execute the regulations made and to prescribe within certain limita tions fees and charges etc Fees of public officials such as port wardens marshals clerks etc are usually prescribed by law so as to
cover their ordinary duties but it is not infrequently the case that tribunals are appointed or officials designated to fix and determine the compensation for services not specifically provided for by law
A railroad partakes of the nature of both public and private property To leave the corporation to fix its own charges is not just to the public Hence the act in question provides for the selection of three capable and impartial Commissioners and expressly enjoins upon them to make just and reasonable rates
Drifting about for some support on which to rest his case the complainant through his indefatigable counsel strangely enough summons to his assistance that provision of the Constitution of Georgia which ordains that property whether public or private it is claimed shall not be taken or damagedfor public use without just compensation The act under consideration does not contemplate the appropriation or use of the property of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway for public purposes nor is such its effect Its object is to regulate the charges which the corporation may make in the use of the property itself for its own purposes The constitutional provision invoked means that where the State appropriates or takes the property and deprives the owner of it permanently or temporarily uses it for the public to the exclusion of the owner that in the one case the value of the property shall be paid and in the other compensation shall be made for the damage
Equally strange is the effort to take refuge under that clause of the Constitution of Georgia which requires laws of a general nature to have a uniform operation throughout the State par 1 sec 4 art 1 The act assailed is an act affecting railway companies only and it is designed to have a uniform operationto affect each and all of them alike The principle of uniformity which runs through it is to provide for a schedule of rates which shall be
jnst and reasonable Surely it will not be con j tended that to make it have a uniform opera I tion it must require each company to charge I the same rates of transportation Ho one would be more prompt to protest against such a requirement than the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company Is the Legislature obliged to enact that each tollbridge allowed I to be built shall charge the same rates of toll I Such an enactment would be arbitrary and I often operate very unjustly Besides is the I act properly speaking a law of a general I nature It has special application to rail I roads and to them only But it is said that if I this is the proper view to take of it then it is I obnoxious to the concluding part of the para I graph of the Constitution above cited which declares that no general law affecting private rights shall be varied in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all persons to be affected thereby I We fail to perceive the relevancy of this argu mentor its application What general law I is affected by this special act Before its pass I age each railroad prescribed its own tariffs or I charges under the power granted in their re spective charters There was no general law I regulating this matter at all
Equally futile is the attempt to show that I the act in question violates the 3d paragraph of section 1 of the bill of rights prefixed to the I Constitution of Georgia which forbids that any I person shall be deprived of life liberty or I property except by due process of law This is fully covered by the decision in the case of Munn vs Illinois where the distinction between regulating the charges of common carriers and depriving them of their property is clearly I stated and drawn A careful examination of I that case and the authorities to which it refers I will completely dispel whatever doubts and I dissipate all the mists the industry and inge I nuity of counsel have gathered around the questions involved in this case
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JUSTICE WOODS DECISION
George H Tilley vs The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company James M Smith Camphell Wallace and Samuel Barnett Railroad Commissioners and R N Ely AttorneyGeneral In the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Georgia Bill for Injunction Belief etc
The following opinion was rendered February 91881 by Mr Justice Woods of the United States Supreme Court in the above stated case
The Constitution oi the State of Georgia paragraph twentytwo of section seven article three reads as follows
The General Assembly shall have power to make all laws and ordinances consistent with this Constitution and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States which they shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State
Paragraph one section two of article four declares that
The power and authority of regulating railroad freights and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
Paragraph two
The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridged nor so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies and subjecting them to public use the same as property of individuals and the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be abridged nor so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well being of the State Paragraph one section five article two declares
The people of this State have the inherent sole and ex elusive right of regulating their internal government and the police thereof and of altering and abolishing their Constitution whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness
Paragraph one section three article one declares
Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid
Paragraph three section one article one declares
No person shall be deprived of life liberty or property except by due process of law
Paragraph two article one section one declares Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete Paragraph one section four article one declares
Laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation throughout the State and no special law shall be enacted in any case for which provision has been made by an existing general law No general law affecting private rights shall be revised in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all persons to be affected thereby
Paragraph twentythree section one article one de dares
The legislative judicial and executive power shall forever remain separate and distinct and no person discharging the duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of others except as herein provided
Paragraph three section three article one declares
No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporation
These provisions of the Constitution being in force the Legislature on October 141879 passed an act to carry into effect paragraph one section two of article from above quoted
The act provides section three as follows
That if any railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State under any act of incorporation or general law ef this State now in force or which may hereafter be enactedor any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State and doing business in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its track or any of the branches thereof or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right license or permission to use operate or control the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
The act further provides for the appointment of three Railroad Commissioners whose duty it shall be to make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof
Section six of the act declares as follows
That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all conrts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads and said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedule
Section nine provides
That if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall be guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shall not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less tlian one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie In any county in the State where such viola
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tion has occurred or wrong has been perpetrated and shall be in the name of the State of Georgia The Comsioners shall institute such action through the AttorneyGeneral or SolicitorGeneral whose fees shall be the same as now provided by law
By authority of this act James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett were appointed Bailroad Commissioners and were qualified and entered upon the discharge of their duties
The Commissioners as required by law prepared and promulgated a standard schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars and required it to be observed with such modifications as might thereupon be set forth by such of the railroad corporations doing business in the State and that copies of the schedule should be posted by the railroad companies at all their stations and that the same should go into full effect and operation on May 11880
Thereupon the complainant in this case George H Tilley who averred himself to be an alien and a stockholder in the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company a railroad corporation of the State of Georgia filed his bill to which he made the said railroad company JasM Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett Bailroad Commissioners and Bobert N Ely AttorneyGeneral of Georgia parties defendants
The bill alleged that the complainant was the holder of one hundred shares of the capital stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Bailway Company for which he had paid the sum of 10000 in cash
That the said Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company had its origin as follows By a decree of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Georgia the property franchises rights privileges and immunities of the railroad corporation known as the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company were sold in November 41879 to Henry B Plant and his associates That the purchasers of said railroads and property of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company were the bona fide owners of one million four hundred and fifteen thousand dollars of the second mortgage bonds of said company to satisfy which such sale was made and that their cash bid at the sale was 800000 which sum was paid in hand That said sale was made subject to the lien of a mortgage executed by said Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company to secure certain bonds issued and sold by it and known as its first mortgage bonds and that said lien amounted at the time of said sale to about 2700000
That said Plant and his associates under ihe provisions of an act of the Legislature of Georgia approved February 291876 had formed the said defendant corporation the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company and to it was conveyed under the orders of said court the property and franchise rights and immunities of the said Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company That the act by virtue of which the said Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company was organized and said conveyance made declared that upon the sale of the property franchises rights and immunities of any railroad company in the State of Georgia the railroad company formed by the purchase thereof should possess all the powers rights immunities privileges and franchises in respect to such railroad which were promised or enjoyed by the corporation which owned or held such railroad previous to such sale under or by virtue of its charter and any amendments thereto and of other laws of the State Acts of 1876 page 118
The bill further charged that at the time of making and issuing the said first mortgage bonds subject to which the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad was sold the State of Georgia was a holder of the stock of the said company to the amount of 1000000 and that as such stockholder the State acting by her duly appointed commissioner voted for the making and issuing of said first mortgage bonds
and contracted with the holders thereof that the corporate property including the franchises tolls and increase of said Atlantic and Gull Bailroad Company should be pledged for the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds
The bill further averred that while the State of Georgia was a stockholder as aforesaid in the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Companysaid company made contracts with various lumber manufacturers by which in consideration of the payment by them of fifty cents per thousand feet for lumber intended for export the said company agreed to build a branch road from its depot in Savannah to the Savannah Biver and in pursuance of said contract did build said branch road at a cost of about 150000 and the said lumber manufacturers who have used said branch road have paid and continue to pay without complaint the said rate of fifty cents per thousand feet for the use of said branch road That while said Atlantic and Gulf Bail road was under the management of the receivers appointed by the court under whose decree said sale was made said receivers at the instance of the lumber manufacturers along the line of said railroad laid down sidetracks for their exclusive use in consideration whereof said lumber men agreed to pay a rental of fifteen dollars per car for the use of said tracks and they have paid and continue to pay said rental The bill claimed that under the decree by which said railroad was sold the purchasers became entitled to the benefit of said contracts as a pait of the assets and property of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company
The bill further averred that
The Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company the corporation which owned the railroad so purchased was composed of The Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company incorporated under the act of the State of Georgia approved February 271856 and the original Savannah and Albany Bailroad Company chartered by act of the General Assembly of Georgia approved December 251847 the name of which was changed to The Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company by an act approved February 201854
Acts Of 18556 p 158
Acts of 18534 p 454
That these two companies were consolidated by authority of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia approved April 181863 entitled An act to authorize the consolidation of the stock of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company and for other purposes By the third section of said act of consolidation it was enacted That the several immunities franchises and privileges granted to the said Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company by their original charters and the amendments thereof and the liabilities therein imposed shall continue in force except so far as they may be inconsistent with their act of consolidation
The bill claimed that the two companies aforesaid which were consolidated and out of which the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company was formed were granted by their charters the right to charge certain rates of freight and passenger fares specified therein and that the right to charge the same freights and fares had been conferred upon the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company by the act of February 291876 aforesaid
That the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company had adopted a schedule of freights and passenger fares less than the maximum rates fixed by the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company but that the rates so adopted were greater than those fixed by the schedule of the said Bailroad Commission
The bill claimed that if the rates established by the Bailroad Commissioners were made obligatory upon the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company it
would not only be unable to establish a sinking fund to pay off Its first mortgage bonds but would be unable to declare dividends of any amount whatever to its stockholders and the company would be driven into ruin and bankruptcy
The bill further alleged that complainant had hoped that the said Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company would adhere to the schedule of freights and fares which it had adopted as aforesaid but that he had been informed and charged that it intended to abandon said schedule and adopt the one promulgated by saidRailroad Commission which it admitted would not enable it to earn a sufficient income to pay its expenses the interest on its bonded debt but that on the contrary its receipts would not enable it to pay the interest on its bonds by at least 40000 per annum and that such deficit would continue from year to year and the stockholders of said company would receive no dividend whatever but that the value of the stock of said company would be gradually destroyed by said annual deficit
The bill averred that said act of October 141879 under authority of which said Railroad Commissioners assumed to act was in violation of the several provisions of the Constitution of Georgia above quoted and that it excluded the defendant railroad company from its right of trial by jury guaranteed by the Constitution of the State that it violated that clause of the Constitution of the State paragraph nine section one article one which ordains that excessive fines shall not be imposed nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted that said act violated that part of the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States which declares that no State shall deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law nor to deny to any person within its limits the equal protection of the laws and section ten article one which forbids a State to pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts
The bill prayed that the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company might be enjoined from doing any act which would be an acceptance of the said statutes of October 141879 as an amendment to its charter or from carrying out the provisions of said act or from operating its road for such rates of fare and freight as should be inadequate to yield a revenue sufficient to pay the expenses of operating said railroad and maintaining its track and equipment and paying interest on its bonded debt and reasonable dividends to its stockholders and provide a reasonable sinking fund for the payment of the principal of its bonded debt and that said Commissioners might be enjoined from prescribing rates of fare and freight over
WOODS Oi
The question for solution is whether the case made by this bill and amendment and the affidavits in support of it entitles the complainant to the writ of injunction as prayed for in his bill
1 The first inquiry that arises is what are the rights of the Savannah Florida andWestern Railroad Company under the law of its organization On behalf of the complainant it averred that the railroad company has the right within limits prescribed by the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company to fix its own schedule of freight and passenger fares and that this right is not subject to legislative Control
said companys railroad or in any manner enforcing the provisions of the said act of October 141879 and that the AttorneyGeneral might be restrained from instituting any suit of any kind against said railroad company for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of said act and for general relief
Upon the filing of this bill a restraining order was allowed enjoining the defendants as prayed for
Subsequently on September 6 1880 the defendant railroad company answered the bill and on September 18 the Railroad Commissioners filed a demurrer thereto
On December 6 1830 the complainant filed an amendment to his bill in which he averred that estimating the stock of the defendant company at 2000000 and taking into account the mortgage lien subject to which it was bought and which amounted to 2710000 the entire cost ofthe railroad and other property were only 14000 per mile That the gross receipts of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company for the last eight years under a schedule substantially higher than that adopted by the Savannah Florida and Western were 983792 That the average interest charges and expenses of the latter company amount to 867242 leaving a surplus of only 116550 applicable to dividends and sinking fund and that allowing a dividend of 7 per cent on the stock the net receipts would fall short 23550 per annum
That the receipts of the defendant railroad company under the schedule promulgated by the Railroad Commissioners would fail to pay the running expenses the annual interest on prior liens subject to which the railroad was sold by nearly fifty thousand dollars per annum and the said amendment charges that the schedule promulgated by said Commissioners is not reasonable or just
On December 2223 and 241880 the case was heard upon a motion for an injunction pendente lite in accordance with the prayer of the bill Upon this motion the affidavits of John Scriven lately one of the receivers of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company of W S Chisholm VicePresident H S Haines General Manager and W P Hardee Treasurer of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company and of C H Phinizy President of the Georgia Railroad Company were read for the complainant and the affidavit of the Railroad Commissioners was read in their own behalf
Mr Robert Falligant for the complainant
Messrs Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral of Georgia Robert Toombs and P L Mynatt for the Railroad Commissioners
Mr W SChisholmfortheSavannahFloridaand West ern Railroad Company
remit Justice
It is settled that railroad companies are subject to legislative control as to their rates of fare and freight unless protected by their chartersMunn vs Illinois 94 United States 113 Chicago etc Railroad Company vs Iowa 94 United States 161
When the charter of a railroad company allows it to charge maximum rates of fares and freight but the right is reserved to the Legislature to repeal or amend the charter it may change the rates prescribed by the charter by establishing a maximum limit beyond which they shall not goPeik vs Chicago etc Railroad Co 94 U S 164
By the act of the Legislature of Georgia of
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February 291876 entitled an act to enable the purchasers of railroads to form corporations and to exercise corporate powers and privileges under which the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company was organized it was clothed with all the rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company It is necessary therefore to inquire what were the charter rights of the latter company It was organized by the consolidation of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Railroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company by authority of an act of the Legislature of Georgia approved April 18 1863 When this act was passed sections 1651 and 1682 of the Code of 1863 which took effect January 1 1863 were in force The first of these sections declared Persons are either natural or artificial The latter are the creatures of law and except so far as the law forbids is subject to be changed modified or destroyed at the will of their creator they are called corporations The second declared In all cases of private charters hereafter granted the State reserves the right to withdraw the franchise unless such right is expressly negatived in the charter
From these sections of the Code it is apparent that the rights privileges and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company were subject to alteration amendment or withdrawal at the will of the Legislature
This point has been expressely decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Railroad Company vs Georgia98 U S 358
In that case it was held that by the consolidation under the act of April 18 1863 of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Railroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company said companies were dissolved and a new corI poration towit the Atlantic and Gulf Rail road Company was created and that this new company became subject to the provisions of the Code of Georgia above recited
And it has been expressly decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia that all charters granted by the State since the adoption of the Code of 1863 are subject to the provisions of section 1682 above quotedWest Fnd Company vs Atlanta 49 Georgia 151
1 It must therefore be considered as conclusively settled that the right of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company to establish its own
schedule of freight and fares within certain 1 limits was subject to legislative modification and control The Savannah Florida and West I ern Railroad Company having succeeded to the 1 rights and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf I Company is subject to the same revisory power j But so far as the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company is concerned the I right of legislative control over its franchise I has been placed beyond all dispute if any re mained by section 8 of the act under which I the company was organized That section de I dares That nothing in this act shall operate I to vest in any purchaser of any railroad and its frachises any exemption from taxation existing I or claiming to exist in the corporation which shall have been the owner of said railroad and j its franchises or to limit the powers of the I Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the I charter and franchises herein provided
2 Complainant says however that if the I power of the Legislature under the charter of I the company to modify or withdraw its franchises be conceded yet this power is now restrained by that paragraph in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1877 which declares no grant of special privileges or immunities shall j be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporation Par 3 sec 3 art 1 Constitution of 1877
This presents the question whether the act of October 14 1879 under which the Railroad Commissioners assume to act revokes any of the privileges and immunities of the defendant railroad company in such manner as to work injustice to the corporators or creditors of the corporation
zThat act forbids the railroad corporations of the State including the defendant railroad company from charging unfair and unreasonable rates of freight and fare or making unjust discriminations for the transportation of passengers and freights and provides for the ap I poinlment of a Commission to prescribe reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger ttariffs to be observed by all the companies poing business in this State on the railroadsthereof
There is certainly nothing in this act hostile to the paragraph in the Bill of Rights just referred to The franchise of the defendant company is to fix its own rates of freights and fares within certain limits subject to the revisory
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powers of the Legislature It has never had absolute right to establish its own schedule of freighfsau3TareaThb figliT to fix its rates of chargeBWalways been subordinate to legislative control How then can an attempt on the part of the Legislature to regulate the charges of the defendant company be considered as an attempt to revoke the special privileges and immunities of the company
But this clause in the Bill of Bights must be read in connection with paragraph 1 of section 2 of article 4 of the Constitution which confers upon the Legislature the power and authority of regulating railroad freights and tariffs and makes it the duty of the Legislature to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates
The Legislature in the act of October 14 1879 supra has merely forbidden the railroad companies from exacting more than fair and reasonable rates for the transportation of freights and passengers and has attempted through a Commission to prescribe what are just and reasonable rates Upon its face there can be no constitutional objection to this legislation excepting on the assumption that it is one of the special privileges and immunities of the railroad companies to charge unjust and unreasonable rates of freight and fare
3 But it is urged by complainant that the rates prescribed by the Commissioners under the authority of the Legislature are not just and reasonable but are oppressive and destructive to the value of the property of the railroad companies Assuming for the present that the Legislature had the constitutional right to delegate the power of prescribing rates to a Commission and that the schedule established by it is the schedule of the Legislature the question is then presented Where does the power reside to declare what are just and reasonable rates Is it a judicial or legislative question It seems to me that section 2 of article 4 of the Constitution by its very terms confers that power on the Legislature It declares that the power and authority of regulating railroad freights and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred on the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discrimination and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and
reasonable rates How a delegation of power to declare what is just and reasonable could be more plain and explicit it is difficult to see It is not conferred on the courts the railroad companies have no part or lot in the decision oTthe question BuTTKe Constitution declares rTsnereby conferred on the General Assembly But even when there is no such constitutional provisions as exists in this State it has been held that where property has been clothed with a public interest the Legislature may fix a limit to that which shall in law be reasonable for its use This limit binds the court as well as the people If it has been improperly fixed the Legislature not the courts must be appealed to for the change Peik vs Chicago etc Bailway Company 94 U S 164 Munnvs Illinois 94 U S113
Looking therefore at the several clauses of the Constitution which bear upon the subject it cannot be said by the railroad companies that an attempt by the Legislature to prescribe reasonable rates for the transportation of freights and fares is a revocation of any of their special privileges or immunities
In my judgment the clause of the Constitution now under consideration was not meant to limit the power of the Legislature over the subject of freights and fares which is fully treated in section 11 article 14 but was intended to protect the incorporators and creditors of the corporation from the results which at common law followed the revocation of the charter of an incorporated company which were that its realty reverted to the grantors and its personalty escheated to the State
4 The complainant alleges that when the bonds and the mortgage to secure the same subject to which the defendant company bought the railroad and other property of the Atlantic and Gulf Company were executed the State of Georgia was the owner of 10000 shares of the stock of the latter company and this stock voted in favor of the issue of the bonds and the execution of the mortgage that the bonds bore 7 per cent annually and are to fall due July 1 1877 that the property was conveyed by the mortgage or trust deed to a trustee with the power upon default of the payment of interest to take possession and operate the road and pay first expenses second prior liens third interest and principal of the bonds and fourth the residue to the corporation but until
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default the companySwas to manage the property instead of the trustees
And he claims that the reserved right of modification or repeal does not apply when such modification will impair a contract like this made by the State herself
To this there are two answers In the first place the State made no contract when the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company issued its bonds and executed its mortgage to secure this The bonds and mortgage were the contracts of the company and not of its stockholders
Secondly the purchasers of the bonds took them subject toOie power the Stffd rg late the ratesof freight and fares The State never either by express or implied contract
agreed that this power should not be exercised y The purchasers of bonds took the rislj of the ability of the company to do business enough under the provisions and restrictions of its charter and subject to the right of the legislaI I tive revision to pay the principal and interest 1 on the bonds
The same answer applies to the claim that the State was bound by the contracts made by the railroad company and the receivers with the lumbermen Neither the railroad company nor the receivers could deprive the State of the right reserved in the charter of the railroad company to control its charges by making contracts for freight in advance The fact that the State is a stockholder in the railroad company does not inoifilyThe charter or confer on the railroad coffipany aPy new rights
57 The complainant next insists that paragraph 1 section 2 of article 4 of the Constitution of Georgia requires the General Assembly itself to regulate railroad freights and passenger tariffs and prohibit unjust discriminations on the railroads of the State and prohibit them from charging other than just and reasonable rates and that the delegation of this duty to the Railroad Commissioners is not warranted by the Constitution
The argument is that the act of October 14f 1879 delegates to the Railroad Commission legislative power which by the Constitution is conferred exclusively upon the Legislature
The paragraph of the Constitution which authorizes and requires the action of the Generali Assembly on this subject does not in terms re quire that body to prescribe the rates of freights and fares It is required to pass 1 aws to regu
late freight and passenger tariffs It has in performance of this duty declared that the rates 1 charged by the railroad companies should be I just and reasonable and appointed a CommisI sion to fix the maximum of just and reasonable I rates beyond which the railroad companies I shall not go This section seems to fall strictly I within the terms of the authority on which it is based
If however the power conferred on the Com missioners can only be exercised under the Con1 stitution by the Legislature the act conferring such powers must be declared void
A somewhat careful consideration of this point satisfies me clearly that the duties imposed by the act upon the Commissioners are not leg islative and are not necessarily to be performed by the Legislature
If the act had declared that no railroad company should charge other than just and reasonable rates and that the Board of Directors of I every railroad company in the State should pre f scribemaximum charges which should be posted at each station and beyond which the ticket I and freight agents of the companies should not go it could not reasonably be claimed that the I directors were clothed with legislative power Is the case altered when the General Assembly j instead of making the Board of Directors the body to fix maximum rates appoints an independent and it is fair to presume a more im1 partial body for that purpose The nature of I the duty discharged is not changed by a change in the person or persons on whom the duty is I imposed
It is a familiar rule of constitutional con I struction that a grant of legislative power to do f a certain thing carries with it the power to use 1 all proper and necessary means to accomplish the endMcCullough vs Maryland 4 Wheat 316
The General Assembly of Georgia is express I ly required by paragraph one section two arti I cle four to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and to prohibit unjust discrimination and the charging of unjust and unreasonable rates by the railroad companies of the State The fixing of just and i reasonable maximum rates for all the railroads in the State is clearly a duty which cannot be performed by the Legislature unless it remain in perpetual session and devotes a large portion i of its time to its performance The question
87
what are just and reasonable rates is one which presents different phases from month to month upon every road in the State and in ref j erence to all the innumerable articles and products that are the subjects of transportation This question can only be satisfactorily solved by a board which is in perpetual session and whose time is exclusively given to the considey ration of the subject
It is obvious that to require the duty of prescribing rates for the railroads of the State to be performed by the General Assembly consisting of a Senate with fortyfour members and a House of Representatives with one hundred and seventyfive and which meets in regular session only once in two years and then only for a period of forty days would result in the most illadvised and haphazard schedules and be productive of the greatest inconvenience and injustice in some cases to the railroad companies and in others to the people of the State It is impracticable for such a body to prescribe just and reasonable rates To insist that this duty must be performed by the General Assembly itself is to defeat the purpose of that clause of the Constitution under consideration
The view taken by complainant would preclude the Legislature from the use of the necessary means and agencies to accomplish what it is required by the Constitution to do The Constitution of the United States given to Congress the power to levy and collect taxes but this does not require Congress itself to assess the property of the taxpayer and collect the tax The Constitution of Georgia clothes the General Assembly with the power of taxation over the whole State and requires taxes to be assessed upon all property ad valorem But this does not require the Legislature to investigate through its committees or otherwise and declare by an act the value of every piece of property in the State subject to taxation
In many of the cases it has been held that notwithstanding the fact that a State Constitution confers legislative power exclusively on the Legislature yet that body may delegate legislative or quasi legislative power on subordinate agencies
A familiar instance of the use of agencies by the Legislature for the exercise of the power vested in it by the Constitution is found in the creation of municipal corporations and of the powers of legislation which are commonly bestowed upon them The bestowal of such pow
ers is not to be considered as trenching upon the maxim that legislative power is not to be delegated since that maxim is to be understood in the light of the immemorial practice of this country and England which has always recognized the propriety of vesting in municipal corI porations certain powers of local regulation in respect to which the parties immediately interested may fairly be supposed more competent to judge of their needs than any central authorityCooly on Constitutional Limitations 143 City of Patterson vs Society etc 24 N J 365 Cheany vs Hooser 9 B Munroe 330 Berlin vs Gorham 34 N H 266
Even so grave a matter as taxation has always in he State of Georgia even without special constitutional provision been delegated to cities towns and county organizations Brunswick vs Finney 54 Ga 317 Powers vs Dougherty county 23 Ga 65
The rule applicable to the delegation of power by a Legislature is laid down with great clearness in the case of the Cincinnati etc Railroad Company vs Clinton county1 Ohio page 77
The true distinction therefore is between the delegation of power to make the law which necessarily involves a discretion as to what it shall be and conferring an authority or discretion as to its execution to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law The first cannot be done to the latter no valid objection can be made
The Constitution of the State of Illinois article four section one declares that the legislative power shall be vested in a General Assembly which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives etc Article thirteen section seven of the same Constitution declared that the General Assembly shall pass laws for the inspection of grain for the protection of producers shippers and receivers of grain
The Legislature of Illinois with these constitutional provisions in force passed an act to establish a board of railroad and warehouse commissioners This board was empowered to fix the rate of charges for the inspector of grain and the manner in which the same should be collected and to fix the amount of compensation to be psiid the chief inspector and other officers etc
It was objected that this was an unwarrantable delegation of legislative power But the Supreme Court of that State held that the right to pass inspection laws belonged to the police powers of the government and the Legislature
had the authority to arrange the distribution of said powers as the public exigencies might require apportioning them to local jurisdictions as the lawmaking power deemed appropriate and committing the exercises of the residue to officers appointed as it might see fit to order and that it was important for the General Assembly to delegate to a commission the power to control the subject of the inspection of grain and to prescribe what fees should be charged for the inspection of grain and regulate them from time to time as circumstances might require
The court says The principles repeatedly recognized by this and other courts of last resort that the General Assembly may authorize others to do things which it might properly yet cannot understanding or advantageously do itself seems to apply with peculiar force to the fixing of the amount of inspection fees so as to adjust them properly with reference to the expenses of inspection
See also Police Commissioners vs Louisville 3 Bush 587 The People vs Shepherd 36 NY 285 The People vs Pinckney 32 1ST Y 377 Bush vs Simpson 4 Scam 186 Trustees vs Tatern an 13 111 27 County of Bichmond vs County of Lawrence 12 111 1 Commonwealth vs Duquet 2 Yates 493
By the authority cited it is held that even if the power conferred on municipal corporations or special commissions be legislative or quasilegislative still it is within the discretion of the Legislature to confer it
My conclusion upon this point is therefore that the act of October 19 1879 is not unconstitutional by reason of a delegation to the Bailroad Commissioners of legislative power
6 It is claimed that the law is unconstitutional because by declaring that the schedule of rates established by the Commissioners shall be held and taken in all the courts as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable it deprives the railroad companies of their constitutional right to a trial by jury
In this provision the Legislature has exercised the power exercised by all the Legislatures both Federal and State of prescribing the effect of evidence and it has done nothing more Even in criminal cases Congress has declared that certain facts proven shall be evidence of guilt For instance in section 3082 of the United States Bevised Statutes it is provided that
whenever on an indictment for smuggling the defendant is shown to be in possession of smug I gled goods such possession shall be deemed I evidence sufficient to authorize a conviction unless the defendant shall explain the possession to the satisfaction of the jury The statute books are full of such acts but it has never been considered that this impairs the right of trial by jury
But even if this provision of the act under consideration were unconstitutional it would not render inoperative the other sections of the statute from which this provision can be easily removed and yet leave the main object and i purpose of the law unimpaired Packet Company vs Keokuk 95 U S 80
7 It is next insisted that the Bailroad Commission act is unconstitutional because it violates that declaration of the bill of rights par 1 agraph 1 section 3 which declares private I property shall not be taken or damaged for f public uses without just and adequate compen 1 sation being first paid
This clause is a regulation of the exercises of the States right of eminent domain
An act attempting to fix just and reasonable l rates of freight and fares upon the railroads of I the State can hardly be considered as taking or damaging the property of the railroad for pub I lie use The object of the law is to regulate the charges which the corporation may make in the use of its own property for its own pur poses It does not take it or damage it for publie use The act was passed because its passage was expressly enjoined by the Constitution It does not become obnoxious to the con stitutional provision under consideration and j become a taking or damaging of private prop f erty for public use because all the rates fixed I are not just and reasonable or because they I are thought so by the railroad companies
8 Again the act under consideration is al I leged to be unconstitutional because obnoxious I to paragraph 11 section 1 article 1 of the Con I stitution which declares Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of the government and shall be impartial and com j plete and of paragraph 3 section 1 article 1 which declares that No person shall be de 1 prived of life liberty or property without due process of law
When it is remembered that these paragraphs are referred to a law the only purpose of which is the performance by the Legislature of its
89
constitutional duty to prohibit unjust discriminations and unjust and unreasonable charges by the railroads of the State it is difficult to see how they are pertinent to the matter
In Munn vs Illinois 94 U S 113 it was held that the limitation by legislative enactment of charge for services rendered in public employment or for the use of property in which the public has an interest does not deprive the owner of his property without due process of law Neither can it be said that it is a denial of impartial and complete protection of property
9 It is next insisted that the law is one of a general nature but that it does not have a uniform operation throughout the State as required by paragraph 1 section 4 article 1 of the Constitution of the State
The act assailed is an act affecting railroad companies only and it is designed to have uniform operation on them throughout the State Its purpose is to require all such companies in the State to charge just and reasonable rates and to prohibit unjust discrimination by them To give the law a uniform operation it is not necessary that it should prescribe the same rates for all the railroad companies It might as well be claimed that the Legislature in framing an act to regulate tollbridges must prescribe the same rate of toll for every bridge in the State otherwise the act would not have a uniform operation
The ingenuity of copnsel has brought into the case these various paragraphs of the Constitution in the hope that the Railroad Commissioners act might be impaled on some one of them
I have considered them all Most of them have but a very remote application to the law some of them have already been considered by the Supreme Court of the United States in Munn vs Illinois and Peik vs Chicago 94 U S supra and decided to have no control over similar legislation
10 The act of the Legislature if constitutional may be considered unwise or even oppressive but even if it is the remedy is not with the court but with the Legislature If the General Assembly in its passage were acting within the scope of its constitutional power no matter how crude and unjust the law may be the court cannot apply the remedy
There is nothing in the act complained of which indicates a disposition on the part of the 12
Legislature to oppress the railroad companies
It appears to be rather an attempt in good faith to discharge a duty imperatively demanded of the Legislature by the State Constitution
11 The complaint is not so much against the Legislature as against the Railroad Commissioners Their administration af the law is charged to be oppressive and unjust to the railroad company in which the complainant is a stockholder It is alleged that the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners for said rail road is if adhered to destructive to the railroad property and ruinous to its creditors and stockholders
The evidence submitted upon this point by the complainant consisting of the affidavit of Mr Haines the General Manager of the defen dant railroad company and others on the one side and the affidavit and reports and circulars j of the Railroad Commissioners on the other is very conflicting and irreconcilable It is not j so much a conflict as to the facts as it is in mat ters of judgment and inferences from facts
One thing is made clear to my mind by the evidence It is that there has been an honest and painstaking effort on the part of the Commissioners to perform their duty under the law fairly and justly The difference between the Railroad Commissioners and the officers of the j Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Com pany in an honest difference of judgment
The company puts the present investment in its road at 4700000 and claimed that a profit of 10 per cent per annum would be just and reasonable The Commissioners placed the value of investment at 4000000 and a just and reasonable profit thereon at 8 per cent
The railroad company estimated its annual expenditure for maintaining and operating the road at 700000 The Commissioners were of opinion that 650000 would suffice with good management and proper economy The officers of the railroad company declare that the rates fixed by the Commission will so reduce its income that it will not suffice to pay the running expenses of the road and the interest on its bonded debt leaving nothing for dividends to its stockholders The affidavit of the Railroad Commissioners states that the average of rates charged by the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company exceeded the average of rates charged by the AirLine Road the Macon and Brunswick and the Brunswick and Albany the three weakest roads in the Stateby 60
90
per cent and the rates charged by all other railroads in this State over seventyfive miles long by more than 70 per cent The Railroad Commissioners assert that their schedule was framed to produce eight per cent income on the value of the road after paying cost of maintenance and running expenses Which view is the correct one it is impossible to decide from the evidence submitted There is however a conclusive way and it seems to me it is the only ope by which this controversy can be settled and that is by experiment A reduction of railroad charges is not always followed by a reduction of either gross or net income It can soon be settled which is rightthe railroad companys officers or the Railroad Commission in their view of the effect of the Commissions tariff of rates by allowing the tariff to go into operation
If it turns out that the views of the railroad company are correct and that the schedule fixed by the Commission is too low to afford a fair return upon the value of the road the remedy is plain for the law makes it the duty of the Commissioners from time to time and as often as circumstances may require to change and revise said schedules
This duty the Commissioners stand ready to perform as they testify by their affidavit on file in this case In short they constitute a permanent tribunal where the complaints of the railroad companies of any action of the Commissioners can be made and heard and any wrong suffered thereby corrected
In their affidavit on file the Commissioners say that they accompanied their action by circulars indicating their readiness to review their action upon the presentation of sufficient data The Commission may have erred in its judgment there was room for honest error there was a difference of views in the Commission itself as to the proper percentage to be added on the standard tariff rates But there was no intention to wrong any interest nor to adhere to any error when shown to be such The circulars modifying rates on the showing of the railroads illustrates the desire of the Commission to conform by closer and yet closer approximation to improved information
The railroad company after testing the results of the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners and finding it to be unjust and unreasonable can apply to the Commissioners for redress If redress is denied them there they
I can apply to the Legislature for relief Believing the law under which the Commissioners are appointed to be within the constitutional power of the Legislature the redress must come either from the Commissioners or the General Assembly it is not in the poyer of this court to give I relief As remarked by Mr Justice Swayne in Gilmon vs Philadelphia 3 Wall 713 Many abuses may arise in the legislation of the States I which are wholly beyond the reach of the gov I ernment of the nation The safeguard and remedy are to be found in the virtue and intelligence of the people They can make and unmake constitutions and laws and from that tribunal there is no appeal If a State exercise I unwisely the power here in question the evil consequences will fall chiefly on her own citi zens They have more at stake than the citizens of any other State
Itjhas been the policy of Georgia at least since January 1 1863 to grant no charter which should not be subject to revision or repeal by the General Assembly Whether wise or unwise this policy has been embodied in the Constitution of 1877 It was clearly the purpose of the people in the adoption of that revision of the organic law to keep the charges of the railroad companies of the State within legislative control They were not satisfied with the rules of the common law on this subject The act of October 141879 is but the practical expression of the will of the people of the State as embodied in their organic law It is the exercise of a right which they have been careful to reserve and subject to which the defendant company were allowed to exist as a corporation
My conclusion is that the act of the Legisla y ture of Georgia approved October 141879 entitled an act to provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State etc etc is not in violation of either the Constitution of the United States or of the State of Georgia that under the Constitution of Georgia power and authority is conferred on the Legislature to pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs on railroads and require reasonable and just rates and it is its duty to pass such laws that it may prescribe such rates either directly or through the intervention of a Commission and that the question whether the rates prescribed by the Legislature either directly or indirectly are just and reasonable is a question which under the Constitution the Legislature may determine for itself
91
It results from these conclusions that the motion for injunction pendente lite must be denied and the restraining order heretofore allowed must be dissolved and it will be so ordered
Robert Falligant Solicitor for Complainant Chisholm Erwin Solicitors for the Savannah
Florida and Western Railway Company Mynatt Howell Solicitors for Railroad Commissioners R Toombs and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral Solicitors for the State of Georgia
PART IIWORK OF THE COMMISSION
NoteThe next subject of discussion according to the order set forth on page 51 was the Condition and Operation of the Railroads of the State Delays in the returns made by the railroads make necessary a change of the proposed order so that we shall treat next of the action of the Commission
We resume the subject of Bookkeeping the discussion of which began in the Report proper
BOOKKEEPING
Let us consider nicely the exact object to be accomplished A systematic view of the objects of railroad bookkeeping would be about as follows
In order to understand a road it is necessary to know
1 What it is what it cost and a far more important point what it is NOW worth
2 What it owes
3 What it does its work what it earns thereby gross earnings what it costs to earn it operating expenses what is left after paying expenses net earnings and the use of net earnings dividends interest etc
The first set of questions show its Property the second its Liabilities the third its Business
The books are intended to preserve a record of all the material transactions of the company and to condense and exhibit them in an intelligible form
Now the original transactions which are to be recorded are scattered over a wide surface Some of them are first entered by station agents some by conductors etc They are all to be reported to one general office and consolidated in one set of books
In the books of the general office appear all transactions whatsoever concerning the companyits relations and business Here are entered all property accounts showing original construction new construction renewal etc The reports of engineers as to location and cost etc are all brought together here
So also the liabilities of the company all are or ought to be shown on the books of the general office and the account on which they were incurred
So the business records are here concentrated also showing the work donethe earnings expenses and the net income and its uses From all parts of the road these accounts come up from conductors agents paymasters superintendents of shops etc
First in importance is itto get the facts aU in with nothing omitted
If they are all in the proper basis is laid and a skilful bookkeeper can do all the rest he can concentrate and group analyze and unfold them at his pleasure
The facts being all in the next step is to get them all together all in one place to make a unit of them
Getting them in secures the details getting them unified secures comprehension
This marshalling of the facts in due orderis Tabulation the object of which is to render them easily intelligible and in doing this be it ever remembered method is supreme and
THE BEST METHOD IS THE TREE FORM
which shows all the partsand the proportions and relations of the partsto one another and to the whole No other form so exhibits the wholeeach partand all relationsas does this familiar form of a tree and its branches and systematic Ramificationsnatures own arrangement
All the facts must be concentrated in one Table on which are exhibited the principal limbs or branches which usually are three viz Property Liabilities and Years Business Each of these Branches may become the trunk of a separate tree with its subordinate limbs
Thus a clew is given to all the facts marshalled in their proper and natural order The great things and small can be studied without confusion the tables indeed give conscious mastery of the whole business
To give this conscious mastery the system should be largely selfevidencing One should
93
see clearly that all its parts make a whole and that he understands just where he is at this present moment of time in the investigation in which he is engaged
Many reports are so loosely put together as to be like the pages of an unbound book while hunting for the next in order the whole connection is gone and instead of finding what you are looking for you get lost yourself
EVILS AND REMEDIES
After this general view of the objects to be accomplished let us next consider the evils and failures of ordinary methods with reference to their remedy There are three great leading sources of error
1 Lumping items
2 The failure to use the Profit and Loss account so that the showing made is of the past not of the present and
3 The mixture of property with expenses and debt with income
These three errors are all pernicious and all common
1 As to lumping itemsthe objection is not to having in one condensed statement the sum of a number of items but it is to doing this only and furnishing no statement of what these several particulars consist
The report should supply or suggest the means of passing from the condensed to the more expanded forms step by step to the very original transactions
To illustrate by a bank report It is all right to express the sum of discounted notes by an aggregatesay 25631700 but the directors should see also the statement of each and every note embraced in that sum and criticise it separately Some of these notes may be good some doubtful some bad and utterly worthless Now in the foregoing expression these are all classed as of equal value when really the result of criticism might be to reject twothirds of them as bad What proportion is good what doubtful etc can never be estimated except by a detailed examination
2 This leads naturally to the second head of trouble viz the failure to use the profit and loss account
In the criticism of note after note above suggested the use of the profit and loss account would be to reject and entirely cast out the worthless paper and charge it to the loss side of the profit and loss account
Doubtful assets not hopeless and so not yet charged as lost should also be specified The foregoing lumping item of 25631 might be
found upon criticism to read thus
Discounted notesgood 125317
Doubtful 100000
225317
Bad and charged off as lost 31000
256317
Now the proper use of the profit and loss account is not a mere clerical work for the bookkeepera part of a technical process of which any one who has spent a few weeks in a commercial college is capable but involves the highest talent and sagacity of the highest officers of the company
Unless this severance is made the 31000 will go onononas assets deceiving the student of the affairs of the cQmpany all the while Another six months may reveal the hopelessness of 50000 more out of the 100 000 of doubtful assets and these too should be charged off
This explanation illustrates but one of the uses of the profit and loss account but its uses are constant It is the only means of reconciling on the books the present with the pastof showing not what the road once was but what it now is as to value Now present value is the chief thing to know All these are bookkeeping truisms it may be said Admitted but of all the dangerous things neglected truisms are the most dangerous And these are neglected day by day and year by year till nearly every report is utterly deceptive and full of old and effete assets not worth the ink it takes to print them
Indeed the very first item in most reports violates both truisms It is 1 a lumping item with no means of arriving at the particulars which compose it and 2 with no application from year to year of the profit and loss account
This first item will read through all the fluctuations of valuewhen the stock is at 30 and when the stock is at 130all the same viz the road and its outfit so muchsay 2500000 when the real value within that period has varied from 750000 to 3250000 But if any one knows this he knows it aliunde and not by what the report tells him
94
Of what use is such a report Only to mislead and to conceal the facts It may not be so intended but no other purpose does it really serve The last place to which to go for inform ation is the place which professes to furnish it
3 The mixture ordinarily made in the selfsame column of property with expenses and so also of debt with income in the same column causes complete and hopeless confusion to the common mind unacquainted with technical bookkeeping Such a reader finds among the assets of the company the expenses included Queer assets they seem to him And so the gross earnings of the year seem to be strangely located among the liabilities Plain as this may be to the experienced bookkeeper it is confusion worse confounded to the common untechnical mind For the sake of the average stockholder the average citizen desiring to buy stock or understand the condition of the companynay of the average directorthese elements should be disentangled and presented in different columns
Thus too will they appear in more intelligible form even to expertsto the officers themselves for thus the permanent and the temporary are kept separatethe property and the business The analysis must take place in
the official mind and had better be made in the tables themselves
And here we must pause to say with emphasis that nothing is more important to a private individual or to a corporation than a sharp incisive clearcut distinction between
Property and Income
Debt and Expenses
One should understand all the while what his capital is yielding and exactly how his income and expenses are related
As each of these sources of error is confusing combined they are usually inextricable and a man of plain common sense perfectly capable of understanding the condition of a railroad company if properly presented finds it utterly unintelligible as actually presented The facts indeed are not incorporated in the reportthey are hot there There is no mere failure to present them clearly the lumping item does not present the needful facts at all the neglect of the profit and loss account makes the facts past and not present and the mixture of items makes a mixture indeed of the whole matter
Whatever other sources of error may or may not exist we have endeavored in the proposed system of forms to remedy these three chief and leading sources
95
SYSTEM OF BLANK FORMS
To be Used in Reports to the Commission
lO
The following Blank Forms of Reports to be made by the railroads to the Commission have been prepared each form for one company if operated as a whole if operated in divisions a form for each division and an additional form for the consolidated report of the com
pany
TITLE
Repoet of theKailCompany to
the Railroad Commission of the State
of Georgia for theending
188
EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
The present system of forms opens with what we have designated a Company Table giving the titles dates addresses organizations etc of the company with a brief sketch of its history furnishing important preliminary information concerning the general subject of the report
explanation of the general scope of the
TABLES AND THEIR MUTUAL RELATIONS
The tables are presented in two great divisions one set showing the financial condition of the company the other the physical condition and characteristics of the road and its business
The clew to the system is easily learnedthe Tables follow the order of a Tree first the Trunk then the Branches Limbs etc in due order and proportion
TRUNK TABLE
The General Exhibit or Trunk Table exhibits the Financial Condition of the company as a whole As already said it is all comprehensive giving a birdseye view of the entire condition and operations of the company its Property Liabilities and Business These are presented in close connection yet in separate columns such separation being allimportant to clearness
The Trunk Table presenting everything in a condensed formthe succeeding tables give the
details Every other table is represented in the trunk as a limb of the trunk or a limb of a limb each limb being capable of indefinite expansion to any degree of detail even to separate original transactions
BRANCH TABLES OR LIMBS
The first of these is the Property Tablewhich itself has three great limbs1 Construction 2 Equipment and 3 All Other Property each exhibited first as a whole and then in detail This table also gives information of value as well as costof the present as well as the pastandis capable of indefinite expansion
The second great limb is the Table of Liabilities which divides naturally into two subordinate limbs 1 of Liabilities to Stockholders and 2 Liabilities to Creditorsor Stock and Debt The Stock limb subdivides into Common Stock Preferred Stock and what is ordinarily called Surplus Fund or what unfortunately may take its place Deficit The Debt limb hows Bonds or Funded Debt Unfunded or Floating Debt Contingent Debt etc A special or important feature is that of showing on what account the bond is issued or the debt incurred whether for construction equipment or the like or for subscription to some other enterprise and what
Obviously this limb suggests as do the others all necessary details The Table of Liabilities answers the question to what is cost debtor
The third great limb or branch consists of the Business tables dividing readily into three limbs viz Gross Earnings Working Expenses and Net Earnings with the use made of them These business tables after all furnish the chief practical information for the guidance at once of the Officers of the road and the Railroad Commissioners Great pains have been taken to make them comprehensive and particular
96
These suggestions give perhaps a sufficient clew to the general scope and object of the financial tables
PHYSICAL CONDITION OE DESCRIPTIVE TABLES
These follow much the same order as the Financial tablesthe one set indeed emptying naturally into the other For example The Description of Property follows exactly the same order as the Financial Table of Property giving description of items 1 in Construction Account 2 Equipment Account and 3 All Other Property So the tables descriptive of business follow the same order giving mileage tonnage etc of the business by which earnings were made expenses incurred etc
The two sets of tables are well nigh exhaustive and yet without confusion as one may study just where and what he pleases and know all the time exactly where he is in the progress of the study
The objects contemplated by the Legislature are to enable the Commission to procure the necessary information to make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to ascertain if such rules and regulations are observed or violated Such tables are essential to these purposes
INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO USE THE BLANKS
The blanks usually explain themselves sufficiently When the answer is numerical fill the blanks with the proper figures taking care to make them legible and to keep units under units etc When the answer is not numerical it should be as concise as is consistent with clearness
When the space for the answer is insufficient cross references should be made viz refer in the blank to the proper page in the end of the book and on this page make also a back reference to the particular question answered by its page and number
The methods of computing the value of the road referred to on page 7 are as follows
1 Add the market value of the Stock to the Debt of the company
2 Compute the capital necessary to yield the I average income for five years thus Suppose I average income 100000 Legal interest in f Georgia being 7 per cent the principal 100 I 000 is 14 27 times the interest So the capital represented would be 14 27 times 100000 I 1428571
3 Compute the capital necessary to yield the I income of the year preceding the report in same way
4 Estimate the value from all the data in I possession of the company including the past business and any new factors favorable or un I favorable stating what they are
The first report may involve some difficulties I and some of the questions the railroads may not with the information in their possession he able to answer After one or two reports however answers will be much easier and in many I cases only changes will need to be reported with an occasional full report to date when required None of the questions it is believed I are immaterial in themselves or unimportant to the railroads or the Commission At the close of the book blank pages are left and extra I ruled blanks are also sent where we suppose them necessary and others will be furnished on application These should be numbered and references back and forth by page and number should be made
NoteThe following suggestions of the convention of Railroad Commissioners are approved
Liabilities are to be entered when incurred The date when due to be given also if known
Expenses to be charged when material etc used e
Increase of cost only not mere renewal to be charged in Property Accounts
Mileage to be reported only between stations Switching computed at eight miles per hour to be kept separate
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace
Saml Barnett
Railroad Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary

Note A letter which accompanied Form 10 is republished on pagereferring
amongst other points to the most important questions when all cannot be answered
97
CONTENTS OF FORM io
Explanations and Instructions
Company TableTitles Organization etc
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COMPANY
Trunk Table or General Exhibit of Property Liabilities and Business Property Table
Profit and Loss Table
Table of Liabilities
Business Tables
Receipts and Payments on all Accounts
Gross EarningsPassenger and Freight
by Months
Stations and Connecting Roads
Class and Distance
Working Expenses
General Management
Roadway
Movement
Station
Annual ExpensesPercentages etc
Net Earnings and Uses
Comparative Table of Miles Per Cents etc
Historical TableSummary for Each Year1866 to 188
Demand and Supply Table or Early Payments and Quick Assets
PHYSICAL CONDITION
Map
Stations Distances Elevations etc
Surface Grades Curves etc
Construction TableRoad Track Structures etc
Equipment Table
LocomotivesDescriptive List
All other PropertyLands Ships Elevators etc
Work DonePassengers Tons etc
by Classes of Freight1 2 3 4 Cotton etc
1 by Stations
Accidents
General Questions
Oath
SUPPLEMENT
Distance Tables
Schedules
Agents Instructions
Forms of Accounts
Annual Reports
13
99
ICOMPANY TABLE
Giving the Title History Organization md Addresses of the Company
1 Present Name
2 Successive Names with Dates
3 Main Line Miles from to
4 Branches Miles from to
5 Towns or Cities on Main Line
0 on Branches
For Stations and Distance see page
7 Date of Inception of Enterprise Place
Leading Person etc
8 CharterDate
9 Special Features
10 Declaration of Objects
11 Capital
12 Increase of Capital
13 Banking Privileges
14 Individual Liability
15 Exemptions from Taxation
16 Powers as to Kates
17 Any other Special Features
18 Amendments of Charter Dates
19 Acceptances with Dates
20 Work BegunWhen
21 Progress with Dates
22 Main Road CompletedWhen
23 Branches f
24 Extensions
25 Contracts Purchase
26 a Sale
27 u Lease
28 Rent
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Contracts Consolidation
for Operation of other Koads
with Express Companies
Sleeping Car Companies
a Telegraph
Steamship
Southern Kailway and
Steamship Association
Any other Contract
Express or Implied oral or written understanding or working agreement
Loan debt account or other contract
Are all contracts reported Answer
All important changes
Subscriptions to any other enterprise name
How madeBy cash Endorsement or how
Dates and amounts
Like report for each subscription
ORGANIZATION
45 Stockholders number of
46 a in Georgia
47 List of names addresses and number of
shares Send the printed list in your report if you have one
48 Directors and addresses
49 Present General Officers and addresses
elected or appointed
50 Full list of elected General Officers from
origin of company
Remarks
100
IITRUNK TABLE OR GENERAL EXHIBIT OF
On the

NAME
MILES COST VALUE
LIABILITIES
TOTAL STOCK BONDS dEB6
102
Note The table on the two foregoing pages is in the best form for comparing results on a large numher of roads and will be used in making such a comparison in our report concerning the Condition and Operation of the Railroads of Georgia
For a single road or a road worked in a few divisions another form of Trunk Table is presented In the captions of the several columns the Divisions of the Central Railroad are used as a convenient illustration
The Trunk Table or General Lxhibit is so all important that were this information contained in it verified beyond all doubt little else would be needed by the Commission For this reason we illustrate it in several forms
ANOTHER FORM OF TRUNK TABLE
ITEMS CENTRAL JRAILROL SAYANH DIVISION ATLANTA DIVISION S W R R DIVISION SGNA DIVISION STEAM SHIPS
Property Miles of Road 2 Cost 3 Profit 4 Loss 5 Present value Liabilities 6 Total 7 Stock 8 Market value 9 Bonds 10 Floating debt Business 11 Work done 12 Passenger miles 13 Ton miles 14 Gross earnings 15 from passengers Total Through Local 16 freightTotal Through Local 17 Working expenses 18 Net earnings 19 Use of net earnings 20 Dividends 21 Interest 22 Rents 23 Surplus
Tli6 captions may be varied so as to show the Divisions according to title and ownership
ITEMS CENTRAL ROAD ORIGINAL ROAD Investments STEAM SHIPS Leases ROADS OPERATD
M W Alabama A S S W R R
Miles of road Cost Value Details of cost etc
IIIPROPERTY TABLE
Miles of road now 36 Fencing
2 At opening of road 37 Turn tables
3 Since added 38 Depots
4 Added during year 39 Sheds
5 Now in progress 40 Tools and machinery
Cost total 41 Materials and supplies
7 To opening of road 42 Telegraph
8 Since added 43 Interest during construction
9 Added during year 44 Incidental and miscellaneous
10 Cost if now built 45 Construction to opening of Road
11 to PRESENT OWNERS 46 To present time
Profit and Loss 47 During past year
12 At beginning of year Details of Equipment
13 At close of 49 EnginesJNo Cost
14 During 50 Cars passengerNo Cost
ValueMethod 1 51 freight Cost
15 2 Details of all other Property
16 3 53 Lands not R of wayacres
17 4 54 Elevatorscapacity bu
Details of cost 55 Wharves
18 Construction 56 Steamships
19 Equipment 57
20 All other property 58 Steamboats
Details of construction 59
22 Preliminaryadvertising 60 Summary
office rent etc 61 Total cost
23 Engineering 62 Original cost
24 Right of way 63 Improvements
25 Earthwork 64 Added during year
26 Ballast Due to Company
27 Masonry 65 Cash
28 Bridges 66 Stocks
29 Trestle 67 Bonds
30 Crossties 68 Notes
31 Stringers 69 Exchange
32 RailIron 70 Accounts due by Agents
33 Steel 71 Railroads
34 Spikes chairs etc 72 Banks
35 Road crossings i
The columns of the Property Table should be as in the last arrangement on p 102 showing the division of the Road as to title and ownership
The details of construction are valuable but not essential when difficult to ascertain
104
IVPROFIT AND LOSS TABLE
1 Balance at Beginning of Year
2 Changes During YearTotal
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ll
12
13
14
15
In Property Liabilities Business
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Property Changes
In own Road i Improvements
Outfit
All other appurtenances
In investments
1
16 Changes in Liabilities
17 In stock
18 Surplus
19 In debt
20 Bonds
21 Floating debt
22 Notes
23 Accounts
24 Change bills
25 Dues for supplies
26 In contingent debt
27 Interest paid by maker
28 unpaid u
29 In disputed claims
PROFIT
LOSS
30 Business of the Year
Earningsown road Bank
Other property Investments
Dividends
Interest
Bents
Items charged on or off books
Resulting Balance at close of year
VTABLE OF LIABILITIES
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10 11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26 27
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
LIABILITIES TOTAL
INCREASE DURING YEAR
Decrease
Stock
Debt
Annual Liabilities
Details oe Stock
Original stock
Since added
Common
Preferred
Surplus unrepresented by stock Stock not represented by property Original capital
Increasedate and amount
U
u
Basis of Stock
When and how paid in
Give per cent date amount called amount paid for each installment Installments
1
2
3
4
5
Stock Dividend on what based
If on Beserved Income give date per cent and amount as above
So if on any other basis give particulars
Details of Debt
On account of Road Proper Investment A
B
C
Bonds
Coupons over due
Floating debt
Contingent debt
Disputed claims
Details of Bonds
On what account issued
First mortgage
Second
Date
When due
Principal
Rate
Interest
47 Authority for issuing
48 Legislative act
49 Directors actiondate and copy of
ratification
50 Stockholders actiondate and
copy
Details of Floating Debt
51 On what account incurred
52 Dividends unpaid
53 Interest 1
54 Due for supplies
55 Due to Agents
56 Employes
57 Railroads
58 Banks
59 Notes change bills etc
60 Accounts etc
61 Exchange
Details of Contingent Debt
62 Authority for issuing
63 Endorsement of bonds of Go
Date amount etc
64 Interest paid by maker
65 Not
66 Security against loss
67 Exhibit showing condition of Co Disputed Claims
68 Suits for damage
69 Taxes etc
Annual Liabilities
70 To stockholders6 per cent
171 7
72 8
73 To CreditorsInterest on bonds
74 On Floating debt
75 Contingent debt
76 Leases and rents
77 Sleeping car Comps
78 S R S S Assocn
79 Any other annual liability Market Value
80 Stockper sharenow
81 average during year
82 five years
83 highest point
84 lowest
85 Bondseach issuesame informa
tion
86 Shares transferred during year
The columns and captions for this Table may be the same as for the Property Table
106
VITABLE OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ON ALL ACCOUNTS
1 Receipts from all SourcesTotal
2 Gross earnings
3 Sales of property specifying what
4 Collections
5 Loans
6 Any other receipts
7 Payments on all AccountsTotal
8 Working expenses
9 DividendsInterest and rents
10 Purchase
11 Loans
12 Subscriptions
13 Any other payments
TABLES OF GROSS EARNINGS
VIIGEOSS EARNINGS BY MONTHS
MONTHS MAIL EXPRESS
LOCAL THROUGH
Local Through
Up Down Up Down
1 January 2 February 3 March 4 April 5 May 6 June 7 Tilly
8 August 9 September 10 October 11 November 12 December
VIIIBY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAINS
IXGROSS EARNINGSBY CLASS DISTANCE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Total Earnings
By Passenger Trains
By Freight Trains
Earnings of Passenger Trains in Detail
Local PassengersTotal
Up
u Down
Through PassengersTotal
Up
Down
TicketsFull rate
Half rates
Straight
Round
Season
1000mile
500mile
Conductors cash
Mail
Express
Miscellaneous
Earnings hy Freight Trainsin Detail
Local FreightTotal
Up
u Down
Through FreightTotal
Up
Down
Gross EarningsPer mile of road
Per 100000 cost
Per 100000 value
Per 100000 total liabilities
MILES 1st Olss 2d Class 3d Class
100 Lbs 100 Lbs 100 Lbs
10 20 30 40 50
XGROSS EARNINGSBY STATIONS AND CONNECTING ROADS
TOTAL PASS ENGR PEBIGHT
Total Up Down
Stations 1 2 3 Eastern Connections 1 2 3 Western Connections 1 2 3 Miscellaneous undistributed
NoteLOCAL applies to business paying local rates THROUGH to business paying through rates
107
XIWORKING EXPENSES

1 Working ExpensesTotal
2 General management
3 Roadway
4 Movement
5 Stations
6 General Management in Detail
7 Payments to personstotal
8 President
9 Secretary
10 Clerks and attednants
11 YicePresident
12 Secretary
13 Clerks and attendents
14 General Manager
15 Secretary
16 Clerks and attendants
17 Superintendent
18 Similar report for each Division
19 Auditor and Comptroller
20 All other Clerks and attendants
General Officers
21 Bookkeeper
22 Treasurer
23 Cashier
24 General Freight Agent
25 General Passenger Agent
26 Road Master
27 Chief Engineer
28 Master Machinist
29 Master of Workshops
30 Soliciting Agents
31 Purchasing Agents
32 Commercial Agents
33 Paymaster
34 Attorney of Road
35 Payments for thingstotal
36 Office
37 Repairs
38 Rents
39 Furniture
40 Fuel and lights
41 Stationery and postage
42 Printing and advertising
43 Incidentals
44 Law expenses
45 Taxes
46 Insurance
47 Roadway Expenses in Detail
48 Payments to personstotal
49 Road Master
50 Foremen No
51 Road hands No
52 Track layers
53 Bridge Superintendent
54 Foremen
55 Machinists
56 W atchmen
57 Flagmen
58 Carpenters
59 Roofers
60 Masons etc
61 Construction trainworkmen
on
62 Payments for thingstotal
63 Road bedRepairs of
64 u Filling trestle
65 u Ballast
667 u Cross ties
67 u Stringers
68 Track Repairs of
69 U RailIron
70 u Steel
71 u Joints and chairs
72 a Spikes
73 U Frogs and switches
74 a Tools and repairs
75 u Machinery
76 a Rerolling iron
77 Bridges Renewal of
78 Culverts
79 Tunnels
80 Road crossings
81 Fences
82 Cattle guards
83 Water and fuel stations
84 Shops
85 Stationery and printing
86 Incidentals including telegraph
87 Expense of construction trains
88 Movement Expenses in Detail
89 Train expensestotal
90 Payments to personstotal
91 Engineers
92 Firemen
93 Engine wipers
94 Watchmen
95 Engine shop Foreman
96 Workmen
97 Fuel and water station hands
98 Conductors
99 Brakemen
100 Baggage masters
101
Train hands
108
102 Payments for thingstotal
103 Repairs of engines
104 Rent
105 Fuel
106 Oil waste etc
107 Turn tables
108 Shop machinery
109 Fuel
110 Fuel and lights
111 Loss and damage
112 Personal injury
113 Stock killed
114 Wrecking
115 Advertising and printing
116 Stationery and postage
117 Insurance
118 Incidentals
Car Expenses in Detail
119 Car Expensestotal
120 Payments to personstotal
121 ShopForeman
122 Workmen
123 Carpenters i
124 Brakemen
125 Payments for thingstotal
126 Repairs of Carstotal
127 Rent
128 Breakage
129 Cleaning
130 Oil and waste
131 Car shopEngine
132 Fuel
33 u Machinery and tools
Station Expenses in Detail
134 Station Expensestotal
135 Payments to personstotal
136 Agents salaries
137 Clerks
138 Assistants
139 Yard master
140 Watchmen
141 Laborers handling freight
142 Ba ggage masters
143 Porters
144 Switchmen
145 Train dispatchers
146 Telegraph operators
147 Payments for thingstotal
148 Repairs
149 Furniture
150 Fuel and lights
151 Grounds and platforms
152 Wnarves and docks
153 Stationery and printing
154 Advertising and postage
155 Telegraph
153 Incidentals Annual Expenses op Renewal
157 Construction accounttotal
158 Bed of road
159 Bridges culverts etc
160 Cross ties
161 Iron and steel
162 Structures
163 Equipments
164 Engines
165 Cars
166 Machinery and tools
167 Per Centage op Expenses Entire Expenses being 100000
168 General management
169 Persons
170 Things
171 Road bed
172 Persons
173 Things
174 Movement
175 Persons
176 Things
177 Fuel
178 Train
179 Persons
180 Things
181 Cars
182 Persons
183 Things
184 Stations
185 Persons
186 Things
187 Aggregate Expenses
188 Per train
189 Per train mile
190 Per car
191 Per car mile
192 Per passenger or ton
193 Per or ton mile
194 Per mile of road
195 Per 100000 cost
iyo
197
198
Jfer 100000 gross earnings Average number of employes Aggregate salaries and wages
the foregoing formsfilS be given th form kept by the railroad company if not readily converted in
109

XIITABLE OF NET INCOME AND USE MADE
OF IT
1 Net IncomeTotal
2 From Boad
3 Bank
4 All other property
5 Boad Income in Detail
6 Passenger
7 Freight
8 Per mile
9 Per 100000 Cost
10 100000 Value
11 100000 Gross Beceipts
12 Income from roads owned
13 1
14 2
15 Leased
16 1
17 2
18 Operated
19 1
20 2
21 From Other Property in Detail
22 Dividends received
23 1
24 2
25 Interest
26 1
27 2
28 Bents
34 Payments out op IncomeTotal
35 InterestOwn road
36 Other roads
37 On endorsed bonds
38 u Guaranties
39 Bents
40 ImprovementsConstruction Ac
count
41 Equipment account
42 All other property
43 Purchase
44 Payments before dividends reached
45 Dividends paidOwn company
46 Other companies
47 Excess of payments over income
29 1
30 2
31 Income from any other property
32 Excess of income over interest rents
and dividends
33 Excess of income over payments
HO
XIIIHISTORICAL
TABLE SHOWING THE
For a Series
ZPXSOP5 EJECTE
LIIIjITIBS
YEAB
1866
MILES
COST
VALUE
TOTAL
STOCK
MARKET VALUE PER SHARE
DEBT
Bonds Floating
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
Average All yes
7 years l
XIVCOMPARATIVE TABLE
Showing Condition per Mile and per 100000 of Cost of Value of Gross
Earnings etc for Past Year
ITEMS PER MILE OF ROAD PEE 100000 OP
COST jVALUE TOTAL LIABILITIES GROSS EARNINGS WORKING EXPENSES NET EARNINGS
Miles Cost Value Total liabilities Gross earnings Workg expens Net earnings 1 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000
Ill

CONDITION OF THECOMPANY
of Years
years
BT7SI1TESS OB1 THE
WORK DONE
Passenger Ton Miles Miles
GROSS EARNQS
WORKING
EXPNSES
NET EARNIGS
USE OP NET EANINGS
Dividends Interest
jRents Surplus
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
Average Aggregae All years 7
XIVCOMPARATIVE TABLE
Showing Condition per Mile and per 300000 of Cost of Value of Gross Earnings etc Upon an Average ofYears
ITEMS PER MILE OF ROAD ns is 100000 oh1
COST Value TOTAL LIABILITIES GROSS EARNINGS WORKING EXPENSES NET EARNINGS
Miles Cost Value Total liabilities Gross earnings Workg expnes Net earnings 1 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000
112
XVDEMAND AND SUPPLY TABLE
Or Early Payments and Quick Assets
ARISING OUT OF DEMAND SUPPLY
Property Construction Renewal Repairs Improvements Rail Bridges Buildings Telegraph Equipment Engines Cars AirBrakes Other property Investments Steamships Elevators By sale of Property CollectionsBonds Coupons Floatiag Debt Interest Due by Agents Banks Connecting Roads
Liabilities BondsPrincipal Coupons Floating DebtPrincipal Interest Cash Dues to Agents Banks Railroads Dividends Rents Renewal of Bonds New Loans New Floating Debt Unpaid Installments of Stock New Stock
Business ExpensesGeneral Management Roadway Movement Stations Connecting Roads Earnings own Road Other Roads Investments Dues by Agents Banks Railroads
Time 1881January February March April May Amount needed Amount available
113
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE ROAD AND ITS
PROPERTY
XVI STATIONS DISTANCES Etc
MAIN LINE
NO NAME MILES Sidings Mile Tenths Elevan Above Tideft

BRANCHES
NO NAME MILES Sidings Mile Tenths Elevan Above Tide ft
t
XVIIPROFILE ALIGNMENT SURFACE Etc
profile
LENGTH IN FEET
NO OF GRADES GRADES Ascending
N E S W
Level0 feet Grade10 20 30 40 50 Over 50 Maximum grade Longest Maximum difference of elevation
ALIGNMENT
NO OF CURVES DEGREE RADIUSFeet LENGTH Feet
Straight 68757
V
10 34377
20 17189
30 11459
40 8594
50 6876
1 5730
2 2865
3 1910
4 1438
5 1146 955
go
10 573
Maximum combined grade and curve
SURFACE SOIL Etc
NUMBER FEET
1 Embankments 2 Longest 3 Highest 4 Excavations 5 Longest 6 Deepest
7 Swamp 8 Wet Cuts 9 Made Earth 10 Ditching 11 Ballast
12 Sand 13 Alluvium 14 Clay 15 Hardpan 16 Stone
15 NoteThe best exhibit is by a map
XVIIICON STRUCTION
EARTHWORK
1 Einbankment
2 Excavation
3 Ditching
CUBIC YARDS
Alluvium
Sand
Clay
Hardpan
Stone
9 Width Roadbed feet
10 General Condition
11 General Condition as to drainage
Ballast Miles Breadth Depth Material Cubic Yards
Masonry
17 Cubic YardsrTotal
18 ForTunnels
19 i Chlverts
20 Bridges
CrossTies x x
21 Number per mile
22 Average Life
23 AgeNew Miles
24 2 years old
25 3
26 4
27 6
28 8
29 Average Life
30 Stringers x x
RAIL Etc
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 21
Pattern
Pounds per yard Tons per mile Total tons
Number miles AgeNew
4 years in use
6 P
8
10
J 12 t
Average Life Connections
Fish Bar Tons Chairs
Spikes etc Turn Tables Location
IRON
STEEL
Road Crossings At Grade
Above Grade Below Grade Cattle Guards
Fencing
Miles
Number of strips Cost per yard
Life of post Working SectionsNumber
PLANK
WIRE
TRESTLES AND BRIDGES
No or Name
Miles Posts Pr Mile
1 Cost per mile 2 Life of post
MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES FOR CONSTRUCTION
Location
Mile
Materl
No
Spans
Height
Track
abvlw
Water
1 Culverts
2 Tunnels
3 Number
4 Length
Wood
Length
Feet
Brick
Stone
BUILDINGS
Passenger Depots Freight
Mixed
Offices
Engine Houses No Stalls Machine Shops Foundries
Water Stations
H power Steam
Water Wood Stations Coal
Section Houses Hotels
Sleeping Houses
Cost
Wood Brick Stone
TELEGRAPH
Wires
Ballast
Iron railTon
Steel
Scrap iron Fastenings frogs etc Foundry supplies Lumberi
mber
VALUE
115
XIXEQUIPMENT
B
NO COST Value NO COST Value
TlocomotivesTotal n Passengers o Freight a Mixed 5 Road service 6 CabsTotal 7 Passenger Total q First class o Second class 1fl Emigrant 11 Baggage i Express iq Mail 14 Sleepers ik Parlor 16 Freight Total 17 Box 18 I Stock 19 Platform in Cab 8wheel 2i Cab 4wheel 1 22 Freight Coal 8wheel 23 v Coal 4wheel 24 Road service 25 Officers 26 Pay 27 Ditching 28 Tool etc 29 Dump 30 Gravel 31 Hand 32 Platform and coupler 33 Brake 34 Material and Supplies 35 Axles wheels etc 36 Engine repairs 37 Oil and waste 38 Fuel 39 Lumber 40 Sundries 41 Goods in store 42 Commissary supplies
XXDESCRIPTIVE LIST OF LOCOMOTIVES
No MAKER NAME SERVICE YEAR COST VALUE CYLINDER INCHES STROKE No DRIVERS WEIGHT TONS

No HORSE POWHR CARS IN LOAD MILES RUN 1 COST REPAIRS 100 M MILES
SPEED Average COST FUEL 100 M Ton Coal Ton Wood Pint Oil
Total Last Year

XXLALL OTHER PROPERTY
Location Value Location Value
1 Land not right of way acres 2 3 4 1 5 Interest in other roads 6 7 8 9 Steamships 10 Steamboats 11 Tugs 12 Wharves 13 Elevators 14 Compresses 15 Cash etc see page 7
116

WORK DONE
XXII BY TRAINS
passenger Total Per Day FREIGHT Total Per Day
1 Trains run 2 TrainMiles 3 Cars run 4 Cars per train 5 Car miles 6 Passengers carried v Passenger miles o Through mUes X Way miles Ye8e sPee3 of trains 11 Highest speed J2 Total weight of trains 13 Dead weight going East 14 Wegt 15 Payg weigtPassrs Bage iS i Express H Mail 18 Average earningsPer train on Train mile o Car Car miie oq Passenger i Rate 1 mile 25 Cost 26 Profit 27 Distance pr passenger 1 Trains run 2 Trainmiles 3 Cars run 4 Cars per train 5 Car miles 6 Tons carried 7 Tonmiles o Through miles Way miles 10 Average speed 11 Highest speed Jo 3otai weight of trains 13 Dead weight 14 Paying weight 15 Average load per train 16 car Average earningsPer train Train mile on Car 2V Car mile 21 Ton 22 Ton mile 23 Rate 24 Class f 25 Cost 26 Profit 27 Length of haul
XXIIIBY STATIONS
STATIONS
3 J
O o3 N
o OrH
m
m
goW
Swd
Pfe
pH

ui JZ
Isi
fcf
XXIVBY CLASSES
CLASS
General merchandise
Bagging and ties Bacon etc
Flour in sacks
Bice C L GRAINHay C L Ale and beer Flour etcbbl Beef and pork Whisky
COTTON FERTILIZERS COAL etc
Iron etc
LIVE STOCK Lime etc
Lumber etc
Tons
Ton
Miles
Reve
nue
Average Class
Distance Rate
117
XXYACCIDENT TABLE
TO PERSONS TO STOCK
1 Name 2 Occupation 3 Age 4 Sex 5 passenger or employe 6 Party in fault 7 Day and hour 8 Place station mile 9 Train 10 Cause 11 BiskCompany or Party 12 Fault 13 Engineer 14 Conductor 15 Party 16 Effect injured or how 17 Killed 18 DamagesClaimed 19 DamagesPaid 20 Punishment 1 Horses 2 Cows 3 Hogs 4 Other animals
TO TRAINS
1 By defect in Roadbed 2 Bridge 3 Calvert 4 Rail 5 Frog 6 Switch 7 By impediment Stock 8 Other impediment 9 By collission
iEEUVCIEIKS
118
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Please send any rates general or special instructions to agents schedules and contracts oral or written not heretofore sent and reply whether you have sent all it being the duty of the Commission to keep them on file
AnswerWhether the rates rules and regulations have been and are now posted according to law at all stations of your road and whether the said rules have been complied with in the operations of your road this also being required by law
EspeciallyWhether there has been an impartial observance of the rates and rules towards communities and individuals on your line and whether any secret rebates have been paid or any agreement made whereby such rebates were or are to be paid elsewhere in the State or out of it and if any state what and to whom
AnswerAlso as to any discrimination or partiality towards other lines of connecting roads in the way of passenger and freight connections and transfers joint rates etc accepting freight from any one line on different terms from those exacted of others What offices or officers have you in common with other companies
AnswerAs to compliance with the common law rules of due diligence as to reasonable accommodations on your cars as to heat light ventilation water and cleanliness in saloons spittoons etc and keeping cars in order doors windows blinds etc and preserving order and decorum on your trains also as to accommodations for regular passengers whether they have been in any way lessened to favor express sleeping car or parlor car companies
AnswerAs to inspection of road and track bridges trestles culverts etc also of equipment engines cars trucks wheels etc for safety of employes and passengers also as to use of brakes of the telegraph etc as precautions lights at night watchmen etc for the protection of the public and the employes of the company also the limit of tonnage on Express and Baggage cars to prevent hazard
If any of the questions in this report or on this page are difficult to answer apply for time to get the needful information
Write answers to t General Questions on separate page
OATH
I do solemnly swear that the answers to the questions in the I foregoing report are just and true that the valuations affixed to the propertyare as full and correct as we can make them that the liabilities and the ground of the same are stated fully 1 that the details of the aggregate items have been examined by the proper officers and the profit and loss account applied to the best of our skill and knowledge and that the showing made is as honest I truthful and correct as we have the means of making it that there has beer no evasion and no delay without adequate and lawful 1 cause All this I swear to the best of my knowledge and belief
Sworn to and subscribed in the presence of
idiffece iietween the foregoing forms and the forms in ordinary use we mav hereafter examples When the same matter as expressed in the common form is reduced to the systematic irrwe ne he surprised at the increased clearness of the statement and the mastery it affordsat once in Comprehension and Detailover the condition and business of a Railroad Company
Rates Rules and Regulations and Classification
ESTABLISHED BY THE
RAILROAD COMMISSION
120
RATES RULES AND REGULATIONS
AND CLASSIFICATION
ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSION
SThe following pagesto the close of the classificationare certified by the Commission to be complete in themselves embracing the substance of all circulars to No 16 inclusive and the correction of all errata up to date They are ready for use just as they stand and with out reference to anything outside July 15 1881iS3
A STANDARD SCHEDULE OF JUST AND REASONABLE RATES
Of Charges for the transportation of Passengers and Freights and Cars made by the Rad road Commission in conformity with the Act of October 141879 to be observed within the State of Georgia by each of the Railroad Corporations doing business in this State with such modifications only as may be hereinafter setforth and a copy to be posted hj each Railroad Company at each of its Stations This Schedule to go into full effect and operation on July 15 1881
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSIONAll complaints made to the Railroad Commission of Alleged grievances must plainly and distinctly set forth the grounds of complaint and if more than one the several grounds the items being numbered and objection all set forth in writing
In like manner all defenses must be distinctly set forth in writing and the items numbered as above stated
Tllese specifications whether of complaint or defense mav be accompanied if the partie desire by any explanation or argument or by any suggestion as to the proper remedy or policy The parties may also be heard in person or by attorney or by written argument upon such written statement being first filed
Notices by PublicationWhen any proceeding before the Commission is instituted on complaint or any action contemplated on its own motion in which the parties interested are too numerous for personal service when the necessity of prompt action admits of it or the interests of justice require it public notice will be given setting forth briefly the nature of the complaint or proposed action and the time of deciding upon the same in order that any person community or corporation affected may be represented before the Commsssion in such manner as it may deem advisable

121
PASSENGER TARIFFS
In order properly to graduate passenger rates the Railroads in Georgia are divided into three classesA B and C
Passenger Class A includes the following roads viz the
Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Railroad Atlanta and West Point
Brunswick and Albany
Central RailroadThe lines between Savannah and Macon
Millen and Augusta
Macon and Atlanta
Macon and Eufaula
Fort Talley and Columbus
Smithville and Albany
East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia
Georgia Railroadthe lines between Augusta and Atlanta
Camak and Macon
Union Point and Athens
Georgia Southern
Formerly Selma Rome and Dalton Macon and BrunswickMain line
Savannah and Charleston
Western and Atlantic
Passenger Class B
Alabama Great Southern Railroad
Cherokee
Central Railroadthe lines between
Gordon and Eatonton
Ft Valley and Perry
Albany and Arlington
Cuthbert and Ft Gaines
Cherokee Railroad
Columbus and Rome
Elberton AirLine
Georgia Railroadthe line between
Barnett and Washington
Macon and Brunswickthe branch between Cochran and Hawkinsville
Marietta and North Georgia
Northeastern Railroad
Rome
Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Upson County Railroad
Passenger Class C
Hartwell Railroad
Lawrenceville Railroad
Louisville and Wadley
Sandersville and Tennille
Walton Railroad
Waycross and Florida
16
STANDARD PASSENGER TARIFF
For a passenger with baggage not exceeding 100 pounds the rates per mile shall not exceed the following viz
FOR PASSENGERS ON ROADS IN
Class A Class B Class C
12 years old and over 3 4 5
Over 5 and under 12 If 2 2f
This Tariff applies to through as well as local rates and is not to be exceeded directly or indirectly by any through arrangement
Provided That a railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as half rate when the fare would be less than those amounts No restriction of any sort is placed by the Commission upon the reduction of passenger rates below the Standard Passenger Tariff No more than the lowest rate specified shall be charged when the Ticket Office shall not have been open for a reasonable time before the departure of the train from a station When the passenger fare does not end in 5 or 0 the nearest sum so ending shall be the fare For example for 27 cents collect 25 for 28 collect 30 Tickets on sale at any office in a city must be kept on sale at the Depot Ticket Office of the same railroad at the same prices
The regulation of the railroads as to passengers without tickets are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
An extra charge of more than 1 cent a mile full rate or J cent half rate is regarded as excessive unless such extra charge would fall below the minimum above given
By 2072 of the Code it is made the duty of all Railroads to furnish baggage checks from any station to any station on the line controlled by it
SLEEPING OARS
The fare for berths on Sleeping Cars shall not exceed 100 for 100 miles or less and for distances over 100 miles shall not exceed the rate of one cent per mile for each berth Provided however that for a lower berth with the upper berth not lowered the fare may be not exceeding 150 for 150 miles or less and for distances between 150 and 200 miles not exceeding 200
STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
122
CLASS GOOXS
lOO 1 1 Bbl 100 Lbs
DISTANCE SB C O 3 OQ Sh H R Second Class Third Class Fourth Class Fifth Class A Sixth Class H TS a c3 to Q Sb bO M Bacon packed Bulk Meat C L Flour in Sacks Rice C L Hay C L 1 GrainPeas Ale and Beer Flour Etc Beef and Pork if
l 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D B F H
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 16 14 13 10 9 8 8 8 6 5 9 12 28 10
20 20 18 16 14 12 10 10 10 7 6 12 14 35 14
30 24 21 19 17 14 11 11 11 8 7 14 16 38 17
40 27 24 22 20 16 12 12 12 9 8 16 18 43 20
50 30 27 25 22 18 13 13 13 10 9 18 20 45 22
60 33 30 27 24 19 14 14 14 11 10 19 22 49 24 1
70 36 33 29 26 20 15 15 15 12 11 20 24 53 26
80 39 36 31 28 21 16 16 16 13 12 21 26 54 28 1
90 42 38 33 29 22 17 17 17 14 13 22 28 59 29
loo 45 40 35 30 23 18 18 18 15 14 23 30 63 30
110 48 42 37 31 24 19 19 19 16 15 24 32 67 31
120 51 44 39 32 25 20 20 20 17 16 25 34 70 32
130 54 46 41 33 26 21 21 21 18 17 26 36 73 33
140 57 48 43 34 27 22 22 22 19 18 27 38 77 34
1 150 60 50 45 35 28 23 23 23 20 18 28 40 81 35
160 62 52 46 36 29 24 24 24 21 19 29 42 84 36
170 64 54 47 37 30 25 25 25 21 19 30 42 87 37
180 66 56 48 38 31 26 26 26 22 20 31 44 91 38
190 68 58 49 39 32 27 27 27 22 20 32 44 95 39
200 70 60 50 40 32 27 27 27 23 20 32 46 95 40
210 71 62 51 41 33 28 28 28 23 21 33 46 98 41
220 72 64 52 42 33 28 28 28 24 21 33 48 98 42
230 73 66 53 43 34 29 29 29 24 21 34 48 1 01 43
1 240 74 68 54 44 34 29 29 29 25 22 34 50 1 01 44
I 250 75 70 55 45 35 30 30 30 25 22 35 50 1 05 45
260 76 71 56 46 35 30 30 30 25 22 35 50 1 05 46
270 77 71 56 46 36 31 31 31 26 22 36 52 1 08 46
280 78 72 57 47 36 32 32 32 26 23 36 52 1 12 47
290 79 72 57 47 37 32 32 32 26 23 37 52 12 47
300 80 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 26 23 38 52 1 16 48
310 81 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 27 23 38 54 l 16 48
320 82 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 l 19 49
330 83 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 1 19 49
340 84 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 L 19 49 I
350 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 28 24 40 56 L 22 50
I MILES 1 2 3 4 5 6 B O B B F a 13
INSTRUCTIONSIn the Classification opposite the name of the article of freight is the class to which it belongs In the Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 and if not then opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the freight for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen its class 1 In the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distance 250 miles is seen the rate75 cents
123
STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
A 0 1 M H A SPECIALS
100 Lbs Ton Car Load
Cotton Fertilizers Coal Coke Ice Marl Slaked Lime etc oT S a hn03 o Qj 1 0 1 w Live Stock etc Fire Brick Slate Salt Cement Cot Seed Jug ware Oil Cake Lime Bark Melons etc Lumber Ores Sand Clay Stone Brick Wood etc
J E L m N O P
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 12 5 50 80 10 00 8 00 5 00
20 14 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00
30 16 7 70 1 00 15 00 11 00 8 00
40 18 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00
50 20 S 90 1 20 20 00 13 00 10 00
60 22 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00
70 24 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00
80 26 M 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00
90 28 n 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00
100 30 10 1 20 1 70 30 00 17 00 14 00
110 31 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00
120 32 10 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00
130 33 10 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00
140 34 11 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00
150 35 11 1 50 2 20 40 00 20 00 17 00
160 35 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 17 00
170 36 12 1 70 2 30 4200 21 00 18 00
180 36 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 21 00 19 00
190 37 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00
200 37 13 2 00 2 40 45 00 22 00 20 00
210 38 13 2 10 2 43 46 00 23 00 20 00
220 38 14 2 20 2 44 47 00 23 00 21 00
230 39 14 2 30 2 46 48 00 23 00 21 00
240 39 14 2 40 2 48 49 00 24 00 22 00
250 40 15 2 50 2 50 50 00 24 00 22 00
260 40 15 2 60 2 52 51 00 24 00 22 00
270 41 15 2 70 2 54 52 00 25 00 23 00
280 41 16 2 80 2 56 53 00 25 00 23 00
290 42 16 2 90 2 58 54 00 25 00 24 00
300 42 16 3 00 2 60 55 00 26 00 24 00
310 43 17 3 10 2 62 56 00 26 00 24 00
320 43 17 3 20 2 64 57 00 26 00 24 00
330 44 17 3 30 2 66 58 00 27 00 25 00
340 44 17 3 40 2 68 59 00 27 00 25 00
350 45 17 3 50 2 70 60 00 2700 25 00
MILES 1 J E L m N o P

FKACTIONWhen the Standard Tariff is raised by a per cent omit fractions less than cent and regard J cent or more as 1 cent Thus for 20 per cent on 17 cents add 3 cents not 34 cents and for 20 per cent on 18 cents add 4 cents instead of 36 cents
124
RELATIONS OF THE RAILROADS TO THE STANDARD
FREIGHT TARIFF
The Standard Tariffs apply to all the Railroads except as Specifically Explained Below References to Class Goods apply to Classes on Page 122 to Specials on Page 123
Atlantaand Charlotte AirLineAdd 15 per cent on Fertilizers and 10 per cent on all other
ClaSScS
Atlanta and West PointCotton Fertilizers and Lumber at Standard add 25 per cent on all other classes
Brunswick and AlbanyCotton and Lumber at standardcertain special millers rates confarmed on all other classes the rates are those of the Standard Tariff for 70 miles greater distance viz the B A rate for 10 miles is the Standard rate for 80 miles and so on
Central RailroadWhole RoadCotton at 15 per cent and Fertilizers at 20 per cent over Standard all other specials at Standard
Savannah Division Southwestern Railroad Division and Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Division n all goods other than specialsFor distances between 0 and 40
T11 I50 Per Cent t0 Standard 5 between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 30 per cent and over 100 miles 20 per cent
Atlanta DivisionOn all freight except specials add 30 per cent to Standard or jornt rates on Centri RiJroail a separate table is necessary which that Company will furnish on application r 1
Columbus and Rome RailroadAdd 25 per cent on Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber and on all other classes 100 per cent to Standard
Macon and BrunswickSame as Savannah Division of Central
Northeastern RailroadAdd 10 per cent to Standard
Savannah Florida and Western RailroadAll specials at standard except cotton 30 per cent and fertilizers 20 per cent above standard On all other goods for distances betweet 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent 40 to 70 miles 40 per cent 70 to 100 miles 30 per cent and over 100 miles 25 per cent above standard Circular 17
Waycross and Florida RailroadSame as Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Cir 17
Upson County RailroadAdd 50 per cent on all classes
RULES AND REGULATIONS
1 Unless otherwise specified all connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownerships otherwise of one and the same company shall in applying this tariff be considered as constituting but one and the same road and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same road
The Central Railroad Banking Company is authorized to operate its railroads in the following divisions 1 The Savannah division 2 the Southwestern 3 the Atlanta and 4 the
Savannah Griffin and North Alabamh division
2 DistancesSince a separate rate cannot be conveniently given for every possible distance the law authorizes the Commission to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances and 10 miles has accordingly been fixed as the usual limit for a change of freight rates
vary more at the same freight
3 Stations whose distance does not I than 10 miles may be grouped
125
rate In any ten mile group may be embraced at the discretion of the railroad any station not more than two miles beyond the upper limit Thus 41J miles may be put in the group between 30 and 40 miles
4 The railroads may however if they desire be more exact in the apportionment of rates than the table requires by giving for intermediate distances rates also intermediate between those given in the table Thus For 95 miles on first class goods the charge may be made between 42 cents the rate for 90 miles and 45 cents the rate for 100 miles When in computing distances a fraction of a mile occurs the distance may be counted at the next greater number of milesas 9 for 10 miles
5 Each railroad company shall make a Table of Distances between all its respective stations by name which shall be posted conspicuously near the Schedule The rate except in cases specified is the same both ways
6 Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
Competing Lines not all within the Jurisdiction of the CommissionWhen however from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then the line or lines which are so subject and are working at the lowest rate under the rules may at such competing point or other point injuriously affected by such competition make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
7 For distances under 20 or over 250 miles a reduction of rates may be made without making a change at all stations short of 250 miles provided however that when any railroad shall make a reduction of rates for distances over 250 miles the same shall apply to similar distances on all the roads controlled
by the same company and in no such case shall more be charged for a less than a greater distance
8 When any reduction of rates is made immediate notice of the same shall be given to the Railroad Commission and the reduced rates shall also be posted conspiciously near the Freight Tariff
Note 1The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tan bark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household Goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
9 There shall be no secret reduction of rates nor shall any bonus be given or any rebate paid to any person but the rates shall be uniform to all and public
10 The rates charged or freight service by regular passenger trains may be double that for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains
11 No railroad company shall by reason of any contract with any Express or other company decline or refuse to act as common carrier to transport any article proper for transportation by the train for which it is offered
SHIPMENT AND DELIVERY
12 Duplicate ReceiptsThe Act of 1879
Section 13 provides That all Railroad Companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the classes or class of freight shipped the freight charges of the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the Agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such Agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt
13 Itemized ReceiptsThe railroads delivering freight shall on demand furnish the consignee an itemized statement showing
126
charges on other roads separate from its own and any charges of its own aside from the rate in the Tariff and this statement for each class if required
Note 2Extra HandlingThe charges for handling extra heavy single articles may be as follows viz For any article weighing
2000 pounds or less no extra charge from
2000 to 3000 3 3000 to 4000 5 4000 to 5000 7 5000 to 6000 8 6000 to 7000 10 over 7000 rate by special contract
N ote 3FertilizersThis term embraces the following and like articles when intended to be used as Fertilizers viz Ammonia SulphateBone BlackBones ground or dissolvedCastor PomaceFish ScrapGuanos Alto Vella Fish Navarro Navarro Lump Peruvian Soluble PacificNitre CakePlaster of ParisPotash German Salts of Muriate of Sulphate ofSalt CakeSouth Carolina lump and ground PhosphateSoda Nitrate of and Sulphate ofTank Stuff c
14 LossWhen an article entered upon a Bill of Lading or Railroad Receipt is missing the delivering Agent shall use due diligence to find itj and after a reasonable time for search upon nondelivery shall pay for the same
15 DamageIn case of damage open or concealed and claims for leakage or wastage more than ordinary if the Agent of the delivering railroad and the consignee cannot agree as to terms of settlement either party may demand an immediate arbitration and the award shall ba paid by the delivering Agent without delay
16 OverchargesAny consignee on payment of proper charges is entitled to immediate delivery of freight by delivering Agent and if he has paid an overcharge is entitled to be immediately repaid by same Agent upon demand
17 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds A ciar load is 20000 pounds unless otherwise specified For loads between 20000 and 24000 pounds pro rate at car load rates A car load of lumber is 22500 pounds Loads exceeding 24000 pounds may be refused or the excess charged at L C L rates
18 The regulations of the Railroads as to demurrage or detention of cars are matters oi police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
19 By the act of February 28 1874 any railroad may switch ofi and deliver to any connecting railroad all cars consigned to points on or beyond such connecting road
20 BlockadeCopy op OrderAtlanta October 291880In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at this point and elsewhere in this State and an injurious blockade oi freights anticipated and now partially existing the railroad companies in this State are hereby notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will be permitted and that when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies for distributing amongst themselves for transportation according to percentages the cotton or other freight offered for shipmentsuch com panies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unnecessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that may exist amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective companies
Note 4Joint RatesNo special or gen j eral rule has been given for rates between stations on different railroads but applications for such will be duly considered when applied forunder the rules of Proceedings before the I Commission
CircularsThe substance of all circulars i to No 16 inclusive is given at the proper places in these certified pages
James M Smith Chairman
Campbell Wallace
Samuel Barnett
Railroad Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary
Atlanta Ga July 151881
to
o
1
127
iy ESTIMATED WEIGHTS
TO BE USED WHEN ACTUAL WEIGHTS CANNOT BE ASCERTAINED
uj Per 1000 ft
rei White Pine and Poplar
oil thoroughly seasoned 3000 lbs
gl White Pine and Poplar green 4000 U
m Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash
tel seasoned 4000 u
i Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash
Green 4500
r I Oak Hickory Elm seasoned 4500 u
r Oak Hickory Elm green 6000 i
ir All other kinds Lumber seasoned 4000 u
11 All other kinds Lumber green 6000 u
S 1 Hooppoles Staves and Heading
d dry car loaded to depth of 42
e 1 inches 20000
r Hooppoles Staves and Heading
green car loaded to depth of 36
o I 20000 u
Shingles green per 1000 350 lbs
Shingles dry per 1000 300
Laths green per 1000 530
Laths dry per 1000 450 f
Tan Bark green per cord 2600
Tan Bark dry per cord 2000
Wood green per cord 3500 i
Wood dry per cord 3000
Fence Posts and Rails and Telegraph Poles per cord 3500
Clay per cubic yard 3000
Sand per cubic yard 3000
Gravel per cubic yard 3200
Stone undressed per cubic foot 160
Lime per bushel 80
Coal per bushel 80
Coke per bushel 40
LIVE STOCK ETC
To be fed by owner or at his expense Weight estimated as follows until amount charged shall equal carload rates in less than carloads
One Horse Mule or Horned An
imal 2000 lbs
Two Horses Mules or Horned
Animals 3500 lbs
Each additional Horse Mule or
Horned Animal 1000 lbs
Stallions Jacks and Bulls 3000 lbs each
Yearling Cattle 1000
Calves and Sheep 175
Calves and Sheep in lots of 5 or
more 150 lbs each
Lambs 400 u
Lambs in lots of 5 or more 75
Hogs for market 350
Pigs and Stock Hogs125 i
Pigs Hogs Sheep etc boxed actual weight Locomotives and Tenders 5foot gauge on their own wheels 35 cents per mile
128
CLASSIFICATIONB
Explanation of Characters
1 stands for First Class
2 1 i Second Class
3 U C Third Class
4 U Fourth Class
5 U U Fifth Class
6 U U Sixth Class
l U 1 times First Class
Dl C U double 4
3T1 C U 3 times
4 T 1 stands for 4 times First Class
A B C D E F G H J K L M N 0 P stand for those classes respectively
5 stands for Special
L C L Less than Car Load
CL Car Load
NOS Not Otherwise Specified
K D Knocked Down
A ton is 2000 pounds
Articles not enumerated will be dossed as analogous articles
The following is the Classification Bailroad Companies of this State corr
of freights adopted by the Commissionfor the several ected to July 15 1881
Accoutrements Military
Acids Carbolic
Dry
Not otherwise specified
Sulphuric
Sulphuric C L
Agricultural Implements C L
owners to load and unload
Alcohol See Liquors
Ale and Beer in wood estimated weights bbls 350 lbs half bbls 180 lbs quarter bbls 100 lbs
eighth bbls 50 lbs
Ale Beer and Mineral Water barrels half barrels or kegs returned empty estimated weights bbls 100 lbs half bbls 50 lbs kegs 30
lbs
Ale Beer and Porter in giasspacked Boxes returnd with emty bottles
Alum
Ammonia Sulphate ofFertilizers
Ammunition not otherwise specified
Anchors
Antimony Crude
Meal
Anvils
Apples green in barrels orboxesV
Dried
Apple and other Fruit Butter Argols in boxes barrels or casks
Army Baggage
Arsenic Crude in kegs boxes or barrels
Asbestos packedj
Ashes Wood1
Asphaltum
Axes
Axles Car
Carriage and Wagon
Axle Grease
Babbit Metal
Bacon loose L C L
Loose C L
Packed in wood In bags
Bagging
Bags Burlaps Gunny etc
Traveling
Baking Powders
Bale Hope is
Baling Twine
Band and Hat Boxes packed
Barilla Bark and Cob Mills Barilla
Bark extract in wood for Tanning Groundin bags or bales not other wise specified
Barley
PearlV
Barrels half barrels and kegs emptv except Ale and Beer L C L Barrels C L charged at not less than
10000 lbs
Barytes
Base Balls and Bats
Baskets
In nests
Bath Boilers
Tubs
In nests
Bath Brick
Batting
Beans
Bed Cord
Bedsteads of Pine and other common woods either painted or stained or unpainted or unstained and when shipped in car loads not less than 15000 pounds to be
charged for
In less than ear loads butcrated wrapped or otherwise packed
or tied in bundles
Bedsteads of Walnut and other fine woods when shipped in car loads not less than 15000 pounds
to be charged for
In less than car load quantity but
packed
Bed Slats with end springs attached
knocked down and in bundles
Knocked down and packed
Beets in barrels
Bee Hives
Knocked down inbuiidies
D
2 1 3 3
D 1 2
129
is
Bee Hives boxed or crated
Beef fresh See Meats
Smoked in boxes or barrels
Beef and Pork salted in barrels
Beer same as Ale
Beeswax
Bells
Bellows
Belting Rubber
Leather
Berries green prepaid
Dried
Billiard Tables boxed
Binders BoardsiVV
BirdCages boxed
Bitters See Liquors
Blacking Shoe and Stove packed
Black Lead in kegs and barrels
Blankets
Bleaching Salts
Blinds See Doors and Frames
Bluestone
Blueing
Bobbins packed
Boilers Bath and Range
Steam 30 feet and over
Steam under 30 feet
Felting1
Flues Copper and Brass boxed
Flues Iron
Bone Black
Bones SeeNotel
BoneDust
Bonnets and Straw Goods
Books
Boots and Shoes in boxes or trunks
In paper packages
Borax
Bottles empty See Glass Fruit Jars Boxes empty not otherwise specified
Box Stuff m packages
Bows and Shafts See Wagon Material
Bran See Note 1
Brandy See Liquors
Brass See Copper
Brass Bearings See Copper
Brass Bedsteads packed
Bread
Brick L C L
Common C L See Note 1
Machines
Brimstone packed
Bristles
Britannia Ware
Brooms and Brushes
Broom Handles See Handles
Broom Com compressed
Buckets See Wooden Ware
Buckwheat
Buffalo Robes
Buggies See Carriages
Bungs
Burial Cases See Coffins
Burlaps
Burr Blocks See Millstones
Butter in cans
In kegs tubs and firkins Apple and other Fruit in wood
0
4
3 G
4 2 1
3 2
4
D 1
5
3 T 1
4
5 1 5
5
1
4
1
1
3 2 2
4 3
D 1 1 1
D 1 4
1
6
P
1
3 6 P
4
5 1 1 1
3
5
D 1
3 5
1
2
4
1
1
K
K
1
2
3
Canned Goods N O S
Cannon
Cans emptyV
Empty racked or boxed
Caps
Capstans
Carriages and Buggies charged at not
less than 20000 pbunds CL Carriages Buggies Gigs Sulkies and Trotting Wagons K D boxed or
well crated
Sulkies set up estimated 150 lbs Carriages and Buggies set up actual
weight
Car Grease in barrels
Springs boxed
Springs loose
Wheels and Axles
Carboys empty
Empty old1
Cards Cotton and Woolen
Card Paper
Carpeting well covered
Carpets Hemp and Rag
Carpet Lining
Cars5 feet gauge on wheelsPassen ger coaches 20 cents per mile Box or Stock 10 cents per mile Flat or Coal 7 cents per mile Carriages and Carriage Material SCe Vehicles
Carts See Vehicles
CartridgesMetallic See Ammunition Cassia See Spices
Castor Oil in glass packed See Drugs N O S
In barrels See Oils N O S Caster Pomace See Fertilizers
Catsup inwood
In glass boxed
Cattle See Live Stock
Caustic Soda iron casks
Cement in barrels C L
In barrels L C L
Chain Cotton Woolen and Hempen
Chains Iron loose
In cable
In casks barrels boxes or kegs Chairs Wooden Splint Cane Rattan Willow with seats of same pr like material set up and loose
Boxed wrapped or crated
Knocked down or taken apart and
boxed or in packages
Chairs upholstered Chamber Parlor Library Diningroom and all
other fine chairs
Chair Stuff rough L C L
Rough C L
Chalk
Crayons
Prepared
Charcoal in barrels or casks
Cheese
Chestnuts prepaid
Chickory
Chimogene See Coal oil
Chinaware
Chloride of Lime
ChocolateV
Chufus same as Peanuts
Churns See Woodenware
4
1
3 T 1 1 1 3
2
D 1
4 T 1 5
5 4
6
D 1 3 1 1 1 2 2
4 2
5 O
6 2 3 5 5
4
5
4 1
5 4
3
4
1
5 1
e packed
Loose CL
Cabinetware See Furniture
Calcieake
Camphene
Camphor
Candles boxed
Candy not otherwise specified
Cheap value limited to 10c per fh and so specified on B L
3 5
lf
1
4 2
3
6
6
1
Cider in wood
in glass
Mills and Presses
Cigars boxed and strapped corded
and sealed
Not boxed strapped corded aiid
and sealed not taken
Cigar Boxes empty
Circular Saws
Citron See Candy
Clay in boxes bbls or casks L C L 1
2
2
4
1
D 1 1
6

130
Clay C L See Note 1
Clocks boxed
Clock Weights packed
Clothes Pins boxed
Wring
Lines
Clothing
Clover and Grass Seed C L
Less than car load
Clover Hullers
Coal in boxes barrels or casks LCL
Coal and Coke C L
Coal Buckets
Coal Oil or its product in barrels carriers convenience L C L
In cans
In barrels C L
In Tank Cars
Coal Tar in barrels L C L
In CL See Crude Turpentine
Cocoa
Cocoa or other Matting
Oil
Nuts packed or sacked
Cod Fish packed
In bundles
Coffee extract or essence of
Ground or roasted in sacks
In boxes or barrels
Green single sacks
Double sacks
Coffee Mills
Coffins
In nests
Knocked down
Coke Same as Coal
Collars Horse
Cologne
Commissary Chests and Stores
Concentrated Lye
Condensed Milk boxed
Confectionery See Candy
Congress and Bedford Waters See Mineral Waters
Copperas
Copper Bottoms Copper Plates Sheets Bolls Wire and Rods
Copper Ingots Pigs and Mattes
Copper and Brass in boxes barrels or
casks
Copper and Brags Vessels in boxes
barrels or casks
Copper and Brass Scrap packed
Loose
Copper Ore CL See Note 1
Copper Stills
Copying Presses
Cork
Com Starch
Com and Cob Crushers
Corn LCL
Corn in Ear C L See Note 1
Corn Meal Same as Flour
Com Shellers
Mills
Com and Cotton Planters set up
Knocked down and packedj
Corsets
Cotton in bales
Cotton Cards
Cotton and Woolen Machinery set up
Crated
Knocked down and boxed
Cotton Presses
Gins
Cotton Seed less than 2000pounds
L C L 2000 pounds or over
In car loads
Cotton and Hay Ties
Cotton Waste in bags
Pressed in bales
Cotton Yarn
Covers wooden
Cradles Grain set up
Knocked down in bundles
Cranberries
Cracked Wheat
Crackers
Cracklings
Cream Tartar in boxes or kegs
In barrels or hogshead
Crockery Same as Earthenware
Croquet Boxes
Crowbars
Crucibles
Crystals washing
Currants dried
Cuteh
Cultivators set up
Knocked down in bundles
Cutlery
Dates
Deer boxed
Skins pressed in bales
Demijohns filled N O S
Empty
Packed
Completely boxed
Dessieated Meats and Vegetables
Detergent
Domestics Denims Sheetings Shirting Ticking in boxes or bales Domestics Denims Sheetings Shirtings Ticking Jeans Checks Cotton Rope and Thread manufactured on or near any of the railroads within the territory or jurisdiction of the Commission
See Note 1
Doors Door Frames and Blinds LCL
In car loads
Drag Saws with Horse Power
Drain Tile and Pipe L C L
In car loads See Note 1
Dried Fruit not otherwise specified Drugs and Medicines not otherwise
specified
Drums
Dry Goods1 1
Duck Cotton
Dye Stuffs and Dye Woods not other
specified
Dye Woods in packages NOS
In sticks
Earthenware Stoneware loose
In boxes and barrels
In crates and hogsheads
Common Jugware CL
Edge Tools
Eggs packed1
Egg Cases and Crates empty
Emery f
Engines Caloric Fire Portable and
Stationary See Note2
Epsom Salts
Equipage military camp garrison and horseW
Evaporators
Evaporator Furnaces
Excelsior
Extracts not otherwise specified
Extract of Logwood
Of Logwood dry C L
Of bark for tanning in barrels
3 T
181
Facing iron and coal in barrels
Fan Mills set up
Knocked down
Fans in boxes
Palm leaf pressed
Farina
Faucets boxed
Featheis
Felting
Fence Wire
Fertilizers See Note 3
Field Rollers
Figs in drums
In casks or boxes
Fire Brick L C L
Fire Brick C L
Fire Clay See Note 1
Fire Extinguishers
Firearms
Firecrackers and Fireworks packed
Fish fresh L C L on any train
Fish fresh C L on any train
Pickled in barrels half barrels
and kits
Smoked in boxes
Salted Herring Cod etc pacd
Fishing Rods
Flax
Flax Seed
Flour in barrels
In sacks
Fly Traps
Fodder in bales Same as Hay
Forges portable
Forks Hay and Manure
Fowls See Poultry
Frames for Pictures Mirrors Looki ingglassesboxed and crated When shipped loose or in bundles Mounted with Mirrors or Lookingglasses when shipped separately from other furniture
Fruit green not otherwise specified
prepaid
Dried not otherwise specified In cans boxed not otherwise
specified
In glass packed not otherwise
specified
Furniture manufactured of Pine Poplar or other common woods not otherwise specified when boxed crated or wrapped and
shipped setupI
When not boxed crated or wrapped
When knocked down and packed When in car loads not less than
15000 lbs to be charged for Furniture manufactured of Walnut
Mahogany Rosewood Chestnut or other hard woods when boxed crated or wrapped and
shipped set up
When not boxed crated or wrapped
When knocked down and packed When in car loads not less than
15000 lbs to be charged for Fur Skins and Peltries value limited
to 2c per pound in bags
Fur Skins and Peltries value limited to 25c per lb pressed in bales
Fur Skins and Peltries N OS
Furs in bags
In boxes bundles and trunks
strapped
Fuse
sl J Df 5 3
P Pi 7
o O
4
3 T 1 1
1
D 1
1
3
2
D 1
2
4 K
3 4
1
2
6
O
P
1
l
D 1 6
L
6
2
5
D 1
2
4
F
C
D 1
3
2 3
1 1
3 T 1 D 1
3 T 1 D 1
1 3
3
4
1 3
i y 1
D 1
2 3
3 4
B 1 Vs
3 T 1 D 1
1 2
2 3
D 1 1
1 3
D 1 3 T 1
D 1
1
Galvanized Iron Work
Gambia
Game See Poultry
Garden Seeds
Gas Fixtures
Gas Generators
Gas Pipe Iron See Pipe
Gas Retorts Iron
Gelatine
German Clay
Gigs Sulkies or Trotting Wagons set up weight estimated at 150 lbs Ginger See Spices
Ginseng
Glass Chimneys
Glass Fruit Jars Bottles and Tumblers common packed
Glass Floor Lights reugh and heavy
Glass Insulators packed
Glass Plate 1x12 feet or under
Over 7x12 feet
Glass stained or signs
Glass Ware fine cut or engraved
Not otherwise specified
Glass window 14x16 inches under Over 14x16 inches and not over
32x44 inches
Over 32x44 inches
Glue
Glucose
Glycerine in cans boxed
In barrels
Glycerine Nitro
Grain
Grain Drills
Granite Blocks rough C L See
Notel
Less than car load
Granite Blocks or Slabs dressed and
protected L C L
In car loads See Note 1
Grapes
Grass and Hemp Mats
Grates and Fixtures
Grave Stones Marble and Granite
prepaid
Grind Stones
Grits in barrels
Groceries N O S
Guano See Fertilizers
Gum Camphor
Gum Copal Kowrie and Shellac
Gums not otherwise specified
Gun Cotton
Gun Powder and other Explosives N
O S L C L
C L of 5000 pounds or over
Guns Rifles and other Fire Arms
Gunny Bags
Gypsum Land Plaster See Fertili zers
a
Hair in sacks
Hair pressed in bales
Hair Ropet
Hames in bundles or packed
Hams same as Bacon
Handles boxed or crated
Hardware boxed not otherwise specified
Harness boxed
In bundles
Harrows and Harrow Frames
Hats and Caps in trunks or boxes
Haversacks
Hay and Cotton Ties
Hay pressed in bales L C L
C L or over to be charged as 20000 lbs to car See Notel
Hay Elevators
Hay Knives packed
9 a
Eg m
O o
2 4
4
2
2
3
5
1
5 4 T 1
1
1 2
4 5
5
4
D 1 2
S
3 T 1 1
D 1 1
1 2
4 5
2 4
D 1 1
3
4
S S 1
D
1 1
P
6
8 5
S 1
3
2 4
D 1 2
5
F
2
1
2
2
D 1
D 1
1
1
6
1
2
2
3
5
2
2
1
3
1
1
A
5
D
IX 1
2 3
Hay Presses knocked down Hay Presses set up 4 3 T 1 5 P 1 IronSame as above C T
Head Lights boxed D 1 IronBand Bar Boiler and Plate
Hemp in bales IronBolts Nuts Rivets and Wasiir rs kegs boxes or casks Iron Ore CL
Hemp Machines 1 2
Hides dry loose 4 1 Iron Ore LCL Iron Castings not Machinery unpacked each piece under 200 lbs iron Casting heavy not Machinery unpacked each piece 200 lbs or over See Note 2
In bales
In bales compressed 4
Green
Green salted
High Wines Same as Whisky Hinges and Hooks in boxes barrel or casks
iron Castingsnot Machinery in kegs boxes or casks
Hobby Horses entirely boxed D 1 1 Iron astings or other parts of Sewing Machines packed
Crated 3 T 1 4 T 1 2 D 1
Unboxed Iron Crowbars and Forgings Iron Picks and Mattocks bundles Packed
Hoes in bundles 3
lloes without handles packed Hoisting Machines knocked down compact 3 4 IronFronts Girders and Beams for Buildings
HollowWare loose L C L 1 4 2 IronHoop Russia Sheet and Galvanized
irw ware jn o s See Stoves Hominy Same as Flour Hominy Mills Iron Mantles Grate Paskets Fronts Fenders and Frames
Honey in glass boxed 2 Iron Railing and Fencing Iron Roofing
In barrels or casks 3 4 Iron Safes each weighing3000 lbs or less
Hoofs and Horns Same as Bones Hoop Poles See Staves Hoop Skirts D 1 2 Each weighing over 3000 ibs and not over 6000 lbs
Hops baled Each weighing over 6000 lbs and
Horses and Mules See T c not over 10000 lbs
Horseand Mule Shoes in kegs or Each weighing over 10000 lbs and not over 20000 lbs 1 Each weighing over 20 000 lbs Special contract Iron Shutters and Doors
Horse and Mule Shoe Nails See Nails Horse Powers 2
Hose Leather
Hose Rubber Iron Vault and Prison Work
Hose Carnages See Vehicles Hospital Stores i lion Wedges and Sledges packed Loose
Household Goods well boxed value Iron Retorts
ue expressed in Bijl of Lading Isinglass
Ivory
case of total loss P 1 2 Ivory Black
Household Goods well boxed value limited to 1000 per 100 lbs and expressed in Bill of Lading said valuation only to applv in case of total loss 1 4 J Jack Screws
Household Goods and Old Furniture well packed L C L value in case of total loss limited to 5 per 100 lbs Japonica
P 1 Jelljes See Fruit in Glass and Cans Jellies m wood N O S
Household Goods and Old Furniture well packed O L value in case lhs SS to per 100 Jugs See Earthenware Junk and Jute
Jute Butts
N Kalsomine
Household Goods and Old Furniture not packed with Live Stock one attendant to have free pas
value m case of total loss limil tt v ted to 5 per 100 lbs See Note 1 Hubs and Felloes See Vehicles Husks or Shucks in bales See Note 1 T P 1 D N kegs Ale and Beer empty See Ale and Beer Kegs iCegs empty not otherwise specified Same as barrels Kegs empty not otherwise specified in crates
Jl Ice in csksprepaid L C L on any train ice C L on any train Kerosene See Coal Oil Jetties Large Iron
L 6 Jindlings
ICC diesLh Ice t ream Freezers India Rubber Goods not otherwise specified Indigo 1 1 L
1 1
Ink Writing hluid in glass or stone boxed 3 J 1 jainpblack in casks bbls or boxes arnps
IronBridge Pig Scrap Railroad Iron Spikes Chairs Fregs Fish Bars and Fish Bolts L C L 4 I I jand Plaster See Fertilizers janterns packed
6 I jard in tubs buckets or pails crated from April l to October 1
133
VI eiW O 03 M o p SM O
Lard in tubs buckets or pails crated Mattresses 1
from October 1 to April 1 4 Mattocks and Picks 5
Lard in cans boxed 3 4 Mats and Bugs not otherwise speci
In barrels or kegs B fied 1
3 Mats grass hemp and cocoa 3
Laths See Lumber Meal same as Fiour
Lead Black See Plumbago Measures See Woodenware
Lead White See Paints Meat in bulk C L B
Lead Bar or Sheet 5 Meats fresh prepaid 1
Tpari in casks boxes or pigs 6 Meats fresh on ice L C L on any
Lead Pipe See Pipe train
jrather loose N 0 S 1 In car loads on any train
in rolls oi boxes 3 Meat Cutters 2
lemons and Oranges 1 2 Medicines 1
Lentils in bags boxes or barrels 3 Melodeons See Pianos
Lettar Boxes PostOffice 3 Melons C L 0
Lightning Kods in bundles 3 Metallic Collins See Coffins
Time in casks or barrels L 0 L 6 Metallic Packing 2
In car loads 0 Metallic Paintsr See Paints
Lime slaked anv quantity L Mica unmanufactured 1
Limestone ground any quantity L Millet See Grain D
Limestone Same as Granite Millinery Goods boxed D 1
Linseed 4 Mill Gearing See Machinery
Liquors bottled not otherwise speei Mill Stones finished 3
fled 1 Bough 5
Liquors in glass boxes or baskets Mill Stuff See Note 1 P
value limited at 4 per package Milk condensed boxed 4
and so specified bv shipper on Mince Meat 4
dray receipt and Bill of Lading 2 Mineral Waters in glass or stone
Liquors hot otherwise specified ex packed 3
cept Whisky in Wood 1 2 In wood 4
Liquors in woodexcept Whisky value Mirrors See Glass Plate
not above 1 per gallon and so Molasses or Syrups in barrels or hogs
specified bv shipper on dray re heads See Note 1 5
ceipt and Bill of Lading 4 Molasses in cans boxed 3
Licorice in sticks or roots ormats 3 Moos 1
In mass or boxes 4 Moss in sacks 1
Lithographic Stone 1 2 Pressed in bales 3
Live Stock c L 1 N Mouldings boxed 2
L C L to be charged at esti In bundles 1
mated weights 1 2 Common for building purposes 4
Locomotives S Mouldings N 0 S D 1
Locomotive Head Lights boxed D 1 Moulders Dust 5
Locomotive Tires 6 Mousetraps 1
Logs See Lumber N 0 S See Mowing Machines 1
Note 1 Mucilage packed 2
Looking Glass same as Glass Plate Musical Instruments not otherwise
Looms See Machinery specified D 1
Lumber dressed or rough L C L 6 Mustard ground in boxes 2
InC L See Note i P Mustard Seed 3
Lye concentrated 5
M IT
Nails Brass and Copper well packed
Macaroni 1 in boxes or kegs 3
Machine Cards 1 Nails for Horse and Mule Shoes
Machinists heavy Tools Planers packed 5
Lathes etc 2 3 Nails Spikes and Bivets Iron in bags 3
Machinery not otherwise speed C L 4 5 In boxes 5
Mackerel See Fish In kegs 6
Madder 3 Nail Bods IronTrT1 6
Malt D Nitre Cake See Fertilizers
Manganese ground packed 5 Notions i
Crude P Nutmegs See Spices
Manilla Nuts edible in bags NOS 1
Marble Slabs dressed and protected In barrels or casks N 0 8 2
L C L 1 3 Nuts Cocoa packed or sacked t 5
Rough 3 4
Marble and Granite Blocks dressed o
and protected L C L 4 5 w
Rough L C L 5 6
Marble and Granite Block sand Slabs Oakum 4
rough C L See Note 1 P Oat Meal 4
Marble and Granite Gravestones and Oats See Grain D
Monuments See Gravestones Oil Cotton Seed or Peanut C L 5
Marble Dust 6 4
Marble Tiles See Tile Oil Kerosene See Coal Oil
Marbles in casks or boxes 4 Oil Sassafras in cans boxed 3 T 1
Marl any quantity L Oils not otherwise specified in bbls 3
Matches properly marked and packd Oils in glass or cans packed except
alone 1 1
Matting 2 Oil Cake and Meal 6
134
03
02
O
Oil Cake C L
Oil Cloth over 16 feet long boxed
Not otherwise specified boxed Not boxed not in shipping order
Olives See Pickles
Onions in barrels
Onion Setts
Oranges See Lemons
Ordnance Stores N 0 S
OresCopper Iron C L See Note Organs See Pianos
Oysters in cans or kegs
In shell in barrels prepaid In shell in bulk or bbls C L
prepaid
In Glass See Pickles
O
P
Paints in barrels casks or kegs dry
and in oil
In boxes or cans packed
In cans unboxed
Paintings and Pictures well boxed value each box not to exceed
200
Paintings and Pictures over 200 in value only taken by special
contract
Palm Leaf Fan s See Fans
Paper Writing or Book in boxes
Paper Wrapping and Roofing L C L
In car loads
Paper Printing L C L
In car loads
Paper Sand and Flint
Paper Pags
Paper barrels and boxes in nests
packed
Not nested
Paper Collars packed
Paper Hangings in bundles
Boxed
Paper Pulp
Paper Plates See Plates
Paper Stock See Rags
Paper Ware N O S
Paris White
Paste in barrels
Pasteboard
Peaches dried
Peanuts L C L
C L
Pearl Ash
Peas
Peltries See Furs
Pepper Sauce See Pickles
Pepper and Spices in bags
Pepper and Spices not otherwise
specified ground in boxes
Perfumery
Petroleum See Coal Oil
Photographic Material
Piano and Organs boxed
jnboxed not taken
Pickles in glass packed
In barrels or casks
In cans boxed
Picture Backing in packages
Picture Frames unboxed 3
Boxed
Pigs Feet in barrels or kegs
Pine Apples See Fruit
Pins in cases
Pipes Tobacco in boxesI
Pipe Tin boxedI
Pipe Iron L C L
In car loads
Pipe Wood
In car loads
Pipe Earthen L C Li
In car loadsj
5
3
1
D 1
2
4
5
3
4
3
4
2
D 1 1 1 2
6
1
5
6 4
4
5
6 S D
1
3
D 1 1
4
5
5
6
Pipe Lead in rolls or reels
In casks
Pipe Copper Brass or Metal N O S
Boxed
Pitch See Coal Tar
Plaster Castings
Plaster Land See Fertilizers
Plaster of Paris
Plates Paper and Wood
Plows Gang 3
Plows set up
Knocked down
Plow Handles and other Wood for implements boxed or crated
Plow Irons and Mould Boards over 20 lbs each loose
Plow Plates Points Wings Castings
and Steel loose
Wired together
Packed
Plumbago
Plumbers Material N O S packed Poles and Posts See Lumber Porcelean Ware See Chinaware
Pork and Beef salted in barrels
Portable Mills Burrstone
Porter See Ale
Potash N O S
Potatoes
Poultry dressed prepaid
Live in coops
Live C L See Live Stock Powder See Gun Powder
Powder Baking and Yeast
Powdered Leaves in boxes or barrels Preserves Same as Jellies
Printers Ink in wood
Printing Presses
Printed Matter in sheets boxed
Prunes in boxes
In casks
Pumice Stone
Pumps Hand
Pumps Steam
Pumps and Pump Material wooden
C L
Less than car load
Putty
Q
Quartermasters Stores
Quicksilver in iron flasks
B
Radiators
Rags in sks crates or hhds C L See
Note 1
L C L
Pressed in bales C L See Note 1
L C L
Raisins not strapped
Strapped
Rakes Hand in bundles
Rakes Horsev
Range Boilers tee Boilers
Rattan
Rattraps
Reapers and Reapers and Mowers
combined
Red Lead See Paints
Refrigerators
Retorts Clay
Retorts Iron
Bice in boxes or kegs
In bags barrels casks cr tierces
In car loads
Rivets N O S
Roofing Felt or Paper in bales or
rolls L C L
In carloads
4
5
O 3 ti I Carriers
135
Carriers Risk Owners Risk
Hoofing Composition 4
Hoofing Slate L C L 5
In car loads See Note 1 0
Hoofing Iron 6
Roots and Herbs value not over 10c
per pound 4
Value over 10 cents 3
6
Hemp or Jute 5
Wire 4
Not otherwise specified 3
Eosin L L 6
In car loads See Note 1 Changes
hereaiter in class K of standard
do not apply to this article un
less so specified K
Rubber Packing and Hose 3
Rubber Belting See Belting
Rubber Car Springs See Car Springs
Rubber Clothing and Rubber Goods
N 0 S 1
Rugs not otherwise specified 1
Russia Iron See Iron
Russia Bristles 1
Rustic Work not boxed 3T1 1
Crated 1
Entirely boxed 2
Rye See Grain D
s
Sacks See Bags
Sad Irons loose 2
Packed 4
Saddlery 2
Saddlesnot boxed 1
Boxed 2
SaddleTrees not boxed 1
Boxed 2
Sago in bags boxes or barrels 3
Salafatus 4
Salt in sacks L C L 6
In car loads 0
Salt Cake See Fertilizers
Salt Table 4
Salts Epsom 4
Saltpetre L C L 5
larload See Fertilizers
Sand C L See Note 1 P
Sand Paper 3
Sapolio 4
Sardines in boxes 2
Sash Doors and Blinds See Doors
Sash glazed 1 3
Sash Weights 5
Sauces not otherwise specified 1
Sauer Kraut 4
Sausage 4
Saws packed 1
Saws Drag 2
Saws Millunboxed 2 3
Saws Millboxed 3 4
Saw Dogs See Lumber
Scales and ScaleBeams unboxed 1
Knocked down and packed 2
School Furniture set up 1 2
Knocked down 2 3
In car loads 3 4
Scrapers Road and Pond 3 4
Screens Wire 1
Scythes in bundles 1A 1
In boxes l 2
Scythe Snaths l 2
Scythe Stones 3
Sea Grass pressed in bales 4
Seed Grass and Clover L C L 3
In car loads 4
Seed not otherwise specified 2
Separators See Threshers
Sewing Machines unboxed 3 T 1
Set up crated or boxed i
Knocked down and boxed 2 3
on
Carrier Risk
Sewing Machine Castings or other
parts of Sewing Machines packd
separate from table 3
Shafting Hangers Pullies etc 4
Shafts rough See Vehicles
Shingles See Lumber
Shingle Machines 2
Shirts See Clothing
Shoe Findings 1
Shoe Lasts 3
Shoe Pegs in bags 1
In barrels or boxes 2
Shorts and Ship Stuff See Note 1 D
Shot in bags 2
In boxes kegs or doubled sacked 5
Shovels and Spades 2
Show Cases 3 T 1
Entirely boxed 1A
Shucks in bales See Note 1 D
Shuttle Blocks 3
irieves Wire packed 3 T 1
Sieves Tin nested packed in boxes 2
Signs Glass See Glass Signs
Signs Card Metallic or Wood boxed 2
Sizing for Factories 2
Skins Sheep dry baled 1
Green in bundles 2
Salted in bundles 3
Skins N 0 S See Furs
Slate Pencils 3
Slate Roofing L C L 5
C L See Note 1 O
Slates School boxed 3
Slush in barrels 6
Smoked Beef in boxes or barrels 3
Smoked Tongues 3
SmokeStacks See Note 2 1
Smut Machines set up 3 T 1
Knocked dowD VA
Snaths 1
Snuff in casks barrels or boxes 2
In jars boxed 1
Snuff in jars unboxed D 1
Soap Castile and Fancy 2
Common in boxes 5
Soap Stone packed 2
Crude C L See Note 1 P
Soda in boxes or kegs 5
Soda Nitrate and Sulphate See
Note 3
Soda Fountains fully boxed VA
Soda Ash and Sal Soda 5
Soda Caustic in iron casks 5
Solder 5
Sorghum See Molasses
Sorghum Mills 3
Spelter in slabs or casks 5
Spices in boxes ground 2
In bags 3
Spokes and Shafts See Vehicles
Spring Bed Frames and covers and
Wire Mattresses D 1
Knocked down and packed 3
Starch in boxes or casks 4
Starch Corn 3
Stage Coaches Omnibuses Hearses
special contract
Stationery 2
Statues at option of Roads 3 T 1
Staves See Lumber
Steam Gauges 1
Step Ladders D 1
Steel loose 3
Packed and strapped 5
Steelyards See Scales
Stone not otherwise specified See
Granite
Stone Ware Same as Earthenware
Stools Piano i
Stoves Stove Plates arid Stove Furni
ture and Holloware L C L i
C L charged not less than 15000
pounds 3
186
Stove Boards boxed or crated
Stove Blacking See Blacking
Stove Pipe
Straw Same as Hay See Note 1 Straw Cutters and Crushers set up
Knocked down and packed
Straw Goods
street Cars actual weight
Sugar iii bags
In boxes
In barrels and hogsheads
Sugar Cane prepaid
Sugar Rollers See Castings
Sugar Trains
Sulphur packed
Sulphates of Ammonia Potash and Soda for f ertilizers See Note 3
Sumac ground
Leaf C L estimated 16000 lbs Syrup in barrels See Molasses
In cans boxed or in kegs
In glass boxed
1
3
D 1 K
4
3
Trees and Shrubbery baled prepaid
paid or guaranteed
Boxed
Carloads
Tree Nails
Tripoli
Trucks Wareho use
Trunks
In nests or filled with Merchandise strapped
Tubs See Woodenware
Turbine Water Wheels
Turnips
Turpentine Crude See Rosin Turpentine Spirits in bbls L C L Turpentine Spirits C L See Note 1 Changes hereafter in Class D of standard do not apply to this
article unless so specified
Turpentine Spirits in cans boxed
Twine
Type boxed
D 1
3
3
3
D
3
2
T
XT
Tacks
Tallow
Tamarinds in boxes or keg3
Tan Bark m sacks
In carloads
Tapioca in boxes bbls or bags
Tar L C L
In car loads See Rosin
Tea
Tents Tent Poles and Pins
Terra Cotta in packages
Loose See Dram Tile
Tetra Japonica
Thread
Threshing Machines and 6 to 10horse power with Separator estimated
at 6000 pounds
Thresher and 4horse Power estimat
ed at 4000 pounds
Thresher and Horse Power without Separator actual weight
Thresher Separator without Horse Power estimated at 2500 lbs
Thresher with Railroad or Endless Chain Horse Power actual
weight
Ties Cotton and Hay
Tile Floor and Marble
Fire for Lining etc
Drain and Roofing L C L
In car loads See Note 1
Tinners Trimmings N O S
Tin Block and Pig
Tin Foil in boxes
Tin Plate
Tin Stamped Ware boxed
TinWare except Stamped Ware
boxed
Tobacco cut in boxes bbls or bales
Leaf in cases
Smoking
Manufactured in boxes or kegs Unmanufactured not prized
Unmanufactured prized
Tobacco Stems prized
Not prized
TobaccoBox Materials in shooks
Tobacco Cans and Boxes empty
Tobacco Screws and Fixtures
Tongues Smoked
Tonqua Beans in boxes or barrels
Tools Mechanics boxed
Tow in bales
Compressed
Toys boxed
Traps Mouse and Rat
Traveling Bags
3
5
2
5
0 3
6
1 2
3
4 1
IX
1
IX
0
4 2 2
3 2
5 2
4 4
1
1
1
1
1
6
1
6
1
4
3
1
2
2
3
D 1 1
Umbrellas Urns Iron
V
1
3
1
2
1
1
I
5
5
6
Yamish in cans
In barrels or kegs
Vault Lights See Glsss Floor Lights
Vegetables in cans
Vegetables fresh not otherwise specified prepaid
Vehicles Material for Wood Hubs Spokes Shafts Bows Felloes Single Trees Wheels c c L C L
In car loads
Vehicles Material for Iron Boxes Skeins and Springs loose
Boxed
Velocipedes set up
Knocked down crated
Veneering not boxed
Boxed
Vermicelli
Vinegar
Vises IronI
Vitriol Qil of See Acids
Vitroil Blue See Bluestone
1
2
4
3
4
5
4
1
1
6
4
w
5
3 1
4
Wadding
Wagons and arts charged at not less
than 20000 pounds C L
Wagons and Carts Farm Lumber or Spring set up actual weight Wagons and Carts Farm Lumber or Spring taken apart and thoroughly knocked down actual
weighte
Wagons Childrens not boxed
Boxed
Knocked down in boxes or
crates
Wagon Axles
Wagon Bows Felloes Hubs Shafts spokes Swingletrees Wheels See Vehicles
Wagon Boxes Skeins and Springs See Vehicles
Washing Machines
Water Coolers and Filters boxed Water Pipe See Pipe
Wax
Well Buckets
D 1 4
D 1
3
3 T 1 D 1
1
5
2
1
4
4
Carriers
Risk
137
Well Curbing
Whalebone
Wheat See Grain
Wheat Fans
Wheaten Grits See Hominy
Wheelbarrows set up
Knocked down and packed
Kailroad common carriers convenience
Whips
Whisky in wood owner s risk ot leak
Bill of Lading by shipper
fied
In boxes or baskets
White Lead and Zinc Paints Paints
Whiting
Willowware
Willow Reeds in bales
Window Frames See Doors
Frames
Window Shades
Wine See Liquors
Wire Cloth
Wire Screens
Wire Mattresses
Wire not otherwise specified
Carriers Risk Owners Risk
2
1
D
3 T 1 D 1
3 T 1 D 1
2 3
1 1
1
H
2 3
1 2
5
D 1
2 i
1
1
1
D 1 1
3
Wire Rope
Wire Telegraph or Barbed for Fencing
Wood See Note 1
Woodworking set up
Packeds
Wood in shape in the rough N O S
Wood Screws in casks or boxes
Woodenware L C L
C L not less than 10 000 lbs
Woodenware N O S
Wool in bags
Wool pressed in bales
Wrapping Paper See Paper
Yams not otherwise specified
Yeast in wood
Yeast Powders
Yeast Cakes in boxes
Yokes
Zinc
Zinc Paints Zinc Oxide
See Paints
4
P
1
4
2
3
1
1
3
Att thr Conditions of Freight are illustrated in the rates on Bacon say for 247 miles It may he sent 1 loose L C L C El less than car load carriers risk and is then in Class 1 and the rate 75 cents 2 loose L C L O E owners risk Class 2 rate 70 cents 3 Loose C L C E carriers risk Class 3 Eate 55 cents 4 Loose C L0 E owners risk Class B Eate 30 cents 5 Packed in wood C E Class B rate 30 cents 6 In hags C E Class 3 rate 55 cents Thus one sees at a glance all the terms and conditions and the corresponding rates from 30 to 75 cents
ffi5TTntt closes the Eates Eules Eegulations and Classification as certified by the Com
missionffig
18
138
RAILROAD DISTANCES IN GEORGIA
Stations out of the State are Printed in Italics
Alabama Great Southern iSchlatterville 50
Chattanooga Morgan ville Trenton Rising Fawn Sul Springs Attala Birmingham York Meridian
0
12
18
26
31
87
143
268
295
295 Way cross 60 283 Waresboro 67 277 Millwood 78 269 Pearson 90 255 Willicoochee 101 208 Allapaha 152 Brookfield
Atlanta Charlotte AL
Atlanta Goodwins Doraville Nor cross
Duluth
Suwanee
Buford
Flory Branch 44 Odells 47 Gainesville 53 New Holland 55 W Sul Sprgs 59
Lui Bellton Longview Mount Airy Ayersville Toccoa Tgalo Greenvlee Spartanburg Charlotte
66 67 74 80 87 93 99 160 192 268
268
257
253
248
272
237
231
224
221
215
213
209
202
201
191
188
181
175
169
108
76
0
Riverside Alford Isabella Davis Albany
112 122 133 145 151 161 171
121
111
104
93
81
70
59
49
38
26
20
10
0
Angusta and Savannah Millen 79 Lawton 84 Perkins June 86
Central Eailroad
Atlanta and West Point
Atlanta 0 87
East Point 6 81
Fairburn 18 69
Palmetto 25 62
Powells 33 54
Newnan 39 48
Grantville 51 36
Hogansville 58 29
Whitfield 61 26
LaGrange 71 16
Long Cane 80 7
West Point 87 0
Augusta and Knoxville In Georgia 14 miles
Brunswick and Albany Brunswick 0 171
Jamaica 16 155 Waynes ville 24 147 Lulaton 32
Savannah Pooler Eden Guyton Egypt Halcyondale Ogeechee Scarborough Mi lien Cushing ville Herndon Midvilie Sebastopol Wadley Bartow Davisboro Sun Hill Tennile Oconee Toombsboro McIntyre Gordon Griswold Macon Summerfield Bolingbroke Smarrs Forsyth Colliers Goggins Barnesville Milner Orchard Hill Griffin Sunnyside Hampton Lovejoys Jonesboro Morrows Forest East Point 139i Atlanta
0
9
20
30
40
50
62
71
79
83
90
96 100 107 Ill 122 129 135 146 155 162 170 181 192 200 207 214 219 224 230 235 241 246 252 259 263 268 274 279 282 289 295
Munnerlyn Waynesboro Greens Cut McBean Hollywood Augusta
90 100 106 112 120 132
53
48
46
42
32
26
20
12
0
Hatcher 325 133 Georgetown 333 141 Eufaula 335 143
Columbus Branch Fort Valley 221
Gordon and Eatonton Gordon 170 38
Whiting 179 29
Milledgeville 187 21
Meriwether 195 13
Dennis 200 8
Eatonton 208 0
Everts Reynolds Butler Howards Geneva Juniper Box Springs
295 286 275 265 255 245 233 224 216
212 Sav Griffin and North Ala
328 234 242 252 262 266 269
Upson County BranchBarnesville 235 16
The Rock Thomaston 251 0
205
199
195
188
184
173
166
160
149
140
133
125
114
103
95
88
81
76
71
65
60
54
49
43
36
32
27
21
16
13
6
0
Griffin Vaughn Dunns Brooks Senoia Turin
Sharpsburg 277 Newnan 287 Sargents 293 Whitesburg 298 Carrollton 312
252 260 262 264 271 276
60
52
50
48
41
36
35
25
19
14
0
Southwestern E E Division
Jones Crossg 275 Wimberly 278 Schatulga 283 Columbus 292
Perry Branch Fort Valley 221 Perry 233
Albany Branch
275 281 288 299 31D 312 317 321
Macon Seago Echeconnee Byron Powersville Fort Valley
192
200
204
209
213
221
Marshallville 228 Winchester 231 Barrons Lane 236 Montezuma 241 Oglethorpe Anderson Americus Smithville Browns Dawson
Wards Cuthbert Morris
243 252 263 275 283 290 300 310 321
0
8
12
17
21
29
36
39
44
49
51
60
71
83
91
98
108
118
129
Smithville Adams
Leesburg
Albany Walker Ducker Holts
Leary
Williamsburg 327 Arlington 334
Port Gaines Branch Cuthbert Jun310 Coleman 320 Fort Gaines 332
Cherokee Eailroad
71
64
58
50
40
30
59
53
46
35
24
22
17
13
7
0
Cartersville adds Stilesboro Taylorsville Deatons Brooks Rockmart Pineville Goddards Fish Creek Cedartown
0
4
10
14
17
20
23
35
27
29
37
Columbus and Eome Columbus 0
Vances 7
Fortsons 10
37
33
27
23
20
17
14
12
10
6
0
Hines 12 Kimbrogh 15 Cataula 16 Kingsboro 20 Hamilton 25
E Tenn Va Ga and S B B M It
Cleveland State Line Varnells Dalton Starks
Macon Branch
139
Marietta N Georgia
0 264 13 251 19 245 28 236 34 230
Sugar Valley 44 220 Skelleys 49 215 Plainville 55 209 Ridge Yalley 60 204 Borne 68 196 Cave Spring 84 180 Pryors 90 173 Jacksonville 110 154 Talladega 155 109
Camak Warrenton Mayfield Culverton
Sparta Devereux
Carrs Milledgeville 48 Browns 54 Haddock 59 Roberts 69 Macon 78
0
4
13
20
24
32
36
78
74
65
58
54
46
42
Marietta 0
Walkers 7
Woodstock 12 Lebanon 15 Holly Springs 20 Canton 24
Washington Branch
Barnett 0 18
Raytown
Columbiana 191 Calera 202 Mmtevallo 209
Selma 264 n
Elberton AirLine
Toccoa 0 511
Martins 12 39
Lavonia 18 33 j
Bowersville 24 27
WBowersvie 26 25
Boystons 31 20 1
Bowman 39 12
Elberton 51 0
Georgia Railroad
Atlanta 0 171
Decatur 6 165
Clarkston 11 160
Stone Mount 16 155
Lithonia 25 146
Conyers 31 140
Covington 41 130
Alcovy 46 125
Social Circle 52 119
Eutledge 60 111
Madison 68 103
Buckhead 75 96
Oconee 81 90
Greensboro 88 83
Union Point 95 76
Crawfordville 107 64
Barnett 113 58
Norwood 121 50
Camak 124 47
Mesena 128 43
Thomson 134 37
Dearing 142 29
Saw Dust 145 26
Harlem 146 25
Berzelia 150 21
Forest 155 16
Grovetown 156
Belair 161 10
Augusta 171 0
32N E Railroad of Ga
Athens 0
Center 6
Nicholson 12 Harmony Grv 18 Maysville 26 Gillsville 32 Lula 39
4
Ficklin 10 Washington 18
Athens Branch
Union Point 0
5 7
13 16 22 32 40
14
Whigham 221
Climax 227
Bainbridge 236
Live Oak Branch Dupont 130 Forrest 143 Statenville 151 Jasper 163 Marion 168 Live Oak 179
128
115
107
95
90
79
Albany Branch
Rome Railroad
Rome Freemans
Dykes Creek Bass Ferry
Eves Taylors Ferry 15 Woolleys 18 Kingston 20
20
15
13
11
8
5
2
0
Thomasville Ocklocknee Pelham Camilla Baconton Hardaway Albany
200
211
224
232
242
250
258
58
47
34
26
16
8
0
SandersvilleTennille
Tennille 135 4 Callahan 152
Sandersville 139 0
Louisville W R R10
Macon Brunswick
Macon 0 186
leid 8 178
Bullard 15 171 Buzzard Roost 25 161 Dochran 38 148 Dubois 46 140 Eastman 56 130 Dhauncy 66 120
McRae 76 110 McVille 81 105 Towns 86 100 Lumber City 93 93
Hazlehurst 100 86
Graham 106 80
Baxley 116 70
Surrency 126 60
Brentwood 131 55
Satilla 36 50
Jessup 146 40
Penclarvis 156 30
Sand Hill 163 23
Sterling 176 10
Brunswick 186 0
Savannah Charlestn
Savannah 0 115
SavanhJunc 2 113 Montieth 14 101 Charleston 115 0
Jacksonville Division or Waycross S Fla BB Tebeauville 97 75
Braganza 104 68
Fort Mudge 111 61
Race Pond 118 54
Spanish Creek 125 47
iFolkston 131 41
Callahan 152 20
Jacksonville 172 0
Talbotton R R 6
Western and Atlantic
Sav Fla Western
Savannah Millers Ways Fleming McIntosh
Hawkinsville Branch
Cochran 0
Hawkinsville 10
0
10
16
24
31
Walthourville 39 Johnstons Doctortown
Jesup Scriven Patterson Blackshear Tebeauville Waycross Glenmore Argyle Homerville Dupont Stockton Naylor Valdosta Ousleys Quitman
Dixie
Boston Thomasville 200 Cairo 214
46
53
57
68
78
87
97
98 108 116 122 130 139 144 157 166 174 181 188
258
248
242
234
227
219
216
205
201
190
180
171
161
160
150
142
136
128
119
114
101
92
84
77
70
58
44
Atlanta Bolton Gilmore Yinings Smyrna Ruffs Marietta
0
7
10
11
15
138
131
128
127
123
21 117
Big Shanty 29 109
Acworth 35 103
Allatoona 40 98
Bartow 43
Stegalls 46
Etowah 46
Cartersville 48 1
Rogers 51 87
Cass 52 86
Bests 56
Kingston 59 80
Halls 64 75
Adairsville 69 70
McDaniels 75 63
Calhoun 79 59
Resaca 84 54
Tilton 90 48
Dalton 100 38
Tunnel Hill 107 31
Ringgold 115 23
Graysville 120 18
Chickamauga 127 12
Boyce 131 7
Gin So June
Chattanooga 138 0
140
PART IIILEGIS LATION
The act of 1879 was a great stride in the right direction drawn with unusual care and caution it made an excellent beginning But this act as well as the Constitution recognized the need of amendment in the light of experience a complete system must needs be a gradual growth and not a creation
The needful amendments apply not so much to Rights as to remediesRemedies being the great function of the Commission
We have already discussed Rights it remains briefly to discuss the Remedies for their enforcement
Prior to the act of 1879 the Common Law right of the citizen to be protected against extortion and unjust discrimination existed in its full force but the remedy for its violation was wholly inadequate Practically the citizen had no rights tljough his theoretical right was ample and complete
The rights of the Railroad Companies were well defined enough and their remedies also were adequate being in their own hands It was their capacity for abusing their powers which was not sufficiently held in check
THE REMEDIES OP THE CITIZEN
In the very nature of the case the citizen stood at such a disadvantage that his rights were merely nominal To illustrate Suppose him to receive a package on which the actual freight charge was 150 while a just and reasonable rate would be bat 100 What could he do Usually he could not wait but must pay the 150 under protestand bring suit afterwards if he thought it worth his while for the half dollar overcharge But could he afford to do this His interest in the matter would not warrant the expensethe costs fees witnesses the discussion of the principles and facts involved as to what rate would be reasonable and just in the particular case And only the one case would be settled after all The next day a parcel would be charged 75 cents worth but 50 and the 25 cents would involve a new suit Practically he was obliged to submit Were it a merchant who overcharged him he would transfer his trade to another house
But in dealing with the railroad he is dealing usually with a monopoly unless at a competing pointand now even at such a point by reason of poolingand so he was remediless A litigation would usually settle but a single caseone classone distancescarcely any principle at all
Such was the attitude of the citizen Consider next
THE ATTITUDE OF THE RAILROAD prior to the act of 1879
It had a large interest in results Instead of 50 cents multiplied by 1 the citizens interest the railroad had 50 cents multiplied by 1000 or 100000 as its interest It would have also ample experience and the best legal talent already engaged and trained and waiting and all the experts favorably inclined
So unequally were the parties matched that in the whole history of the State there has been so far as we remember not one singe case of a suit by a citizen to enforce this Common Law rightand but one to enforce even a stat utory right for an overcharge In that case the charter of the railroad in express terms limited the rates yet the railroad fixed its rates beyond the chartered limitprinted them and collected them and was checked by this suit
A remarkable commentary on the absolute worthlessness of Rights without Remedies
The consciousness of this huge disparity between the parties is the great reason why juries lean toward the weaker side Notwithstanding all this howeverunless the sum involved was large say a suit for life or limb or injury the party aggrieved would not enter into so formidable a controversy even with the sympathy for the jury in his favor
Indeed the case was not prepared for jury trial As well turn a jury loose into a great pile of copartnership or bank books to strike a balance as into the complex principles and facts involved in rates of freight without some report like that of a master in chancery as the basis of decision
Now all this has been
IN LARGE MEASURE REMEDIED
by the act of 1879 and adequate provision made also for such a report so that the parties can stand on a level
A residual remedy remains however still to be provided viz an improved mode of reviewing the action of the Commission when bona Me believed to be erroneous by any party interestedrailroad citizen or community
Suppose a tariff made by the Commission in their judgment just and reasonable but in the honest opinion of the officers of the railroads lower than is just and reasonable and not properly remunerative or in the opinion of some I citizen or community as too high or discriminating unfavorably against such citizen or I locality Does the law as it stands sufficiently provide for testing the question Perhaps not so fully as it might
It is true that the Commission itself is always open for a new trial and that without formality But aside altogether from pride of opinion or other fault an error of judgment is not easily cured in those who make it and so an appeal to some outside tribunal is usually the I safest mode of securing a fair rehearing
Such an appeal is that which lies from the Superior to the Supreme Court Although the three Judges of the latter court are the very last resort yet the parties to other cases have first had a hearing before a different tribunal and it requires a concurrent judgment of two fairly disposed tribunals to reach finality
As the matter stands parties are not without the right of appeal to the courts but the remi edy is not sufficiently obvious and attainable
I If any doubt of this right of appeal ever existed it has been settled by the Tilley case
Under that decision the day in court exists and the action of the Commission is as stated heretoforea report as to just and reasonable rates presumed to be correct until the contrary is established
The remedy so far as the citizen is concerned is far better than it was prior to 1879 The remedy for the railroad even now without change of the act is far better than the citizen s ever was But it is capable of some improvement and should be perh cted as far as possible
THE REMEDY
is chiefly declaratory With some small amendments of a declaratory sort showing the
mode of proceeding for convenience and adaptation the act stands The Tilley case has plowed and cross plowed the whole field of objections but in vain
In the provision by which the rates of the Commission were made sufficient evidencethat term sufficient has been construed to mean simply prima fade in accordance with the view of both partiesso construed by counsel for complainant and counsel for defendants One remaining point of objection has been removed by the adoption by the Commission of a rule as to notices which settles the mode of proceeding more satisfactorily Thus the strong features of the law referred to in our first report as thumbscrews have been so construed as largely to obviate the objections and allow to the railroads their desired day in court
It remains to make the provisions for appeal more complete and satisfactory
As the law stands the action of the Commision is made prima fade evidence of what rates are reasonable and just let it so continue until the contrary is decided but provide for exceptions to it In case of dissatisfaction wit t e action of the Commission let any party interested whether citizen or city or railroad file exceptions against the same specifying t e grounds of such exception as if to a report by a Master in Chancery to the court in which
they are filed
If filed by a citizen city or community let it be in the name of the State for the use of A B vs The Railroad Company in the county m which an action would lie for any excessive charge If filed by a railroad company let it
be heRailroad Company vs The
State of Georgiaperhaps best filed at the Capital the situs of the State authority the State granting leave for such a proceeding
When the exceptions are filed let it be the duty of the Railroad Commission to certify their action in the particulars complained of with any other action explanatory thereof and any comments or remarks they may think proper to submit showing the grounds of their decision
If the parties waive a jury let the proceeding be at Chambers The Attorney or Solicitor General to represent the State if defendant the party complainant to represent his own case and the court to give such damages as it may think just as in claim or other like cases
142
for a proceeding found to be frivolous or vexatious
Let the Penalty and damages before a decision by the courts be so qualified as to make the amount less and let the penalty be graduated by the gross income of the road for the preceding fiscal year say a certain per cent instead of by a fixed sum for all roads large and small A penalty upon officers would really best meet he case as they are really the derelict parties Ihe stockholders are scarcely capable of controlling the action and so are innocent Let the scienter be part of the offensei e let the charge include knowingly and wilfully
It is a difficlt matter to balance off counsel expert vs expert Pees for the Solicitor or AttorneyGeneral should be provided and the Governor authorized to engage assistance when necessary But this would probably be of rare occurrence On the whole very generally with a properly constituted Commission the safety of all interests would finally be felt to rest in its decisions as safer from its constitution than a jury and more specially educated than the courts and so the inclination would e to appeal to rather than from it
The Commission were not jesting nor acting a part when in their first report they referred to their deep sense of responsibility in the exereise of the large powers conferred upon them And it will be with a profound sense of relief that they will see such a clear right of appeal as will relieve them from the anxieties of a tribunal once regarded to be strictly of the last resort as well as the first No member of the board has failed at some time to feel an oppressive weight of anxiety
Summary proceeding is important because neither the railroads nor the public can well afford to go on with their daily business not knowing what they are to receive and pay in their constant mutual transactions Neither of them can understand its business nor regulate its affairs expenses and prices without this knowledge
The inexperience of the Commission has been commented on How much will the experience of a jury for a half day mend the matter
The British law on this general subject is to be found in Hodge on Railways from which we make some extracts
In 1872 the necessity of the establishment of a special tribunal to deal with certain rail
way questions was universally acknowledged I The railway and canal act of 1854 had been I administered by the Court of Common Pleas l with indifferent success Indeed with respect I both to main and through traffic considered I irrespective of 1 undue preference this act had I been a complete failure not a single successful application having been made And although 1 the decisions of the courts between different I classes of traders had been satisfactory in prin I ciple and there was no reason to suppose that any tribunal specially constituted would come to sounder conclusions it appeared that ques I tions of fairness of charges were matters of I administrative policy rather than simple ques f tions of law and could be better and more cheaply investigated by a special tribunal ac quainted with the subject The committee therefore after pointing out that a Board of j Trade is not sufficiently judicial a court of I law not sufficiently informed and a parliamentary committee not sufficiently permanent recommended the appointment of aRailway and Canal Commission to consist of not less than three persons of high standing of whom one should be an eminent lawyer and one a I person well acquainted with railway manage 1 ment
The bill followed the recommendations almost verbatim and became the regulators of railways act 1873
Among other provisions Railway Commissioners are absolutely prohibited from holding railway stock of any kind
The act provides 25 that for the purposes of this act the Commissioners shall subject as in this act mentioned have full power J to decide all questions whether of law or fact 1 and after naming certain exceptions that save as aforesaid every decision and order of the Commission shall be final
The decision of the Commission may be made the Rule of a Superior Court in order to its legal enforcement by proper officers
They are empowered if they think fit to state a case in wiiting for the opinion of any Superior Court determined by the Commissioners upon any question which in the opinion of the Commissioners is a question of law
Thus the law of Georgia is evidently not the wild and unprecedented action sometimes alleged whether by analogy with the English law or by the decision of a United States Judge
143
The sensible views here expressed as the result of long British experience have largely been incorporated into the Georgia law Under it as it stood and far more as herein proposed to be amended the rights of railroads are more facile for appeal and less subject to three men than in Great Britain At last however three men that very objectionable number must decide the law
I The right of exception brings up a great case of Interpleader using this term in its popular sensewhich will first be heard before the Commission itself and the appeal be to the Courts for a rehearing if desired
Pending suit the rates stand for all parties
men cannot stand at a ferry for rates they must
settle and pass on So at a train In the Tilley
case the Savannah Florida and Western got the benefit and the people had to suffer
In that case the objection being to the want of jurisdiction the old rates were kept of force until the jurisdiction had been sustained Now the decree has settled the matter the onus has been changed and the new rates are observed as prima fiacie correct
The form of citation or notice issued by the I Commission is not such as we would prefer but such as the exigencies of the case render necessary It works as hard on one party as on the other and the practical exigency cannot be evaded If it can we shall be glad to adopt any reasonable method
We have dwelt thus far entirely upon reme dies and the right of review A few other points of less consequence are to be presented
The mode of publication provided by the act is expensive and cumbersome It was not em braced in the act originally framed If the mode were left to the Commission to publish in their best judgment for economy and efficiency it would be a great gain to the State and no loss to the public It now costs 56 to make the smallest changean excessive and unnecessary expense
It would be well to allow the Commission to take testimony by interrogatories as well as
I orally providing that the clerk of any Superior Court could issue them returnable to such Court and through its clerk to the Commission
The subject of taxation is too large perhaps
to enter upon just now
The decisions on this head are even more
surprising to the common mind than on the
subject of legal regulation of railroads and in the justice of some of these decisions we probably would not concur They are merely efforts to escape former legislation ultra vires by harsh and strained legal decisions now
But there is much room for improvement here It is frequently asserted that 60000000 is the value of the railroad property of Georgia On what do they pay tax
In our second semiannual report we referred to the subject of the Secretarys salary We beg leave respectfully to repeat the suggestion and to say that in our opinion the services of a person fit for the position are worth not less than the usual salary of the State House officers2000 per annum
We append hereto a statement of office expenses and of other necessary expenses chiefly of printing
The suggestions herein made do not pretend or assume to be exhaustive If there be any other matter on which the views of the Commission are regarded as desirable they will be cheerfully and promptly given The object of the law guided by the Constitution is to improve legislation and remedies by prunings or additions from time to time to supply defects or rectify errors It is desired to make a closer and closer fit in the adaptation of the established organization to its duties
Perhaps the work still before us of classification and of more careful information as to the condition and operations of the railroads will keep us busy enough for some time to come
Other duties also will engage our attention in the way of the revision
Our work is to act as the organ of the State in the regulation of the railroads by just and reasonable rates rules and regulations It is not our part to attend save by suggestions in our reports to the Legislature or the press
We cannot be blind to the relative power and determination on the part of the railroads to impress their views and policy on legislation as compared with the scattered and unorganized general Public who have no organ to represent them in this relation so important and all pervading
The General Assembly as the Representatives of the peopleand all their interests individual and corporateis to weigh and determine upon the proper legislation and how fast
144
and far to go and how to protect all interests and see to it that the want of special pleading by the Public does not result in any detriment to its true welfare Outside pressure in the interest of Transportation is not balanced off by any similar pressure in the interest of Production
Save in your own body the case of the Gen
eral Public goes by default It is too diffuse I and unorganized to meet their organized cor porate assault It is as helpless as a body of I stockholders in the presence of this compact I power
We turn next to the subject of railroad in1 formation
PART IVTHE CONDITION AND OPERATIONS OP THE RAILROADS IN GEORGIA
Circular Letter
Office of Railroad Commission Atlanta Ga April 151881
Our object has been tq giveand we will yet givea view of the railroad situation in Georgia so broad systematic and comprehensive as to guide wise legislation and our own action in determining what rates are just and reasonable and what rules and regulations necessary in the premises To do this we must have correct estimates especially of value and net profit and the means of verifying the same with perfect and trustworthy accuracy
We intended alsoto publish the details for each road for the benefit of the parties especially interested and for our own guidance in equalizing and nicely adjusting benefits and burdens and the adaptation of each tariff to each road To this end we had the forms of a blank report all ready to be filled and they
upon satisfactory returns by the railroads generally The returns we are satisfied always need to be scanned and compared carefully in order that the exact information needed may be extracted and be worthy of confidence This is all important
Compare for example the estimated values of the railroads of the State for other purposes with the tax returns to the ComptrollerGeneral and it will be seen that careful comparisons pay
If valuations are so unreliable and variable are rates less so
To carry out our purpose a letter accompanying Form 10 the system of Reports by the Railroads to the Commission was sent to each road of which the folllowing is a copy
Dear Sir The Commission desire to print 11 in its next Report a full table exhibiting the I conditions and operations of all the railroads I of the State comparing the operations of the ten months ending February 28 1881 month f by month with the corresponding ten months i ending February 28 1880 Will you please to cooperate with this board in making its Report as complete and accurate as possible by filling out the blanks accompanying this circular and by furnishing any additional matter I which may seem to you desirable to be men tioned in regard to your own railroad
The Commission indeed would be glad to have a historical sketch as suggested in the i Company Table pages 2 and 3 and in the order there presented of 1 the inception of 1 the enterprise 2 its progress and 3 com l pletion 4 the sources from which the capital I stock was derived 5 the amounts subscribed I in the cities and counties along the line 6 I the State aid received and 7 in what form 8 the subsequent enterprises in which your I road has cooperated and any other like in formation
The hope of the Commission is ultimately to be able to present valuable and interesting historical and business tables exhibiting the I rise and progress of the railroad interest in j Georgia its influence upon trade and produc I tion upon the value of land and of city prop t erty etc etc
145
This must be a work of time it is true but the Commissioners will be pleased to have it so borne in mind that questions not now answered may hereafter be
They wish to have a large and liberal view of the whole railroad situation and of the original and present relations of the various railroads to one another They are aware that the questions asked are numerous but believe none of them unimportant and that their value and the appreciation in which the information is held will increase with time and reflection The reasons for this view are set forth especially in that portion of the Eeport referring to bookkeeping and they are of evergrowing importance
If necessary one or more of the Commissioners will at some future time visit your general office to aid in arriving at the needed information It is the earnest desire of the Commission in the discharge of their duties to get rid as much as possible of guesswork and of the influence cf what has been designated the personal variation or natural bias and to have all the facts and figures necessary for reaching results by calculation
These reports are needed in this office by the last day of the present month Please to read carefully the printed Explanations and Instructions page 1 and answer as fully as may be practicable by that time and then return the book of forms whether the answers are complete or not
When the answers cannot all be furnished the following are the most important questions
If you can furnish passenger reports to a later period than the 1st of March they will be useful
With much respect yours very truly
James M Smith Chairman
To this letter dated April 15 a list was appended of the more important questions and answers requested by April 30soon extended to May 10 Further extensions were granted but still the replies have not been general nor adequate
Our objectsbesides those already given of comprehensive tables showing the condition of the roads as a whole and special tables for each roadwere to show the comparative results of the operations of the roads to May 1880 and then to May 1881the first results being under 19
the old tariff of rates and the last under the new
Only a few roads in the State make annual reports with any fullness of detail
Also to see the relative passenger earnings under the new and old rates Also to see the distinction between through and local freight so as to see how far the Commissioners rates affected traffic and how much was independent of them
The responses to the letter and system of reports by some of the roads was all that we could ask or expect Other roads were slow to respond and unsatisfactory in the information furnished both as to matter and form No other road furnished a better statement than the S F W That of the W A was also excellent in most respects Some of the smaller roads did their best
The returns of a number of roads were utterly inadequate and meagre sometimes almost amusingly so references were sometimes made to such a mass of reports as to recall our illustration of the distinction between a pile of bricks and a house Quotations from the answers would justify some severity of comment on our part unless indeed they affected the public mind with amusement at their thoroughly noncommittal character There seemed to be a shyness like that of certain elderly persons about telling their age or like the evasiveness with which the census enumerators were occasionally met especially in old times Whether it was simply a struggle against regulation of law or a determination not to expose the mistakes of the pastthe errors of youthat all events the answers were not surcharged with point blank information
If not intended to deceive they were not calculated to enlighten Indeed in some cases the authorities indulged in criticisms on the method instead of answers to the questions When once answered the information will speak for itself and bear the test of criticism
Perhaps this is not to be wondered at Our difficulty is not other than that of the State itself endeavoring through the ComptrollerGeneral to get at the correct tax returns It has been for years the settled policy of Georgia on which one Constitutional Convention and successive General Assemblies have tried their skill to place railroads on the same level as to taxation with individuals with little success however It seems difficult for
the roads to understand this simple view they cannot see so plain a point Offer double the average returned value for years past for the property and see if it can be bought So too with litigation concerning taxes and exemptions the delay is endless
We are therefore not discouraged being in such good company but trust quite confidently to be able in a few months to procure more thorough and intelligible information than was ever before attainable The character of this information must be such as to deserve and command confidence it must go to the bottom and it shall and will
We have as yet seen no reason why valuation for ratesand valuation for taxesshould be on any different basis Would the railroads be willing to accept their own tax returns as the basis on which to estimate reasonable and just rates of freight We trow not
As the returns stand a full report is impossible and we shall not trifle with the Legislature or the public by making one so partial and deceptive as to be wholly without value
When the questions are answeredomitting any details not attainablethese returns will enable us to get an improved general idea of the extent and importance of the railroad system of the State of its workings and of the interest of the public in it of the capital involved the annual tonnage rates and earnings the annual expenses the profits realized and the use made of them and also of the effect of the Commission on rates and their fairness and equality Nor will such a showing injure the railroads but inspire increased confidence in those worthy of confidencethose unworthy ought to be exposed To the railroad management itself it will afford increased light by comparison upon the most important questions of railroad management and economy
Such reports will show also whether or not stock dividends the issue of debentures and the like are justified by the facts of the case and condition of the property See questions on page 96
Meanwhile before receiving such a report the General Assembly and the public may rest satisfied that the roads are not ruined As we have before said there has been great activity in railroad building and the sale of railroad stocks
Though some of them are very complaining
they are not in extremes nor likely to become so Indeed the year of operations under the Commission by some mysterious connection has with most of the roads been the most prosperous year of their existence and the stock has borne the best market price for those obliged to sell These facts rest not on our statement but are notorious and public and the papers full of them day by day
On the whole if the reports gave us absolute assurance of the value and the net earnings we would be content But we must have the means of verifying these How By a detailed statement not merely by an item professing to give it unsupported by the proper details No not even on oath The ComptrollerGeneral has that year by yearnot intentionally erring but not in fact right and trustworthy
Detailed statements are the proper safeguards even with the best intentions and the most perfect publicity Despite all the efforts of the Legislature and the plain provisions of the Constitution as to uniform taxation what are the facts
The capital invested in railroads in the State is commonly claimed to be in round num
bers 60000000
Of this the amount exempt is about 12000000
Leaving subject48000000
Amount actually returned 12500000
Difference 35500000
Thus the last report of the Comptroller
General October 1 1880 shows the returns to be only about 25 pev cent of the amount subject lacking 35000000 of the value which ought to pay tax Meanwhile the property pays no county nor municipal tax
By the same report the aggregate taxable property of the State for 1880 is 238939126 And the aggregate tax 1092822
Now the railroad property if 60000000 represents onefourth of the whole Its State tax would be 273205 while the returns show the actual tax 50718 not onefifth of the relative share due
The same report shows back railroad taxes for a series of years recently collectednotwithstanding all the deficiencies of getting to the bottomto the amount of over 180000 the greater part of them collected at the end of the law
147
Do not such facts as these show that correct reports are not so easily had and that legislation has been necessarily in the dark DarkDess has paid well it is truewonderfully well tut the payment has been to the wrong parties Light will help the State and lighten the general burdens Darkness helps indifferent indolent and fraudulent management The attempt to dissipate the darkness however will he derided by speculators the hope of whose gain is gone whenever the light comes in
In concluding the present reportby far the fullest in many respects yet madewe must express our gratitude at the generous confidence bestowed upon us by the general public and to a considerable extent by the railroads also That this should not be universal on their part is altogether natural It is to be expected that the managers should prefer an unregulated to a regular monopoly
Strong powers need strong control If the railroad interest is wise it will remember that inter arma leges silent amidst arms laws are silent and not put the State on a war footing and make stronger laws necessary hut will cooperate in making regulations wise well informed and well adopted
We think that our whole action shows no disposition on the part of the Commission to grasp at power though the contrary has been alleged without proper consideration Had this disposition existed in fact the strong language of the first report had never been used and in the present report we should be asking for more powers instead of suggesting ready means of appeal from those already possessed It were easy enough to show grounds for increased powers in certain particulars were we anxious for their extension
And in the use of existing powers we have endeavored to be just and moderatenot straining their limits The means for example of compelling answers to Form 10 are ample and stringent but we have preferred to wait and to secure the voluntary cooperation
of the railroads as we are assured we will soon succeed in doing
We can safely appeal to the numerous citizens boards of trade etc which have appeared before us whether we have aimed at cheap popularity or shown any disposition to disregard the rights of the railroads and whether we have not obviously and sincerely used such powers to arrive at facts and conform to them with the utmost justice and fairness
Strong powers are needed to control the strong but these powers we have not Consciously abused The corporations are powerful in wealth and all that wealth can buy in compactness organization skill tact experience and sometimes also in unscrupulousness at least on the part of their agents
Does anyone suppose ours to be an easy task Not in a complaining manner do we refer to these matters On the contrary we have been largely sustained by a popular approbation which could not have been attained by any sort of injustice in favor of the people against the railroads no agrarian spirit has been found nor fostered by us
This remark we would repeat with emphasis to the credit of our people viz that no such spirit has been exhibited in any quarter and no appeal whatever has been made to us in anywiseto disregard corporate in favor of popular rights The contrary has been expressed over and over again that the public wished the just rights of the railroads maintained in all their integrity
We have on our part endeavored and shall continue so to do in the use of our powers to exercise that wisdom justice and moderation which are the pillars of constitutional liberty and the safeguards of free government
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace
Saml Babnett
Railroad Commissioners
B A Bacon Secretary
148
THE IMIAip
Without a map it is impossible properly to understand a single railroad much more a considerable system of roads Our report presents one which we have taken much pains with the kind and hearty cooperation of the Publisher Henry S Stebens of Chicago 111 to make as full accurate and useful as possible This map shows all the railroads of the State completed nd in progress and some of those contemplated as probable and gives the names of all the stations It embraces enough of the coterminous States to show something of our railroad connections especially Chattanooga and its group of roads the roads leading into South Carolina with some fullness and almost the whole system of Florida roads
The census of the counties and the political divisions of the counties and Congressional districts have added little to the cost and much to the interests and value of the map
FTj
IN FORM 10
Page 7 No 42 for due to to reed due by Page 15 No 184 for Triah read Train
Page 19 four lines from bottom for 1979 read 1879
rsr SECOND SEMIANNUAL report
Page 17 four lines from bottom for 30 read 0 I
Page 18 fifth line omit k
iEIXIPIElIDITTTIRS
The following Exhibit shows the expenditures paid or incurred by the Commission since
its last Report
EXPENDITURES
Of the Contingent Fund for expenses of the Re il road Commission from November 1 1880 to July 15 lfi81 for account of
Office furniture 70 00
Office rent Jan 1 to July 1 1881 100 00
Maps for office use 14 50
Maps for third semiannual report 80 00
Postage 31 20
Gas Light Co 13 44
Wages of porter 33 10
Coal and wood 24 65
Stationery and desk furniture 17 10
Subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals 27 95
Express charges on books maps etc 4 40
Printing law of 1879 and decision in
Tilley case 33 50
Telegrams 90
Copy of order in Tilley case 2 00
Incidentals 1 60
454 34
DUE TO NEWSPAPERS For advertising Circulars No 11 to 16 inclu
sive
Atlanta Constitution 74 00
Macon Telegraph and Messenger 76 00
Savannah News 62 80
Augusta Chronicle Constitutionalist 66 00 Columbus EnquirerSun 61 00
Albany News and Advertiser 49 25
Rome Courier 49 25
438 30
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
To the Third SemiAnnual Report of the Railroad Commission of Georgia
To present the Legal Aspect of the matter the supplement will contain such portions of the Constitution of the United States and of the Constitution of Georgia as are applicable to the general subject of the right of railroad regulation by law and its proper limits also the general laws of the State on the same subject or references to them also references to other cases and the full text of JusticeWoods decision in the Tilley case with briefs of the arguments of counsel
Concerning the Condition and operation op the Railroads it will contain a map brought up to date and as much statistical information as possible When once the system of reports is fairly in operation this will be of a far more satisfactory character we think than was ever heretofore attainable
In regard to the work of The Commission it will contain some added matter including a clean sheet to date with the substance of all circulars etc so as to incorporate all the needful information in one paper without reference to anything outside Also an explanation of the Bookkeeping Forms
After all this will come suggestions as to Needful Legislation properly delayed to the last for obvious reasons viz that these suggestions may he made in the light of all information legal or statistical concerning the operations of the roads and the action of the Commission and that we may be guided by these principles and facts in our recommendations and the Legislature in its deliberation and action
ZELXTIRACTS
FROM THE
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES
AND THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA
RELATING TO RAILROADS
Together with the General Laws concerning Railroads and the Law Creating a Railroad Commission
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
Article it sec 8 par 3The Congress shall have power
To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes
Sec 101 No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts
Amendments to the Constitution
Article 7 In suits at common law where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars the right of trial by jury shall be preserved and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common 1 aw
Article 11 The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State
Article 14 part of sec 1 Nor shall any State deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA
ARTICLE IV
POWER OP THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OVER TAXATION AND RAILROADS
Section I 1 The right of taxation is a sovereign rightinalienable indestructibleis the life of the State and rightfully belongs to the people in all republican governmentsand neither the General Assembly nor any nor all other departments of the Government established by this Constitution shall ever have the authority to irrevocably give grant limit or restrain this right and all laws grants contracts and all other acts whatsoever by said government or any department thereof to effect any of these purposes shall be aDd are hereby declared to be null and void for every purpose whatsoever and said right of taxation shall always be under the complete control of and revocable by the State notwithstanding any gift grant or contract whatsoever by the General Assembly
Sec IL1 The power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable ratesand enforce the same by adequate penalties
2 The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridgednor so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies and subjecting them to public use the same as the property of individuals and the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be abridgednor so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well being of the State
3 The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existingnor alter or amend the samenor pass
any other general or special law for the benefit of c said corporationexcept upon the condition that I l such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to this Constitution and every amend ment of any charter of any corporation in this State or any special law for its benefit accepted
thereby shall operate as a novation of said charter and shall bring the same under the pro I visions of this Constitution Provided that this section shall not extend to any amendment for the purpose of allowing any existing road to take stock in or aid in the building of any branch road
4 The General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation to i buy shares or stock in any other corporation in i this State or elsewhere or to make any contract or agreement whatever with any such corporation which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition in their respective businesses or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and void
5 No railroad company shall give or pay any rebate or bonus in the nature thereof directly or indirectlyor do any act to mislead or deceive the public as to the real rates charged or received for freights or passage and any such payments shall be illegal and void and these prohibitions shall be enforced by suitable penalties
6 No provision of this article shall be deemed f held or taken to impair the obligation of any I contract heretofore made by the State of Geor ft gia
7 The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation
ARTICLE VII
FINANCE TAXATION AND PUBLIC DEBT
Section IThe powers of taxation over the whole State shall be exercised by the General Assembly for the following purposes only
For the support of the State government and the public institutions
For educational purposes in instructing children in the elementary branches of an English education only
To pay the interest on the public debt
53
i ijo pay the principal of the public debt
To suppress insurrection to repel invasion and defend the State in time of war
To supply the soldiers who lost a limb or limbs in the military service of the Confederate States with substantial artificial limbs during life
gect II1 All taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects and ad valorem on all property subject to be taxed within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected under general laws The General Assembly may however impose a tax upon such domestic animals as from their nature end habits are destructive of other property
4 All laws exempting property from taxation other than the property herein enumerated shall be void
5 The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to which the State shall be a party
Sec V The credit of the State shall not be pledged or loaned to any individual company corporation or association and the State shall not become joint owner or stockholder in any company association or corporation
Sec XII The proceeds of the sale of the Western arid Atlantic Macon and Brunswick or other railroads held by the Stateand any other property owned by the Statewhenever the General Assembly may authorize the sqle of the whole or any part thereof shall be applied to the payment of the bonded debt of the State and shall not be used for any other purpose whatever so long as the State has any existing bonded debt Provided that the proceeds of the sale of the Western and Atlantic Railroad shall be applied to the payment of the bonds for which said railroad has been mortgaged in preference to all other bonds
ARTICLE I
Section I2 Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete
3 No person shall be deprived of life liberty or property except by due process of law
4 No person shall be deprived of the right to prosecute or defend hi3 own cause in any of the courts of this State in person by attorney or both
9 Excessive bail shall not be required nor
excessive fines imposed nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted nor shall any person be abused in being arrested while under arrest or in prison
23 The legislative judicial and executive powers shall forever remain separate and distinct and no person discharging the duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of either of the others except as herein provided
Sec Ill1 In cases of necessity private way a may be granted upon just compensation being first paid by the applicant Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid
3 No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation
Sec IV 1 Laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation throughout the State and no special law shall be enacted in any case for which provision has been made by an existing gdhejal law No general law affecting private rights shall be varied in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all persons to be affected thereby and no person under legal disability to contract is capable of such consent
2 Legislative acts in violation of this Constitution or the Constitution of the United States are void and the Judiciary shall so declare them
ARTICLE III
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
Section VII22 The General Assembly shall have power to make all laws and ordinances consistent with this Constitution and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States which they shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State
ARTICLE VI
JUDICIARY
Section XVIIIL The right of trial by jury except where it is otherwise provided in this Constitution shall remain inviolate but the General Assembly may prescribe any number not less than five to constitute a trial or traverse jury in courts other than the Superior and City Courts
ACT CREATING THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
The following is the law under which the Railroad Commission was organized being Act No 269 Part 1 Title 12 of the Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia 18781879 approved October 141879 The sections have been arranged in logical order for convenience of reference however the original numbering is retained
AN ACT
To provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the ratps charged for transportation of passengers and freights and to prohibit railroad companies corporations and lessees in this State from charging other than just and reasonable rates and to punish the same and prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto and to appoint Commissioners and to prescribe their powers and duties in relation to the same
Whereas it is made the duty of vbe General Assembly in article 4 paragraph 2 and section 1 of the Constitution to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia
Section XII Definitions That the terms railroad corporation or railroad company contained in this Act shall be deemed nd taken to mean all corporations companies or individuals now owning or operating or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad in whole or in part in this State and the provisions of this Act shall apply to all persons firms and companies and to all associations of persons whether incorporated or otherwise that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railroad in this State street railways excepted the same as to railroad corporations herein after mentioned
Sec IIIExtortionThat from and after the passage of this Act if any railroad corporation organized or doing business in this
State under any act of incorporation or general law of this State now in force or which may hereafter be enacted or any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State and doing business in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its track or any of its branches thereof or upon any railroad within this state which it has the right license or permission to use operate or control the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec IVUnjust DiscriminationThat if any railroad corporation as aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimination in its rates or charges of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freights of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its said road or upon any of the branches thereof or upon any railroads connected therewith which it has the right license or permission to operate control or use within this State the same shall be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of this Act and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec XIIIDuplicate ReceiptsThat all railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight shipped the freight charges over the road giving the reeeipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt If any railroad company shall violate this provision of the statute such railroad company shall incur a penalty to be fixed and collected as provided in section nine of this Act
55
gec xOrganization of Commission
That there shall be three Commissioners appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate to carry out the provisions of this Act of whom one shall be of experience in the law and one of experience in railway business After the expiration of the terms of office of the Commissioners first appointed the term of office of successors shall be six years hut at the first appointment one Commissioner shall be appointed for two years one for four years and one for six years The salary of each Commissioner shall be twentyfivehundred dollars to be paid from the Treasury of the State Any Commissioner may be suspended from office by order of the Governor who shall report the fact of such suspension and the reasons therefor to the next General Assembly and if a majority of each branch of the General Assembly declare that said Commissioner shall be removed from office his term of office shall expire The Governor shall have the same power to fill vacancies in the office of Commissioner as to fill other vacancies and if for any reason said Commissioners are not appointed during the present session of the General Assembly the Governor shall appoint them thereafter and report to the next Senate but the time until then shall not be counted as part of the term of office of said Commissioners respectively as herein provided Said Commissioners shall take an oath of office to be framed by the Governor and shall not jointly or severally or in any way be the holders of any railroad stock or bonds or be the agent or employe of any railroad company or have any interest in any way in any railroad and shall so continue during the term of office and in case any Commissioner becomes disqualified in any way he shall at once remove the disqualification or redgn and on failure so to do he must be suspended from the office by the Governor and dealt with as hereinafter provided In any case of suspension the Governor may fill the vacancy until the suspended Commissioner is restored or removed
Sec IISecretary Office Expenses Etc That said Commissioners shall be furnished with an office necessary furniture and stationery and may employ a secretary or clerk at a salary of twelve hundred dollars at the expense of the State The office of said Commissioners shall be kept at Atlanta and all sums of money
authorized to be paid by this Act out of the State Treasury shall be paid only on the order of the Governor provided that the total sum to be expended by said Commissioners for office rent furniture and stationery shall in no case exceed the sum of five hundred dollars 500 or so much thereof as may be necessary per annum
jurisdiction of commission
Sec YPowers and Duties as to Rules and RegulationsThat the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this Act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights shall make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation ot freight and passengers on the railroads in this State shall make reasonable and just rates of charges for use of cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned or carried and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to prevent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly ar indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company m this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State and on which freight less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freights as they possessed before the passage of this Act and said Commissioners shall have power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances

6
Sec VIDuties as to Maximum Rates That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads and said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for four successive weeks in some public newspaper published in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Savannah Macon Rome and Columbus in this State and after the same shall be so published it shall be the duty of all such railroad companies to post at all their respective stations in a conspicuous place a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people Provided that the schedules thus prepared shall not be taken as evidence as herein provided until schedules shall have been prepared and published as aforesaid for all the railroad companies now organized under the laws of this State or that may be organized at the time of said publication All such schedules purporting to be printed and published as aforesaid shall be received and held in all such suits as prima fade the schedules of said Commissioners without further proof than the production of the schedules desired to be used as evidence with a certificate of the Railroad Commission that the same is a true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named and that the same has been duly published as required by law stating the name of the paper in which the same was published together with the date and place of said publication
Sec VIIInvestigation Examination
EtcThat it shall be the duty of said Com I missioners to investigate the books and papers of I all the railroad companies doing business in 1 this State to ascertain if the rules and rgulations aforesaid have been complied with and I to make personal visitation of railroad offices I stations and other places of business for the purpose of examination and to make rules and I regulations concerning such examinations which rules and regulations shall be observed and obeyed as other rules and regulations aforesaidsaid Commissioners shall also have full power and authority to examine all agents and employ I of said railroad companies and other persons under oath or otherwise in order to procure the necessary information to make just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to ascertain if such rules and regulations are observed or violated and to make necessary i and proper rules and regulations concerning l such examination and which rules and regulations herein provided for shall be obeyed and enforced as all other rules and regulations provided for in this Act
Sec VIIIContracts EtcThat all con I tracts and agreements between railroad compa nies doing business in this State as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and cor rection that it may be seen whether or not they are a violation of law or of the provisions of the Constitution or pf this Act or of the rules and regulations of said Commissioners and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the I division of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval in so far as they affect rules and iegulations made by said Commis i sioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as to such contracts and agreements as may be then deemed necessary and proper and any such agreements not approved by such Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be deemed held and taken to be violations of article 4 section 1 paragraph 4 of the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
Sec XVWitnessesThat said Railroad
57
Commissioners in making any examination for the purpose of obtaining information pursuant to this Act shall have power to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses by such rules as they may prescribe And said witnesses shall receive for such attendance two dollars per day and five cents per mile traveled by the nearest practicable route in going to and returning from the place of said Commissioners to be ordered paid by the Governor upon presentation of subpoenas sworn to by the witnesses as to the number of days served and miles traveled before the clerk of said Commissioners who is hereby authorized to administer oaths In case any person shall wilfully fail or refuse to obey such subpoena it shall be the duty of the Judge of the Superior Court of any county upon application of said Commissioners to issue an attachment for such witness and compel him to attend before the Commissioners and give his testimony upon such matters as shall be lawfully required by such Commissioners and said court shall have power to punish for contempt as in other pases of refusal to obey the process and order of such court
Sec XVIRefusal by Railroad Officer That every officer agent or employe of any railroad company who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to make and furnish any report required by the Commissioners as necessary to the purposes of this Act or who shall wilfully and unlawfully hinder delay or obstruct said Commissioners in the discharge of the duties hereby imposed upon them shall forfeit and pay a sum of not less than one hundred nor more than five thousand dollars for each offense to be recovered in an action of debt in the name of the State
Sec XIVReportsThat it shall be the duty of the Commissioners herein provided for to make the Governor semiannual reports of the transactions of their office and to recommend from time to time such legislation as they may deem advisable under the provisions of this Act
Sec IXPenaltiesThat if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall be guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and pre
scribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shaU not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State where such violation has occurred or wrong has been perpetrated and shall be in the name of the State of Georgia The Commissioners shall institute such action through the Attorney General or Solicitor General whose fees shall be the same as now provided by law
Sec X DamagesThat if any railroad company in this State shall in violation of any rule or regulation provided by the Commissioners aforesaid inflict any wrong or injury on any person such person shall have a right of action and recovery for such wrong or injury in the county where the same was done in any court having jurisdiction thereof and the damages to be recovered shall be the same as in actions between individuals except that in cases of wilful violation of law such railroad companies shall be liable to exemplary damages Provided that all suits under this Act shall be brought within twelve months after the commission of the alleged wrong or injury
Sec XIEvidence Fines Remedies CumulativeThat in all cases under the provisions of this Act the rules of evidenceshall be the same as in civil actions except as hereinbefore otherwise provided All fines recovered under the provisions of this Act shall be paid into the State Treasury to be used for such purposes as the General Assembly may provide The remedies hereby given the persons injured shall be regarded as cumulative to the remedies now given by law against railroad corporations and this shall not be construed as repealing any statute giving such remedies
Sec XVII That all laws militating against this Act are hereby repealed
Approved October 14 1879
A CAREFUL ANALYSIS
OF THE ACT CHEATING THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
This net b ing very important and the order of the sections confused and embarrassing we append a brief of it in less technical form Definitions12 The terms Railroads or Railroa companies embrace Street Railways alone excepted all common carriers by rail and so they include all Railroad Express Sleeping car and Transportation companies by rail whether owners of the railroad or not
Extortion 3 is defined to be charging more than a fair and reasonable rate 5 provides for the making of a full schedule of such rates by a Commission and 6 only expands this provision more fully
Unjust discrimination is forbidden but not fully defined in 4 The rules and regulations under 5 complete the definition
The Object of the Law is set forth in the Title and Preamble viz to prevent Railroad Companies from extortion or unjust discrimination The Means provided are chiefly
1 The creation of a Railroad Commission with proper appliances viz
2 A Secretary an office furniture etc and suitable rights
7 As to investigation and 15 As to witnesses including 16 Railroad officers Also 8 As to railroad contracts and with proper powers and duties
5 As to rules and regulations and 6 As to making rates and 9 As to penalties and 14 As to reports and suggesting legislation Jurisdiction5 The Commission is to make rules and regulations as to rates of freight and to fix the limits of distance affecting the same charges for hauling freight charges for use of cars it is to provide against rebates or any other way of misleading or deceiving the public and against unjust discrimination It is also required by 6 expanding the first clause of 5 to make for each railroad company a schedule of just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger business and to revise the same from time to time as circumstances may require
u Freight which comes from or goes beyond I the boundaries of the State on which less than local rates are charged are excepted however from the jurisdiction of the Commission This I exception excludes all Imports all Exports and I and all Transit freight It does not apply to I Passenger rates
Publication of these schedules is to be made in one paper in each of the following named cities viz Atlanta Augusta Albany Columbus Macon Rome and Savannah for four weeks as a whole and system not separately and one at a time
Contracts between railroads as respects rates and divisions of earnings are to be submitted to the Commission that they may see whether they violate any law or rule
Effect of the action of the Commission
The rates established as maximuof are made 6 sufficient evidence construed to be pima facie evidence for both railroads and j the public of reasonableness and justice
Violating the rules or exceeding the rates is made penal by 91 and upon application of the party aggrieved the Commission directs the recompense to be made therefor and if the railroad refuses for thirty days to make such recompense then it is their duty to institute suit through the Attorney or SolicitorGeneral in the county where the inquiry occurred for the penalty prescribed viz from 1000 to 5000 Fines go to the State treasury
Evidence is as in civil actions unless otherwise prescribed 11
Damages also can be recovered by the party aggrieved as between individuals in case of wilful violation of law exemplary damages are allowed 10
The remedies for individuals are cumulative 11
Penalties are provided against railroad officers refusing to obey the law Iff
By a direct legislative provision 13 duplicate receipts must be given on demand stating class of goods charges on the road and on other roads as far as possible and the consignee is declared entitled to receive goods on payment of such rates
THE COURSE OF RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN
GEORGIA
There has been very little general legislation in the early history of railroads special charters were from time to time granted to particular companies embracing for each road all the law applicable to it afterwards a few general laws applicable to all were passed but these were for a long time limited in their range chiefly concerning the right of way stock killed and the like Still later came provisions concerning taxation State aid etc etc The subject was not fairly grappled with until 1879
The Constitution of 1868 superseded by that of 1877 contained the following provis
ions
Artl 27 included as one of the objects ot taxation taxes for public improvements
It also provides that
The General Assembly may grant the power of taxation to county authorities and municipal corporations to be exercised within their several territorial limits
By art 3 6 p 4 No citizen is compelled to contribute to any internal improvement municipal corporations by a majority vote may contribute
5 The General Assembly shall pass no law making the State a stockholder in any corporate company nor shall the credit of the State be granted or loaned to aid any company without a provision that the whole property of the company shall be held for the security of the State prior to any other debt or lien except to laborers nor to any company in which there is not already an equal amount invested by private personsnor for any other object than a work of internal improvement
This Constitution was of force for nine years and under it very large sums were expended by the State and endless troubles and debts incurred well illustrating the need of the strong constitutional checks imposed in 1877 We may hereafter give this instructive history in detail as a guide and warning
HOW AND WHERE TO FIND THE LAW
In the pamphlets of the several sessions of the General Assembly Eailroad Laws along
with all other laws will of course be found an easier method however may be indicated
The older digests were before the days of railroads The later contain much of the railroad legislation towit Princes and Cobbs Digests the Code and Harriss Supplement A new Code will probably be issued during the present year
Princes Digest contains in full between pages 300 and 381 under the head of Internal Transportation all the Railroad Charters passed to December 301836prior to the session of 1837 including the earlier charters and amendments of the Central Eailroad the Geor gia the Monroe and other roads
Eeferences to all the Resolutions of the General Assembly to the same date are to be found on page 381
In these private acts occasional new features are incorporatedand these sometimes run in shoalsthe charters of each session containing the same new provisionssay of individual liability banking privileges taxation exemptions conditions of increase of capital stock etc
Cobbs Digest brings the Private Legislation up to the 23d February 1850 containing references to all acts prior to the session of December 1851 see pages 423 to 426 with the full text of all the laws concerning the Western and Atlantic Eailroad pages 401 to 419
The General Laws also prior to the session of 1851 are given in full Pages 395 to 400 On page 419 are references to the Resolutions of the General Assembly and on page 420 the action of the State of Tennessee in regard to the Western and Atlantic Eailroad
For legislation subsequent to Cobbs Digest beginning with the session of 1851 consult the pamphlet laws and the Code under the heads Internal Transportation Railroads Corporations and Taxation
We preface the railroad legislation with two notable incidents in the early history of Georgia
1 The invention of a steam engine and a patent for the same See No 402 Watkins Di

60
gest p 382 February 1 1788 An act to secure to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet for the term of fourteen years the sale and exclusive privilege of using a newly constructed steam engine invented by them This was intended for use on one of natures water waysthe Savannah river railroads being as yet unknown
2 The first steamship which ever crossed the Atlantic the Savannah was a Georgia enterprise The impossibility of this had been demonstrated but the scientific impossibility became a practical reality As in other cases it canot be was confuted by it is
SUMMARY VIEW OF RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN ORDER OF TIME
Act 1837See Code 44378 Intruding on railroad obstructing railroad etc 713838Elilrad crossings See Code 706
1839 Pam 191Bight of way See Code 302234 3032
1840 Pam 151Stock killed Code 3042 1845Boad exemptions Code 638
1847Pam 250Passengers or stock Code
3042 Baggage checks Code 2072
180Pam 337Stock kilied 338 Sunday freight 338 slaves need permits See Code 816
Several of the foregoing acts are given in full in Cobbs Digest
18512 January 20 1852Pam 1078 Through rates by consent authorized and publication of same p 283 Boad Duty See Code 636 Tax Code 816
1852 January 22Pam 18512 P 1089 Boad crossings sign board engineer compelled to whistle etc See Code 708910 Facetiously perhaps truly pronounced by a distinguished Judge an act to compel horses to runaway when they encountered a train They often stand trembling till the whistle blows and this is the signal to be off
1852 January 23Pam 1089Bailroad hands commutation fee road duty
1853 4 Pam 93Stock killed damages etc P 95 note Code 3038 In charters of this session company presumed at fault Supreme Court decisions etc shown P HO
See Code 816
1856 February 17Pam 110Taxon stock and assets See note
18556Pam 155Freight lists See Code 2078 Damages Code 3033 3036 3368
1856 Pam 154Costs of suit service etc Pam 155Freight bills
1857 December 22Pam 65Checks for baggage Code 2072
1858 December 11 P 105Tax J per cent on all roads not exempt Code 818
1859 P 48 Jurisdiction of courts in what county P 64Whistle posts Code 7089 P 65Boad duty Code 636
I860P 57Boad duty Code 636
1861 P 69 Building bridges Code 4383 P 81Tax war legislationCentral Bailroad and Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad authorized to connect in Savannah
18623P 60County tax P 158Stock killed P 161Suits vs Lessees P 180Transporting provisions
THE CODE
went into operation July 1 1863 There have been two revisions so that now the editions are those of 1863 1868 and 1873 A supplement has been published to 1877 including the new Constitution and a new edition is now in progress The numbering varies in the different editions The numbers of the sections given below are those of the edition of 1873
The main titles are CorporationsBailroadsBailroad CompaniesBailroad CrossingsTaxes
Many of the acts referred to elsewhere are repeated in the Codebut not in chronological order and so not conforming to the principle of the present arrangement which is intended to exhibit the order of growth of railroad legislation
PROVISIONS OF THE CODE
o The word Person includes corporations EXEMPTIONS
636 Bailroad hands exempt from road duty on conditions
659 Boad duty 1060 Military duty
RAILROAD CROSSINGS
705 Bailroads may cross each other terms
706 Bailroad crossings
707 Bailroad crossings
708 Whistle posts
709 Whistle failure penalty
710 Whistle failure to blow
711 Cows on railroad
712 Suits where brought
713 Keeping up crossings
61
714 Penalties
715 Exemption
716 Use of money
717 Defences
719 Railroads not to use public roads unless by express authority
RAILROAD TAXES
815 Tax same as on other property unless exempt
818 Tax J of 1 per cent on net incomeon certain conditions viz dividends not exceed ing 6 per cent till they reach 8
819 Tax on new branch railroads
826 Tax returns to ComptrollerGeneral
876 Defaulting corporations execution
877 Penalty forfeiture of charter
878 Threefold tax
881 ComptrollerGeneral to assess if no return
882 ComptrollerGeneral to issue executions
RAILROADS AS CORPORATIONS
1651 Artificial person subject to modification
1674 Charter of corporations
1676 Organization by courts
1681 Publie corporations subject to be dissolved by General Assembly
1682 Private corporations In all cases of private charters hereafter granted the State reserves the right to withdraw the franchise unless such right is expressly negatived in the charter
1683 Heretofore granted not so subject to to dissolution
1685 Conditions of forfeiture
877 Nonpayment of taxes or nonreturns grounds of forfeiture
LIENS
1979 Lien of contractors
1980 Proceedings
1981 Proceedings
COMMON CARRIERS
2065 Defined
2066 Diligence
2067 Diligence exempts
2068 Cannot limit liability by notice may by contract
2069 Must receive goods
2070 Responsible after delivery
2071 Baggage
2072 Baggage checks
2073 No unreasonable delay
2074 Stoppage in transitu
2076 Stoppage
2076 Carrier cannot dispute title of Consignee
2077 Carriers lien
2078 Freight Lists to be specified
2079 Lien on baggage
2080 Fraud on carrier
2081 Baggage value
2082 Certain passengers may be refused
2083 Railroads are common carriers
2084 Connecting roads how far responsible
RIGHT OF WAY
3022 Railroad right of way telegraph may useton terms
3023 Terms
3024 Compensation
INJURIES BY RAILROAD CARS
3032 Damages for right of way
3033 Damages by trains
3034 Effect of negligence
2972 Effect of negligence
711 Onus
1680 Responsibility for officers
3035 Equal accommodations to persons of color
3035 Injury by coemploye
2083 Responsibility for employes
3037 Record of stock killed
3038 Record report of overseers
3039 Posted
3040 Overseer when liable
3042 Railroad when liable for live stock
3043 Notice by owner
3044 Notice by owner
3045 Trial
3046 Appeal
3047 Levy and sale
3048 Disposition of proceeds
3049 Tender and its effects
3050 Suits by partner or joint owner SUITS AGAINST RAILROADS
3367 How sued
3368 Liability of agent
3369 Service
3370 Service by publication
3371 Notice to stockholders
3372 Judgment or decree
3373 President to give names
3374 President may defend
62
3375 Illegality
3376 Cumulative of common law remedies
INJURIES TO RAILROADS
4383 Arson of bridges
4437 Intruding on
4438 Obstructing injuring etc
4603 Overcharge by agent
References to pamphlets resumed
1863 4Pam 656Stock killed
P 132 Water and lights in passenger car Code 3038 and on
1864 No general law
1865 6No general law but see Code 1676
1866 Pam 165Tax J per cent on stock unless exempt
1866 P 150 Burning railroad bridge Code 4383
1867 No Legislature
1868 P 141State aid
143Tax
143State aid AirLine road
1869 P 167 and onState aid
170Taxes J per cent on net earnings
Act 1856 as to county jurisdiction repealed 1870 P 398Equal accommodations for colored persons Code 3035 628Same
428 Railroad crossings Code 705
429 Registry of State endorsements numerous State aid acts See Index P 523
1871 2P 16State aid cautions
77Tax J per cent net earnings
1872 P 10Road duty Code 636
78Telegraphic use of right of way 567Certain State aid bonds void
1873 P 17Buying roads endorsed for
24Employe injury toby employe 53Live stock on Sunday Tax on nonresident railroads Profit and earnings
65Tax 1 r cent on net earnings C de 819
69Telegraphic use of right of way Code 302234 Lien of railroad contractors Code 1979 19801990
1874 P 94To preveut monopolies Hill
yers law
Passed February 28 1874 A brief abstract is appended viz
3 Forbids any discrimination for or against any connecting line
2 Gives the right to join tracks
4 On refusal provides for right of way
1 Allows any railroad to switch off and deliver to connecting road all cars consigned to points on or beyond such connecting road Failure to receive and forward is treated as a conversion of the goods and damages allowed of from 10 to 25 per cent unless owner himself in default by rebate
5 Exempts extra State freight unless by sea or Western and Atlantic road
1374P 97Explosive oils Sunday freight trains till 8 a m
98State aid repealed
103Feb 26Tax J per cent net earnings
107Feb 28Tax on railroads as on other property McDaniels law
1875 P 10South and North Railroad
14To protect State
26Intruding on track
118Tax
1876 P 118Purchasers may form corpo
rations
121 Service on railroads
122 Receivers creditors lien State as owner Macon and Brunswick sale North and South Railroad Tax laws
1877 P 115Sale railroad stock by ad
ministrator taxation
124Act 1874 Feb 28 confirmed AttorneyGeneral to sue etc
126ComptrollerGeneral to scrutinize
1878 December 16 Tax sale unclaimed
freight Dec 5Corporation formed by purchasers
18789P 125 October 141879Railroad Commission
167 Purchasers of unfinished roads
163 Obscene literature
164 Obscene literature at depots Tax
1880Tax act 11 reaffirms tax laws
A TEST CASE ON THE ACT OF 1879
The validity of the Act of 1879 was tested in the case of Tilley vs the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Co and the act sustained after full argument The test was a most thorough onenot of one particular feature but of the whole system in its entire scope and in all its details The bill of complaint being what is sometimes called a fishing billfishing for all possible objectionsthe assault was perfectly fundamental The act was assailed as contrary to the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Georgia in numerous particulars The validity of the Code for two years viz till affirmed by the Constitutional Convention of 1865 was impeached the authority of the General Assembly denied and the application of the law to the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad and the action of the Commission under the law contested No nook or corner escaped the dragnet searching for objections The appeal was made to the Constitution to chartered rights to the United States Court lest the State Courts might be biased and even the motives of the State the Legisl atur and the Commission were not spared
The case being a very instructive one cov ering the whole field and the argument comprehensive and thorough and well worthy of study we present as much of it as possible
The bill was filed by Robert Falligant Esq and briefs prepared by him and Messrs Chisholm Erwin
These briefs characterized by learning and ability we cannot present in full by reason of their great length but we give extracts from them showing the main grounds and authorities
BILL FOR INJUNCTION ANDRELIEF IN THE U S CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
George H Tilley Complainant m The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company et al Defendants
EXTRACTS FROM THE BRIEF OF MESRS
CHISHOLM ERWIN
The purpose of the bill is to restrain the defendant from putting in operation and enforcing on the Savan
nah Florida and Western Railway the said act and the said standard schedule of tariffs instructions and rules for the reasons that the said act is unconstitutional the said instructions rules and rates are illegal unjust and unreasonable and so improvident that the enforcement of them would bankrupt the defendant impair theeontract contained in the said trust deedand compel this defendant so to conduct the business of the corporation in the interest of one class of individuals only though practising the m ost rigid economy as to default annually to the amount of from 40000 to 50000 m the payment of said coupons
The company decided to obey under protest the orders of the Commissioners in all things This decision was induced by the severe penalties and the multiplicity of suits and prosecutions threatened against any railway company which might attempt to resist these orders and honestly assert a constitutional right
In this argument none of the principles settled m what are known as the Granger cases will be disputed although it is believed that in time as the railroad problem approaches a solution they will be modified if not altogether changed
From these Granger cases the following selections from Chicago etc R R t o v Iowa reported in 94 U
S pp 161162 may be stated as the law now settled
Railroad companies are subject to legislative control as to their rates of fare and freight unless protectedby their charters Whatever is granted is
secured subject only to the limitations and reservations in the charter or in the laws or constitutions
which govern it
the powers of the Company to call upon the Legislature to fix permanently this limit and make it part of the charter If that had been done the charter mieht have presented a contract against future legislative inference
61 Mo 24
S C 21 Amer 397
Under this authority the points in the case at bar resolve themselves into an investigation of the following propositions
First Are these complainants protected by the charter ot the A and G Railroad or by their contract with that Company and its stockholders from the threatened wrongs and losses about to be imposed upon them by the Commissioners under the act of Oct 141879
Second Are the provisions of the said act under which the said Commissioners are proceeding constitutional Are those provisions or any of them in conflict with rights guaranteed to the complainants either by the Constitution of the State of Georgia or of
the United States
Third li these provisions of the said act are constitutional when interpreted do they not constitute these Commissioners managers of all the railroads m Georgia vested with powers to be enforced by most extraordinary penalties And if this be true are the Commissioners not subject like other managers when their ad
ministration threatens to be improvidentto bejrestrained by a court of equity to prevent unnecessary and irrer parable loss and damage
98 U S 359
6 Barr Penn 515 516
Cooleys Constitutional Limitations 177
Sedgwick on Constitutional Limitations 117 14 Ga 83
17 Amr R 427
8th N Y 483 488
42 Ga 505
10 Wheaton U S 42 43
U S Digest N S Voi VI p 728
exception to this rule is the well recognized distinction between general laws and local laws For local purposes the power to make ordinances may be delegated to cities towns etc
54 Ga 324
Cooleys Constitutional Limitations 191
But it will bo said that under the authority of Munn V Illinois 94 U S pp 133134 and of Peik v Chicago etc Railway Co 94 U S p 178 the Legislature and not the courts must decide what is reasonable and that the management of the Commissioners ho we ver partial unjust and improvident cannot be restrained by th courts
To this proposition the answer is plain In each of these cases the Legislatures had under Constitutions altogether different from the Constitution of Georgia passed laws fixing maximum charges
But in the case at bar the Legislature has not fixed the rates on the contrary under the act of October
14 1879 the questions whatshall bea fair andreasonable rate or toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight and what shall make any unjust discrimination are particularly made matters of judicial investigation And this is consonant with authority The rates fixed by the Commissioners are but rules of evidence A few of the cases collated in the argument of Gen Farnsworth before the committee of the House of Representatives are referred to on this point
61 Missouri p 24
52 Maine p 451
Brown on the law of Carriers p 258
4 C B N S p 139 and 8 C B 709
4 C B N S
4 Brewster 620
4 C B N 8 p 63
67111 37
S C 16 Amer Rep 611
If the words sufficient evidence should be held to mean only prima facie evidence and this view is somewhat strengthened by the latter clause of said section in which the schedules are spoken of as prima facie evidence then it seems plain that the intention of the Legislature was that they should be reviewed by the courts
95 U S pp 24 325
99 U 8 720
15 How 309
16 Wall 203 232
9 Wheat 907
13 Peters 12
Hamiltons Works voi 3 pp 518 519 99 U 8 759
99 U S 7312
99U S 749
73 N C 527
S C 21 Amer Repts 473
52 Ga 629
54 Ga 379
49 Ga 158
4 Ga 38
12 Ga 43
2 Woods 370
95 U S 708
10 Wheaton 46
8th Ga 22
Cooleys Const Lim p 368
67 111 11
S C 16 Amer 599 610
15 Ga 479
47 Ga 564
19 Wall 675
94 U S 107
99 TJ S 746 747
99 U S 7378
18 How 272
4 Dev N C 115
1 Curtis 3256
96 U S 101 107
95 U S 715
Howard v Moot 64 N Y 268
13 Wall 268
93 TJ S 223
57 Ga 346
99 U S 722
18 How 341
U S Revised Statutes secs 721 862
2 Black 427 431
7 Wall 430
16 Amer 610
Brief of Messrs Mynatt Howell for defendants
The Bill filed in this case belongs to the class quia timet Ho harm or injury is alleged to plaintiffs shares in the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company It is all apprehended It is not like the case of Woolsey vs Dodge 18 How There the State of Ohio was levying a tax upon the property of the bank in which Woolsey was a shareholder and taking from the bank more money for taxes than it was entitled to do under the original charter That was an actual taking of the money of the bank and to that extent an mj ury to the bank an d its shareholders But the case at bar is a very different one The State has passed a law under which the plaintiff fears the corporation will not make as much money as it would have done without this law The plaintiff ventures to make this guess All this bill invoking the power of the Federal Court to stop the enforcement of the laws of the State and which contravenes itsentire policy as to the railroads of the State is basedupon a guess The corporation and the shareholder are as distinct as any other persons It is not for the shareholder to complain that the constitutional rights of the corporation have been violated unless that violation has resulted in detriment to him
The complainant states no fixed or other amount that he is entitled to recover as a dividend upon his shares The corporation owes him no particular dividend It may or may not pay him a dividend Then the case is that the corporation which may or may not owe him a
65
dividend may not be able to make as much money under the rates fixed by the Commissioners as under the rates fixed by Mr Haines
This interest is too uncertain Story Eq PI sec 261 But concede that he has such interest as will be recognized by a court of equity Does he make such a case of apprehended injury to his shares as will entitle him to an injunction Is it not a question of policy May he not be mistaken in the opinion he entertains of the proper charges to be made for the carriage of freights and passengers May not a low rate of tariffs induce more transportation and finally make more money In short is it that sort of apprehension that will induce the restraining action of this court The Supreme Court of Georgia in one of the early decisions Hannahan vt Nichols 17 Ga 77 said that the quiatimet power of a court of equity is quite a vague one and therefore a dangerous one Hannahan had sold a slave the purchaser had become insolvent and was trying to sell the slave and he desired him enjoined fearing he might lose the debt The injunction was refused with the statement above made by the Court Subsequently the Legislature puts this section 3232 in the Code of Georgia The proceeding quiatimet is sustained in equity for the purpose of causing to be delivered up and cancelled any instrument which has answered the object of its creation or any forged or other iniquitous deed or other writing which though not enforced at the time either casts a cloud over complainants title or otherwise subjects him to future liability or present annoyance and the cancellation of which is necessary to his perfect protection This statute seems to limit the bill to the cancellation of instruments likely to injure the plaintiff Its purpose seems to be to define and render certain that which was before vague It is a statutory definition of qaiatimet It is an expression of its application and an exclusion of any other application Sedgwicks Stat and Const Law page 39 If then Equity would afford no relief in the State Courts it would afford none in the United States Courts Emory vs City of St Louis 5 Wall 413 Morgan vs R R Co 1 Woods 15
But If the matter of relief by bills quiatimit he not limited by the specifications in the Code then it must he limited by the precedents and the principles upon which those precedents are based In this State those prece dents are in the protection of remainder interests and the cancellation of deeds and instruments as provided in the section of the Code read In addition to these Story names the protection of a surety against the laches of a creditor We think these embrace about all the purposes for which bills of this sort have been sustained No case has ever been sustained ot mere apprehended loss or injury to plaintiffs debtor or to the corporation in which the plaintiff was a shareholder
Again the matter in dispute is not alleged to be any particular amount That the plaintiffs shares will be injured in any particular amount1 does not appear by this bill The Court therefore has ho jurisdictioh
We come now to the constitutional questions made by the bill The complainant insists that the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company succeeds to all the corporate rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and that the latter succeeded to all the corporate rights privileges and Immunities of all the railroads in the State at the date of its charter towit in 1863 One of these privileges is to charge not exceeding certain maximum rates fixed by the charter of the Georgia and Central Railroads The Act of October 1879 authorizes Commissioners to fix rates of freight and pas9
senger tariffs The Commissioners have fixed rates below those which the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was allowed to charge This the complainant charges controvenes section 10 of article 1 oi the CT S Constitution It impairs the obligation of a contract The State had contracted with the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company that it might charge certain rates and then subsequently had denied to it that privilege The complainant claims for the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company the same chartered rights andprivileges of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company Let us concede for the present that it has them What are those rights and privileges None except those that the State may revoke or alter as it chooses It was a part of the contract of the State with the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company all of whose rights and privileges the complainant claims for the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company that the State should change modify or destroy the franchises of that company whenever it should choose to do so Code of 1863 section 1651 Also that the State might withdraw its franchise whenever it should choose to do so Code 1682 This has been expressly decided in the case ofthat road against the State of Georgia in 8 Otto page 865 The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company k whose boasted rights and 1 privileges George H Tilley so elaborately portrays before the court in this bill had no right or privilege that it did not agree that the State might take away whenever it should choose to do it Two sections of the Code quoted above were a part of its charter To every sentence granting a right or privilege there is a reservation of the right to change modify destroy or withdraw it whenever the State should think proper to exercise that right This is certainly settled by the case cited above and needs no further argument or citation of authority
If then this complainant is correct in claiming all the rights and privileges of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad for the Savannah Florida andWesternRailway Company the only appearance of any purpose to violate a contract is in the complainant himself who seeks to use his corporation and the power of this Court to prevent the State from exercising a right which the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company solemnly contracted it might exercise in its discretion
But let us lookto the charter of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company as it appears in the act of 1876 That act provides for the organization of the purchasers of a railroad sold under a mortgage or at judicial sale into a corporation The 8th section of said act provides That nothing in this act shall operate to vest in any purchaser of any railroad and its franchises any exemptions from taxation existing or claiming to exist in the corporation which shall have been the owner of saidrailroad and its franchises or to limit the powers of the Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the charter and fran chises herein provided These are the terms upon which Mr Tilley and his frightened associates succeeded to the rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Is it any wonder that the company as such declines to resist the State in the enforcement of the act of 1879 Well may it fear the penalties of the act and impose upon a foreigner who is presumed to be unacquainted with our Constitution and laws the responsibility of charging the State with a breach of its contract
In the case of Tomlinson vs Jessup 15 Wall at page 457 the court uss this language The act amending the charter of the Northeastern Railroad Company passed in December 1855 provided that the stock of the company and the real estate it then owned or might hereafter acquire connected with or subservient to the works authorized by its charter should be exempted from taxation during the continuance of the charter This act contained no clause excepting the amendment from the provisions of the general law of 1841 It was therefore itself subject to repeal by force of that law
66
It is true that the charter of the company when accepted by the corporators constituted a contract between them and the State and that the amendment when aoceptedformed a part of the contract from that date and was of the same obligatory character And it may be equally true as stated by counsel that the exemption from taxation added greatly to the value of the stock of the company and induced the plaintiff to purchase the shares held by him But these considerations cannot be allowed any weight in determiningthe validity of the subsequent taxation The power reserved to the State by the law of 1841 authorized any change in the contract as it originally existed or as subsequently modified or its entire revocation The original corporators or subsequent stockholders took their interests with knowledge of the existence of this power and of the possibility of its exercise at any time in the discretion of the Legislature The object of the reservation and of similar reservations in other charters is to prevent a grant of corporate rights and privileges in a form which will preclude legislative Interference with their exercise if the public interest should at any time require such interference It is a provision intended to preserve to the State control over its contract with the corporators which without that provision would be irrepealable and protected from any measures aftecting its obligation
In the same case at page 459 the court uses this language The reservation affects the entire relation between the State and the corporation and places under legislative control all rights privileges and immunities derived by its charter directly from the State
In Railroad vs Maine 96 U S Bep at page 510 the court uses this language By the reservation the State retained the power to alter it in all particulars constituting the grant to the new company formed under it of corporate rights privileges and immunities The existence of the corporation and its franchises and immunities derived directly from the State were thus kept under its control
These cases are cited and affirmed in the Sinking Fund cases 9th Otto at page 720
In the case at bar not only is the right to alter modify or withdraw the franchises hot expressly negatived in the charter in the language of the Code of Georgia section 1682 but it is expressly reserved and affirmed by the State
But the complainant is not content to risk his case upon the irrevocable chartered rights and privileges of the corporation He relies upon paragraph 3 section 3 article 1 of the Constitution of 1877 No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation
Can it be said to work injustice to corporators to revoke the privileges and immunities of the corporation when by the very act of incorporation they have contracted that you may do so When Mr Tilley took his 100 shares in the stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Bail way Co as one of the incorporators of said company under the act of 1876 he said to the State of Georgia your power to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided shall not be limited You may alter it as you please modify it as you please withdraw it as you please In other words the State says to Mr Tilley the Savannah Florida and Western Bail way Co organized under the act of 1876 shall possess all the powers rights immunities privileges and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company but I reserve the power to alter modify or withdraw them as I choose to which Mr Tilley consents And without that consent he could have had no charter Now when the State proposes to alter his rates or the rates of his road he rails and declaims in all the glosses of the most prolix equity precedents quoting all the political axioms in all the Bills of rights from King John to the present He says it works
injustice to him to limit his railway in its charges because he fears his dividends are not going to be as large as he bought they would be
When the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Co organized In 1879 as a corporation it did so under the provisions of the Constitution of1877 and with full notice of all its provisions The corporators knew that the power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable andjust rates of freight and passenger tariffs were conferred upon the General Assembly Constitution 1877 article 4 section 2 paragraph 1 There is no inconsistency between this paragraph and the one relied upon towit No grant of special privileges and immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation To regulate their charges is not a revocation of the power to charge Both paragraphs are in the same Constitution They must be construed together so that both shall stand One part must not be allowed to defeat another Cooly Con Llm 71 If clauses are irreconcilably repugnant that which is last in order of time and in local position is to be preferred Quick vs Whitewater Township 7 Ind 570 That it has been the policy of the State to control the powers and privileges of corporations is manifest from the provisions of the Code of 1863 and the general purport of the Constitution of 1877 No incorporator of a new corporation can say that he has been entrapped
Again the power to revoke is implied in the very language used Shall be revoked except in such manner etc The gravamen of the paragraph is the manner of revoking Who is to judge of the manner Of course the Legislature It is the Legislature that is making the revocation Then this paragraph is addressed to the discretion of the Legislature and the judiciary have no control of it Cooly Con Lim 51
But there is still another view of this paragraph so confidently relied on It appears in what is called the Bill of Rightsa prefix to the Constitution Sedgwick says of these as follows These great truths will thus be found set out in a large majority of the State Constitutions They are of no little value as safeguards against errors and injustice but I think they must be regarded rather as guides for the political conscience ot the Legislature than as texts of judicial duty Important as they are still they are expressed in such general terms as necessarily to admit of great and prominent exceptions Sedgwick Stat and Const Law 179 and 430
If this be correct and certainly it is the plain common sense view of it the court can have no difficulty in determining between this paragraph of the Bill of Bights and a paragraph in the body of the Constitution if there be a conflict between them
We next pass to the argument in the bill that the Legislature had no power to appoint Commissioners to regulate freight and passenger tariffs It is assumed to be a delegation of Legislative power And it is assumed that paragraph 1 section 11 article 4 of the Constitution means to confer the powers therein provided for upon the Legislature and to prohibit the Legislature from delegating them That legislative power properly so called can only be exercised by the Legislature will not be questioned The power to fix rates of freight and passenger tariffs must necessarily be conferred upon some oneby the Legislature If not the Legislature would have to fix the rates for each railroad as it is chartered If the Legislature can confer this power upon the officers and directors of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Co why can it not confer it upon Commissioners It is the same power coming from the same source whether exercised by Mr Haines or by the Commissioners If it be a delegation of legislative power when exercised by the Commissioners would it not be when exercised by Mr Haines or the directors of the company So it seems that the
ment of the delegation of legislative power proves g Idi It perhaps never occurred to Mr Haines when Taxing his horseleach rates that he was a Legislam fall blast This was left to the fertile resources of efluity pleader whose mental productions were stim ted and enhanced by the importunate cry of give
1 If fixing these rates be legislation then every Cman tollgatekeeper and bridge keeper who fixes oils is a Legislature You had as well call the assessor L values property to be taxed a Legislature Paraof section 14 of article 7 of the Constitution of reotei provides that the General Assembly shall raise iw taxation each year in addition to the sum required to the public expenses and interest on the public debt thesum of one hundred thousand dollars which shall be SL a8 a sinking fund etc Will it be contended that
Isa delegation of legislative power lor the tax collectoi to do it liaising the fund is a material and necessary ml of the constitutional injunction Literally the Legislature is required to raise it But who would say that this would oe a valid defense for the taxpayer that the Legislature was not collecting the tax but the tax collector
Now on the subject of intention or rather of proper construction of the paragraph in question let us look to
ggr wpose duty it ball be
nasslaws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit railroads torncharging ether than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
ll Tiepower and authority to regulate is conferred upon the General Assembly and it sliall PaS W that purpose There is not a word saying it shall fix the rates But it shall pass laws for that purpose It i clear from the language that the Legislature is no quireditself to fix the rates but to provide for it by passing proper laws This remits us then to the question as to whether this fixing of rates by the legislative power of the State vests in the General Assembly by article 3 section 1 paragraph 1 of Constitution 1877 It seems to me that the emphasis of this paragraph is upon the word legislative in contradistinction to executive and judicial The English Parliament might exercise all sovereign power But it is a prominent feature in all American constitutions that these departments of government are to be kept distinct Then is not the force of the language quoted simply to deny to the legislative executive and judicial powers Cooley Con Lim 106 Does the Constitution mean that all that the Legislature can do must be done by itself and that it cannot authorize anything to be done May it not use agents That it may delegate powers to munici pal corporation to make laws fixing the amount of taxes to be gathered enforce their collection and make general police regulations has been held over and over again is a matter of everyday practice in every State in the Union and absolutely necessary to the existence of municipal corporations Cooly Const Lim 143 Mayor and Council of Brunswick vs Finney et al 54 Ga 317 Commonwealth vs Judges of Quarter Sessions 8 Penn Stat 391 Commonwealth vs Painter 10 Pennsylvania Statute 214 Hobart vs Sunervisors etc 17 Cal 23 Bank of Chenango vsBrown 26N Y 467 Powers et al vs the Inf Court of Dougherty county et al 23 Ga 65
At page 80 of last case Judge Lumpkin uses the follow ing language The Constitution as we have seen gives to the Legislature power to make all laws which it may deem necessary and proper for the good of the State which shall not he repugnant to the Constitution And it does not say anywhere that the Legislature must not delegate any of this power nor does it say anything
equivalent to saying that True it says The legislative powei shall be vested in two separate and distinct branches towit A Senate and House of Representatives to he styled the General Assembly But what is legislative power It is the power to make law If unlimited it is the power to make a law for the creation or destruction of any right Therefore if unlimited it is the power to make a law that creates or delegates the right to make laws
In the case of the C W and Z R R Co vs Commissioners of Clinton county 1st Ohio St Reps at page 85 the Supreme Court of Ohio says They the Legislature have therefore the most undoubted right to delegate just as much or just as little of this political power with which they are vested as they see proper and to such agents or departments of the government as they see fit to designate Again at page 88 lb the court says The true distinction therefore is between the delegation of power to make the law which necessarily involves a discretion as to what it shall be and conferring an authority or discretion as to its execution to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law The first cannot be done to the latter no valid objection can be made
In the case of Brunswick vs Finny supra Judge McCay says at page 326 It may also be remarked that notwithstanding the universal recognition of the rule that the legislative power cannot be delegated the immemorial usage of all the States has been by the creation of municipal corporations and the organization of counties townships and districts to delegate to local organizations many local matters which the Legislature might in its discretion provide for Even so grave a matter as taxation has always in this State even without special constitutional provisions been delegated to cities towns and county oiganizations
Can it be said that fixing rates under the act of 1879 is making law Is it not a mere ministerial act done under the authority of law
It may be that the acts and doings of this Commission are judicial They determine as to the right and justice of rates as between the people and the carriers Section 6of the act provides And said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules It is like the power granted to some municipal corporations to fix the license for retailing spirituous liquors See Perdue Clerk vs Ellis 18 Ga 586 and especially at page 592
And it is so in all countries and forms of government whatever whether monarchy aristocracy or democracy or whatever form ol government it be for the supreme jurisdiction cannot have leisure to inspect into the small matters that concern the whole order and regulation of matters within that society or community as they that are members of it shall
Hobart 221 says that all corporations as such have power to make laws and ordinances and need not special words in their patents to enable them thereunto
The point in issue in the second branch of this discussion was directly made in the case of the Common wealth vs Duquet 2 Yeates 493 One of the positions laid down by Messrs Rawle and Du Ponceau counsel for the defendant was that the Legislature of Pennsylvania could not confer upon the corporation of the city of Philadelphia the power to pass ordinances to prevent the erection of wooden buildings in certain parts of the
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city as they might judge proper but that such power must be exercised by the Legislature directly But the court held the law to to be constitutional and the ordinance founded thereon good
The act of October 14 1879 is objected to because it gives too much power to the Commissioners This is not an objection to be urged before a court If no fundamental law is violated by the provisions of this act the labors of the court cease The amount of power conferred on the Commissioners is a question of policv for the Legislature That the law is a wise or un wise one is not for the courts to determine If no legal right or rights of property have been int rierred with then the court will not heed the apprehension that the corporation will not make as much money as it could have done under the law as it existed r efore 11 is a political and not a judicial question Stanton vs Georgia 6 Wall 50 Cherokee Nat vs Georgia 5 Pet 1
Again it is urged that the act of October 14 1879 is unconstitutional because the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners is to be deemed and taken in all the courts of the State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights
It is strangely contended that this takes away the right of trial by jury It makes a rule of evidence But iustead of taking the matter from the jury this rule expressly refers it to the jury Greenleaf says at section 2 of vol 1 By satisfactory evidence which is sometimes called sufficient evidence is intended that amount of proof which ordinarily satisfies an unprejudiced mind beyond reasonable doubt Questions respecting the competency and admissibility of evidence are entirely distinct from those which respect its sufficiency or effect the former being exclusively within the province of the court the latter belonging exclusively to th jury Code 3748 It is common for the Legislature to fix the character of evidence It makes the report of an Auditor prima facie evidence It makes the return of the Sheriff conclusive e vidai ce Cooley says this whole subject is under control of the Legislature Const Lim 45789
Again it is insisted that the act of October 14 1879 is oppressive because the Commissioners are authorized and required to investigate the books of the various railroad companies and to issue subpoenas for witnesses on the subject of the rates charged by the railroads If the Granger cases be now the law of the land and the Legislature has the right to fix rates and alter them as it may choose where it does not interfere with vested rights how is it possible that it may not inquire into the rates charged by railroads And if it may inquire into these matters why may it not get information and evidence from the agents and books of the railroads Does not every natural person in Georgia have to testify himself and produce his books and papers for public inspection when legally called on to do so J f this has ever been made the occasion of any Magna Charta eloquence I have never heard of it
It is needless to discuss the question made that the reduction of rates made by the Commission is taking private property without due process of law etc This and some kindred questions made in this bill are fully disposed of in the Granger cases Also the question of the Code of Georgia was not read three times in the Legislature This was disposed of in the case of Railroad vs Georgia in 98 U S Rep J
The bill presents no equity on the facts stated qJI states that the capital stock of said The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company is fixed at 2 000000 and made up of the money invested in said sec ond mortgage bonds the actual cash paid for purchase j of said railroad and the actual cash paid out in fulfill I ing the executory contracts of said Receiver that the I aggregate of prior liens to which said railroad was sold subject and the said capital stock amount to four mil lions seven hundred and ten thousand dollars Else where it is stated that the road was sold for three hundred thousand dollars and that the second mortgage bonds amounted to fifteen hundred thousand dollar Now it is clear that the present company bought the I road for 300X0 That sale rid the property of the sec 1 ond mortgage bonds and there is no legitimate capital i stock except the purchase price The Savannah I Florida and Western Railway Company might as well I assume to pay on any other amount of capital stock as I to assume to pay on this 1500000 of second mortgage I bondr The complainants might as well complain that f the company couldnt pay the interest on any other I sum as this This statement in the bill looks as though the decree of the court at Savanuah was used to make a new corporation in the interest of the bondholders of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company The road I I was sold to pay the second mortgage bondholders to E whom legally speaking the purchase money went and I now those second mortgage bondholders are here asking through Mr Tilley the privilege of fixing rates contrary to the law of Georgia that they may be paid a dividend on their bonds which must have been can celled by the sale of the road They were the bonds 1 of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and not the bondsof I The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company I It is objected that the act of 14th October 1879 confers unusual powers that it is unprecedented in giving power to fix rates and investigate the management ot railroads That this court may see that this is not correct we copy below the 8th section of the act of Illinois as finally amended in 1874 The act of Minnesota is very similar in its provisions Both have been tested in the courts The act of Illinois has been especially the subject of attack and is finally sustained in the case of Rugles vs The People October 1879 8 Rep 817
8 The railroad and warehouse commissioners are hereby directed to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as prac 1 tieable a schedule of reasonable maximum rates of I charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in all suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is in any way involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as prima facie evidence that the rates therein fixed are reasonable maximum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads for which said schedules may have been respectively prepared Said commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules
When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of said commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for three successive weeks in some public newspaper published in
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tie city Of Springfield in this State All such schdtties heretofore or hereafter made purporting to be printed and published as aforesaid shall be received aad heid in all such suits as prima facie the schedules of said commissioners wlthht further proof than the production of the schedule desired to be used as evidence with a certificate of the railroad and warehouse commissioners that the sanie is true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named and that the same has been published as required by law stating the name of the paper in which the saine was published together with the date of such publication R S 1874 eh 114 jj 93 p 819
It is held on good authority that the State courts have no power t restrain by injunction the acts of officers of the State who are proceeding under the authority of1 law and the fact of the statute in question being unconstitutional forms no ground for granting th injunction Sedgwicks Stat and Constitutional Law 577 citing Thompson vs Commissioners of the Canal Fund 2 Abb Prc Rep 248 This does not Contravene the principle that the Federal courts will enjoin officers of the State enforcing a law violative of the Constitution of the United StatesIb
RESPONSE OF R R COMMISSIONERS BY SOLICITORS MYNATT HOWELL TO THE REPLYBRIEF OF COMPLAINANT
Geobge H Tilley Complainant vs The Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company et al Defendants
The demurrer admits the truth of all facts Well pleaded It does not admit the truth or correctness of the legal positions assumed in the bill Counsel in their argument may call the act of October 14 1879 iniquitous This but reflects upon the Legislature They may Call the rates rules and regulations made by the Commissioners more iniquitous This attacks the Commissioners either for improvidence or want of integrity We presume these denunciations do not aid the Cause of complainant The court will be governed by the law and facts
As to apprehended injury to the corporation our position during the argument seems to have been misunderstood by complainants counsel What we say is the apprehension is too remote Suppose the railroad management had adopted of their own motion this schedule of rates made by the Commissioners upon the ground that in the end it would be better for the road it would build up the adjacent country and make more business for the road Could any stockholder by bill in equity have compelled them to change this policy and charge more For error in judgment on the part of the management no bill will lie 1st Abbott Dig Law Of Corporations page 777 and Dodge vs Woolsey 18 How 342 et seq announces the same doctrines
Questions of management must be left to those in authority Now that those in authority do hot resist the schedule of rates prescribed by the Commissioners and as nothing short of Omniscience can foretell the results of a thorough trial of the rates it is certainly beyond the power of man to point out to the court the alleged wrong to Mr Tilley as a shareholder Like any other policy that might be adopted by the officers and ditec10
tors if there be in it no fraud ngligence or breach of the charter a stockholder cannot complain But if he could complain he cannot show that he would certainly be injured by the submission on the part of the railroad management to the rates of the Commissioners The directors may regard it as the best policy in their management to submit to the rates
It is stated in the supplemental brief of complainants that the state of Georgia was the largest stockholder of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company It is stated in the bill that Georgia owned one million of the stock We think the exhibits to the bill show that the entire stock of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company amounted to about eight millions Then the State had a voting power of oneeighth in the actions of the stockholders But suppose the State had had a majority of the stock and by its vote had made the mortgages was that giving to the mortgagees any more than alien upon the entire property and franchises of the corporation The mortgagees got that and by a proceeding in chah eery at Savannah have sold it The sale occurred on the 4th day of November 1879 Mr Tilley states that he became one of the purchasers In October 1878 more than a year before this sale to Mr Tilley and others who are now owners of Stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company the Supreme Court of the United States the case of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company vs Georgia 98 U S Rep p 359 decided that the State had a right to change modify or withdraw any or all the franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company Then to put the case as strong as possible suppose that the State had made these motgages of 1877 of all the property and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company did it mortgage anyirrevocable franchise Did not the Supreme Court in the case mentioned hold and decide that the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company held its franchises subject to be changed modified or destroyed by the Legislature If this is what was mortgaged this is what Mr Tilley and others bought If the State were the mortgagor there is no charge or pretense that it attempted to mortgage more than what the A tlantic and Gulf Railroad Company had But it is absurd to charge the State with being the maker of the mortgage any more than was any other stockholder
The foregoing response to complainants supplemental argument is made upon the supposition that the State was a party to the mortgages This is by no means true It is needless to cite authorities to show that a stockholder is not a party to the contracts of the corporation
Passing all the assumptions of the supplemental briefs of learned counsel for complainant relating to the alarm of the people because of the Legislature reserving the right to change and revoke charters and the censure visited upon political hacks and leaving these subjects for those who profess to feel and know the state of the public pulse we come to the argument so much relied upon before the court and now again so earnestly repeated towit That made upon par 3 section 3 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1877 of Georgia
Counsel for the railway company and for complainant seem very desirous to have it expressly understood that this is a part of their charter Well if this is a part of their charter so must be par 1 of section 2 of article 4 Of the same Constitution though counsel for the road do not seeinso anxious to incorporate this paragraph
into their charter Now let us take section 8 of their charter which is the act of 1876 and the provisions of the Constitution which the people made in their alarm and anxiety about the rights of corporations and read them altogether
Nothing in this act shall operate to limit the powers of the Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided Provided that the special privileges and immunities herein granted shall not he revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to the corporators or creditors of the incorporation and provided also that the power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs toproTiibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties In Munns case 94 U
S R at page 134 the court uses this language The controlling fact is the powejr to regulate at all If that exists the right to establish the maximum of charge as one of the means of regulation is implied Ns comment is necessary upon this charter read thus connectedly The provisions are read in the order in which the Legislature and the Constitutional Convention passed them If this be the charter of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company it has contracted with the State that it may fix its rates
The supplemental argument of the complainant and railway discusses next the delegation of the power to make rates and says that the fallacy of the Commissioners argument on this point is all contained in the assumed declaration that the power to fix rates must necessarily be conferred upon some one by the Legislature The supplemental brief is very far from establishing any fallacy in this position It is not denied that carriers at common law had a right to charge for carrying But what has that to do with the above proposition When the Legislature makes the carrier the powers necessary to its existence and to the transaction of its business are implied if not expressed By implication then they proceed from the Legislature
In other words the Legislature is understood to say when not expressed You may charge reasonable and just rates I permit you to exercise this common law right of every carrier Then it is clear that every artificial person made for the purpose of carrying must receive from the Legislature that makes ti either by expression or implication the power to charge for carrying The parts of the common law applicable to its existence and business enter into and make a part of its charter where there is no contrary expression
The proposition of the Commissioners criticised in the supplemental brief would have the same meaning if you strike out the word legislative and insert the word law The power to fix rates must be conferred upon some one by law It is a legal right of the corporation to charge for its work The power to charge must exist somewhere The Legislature can confer it The law must confer it otherwise it would not be a legal right of the carrier to fix his rates If the Legislature may make and repeal laws then by a statute it
may confer the power to charge for carrying upon the I directors or officers or agents of a railroad company which it creates It may confer the power to fix rates rules and regulations upon those in the management I of the railroad The learned counsel would not gain I say this This indeed is what they are especially con I tending for Then if the Legislature can confer the I power to fix rates upon the directors of a railroad it can confer it upon the Commissioners And as argued in the original brief of the Commissioners if it be legislation when exercised by the Commissioners it must be legislation when exercised by the Directors
But we are asked several questions by complainant and the railroad company in their supplemental brief on this subject
1 Does not fixing rates under the act of 1879 change I
the common law We answer No The common law never fixed any rates It allowed the carrier or his i agent to do it And the Legislature which can change I the common law can take away the power from the car I rier and his agents and confer it upon any other proper f authority to fix the charges or rates for the carrier I
2 Does it not substitute for the verdict of a jury the whim or will of three men ex parte We answer No The act of 1879 expressly refers the whole matter to a jury By the provisions of that act not a dollar I can be taken from the railroad company except upon I the verdict of a jury The provisions of the act on this subject are too plain for argument
3 Does it not revoke the special privileges and im I munities of the Savannah Florida and Western Rail I way Company to charge as fixed in the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company We answer Yes if the Savannah Florida and Western Railway j Company had that special privilege and immunity The Atlantic and Gulf Railway Company bargained away to the State any special privilege and immunity of that sort that it had when it received its charter in 1863 I so says the United States Supreme Court 8 Otto 359 And again the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company expressly surrendered to the State all right
of that sort that it had when it received its charter in 1879
4 Does it n ot withdraw a franchise of the corpora I tion Yes But with its express permission
5 If the fixing of the rat es by the Commissioners I under the act of 1879 has these effects has it not all the I elements of a law
No It is not the fixing of the rates by the Commis sioners that produces these effects If the same rate had oeen fixed by the Legislature the same effects would have been produced The Commissioners have done what they were directed to do under the act of I 1879 towit made a schedule of just and reasonable I rates Making rates is not making laws If it were then every time a eourt and jury sits to determine what rates are reasonable and just between the shipper and carrier the court and jury make rates But we will not further discuss this question of the delegation of lawmaking powers We refer to our original brief for the Commissioners and the authorities there cited from page 10 to 14 inclusive
The supplemental brief gravely presents again the question of taking property without due process of law
If this question had not been expressly decided in the Granger cases and if the act of 1879 had not provided full and ample legal process before one dollar can be
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taken from the road then we might discuss this ques
he statement in the supplemental brief that we it admit this position upon the force and meaning of the provision that the Commissioners schedules shall be sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable will appear quite unguarded by reference to our argument in the original brief at page 15 we there expressly state that the act makes a rule of evidence and we argue that it is competent for the Legislature to make rules of evidence to give one character of evidence more weight than another We cite Cooleys Con Lim saying that the whole subject of evidence is under legislative control That the Legislature says that certain evidence is sufficient to establish certain facts is not saying that other evidence may not be introduced to contradict it
As to the Commissioners examining the books of the roads etc we think we have fully answered this in the original argument If the Legislature can authorize this inspection by a court why can it not by the Commissioners If the government has the right to fix the rates of carriers it must have the right to see what those rates are and to see that legal rates are observed But these are mere incidentals of the act of 1879 and the hill does not allege any act on the part of the Commissioners violative of their rights in this particular
In the arguments of the complainant and railway company many unkind reflections have been made upon the act ofjftctober 1879 as well as upon the Commissioners appointed thereunder As to the act we state upon good authority that it was drafted by one of the hast lawyers in the State who is and has been for years a prominent director in the management of one of our best railroads
The policy of appointing Commissioners under that act was long mooted before the Legislature when the act was pending Leading railroad men in the State appeared before the committees of the Legislature with able counsel arguing in favor of the appointment of a Commission citing the example of foreign countries and urging it by all means In tact but for their persistent efforts a Commission would not have been provided for in the act but rates would have been fixed by the Legislature
Now if these rates of the Commissioners are iniquitous and if the Commissioners are partial and incompetent as intimated why not impeach them Such outrages as are portrayed in the argument of counsel ought not to be tolerated Attack them and let them have a fair hearing We are authorized to say that they court the investigation
We desire to call attention of the ourt again to the argument on hearing
That while the Federal courts have enjoined the officers of the State enforcing a statute of the State where the officers had no interest but the entire interest was that of the State in cases where the statute was violative of the Constitution of the United Statesas Osborns case in the 9th Wheat Dodge vs Woolsey in the 18th How Davis vs Grray in the 16th Wall yet we think the Federal courts have never enjoined such State officers having no interest but where the entire interest was that of the State and where the effect of the injunction was therefore to enjoin the State because the statute of the State was violative of the Constitution of the State If the Federal courts should grant an in
junction in such a case it would certainly be where the State statute was clearly violative of the State Constitution and where there was no doubt remaining
BRIEF OF CLIFFORD ANDERSON ATTORNEYGENERAL OF GEORGIA
1 The apprehended injury is too uncertain to authorize a court of equity to interpose by injunction It is by no means apparent that the complainant will suffer loss or damage if the court declines to interfere A reduction of rates always results in an increase of business and often larger aggregate earnings It seldom produces a diminution of the income of a railway Injunction is a harsh and extraordinary remedy and is not granted except in cases where real not imaginary injury is threatened to prevent which the complainant has no other available r adequate remedy
Nor is it apparent that the complainant has no sufficient legal remedy If his stock suffers depreciation by the enforcement of the rates prescribed by the Commissioners why can he not recover the damage in an action against the directors of the road Or if he can show that the business of the road for any given year would at different and proper rates be productive of dividends on his stock why may he not make the directors liable in an action at law for such dividendstaking them as the measure of his damages It is not alleged that the directors are insolvent or irresponsible
But it is argued that the complainant in order to avail himself of his remedy at law must institute numerous suits and that equity should interpose to prevent a multiplicity of actions One such suit as is above indicated would it is respectfully contended in reply bequite sufficient One recovery against the directors would necessarily decide that the rates prescribed by the Commissioners could be safely disregarded by the railway company and this being settled all ground of complaint by Mr Tilley would be instantly removed for the company is in perfect accord and sympathy with him and will not hesitate to demand other and higher charges for freights so soon as their right to do so is judicially declared But it is said that Mr Tilley could not prove the amount of his damage Why not If the rates prescribed by the Commissioners are enforced it can soon be ascertained whether they have affected the value of his stock in the market or by comparison of the earnings of the road during a given period under the rates now charged with the earnings of a corresponding period under the rates of the Commission the difference can without difficulty be approximated Enough at least can be shown to authorize a recoveryassuming that the directors should refuse to enforce the rates of the Commissioners and this as has been shown would be quite sufficient to prevent a repetition of the injury If it be said that unless the exact damage could be proven and recovered the injury done to the stockholders would not be repaired for the time consumed by the litigation I respectfuly reply that all courts presume an act of the Legislature to be constitutional and are slow to decide otherwise and that a court of equity will not arrogate to itself jurisdiction for the single and only purpose of inquiring into its constitutionality where only a temporary and slight inj ury at most will result before a full and adequate remedy at law can bemadeavailable If it cannot be demonstrated by proof that some real sub
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stantiaiaamage and wrong have been inflicted then ertfliply no cause is shown for equitable interfrence The ease under consideration is distinguishable on this point from Dodge vs Woolsey 18th How 331 n 1 Ia that case the directors were actually mislnSte money of the bank to the payment of an tax if the k was uneonsti
tutional the damage done to stockholder was absolute and certain The money misapplied was partly his money Besides it does not appear that the question of a remedy at law was raised or considered in that case It assume that there was no such remedy and that there was no relief but in equity The case of Dodge vs Woolsey is distinguishable in anotflcr point of view There the bank could have filed a m to restrain the collector of the tax But could the Savannah Fiorida and Western Railway Company ask an injunction against the enforcement of the rates prescribed by the Commission It has the remedy in its own hands It can refuse to regulate its charges by the standard prescribed But it is said if it does it runs the risk of incurring the penalties inflicted Not if the act is unconstitutional The act provides a way of determimng m an action at law whether it is constitutional or not If the road refuses to obey and is sued for the penalties it may plead that the law is unconstitutional and the chancellor cannot hesitate to presume that if it is the court will so declare it and refuse to enforce the penalties The railway company in this case therefore has no excuse much less good cause for filing a bill ean its stockholder Mr Tilley do what it cannot do M has ao rigW therefore to demand that it a I11 Dodge vs Woolsey ttye corporation havmg re t used the stockholder was allowed to do what it could and ought to have done but would not Here the comp ny cannot neither can its stockholder
2 But let us inquire into the principal grounds on which the constitutionality of the act under consideration is assailed
4 It is contended that it impairs the obligation of the contract between the State and the company
We answer it does not for three reasonsor rather tuat jto this allegation there are at least three responses 1st Where a business is clothed with a public interest it peases to bq juris primati only and is suffect to legislative regulation A railroad company being a common carrier accepts its charter with this power reserved grantor This is clearly and emphatically deemed in the case of Munn vs Illinois 94th Keports 2d Bpth the Code of Georgia of 1863 and the act of 1876 by virtue of which the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was incorporated expressly reserve to the Legislature the power to repeal alter qr modify any and all privileges or immunities granted to such corporations by their charter 3d The present Constitution of Georgia adopted in 1877 before the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company was organized not only clothes the Legislature ffith the power but imposes on it the duty to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and requiring them to be justand reasonable
It seems to be conceded by Mr Chisholm that the act has a constitutional intentits purpose being to provide for the estalishment of just and reasonable ratesbut he contends ffmt it is stiff unconstitutional because he to icthod it provides for ascertaining what are
just and reasonable rates works injustice tp toe Stockholders and creditors of the corporation in violation of e clause in the bill of rights prefixed to the Constitution of J877 which declares that no grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in sjuch manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporation
Qf course any statute passed to regulate railroad tariffs must aim to do justice to the corporation and its creditors and I will go further and concede that the agencies or methods it provides or adopts for this purpose must be reasonably calculated to accomplish that object If the purpose of the act is just and themethods it employs appear to be wisely selected with the view of securing justice the courts can inquire no iurther The power to pass laws to regulate tariffi necessarily implies the power to choose in good faith such means or agencies for that purpose as may commend themselves to the legislative wisdom and discretion What is absolutely j ust cannot be determined by the finite mind Justice pure and simple sprint from Infinity alone H a human lawgiver aims to do justice and honestly provides reasonable safeguards apd means to secure it those which appear to him to be the best calculated to promote it no more can he required
The inquiry therefore simply is in exercising this granted power to make laws to regulate raijroad charges has the Legislature honestly sought to do justice to the railroad companies and their creditors as well as to the public and has it employed agencies wisely or reasonably caculated to secure this object If so it has exercised the power constitutionallyit has not transcended the bounds but is clearly within the limite of legislative discretion If notwithstanding injustice in some instances still results aud fejv laws fail to ope rate harshly in some cases let those who are aggrieved appiy to the Legislature for such changes in the law as will make it more uniformly equitable
All laws should be just or should seek to be and it would have been the duty of the Legislature without the clause referred to in the Constitution of 1877 as to working no injustice etc to execute the power to pass laws regulating freights in such way as to do no injustice which could reasonably be avoided Shall courts declare laws tp be unconstitutional because they believe them to be unjust The Legislature must necessarily be the judge of the justice as well as the wisdom of its enactments 6th Cr 87
If it be said that the power given by the Constitution and sought to be exercised by the act in question is ope which may be greatly abased it is replied in the anguage of Mr Justice Swayne in Gilman vs Philadelphia onp 731 3d Wallace The possible abuse of any power is no proof that it does not exist Many abuses may arise in the legislation of the States which are wholly beyond the reach of the government of the Nation The safeguard and remedy are to be found in the virture and intelligence of the people They can make and remake constitutions and laws and from that tribunal there is no appeal If a State exercises unwisely the power here in question the evil consequences will fall chiefly upon her own citizens They ave more at stake than the citizens of any other State
But itis said that theact delegates to the Commissioners powers which can be exercised by the Legislature
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only This argument is based on a misapprehension of the nature of the power with which the General Assembly is clothed The language of the Constitution is The Legislature shall from time to time mss laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs etc not that the Legislature shall itself fix jmd prescriibe the rates to be chargeda thing wholly impracticable The power to pass laws to regulate or for the purpose of regulating implies the use of means or agencies for the accomplishment of that object The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to lay and collect taxes but who ever supposed that this requires Congress itself to assess the property of the taxpayer and collect the amount assessed The Constitution of Georgia provides that property shall be assessed for taxes ad valorem or according to its value but must the Legislature declare the value of each article of property for taxation or can it not Cas it has often done provide for the appointment of boards of assessors for this purpose The Constitution of the United States confers on Congress tne power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the States and with the Indian tribes Under this grant of power can it be doubted that Congress can pass laws providing for the appointment of agents or officials to execute the regulations made and to prescribe within certain limitations fees and charges etc Fees of public officials such as port wardens marshals clerks etc are usually prescribed by law so as to cover their ordinary duties but it is not infrequently the case that tribunals are appointed or officials designated to fix and determine the compensation for services not specifically provided for by law
A railroad partakes of the nature of both public and private property To leave the corporation to fix its own charges is not just to the public Hence the act in question provides for the selection of three capable and impartial Commissioners and expressly enjoins upon them to make just and reasonable rates
Drifting about for some support on which to rest his case the complainant through his indefatigable counsel strangely enough summons to his assistance that provision of the Constitution of Georgia which ordains that property whether public or private it is claimed shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation The act under consideration does not contemplate the appropriation or use of the property of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway for public purposes nor is such its effect Its object is to regulate the charges which the corporation may make in the use of the property itself for its own purposes The constitutional provision invoked means
that where the State appropriates or takes the property and deprives the owner of it permanently or temporarily uses it for the public to the exclusion of the owner that in the one case the value of the property shall be paid and in the other compensation shall be made for the damage
Equally strange is the effort to take refuge under that clause of the Constitution of Georgia which requires laws of a11 general nature to havea uniform operation throughout the State par 1 sec 4 art 1 The act assailed is an act affecting railway companies only and it is designed to have a uniform operation to affect each and all of them alike The principal of uniformity which runs through it is to provide for a schedule of rates which shall be just and reasonable Surely it will not be contended that to make it have a uniform operation it must require each company to charge the same rates of transportation Ho one would be more prompt to protest against such a requirement than the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company Is the Legislature obliged to en act that each tollbridge allowed to be built shall charge the same rates of toll Such an enactment would be arbitrary and often operate very unjustly Besides is the act properly speaking alaw of ageneral nature It has special application to railroads and to them only But it is said that if this is the proper view to take of it then it is obnoxious to the concluding part of the paragraph of the Constitution above cited which declares that no general law affecting private rights shall be varied in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all persons to be affected thereby We fail to perceive the relevancy of this argument or its application What general law is affected by this special act Before its passage each railroad prescribed its own tariffs or charges under the power granted in their respective charters There was no general law regulating this matter at all
Equally futile is the attempt to show that the act in question violates the 3d par of section 1 of the bill of rights prefixed to the Constitution of Georgia which forbids that any person shall be deprived of life liberty or property except by due process of law This is fully covered by the decision in the case of Munn vs Illinois where the distinction between regulating the charges of common carriers and depriving them of their property is clearly stated and drawn A careful examination of that case and the authorities to which it refers will completely dispel whatever doubts and dissipate all the mists the industry and ingenuity of counsel have gathered aronnd the questions involved in this case
JUSTICE WOODS DECISION
Geobge H Tilley vs The Savannah Flobida and Western Railway Company James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett Railroad Commissioners and R N Ely AttorneyGeneral In the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Georgia Bill for Injunction Belief etc
Paragraph twentythree section one article one de Clares
The legislative judicial and executive power shall forever remain separate and distinct and no person discharg ing the duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of others except as herein provided
The following opinion was rendered February 94881 by Mr Justice Woods of the United States Supreme Court in the above stated case
The Constitution of the State of Georgia paragraph twentytwo of section seven article three reads as fol lows
he General Assembly shall have powerto make all laws and ordinances consistent with this Constitution and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States which they shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State
Paragraph one section two of article four declares that
The power and authority of regulating railroad freights and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
Paragraph three setion three article one declares
No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporation
These provisions of the Constitution being in force the Legislature on October 141879 passed an act to carry into effect paragraph one section two of article four above quoted
The act provides section three as follows
That if any railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State under any act of incorporation or general law ef this State now in force or which may hereafter be enacted or any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State and doing business in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its track or any of the branches thereof or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right license or permission to use operate or control the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Paragraph two
The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridged nor so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies and subjecting them to public use the same as property of individuals and the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be abridged nor so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well being of the State Paragraph one section five article two declares
The people of this State have the inherent sole and ex elusive right of regulating their internal government and the police thereof and of altering and abolishing their Constitution whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness
Paragraph one section three article one declares
Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public purposes without just and adequate compensation being first paid
Paragraph three section one article one declares
No person shall be deprived of life liberty or property except by due process of law
Paragraph two article one section one declares Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete Paragraph one section four article one declares
Laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation throughout the State and no special law shall be enacted in any case for which provision has been made by an existing general law No general law affecting private rights shall be revised in any particular case by special legislation except with the free consent in writing of all personsto be affected thereby
The act further provides for the appointment of three Railroad Commissioners whose duty it shall be to make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof
Section six of the act declares as follows
That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads and said Commissioners shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedule
Section nine provides
That if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall be guilty of a viola tion of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shall not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall Incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State where such viola
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tlon has occurred or wrong has been perpetrated and Shall be In the name of the State of Georgia The Comsiohers shall Institute such action through the AttorneyGeneral or SolicitorGeneral whose fees shall be the same as now provided by law
Byauthority of this act James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett were appointed Bailroad Commissioners and were qualified and entered upon the discharge of their duties
The Commissioners as required by law prepared and promulgated a standard schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars and required it to be observed with such modifications as might thereupon be set forth by such of the railroad corporations doing business In the State and that copies of the schedule should be posted by the railroad companies at all their stations and that the same should go into full effect and oneration on May 11880
Thereupon the complainant In this case George H Tilley who averred himself to be an alien and a stockholder in the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company a railroad corporation of the State of Georgia filed his bill to which he made the said railroad company JasM Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett Bailroad Commissioners and Bobert N Ely AttorneyGeneral of Georgia parties defendants
The bill alleged that the complainant was the holder of one hundred shares of the capital stock of the Savannah Florida and Western Bailway Company for which he had paid the sum of 10000 in cash
That the said Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company had its origin as follows By a decree of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Georgia the property franchises rights privileges and immunities of the railroad corporation known as the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company Wer sold in November 41879 to Henry B Plant and his associates That the purchasers of said railroads and property of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company were the bona fide owners of one million four hundred and fifteen thousand dollars of the second mortgage bonds of said company to satisfy which such sale was made and that their cash bid at the sale was 300000 which sum was paid in hand That said sale was made subject to the lien of a mortgage executed by said Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company to secure certain bonds issued and sold by it and known as its first mortgage bonds and that said lien amounted at the time of said sale to about 2700000
That said Plant and his associates under ihe provisions of an act of the Legislature of Georgia approved February 291876 had formed the said defendant corporation the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company and to it was conveyed under the orders of said court the property and franchise rights and Immunities of the said Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company That the act by virtue of which the said Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company was organized and said conveyance made declared that upon the sale of the property franchises rights and immunities of any railroad company in the State of Georgia the railroad company formed by the purchase thereof should possess all the powers rights immunities privileges and franchises in respect to such railroad which were promised or enjoyed by the corporation which owned or held such railroad previous to such sale under or by virtue of its charter and any amendments thereto and of other laws of the State Acts of 1876 page 118
The bill further charged that at the time of making and issuing the said first mortgage bonds subject to which the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad was sold th State of Georgia was a holder of the stock of the said company to the amount of 1000000 and that as such stockholder the State acting by her duly appointed commissioner voted for the making and issuing of said first mortgage bonds
and contracted with the holders thereof that the corporate property including the franchises tolls and increase of said Atlantic and Gull Bailroad Company should be pledged for the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds
The bill further averred that while the State of Georgia was a stockholder as aforesaid in the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company said company made contracts with various lumber manufacturers by which in consideration of the payment by them of fifty cents per thousand feet for lumber intended for export the said company agreed to build a branch road from its depot in Savannah to the Savannah Biver and in pursuance of said contract did build said branch road at a cost of about 150000 and the sajd lumber manufacturers who have used said branch road have paid and continue to pay without complaint the said rate of fifty cents per thousand feet for the use of said brahch road That while said Atlantic and Gulf Bail road was under the management of the receivers appointed by the court under whose decree said sale was made said receivers at the instance of the lumber manufacturers along the line of said railroad laid down sidetracks lor their exclusive use in consideration whereof saidlumher men agreed to pay a rental of fifteen dollars per car for the use of said tracks and they have paid and continue to pay said rental The bill claimed that under the decree by which said railroad was sold the purchasers became entitled to the benefit of said contracts as a part of the assets and property of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company
The bill further av erred that
The Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company the corporation which owned the railroad so purchased was composed of The Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company incorporated under the act of the State of Georgia approved February 271856 and the original Savannah and Albany Bailroad Company chartered by act of the General Assembly of Georgia approved December 251847 the name of which was changed to The Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company by an act approved February 201854
Acts of 18556 p 158
Acts of 18534 p 454
That these two companies were consolidated by authority of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia approved April 18 1863 entitled An act to authorize the consolidation of the stock of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company and for other purposes By the third section of said act of consolidation it was enaeted That the several immunities franchises and privileges granted to the said Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company by their original charters and the amendments thereof and the liabilities therein imposed shall continue in force except so far as they may be inconsistent with their act of consolidation
The bill claimed that the two companies aforesaid which were consolidated and out of which the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company was formed were granted by their charters the right to charge certain rates of freight and passenger fares specified therein and that the right to charge the same freights and fares had been conferred upon the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company by the act of February 291876 aforesaid
That the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company had adopted a schedule of freights and passenger fares less than the maximum rates fixed by the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company but that the rates so adopted were greater than those fixed by the schedule of the said Bailroad Commission
The bill claimed that if the rates established by the Bailroad Commissioners were made obligatory upon the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company it
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Would not only be unable to establish a sinking fund to pay off its first mortgage bonds but would be unable to declare dividends of any amount whatever to Its stockholders and the company would be driven Into ruin and bankruptcy
The bill further alleged that complainant had hoped that the said Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company wotild adhere to the schedule of freights and fares which It had adopted as aforesaid but that lie had been informed and charged that It Intended to abanbon said schedule and adopt the one promulgated by said Railroad Commission which it admitted would not enable it to earn a sufficient income to pay its expenses the interest on its bonded debt but that on the contrary its receipts would not enable it to pay the interest on its bonds by at least 40000 per annum and that such deficit would continue from year to year and the stockholders of said company Would receive no dividend whatever but that the value of the stock of said company would be gradually destroyed by said annual deficit
The bill averred that said act of October 141819 under authority of which said Railroad Commissioners assumed to act was in violation of the several provisions of the Constitution of Georgia above quoted and that it excluded the defendant railroad company from its right of trial by jury guaranteed by the Constitution of the State that It violated that clause of the Constitution of the State paragraph nine section one article one which ordains that excessive fines shall not be imposed nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted that said act violated that part of the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States which declares that no State shall deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law nor to deny to any person within its limits the equal protection of the laws and section ten article one which forbids a State to pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts
The bill prayed that the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company might be enjoined from doing any act which would be an acceptance of the said statutes of October 141879 as an amendment to its charter or from carrying out the provisions of said act or from operating its road for such rates of fare and freight as should be inadequate to yield a revenue sufficient to pay the expenses of operating said railroad and maintaining its track and equipment and paying interest on its bonded debt and reasonable dividends to its stockholders and provide a reasonable sinking fund for the payment of the principal of its bonded debt and that said Commissioners might be epjoined from prescribing rates of fare and freight over said companys railroad or in any manner enforcing the provisions of the said act of October 141879 and that the AttorneyGeneral might be restrained from instituting any suit of any kind against said railroad company forthe purpose of enforcing the provisions of said act and for general relief
Upon the filing of this bill a restraining order was allowed enjoining the defendants as prayed for Subsequently on September 6 1880 the defendant railroad company answered the bill and on September 18 the Railroad Commissioners filed a demurrer thereto
On December 6 18S0 the complainant filed an amendment to his bill in which he averred that estimating the stock of the defendant company at 2000000 and taking into account the mortgage lien subject to which it was bought and which amounted to 2710000 the entire cost of the railroad and other property were only 14000 per miW That the gross receipts of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company for the last eight years under a schedule substantially higher than that adopted by the Savannah Florida and Western were 983792 That the average interest charges and expenses of the latter company amount to 867242 leaving a surplus of only 116550 applicable to dividends and sinking fund and that allowing a dividend
of 7 per cent on the stock the net receipts would fall short 23550 per annum
That the receipts of the defendant railroad company under the schedule promulgated by the Railroad Commissioners would fail to pay the running expenses the annual interest on prior liens subject to which the railroad was sold by nearly fifty thousand dollars perannum and the said amendment charges that the schedule promulgated by said Commissioners is not reasonable or just
On December 22 23 and 241880 the case was heard upon a motion for an injunction pendente lite in accordance with the prayer of the bill Upon this motion the affidavits of John Scriven lately one of the receivers of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company of W S Chisholm VicePresident H S Haines General Manager and W P Hardee Treasurer of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company and of C H Phinizy President of the Georgia Railroad Company were read for the complainant and the affidavit of the Railroad Commissioners Was read in their own behalf
Mr Robert Falligant for the complainant
Messrs Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral of Georgia Robert Toombs and P L Mynatt for the Railroad Commissioners
Mr W S Chisholm for the Savannah Florida and West ern Railroad Company
WOODS Circuit Justice
The question for solution is whether the case made by this hill and amendment and the affidavits in support of it entitles the complainant to the writ of injunction as prayed for in his bill
1 The first inquiry that arises is what are the rights of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company under the law of its organization On behalf of the complainant it averred that the railroad company has the right within limits prescribed by the charter of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company to fix its own schedule of freight and passenger fares and that this right is not subject to legislative control
It is settled that railroad companies are subject to legislative control as to their rates of fare and freight unless protected by their chartersMunn vs Illinois 94 United States 113 Chicago etc Railroad Company vs Iowa 94 United States 161
When the charter of a railroad company allows it to charge maximum rates of fares and freight but the right is reserved to the legislature to repeal or amend the charter it may change the rates prescribed by the Charter by establishing a maximum limit beyond which they shall not goPeik vs Chicago etc Railway Co 94 U S 164
By the act of the Legislature of Georgia of February 29 1876 entitled an act to enable the purchasers of railroads to form corporations
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and to exercise corporate powers and privileges under which the Savaunah Florida and Western Bailroad Company was organized it was clothed with all the rights privileges and immunities of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company It is necessary therefore to inquire what were the charter rights of the latter company It was organized by the consolidation of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company by authority of an act of the Legislature of Georgia approved April 18 1863 Whenthis act was passed sections 1651 and 1682 of the Code of 1863 which took effect January 1 1863 were in force The first of these sections declared Persons are either natural or artificial The latter are the creatures of law and except so far as the law forbids is subject to be changed modified or destroyed at the will of their creator they are called corporations The second declared In all cases of private charters hereafter granted the State reserves the right to withdraw the franchise unless such right is expressly negatived in the charter
From these sections of the Code it is apparent that the rights privileges and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company were subject to alteration amendment or withdrawal at the will of the Legislature
This point has been expressly decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Bailroad Company vs Georgia98 U S 358
In that case it was held that by the consolidation under the act of April 18 1863 of the Savannah Albany and Gulf Bailroad Company and the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company said companies were dissolved and a new corporation towit the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company was created and that this new company became subject to the provisions of the Code of Georgia above recited
And it has been expressly decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia that all charters granted by the State since the adoption of the Code of 1863 are subject to the provisions of section 1682 above quotedWest End Company vs Atlanta 49 Georgia 151
It must therefore he considered as conclusively settled that the right of the Atlantic and Gulf Bailroad Company to establish its own schedule of freight and fares within certain 11
limits was subject to legislative modification and control The Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company having succeeded to the rights and franchises of the Atlantic and Gulf Company is subject to the same revisory power
But so far as the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company is concerned the right of legislative control over its franchise has been placed beyond all dispute if any remained by section eight of the act under which the company was organized That section declares That nothing in this act shall operate to vest in any purchaser of any railroad and its franchises any exemption for taxation existing or claiming to exist in the corporation which shall have been the owner of said railroad and its franchises or to limit the powers of the Legislature to alter modify or withdraw the charter and franchises herein provided
2 Complainant says however that if the power of the Legislature under the charter of the company to modify or withdraw its franchises be conceded yet this power is now restrained by that paragraph in the Bill of Bights of the Constitution of 1877 which declares no grant of special privileges or immunities shall be revoked except in such manner as to work no injustice to corporators or creditors of the incorporationPar 3 sec 3 art 1 Constitution of 1877
This presents the question whether the act of October 14 1879 under which the Bailroad Commissioners assume to act revokes any of the privileges and immunities of the defendant railroad company in such manner as to work injustice to the corporators or creditors of the corporation
That act forbids the railroad corporations of the State including the defendant railroad company from charging unfair and unreasonable rates of freight and fare or making unjust discriminations for the transportation of passengers and freights and provides for the appointment of a Commission to prescribe reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all the companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof
There is certainly nothing in this act hostile to the paragraph in the Bill of Bights just referred to The franchise of the defendant company is to fix its own rates of freights and fares within certain limits subject to the revisory powers of the Legislature It has never had
absolute right to establish its own schedule of freights and fares The right to fix its rates of charges has always been subordinate to legislative control How then can an attempt on the part of the Legislature to regulate the charges of the defendant company be considered as an attempt to revoke the special privileges and immunities of the company
But this clause in the Bill of Bights must be read in connection with paragraph one of section two of article four of the Constitution which confers upon the Legislature the power and authority of regulating railroad freights and tariffs and makes it the duty of the Legislature to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates
The Legislature in the act of October 14 1879 supra has merely forbidden the railroad companies from exacting more than fair and reasonable rates for the transportation of freights and passengers and has attempted through a Commission to prescribe what are just and reasonable rates Upon its face there can be no constitutional objection to this legislation excepting on the assumption that it is one of the special privileges and immunities of the railroad companies to charge unjust and unreasonable rates of freight rates and fare
3 But it is urged by complainant that the rates prescribed by the Commissioners under the authority of the Legislature are not just and reasonable but are oppressive and destructive of the value of the property of the railroad companies Assuming for the present that the Legislature had the constitutional right to delegate the power of prescribing rates to a Commission and that the schedule established by it is the schedule of the Legislature the question is then presented Where does the power reside to declare what are just and reasonable rates Is it a judicial or legislative question
It seems to me tbat section 2 of article 4 of the Constitution by its very terms confers that power on the Legislature It declares that
the power and authority of regulating railroad freights and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred on the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discrimination and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and
reasonable rates How a delegation of power to declare what is just and reasonable could be more plain and explicit it is difficult to see It is not conferred on the courts the railroad companies have no part or lot in the decision of the question but the Constitution declares it is hereby conferred on the General Assembly But even when there is no such constitutional provision as exists in this State it has been held that where property has been clothed with a public interest the Legislature may fix a limit to that which shall in law be reasonable for its use This limit binds the courts as well as the people If it has been improperly fixed the Legislature not the courts must be appealed to for the change Peik vs Chicago etc Bailway Company 94 U S 164 Munn vs Illinois 94 U S 113
Looking therefore at the several clauses of the Constitution which bear upon the subject it cannot be said by the railroad companies that an attempt by the Legislature to prescribe reasonable rates for the transportation of freights and fares is a revocation of any of their special privileges or immunities
In my judgment the clause of the Constitution now under consideration was not meant to limit the power of the Legislature over the subject of freights and fares which is fully treated in section 11 article 14 but was intended to protect the incorporators and creditors of the corporation from the results which at common law followed the revocation of the charter of an incorporated company which were that its realty reverted to the grantors and its personalty escheated to the State
4 The complainant alleges that when the bonds and the mortgage to secure the same subject to which the defendant company bought the railroad and other property of the Atlantic and Gulf Company were executed the State pf Georgia was the owner oi 10000 shares of the stock of the latter company and this stock voted in favor of the issue of the bonds and the execution of the mortgage that the bonds bore seven per cent annually and are to fall due July 11877 that the property was conveyed by the mortgage or trust deed to a trustee with the power upon default of the payment of interest to take possession and operate the road and pay first expenses second prior liens third interest and principal of the bonds and fourth the residue to the corporation but until
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default the company was to manage the property instead of the trustees
And he claims that the reserved right of modification or repeal does not apply when such mod fi cation will impair a contract like this made by the State herself
To this there are two answers In the first place the State made no contract when the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company issued its bonds and executed its mortgage to secure this The bonds and mortgage were the contracts of the company and not of its stockholders
Secondly the purchasers of the bonds took them subject to the power of the State to regulate the rates of freight and fares The State never either by express or implied contract agreed that this power should not be exercised The purchasers of bonds took the risk of the ability of the company to do business enough under the provisions and restrictions of its charter and subject to the right of the legislative revision to pay the principal and interest on the bonds
The same answer applies to the claim that the State was bound by the contracts made by the railroad company and the receivers with the lumbermen Neither the railroad company nor the recivers could deprive the State of the right reserved in the charter of the railroad company to control its charges by making contracts for freight in advance The fact that the State is a stockholder in the railroad company does not modify the charter or confer on the railroad company any new rights
5 The complainant next insists that paragraph 1 section 2 of article 4 of the Constitution of Georgia requires the General Assembly itself to regulate railroad freights and passenger tariffs and prohibit unjust discriminations on the railroads of the State and prohibit them from charging other than just and reasonable rates and that the delegation of this duty to the Railroad Commissioners is not warranted by the Constitution
The argument is that the act of October 14 1879 delegates to the Railroad Commission legislative power which by the Constitution is conferred exclusively upon the Legislature
The paragraph of the Constitution which authorizes and requires the action of the General Assembly on this subject does not in terms require that body to prescribe the rates of freights and fares It is required to pass laws to regu
late freight and passenger tariffs It has in performance of this duty declared that the rates charged by the railroad companies should be just and reasonable and appointed a Commission to fix the maximum of just and reasonable rates beyond which the railroad companies shall not go This section seems to fall strictly within the terms of the authority on which it is based
If however the power conferred on the Commissioners can only be exercised under the Constitution by the Legislature the act conferring such powers must be declared void
A somewhat careful consideration of this point satisfies me clearly that the duties imposed by the act upon the Commissioners are not legislative and are not necessarily to be performed by the Legislature
If the act had declared that no railroad company should charge other than just and reasonable rates and that the Board of Directors of every railroad company in the State should prescribe maximum charges which should be posted at each station and beyond which the ticket and freight agents of the companies should not go it could not reasonably be claimed that the directors were clothed with legislative power Is thecase altered when the General Assembly instead of making the Board of Directors the body to fix maximum rates appoints an independent and it is fair to presume a more impartial body for that purpose The nature of the duty discharged is not changed by a change in the person or persons on whom the duty is imposed
It is a familiar rule of constitutional construction that a grant of legislative power to do a certain thing carries with it the power to use all proper and necessary means to accomplish the endMcCullough vs Maryland 4 Wheat 316
The General Assembly of Georgia is expressly required by paragraph one section two article four to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and to prohibit unjust discrimination and the charging of unjust and unreasonable rates by the railroad companies of the State The fixing of just and reasonable maximum rates for all the railroads in the State is clearly a duty which cannot be performed by the Legislature unless it remain in perpetual session and devotes a large portion of its time to its performance The question
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what are just and reasonable rates is one which presents different phases from month to month uponvery road in the State and in reference to all the innumerable articles and products that are the subjects of transportation This question can only be satisfactorily solved by a board which is in perpetual session and whose time is exclusively given to the consideration of the subject
It is obvious that to require the duty of prescribing rates for the railroads of the State to be performed by the General Assembly consisting of a Senate with fortyfour members and a House of Representatives with one hundred and seventyfive and which meets in regular session only once in two years and then only for a period of forty days would result in the most illadvised and haphazard schedules and be productive of the greatest inconvenience and injustice in some cases to the railroad companies and in others to the people of the State It is impracticable for such a body to prescribe just and reasonable rates To insist that this duty must be performed by the General Assembly itself is to defeat the purpose of that clause of the Constitution under consideration
The view taken by complainant would preclude the Legislature from the use of the necessary means and agencies to accomplish what it is required by the Constitution to do The Constitution of the United States gives to Congress the power to levy and collect taxes but this does not require Congress itself to assess the property of the taxpayer and collect the tax The Constitution of Georgia clothes the General Assembly with the power of taxation over the whole State and requires taxes to be assessed upon all property ad valorem But this does not require the Legislature to investigate through its committees or otherwise and declare by an act the value of every piece of property in the State subject to taxation
Ih many of the cases it has been held that notwithstanding the fact that a State Constitution confers legislative power exclusively on the Legislature yet that body may delegate legislative or quasi legislative power on subordinate agencies
A familiar instance of the use of agencies by the Legislature for the exercise of the power vested in it by the Constitution is found in the creation of municipal corporations and of the powers of legislation which are commonly be
stowed upon them The bestowal of such powers is not to be considered as trenching upon the maxim that legislative power is not to be delegated since that maxim is to be understood in the light of the immemorial practice of this country and England which has always recognized the propriety of vesting in municipal corporations certain powers of local regulation in respect to which the parties immediately interested may fairly be supposed mqre competent to judge of their needs than any central authorityCooly on Constitutional Limitations 143City of Patterson vs Society etc 24 N J 365 Cheany vs Hooser 9 B Munroe 330 Berlin vs Gorham 34 N H 266
Even so grave a matter as taxation has always in the State of Georgia even without special constitutional provision been delegated to cities towns and county organizations Brunswick vs Finney 54 Ga 317 Powers vs Dougherty county 23 Ga 65
The rule applicable to the delegation of power by a Legislature is laid down with great clearness in the case of the Cincinnati etc Railroad Company vs Clinton countylOhio page 77
The true distinction therefore is between the delegation of power to make the law which necessarily involves a discretion as to what it shall be and conferring an authority or discretion as to its execution to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law The first cannot be done to the latter no valid objection can be made
The Constitution of the State of Illinois article four section one declares that the legislative power shall be vested in a General Assembly which shall consist of a Senate and House I of Representatives etc Article thirteen section seven of the same Constitution declared that the General Assembly shall pass laws for the inspection of grain for the protection of producers shippers and receivers of grain
The Legislature of Illinois with these constitutional provisions in force passed an act to establish a board of railroad and warehouse commissioners This board was empowered to fin the rate of charges for the inspector of grain and the manner in which the same should be collected and to fix the amount of compensation to be paid the chief inspector and other officers etc
It was objected that this was an unwarrantable delegation of legislative power But the Supreme Court of that State held that the right
81
to pass inspection laws belonged to the police powers of the government and the Legislature had the authority to arrange the distribution of said powers as the public exigencies might require apportioning them to local jurisdictions as the lawmaking power deemed appropriate and committing the exercises of the residue to officers appointed as it might see fit to order and that it was important for the General AsI semblyto delegate to a commission the power to control the subject of the inspection of grain and to prescribe what fees should be charged for the inspection of grain and regulate them from time to time as circumstances might require
The court says The principles repeatedly recognized by this and other courts of last re sort that the General Assembly may authorize others to do things which it might properly yet cannot understandingly or advantageously do itself seems to apply with peculiar force to the fixing of the amount of inspection fees so as to adjust them properly with reference to the expenses of inspection
See also Police Commissioners vs Louisville
3 Bush 587 The People vs Shepherd 36 NY f 285 The People vs Pinckney 32 N Y 377
I Bush vs Simpson 4 Scam 186 Trustees vs
Tateman 13 XU 27 County of Richmond vs County of Lawrence 12 111 1 Commonwealth vs Duquet 2 Yates 493
By the authority cited it is held that even if the power conferred on municipal corporations or special commissions be legislative or quasilegislative still it is within the discretion of the Legislature to confer it
My conclusion upon this point is therefore that the act of October 19 1879 is not unconstitutional by reason of a delegation to the Railroad Commissioners of legislative power
6 It is claimed that the law is unconstitutional because by declaring that the schedule of rates established by the Commissioners shall be held and taken in all the courts as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable it deprives the railroad companies of their constitutional right to a trial by jury
In this provision the Legislature has exercised the power exercised by all the Legislatures both Federal and State of prescribing the effect of evidence and it has done nothing more Even in criminal cases Congress has declared that
certain facts proven shall be evidence of guilt For instance in section 3082 of the United States Revised Statutes it is provided that whenever bn an indictment for smuggling the defendant is shown to be is possession of smuggled goods
such possession shall be deemed evidence sufficient to authorize a conviction unless the defendant shall explain the possession to the satisfaction of the jury The statute books are full of such acts but it has never been considered that this impairs the right of trial by jury
But even if this provision of the act under consideration were unconstitutional it would not render inoperative the other sections of the statute from which this provision can be easily removed and yet leave the main object and purpose of the law unimpaired Packet Company vs Keokuk 95 U S 80
7 It is next insisted that the Railroad Commission act is unconstitutional because it violates that declaration of the bill of rights paragraph 1 section 3 which declares private property shall not be taken or damaged for public uses without just and adequate compensation being first paid
This clause is a regulation of the exercises of the States right of eminent domain
An act attempting to fix just and reasonable rates of freight and fares upon the railroads of the State can hardly be considered as taking or damaging the property of the railroad for public use The object of the law is to regulate the charges which the corporation may make in the use of its own property for its own purposes It does not take it or damage it for public use The act was passed because its passage was expressly enjoined by the Constitution It does not become obnoxious to the constitutional provision under consideration and become a taking or damaging of private property for public use because all the rates fixed are not just and reasonable or because they are thought so by the railroad companies
8 Again the act under consideration is alleged to be unconstitutional because obnoxious to paragraph 11 section 1 article 1 of the Constitution which declares Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of the government and shall be impartial and complete and of paragraph 3 section 1 article 1 which declares that No person shall be deprived of life liberty or property without due process of law
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When it is rememberad that these paragraphs are referred to a law the only purpose of which is the performance by the Legislature of its constitutional duty to prohibit unjust discriminations and unjust and unreasonable charges by the railroads of the State it is difficult to see how they are pertinent to the matter
In Munn vs Illinois 94 U S 113 it was held that the limitation by legislative enactment of charge for services rendered in public employment or for the use of property in which the public has an interest does not deprive the owner of his property without due process of law Neither can it be said that it is a denial of impartial and complete protection of property
9 It is next insisted that the law is one of
a general nature but that it does not have a uniform operation throughout the State as required by paragraph 1 section 4 article 1 of the Constitution of the State
The act assailed is an act affecting railroad companies only and it is designed to have uniform operation on them throughout the State Its purpose is to require all such companies in the State to charge just and reasonable rates and to prohibit unjust discrimination by them To give the law a uniform operation it is not necessary that it should prescribe the same rates for all the railroad companies It might as well be claimed that the Legislature in framing an act to regulate tollbridges must prescribe the same rate of toll for every bridge in the State otherwise the act would not have a uniform operation
The ingenuity of counsel has brought into the case these various paragraphs of the Constitution in the hope that the Railroad Commissioners act might be impaled on some one of them
I have considered them all Most of them have but a very remote application to the law some of them have already been considered by the Supreme Court of the United States in Munn vs Illinois and Peik vs Chicago 94 U
S supra and decided to have no control over similar legislation
10 The act of the Legislature if constitutional may be considered unwise or even oppressive but even if it is the remedy is not with the court but with the Legislature If the General Assembly in its passage were acting within the scope of its constitutional power no matter how crude and unjust the law may be the court cannot apply the remedy I
There is nothing in the act complained of which indicates a disposition on the part of the Legislature to oppress the railroad companies
It appears to be rather an attempt in good faith to discharge a duty imperatively demanded of the Legislature by the State Constitution
11 The complaint is not so much against the I Legislature as against the Railroad Commis I sioners Their administration of the law is charged to be oppressive and unjust to the railroad company in which the complainant is a stockholder It is alleged that the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners for said rail road is if adhered to destructive to the rail I road property and ruinous to its creditors and I stockholders
The evidence submitted upon this point by the complainant consisting of the affidavit of I Mr Haines the General Manager of the defendant railroad company and others on the one side and the affidavit and reports and circulars of the Railroad Commissioners on the other is very conflicting and irreconcilable It is not so much a conflict as to the facts as it is in matters of judgment and inferences from facts
One thing is made clear to my mind by the 1 evidence It is that there has been an honest and painstaking effort on the part of the Commissioners to perform their duty under the law fairly and justly The difference between the Railroad Commissioners and the officers of the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company in an honest difference of judgment
The company puts the present investment in its road at 4700000 and claimed that a profit of 10 per cent per annum would be just and reasonable The Commissioners placed the value of investment at 4000000 and a just 1 and reasonable profit thereon at 8 percent
The railroad company estimated its annual expenditure for maintaining and operating the road at 700000 The Commissioners were of opinion that 550000 would suffice with good management and proper economy The officers of the railroad company declare that the rates fixed by the Commission will so reduce its income that it will not suffice to pay the running expenses of the road and the interest on its bonded debt leaving nothing for dividends to its stockholders The affidavit of the Railroad Commissioners states that the average of rates charged by the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company exceeded the average of
83
rates charged by the AirLine Road the Macon and Brunswick and the Brunswick and Albany the three weakest roads in the Stateby 60 per cent and the rates charged by all other railroads in this State over seventyfive miles long by more than 70 per cent The Railroad Commissioners assert that their schedule was framed to produce eight per cent income on the value of the road after paying cost of maintenance and running expenses Which view is the correct one it is impossible to decide from the evidence submitted There is however a conclusive way and it seems to me it is the only one by which this controversy can be settled and that is by experiment A reduction of railroad charges is not always followed by a reduction of either gross or net income It can soon be settled which is rightthe railroad companys officers or the Railroad Commission in their view of the effect of the Commissions tariff of rates by allowing the tariff to go into operation
If it turns out that the views of the railroad company are correct and that the schedule fixed by the Commission is too low to afford a fair return upon the value of the road the remedy is plain for the law makes it the duty of the Commissioners from time to time and as often as circumstances may require to change and revise said schedules
This duty the Commissioners stand ready to perforin as they testify by their affidavit on file in this case In short they constitute a permanent tribunal where the complaints of the railroad companies of any action of the Commissioners can be made and heard and any wrong suffered thereby corrected
In their affidavit on file the Commissioners say that they accompanied their action by circulars indicating their readiness to review their action upon the presentation of sufficient data The Commission may have erred in its judgment there was room for honest error there was a difference of views in the Commission itself as to the proper percentage to be added on the standard tariff rates But there was no intention to wrong any interest nor to adhere to any error when shown to be such
The circulars modifying rates on the showing of the railroads illustrates the desire of the Commission to conform by closer and yet closer approximation to improved information
The railroad company after testing the re
sults of the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners and finding it to be unjust and unreasonable can apply to the Commissioners for redress If redress is denied them there they can apply to the Legislature for relief Believing the law under which the Commissioners are appointed to be within the constitutional power of the Legislature the redress must come either from the Commissioners or the General Assembly it is not in the power of this court to give relief As remarked by Mr Justice Sway ne in Gilman vsPhiladelphia 3 Wall 713 Many abuses may arise in the legislation of the States which are wholly beyond the reach of the government of the nation The safeguard and remedy are to be found in the virtue and intelligence of the people They can make and unmake constitutions and laws and from that tribunal there is no appeal If a State exercise unwisely the po ver here in question the evil consequences will fall chiefly on her own citizens They have more at stake than the citizens of any other State
It has been the policy of Georgia atleast since January 1 1863 to grant no charter which should not be subject to revision or repeal by the General Assembly Whether wise or unwise thispolicy has been embodied in the Constitution of 1877 It was clearly the purpose of the people in the adoption of that revision of the organic law to keep the charges of the rail road companies of the State within legislative control They were not satisfied with the rules of the common law on this subject The act of October 141879 is but the practical expression of the will of the people of the State as embodied in their organic law It is the exercise of a right which they have been careful to reserve and subject to which the defendant company were allowed to exist as a corporation
My conclusion is that the act of the Legislature of Georgia approved October 141879 entitled an act to provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State etc etc is notin violation of either the Constitution of the United States or of the State of Georgia that under the Constitution of Georgia power and authority is conferred on the Legislature to pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs on railroads and require reasonable and just rates and it is its duty to pass such laws that it may prescribe such rates either directly or through the intervention of a
84
Commission and that the question whether the rates prescribed by the Legislature either directly or indirectly are just and reasonable is a question which under the Constitution the Legislature may determine for itself
It results from these conclusions that the motion for injunction pendente lite must be denied and the restraining order heretofore allowed
must be dissolved and it will be so ordered
Eobert Falligant Solicitor for Complainant Chisholm Erwin Solicitors for the Savannah Florida and Western Eailway Company Mynatt Howell Solicitors for Eailroad Commissioners E Eoombs and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral Solicitors for the State of Georgia

is
PART IIWORK OF THE COMMISSION
NoteThe next subject of discussion according to the order set forth on page 51 was the Condition and Operation of the Railroads of the State Delays in the returns made by the railroads make necessary a change of the proposed order so that we shall treat next of the action of the Commission
We resume the subject of Bookkeeping the discussion of which began in the Report proper BOOKKEEPING
Let us consider nicely the exact object to be accomplished A systematic view of the objects of railroad bookkeeping would be about as follows
In order to understand a road it is necessary to know
1 What it is what it cost and a far more important point what it is now worth
2 What it owes
3 What it does its work what it earns thereby gross earnings what it costs to earn it operating expenses what is left after paying expenses net earnings and the use of net earnings dividends interest ETC
The first set of questions show its Property the second its Liabilities the third its Business a
The books are intended to preserve a record of all the material transactions of the company and to condense and exhibit them in an intelligible form
Now the ORIGINAL TRANSACTIONS which are to be recorded are scattered over a wide surface Some of them are first entered by station agents Borne by conductors etc They are all to be reported to one general office and consolidated in one set of books
In the books of the general office appear all transactions whatsoever concerning the companyits relations and business Here are entered all property accounts showing original construction new construction renewal etc The reports of engineers as to location and cost etc are all brought together here
So also the liabilities of the company all are 12
or ought to be shown on the books of the general office and the account on which they were incurred
So the business records are here concentrated also showing the work donethe earnings expenses and the net income and its uses From all parts of the road these accounts come up from conductors agents paymasters superintendents of shops etc
First in importance is itto get the facts all in with nothing omitted
If they are all in the proper basis is laid and a skilful bookkeeper cun do all the rest he can concentrate and group analyse and unfold them at his pleasure
he facts being all in the next step is to get them all together all in one place to make a unit of them
Getting them in secures th details getting them unified secures comprehension
This marshalling of the facts in due order is Tabulation the object of which is to render them easily intelligible and in doing this be it ever remembered method is supreme and THE BEST METHOD IS THE TREE FORM which shows all the partsand the proportions and relations of the partsto one another and to the whole No other form so exhibits the whole each partand all relationsas does this familiar form of a Tree and its Branches and systematic Ramificationsnatures own arrangement
All the facts must be concentrated in one Table on which are exhibited the principal limbs or branches which usually are three viz Property Liabilities and Years Business Each of these Branches may become the trunk of a separate tree with its subordinate limbs
Thus a clew is given to all the facts marshalled in their proper and natural order The great things and small can be studied without confusion the tables indeed give conscious mastery of the whole business
To give this conscious mastery the system should be largely selfevidencing One should see clearly that all its parts make a whole and that he understandsysi where he is at this present
86
moment of time in the investigation in which he is engaged
Many reports are so loosely put together as to be like the pages of an unbound book while hunting for the next in order the whole connection is gone and instead of finding what you are loking for you get lost yourself
EVILS AND REMEDIES
After this general view of the objects to be accomplished let us next consider the evils and failures of ordinary methods with reference to their remedy There are three great leading sources of error
1 Lumping items
2 The failure to use the Profit and Loss ac j count so that the showing made is of the past not of the present and
3 The mixture of property with expenses and debt with income
These three errors are all pernicious and all common
1 As to lumping itemsthe objection is not to having in one condensed statement the sum of a number of items but it is to doing this only and furnishing no statement of what these several particulars consist
The report should supply or suggest the means of passing from the condensed to the more expanded forms step by step to the very original transactions
To illustrate by a bank report It is all right to express the sum of discounted notes by an aggregatesay 25631700 but the directors should see also the statement of each and every note embraced in that sum and criticise it separately Some of these notes may be good some doubtful some bad and utterly worthless Now in the foregoing expression these are all classed asof equal value when really the result of criticism might be to reject twothirds of them as bad What proportion is good what doubtful etc can never be estimated except by a detailed examination
2 This leads naturally to the second head f trouble viz the failure to use the profit and loss account
In the criticism of note after note above suggested the use of the profit and loss account would be to reject and entirely cast out the worthless paper and charge it to the loss side of the profit and loss account
Doubtful assets not hopeless and so not yet charged as lost should also be specified The
foregoing lumping item of 256317 might be found upon criticism to read thus
Discounted notesgood 125 317
Doubtful 100000
225317
Bad and charged off as lost 31000
256317
Now the proper use of the profit and loss account is not a mere clerical work for the bookkeepera part of a technical process of which any one who has spent a few weeks in a commercial college is capablebut involves the highest talent and sagacity of the highest officers of the company
Unless this severance is made the 31000 will go onononas assets deceiving the student of the affairs of the company all the while Another six months may reveal the hopelessness of 50000 more out of the 100000 of doubtful assets and these too should be charged off
This explanation illustrates but one of the uses of the profit and loss account but its uses are constant It is the only means of reconciling on the books the present with the pastof showing not what the road once was but what it now is as to value Now present value is the chief thing to know All these are bookkeeping truisms it may he said Admitted but of all the dangerous things neglected truisms are the most dangerous And these are neglected day by day and year by year till nearly every report is utterly deceptiveand full of old and effete assets not worth the ink it takes to print them
Indeed the very first item in most reports violates both truisms It is 1 a lumping item with no means of arriving at the particulars which compose it and 2 with no application from year to year of the profit and loss account
This first item will read through all the fluctuations of valuewhen the stock is at 30 and when the stock is at 130all the same viz the road and its outfit so muchsay 2500000 when the real value within that period has varied from 750000 to 3250000 But if any one knows this he knows it aliunde and not by what the report tells him
Of what use is such a report Only to mislead and to conceal the facts It may not be so intended but no other purpose does it really
87
gerve The last place to which to go for information is the place which professes to furnish it
3 The mixture ordinarily made in the selfgame column of property with expenses and so also of debt with income in the same column causes complete and hopeless confusion to the common mind unacquainted with technical bookkeeping Such a reader finds among the assets of the company the expenses included Queer assets they seem to him And so the gross earnings of the year seem to be strangely located among the liabilities Plain as this may be to the experienced bookkeeper it is confusion worse confounded to the common untechnical mind For the sake of the average stockholder the average citizen desiring to buy stock or understand the condition of the companynay of the average directorthese elements should be disentangled and presented in diflerent columns
Thus too will they appear in more intelligible form even to expertsto the officers themselves for thus the permanent and the temporary are kept separatethe property and the business The analysis must take place in the official mind and had better be made in the tables themselves
And here we must pause to say with emphasis that nothing is more important to a private individual or to a corporation than a sharp incisive dearcut distinction between
Property as distinct from Income and Debt from Expenses
so that he understands all the while what his capital is yielding and exactly how his income and expenses are related
As each of these sources of error is confusing combined they are usually inextricable and a man of plain common sense perfectly capable of understanding the condition of a railroad company if properly presented finds it utterly unintelligible as actually presented The facts indeed are not incorporated in the report they are not there There is no mere failure to present them clearly the lumping item does not present the needful facts at all the neglect of the profit and loss account makes the facts past and not present and the mixture of items makes a mixture indeed of the whole matter
Whatever other sources of error may or may not exist we have endeavored in the proposed system of forms to remedy these three chief and leading sources
Blank forms of reports to be made by the railroads to the Commission have been prepared each form for one company if operated as a whole if operated in divisions a form for each division and an additional form for the consolidated report of the company
The system adopted after prolonged study numbered Form 10 is as follows
r
SYSTEM OF BLANK FORMS
To be Used in Reports to the Commission
TITLE Form 10
Report of the Rail Company to
the Railroad Commission of the State
op Georgia for theending
188
EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
The present system of forms opens with what we have designated a Company Table giving the titles dates addresses organizations etc of the company with a brief sketch of its history furnishing important preliminary information concerning the general subject of the report
EXPLANATION OF THE GENERAL SCOPE OF THE TABLES AND THEIR MUTUAL RELATIONS
The tables are presented in two great divisions one set showing the financial condition of the company the other the physical condition and characteristics of the road and its business
The clew to the system is easily learnedthe Tables follow the order of a Tree first the Trunk then the Branches Limbs etc in due order and proportion
TRUNK TABLE
The General Exhibitor Trunk Table exhibits the Financial Condition of the company as a whole As already said itis all comprehensive giving a birdseye view of the entire condition and operations of the company its Property Liabilities and Business These are presented in close connection yet in separate columns such separation being allimportant to clearness
The Trunk Table presenting everything in a condensed formthe succeeding tables give the details Every other table is represented in the trunk as a limb of the trunk or a limb of a limb each limb being capable of indefinite expansion to any degree of detail even to separate original transactions
BRANCH TABLES OR LIMBS
The first of these is the Property Table which
itself has three great limbs1 Construction
2 Equipment and 3 All Other Property each exhibited first as a whole and then in detail This table also gives information of value as well as costof the present as well as the past and is capable of indefinite expansion
The second great limb is the Table of Liabilities which divides naturally into two subordinate limbs 1 of Liabilities to Stockholders and 2 Liabilities to Creditorsor Stock and Debt The Stock limb subdivides into Common Stock Preferred Stock and what is ordinarily called Surplus Fund or what unfortunately may take its place Deficit The Debt limb shows Bonds or Funded Debt Unfunded or Floating Debt Contingent Debt etc A special or important feature is that of showing on what account the bond is issued or the debt incurred whether for construction equipment or the like or for subscription to some other enterprise and what
Obviously this limb suggests as do the others all necessary details The Table of Liabilities answers the question to what is cost debtor
The third great limb or branch consists of the Business tables dividing readily into three limbs viz Gross Earnings Working Expenses and Net Earnings with the use made of them These Business tables after all furnish the chief practical information for the guidance at once of the Officers of the road and the Railroad I Commissioners Great pains have been taken to make them comprehensive and particular
These suggestions give perhaps a sufficient clew to the general scope and object of the financialtables
PHYSICAL CONDITION or DESCRIPTIVE TABLES
These follow much the same order as the Financial tablesthe one set indeed emptying naturally into the other For example The Description of Property follows exactly the same order as the Financial Table of Property giving description of items 1 in Construction Account 2 Equipment Account and 3 All Other Property So the tables descriptive of business follow the same order giving mileage
89
tonnage etc of the business by which earnings were made expenses incurred etc
The two sets of tables are well nigh exhaustive and yet without confusion as one may study just where and what he pleases and know all the time exactly where he is in the progress of the study
The objects contemplated by the Legislature are to enable th Commission to procure the necessary information to make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to ascertain if such rules and regulations are observed or violated Such tables are essential to these purposes
INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO USB THE BLANKS
The blanks usually explain themselves sufficiently When the answer is numerical fill the blanks with the proper figures taking care to make them legible and to keep units under units etc When the answer is not numerical it should be as concise as is consistent with clearness
When the space for the answer is insufficient cross references should be made viz refer in the blank to the proper page in the end of the book and on this page make also a back reference to the particular question answered by its page and number
The methods of computing the value of the road referred to on page 7 are as follows
1 Add the market value of the Stock to the Debt of the company
2 Compute the capital necessary to yield the average income for five years thus Suppose average income 100000 Legal interest in Georgia being 7 per cent the principal 100000 is 14 27 times the interest So the capital represented would be 14 27 times 100000 1428571
3 Compute the capital necessary to yield the income of the year preceding the report in same way
4 Estimate the value from all the data in possession of the company including the past business and any new factors favorable or unfavorable stating what they are
The first report may involve some difficulties and some of the questions the railroads may not with the information in their possession be able to answer After one or two reports however answers will be much easier and in many cases only changes will need to be reported with an occasional full report to date when required None of the questions it is believed are immaterial in themselves or unimportant to the railroads or the Commission At the close of the book blank pages are left and extra ruled blanks are also sent where we suppose them necessary and others will be furnished on application These should be numbered and references back and forth by page and number should be made
NoteThe following suggestions of the convention of Railroad Commissioners are approved
Liabilities are to be entered when incurred The date when due to be given also if known
Expenses to be charged when material etc used
Increase of cost only not mere renewal to be changed in Property Accounts
Mileage to be reported only between stations Switching computed at eight miles per hour to be kept separate
James M Smith Campbell Wallace Saml Barnett
Railroad Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Explanations and Instructions
Company TableTitles Organization etc
financial condition of the company
Trunk Table or General Exhibit of Property Liabilities and Business Property Table
Table of Liabilities
Business Tables
Gross Earnings
li by Months
u Class and Distance
Sations
Working Expenses
General Management
Roadway
Movement
Station
Annual ExpensesPercentages etc
Net Earnings
Receipts and Payments on all Accounts
Profit and Loss Table
Comparative Table of Miles Per Cents etc
Historical TableSummary for Each Year1866 to 188
Demand and Supply Table or Early Payments and Quick Assets
PHYSICAL CONDITION Stations Distances Elevations etc
Surface Grades Curves etc
Construction TableRoad Track Structures etc
Equipment Table
LocomotivesDescriptive List
All other PropertyLands Ships Elevators etc
Work DonePassengers Tons etc
by Classes of Freight1 2 3 4 Cotton etc
by Stations
Accidents
General Questions
Oath
Supplement
Distance Tables
Schedules
Agents Instructions
Forms of Accounts
Annual Reports
ICOMPANY TABLE
Giving the Title History Organization and Addresses of the Company
1 Present Name
2 Sucessive Names with Dates
3 Main Line Miles from to
4 Branches Miles from to
5 Towns or Cities on Main Line
6 Branches
7 Date of Inception of Enterprise Place
Leading Persons etc
8 CharterDate
9 Special Features
10 Declaration of Objects
11 Capital
12 Increase of Capital
13 Banking Privileges
14 Individual Liability
15 Exemptions from Taxation
16 Powers as to Rates
17 Any other Special Features
18 Amendments of Charter Dates
19 Acceptances with Dates
20 Work BegunWhen
21 Progress with Dates
22 Main Road CompletedWhen
23 Branches
24 Extensions
25 Contracts Purchase
26 Sale
27 Lease
28 Rent
29 Consolidation
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
for Operation of other roads
with Express Companies
Sleeping Car Companies
p Telegraph
Steamship
Southern Railway and Steamship Association
Any other Contract
Express or Implied oral or written understanding or working agreement Loan debt account or other contract Are all contracts reported Answer
All important changes
Subscriptions to any other enterprise name
How madeBy cash Endorsement or how
Dates and amounts
Like report for each subscription organization
45 Stockholders number of
46 In Georgia
47 List of names addresses and number of
shares Send the printed list in your report if you have one
48 Directors and addresses
49 Present General Officers and addresses
elected or appointed
50 Full list of elected General Officers from
origin of company
Remarks
GENERAL EXHIBIT 93
on theday of 188
BTTSXIfcTIESS OP THE
WOKK DONE GROSS EARN INGS WORKG EXPEN SES NET EARN INGS USE OF NET EARNINGS
Ton Miles Passenger Miles Dividends Interest Rents Surplus
1
13
94
NoteThe tables on the two foregoing pages is in the best form fbr comparing results on a large number of roads and will be used in making such a comparison in our report concern ing the Condition and Operation of the Railroads of Georgia For a single road or a road worked in a few divisions another form of Trunk Table is presented In the captions of the sever il columns the Divisions of the Central Railroad are used as a convenient illustration

TRUNK TABLE
ITEMS CENTRAL RAILROD SAVANH DIVISION ATLANTA DIVISION S W R R DIVISION S G N A DIVISION J S T E A Mj SHIPS
Property 1 Miles of road 2 Cost 8 Profit 4 Loss 5 Present value Liabilities 6 Total 7 Stock 8 Market value 9 Bonds 10 Floating debt Business 11 Work done 12 Passenger miles 13 Ton miles 14 Gross earnings 15 Working expenses 16 Net earnings 17 Use of net earnings 18 Dividends 19 Interest 20 Rents 21 Surplus
The captious ill ay be varied so as to show the Divisions according to title and ownership
ITEMS CENTRAL ROAD ORIGINAL ROAD INVESTMENTS LEASES OPERATD
M W Alabama A S S W R R
Miles of Road Cost Value Details of cost etc
95
IllPROPERTY TABLE
Miles op road now 33 Steel
2 At opening cf road 34 Spikes chairs etc
3 Since added 35 Road crossings
4 Added during year 36 Fencing
5 Now in progress 37 Turn tables
Cost total 38 Depots
7 To opening of road 39 Sheds
8 Since added 40 Tools and machinery
9 Added during year 41 Materials and supplies
10 Cost ip now built 42 Telegraph
11 TO PRESENT OWNERS 43 Interest during construction
Profit and Loss 44 Incidental and miscellaneous
12 At beginning of year 45 Construction to opening of Road
13 At close of 46 To present time
14 During 47 During past year
ValueMethod 1 Details of Equipment
15 2 49 EnginesNo Cost
16 3 50 Cars passengerNo Cost
17 4 51 freight
Details op cost Details of all other Property
18 Construction 53 Lands not R of wayacres
19 Equipment 54 Elevatorscapacity bu
20 All other property 55 Wharves
Details of construction 56 Steamships
22 Preliminaryadvertising 57 CC
office rent etc 58 Steamboats
23 Engineering 59 U
24 Right of way Due to Company
25 Earthwork 61 Cash
26 Ballast 62 Stocks
27 Masonry 63 Bonds
28 Bridges 64 Notes
29 Trestle 65 Exchange
30 Crossties 66 Accounts due by Agents
31 Stringers 67 y Railroads
32 RailIron 68 I 1 Banks
The columns of the Property Table should be as in the last arrangement on p 94 showing the division of the Road as to title and ownership
96
IVTABLE OF LIABILITIES
LIABILITIES TOTAL
2 Increase during year
3 Decrease
4 Stock
5 Debt
6 Annual Liabilities
Details op Stock
8 Common
Preferred
Surplus unrepresented by stock Stock not represented by property Original capital
Increasedate and amount
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 21 22
23
24
25
26
27
29
30
31 32 33
Basis op Stock
When and ho w paid in
Give per cent date amount called amount paid for each installment Installments
1
2 I
3
4
5 f
Stock Dividend on what based If on Beserved Income give date per cent and amount as above So if on any other basis give particulars
Details op Debt
Bonds
Coupons over due
Floating debt
Contingent debt
Disputed claims
Details op Bonds
35 On what account issued
36 First mortgage
37 Second
38 Date
39 When due
40 Principal
41 Bate
42 Interest
43 Authority for issuing
44 Legislative act
45 Directors actiondate a
ratification
46 Stockholders actiondate and copy
Details of Floating Debt
On what account incurred Dividends unpaid
Interest
Due for supplies
Due to Agents
Employes
Railroads
Banks
Notes change bills etc
Accounts etc
Exchange
Details of Contingent Debt Authority for issuing
Endorsement of bonds of Co
Date amount etc
Interest paid by maker
Not
Security against loss
Exhibit showing condition of Co
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
60
61
63
64
65
66
Disputed Claims
68 Suits for damage
69 Taxes etc
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Annual Liabilities
To stockholders6 per cent
7
8
To CreditorsInterest on bonds Oh Floating debt
Contingent debt Leases and rents Sleeping car Comps
S R S S Assocn Any other annual liability
Market Valuf
82 Stock per sharenow
83 average during year
4 five years
85 highest point
86 lowest
87 Bondseach issuesame informa
tion
88 Shares transferred during year
The columns and captions for this Table may be the same as for the Property Table
TABLES OF GROSS EARNINGS
97
VBY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAINS
1 Total Earnings 1st CLASS 2d CLASS 3d CLASS
2 By Passenger Trains
3 By Freight Trains MILES 100 Lbs 100 Lbs 100 Lbs
Earnings of Passenger Trains in Detail
5 Local passengersTotal
6 Up 10
7 Down 20
8 Through passengerTotal 30
9 Up 40
10 Down 50
11 TicketsFull rate x
12 Half rate
13 Straight
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 21
24
25
26 27
Round
Season
1000mile
500mile
Conductors cash
Mail
Express
Miscellaneous
Earnings by Freight Trains in Detail
Local freightTotal
Up
Down
Through freightTotal
Up
Down
Gross Earningsper mile of road per 100000 cost per 100000 value per 100000 total liabilities
VIIGROSS EARNINGS
BY CLASS AND DISTANCE
VIIIGROSS EARNINGS
BY STATIONS AND CONNECTING ROADS
Stations
1
2
3
Eastern
Connections
1
2
3
W estern
Connections
1
2
3
Miscellaneous undistributed
TOTAL
PASSES GR
FREIGHT
Total Up Down
VIGROSS EARNINGS BY MONTHS
MONTHS
33 January
34 February
35 March
36 April
37 May
38 June
39 July
40 August
41 September
42 October
43 November
44 December
PASSENGER
Local
Through
MAIL
EXPRESS
PBEIOHT
LOCAL
Down
THROUGH
Up
Down
Notelocal applies to business entirely on your own road through to business any part of which is done by another company
98
IXWORKING EXPENSES
L Working ExpensesTotal
I General management
5 Roadway
I Movement
Stations
General Management in Detailr Payments to personstotal
President
Secretary
Clerks and attendants
VicePresident
Secretary
14 Clerks and attendants 64 Road bedRepairs of
15 General Manager 65 CC Filling trestle
16 Secretary 66 CC Ballast
17 Clerks and attendants 67 CC Cross ties
18 Superintendent 68 CC Stringers
19 Similar report for each Division 69 Track Repairs of
20 Auditor and Comptroller 70 CC RailIron
21 All other Clerks and attendants of 71 8 Steel
General Officers 72 CC Joints and chairs
22 Bookkeeper 73 cc Spikes
23 Treasurer 74 cc Frogs and switches
24 Cashier 75 cc Tools and repairs
25 General Freight Agent 76 cc Machinery
26 General Passenger Agent 77 CC Rerolling iron
27 Road Master 78 Bridges Renewal of
28 Chief Engineer
29 Master Machinist
30 Master of Workshops
31 Soliciting Agents
32 Purchasing Agents
33 Commercial Agents
34 Paymaster
35 Attorney of Road
36 Payments for thingsTotal
37 Office
38 Repairs
39 Rents
40 Furniture
41 Fuel and lights
42 Stationery and postage
43 Printing and advertising
44 Incidentals
45 Law expenses
46 Taxes
47 Insurance
48 Roadway Expenses in Detail
49 Payments to personsTotal
50 Road Master
51 Foremen No
Road hands No
Track layers
Bridge Superintendent Foremen
Machinests
Watchmen
Flagmen
Carpenters
Roofers
Masons etc
Construction train workmen Payments for thingstotal
Culverts
Tunnels
Road crossings
Fences
Cattle guards
Water and fuel stations
Shops
Stationery and printing Incidentals including telegraph Expense of construction trains
Movement Expenses in Detail Train expensestotal Payments to personstotal Engineers
Firemen
Engine wipers
Watchmen
Engine shop Foreman
Workmen
Fuel and water station hands Conductors
Brakemen
Baggage masters
99
102 Train hands
103 Payments for thingstotal
104 Repairs of engines
105 Rent
106 Fuel
107 Oil waste etc
108 Turn tables
109 Shop machinery
110 Fuel
111 Fuel and lights
112 Loss and damage
113 Personal injury
114 Stock killed
115 Wrecking
116 Advertising and printing
117 Stationery and postage
118 Insurance
119 Incidentals
Cab Expenses in Detail
120 Car Expensestotal
121 Payments to personstotal
122 ShopForeman
i23 Workmen
124 Carpenters
125 Brakemen
126 Payments for thingstotal
127 Repairs of Carstotal
128 Rent
129 Breakage
130 Cleaning
131 Oil and waste
132 Car shopEngine
133 Fuel
134 Machinery and tools
Station Expenses in Detail
135 Station Expensestotal
136 Payments to personstotal
137 Agents salaries
138 Clerks
139 Assistants
140 Yard master
141 Watchmen
142 Laborers handling freight
143 Baggage masters
144 Porters
145 Switchmen
146 Train dispatchers
m Telegraph operators
148 Payments for thingstotal
149 Repairs
150 Furniture
151 Fuel and lights
152 Grounds and platforms
15 Wharves and docks
154 Stationery and printing
155 Advertising and postage
156 Telegraph
157 Incidentals
Annual Expenses of Renewal
159 Construction accounttotal
160 Bed of road
161 Bridges culverts etc
162 Cross ties
163 Iron and steel
164 Structures
165 Equipment accounttotal
166 Engines
167 Cars
168 Machinery and tools
169 Per Centage of Expenses Entire Expenses being 100000
170 General management
171 Persons
172 Things
173 Road bed
174 Persons
175 Things
176 Movement
177 Persons
178 Things
179 Fuel
180 Train
181 Persons
182 Things
183 Cars
184 Persons
185 Things
186 Stations
187 Persons
188 Things
189 Aggregate Expenses
190 Per train
191 Per train mile
192 Per car
193 Per car mile
194 Per passenger or ton
195 Per or ton mile
196 Per mile of road
197 Per 100000 cost
198 Per 100000 gross earnings
199 Average number of employes
200 Aggregate salaries and wages
100
XTABLE OF NET INCOME AND USE MADE
OF IT
1 Net IncomeTotal 34 Payments out of IncomeTotal
2 From road 35 InterestOwn road
3 Bank 36 Other roads
4 All other property 37 On endorsed bonds
38 Guaranties
5 Road Income in Detail 39 Rents
6 Passenger 40 ImprovementsConstruction Ac
7 Freight count
8 Per mile 41 Equipment account
9 Per 100000 Cost 42 All other property
10 100 000 Value 43 Purchase
11 100000 Gross Receipts 44 Payments before dividends
12 Income from roads owned reached
13 1 45 Dividends paidOwn company
14 2 46 Other companies
15 Leased 47 Excess of payments over income
16 1
17 2
18 Operated
19 1
20 2
21 Fkom Other Property in Detail
22 Dividends received
23 1
24 2
25 Interest
26 1
27 2
28 Rents
29 1
30 2
31 Income from any other property
32 Excess of income over interest
rents and dividends
33 Excess of income over payments
XI RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ON ALL AC
COUNTS
1 Receipts from all SourcesTotal 7 Payments on all Accounts Total
2 Gross earnings 8 Working expenses
3 Sales of property specifying what 9 DividendsInterest and rents
4 Collections 10 Purchase
5 Loans 11 Loans
6 Any other receipts 12 Subscriptions
13 Any other payments
101
XIIPROFIT AND LOSS TABLE
1 Balance at Beginning op Year
2 Changes During YearTotal
3 Property
4 Liabilities
5 Business
6 Property Changes
7 In own road
8 Improvements
9 Outfit
10 All other appurtenances
11 In investments
12 1
13 2
14 3
15 4
16 Changes in Liabilities
17 In stock
18 Surplus
19 In debt
20 Bonds
21 Floating debt
22 Notes
23 Accounts
24 Change bills
25 Dues for supplies
26 In contingent debt
27 Interest paid by maker
28 unpaid
29 In disputed claims
30 Business of the Year
31 Earningsown road
32 Bank
33 Other property
34 Investments
35 Dividends
36 Interest
37 Bents
38 Items charged ON or off books
PROFIT
t
29 Besulting Balance at close of year
XIIIHISTORICAL TABLE
Of theCompany
XIVCOMPARATIVE TABLE
Showing Condition per Mile and per 100000 of Cost of Value of Gross Earn ings etc for Past Year
ITEMS PER MILE OF ROAD 100000 if
COST VALUE TOTAL LIABILITIES GROSS EARNINGS WORKING EXPENSES NET EARNNGS
Miles Cost Value Total liabilities Gross earnings Hsmss Working expenses JfWvi JSSUtk Net earnings 1 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000 100000
103
SHOWING THE CONDITION
For a Series of Years
Showing Condition per Mile and per 100000 of Cost of Value of Gross Earn
ings etc upon an Average ofyears
PEE 100000 OP
ITEMS PEE MILE OF ROAD COST VALUE TOTAL LIABILITIES GROSS EARNINGS WORKING EXPENSES NET EARNIGS
Miles i 1 Cost 1 Value Total liabilities Gross earnings 1 100000 100000 100000 100000
Working expenses Net earnings 1 1 100000 100000
104
PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE ROAD AND ITS
PROPERTY
XVSATIONS DISTANCES Etc
MAIN LINE
No
NAME
MILES
Sidings
Mile
Tenths
Elevan Above Tide ft
BRANCHES
No
NAME
MILES
Sidings Elevan Mile Above Tenths Tide ft
NO OF GRADES GRADES LENGTH IN FEET Ascending
N E S w
Level0 feet Grade10 20 30 40 50 Over 50 Maximum Grade Longest Maximum difference of elevation
XVIPROFILE ALIGNMENT SURFACE Etc
PROFILE
ALIGNMENT
NO OF CURVES
DEGREE
RADIUSFeet
68757
34377
37189
11459
8594
6876
5730
2865
1910
1438
1146
955
573
LENGTH
Feet
Maximum combined grade and curve
SURFACE SOIL Etc
NUMBER FEET
1 Embankments 2 Longest 3 Highest 4 Excavations 5 Longest 6 Deepest
7 Swamp 8 Wet Cuts 9 Made Earth 10 Ditching 11 Ballast
12 Sand 13 Alluvium 14 Clay 15 Hardpan 16 Stone
106
XVIII EQUIPMENT
XIXWORK DONE BY CLASSES
NO
1 LocomotivesTotal
2 Passengers
3 Freight
4 Mixed
5 Road service
6 CaesTotal
7 Passenger Total
8 First Class
9 Second Class
10 Eqaigrant
11 Baggage
12 Express
13 Mail
14 Sleepers
15 Parlor
16 Freight Total
17 Box
18 Stock
19 Platform
20 1 Cab 8 wheel
21 Cab 4 wheel
22 Coal 8 wheel
23 Coal 4 wheel
24 Road service
25 Officers
26 Pay
27 Ditching
28 il Tool etc
29 Dump
30 Gravel
31 Hand
32 Platform and coupler
33 Brake
34 Matertat Sups
35 Axles wheels etc
36 Engine repairs
37 Oil and waste
38 Fuel
39 Lumber
40 Sundries
41 Goods in store
42 Commissary sups
COST
VALUE
XXIALL OTHEK PROPERTY
Locan
VALUE
1 Land not right of wav acres
2
3
4
5 Interest in other Roads
6
7
8
9 Steamships
10 Steamboats
11 Tugs
12 Wharves
13 Elevators
14 Compresses
15 Cash etc see page 7
CLASS Ton lEeve
Tons Miles nue
1 General merchandise
2 66
3 66
4 66
5 66
6 66 V
A Bagging and ties
B Bacon etc Flour in sacks
C
Rice C L
D GRAINHay CL
E Ale and beer
F Flour etcbbl
G Beef and pork
H Whisky
J COTTON
K FERTILIZERS
L COAL etc
M Iron etc
N LIVE STOCK
O Lime etc
P Lumber etc
Average Class
Distance Rate
XXWORK DONE BY STATIONS
stations Revenue 1 Genl Merchandise1 234 5f6 ProvisionsA B C D E F G H SuppliesL M N O P FertilizersK r i CottonJ

107
XXIIDESCRIPTIVE LIST OF LOCOMOTIVES
NO MAKER NAME SERVICE YEAR COST VALUE CYLIJSD ERIN CHES STROKE NO DRIVERS WEIHHT TONS

NO HORSE POWER I MILES RUN SPEEDAverage COST FUEL 100 M COST REPAIRS 100 M MILES
JAKS IN LOAD Total Last Year Ton Coal Ton Wood Pint Oil

XXIIIWORK DONE TRAINSPASSENGERS TONS ETC
PASSENGERS TOTAL PER DAY
1 Trains run 2 Trainmiles 3 Cars run 4 Cars per train 5 Car miles 6 Passengers carried 7 Passenger miles 8 Through miles 9 Way miles 10 Average speed of trains 11 Highest speed 12 Total weight of trains 13 Dead weight going East 14 West 15 Paying weightPassgers Baggage 16 Express 17 Mail 18 Average earningsrPer train 19 u Train mile 20 Car 21 Carmile 22 Passenger 23 Passenger mile 24 Rate 25 Cost 26 Profit 27 Distance per passenger

FREIGHT TOTAL PER DAY
1 Trains run o
2 Train miles
3 Oars run
4 Cars per train
5 Car miles
6 Tons carried
7 Tonmiles
8 Through miles
9 Way miles
10 Average speed
11 Highest speed
12 Total weight of trains
13 Dead weight
14 Paying weight
15 Average load per Train
16 Car
17 Average earningsPer Train
18 Train mile
19 Car
20 Car mile
21 Ton
22 Ton mile
23 Average Rate f
24 Class
25 Cost
26 Profit S
27 Length of haul
XXIVACCIDENT TABLE

TO PERSGNS
1 Name 2 Occupation 3 Age 4 Sex 5 Passenger or employe 6 Party in fault 7 Day and hour 8 Place station mile 9 Train 10 Cause 11 RiskCo or Party 12 Fault 13 Engineer 14 Conductor 15 Party 16 Effect injured and how 17 8 Killed j 18 DamagesClaimed 19 DamagesPaid 20 Punishment V
REMARKS
TO STOCK
20 Horses 21 Cows 22 Hogs 23 Other animals
REMARKS
TO TRAINS
24 By defect in Roadbed
25 U Bridge
26 Culvert
27 Rail
28 it Frog
29 u Switch
30 By impediment stock
31 Other impediment
32 By collision
REMARKS
109
GENERAL QUESTIONS
J
Please send arfy rates general or special instructions to agents schedules and contracts oral iJ1 Written iftt heretofore sent and reply whether you have sent all it being the duty of tteiminission to keep them on file
nswerWhether the rates rules and regulations have been and are now posted according to law at all stations of your road and whether the said rules have been complied with in the operations of your road this also being required by law
EspeciallyWhether there has been an impartial observance of the rates and rules towards communities and individuals on your line and whether any secret rebates have been paid or any agreement made whereby such rebates were or are to be paid elsewhere in the State or out of it and if any state what and to whom
AnswerAlso as to any discrimination or partiality towards other lines of connecting roads in the way of passenger and freight connections and transfers joint rates etc accepting freight from any one line on different terms from those exacted of others What offices or officers have you in common with other companies
AnswerAs to compliance with the common law rules of due diligence as to reasonable accommodations on your cars as to heat light ventilation water and cleanliness in saloons spittoons etc and keeping cars in order doors windows blinds etc and preserving order and decorum on your trains also as to accommodations for regular passengers whether they have been in any way lessened to favor express sleeping car or parlor car companies
AnswerAs to inspection of road and track bridges trestles culverts etc also of equipment engines cars trucks wheels etc for safety of employes and passengers also as to use of brakes of the telegraph etc as precautions lights at night watchmen etc for the protection of the public and the employes of the company also the limit of tonnage on Express and Baggage cars to prevent hazard
If any of the questions in this report or on this page are difficult to answer apply for time to get the needful information
Write answers to General Questions on separate page
OATH
I do solemnly swear that the answers to the questions in the foregoing report are just and true that the valuations affixed to the property are as full and correct as we can make them that the liabilities and the ground of the same are stated fully that the details of the aggregate items have been examined by the proper officers and the profit and loss account applied to the best of our skill and knowledge and that the showing made is as honest truthful and correct as we have the means of making it that there has been no evasion and no delay without adequate and lawful cause All this I swear to the best of my knowledge and belief
Swornto and subscribed
in the presence of
NOTEThe difference between the foregoing forms and the forms in ordinary use we may hereafter illustrate by example When the same matter as expressed in the common form is reduced to the systematic form proposed one will be surprised at the increased clearness of the statement and the mastery it affordsat once in Comprehension and Detailover the condition and business of a Railroad Company
110
RATES RULES AND REGULATIONS AND CLASSIFICATION
V
ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSION
following pagesto the close of the classificationare Certified by the Commission to be complete in themselves embracing the substance of all circulars to No 16 inclusive and the correction of all errata up to date They are ready for use just as they stand and with 1 out reference to anything outside July 15 18818
Of Charges for the transportation of Passengers and Freights and Cars made by th Rail
road Commission in conformity with the Act of October 141879 to be observed within
with such modifications only as may be hereinafter setTorth and a copy to be posted by I each Railroad Company at each of its Stations This Schedule to go into full effect and operation on July 15 1881
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSIONAll complaints made to the Railroad j Commission of alleged grievances must plainly and distinctly set forth the grounds of complaint and if more than one the several grounds the items being numbered and objections all set forth in writing
In like manner all defenses must be distinctly set forth in writing and the items numbered I as above stated
These specifications whether of complaint or defense may be accompanied if the parties desire by any explanation or argument or by any suggestion as to the proper remedy or policy The parties may also be heard in person or by attorney or by written argument upon such written statement being first filed
Notices by PublicationWhen any proceeding before the Commission is instituted on complaint or any action contemplated on its own motion in which the parties interested are too numerous for personal service when the necessity of prompt action admits of it or the interests of justice require it public notice will be given setting forth briefly the nature of the complaint or proposed action and the time of deciding upon thesame in order that any person community or corporation affected mayjbe represented before the Commsssion in such manner as it may deem advisable
A STANDARD SCHEDULE OF JUST AND REASONABLE RATES
the State of Georgia by each of the Railroad Corporations doing business in this State
PASSENGER TARIFFS m
In order properlyjjp graduate passenger rates the Railroads in Gorgia are divided into three
classesA B and
PassengejeGlass A includes the following roads viz the
Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Railroad Atlanta and West Point
Brunswick and Albany
Central RailroadThe lines between
3 Savannah and Macon
Millen and Augusta
Macon and Atlanta
Macon and Eufaula
Fort Valley and Columbus
Smithville and Albany
East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia
Georgia Rialroadthe lines between Augusta and Atlanta
Camab and Macon
Union Point and Athens
Georgia Southern
Formerly SelmaRome and Dalton Macon and BrunswickMain line
Savannah and Charleston
Western and Atlantic
Passenger Class B
Alabama Great Southern Railroad
Cherokee
Central Railroadthe lines between
Gordon and Eatonton
Ft Valley and Perry
Albany and Arlington
Cuthbert and Ft Gaines
Cherokee Railroad
Columbus and Rome
Elberton AirLine
Georgia Railroadthe line between
Barnett and Washington
Macon and Brunswickthe branch between Cochran and Hawkinsville
Marietta and North Georgia
Northeastern Railroad
Rome
Savannah Griffin and North Alabama
Upson County Railroad
Passenger Class C
Hartwell Railroad
Lawrenceville Railroad
Louisville andWadley
Sandersville and Tennille
Walton Railroad
Way cross and Florida
standard passenger tariff
For a passenger with baggage not exceeding 100 pounds the rates per mile shall not exceed the following viz
FOR PASSENGERS ON ROADS IN
Class A Class B Class C
12 years old and over 3 4 5
Over 5 and under 12 U 2 2J
The fare for berths on Sleeping Cars shall not exceed 100 for 100 miles or less and for distances over 100 miles shall not exceed the rate of one cent per mile for each berth Provided however that for a lower berth with the upper berth not lowered the fare may be not exceeding 150 for 150 miles or less and for distances between 150 and 200 miles not exceeding 200
This Tariff applies to througn as well as local rates and is not to be exceeded directly or indirectly by any through arrangement
Provided That a railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as half rate when the fare would be less than those amounts No restriction of any sort is placed by the Commission upon the reduction of passenger rates below the Standard Passenger Tariff No more than the lowest rate speci fied shall be charged when the TicketOffice sflfllflmniavenbeenl
beffhe departui6tThetram from Station When the passehgerfareds1nGrehdHi5 or 0 the nearest sum so ending shall be the fare
For example for 27 cents collect 25 for 28 collect 30 Tickets on sale at any office in a city must be kept on sale at the Depot Ticket Office of the same railroad at the same prices
The regulation of the railroads as to passenJ gers without tickets are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upm complaint of albuse
An extra charge of more than 1 cent a mile j full rate or J cent half rate is regarded as ex cessive unless such extra charge would faji below the minimum above given
By 2072 of the Code it is made the duly of all Railroads to furnish baggage checks from any station to any station on the line controlled by it
SLEEPING CARS
W STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
CliASS GOODS 4
loo rFOTTILTIDS Bbl Will 1 A 2 1
DISTANCE j First Class Second Class Third Class Fourth Class j Fifth Class Sixth Class Bagging and Ties Bacon packed Bulk Meat C L Flour in Sacks Rice C L Hay C L GrainPeas Ale and Beer Flour Etc Beef and Pork
1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D S r Cr a
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 16 14 13 10 9 8 8 8 6 5 9 12 28 in
20 20 18 16 14 12 10 10 10 7 6 12 14 35 14
30 24 21 19 17 14 11 11 11 8 7 14 16 38 17
40 27 24 22 20 16 12 12 12 9 8 16 18 43 9n
50 30 27 25 22 18 13 13 13 10 9 18 20 45 22
60 33 30 27 24 19 14 14 14 11 10 19 22 49 24
70 36 33 29 26 20 15 15 15 12 11 20 24 53 26
80 39 36 31 28 21 16 16 16 13 12 21 26 54 28
90 42 38 33 29 22 17 17 17 14 13 22 28 59 29
100 45 40 35 30 23 18 18 18 15 14 23 30 63 sn
110 48 42 37 31 24 19 19 19 16 15 24 32 67 31
120 51 44 39 32 25 20 20 20 17 16 25 34 70 32
130 54 46 41 33 26 21 21 21 18 17 26 36 73 38 I
140 57 48 43 34 27 22 22 22 19 18 27 38 77 34
150 60 50 45 35 28 23 23 23 20 18 28 40 81 35
160 62 52 46 36 29 24 24 24 21 19 29 42 84 36
170 64 54 47 37 30 25 25 25 21 19 30 42 87 87 I
180 66 56 48 38 31 26 26 26 22 20 31 44 91 38
190 68 58 49 39 32 27 27 27 22 20 32 44 95 3Q
200 70 60 50 40 32 27 27 27 23 20 32 46 95 40
210 71 62 51 41 33 28 28 28 23 21 33 46 98 41
220 72 64 52 42 33 28 28 28 24 21 33 48 98 42
230 73 66 53 43 34 29 29 29 24 21 34 48 1 01 43
240 74 68 54 44 34 29 29 29 25 22 34 50 1 01 44
250 75 70 55 45 35 30 30 30 25 22 35 50 1 05 45
260 76 71 56 46 35 30 30 30 25 22 35 50 1 05 46
270 jj 77 71 56 46 36 31 31 31 26 22 36 52 1 08 46
280 78 72 57 47 36 32 32 32 26 23 36 52 1 12 47
290 79 72 57 47 37 32 32 32 26 23 37 52 1 12 47
300 80 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 26 23 38 52 1 16 48
310 81 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 27 23 38 54 1 16 48
320 82 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 1 19 49
330 83 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 1 19 49
340 84 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 27 24 39 54 1 19 49
350 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 28 24 40 56 1 22 50
MILES 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D IS F H
INSTRUCTIONSIn the Classification opposite the name of the article of freight is the class to which it belongs In the Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 and if not then opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the freight for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen its class 1 In the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distance 250 miles is seen the rate75 cents
113
STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
W 0 i 1 R W H R SFSCILIjS
100 Lbs Ton Car Load
Cotton Fertilizers Coal Coke Ice Marl Slaked Lime etc IkonPig Scrap Railroad etc Live Stock etc Fire Brick Slate Salt Cement Cot Seed Jug ware Oil Cake Lime Bark Melons etc Lumber Ores Sand Clay Stone Brick Wood etc
J K L M N O P
MILES Cts Cts Cts 1 Cts Cts Cts i Cts
10 12 5 50 80 10 00 8 00 5 00
2ff 14 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00
30 16 7 70 1 00 15 00 11 00 8 00
4ff 18 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00
50 20 3 90 1 20 20 00 13 00 10 00
60 22 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00
70 24 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00
80 26 9 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00
90 28 9 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00
io3 30 10 1 20 1 70 30 00 17 00 14 00
110 31 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00
120 32 10 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00 1
130 33 10 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00
140 34 11 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00
15 Oi 35 11 1 50 2 20 40 00 20 00 17 00
160 35 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 17 00
170 36 12 1 70 2 30 42 00 21 00 18 00
180 36 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 21 00 19 00
j 190 37 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00
200 37 13 2 00 2 40 45 00 22 00 20 00
210 38 13 2 10 2 43 46 00 23 00 20 00
220 38 14 2 20 2 44 47 00 23 00 21 00
230 39 14 2 30 2 46 48 00 23 00 21 00
240 1 39 14 2 40 2 48 1 49 00 24 00 1 22 00
250 40 15 2 5C 2 50 50 00 24 00 22 00
26 40 15 2 6C 2 55 i 51 00 24 00 22 00
270 1 41 15 2 7C 2 54 52 00 25 00 23 00
280 1 41 16 2 8 2 5f ill 53 00 25 00 23 00
290 42 16 2 9 2 5f j 54 00 25 00 24 00 j
300 42 16 3 Q 2 6C 55 00 26 00 24 00
30 43 17 3 1 2 6 2 56 00 26 00 24 00 1
320 43 17 3 2 2 6 1 57 00 26 00 24 00
330 44 17 3 3 2 6 3 58 00 27 00 25 00
340 44 17 3 4 2 6 3 1 59 00 27 00 25 00
35C 1 45 17 3 5 D 2 7 3 j 60 00 27 00 25 00
I MILES J f K L M N o P
FRACTIONSWhen the Standard Tariff is raised by a per cent omit fractions less than i cent and regard cent or more as 1 cent Thus for 20 per cent on 17 cents add 3 cents not 34 cents and for 20 per cent on 18 cents add 4 cents instead of 36 cents
RELATIONS OF THE RAILROADS TO THE STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFE
The Standard Tariffs apply to all the Railroads except as Specifically Explained Below References to Class Goods apply to Classes on Page 112 to Specials on Page 113
Atlanta and Charlotte AirLineAdd 15 per cent on Fertilizers and 10 per cent on all otlier classes
Atlanta and West PointCotton Fertilizers and Lumber at Standard add 25 per cent on all other classes
Brunswick and AlbanyCotton and Lumber at standardcertain special millers rates confirmedon all other classes the rates are those of the Standard Tariff for 70 miles greater distance viz the B A rate for 10 miles is the Standard rate for 80 miles and so on
Central RailroadWhole RoadCotton at 15 per cent and Fertilizers at 20 per cent over Standard all other specials at Standard
Savannah Division Southwestern Railroad Division and Savannah Griffin and North Alabama DivisionOn all goods other than specialsFor distances between 0 and 40 miles add 50 per cent to Standard between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 10030 per cent and over 100 miles 20 per cent
Atlanta DivisionOn all freight except specials add 30 per cent to Standard
For joint rates on Central Railroad a separate table is necessary which that Company will furnish on application
Columbus and Rome RailroadAdd 25 per cent on Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber and on all other classes 100 per cent to Standard
Macon and BrunswickSame as Savannah Division of Central
Northeastern RailroadAdd 10 per cent to Standard
Savannah Florida and Western RailroadSame as Savannah Division of Central
Waycross and Florida RailroadSame as Savannah Division of Central
Upson County RailroadAdd 50 per cent on all classes
RULES AND REGULATIONS
1 Unless otherwise specified all connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same company shall in applying this tariff be considered as constituting but one and the same road and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same road
The Central Railroad Banking Company is authorized to operate its railroads in the following divisions 1 The Savannah division 2 theSouthwestern 3 the Atlanta and 4 the
Savannah Griffin and North Alabama division
2 DistancesSince a separate rate cannot be conveniently given for every possible distancethe law authorizes the Commission to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances and 10 miles has accordingly been fixed as the usual limit for a change of freight rates
3 Stations whose distance does not vary more than 10 miles may be grouped at the same freight
116
rate In any ten mile group may be embraced at the discretion of tbe railroad any station not more than two miles beyond the upper limit Thus 411 miles may be put in the group between 30 and 40 miles
4 The railroads may however if they desire be morefexact in tbe apportionment of rates than thfe table requires by giving for intermediate jpistances rates also intermediate between
I thospgiven in the table Thus For 95 miles L oaurst class goods the charge may be made beWfween 42 cents the rate for 90 miles and 45 cents the rate for 100 miles When in computing distances a fraction of a mile occurs the distance may be counted at the next greater number of milesas 9J for 10 miles
5 Each railroad company shall make a Table of Distances between all its respective stations by name which shall be posted conspicuously near the Schedule The rate except in cases specified is the same both ways
6 Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
Competing Lines not all within the Jurisdiction of the CommissionWhen however from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then the line or lines which are so subject and are working at the lowest rate under the rules may at such competing point or other point injuriously affected by such competition make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
7 For distances under 20 or over 250 miles a reduction of rates may be made without making a change at all stations short of 250 miles provided however that when any railroad shall make a reduction of rates for distances over 250 miles the same shall apply to similar distances on all the roads controlled
by the same company and in no such case shall more be charged for a less than a greater distance
8 When any reduction of rates is made immediate notice of the same shall be given to the Railroad Commission and the reduced rates shall also be posted conspiciously near the Freight Tariff
Note 1The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tan bark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household Goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
9 There shall be no secret reduction of rates nor shall any bonus be given or any rebate paid to any person but the rates shall be uniform to all and public
10 The rates charged or freight service by regular passenger trains may be double that for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains
11 No railroad company shall by reason of any contract with any Express or other company decline or refuse to act as common carrier to transport any article proper for transportation by the train for which it is offered
SHIPMENT AND DELIVERY
12 Duplicate ReceiptsThe Act of 1879
Section 13 provides That all Railroad Companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the classes or class of freight shipped the freight charges of the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the Agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such Agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt
13 Itemized ReceiptsThe railroads delivering freight shall on demand furnish the consignee an itemized statement showing
116
charges on other roads separate from its own and any charges of its own aside from the rate in the Tariff and this statement for each class if required
Note 2Extra HandlingThe charges forhandling extra heavy single articles may be as follows viz For any article weighing
2000 fpounds or less no extra charge from
2000 to 3000 3 3000 to 4000 5 4000 to 5000 7 5000 to 6000 8 6000 to 7000 10 over 7000 rate by special contract
Note 3FertilizersThis term embraces the following and like articles when intended to be used as Fertilizers viz Ammonia SulphateBone BlackBones ground or dissolvedCastor PomaceFish ScrapGuanos Alto Vella Fish Navarro Navarro Lump Peruvian Soluble PacificNitre CakePlaster of ParisPotash German Salts of Muriate of Sulphate ofSalt CakeSouth Carolina lump and ground PhosphateSoda Nitrate of and Sulphate ofTank Stuff c
14 LossWhen an article entered upon a Bill of Lading or Railroad Receipt is missing the delivering Agent shall use due diligence to find it and after a reasonable time for search upon nondelivery shall pay for the same
15 Damage In case of damage open or concealed and claims for leakage or wastage more than ordinary if the Agent of the delivering railroad and the consignee cannot agree as to terms of settlement either party may demand an immediate arbitration and the award shall be paid by the delivering Agent without delay
16 OverchargesAny consignee on payment of proper charges is entitled to immediate delivery of freight by delivering Agent and if he has paid an overcharge is entitled to be immediately repaid by same Agent upo demand
17 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds k car load is 20000 pounds unless otherwise specified For loads between 20000 and 24000 pounds pro rate at car load rates A car load of lumber is 22500 pounds Loads exceeding
24000 pounds may be refused or the excess charged at L C L rates
18 The regulations of the Railroads as to demurrage or detention of cars are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
19 By the act of February 28 1874 any railaoad may switch ofi and deliver to any connecting railroad all cars consigned t points on or beyond such connecting road
BlockadeCopy of OrderAmnia
20
October 29 1880In consequence of the acS mulation of cotton at this point and elsewhere in this State and an injurious blockade of freights anticipated and now partially existing the railroad companies in this State are hereby notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will be permitted and that when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies for distributing amongst themselves for transportation according to percentages the cotton or other freight offered for shipment such companies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unnecessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that may exist amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective companies
Note 4Joint RatesNo special or general rule has been given for rates between stations on different railroads but applications for such will be duly considered when applied for under the rules of Proceedings before the om mission

Jg
circulars
CircularsThe substance of all circulari to No 16 inclusive is given at the proper places in these certified pages
James M Smith Chairman Campbell Wallace
Samuel Barnett
Railroad Commissioners R A Bacon Secretary
Atlanta Ga July l5th 1881

117
ESTIMATED WEIGHTS
TO BE USED WHEN ACTUAL WEIGHTS CANNOT BE ASCERTAINED
Per 1000 ft
White Pine and Poplar
thoroughly seasoned 3000 lbs
White Pine and Poplar green 4000 u
Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash
seasoned 4000
Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash
Green 4500
Oak Hickory Elm seasoned 4500
Oak Hickory Elm green 6000
All other kinds Lumber seasoned 4000
All other kinds Lumber green 6000
Hooppoles Staves and Heading dry car loaded to depth of 42
inches 20000
Hooppoles Staves and Heading green car loaded to depth of 36 inches 20000
Shingles green per 1000 350 lbs
Shingles dry per 1000 300
Laths green per 1000 530
Laths dry per 1000 450
Tan Bark green per cord 2600
Tan Bark dry per cord 2000
Wood green per cord 3500
Wood dry per cord 3000 u
Fence Posts and Bails and Telegraph Poles per cord 3500
Clay per cubic yard 3000 a
Sand per cubic yard 3000 u
Gravel per cubic yard 3200
Stone undressed per cubic foot 160 u
Lime per bushel 80
Coal per bushel 80
Coke per bushel 40
LIVE STOCK ETC
To be fed by owner or at his expense Weight estimated as follows until amount charged shall equal carload rates in less than carloads
One Horse Mule or Horned Animal 2000 lbs
Two Horses Mules or Horned
Animals 3500 lbs
Each additional Horse Mule or
Horned Animal 1000 lbs Stallions Jacks and Bulls 3000 lbs each
Yearling Cattle 1000
Calves and Sheep 175 u
Calves and Sheep in lots of 5 or
more150 lbs each
Lambs100
Lambs in lots of 5 or more 75
Hogs for market 350
Pigs and Stock Hogs 125
Pigs Hogs Sheep etc boxed actual weight Locomotives and Tenders 5foot gauge on their own wheels 35 cents per mile
16
118
CLASSIFICATIONB
Explanation of Characters 4 T 1 stands for 4 times First Classen
1 stands for First Class A B C D E F G H J K L M V 0 P stand for those classes respectively
2 i U Second Class S stands for Special
3 U u Third Class L C L Less than Car Load
4 a u Fourth Class C L Car Load
5 u u Fifth Class NOS Not Otherwise Specified
6 u u Sixth Class K D Knocked Down
1 a u 1 times First Class A ton is 2000 pounds
D 1 u it double Articles not enumerated will be classed as analo
3T1 a i g u a u gous articles
The following is the Classification of freights for the several Eailroad Companies of this State adopted by the Commission corrected to July 151881
Accoutrements Military
Acids Carbolic
Dry
Not otherwise specified
Sulphuric
Sulphuric C L
Agricultural Implements C L
owners to load and unload
Alcohol See Liquors
Ale and Beer in wood estimated weights bbls 350 lbs half bbls 180 lbs quarter bbls 100 lbs
eighth bbls 50 lbs
Ale Beer and Mineral Water barrels half barrels or kegs returned empty estimated weights bbls 100 lbs half bbls 50 lbs kegs 30
lbs
Ale Beer and Porter in glass packed Boxes returnd with emty bottles
Alum
Ammonia Sulphate of See Fertilizers
Ammunition not otherwise specified
Anchors
Antimony Crude
Meal
Anvils 1
Apples green in barrels or boxes
Dried
Apple and other Fruit Butter
Argols in boxes barrels or casks
Army Baggage
Arsenic Crude in kegs boxes or barrels
Asbestos packed
Ashes Wood
Asphaltum
Axes
Axles Car
Carriage and Wagon
Axle Grease
Babbit Metal
Bacon loose L C L
Loose C L
Packed in wood In bags
Carriers Bisk Owners Bisk 1 I Carriers Bisk
1 Bagging A
3 4 Bags Burlaps Gunny etc 6
3 Traveling 1
D 1 Baking Powders 3
D 1 2 Bale Bope 5
2 4 Baling Twine 3
Band and Hat Boxes packed D 1
4 5 Barilla Bark and Cob Mills 4
Barilla 3
Bark extract in wood for Tanning Groundin bags or bales not otherwise specified 5 5
4 E Barley 7 D
Pearl 3
E Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except Ale and Beer L C L Barrels C L charged at not less than 10000 lbs D K
2 4 Barvtes P
4 Bas Balls and Bats 1
4 Baskets D 1
In nests 1
Bath Boilers 1
1 Tubs 1
5 In nests 2
3 Bath Brick 6
4 Batting D 1
5 Beans 7
3 6 Bed Cord 3
4 4 4 1 3 Bedsteads of Pine and other common woodseither painted or stained or unpainted or unstained and when shipped in car loads not less than 15000 pounds to be charged for 3
6 6 5 In lessthan car loads but crated wrapped or otherwise packed or tied in bundles 2
5 6 5 5 Bedsteads of Walnut and other fine woods when shipped in car loads not less than 15000 pounds to be charged for 2
In less than car load quantity but packed 1
4 Bed Slats with end springs attached knocked down and in bundles Bed Springs loose 2 D 1
1 2 Knocked down and packed 3
3 B Beets in barrels 7
B Bee Hives D 1
3 1 1 Knocked down in bundles
119
Bee Hives boxed or crated
Beef fresh See Meats
Smoked in boxes or barrels Beef and Bdrk salted in barrels Beer san as Ale
Beeswax
Bells
Bellow
Belt Rubber
Blather
Bernes green prepaid
j Dried
i Billiard Tables boxed
Binders Boards
BirdCages boxed
Bitters See Liquors
Blacking Shoe and Stove packed Black Lead in kegs and barrels
Blankets
Bleaching Salts
Blinds See Doors and Frames
Bluestone
Blueing
Bobbins packed
Boilers Bath and Range
Steam 30 feet and over
Steam under 30 feet
Felting
Flues Copper and Brass boxed
Flues Iron
Bone Black
Bones See Note 1
Bone Dust
Bonnets and Straw Goods
Books
Boots and Shoes in boxes or trunks
In paper packages
Borax
Bottles empty See Glass Fruit Jars Boxes empty not otherwise specified
Box Stuff in packages
Bows and Shafts See Wagon Material
Bran See Note 1
Brandy See Liquors
Brass See Copper
Brass Bearings See Copper
Brass Bedsteads packed
Bread
Brick L CL
Common C L See Note 1
Machines
Brimstone packed
Bristles
Britannia Ware
Brooms and Brushes
Broom Handles See Handles
Broom Corn compressed
Buckets See Wooden Ware
Buckwheat
Buffalo Robes
Buggies See Carriages
Bungs
Burial Cases See Coffins
Burlaps
Burning Fluid
Burr Blocks See Millstones
Butter in cans
In kegs tubs and firkins
Apple and other Fruit in wood
c
Cabbage packed
Loose CL
Cabinetware See Furniture
Calcicake
Cam phene
Camphor
Candles boxed
Candy not otherwise specified
Cheap value limited to 10c per lb and so specified on B L
Carriers Risk Owners Risk Carriers Risk t Owners I Risk
4 Canned Goods N 0 S 4
Cannon 1
3 Cans empty 3 T 1
G Empty racked or boxed 1
Caps 1
4 Capstans 3
2 Carriages and Buggies charged at not
1 less than 20000 pounds CL 2 3
3 Carriages Buggies Gigs Sulkies and
2 Trotting Wagons K D boxed or
1 well crated D 1 1
4 Sulkies set up estimated 150 lbs 4 T 1
D 1 1 Carriages and Buggies set up actual
5 weight 4 T 1 3 T 1
3 T1 Car Grease in barrels 5
Springs boxed 5
4 Springs loose 4
5 Wheels and Axles 6
1 CJarhoys pmpty D 1 3
5 Empty old 3 5
Cards Cotton and Woolen 1
5 Card Paper 1
1 Carpeting well covered 1
4 Carpets Hemp and Rag 2
1 Carpet Lining 2
1 Cars5 feet gauge on wheelsPassen
3 ger coaches 20 cents per mile
2 Box or Stock 10 cents per mile
2 Flat or Coal 7 cents per mile
4 Carriages and Carriage Material See
3 Vehicles
K Carts See Vehicles
K Cartridges Metallic See Ammunition
D 1 Cassia See Spices
1 Castor Oil in glass packed See Drugs
1 N O S
D 1 In barrels See Oils N 0 S
4 Caster Pomace See Fertilizers
Catsup in wood 4
1 In glass boxed 2 3
6 Cattle See Live Stock
Caustic Soda iron casks 5
P Cement in barrels C L O
In barrels L C L 6
Chain Cotton Woolen and Hempen 2
Chains Iron loose 3
1 In cable 5
3 In casks barrels boxes or kegs 5
6 Chairs Wooden Splint Cane Rattan
P Willow with seats of same or
4 like material set up and loose 1
5 Boxed wrapped or crated 1 2
1 Knocked down or taken apart and
1 boxed or in packages 3 4
1 Chairs upholstered Chamber Parlor
Library Diningroom and all
3 other fine chairs 1
Chair Stuff rough L C L 3 4
5 Rough C L 4 5
D 1 Chalk 5
Crayons 4
3 Prepared 1
Charcoal in barrels or casks 5
5 Cheese 4
11 1 Chestnuts prepaid 3 5
Chickory T 4
1 2 Chimogene See Coal Oil
2 3 Chinaware 1 2
4 Chloride ofLime 5
Chocolate 1
Chufus same as Peanuts
Churns See Woodenware
Cider in wood 2 5
3 6 In glass 2 4
6 Mills snd Presses 4
Cigars boxed and strapped corded
5 and sealed 1
1 1 Not boxed strapped corded and
1 and sealed not taken
4 Cigar Boxes empty D 1
2 Circular Saws
Citron See Candy
8 Clay in boxes bbls or casks L C L 6
120
Clay C L See Note 1
Clocksboxed
Clock Weights packed
Clothes Pins boxed
Wringers
Lines
Clothinga
Clover and Grass Seed C L 7777
Less than car load
Clover Hullers
Coal and Coke C L
Coal Buckets
Coal Oil or its product iii barrels carriers convenience L C L
In cans
In barrels C L
In Tank Cars
Coal Tar in barrels L C l 7 In C L See Crude Turpentine
Cocoa
Cocoa or other Matting
oil
Nuts packed or sacked
Cod Fish packed
In bundles
Coffee extract or essence of
Ground or roasted in sacks
In boxes or barrels
Green single sacks 77
Double sacks
Coffee Mills
Coffins777
in nests7777
Knocked down
Coke Same as Coal
Collars Horse
Cologne
Commissary Chests and Stores
Concentrated Lye
Condensed Milk boxed
Confectionery See Candy
Congress and Bedford Waters Mineral Waters
Copperas
Copper Bottoms Copper Plates Sheets Bolls Wire and Bods
Copper Ingots Pigs and Mattes
Copper and Brass in boxes barrels or casks
See
Copper and Brags Vessels in boxes barrels or casks
Copper andBrass Scrap packed Loose
Copper Ore C L See Note 1
Copper Stills
Copying Presses77
Cork
Corn Starch
Com and Cob Crushers 77
Com LCL
Corn in Bar CrL S Notei Com MealSame as Flour
Corn Shelters
Mills7777V
Com and Cotton Planters set up
Knocked down and packed
Corsets
Cotton in bales 77
Cotton Cards
Cotton and WoolenM achinerv setun
Crated
Knocked down and boxed
Cotton Presses
Gins7777
CottonJSeed lessthan 2000pounds
L C L 2000 pounds or over
In car loads
Cotton and Hay Ties7
Cotton Waste in bags777
Pressed in bales
Cotton Yam
Covers wooden 77777
Carriers Bisk Owners Bisk
P
1
5
2
2
3
1
4
3
1 Yu 1
A
L
1
3 4
D 1 1
3 5
6
5
1
2
2
5
5
1
2
3
5
4 5
6
2
1V 1
1 2
3
2
1
I
5
4
5
3
4
3
2
5
4
P
D 1 1
2
1
3
3 4
D
D
1 2
3 4
1V 1
2 3
1
J
1
D 1 1
1 1
1 2
4 5
2 3
3
6
O
A
2
5
3
1
Cradles Grain set up
Knocked down in bundles
Cranberries
Cracked Wheat
Crackers
Cracklings
Cream Tartar in boxes or kegs
In barrels or hogshead
Crockery Same as Earthenware
Croquet Boxes
Crowbars
Crucibles
Crystals washing
Currants dried
Cutch
Cultivators set up
Knocked down in bundles
Cutlery
D
Dates
Deer boxed
Skins pressed in bales
Demijohns filled N O S
Empty
Packed
Completely boxed
Dessicated Meats and Vegetables
Detergent
Domestics Denims Sheetings Shirt ing Ticking in boxes or bales Domestics Denims Sheetings Shirtings Ticking Jeans Checks Cotton Bope and Thread manufactured on or near any of the railroads within the territory or jurisdiction of the Commission
See Notel
Doors Door Frames and Blinds LCL
In car loads
Drag Saws with Horse Power
Drain Tile and Pipe L C L
In car loads See Note 1
Dried Fruit not otherwise specified Drugs and Medicines not otherwise
specified
Drums
Dry Goods1
Duck Cotton
Dye Stuffs and Dye Woods not other
specified
Dye Woods in packages NOS
In sticks
Earthenware Stoneware loose
In boxes and barrels
In crates and hogsheads
Common Jugware CL
Edge Tools
Eggs packedi
Egg Cases and Crates empty
Emery
Engines Caloric Fire Portable and
Stationary See Note 2
Epsom Salts
Equipage military camp garrison
and horse
Evaporators
Evaporator Furnaces
Excelsior
Extracts not otherwise specified
Extract of Logwood
Of Logwooddry C L
Of bark for tanning in barrels
3 T 1 1 3 31 4 2
3
2
5
1
4 2 4
3 T 1 1 1
2
T 1 2
D 1
f
4
5
3
5
5
2
3
3
1
T 1 1
1 2 4
2 1 1 2
2 4
1
3 T 1
3 1 2
4
Carriers
Bisk
121
pacingiron and coal in barrels
Fan Mills set up
Knocked down
Fansin boxes
Palm leaf pressed
Farina1
Faucets boxed
WFeathers
Felting
Fence Wire
Fertilizers See Note 3
Field Boilers
Figs in drums
In casks or boxes
Fire Brick L C L
Fire Brick C L
Fire Clay See Note 1
Fire Extinguishers
Firearms
Firecrackers and Fireworks packed Fish fresh L C L on any train
Fish fresh C L on any train
Pickled in barrels half barrels
and kits
Smoked in boxes
Salted Herring Cod etcpacd
Fishing Bods
Flax
Flax Seed
Flour in barrels
In sacks
Fly Traps
Fodder in bales Same as Hay
Forges portable
Forks Hay and Manure
Fowls See Poultry
Frames for Pictures Mirrors Lookingglasses boxed and crated When shipped loose or in bundles1 Mounted with Mirrors or Lookingglasses when shipped separately from other furniture Fruit green not otherwise specified
prepaid
Dried not otherwise specified In cans hoxed not otherwise
specifiedA
In glass packed not otherwise
specified
Furniture manufactured of Pine Poplar or other common woods not otherwise specified when boxed crated or wrapped and
shipped set up
When not boxed crated or wrapped
When knocked down and packed When in car loads not less than
15000 lbs to be charged for Furniture manufactured of Walnut
Mahogany Rosewood Chestnut or other hard woods when boxed crated or wrapped and
shipped set up
When not boxed crated or wrapped
When knocked down and packed When in car loads not less than
15000 lbs to be charged for Fur Skins and Peltries value limited
to 25c per pound in bags
Fur Skins and Peltries value limited to 25c per lb pressed in bales
Fur Skins and Peltries N QS
Furs in bags
In boxes bundles and trunks
strapped
Fuse
D 1
3 T 1
1
D 1
Galvanized Iron Work
Gambia
Game See Poultry
GardenSeeds
Gas Fixtures
Gas Generators
Gas Pipe Irdn See Pipe
Gas Retorts Iron
Gelatine
German Clayt
Gigs Sulkies or Trotting Wagons set up weight estimated at 150 lbs Ginger See Spices
Ginseng
Glass Chimneys
Glass Fruit Jars Bottles and Tumblers common packed
Glass Floor Lightsrough and heavy
Glass Insulators packed
Glass Plate 7x12 feet or under
Over 7x12 feet
Glass stained or signs
Glass Ware fine cut or engraved
Not otherwise specified
Glass window 14x16 inches under Over 14x16 inches and not over
32x44 inches
Over 32x44 inches
Glue
Glucose
Glycerine in cans boxed
In barrels
Glycerine Nitrou
Grain
Grain Drills
Granite Blocks rough C L See
Note 1
Less than car load
Granite Blocks or Slabs dressed and
protected L CL
In car loads See Note 1
Grapes
Grass and Hemp Mats
Grates and Fixtures
Grave Stones Marble and Granite
prepaid
Grind Stones
Grits in barrels
Groceries N O 8
Guano See Fertilizers
Gum Camphor
Gum Copal Kowrie and Shellac
Gums not otherwise specified
Gun Cotton
Gun Powder and other Explosives N
O S L C L
C L of 5000 pounds or over
Guns Rifles and other Fire Arms
Gunny Bags
Gypsum Land Plaster See Fertili zers
Hair in sacks
Hair pressed in bales Hair Rope
GO M 0 rj
is
o o
2 4
4
2
2 3
5
1
5 4T1
1
1 2
4 5
5
4
D 1 2
S
3 T 1 1
D 1 1
1 2
4 5
2 4
D 1 1
3
4
1 1
1
S
D
1 1
D 1
D 1 Hams same as Bacon fTan1 ps farncfid or orated
3 T 1 1 D 1 2 Hardware boxed not otherwise spec
pTamess Twjcfid
2 3 In bundles Harrows and TTarrow iRVameft
D 1 1 Hats and Caps in trunks nr boxes frayerpaoks
1 D 1 3 T 1 D1 3 Hay and Cotton Ties
C L or over to be charged as 20000 lbs to car See Note 1
1 Hay Knives packed
122

Hay Presses knocked down
Hay Presses set up
Head Lights boxed
Hemp in bales
Hemp Machines
Hemp Packing
Hides dry loose
In bales
In bales compressed
Green
Green salted
High Wines Same as Whisky Hinges and Hooks in boxes barrels
or casks
Hobby Horses entirely boxed
Crated
Unboxed
Hoes in bundles
Hoes without handles packed
Hoisting Machines knocked down
compact
Hollowware loose L C L
HollowWare N O S See Stoves Hominy Same as Plour
Hominy Mills
Honey in glass boxed
Honey in eans
In barrels or casks
Hoofs and Horns Same as Bones Hoop Poles See Staves
Hoop Skirts
Hops baled 1
Horses and Mules See Live Stock Horse and Mule Shoes in kegs or
boxes
Horse and Mule Shoe Nails See Nails
Horse Powers
Hose Leather
Hose Bubber
Hose Carriages See Vehicles
Hospital Stores
Household Goods well boxed value over 10 per 100 lbs and full value expressed in Bill of Lading said valuation only to apply in
case of total loss
Household Goods well boxed value limited to 1000 per 100 lbs and expressed in Bill of Lading said valuation only to apply in
case of total loss
Household Goods and Old Furniture well packed L C L value in case of total loss limited to
per 100 lbs
Household Goods and Old Furniture well packed C L value in case of total loss limited to 5 per 100
lbs
Household Goods and Old Furniture not packed with Live Stock one attendant to have free passage on same train as car C L value in case of total loss limited to 5 per 100 lbs See Note 1 Hubs and Felloes See Vehicles Husks or Shucks in bales See Note 1
Ice in csksprepaidL C L on any train
Ice C L on any train
Ice Chests
Ice i ream Freezers
India Rubber Goods not otherwise
specified
Indigo
Ink Writing Fluid in glass or stone
boxed
Ink in wood
Iron Bridge Pig Scrap Railroad Iron Spikes Chairs Frags Fish Bars and Fish Bolts L C L
D 1
D 1
IronSame as above C L
IronBand Bar Boiler and Plate
IronBolts Nuts Rivets and Washers in kegs boxes or casks
Iron Ore C L
iron orelcl
Iron Castings not Machinery unpacked each piece under 200 lbs Iron Casting heavy not Machinery unpacked each piece 200 lbs or
over See Note 2
Iron Castingsnot Machinery in kegs
boxes or casks
Iron Castings or other parts of Sewing
Machines packed
Iron Crowbars and Forgings
Iron Picks and Mattocks bundles
Packed
IronFronts Girders and Beams for
Buildings
IronHoop Russia Sheet and Galvanized
Iron Mantles Grate Faskets Fronts
Fenders and Frames
Iron Railing and Fencing
Iron Roofing
Iron Safes each weighing 3000 lbs or
lessI
Each weighing over 3000 ibs and
not over6000 lbs
Each weighing over 6000 lbs and
not over 10000 lbs
Each weighing over 10000 lbs and
not over 20000 lbs
Each weighing over 20000 lbs Special contract
Iron Shutters and Doors
Iron Vault and Prison Work
Iron Wedges and Sledges packed
Loose
Iron Bedsteads
Iron Retorts
isinglass
ivory
Ivory Black
J
Jack ScrewsS
Japan Ware
Japonica
Jellies See Fruit in Glass and Cans
Jellies in wood N O S
Jugs See Earthenware
Junk and Jute
Jute Butts

Kalsomine
Kegs Ale and Beer empty See Ale and Beer Kegs
Kegs empty not otherwise specified Same as barrels
Kegs empty not otherwise specified
in crates
Kerosene See Coal Oil
Kettles Large Iron
Kindlings
Knapsacks
Ladders
Lampblack in casks bbls or boxes
Lamps
Land Plaster See Fertilizers
Lanterns packed
Lard in tubs buckets or pails crated from April 1 to October 1i
Carriers
ocn Risk
123
Tlidla tubs buckets or pails crated
from October lto April 1
Lard in cans boxed In barrels or kegs
Lasts Soe
Laths See Lumber
Lead Black See Plumbago
Lead White See Paints
Lead Bar or Sheet Lead in casks boxes or pigs Lead Pipe See Pipe
Leather loose N 08
In rolls or boxes
Lemons and Oranges
Lentils in bags boxes or barrels
Letter Boxes PostOffice
Lightning Rods in bundles
Lime in casks or barrels L C L
In car loads
Lime slaked any quantity
Limestone ground any quantity Limestone Same as Granite
Linseedfj
Liquors bottled not otherwise specified
Liquors in glass boxes or baskets value limited at 54 per package and so specified by shipper on dray receipt and Bill of Lading Liquors not otherwise specified except Whisky in WoodI
Liquors in woodexcept Whisky value not above 51 per gallon and so specified by shipper on dray receipt and Bill of Lading
Licorice in sticks or roots or mats In mass or boxes
Lithographic Stone
Live Stock C L M
L C L to be charged at estimated weights
Locomotives
Locomotive Head Lights boxed
Locomotive Tires
Logs See Lumber N O S See Notel
Looking Glass same as Glass Plate Looms See Machinery
Lumber dressed or rough L C L
In C L See Note 1 Lye concentrated
Mattresses
Mattocks and Picks
Mats and Rugs not otherwise specified
Mats grass hemp and cocoa
Meal same as Flour
Measures See Woodenware
Meat in bulk C L
Meats fresh prepaid
Meats fresh on ice L C L on any
train
In car loads on any train
Meat Cutters
Medicines
Melodeons See Pianos
Melons C L
Metallic Coffins See Coffins
Metallic Packing
Metallic Paints See Paints
Mica unmanufactured
Millet See Grain
Millinery Goods boxed
Mill Gearing See Machinery
Mill Stones finished
Rough
Mill Stuff See Notel
Milk condensed boxed
Mince Meat
Mineral Waters in glass or stone
packed
In wood
Mirrora See Glass Plate
Molasses or Syrups in barrels or hogsheads See N ote 1
Molasses in cans boxed
Mops
Moss in sacks
Pressed in bales
Mouldings boxed
In bundles
Common for building purposes
Mouldings N O S
Moulders Dust
Mousetraps
Mowing Machines
Mucilage packed
Musical Instruments not otherwise
specified
Mustard ground in boxes
Mustard Seed
Macaroni
Machine Cards
Machinists heavy Tools Planers
Lathes etc
Machinery not otherwise specd C L Mackerel See Fish
Madder
Malt
Manganese ground packed
Crude
Manilla
Marble Slabs dressed and protected
L C L
Rough
Marble and Granite Blocks dressed
and protected L CL
Rough L C L
Marble and Granite Blocks and Slabs
rough C L See Notel
Marble and Granite Gravestones and Monuments See Gravestones
Marble Dust
Marble Tiles See Tile
Marbles in casks or boxes
Marl any quantity
Matches properly marked and packd
alone
Matting
1
1
3
4
8
D
5 P 3
1
3
4
5
P
6
4
1
2
3
5
3
4
5
6
L
Nails Brass and Copper well packed
in boxes or kegs
Nails for Horse and Mule Shoes
packed
Nails Spikes and Rivets Iron in bags
In boxes
In kegs
Nail Rods Iron
Nitre Cake See Fertilizers
Notions
Nutmegs See Spices
Nuts edible in bags N O S
In barrels or casks N O S
Nuts Cocoa packed or sacked
o
Oakum
Oat Meal
Oats See Grain
Oil CottonSeed or Peanut C L
Less than car load
Oil Kerosene See Coal Oil
Oil Sassafras in cans boxed 3
Oils not otherwise specified in bbls Oils in glass or cans packed except
Coal Oil and Sassafras Oil
I Oil Cake and Meal
T 1 3
y y U I Carriers
124
Oil Cake C L
Oil Cloth over 16 feet long boxed
Not otherwise specified boxed Not boxed not in shipping order
Olives See Pickles
Onions in barrels
Onion Setts
Oranges See Lemons
Ordnance Stores N O S
OresCopper Iron C L See Note 1 Organs See Pianos
Oysters in cans or kegs
In shell in barrels prepaid
In shell in bulk or bbls C L
prepaid
In Glass See Pickles
P
0
1H
2
Pi 3
o
Paints in barrels casks or kegs dry
and in oilj
In boxes or cans packed
In cans unboxed
Paintings and Pictures well boxed value each box not to exceed
200
Paintings and Pictures over 200 in value only taken by special
contract
Palm Leaf Fans See Fans
Paper Writing or Book in boxes
Paper Wrapping and Roofing L C L
In car loads
Paper Printing L Q L
In car loads
Paper Sand and Flint
Paper Bags
Paper barrels and boxes in nests
packed
Not nested
Paper Collars packed
Paper Hangings in bundles
Boxed
Paper Pulp
Paper Plates See Plates
Paper Stock See Rags
Paper Ware N 0 S
Paris White
Paste in barrels
Pasteboard
Peaches dried
Peanuts L C LL
C L
Pearl Ash
Peas
Peltries See Furs
Pepper Sauce See Pickles
Pepper and Spices in bags
Pepper and Spices not otherwise
specified ground in boxes
Perfumery
Petroleum See Coal Oil
Photographic Material
Pianos and Organs boxed
Unboxed not taken
Pickles in glass packed
In barrels or casks
In cans boxed
Picture Backing in packages
Picture Frames unboxed 3
Boxed
Pigs Feet in barrels or kegs
Pine Apples See Fruit
Pins in cases
Pipes Tobacco in boxes
Pipe Tin boxed
Pipe Iron L C L
In car loads
Pipe Wood
In car loads
Pipe Earthen L C L
In car loads
5
3
1
D 1
2
4
5
3
4
3
4
2
D 1 1 1 2
6
1
5
6 4
4
5
6 5 D
3
2
1
1
1
4 4 4
T 1
1
2
2
4
5
3
4 2 3
1
3
D 1 1
4
5
5
6
Pipe Lead in rolls or reels
In casks
Pipe Copper Brass or Metal N O S
Boxed
Pitch See Coal Tar
Plaster Castings
Plaster Land See Fertilizers
Plaster of Paris
Plates Paper and Wood
Plows Gang
Plows set up
Knocked down
Plow Handles and other Wood for implements boxed or crated
Plow Irons and Mould Boards over 20
lbs each loose
Plow Plates Points Wings Castings
and Steel loose
Wired together
Packed
Plumbago gakg
Plumbers Material N O Spacked Poles and Posts See Lumber Porcelean Ware See Chinaware
Pork and Beef salted in barrels
Portable Mills BurrStone
Porter See Ale
Potash N O S
Potatoes
Poultry dressed prepaid
Live in coops
Live C L See Live Stock Powder See Gun Powder
Powder Baking and Yeast
Powdered Leaves in boxes or barrels Preserves Same as Jellies
Printers Ini in wood
Printi ng Presses
Printed Matter in sheets boxed
Prunes in boxes
In casksj
Pumice Stone
Pumps Hand
Pumps Steam
Pumps and Pump Material wooden
C Lf
Less than car 16ad
Putty
53
3
6
1
3
D 1
5
3
3 T 1 1
Quartermasters Stores i
Quicksilver in iron flasks j
Radiators
Rags in sks crates or hhds C L See Note 1
l c l
Pressed in bales C L See Note i
L C L
Raisins not strapped
Strapped
Rakes Hand in bundles
Rakes Horse
Range Boilers See Boilers
Rattan
Rattraps
Reapers and Reapers and Mowers
combined
Red Lead See Paints
Refrigerators
Retorts Clay
Retorts Iron
Rice in boxes or kegs
In bags barrels casks or tierces
In car loads
Rivets n o s
Roofing Felt or Paper in baies or
rolls L C L
In car loads
3
6
4 D 6 1 2 2
D 1
1
1
154
1
1
5 2 S
c
4
4
5
125
Carriers Risk Owners Risk Carriers Risk Owners Risk
Roofing Composition 4 Sewing Machine Castings or other
Roofing Slate L C L 5 parts of Sewing Machines packd
In car loads See Note 1 0 separate from table 3 4
Roofing Iron 6 Shafting Hangers Pullies etc 4
Roots and Herbs value not over 10c Shafts rough See Vehicles
perpound 4 Shingles See Lumber
Value over 10 cents 3 Shingle Machines 2
Rope old 6 Shirts See Clothing
Hemp or Jute 5 Shoe Findings 1
Wire 4 Shoe Lasts 3
Not otherwise specified 3 Shoe Pegs in hags 1
Rosin L L 6 In barrels or boxes 2
In car loads See Note 1 Changes Shorts and Ship Stuff See Note 1 D
hereaiter in class K of standard Shot in bags 2
do not apply to this article un In boxes kegs or doubled sacked 5
less so specified K Shovels and Spades 2 3
Rubber Packing and H ose 3 Show Cases 3 T 1 D 1
Rubber Bel tin gT See Belting Entirely boxed VA 1
Rubber Car Springs See Car Springs Shucks in bales See Note 1 D
Rubber Clothing and Rubber Goods Shuttle Blocks 3
N 0 S 1 ieves Wire packed 3 T 1
Rugs not otherwise specified 1 Sieves Tin nested packed in boxes 2
Russia Iron See Iron Signs Glass See Glass Signs
Russia Bristles 1 Signs Card Metallic or Wood boxed 2
Rustic Work not boxed 3 T 1 1 Sizing for Factories 2
Crated 1 Skins Sheep dry baled 1
Entirelv boxed 2 Green in bundles 2
Rye See Grain D Salted in bundles 3
Skins N 0S See Furs
s Slate Pencils 3
N Slate Roofing L C L 5
C L See Note 1 O
Sacks See Bags Slates School boxed 3
Sad Irons loose 2 Slush in barrels 6
Packed 4 Smoked Beef in boxes or barrels 3
Saddlery 2 Smoked Tongues 3
Saddles not boxed 1 SmokeStacks See Note 2 1
Boxed 2 Smut Machines set up 3 T 1 D 1
SaddleTrees not boxed 1 Knocked down 1 1
Boxed 2 Snaths 1 2
Sago in bags boxes or barrels 3 Snuff in casks barrels or boxes 2
Salaratus 4 In jars boxed 1
Salt in sacks L C L 6 Snuff injars unboxed D 1
In car loads 0 Soap Castile and Fancy 2
Salt Cake See Fertilizers Common in boxes 5
Salt Table 4 Soap Stone packed 2 4
Salts Epsom 4 Crude C L See Note 1 P
Saltpetre L C L 5 Soda in boxes or kegs 5
larload See Fertilizers Soda Nitrate and sulphate See
Sand C L See Note 1 P Note 3 K
Sand Paper 3 Soda Fountains fully boxed VA 1
Sapolio 4 Soda Ash and Sal Soda 5
Sardines in boxes 2 Sodaj Caustic in iron casks 5
Sash Doors and Blinds See Doors Solder 5
Sash glazed 1 3 Sorghum See Molasses
Sash Weights 5 Sorghum Mills 3 4
1 Spelter in slabs or casks 5
Sauer Kraut 4 Spices in boxes ground 2
Sausage 4 In bags 3
Saws packed 1 Spokes andhafts See Vehicles
Saws Drag 2 Spring Bed Frames and covers and
Saws Mill unboxed t 2 3 Wire Mattresses D 1 1
Saws Millboxed 3 4 Knocked down and packed 3 4
Saw Logs See Lumber Starch in boxes or casks 4
Scales and ScaleBeams unboxed 1 Starch Corn i 3
Knocked down arid packed 2 Stage Coaches Omnibuses fe Hearses
School Furniture set up 1 2 special contract
Knocked down 2 3 Stationery 2
In ear loads 3 4 Statues at option of Roads 3 T 1 1
Scrapers Road and Pond 3 4 Staves SeeLumber
Screens Wire 1 Steam Gauges 1
xv 1 Step Ladders D 1
Y 2 Steel loose 3
Scythe Snaths 1 2 Packed and strapped 5
Scythe Stones 3 Steelyards See Scales
Sea Grass pressed in bales 4 Stone not otherwise specified See
Seed Grass and Clover L C L 3 Granite
In car loads 4 Stone Ware Same as Earthenware
2 Stools Piano 1
Separators See Threshers Stoves Stove Plates and Stove Fumi
Sewing Machines unboxed 3 T 1 ture and Holloware L C L 1 3
Set up crated or boxed 1 i C L charged not less than 15000
Knocked down and boxed 2 3 pounds 3 6
126
Stove Boards boxed or crated
Stove Blacking See Blacking
Stove Pipe
Straw Same as Hay See Note 1 Straw Cutters and Crushers set up
Knocked down and packed
Straw Goods
street Cars actual weight
Sugar in bags
In boxes
In barrels and hogsheads
Sugar Cane prepaid
Sugar Rollers See Castings
Sugar Trains
Sulphur packed
Sulphates of Ammonia Potash and Soda for Fertilizers See Note 3
Sumac ground
Leaf C L estimated 16000 lbs Syrup in barrels See Molasses
In cans boxed or in kegs
In glass boxed
T
Tacks
Tallow
Tamarinds in boxes or kegs
Tan Bark in sacks
In carloads
Tapioca in boxes bbls or bags
Tar L C L
In car loads See Rosin
Tents Tent Poles and Pins
Terra Cotta in packages
Loose See Drain Tile
Terra Japonica
Thread
Threshing Machines and 6 to 10horse power with Separator estimated
at 6000 pounds
Thresher and 4horse Power estimat
ed at 4000 pounds
Thresher and Horse Power without
Separator actual weight
Thresher Separator without Horse Power estimated at 2500 lbs Thresher with Railroad or Endless Chain Horse Power actual
weight
Ties Cotton and Hay
Tile Floor and Marble
Fire for Lining etc
Drain and Roofing L C L
In car loads See Note 1
Tinners Trimmings N O 8
Tin Block and Pig
Tin Foil in boxes
Tin PJg
Tin Stamped Ware boxed
TinWare except Stamped Ware
Tobacco cut in boxes bbls or bales
Leaf in cases
Smoking
Manufactured in boxes or kegs Unmanufactured not prized
Unmanufactured prized
Tobacco Stems prized
Not prized
TobaccoBox Materials in shooks
Tobacco Cans and Boxes empty
Tobacco Screws and Fixtures
Tongues Smoked
Tonqua Beans in boxes or barrels
Tools Mechanics boxed
Tow in bales
Compressed
Toys boxed
Traps Mouse and Rat
Traveling Bags
5 X s Owners Risk Carriers Risk
3 Trees and Shrubbery baled prepaid
paid or guaranteed D 1
1 Boxed 1
Car loads
1 1 Tree Nails 6
2 3 Tripoli 4
1 Trucks Warehouse 1
1 Trunks i 3 T 1
2 In nests or filled with Merchan
5 dise strapped D 1
6 Tubs See Woodenware
6 Turbine Water Wheels 3
Turnips 3
1 D 1 Turpentine Crude See Rosin
4 Turpentine Spirits in bbls L C L 3
Turpentine Spirits C L See Note
K 1 Changes hereafter in Class D
4 of standard do not apply to this
5 article unless so specified D
Turpentine Spirits in cans boxed
3 4 Twine 3
1 3 Type boxed 2
XT
3 Umbrellas 1
5 Urns Iron 3
5 O v
3 6 Varnish in cans 1
In barrels or kegs 2
i Vault Lights See Glais Floor Lights
2 Vegetables in cans 4
3 Vegetables fresh not otherwise speci
fled prepaid 3
4 Vehicles Material for Wood Hubs
1 Spokes Shafts Bows Felloes
Single Trees Wheels c c
L C L 4
IX 1 In car loads 5
Vehicles Material for Iron Boxes
l 2 Skeins and Springs loose 3
Boxed 4
i y 1 Velocipedes set up
Knocked down crated
ix 1 Veneering not boxed D 1
Boxed 1
Vermicelli 1
i y2 1 Vinegar 6
A Vises Iron 4
4 Vitriol Oilof See Acids
2 5 Vitroil Blue See Bluestone
2 5
3 2 6 w
5 2 Wadding D 1
4 5 Wagons and Farrs charged at not less
4 than 20000 pounds C L 4
Wagons and Carts Farm Lumber or
1 Spring set up actual weight D 1
1 Wagons and Carts Farm Lumber or
1 Spring taken apsrt and thor
1 oughly knocked down actual
1 3 weight 3
1 Wagons Childrens not boxed 3 T 1
4 Boxed D 1
6 Knocked down in boxes or
1 crates 1
6 Wagon Axles 5
1 Wagon Bows Felloes Hubs Shafts
4 spokes Swingletrees Wheels
3 See Vehicles
1 Wagon Boxes Skeins and Springs See
2 Vehicles
2 Washing Machines 2
3 Water Coolers and Filters boxed 1
1 Water Pipe See Pipe
1 Wax 4
1 Well Buckets 4
127
1 1 Carriers Risk Owners Risk
2
W6JJ lul uxi TirholohnnP 1
WhCilt riflTn r D
nrhaot XTins 3 T 1 D 1
Wheaten Grits See Hominy TirhAftlborPDWQ RAt lin 3 T 1 D 1
Knocked down and packed Kailroad common carriers conYGDifiUCft 2 1 3 1
1
Whisky in wood owners risk of leakage Value limited to 75 cents per gallon and so endorsed on Bill of Lading by shipper H
Whisky in wood riot otherwise speci 2 3
In boxes or baskets 1 2
White Lead and Zinc Paints See Paints 5
D 1
Willow Reeds in hales 2
Window Frames See Doors and Frames r
Window Shadesrt 1
Wine See Liquors Wire fiioth 1
Wire Scree 1
Wire Mattresses D 1 s 1
Wire not otherwise specified3
Wire Rope
Wire Telegraph or Barbed for Fencing
Wood See Note 1
Woodworking set up
Packed
Wood in shape in the rough N O S
Wood Screws in casks or boxes
Woodenware L 0 L
C L not less than 10 000 lbs
Woodenware N O S
Wool in bags
Wool pressed in bales
Wrapping Paper See Paper
Y
Yams not otherwise specified
Yeast in wood
Yeast Powders
Yeast Cakes in boxes
Yokes
Zinc
Zinc Paints See Paints Zinc Oxide
m m

its a 3 eM
o
4
4
P
1
2 3
4
2
3 2 4
1
1
3
This Classification for Rags takes effect August luth 1881
Aiii the Conditions of Freight are illustrated in the rates on Bacon say for 247 miles It may be sent 1 loose L C L C E less than carload carriers risk and is then in Class 1 and the rate 75 cents 2 loose L C L O E owners risk Class 2 rate 70 cents 3 Loose C L C E carriers risk Class 3 Eate 55 cents 4 Loose C L O E owners risk Class B Eate 30 cents 5 Packed inwood C E Class B rate 30 cents 6 In bags C E Class 3 rate 55 cents Thus one sees at a glance all the terms and conditions and the corresponding rates from 30 to 75 cents
ggrThis closes the Bates Eules Eegulations and Classification as certified by the Com
missiong
The following Exhibit shows the expenditures paid or incurred by the Commission since
its last Eeport
EXPENDITUEES
Of the Contingent Fund for expenses of the Railroad Commission from November 1 1880
to July 151881 for account of
Office furniture 70 00
Office rent Jan 1 to July 11881 100 00
Maps for office use 14 50
Maps for third semiannual report 80 00
Postage 31 20
Gas Light Co 13 44
Wages of porter 33 10
Coal and wood 24 65
Stationery and desk furniture 17 10
Subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals 27 95
Express charges on books maps etc 4 40
Printing law of 1879 and decision in Tilley case33 50
Telegrams 90
Copy of order in Tilley case 2 00
Incidentals 1 60
DUE TO NEWSPAPEES For advertising Circulars No 11 to 16 inclu
sive
Atlanta Constitution 74 00
Macon Telegraph and Messenger 76 00
Savannah News 62 80
Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist 66 00
Columbus EnquirerSun 61 00
Albany News and Advertiser 49 25
Eome Courier 49 25
438 30
454 34
128

RAILROAD DISTANCES IN GEORGIA
Stations out of the State are Printed in Italics
Alabama Great Southern
Chattanooga 0 295
Morgan ville 12 283
Trenton 18 277
Rising Fawn 26 269
Sul Springs 31 255
Attala 87 208
Birmingham 143 152
York 268 27
Meridian 295 0
Atlanta Charlotte AL
Atlanta 0 268
Goodwins 11 257
Doraville 15 253
Nor cross 20 248
Duluth 26 272
Suwanee 31 237
Buford 37 231
Flory Branch 44 224
Odells 47 221
Gainesville 53 215
New Holland 55 213
W Sul Sprg s 59 209
Lula 66 202
Bellton 67 201
Longview 74 191
Mount Airy 80 188
Ayersville 87 181
Toccoa 93 175
Tugalo 99 169
Greenvillee 160 108
Spartanburg 192 76
Charlotte 268 0
Atlanta and West Point
Atlanta 0 87
East Point 6 81
Fairburn 18 691
Palmetto 25 62
Powells 33 541
Newnan 39 48
Grantville 51 361
Hogansville 58 29
Whitfield 61 26
LaGrange 71 161
Long Cane 80 71
West Point 87 0
Schlatterville 50 Way cross 60 Wiresboro 67 Millwood 78 Pearson 90 Willicoochee 101 Allapaha 112 Brookfield 122 Riverside 133 Alford 145 Isabella 151 Davis 161 Albany 171
Central Railroad
Augusta and Knoxville In Georgia 14 miles
Brunswick and Albany Brunswick 0 171
Jamaica 16 155 Waynesville 24 147 Lulaton 32 139
Savannah 0
Pooler 9
Eden 20 Guyton 30 Egypt 40 Halcyondale 50 Ogeechee 62 Scarborough 71 Millen 79 Cushingville 83 90 96 100 107 111 122 129 135 146 155 162 170 181 192 200 207 214 219 224 230 235 241 246 252 259 263 268 274 279 282 289 295
Griffin Sunnyside Hampton Lovejoys Jonesboro Morrows Forest East Point Atlanta
295
286
275
265
255
245
233
224
216
212
205
199
195
188
184
173
166
160
149
140
133
125
114
103
95
Augusta and Savannah Millen 79
Lawton 84 Perkins June 86 Munnerlyn 90 Waynesboro 100
Greens Cut 106
McBean 112 Hollywood 120 12
Augusta 132 0
Gordon and Eatonton Gordon 170 Whiting 179 Milledgeville 187 Meriwether 195 Dennis 200 Eatonton 208
Upson County BranchBarnesville 235 16
The Rock Thomaston 251 0
Sav Griffin and Griffin Vaughns Dunns Brooks Senoia Turin Sharpsburg Newnan Sargents Whitesburg Carrollton
0
Southwestern R Macon Seago Echeconnee Byron Powers ville Fort Valley Marsh allville Winchester Barrons Lane Montezuma Oglethorpe Anderson Americus Smithville Browns Dawson Wards Cuthbert Morris
North Ala 252 60
260 262 264 271
276
277 287 293 298 312
R Division 192 0
200 8
204 12
209 17
213 21
221 29
228 36
231 39
236 44
241 49
243 51
252 60
263 71
275 83
283 91
290 98
300 108 310 118 321 129
Hatcher 325 133
Georgetown 333 141
Eufaula 335 143
Columbus Branoh
Fort Valiey 221 71
Everts 328 64
Reynolds 234 58
Butler 242 50
Howards 252 40
Geneva 262 30
Juniper 266 26
Box Springs 269 23
Jones Crossg 275 17
Wimberly 278 14
Schatulga 283 9
Columbus 292 0
Perry Branch
Fort Valley 221 12
Perry 233 0
Albany Branch
Smithville 275 59
Adams 281 53
Leesburg 288 46
Albany 299 35
Walker 310 24
Ducker 312 22
Holts 317 17
Leary 321 13
Williamsburg 327 7
Arlington 334 0
Fort Gaines Branch
Cuthbert Jun310 22
Coleman 320 12
Fort Gaines 332 0
Cherokee Railroad
Carters ville 0 37
Ladds 4 33
Stilesboro 10 27
Taylorsville 14 23
Deatons 17 20
Brooks 20 17
Rockmart 23 14
Pineville 35 12
Goddards 27 10
Fish Creek 29 6
Cedartown 37 0
Columbus and Rome
Columbus 0 25
V anees 7 18
Fortsons 10 15
12
15
16
20
25

R
0
13
19
28
34
44
49
55
60
68
84
90
110
155
191
202
209
264
rLir
0
12
18
24
26
31
39
51
Iros
0
6
11
16
25
31
41
46
52
60
68
75
81
88
95
107
113
121
124
128
134
142
145
146
150
155
129
Macon Branch amak
ayfield ulverton parta evereux arra illedgev irowns addock oberts aeon
0 78
n 4 74
13 65
20 58
24 54
32 46
36 42
dlle 48 32
54 24
59 19
69 9
78 0
0 39
5 35
7 33
13 27
16 24
22 18
32 8
40 0
10
Washington Branch
iarnett 0 li
taytown 4 1
icklin 10
Washington 18 0
Athens Branch
Jnion Point
Wood ville lairdstown laxeys intioch
xington Winterville
Lthens
lartwell B B awrenceville B B 10 jouisville W B B10
Macon Brunswick
lacn 0 18
leid 8 17
lullard 15 171 Buzzard Boost 25 tochran 38 lubois 46 Castman 56 lhauncy 66 cBae 76 cVille 81 towns 86 1umberCity 93 azlehurst 100 Iraham 106 Baxley 116 Jurrency 126 Brentwood 131 5atilla 136 ressup 146 Pendarvis 156 Band Hill 163 Sterling 176 Brunswick 186
Hawkinsville Branch
tochran 0 1
Eawkinsville 10
Marietta N Georgia
Marietta 0
Walkers 7
Woodstock 12
Lebanon 15
Holly Springs 20
Canton 24
N E Railroad of Ga
Athens 0 39
Center 6 33
Nicholson 12 27
Harmony Grv 18 21
Mavsville 26 13
Gilisville 32 7
Lula39 0
Whigham 221
Climax 227
Bainbridge 236
Live Oak Branch
Dupont Forrest Statenville Jasper Marion Live Oak
Rome Railroad
Borne 0
Freemans 5
Dykes Creek 7
Bass Ferry 9
Eves 12 Taylors Ferry 15 Woolleys 18 Kingston 20
SandersvilleTennille Tennille 135
130 128 143 115 151 107 163 95
168 90
179 79
Albany Branch
Thomasville 200 Ocklocknee 211 Pelham 224 Camilla 232 Baconton 242 Hardaway 250 Albany 258
0
Jacksonville Division or Wayoross Fla RR
Tebeaaville 97 75
Braganza 104 68
Fort Mudge 111 61
Bace Pond 118 54
Spanish Creek 125 47
4Folkston 131 41
Sandersville 139 0 Callahan 152 20
Jacksonville 172 0
Savannah Charlestn
Savannah 0 115 Western and Atlantic
Savanh June 2 113 Atlanta 0 138
Montieth 14 101 Bolton 7 131
Charleston 115 0 Gilmore 10 128
Vinings 11 127
Sav Fla Western Smyrna 15 123
Savannah 0 258 Buffs
Millers 10 248 Marietta 21 117
Ways 16 242 Big Shanty 29 109
Fleming 24 234 Acworth 35 103
McIntosh 31 227 Allatoona 40 98
Walthourville 39 219 Bartow 43
Johnstons 46 216 Stegalls 46
Doctortown 53 205 Etowah 46
Jesup 57 201 Caitersville 48 91
Scriven 68 190 Bogers 51 87
Patterson 78 180 Cass 52 86
Blackshear 87 171 Bests 56
Tebeauville 97 161 Kingston 59 80
Waycross 98 160 Halls 64 75
Glenmore 108 150 Adairsville 69 70
Argyle 116 142 McDaniels 75 63
Homerville 122 136 Calhoun 79 59
Dupont 130 128 Besaca 84 54
Stockton 139 119 Tilton 90 48
Naylor 144 114 Dalton 100 38
Valdosta 157 101 Tunnel Hill 107 31
1 Ousleys 166 92 Binggold 115 23
Quitman 174 84 Graysville 120 18
Dixie 181 77 Chickamauga 127 12
Boston 188 70 Boyce 131 7
Thomasville 200 58 Cin No June
JlCairo 214 44 Chattanooga 138 0
130
PART IIILEGISLATION
The act of 1879 was a great stride in the right direction drawn with unusual care and caution it made an excellent beginning But this act as well as the Constitution recognized the need of amendment in the light of experience a complete system must needs be a gradual growth and not a creation
The needful amendments apply not so much to Rights as to RemediesRemedies being the great function of the Commission
We have already discussed Rights it remains briefly to discuss the Remedies for their enforcement
Prior to the act of 1879 the Common Law right of the citizen to be protected against extortion and unjust discrimination existed in its full force but the remedy for its violation was wholly inadequate Practically the citizen had no rights though his theoretical right was ample and complete
The rights of the Railroad Companies were well defined enough and their remedies also were adequate being in their own hands It was their capacity for abusing their powers which was not sufficiently held in check
THE REMEDIES OF THE CITIZEN
In the very nature of the case the citizen stood at such a disadvantage that his rights were merely nominal To illustrate Suppose him to receive a package on which the actual freight charge was 150 while a just and reasonable rate would be but 100 What could he do Usually he could not wait but must pay the 150 under protestand bring suit afterwards if he thought it worth his while for the half dollar overcharge But could he afford to do this His interest in the matter would not warrant the expensethe costs fees witnesses the discussion of the principles and facts involved as to what rate would be reasonable and just in the particular case And only the one case would be settled after all The next day a parcel would be charged 75 cents worth but 50 and the 25 cents would involve a new suit Practically he was obliged to submit Were it a merchant who overcharged him he would transfer his trade to another house But in
dealing with the railroad he is dealing usually with a monopoly unless at a competing point and now even at such a point by reason of poolingand so he was remediless A litigation would usually settle but a single caseone classone distancescarcely any principle at all
Such was the attitude of the citizen Consider next
THE ATTITUDE OF THE RAILROAD
prior to the act of 1879
It had a large interest in results Instead of 50 cents multiplied by 1 the citizens interest the railroad had 50 cents multiplied by
1000 or 100000 as its interest It would have also ample experience and the best legal talent already engaged and trained and waiting and all the experts favorably inclined
So unequally were the parties matched that in the whole history of the State there has been so far as we remember not one single case of a suit by a citizen to enforce this Common Law rightand but one to enforce even a statutory right for an overcharge In that case the charter of the railroad in express terms limited the rates yet the railroads fixed its rates beyond the chartered limitprinted them and collected them and was checked by this suit
A remarkable commentary on the absolute worthlessness of Rights without Remedies
The consciousness of this huge disparity between the parties is the great reason why juries lean toward the weaker side Notwithstanding all this howeverunless the sum involved was large say a suit for life or limb or injury the party aggrieved would not enter into so formidable a controversy even with the sympathy of the jury in his favor
Indeed the case was not prepared for jury trial As well turn a jury loose into a great pile of copartnership or bank books to strike a balance as into the complex principles and facts involved in rates of freight without some report like that of a master in chancery as the basis of decision
Now all this has been
IN XjAHGE measure remedied
by the act of 1879 and adequate provision made also for such a report so that the parties can stand on a level
A residual remedy remains however still to be provided viz an improved mode of reviewing the action of the Commission when bona fide believed to be erroneous by any party interestedrailroad citizen or community
Suppose a tariff made by the Commission in their judgment just and reasonable but in the honest opinion of the officers of the railroads lower than is just and reasonabe and not properly remunerative or in the opinion of some citizen or community as too high or discriminating unfavorably against such citizen or loi cality Does the law as it stands sufficiently provide for testing the question Perhaps not so fully as it might
It is true that the Commission itself is always open for a new trial and that without formality But aside altogether from pride of opinion or other fault an error of judgment is not easily cured in those who make it and so an appeal to some outside tribunal is usually the safest mode of securing a fair rehearing
Such an appeal is that which lies from the Superior to the Supreme Court Although the three Judges of the latter court are the very last resort yet the parties to other cases have first had a hearing before a different tribunal and it requires a concurrent judgment of two fairly disposed tribunals to reach finality
As the matter stands parties are not without the right of appeal to the courts but the remedy is Dot sufficiently obvious and attainable If any doubt of this right of appeal ever existed it has been settled by the Tilley case
Under that decision the day in court exists and the action of the Commission is as stated heretoforea report as to just and reasonable rates presumed to be correct until the contrary is established
The remedy so far as the citizen is concerned isjfar better than it was prior to 1879 The remedy for the railroad even now without change of the act is far better than the citizens ever was But it is capable of some improvement and should be perfected as far as possible
THE REMEDY
is chiefly declaratory With some small amendments of a declaratory sort showing the
mode of proceeding for convenience and adaptation the act stands The Tilley case has plowed and cross plowed the whole field for objections but in vain
In the provision by which the rates of the Commission were made sufficient evidencethat term sufficient has been construed to mean simply prima fade in accordance with the view of both partiesso construed by counsel for complainant and counsel for defendants One remaining point of objection has been removed by the adoption by the Commission of a rule as to notices which settles the mode of proceeding more satisfactorily Thus the strong features of the law referred to in our first report as thumbscrews have been so construed as largely to obviate the objections and allow to the railroads their desired day in court
It remans to make the provisions for appeal more comolete and satisfactory
As the law stands the action of the Commission is made prima fade evidence of what rates are reasonable and just let it so continue until the contrary is decided but provide for excep tions to it In case of dissatisfaction with the action of the Commission let any party inter ested whether citizen or city or railroad file exceptions against the same specifying the grounds of such exception as if to a report by a Master in Chancery to the court in which they are filed
If filed by a citizen city or community let it be in the name of the State for the use of A B vs the Railroad Company in the county in which an action would lie for any excessive charge If filed by a railroad company let it
be theRailroad Company vs the
State of Georgiaperhaps best filed at the Capital the situs of the State authority the State granting leave for such a proceeding
When the exceptions are filed let it be the duty of the Railroad Commission to certify their action in the particulars complained of with any other action explanatory thereof and any comments or remarks they may think proper to submit showing the grounds of their decision
If the parties waive a jury let the proceed ing be at Chambers The Attorney or Solicitor General to represent the State if defendant the party complainant to represent his own case and the court to give such damages as it may think just as in claim or other like cases
132
for a proceeding found to be frivolous or vexatious
Let the penalty and damages before a decision by the courts be so qualified as to make the amount less and let the penalty be graduated by the gross income of the road for the preceding fiscal year say a certain per cent instead of by a fixed sum for all roads large and small A penalty upon officers would really best meet the case as they are really the derelict parties The stockholders are scarcely capable of controlling the action and so are innocent Let the scienter be part of the offencei e let the charge include knowingly and wilfully
It is a difficult matter to balance off counsel expert vs expert Fees for the Solicitor or AttorneyGeneral should be provided and the Governor authorized to engage assistance when necessary But this would probably be of rare occurrence On the whole very generally with a properly constituted Commission the safety of all interests would finally be felt to rest in its decisions as safer from its constitution than a jury and more specially educated than the courts and so the inclination would be to appeal to rather than prom it
The Commission were not jesting nor acting a part when in their first report they referred to their deep sense of responsibility in the exercise of the large powers conferred upon them And it will be with a profound sense of relief that they will see such a clear right of appeal as will relieve them from the anxieties of a tribunal once regarded to be strictly of the last resort as well as the first No member of the board has failed at some time to feel an oppressive weight of anxiety
Summary proceeding is important because neither the railroads nor the public can well afford to go on with their daily business not knowing what they are to receive and pay in their constant mutual transactions Neither of them can understand its business nor regulate its affairs expenses and prices without this knowledge
The inexperience of the Commission has been commented on How much will the experience of a jury for a half day mend the matter
The British law on this general subject is to be found in Hodge on Railways from which we make some extracts
In 1872 the necessity of the establishment of a special tribunal to deal with certain rail
way questions was universally acknowledged The railway and canal act of 1854 had been administered by the Court of Common Pleas with indifferent success Indeed with respect both to main and through traffic considered irrespective of undue preference this act had been a complete failure not a single successful application having been made And although the decisions of the courts between different classes of traders had been satisfactory in principle and there was no reason to suppose that any tribunal specially constituted would come to sounder conclusions it appeared that questions of fairness of charges were matters of administrative policy rather than simple questions of law and could be better and more cheaply investigated by a special tribunal acquainted with the subject The committee therefore after pointing out that a Board of Trade is not sufficiently judicial a court of law not sufficiently informed and a parliamentary committee not sufficiently permanent recommended the appointment of a Railway and Canal Commission to consist of not less than three persons of high standing of whom one should be an eminent lawyer and one a person well acquainted with railway management
The bill followed the recommendations almost verbatim and became the regulators of railways act 1873
Among other provisions Railway Commis sioners are absolutely prohibited from holding railway stock of any kind
The act provides 25 that for the pur I poses of this act the Commissioners shall subject as in this act mentioned have full power I to decide all questions whether of law or fact and after naming certain exceptions that save as aforesaid every decision and order of the Commission shall be final
The decision of the Commission may be made the Rule of a Superior Court in order to its legal enforcement by proper officers
They are empowered if they think fit to state a case in writing for the opinion of any I Superior Court determined by the Commis j sioners upon any question which in the opin j ion of the Commissioners is a question of law
Thus the law of Georgia is evidently not the wild and unprecedented action sometimes alleged whether by analogy with the English law or by the decision of a United States Judge
133
The sensible views here expressed as the result of long British experience have largely been incorporated into the Georgia law Under it as it stood and far more as herein proposed to be amended the rights of railroads are more facile for appeal and less subject to three men than in Great Britain At last however three men that very objectionable number must decide the law
The right of exception brings up a great case of Interpleader using this term in its popular sense which will first be heard before the Commission itself and the appeal be to the Courts for a rehearing if desired
Pending suit the rates stand for all parties men cannot stand at a ferry for rates they must settle and pass on So at a train In the Tilley case the Savannah Florida and Western got the benefit and the people had to suffer
In that case the objection being to the want of jurisdiction the old rates were kept of force until the jurisdiction had been sustained Now the decree has settled the matter the arms has been changed and the new rates are observed as prima facia correct
The form of citation or notice issued by the Commission is not such as we would prefer but such as the exigencies of the case render necessary It works as hard on one party as on the other and the practical exigency cannot be evaded If it can we shall be glad to adopt any reasonable method
We have dwelt thus far entirely upon remedies and the right of review A few other points of less consequence are to be presented
The mode of publication provided by the act is expensive and cumbersome It was not embraced in the act as originally framed If the mode were left to the Commission to publish in their best judgment for economy and efficiency it would be a great gain to the State and no loss to the public It now costs 56 to make the smallest changean excessive and unnecessary expense
It would be well to allow the Commission to take testimony by interrogatories as well as orally providing that the clerk of any Superior Court could issue them returnable to such Court and through its clerk to the Commission
The subject of taxation is too large perhaps to enter upon just now
The decisions on this head are even more urprising to the common mind than on the
subject of legal regulation of railroads and in the justice of some of these decisions we probably would not concur They are merely efforts to escape former legislation ultra vires by harsh and strained legal decisions now
But there is much room for improvement here It is frequeutly asserted that 60000000 is the value of the railroad property of Georgia On what do they pay tax
In our second semiannual report we referred to the subject of the Secretarys salary We beg leave respectfully to repeat the suggestion and to say that in our opinion the services of a person fit for the position are worth not less than the usual salary of the State House officers2000 per annum
We append hereto a statement of office expenses and of other necessary expenses chiefly of printing
The suggestions herein made do not pretend or assume to be exhaustive If there be any other matter on which the views of the Commission are regarded as desirable they will be cheerfully and promptly given The object of the law guided by the Constitution is to improve legislation and remedies by prunings or additions from time to time to supply defects or rectify errors It is desired to make a closer and closer fit in the adaptation of the established organization to its duties
Perhaps the work still before us of classification and of more careful information as to the condition and operations of the railroads will keep us busy enough for some time to come
Other duties also will engage our attention in the way of revision
Our work is to act as the organ of the State in the regulation of the railroads by just and reasonable rates rules and regulations It is not our part to attend save by suggestions in our Reports to the Legislature or the press
We cannot be blind to the relative power and determination on the part of the railroads to impress their views and policy on legislation as compared with the scattered and unorganized general Public who have no organ to represent them in this relation so important and all pervading
The General Assembly as the Representatives of the peopleand all their interests individual and corporateis to weigh and determine upon the proper legislation and how
184
fast and far to go and how to protect all interests and see to it that the want of special pleading by the Public does not result in any detriment to its true welfare Outside pressure in the interest of Transportation is not balanced off by any similar pressure in the interest of Production
Save in your own body the case of the Gen
eral Public goes by default It is too diffuse and unorganized to meet their organized corporate assault It is as helpless as a body of stockholders in the presence of this compact power
We turn next to the subject of railroad information
PART IVTHE CONDITION AND OPERATIONS OF THE RAILROADS IN GEORGIA
Our object has been to giveand we will yet givea view of the railroad situation in Georgia so broad systematic and comprehensive as to guide wise legislation and our own action in determining what rates are just and reasonable and what rules and regulations necessary in the premises To do this we must have correct estimates especially of value and net profit and the means of verifying the same with perfect and trustworthy accuracy
We intended also to publish the details for each road for the benefit of the parties especially interested and for our own guidance in equalizing and nicely adjusting benefits and burdens and the adaptation of each tariff to each road To this end we had the forms of a blank report all ready to be filled and they would have been given as they yet will be upon satisfactory returns by the railroads generally The returns we are satisfied always need to be scanned and compared carefully in order that the exact information needed may be extracted and be worthy of confidence This is all important
Compare for example the estimated values of the railroads of the State for other purposes with the tax returns to the ComptrollerGeneral and it will be seen that careful comparisons pay
If valuations are so unreliable and variable are rates less so
To carry out our purpose a letter accompaing Form 10 the system of Reports by the Railroads to the Commission was sent to each road of which the following is a copy
Circular Letter
Office of Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga April 151881
Dear Sir The Commission desire to print in its next Report a full table exhibiting the conditions and operations of all the railroads of the State comparing the operations of the ten months ending February 28 1881 month by month with the corresponding ten months ending February 28 1880 Will you please j to cooperate with this board in making its Re I port as complete and accurate as possible by filling out the blanks accompanying this circular and by furnishing any additional matter which may seem to you desirable to be men I tioned in regard to your own railroad
The Commission indeed would be glad to have a historical sketch as suggested in the Company Table pages 2 and 3 and in the j order there presented of 1 the inception of i the enterprise 2 its progress and 3 completion 4 the sources from which the capital j stock was derived 5 the amounts subscribed in the cities and counties along the line 6 the State aid received and 7 in what form 8 the subsequent enterprises in which your road has cooperated and any other like in j formation
The hope of the Commission is ultimately to be able to present valuable and interesting historical and business tables exhibiting the rise and progress of the railroad interest in Georgia its influence upon trade and production upon the value of land and of city property etc etc
135
This must be a work of time it is true but the Commissioners will be pleased to have it so borne in mind that questions not now answered may hereafter be
They wish to have a large and liberal view of the whole railroad situation and of the original and present relations of the various railroads to one another They are aware that the questions asked are numerous but believe none of them unimportant and that their value and the appreciation in which the information is held will increase with time and reflection The reasons for this view are set forth especially in that portion of the Report referring to bookkeeping and they are of evergrowing importance
If necessary one or more of the Commissioners will at some future time visit your general office to aid in arriving at the needed information It is the earnest desire of the Commission in the discharge of their duties to get rid as much as possible of guesswork and of the influence of what has been designated the personal variation or natural bias and to have all the facts and figures necessary for reaching results by calculation
These reports are needed in this office by the last day of the present month Please to read carefully the printed Explanations and Instructions page 1 and answer as fully as may be practicable by that time and then return the book of forms whether the answers are complete or not
When the answers cannot all be furnished the following are the most important questions
If you can furnish passenger reports to a later period than the 1st of March they will be useful
With much respect yours very truly
James M Smith Chairman
To this letter dated April 15 a list was appended of the more important questions and answers requested by April 30soon extended to May 10 Further extensions were granted but still the replies have not been general nor adequate
Our objectsbesides those already given of comprehensive tables showing the condition of the roads as a whole and special tables for each roadwere to show the comparative results of the operations of the roads to May 1880 and then to May 1881the first results being under
the old tariff of rates and the last under the new
Only a few roads in the State make annual reports with any fullness of detail
Also to see the relative passenger earnings under the new and old rates Also to see the distinction between through and local freight so as to see how far the Commissioners rates affected traffic and how much was independent of them
The responses to the letter and system of reports by some of the roads was all that we could ask or expect Other roads were slow to respond and unsatisfactory in the information furnished both as to matter and form No other road furnished a better statement than the S F W That of the W A was also excellent in most respects Some of the smaller roads did their best
The returns of a number of roads were utterly inadequate and meagre sometimes almost amusingly so references were sometimes made to such a mass of reports as to recall our illustration of the distinction between a pile of bricks and a house There seemed to be a shyness like that of certain elderly persons about telling their age or like the evasiveness with which the census enumerators were occasionally met especially in old times Whether it was simply a struggle against regulation of law or a determination not to expose the mistakes of the pastthe errors of youthat all events the answers were not surcharged with point blank information
If not intended to deceive they were not calculated to enlighten Indeed in some cases the authorities indulged in criticisms on the method instead of answers to the questiQns When once answered the information will speak for itself and bear the test of criticism
Quotations from the answers would justify some severety of comment on our part unless indeed they affected fhe public mind with amusement at their thoroughly noncommittal character
Perhaps this is not to be wondered at Our difficulty is not other than that of the State itself endeavoring through the ComptrollerGeneral to get at the correct tax returns It has been for years the settled policy of Georgia on which successive General Assemblies have tried their skill to place railroads on the same level as to taxation with individuals with little success however It seems difficult for
136
the roads to understand this simple view they cannot see so plain a point Offer double the average returned value for years past for the property and see if it can be bought So too with litigation concerning taxes and exemptions the delay is endless
We are therefore not discouraged being in such good company but trust quite confidently to be able in a few months to procure more thorough and intelligible information than was ever before attainable The character of this information must be such as to deserve and command confidence it must go to the bottom and it shall and will
We have as yet seen no reason why valuation for ratesand valuation for taxesshould be on any different basis Would the railroads be willing to accept their own tax returns as the basis on which to estimate reasonable and just rates of freight We trow not
As the returns stand a full report is impossible and we shall not trifle with the Legislature or the public by making one so partial and deceptive as to be wholly without value
When the questions are answeredomitting any details not attainablethese returns will enable us to get an improved general idea of the extent and importance of the railroad system of the State of its workings and of the interest of the public in it of the capital involved the annual tonnage rates and earnings the annual expenses the profits realized and the use made of them and also of the effect of the Commission on rates and their fairness and equality Nor will such a showing injure the railroads but inspire increased confidence in those worthy of confidencethose unworthy ought to be exposed To the railroad management itself it will afford increased light by comparison upon the most important questions of railroad management and economy
Such reports will show also whether or not stock dividends the issue of debentures and the like are justified by the facts of the case and condition of the property See questions on page 96
Meanwhile before receiving such a report the General Assembly and the public may rest satisfied that the roads are not ruined As we have before said there has been great activity in railroad building and the sale of railroad stocks
Though some of them are very complaining they are not in extremes nor likely to become so
Indeed the year of operations under the Com I mission by some mysterious connection hag been the most prosperous year of their exist I ence with most of the roads and the stock has borne the best market price for those obliged I to sell
These facts rest not on our statement but are I notorious and public and the papers full of I them day by day
On the whole if the reports gave us absolute assurance of the value and the net earnings we would be content But we must have the means of verifying these How By a detailed statement not merely by an item professing to give it unsupported by the proper details No not even on oath The ComptrollerGeneral has that year by yearnot intentionally erringbut not in fact right and trustworthy
Detailed statements are the proper safeguards even with the best intentions and the most perfect publicity
Despite all the efforts of the Legislature and the plain provisions of the Constitution as to uniform taxation what are the facts
The capital invested in railroads in the State is commonly claimed to be in round numbers 60000000
Of this the amount exempt is about 12000000
Leaving subject48000000
Amount actually returned 12500000
Diffrence 35500000
Thus the last report of the ComptrollerGeneral October 1 1880 shows the returns to be about 25 per cent of the amount subject lacking 35000000 of the value which ought to pay tax Meanwhile the property pays no county nor municipal tax
By the same report the aggregate taxable property of the State for 1880 is 238939126
And the aggregate tax 1092822
Now the railroad property if 60000000 represents onefourth of the whole Its State tax would be 273205 while the returns show the actual tax 50718 not onefifth of the relative share due
The same report shows back railroad taxes collected with all the deficiencies of getting to the bottomto the amount of over 180000 the greater part of them collected at the end of the law
137
Do not such facts as these show that correct reports are not so easily had and that legislation has been necessarily in the dark Darkness has paid well but the payment has been to the wrong parties Light will help the State and lighten the general burdens Darkness helps indifferent indolent and fraudulent management The attempt to dissipate the darkness however will be derided by speculators the hope of whose gain is gone whenever the light comes in
In concluding the present reportby far the fullest in many respects yet madewe must express our gratitude at the generous confidence bestowod upon us by the general public and to a considerable extent by the railroads also That this should not be universal on their part is altogether natural It is to be expected that the managers should prefer an unregulated to a regulated monopoly
Strong powers need strong control If the railroad interest is wise it will remember that inter arma leges silent amidst arms laws are silentand not put the State on a war footing and make stronger laws necessary but will cooperate in making regulations wise well informed and well adapted
We think that our whole action shows no disposition on the part of the Commission to grasp at power though the contrary has been alleged without proper consideration Had this disposition existed in fact the strong language of the first report had never been used and in the present report we should be asking for more powers instead of suggesting ready means of appeal from those already possessed It were easy enough to show grounds for increased powers in certain particulars were we anxious for their extension
And in the use of existing powers we have
endeavored to be just and moderatenot straining their limits The means for example of compelling answers to Form 10 are ample and stringent but we have preferred to wait and to secure the voluntary cooperation of the railroads as we are assured we will soon succeed in doing
We can safely appeal to tlje numerous citizens boards of trade etc which have appeared before us whether we have aimed at cheap popularity or shown any disposition to disregard the rights of the railroads and whether we have not obviously and sincerely used such powers to arrive at facts and conform to them with the utmost justice and fairness
Strong powers are needed to control the strong but we have not consciously abused these powers The corporations are powerful in wealth and all that wealth can buyin compactness organization skill tact experience and sometimes also in unscrupulousness at least on the part of their agents
Does any one suppose ours to be an easy task Not in a complaining manner do we refer to these matters On the contrary we have been largely sustained by a popular approbation which could not have been attained by any sort of injustice in favor of the people against the railroads no agrarian spirit has been fouud nor fostered by us
We have endeavored and shall continue in the use of our powers to exercise that wisdom justice and moderation which are the pillars of constitutional liberty and the safeguards of free government
James M Smith Campbell Wallace Samuel Barnett
Commissioners
R A Bacon Secretary
138
THE MAP
Without a map it is impossible properly to understand a single railroad much more a considerable system of roads Our report presents one which we have taken much pains with the kind and hearty cooperation of the Publisher Henry S Stebbins of Chicago 111 to make as full accurate and useful as possible This map shows all the railroads of the State completed and in progress and some of thofe contemplated as probable and ives the names of all the stations It embraces enough of the coterminous States to show something of our railroad connections especially Chattanooga and its group of roads the roads leading into South Carolina with some fullness and almost the whole system of Florida roads
The census of the counties and the political divisions into counties and Congressional districts have added little to the cost and much to the interest and value of the map

IN PRESENT REPORT
Page 5 subhead Common Carriers next to last line omit the words the charges of
Page 41 second column nine lines from bottom for public law read problem
Page 94 first line for Tables read Table in form 10
Page 7 No 42 for due to read due by
Page 15 No 184 for Train read Train
Page 19 four lines from bottom for 1979 read 1879
IN SECOND SEMIANNUAL REPORT
Page 17 four lines from bottom for 30 read 0
Page 18 fifth line omit k
CONTENTS
Duty of Commission to recommend railroad legislation
Much confused information n the subject Subject discussed under four heads
1 Grounds of the right of regulation
2 Limits of the right
3 Mode of its exercise
4 Legislation now needed
Sound views the proper basis of legislative
action
1 Grounds of right
a Constitution of the State
b LawCommon Civil and Statutory CorporationsCommon Carriers Monopolies etc
Argument highly cumulative
All grounds in one
Argument intensified on each
Strongest case for regulation by law
c Natural law
Basis in the rights of Locomotion Transportation and Exchange
Duty of State as to public roads
If transferred to corporations need of guards and limitations
Regulated monopoliesFerry illustration Immense growth of businessIts specialisation
Entire revolution effected by railroads Political bearings
Railroads compared with rivers ocean ordinary highways etc
Legislation at first improvidentReasons In Georgia nearly all production in order to exchange and so for transportation
Constitution of Georgia well guarded
Legislation of 1879 cautious
Action of the CommissionA report not a
judgment
Virtual master in chancery
Regulation by lawconstitutional rightful and necessary
Fortnightly reviewquoted
PART II
O
Limits of the right
Quite as important as the right itself Bulwark against agrarianism
Railroads not assumed to be public property yet clothed with public trust In this as in all property needed sense of security
Constitutional restrictionslimitations by
contract
4
No want of power
Sound discretion in its use
PART III
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Mode of exereising the right of regulation Railroad Commission the final result of fifty years experience
Compared with direct legislation with legislative committee with executive control with proceedings in courts
Need of experts trained by experience equal to interested railroad experts Experience of Europe and of other States
Advantages of publicity
Systematic study needed
Conflicting interests
Jerky and irregular railroad action restrained
Rule 6 as to discrimination
Federal Railroad Commission
Internal relations of railroads
Relation of Stockholders to Directors
Agent superior to principal
Need of light
Interest separated from Information and
from Influence
The three Ins
Methods of unscrupulous managers Power concentrated and excessive Railway morals and railway policy
Bookkeeping
Special difficulties and needs
Railroads not entitled to secrecy
One trunk table needed
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 21
22
23
23
24
25
Use of profit and loss account A broken company cannot break on books Huge evils arising from ignorance of condition of company
Efforts to remedy themdifferent systems Georgia R RCentral R RL N etc Need of system
Books need to show the facts
Debt of gratitude argument
The true way to pay this debt is to protect the stockholders
New and ingenious frauds
Directors speculating in their own stocks Quotations from Railway Age
Rights of small stockholders and minorities
Functions of the Commission
To improve and apply remedies
To regulate the relations of railroads Results of the Commission in Georgia Railroads made amenable to law and public opinion
Publicity
An exchange for collecting and diffusing information
Circular 11reduced rates of travel and its results
Travel as an educator and as a feeder for business
Other Circulars
Special unprinted rates their evils Railroad map
A clean sheet corrected to date in supplement
Form 10Railroad reports to Commission Legal test of act of 1879
Tilley vs Railroad Commission
Dangers of the lobby
The question of rates
The public has no interest in getting work from railroads at less than its worth Valuation of property difficult yet important
Four methods suggested and explained Rates even more difficultThe factors are Cost of service value of service and amount of business
Averaging and its effects
Railroad units
Classification
After allValue and rates to be settled The same data exist for the Commission disinterested as for the railroad officials interested
Round of exchanges 41
Pooling sygtem 42
Practical results of Commission 43
Reduction of rates
Equalizing of rates
Railroads not injured 44
Stock sales at home and abroad
Railroad showings
Policy to keep roads up with small surplus 45 The Railroad Commission constantly trying chief civil cause in the State
The onus lies properly on the informed party
Immense concentration of power needs
control 43
Temptations and opportunities of abuse Political and moral dangers 47
Not a party question shown by quotation from Mr Garfield
Democratic opinion the same
Need of law and light
The dangers to be anticipated and warded
off 48
Conclusions
CONTENTS OF SUPPLEMENT
Prefatory matter 51
PART ILegal Aspect
Extracts Constitution United States
Constitution of Georgia 52
Act of 1879 creating the Railroad Com
mission 54
Analysis of above 58
Course of railroad legislation in Georgia 59
Tilley casetesting act 1879 63
Brief of Chisholm Erwin
Mynatt Howell64
Mynatt Howell 69
AttorneyGen Clifford Anderson 71
Brief of R Toombs not received for publication
Judge Woods statement of case 74
Decision 76
PART IIWork of the Commission
Bookkeeping 85
System of blank forms Form 10 88
Explanations and instructions
Contents of Form 10 96
Company Table 91
27 I
28
29
31
32
33
35
36
37
38
39
40
Ill
Financial Condition of the Company
Trunk Table 92
another form of 94
Property Table 95
Table of Liabilities 96
Business Tables
Gross Earningspassenger and freight 97
by months
by stations
by class and distances
Working expenses 98
Net income and uses 100
AH Receipts and Payments
Profit and Loss Table101
Comparative Table
Historical Table 102
Physical Condition of the Company
Table of Stations etc 103
Profile Alignment etc 104
Construction 105
Equipment 106
All other property
Work done by classes
by stations
Descriptive listLocomotives107
Work doneTrains tons etc 108
Rates Rules and Regulations and Classification
Proceedings before the Commission 110
Passenger Tariff and RulesIll
Standard Freight Tariff112
I 113
Relations of Railroads to Standard 114 Rules and Regulations
Estimated Weights i117
Classification 118
Distances 128
PART IIILegislation
Rights and Remedies 130
Prior to 1879
Improved by act 1879 131
Residual improvements
Exceptions to report of Commission 132 Quotations from British law
PublicationInterrogatoriesTaxation
Secretary 133
Outside Pressure
PART IV
Condition and operation of railroads in
Georgia 134
Report postponedReasonsCircular Letter etc
Delays and imperfect replies 135
Corresponding difficulty about taxation Neededa full report not a nominal one 136 Tax returns illustrated thus
12500000 vs 48000000
Back faxes
Correct reports not easily had 137
Strong power needs Wong restrictions
The desire of the Commission to act with firmness and moderation
The MapErrata
138
Sixth SemiAnnual Report
OF THE
jlroad Commission
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
Submitted to the Governor October 151882
Seing ie Mhj St anti St CqUmL
ATLANTA GA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING CO PRINTERS 1882
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
LEANLEB K TEAMMELL
R A BACON Secretary
Atlanta Ga
SIXTH SEMIANNUAL REPORT
Office of the Bailroad Commission Atlanta Ga Oct 151882
To his Excellency Alfred H Colquitt
Governor
We present your Excellency our report of the action taken by this Commission since the date of our last report
In former reports submitted we said all in reference to the powers of the Commissioners which we think should be said in explanation of the law and the provisions of the Constitution under which the Commission was created The experience of three years of the operations of the Commission under the law certainly serves to illustrate the question of the wisdom or folly of maintaining it In this view we have deemed it proper to merely submit here our action since our last report with the reasons that controlled us in arriving at the conclusions embraced in our various orders or circulars herewith presented
Circular No 15 is as follows
1st Corn Field and all other peas car load or less than car load will be placed in Class D Standard Tariff
2d Marl ground limestone and slacked lime in sacks or casks in car loads or less than car load in C ass L
While the contents of this circular indicate the purpose for which it was passed we beg to here present the reasons which influenced the Commission in taking this action The first clause of the order was intended to encourage the production of one of the most valuable agricultural products of our State By cheapening the rates of transportation we placed the Georgia farmer in the growth of this product upon equal footing with producers in other States The general public have been benefited and the railroads have not suffered thereby The second paragraph of this circular was passed upon the suggestion of the State Commissioner of Agriculture His purpose in making and ours for adopting the suggestion was to render it practicable for the people of the State to utilize a cheap but very valuable
fertilizing material which exists in limitless quantities in this State We feel confident in saying that this object will be accomplished in a large measure to the benefit both of the railroads and of the general public
Circular No 16 of date July 16th 1881 reads thus
The following changes in classification take effect August 10 1881
Bags and paper stock in sacks crates or hogshead C L Class 6 Same less than car load Class 4 Bags and paper stock pressed in bales C L Class D Same less than car loads Class 6
The object of the Commission in issuing this order was to encourage the collecting and saving by our people of articles which enter very largely into the manufacture of paper The rates upon certain of these articles before the passage of this circular had been almost prohibitory The effect of the order has been to place the papermaking interests in our State more nearly upon an equal footing with similar industries abroad and that too in our opinion without injury to the interests of the railroads
Circular No 17 reads as follows was passed July 291881
On the Savannah Florida and Western Bailway the maximum rates for all distances on cotton Class J are hereby made thirty per cent above the Standard Tariff And on class goods 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D E F G H for distances over one hundred miles twentyfive per cent above Standard Tariff Other classes remain unchanged
Circular No 18 bears date of September 1 1881 and reads
On the Savannah Florida and Western Bailway the maximum rates for all distances on cotton Class J are hereby made fortyfive per cent above the Standard Tariff And on class goods 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D E F G H for distances between 0 and 60 miles 60 per cent 60 and 100 miles 50 per cent 100 and 150 miles 40 per cent 150 and 200 miles 35 per cent over 200 miles 30 per cent above Standard Tariff Other classes remain un changed
These two circular orders were passed at the
4
request of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company and of a large number of influential and representative citizens served by that line of railway Evidence was presented to the Commission by the officials of the company shoving that an increase of rates was necessary to prevent loss in operating the road The citizens referred to with but few exceptions expressed a willingness to be taxed with such higher rates as the company might consider necessary to make the operation of the road remunerative This road had therefore been almost local in its operations and was controlled by no connecting railroad
It has been the policy of the Commission when practicable to bring the authorities of the railroads and the public served thereby together before the board and to adopt rates which might be agreed upon if considered to be just and reasonable to both the railroads and the public This policy we have found to work satisfactorily in certain cases where the roads were local or comparitively so in their operations
Circular No 19 was issued by the Commission December 1 1881 It is in the following terms
The maximum rates allowed on fertilizers will on and after January 1 1882 be twenty 20 per cent higher than Class K of Standard Rates except when rates havebeen agreed on between different railroads for a less rate or may hereafter be agreed on by such roads
After a trial covering a period of several months the Commission believed that their standard rate for transportation of manufactured fertilizers was at that time too low This resulted from the great expense to the railroads consequent upon storage detention of cars etc In view of this the Commission concluded to temporarily advance the rates on fertilizers and accordingly issued said circular
Circular No 20 was passed February 10 1882 and is as follows
The following changes will take effect April 1st 1882
1st An additional class R is hereby added to the Commissioners freight classification and the maximum rates per hundred pounds allowed for each of the divisions of that column R in the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff hereafter shall be the same as those heretofore allowed Class D in the Standard Freight Tariff which was dated May 1 1880
2d Spirits Turpentine C L carriers risk
Class R Rags pressed in bales C L carriers risk Class R Rice in car loads carriers risk same maximum rates as Class N Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except ale and beer barrels L C L Class R Under Note 1 reduced rates can be made for these articles
3d All connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same companyshall in applying the rates and divisions allowed below on Class C D and F be considered as constituting but one and the same railroad But not less than 25 cents need be charged on any single shipment for any distance
4th The right to charge any additional percentages on Classes C D and F which may have heretofore been allowed by circular to any railroad is hereby revoked and the following columns are substituted as the maximum rates of the Commissioners Standard Tariff on Classes C D and F in lieu of those heretofore in use
5th Class C comprises flour and meal in sacks any quantityand mill stuffs in less than carlords
Class D comprises grain malt ajid cow peas in any quantity and hay shucks fodder and straw pressed in bales and corn in ear in carloads to be charged as 20000 pounds
Class F comprises flour and meal in barrels any qaantity
The railroad corporations of this State derive their franchises from our own people and are protected by our State laws in all their rights of property and should give our own public in the matter of transportation equal advantages with those given to the people of other States Complaints to the Commission were made by the millers of this State that unjust discriminations in transportation by the railroads were made against their products in favor of similar industries abroad It was plain that these discriminations would have the effect of driving these industries from the State and would paralyze in a measure the grain producing interests of Georgia
After full consideration the Commission concluded that these complaints were just and passed Circular No 20 which they thought would to some extent afford a remedy for the evil complained of
We here give a brief statement of the reasons which led us to these conclusions We would call your Excellencys attention to Appendix A hereto attached for a more full and particular statement of the grounds upon which this action of the Commission rests
Much complaint has been made on the part of the railroads against the effects of this order The railroads have urged that the order if enforced would result in very serious injury to their interests
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and Wm M Wadley as the lessee of that company filed their bill against the Commission praying an injunction restraining the operation of this circular and of circular No 21 on their railroad
The application for injunction was based in brief upon the grounds first that the rates required by these circulars were unjust and unreasonable and secondly that by a provision of its charter the company was not subject in the fixing of its rates to the control of this Commission
The full proceedings in this cause which is
5
I still pending before the Supreme Court of the State are hereunto appended This bill of the complainants the answer and crossbill of the Commissioners demurrers etc are fully set forth in Appendix A The special attention of your Excellency is invited to these proceedings The decision of the able Chancellor refusing the injunction is also presented All these taken together show fully the grounds upon which the Commission acted in passing the circular here under consideration These proceedings will also show clearly the reasons why in the opinion of the Commission this circular is applicable to the Georgia Railroad as well as to the other railroads of the State
Consulting brevity w must content ourselves with embracing in the body of our report a very short statement of the grounds upon which this order rests
One instance alone quoted from our answer filed in said case will in our opinion be here sufficient to show the unjust discriminations practiced by the railroads against the millers and farmers of our State in favor of Western millers and farmers
A Cincinnati or Louisville miller can ship a barrel of 200 pounds of flour from his place to Charleston S C directly through Atlantaa distance of 783 milesfor 30 cents per barrel If an Atlanta miller shipped 300 pounds of wheat from Cincinnati or Louisville he paid therefor 93 cents freight to Atlantaa distance of 474 miles After grinding it into flour he then paid 60 cents per 100 pounds or 120 per barrel of 200 pounds of flour freight from Atlanta to Charlestona distance of 309 milesmaking 213 per barrel freight that the Georgia miller really paid on a barrel of flour ground in this State as against 30 cents that the Cincinnati and Louisville miller paid freight on a barrel of flour ground there and transported over identically the same roads and the same distance being a discrimination of 183 per barrel against the Georgia miller in favor of the Western miller and against the farmer of our State in favor of the Western farmer Out of a rate from Cincinnati or Louisville to Charleston S C the Georgia Railroad for hauling 171 miles voluntarily accepted 6 15 cents as tolls on a barrel of flour but the proportion of the rate on a barrel of flour shipped by a Georgia miller from A tlanta to Charleston which that road transported 171 miles was about 32 cents That is over five times as great a rate was collected by the Georgia Railroad on a Georgia millers barrel of flour shipped to Charleston S C as was voluntarily accepted by that road on a barrel of flour shipped by a Cincinnati or Louisville miller the same distance over its road And in
6
addition the Georgia miller was required to ship as much as a carload of flour to get the benefit of even this rate while the Cincinnati miller was permitted to ship any quantity from one barrel up at the greatly discriminating rates mentioned granted him by the railroads
This shows sharply the discrimination against our millers and our people The rates of Circular 20 to which the Georgia Eailroad so strenuously objected permitted it to charge 28 cents for carrying a barrel of flour 171 miles which was more than four and one half times as much as that road was then voluntarily accepting for the transportation of a barrel of flour shipped from beyond the State
These discriminations manifestly tended not only to seriously injure our milling and grain producing interests but of necessity were burdensome and oppressive to our public generally The Commission sought by this circular to place our industries in question more nearly upon a footing of equality with similar interests abroad We are satisfied that the enforcement of this orderwill in a large measure accomplish this very desirable result
A careful examination of the proceedings in the cause referred to will show that no attempt was made by the Georgia Railroad Company or by Mr Wadley to contravert the truth of the facts set forth in the answr of the Commissioners as to that railroads discriminations against the people of Georgia therein mentioned The complainants in the cause seemed content to rely entirely upon the legal proposition that they had the exclusive power by the law of their charter to fix their own rates within certain maximum limits
As has been already intimated the Chancellor refused the injunction holding that the company did not have by the law of their charter the right to fix rates as it claimed to have In this connection we invite your Excellencys attention to the fact that while the injunction was refused by the Chancellor he nevertheless deemed it his duty under his construction of the law to allow the restraining order granted against the Commission to remain of force until his action could be reviewed by the Supreme Court ofthe State The effect of this ruling is to allow the injunction which was refused to remain virtually in force against this Commission for a length of time which may be almost indefinite We do not advert to this in
a spirit of complaint but to suggest that if under the rules of practice obtaining in such cases one of our ablest Chancellors has found it necessary to allow an injunction to stand in effect which in his opinion had no legal ground to support it then a legislative corrective ought in our opinion to be applied While this restraining order remains of force the people who are served by the Georgia Railroad are subjected to discriminating rates while the people served by every other railroad in this State have the benefit of the cheapened rates on flour meal grain etc specified in Circulars 20 and 21
If this rule of practice is held correct by the highest court then it is manifest that it would be in the power of the railroads to easily thwart the will of the Legislature expressed through this Commission
Another cause of complaint made to the Commission was that certain railroads which were being operated virtually by one and the same corporation were charging a combination of the maximum local rates allowed making in many instances the totals of the rates charged exorbitant and unjust to the consumer After investigation the Commissioners met this complaint by paragraph 3 of Circular 20 which in their opinion will correct this evil
Circular No 21 dated March 31882 is as follows
On and after April 1 1882 the rates of freight transported by regular passenger trains must not exceed one and onehalf the rates allowed by Commissioners Standard Tariff for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains but a charge of 25 cents may be made for any single shipment
This circular was passed for the purpose of reducing the charges made by express companies and by the railroads on shipments by passenger train and on extra baggage We thought the maximum charges allowed were too high and they were more generally complained against than any other character of railroad service hence this order
Circulars 22 and 24 will be found below Circular 22 reads thus
The Georgia Pacific Railroad Company and the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Company are each permitted to add the percentages mentioned below to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff and charge such totals as maximum freight rates Add thirty 30 per cent to Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G and H

Add fifteen 15 per cent to cotton Class J Add twenty 20 per cent heretofore allowed I every other railroad by Circular 19 to FertilI izers Classes C D and F remain at StandI ard rates allowed by Circular 20 All other classes remain at Commissioners Standard
I rates The Georgia Pacific Railroad and the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad are each placed in passenger Class B and allowed to charge four 4 cents per mile
Circular 24 is as follows
The Gainesville Jefferson and Southern j Eailroad and the Marietta and North Georgia I Eailroad are permitted to add the percentages mentioned below to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff and charge such totals as j maximum freight rates Add thirty 30 per cent to Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G and H Add fifteen 15 per cent to Cotton rates Add twenty 20 per cent to Fertilizers in Class K Classes C D and F remain at I Standard Tariff allowed by Circular 20
I The Gainesville Jefferson and Southern Railroad is placed in Passenger Class B and is permitted to charge four 4 cents per mile pasI sender fare This circular to take effect September 15th 1882
The roads mentioned in these two circulars being in an incomplete state and not controlled by connecting railroads the Commission after investigation thought proper to allow to them the increased rates named in these circulars
Circular No 23 issued by the Commission
I is in the following terms and bears date Au I gust 4 1882
On and after September 1 1882 the maxi mum rates allowed on rice in any quantity for any distances will be those of Class C with fifty I 50 per cent added thereto and subject to i rules in 3d paragraph of Circular 20 dated February 10 182
After due investigation of the subject the Commissioners thought that the rates of trans1 portation charged on rice were unjustly and i unreasonably high The effect of Circular No
23 will in our opinion be to stimulate the proi duction of rice and by increasing the quantity of the article transported add to the revenues of the roads as well as to the wealth of our I people
The experience of nearly two years proved to the Commission that the revenues of the railroads in this State were not diminished by reductions of passenger fares The effect of the reductions of passenger rates has been to in crease the volume of travel on the roads thus adding to their revenues In the light of this experience the Commission has added to the list of the three cents per mile roads or to
Passenger Class A the roads and branches mentioned in Circular 25 passed September 21 1882 which reads thus
1st On and after November 11882 in addition to the roads named in preceding circulars all portions of the following railroads branches or leased lines situated in Georgia are placed in Passenger Class A Ticket rate three 3 cents per mile
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad
The Central Railroad lines between
Gordon and Eatonton Fort Valley and Perry Albany and Blakely Cuthbert and Fort Gaines the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad the Upson County Railroad
The Cherokee Railroad
The Columbus and Rome Railroad
The East Tennessee Va apd Ga R R between Cochran and Hawkinsville
The Georgia Railroad between Barnett and Washington
The Marietta and North Georgia R R
The Richmond and Danville R R the NorthEastern R R the Georgia Pacific RR the Elberton AirLine the Hartwell R R the Lawrenceville R R the Roswell R R
The Rome Railroad
The Savannah Florida and Western Railroad
the Waycross and Florida Railroad
2d Railroads are restricted to the above as maximum rates only and have full liberty to reduce these rates on all and every character of passenger service at their own option
3d A railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as a half rate where the tare would be less than these amounts
The effect of this and previous orders of the Commission is to restrict all the railroads branches and leased roads in this State to three 3 cents per mile as the maximum ticket rate for passengers except the Gainesville Jefferson and Southern Railroad and the Knox ville and Augusta Railroad which are allowed to charge four 4 cents per mile and the Talbotton Railroad the Sandersville and Tennille Railroad the Louisville and Wadley Railroad the Walton County Railroad and the Gainesville and Dahlonega Railroad which are allowed to charge five 5 cents as maximum ticket rates
The lumber millers along the lines of the Central Railroad and of the Brunswick division of the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad complained before the Commission that owing to the depressed price of lumber they could not continue to operate their mills at the rates of transportation charged by
8
the two roads mentioned That a suspension of their business would throw out of employment hundreds of employees and prove ruinous to the lumber interests in that portion of the State The millers also showed that they had applied repeatedly to the railroad authorities for a reduction of rates but that their applications had been refused They also showed that sometime before the Savannah Florida and Western Railway Company had reduced the rates on lumber produced on the lines of the roads of that company to about onehalf the rates formerly charged That these causes would have the effect of almost entirely cutting off the shipment of lumber by the complainant millers to the seaboard
The action of the Commission in this matter and upon the subject of the transportation of lumber over the entire State will be found in Circular 26 as follows s
The maximum rates on lumber allowable on the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad on and after November 1 1882 will not for any distances be greater than the rates for Class P of the Commissioners Standard Rates less 20 per cent deduction from the Standard Rates and in the following paragraph of Circular No 27 viz On and after November 1 1882 the maximum rates on lumber for any distance on all railroads within this State will be twenty 20 per cent less than the rates on Class P of the Commissioners Standard Tariff for the same distance
A very little reflection is needed to show that the effect of this action on the part of the Commission will be to open a much more extended field for Georgia timber than was at first contemplated by either the millers or the railroad authorities
In the complaints of the lumber millers just referred to nothing more was asked than a reduction of rates from their mills to the ports of Savannah and Brunswick This the authorities of the two roads mentioned at last consented to yield A thorough consideration of the whole subject however led the Commission to conclude that it was its duty to unlock as far as practicable all the cities and markets of the great West to the lumber men of Georgia These markets have hitherto been almost entirely supplied over the lines of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Alabama Great Southern Railroad from the forests of Alabama and Mississippi High rates over the Georgia roads had almost entirely excluded
the lumber men of the southern portion of this State from entering the markets mentioned with their products
It is believed that the reduced rates under Circulars 26 27 and 28 will enable our millers and dealers to lay down their lumber in Nashville Cincinnati or Louisville for example upon terms that will enable them to compete successfully with lumber men who draw their productions from other States In addition to this we think that this action will open up more fully the lumber markets in our own State and will tend to encourage by cheapening this product the building up of our villages towns and cities
Circulars No 27 and 28 were passed October 2d and under the law cannot go into effect until November 11882
Circular No 27 is as follows
1st All connecting railroads which are under the management or control by lease ownership operation or otherwise of one and the same railroad company shall in applying the Commissioners Tariffs for all purposes of transportation within the limits of this State be considered as constituting but one and the same railroad and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same railroad and all exceptions to this rule heretofore made by this Commission are hereby repealed
2d Under the preceding paragraph the following railroads will for all purposes of transportation be considered as forming different railroad systems and each system will be considered as one continuous railroad in computing rates between stations on the diflerent roads branches operated or leased lines composing that particular system
3d The Central Railroad system will consist of the Central Railroad the Southwestern Railroad the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad the Upson County Railroad and all the branches or railroad lines owned leased or operated by either of these railroads situated in Georgia
4th The East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia system will consist of the East Tennessee Virgiuia and Georgia Railroad in Georgia the Cincinnati and Georgia Railroad the Macon and Brunswick Railroad and all the branches or railroad lines owned leased or operated by them
5th The Richmond and Danville system will consist of the Richmond and Danville Railroad or Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine in Georgia the Northeastern Railroad the Elberton AirLine Railroad the Hartwell Railroad the Lawrenceville Railroad the Roswell Railroad the Georgia Pacific Railroad
6th The Savannah Fhyida and Western system will consist of the Savannah Florida
9
and Western Railroad and its branches and leased or operated lines in Georgia and the Vavcross and Florida Railroad
7th The maximum rates on lumber for any distance on all railroads within this State will be twenty 20 per cent less than the rates on Class P of the Commissioners Standard Tariff for the same distance
8th This circular goes into effect November 11882
Circular No 28 is in the following terms
1st The maximum rates of freight heretofore allowed the Richmond and Danville or Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Railroad the Northeastern Railroad the Georgia Pacific Railroad the Elberton AirLine the Hartwell Railroad the Lawrenceville Railroad and the Roswell Railroad are hereby repealed and in place thereof those railroads are permitted to add the following percentages to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff and charge such totals as maximum freight rates viz add ten 10 per cent to Classes 1 2 3 45 6 A B E G H and J add twenty 20 per cent for fertilizers in Class K Classes C D and F remain at Standard Tariff as allowed in Circular 20 All other classes remain at Commissioners Standard Tariff except lumber which is twenty 20 per cent below Class P of Standard Tariff The computation of freight rates between stations on any and all of the above railroads will be made strictly in accordance with rules of Circular 27 twentyseven
2d Paragraphs 1 3 and 5 of Circular ten 10 are hereby repealed The Atlanta Division of the Central Railroad is placed under the rules of paragraph two 2 of Circulsr ten 10 All joint rates issued by the Central Railroad under paragraph five 5 of Circular ten 10 are hereby withdrawn The computation of freight rates between stations on the Central Railroad the Southwestern Railroad the Savannah Griffin and North AlaR R the Upson County Railroad and any of the leased lines or branches of these railroads will be made strictly in accordance with rules of Circular twentyseven 27
3d The Louisville and Wadley Railroad is permitted to add to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff the following percentages and to charge such totals as maximum freight rates viz add thirty 30 per cent to classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G and H add fifteen 15 per cent to cotton rates add twenty 20 per cent tQ fertilizers in Class K Classes C D and F remain at Standard Rates allowed in Circular twenty 20
4th This circular goes into effect November 1 1882
These two circulars as will be seen by reading them refer to the same subjects and were intended by the Commission to enforce Rule No 1 which was the first rule adopted by this Commission for tiie government of railroads
This has stood as one of our rules except in one instance By Circulars Nos 27 and 28 we intend to make the rule applicable to every road in the State without any exception whatever Upon this rule was based what is known as the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff
Rule No 1 was intended as one of the means of carrying out the principles of the law creating the Commission which we construe to mean the recognition of the right of every man in the State of Georgia to select his own market either home or foreign in which to purchase his supplies or sell his products without obstruction on the part of transportation companies either in the form of unreasonable and unjust rates and arbitrary rules or by combinations or agreements expressed or implied between such companies
Properly enforced Rule No 1 will prevent cumulative rates or what in railroad parlance are known as the sums of the locals from being charged on shipments between stations on differentportions of connecting roads in cases where such connecting roads are virtually owned operated or controlled by one and the same carrier Experience has shown that this rule is not only correct in principle but beneficial to the public and reasonable arid just to the railroads
To give a more clear understanding of Circulars 27 and 28 we here present extracts from what is therein referred to as Circular No 10 dated August 13 1880
1st The Central Railroad and Banking Company is authorized to operate their railroads in the following divisions The Savannah the Southwestern Railroad the Atlanta the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad
2d On the Savannah and Southwestern Railroad Divisions and the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad upon all classes other than Specials the maximum freight rates between 30 and 40 miles to be 50 per cent above Stand ard Rates between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent and one hundred miles and over 20 per cent as heretofore fixed
3d Upon the Atlanta Division on all classes other than Specials the maximum rates to be 30 per cent over Standard
5th A tariff of joint rates on all the roads operated by the Central Railroad and Banking Company prepared with the approbation of the Commission will be furnished by the Company on application
The Louisville and Wadley Railroad not be
10
ing owned or operated by a connecting rail road and the authorities having shown that the Standard Tarift was not in our opinion sufficiently high we granted that road an additional percentage
Circular 29 dated October 9 1882 was rendered necessary by the extensions of the East Tennessee Yirginia and Georgia making its length within the State between the Tennessee State line and Brunswick Ga more than 350 miles the distance heretofore given in our Standard Freight Tariff for which rates had been made It is as follows
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cococococococococococo 00 00 00jl05 05 05pcn S C
cococococococococococo GOOoarKll05 05 050Cft o tc
tOtOtOtOtOtOKtObOtOtO IlO5C5O5OtC7C0C0 j cts Q
tObOtOtOtCbObOtOtOtOtO CP pvCnCOCOCOH1 cts G
hbt COCO CO lO to to I4 H o o cts fed
05tv to bC 00 0 05 05 o Per
COCOCObObObOtOtObCtOtO hMHOOOOOOtCPitOtO o o bbl
CJtCnCnpCPpiCCPCPCPCn 05 05 05vffr0t0t0 00 o w Per 100 lbs
e
oocoooooociaicno a GO 80
lOKDtOH HM1WMMM OOOOiOOOOCOOOJI a 05
cococococococococococo 00 00 00KI050505pTCP OOOOOOOOOOO 05 tj ti 1
cococococococococococo OOOCPCPCPtOtp a g o p GO W
00505050505050050505 OOOOOOCOCOCOOO OOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO 4 1 o 1 z m H o M G CO
ICCOCOCCOCObOtOtOtOtO o go
OOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO1 gj
COCOCJtvtObObOtObONCtO 000 T OOOOOOO 000000000001 cts t p Pj
COCOCObObObObOtOtObCtO OOOOOOOOC505C5 1 ja S00 05 04
2 The class M column of the standard freight tariff between 200 and 350 miles inclusive is changed to read as follows
Miles Dollars per ton Miles Dollars per ton Miles Dollars per ton
200 2 45 260 2 76 320 3 05
210 2 50 270 2 85 330 3 15
220 2 55 280 2 85 340 3 15
230 2 65 290 2 95 350 3 28
240 2 65 300 2 95
250 2 75 310 3 05
We have thought it best in this report to confine ourselves mainly to a simple statement of the circulars heretofore set forth issued since the date of our last report together with the reasons in brief which induced our action in the premises Many other questions between the railroads and public have been passed upon by this board The action of the Commission in reference thereto cannot be here given without making this report too lengthy Our records will show particularly and at length all our official acts To these records we especially invite the attention of your Excellency and of the Legislature
The effect of the action of this Commission upon the interests of the people of the State may be illustrated by giving one instance alone
The actual saving in rates on the one article of cotton to the benefit of our cotton producers will amount during the present season to more than a half million dollars as the present cotton crop of Georgia will according to the best information amount to vr seven hundred thousand bales It was soon found that the rates of transportation for cotton from interior points in our State agreed upon by the railroads and steamships at a meeting in New York which were published to take effect September 1 1882 would have to be abandoned unless the cotton rates from interior Georgia markets to the seaboard cities of Savannah and Brunswick were advanced The determination of this Commission not to increase the cotton rates to those cities at that time was publicly known The result was that at a meeting held in Atlanta September 13th the railroad and steamship companies agreed to certain reduced cotton rates which went into effect September 14 1882
The manner in which this saving will be effected may be clearly seen by reference to the comparative statement of cotton rates from a few of the markets of our State given below
bates on cotton PER 100 POUNDS
11
FROM
Augusta Milledgeville 1 Macon J
Atlanta 1 Athens Rome
Dalton J
Fairburn Palmetto Newnan Grantville Hogansville LaGrange West Point Opelika
Marietta Ringgold
Kingston Cartersville
To To New York
Baltimore Philaphia
03 03 03
03 GO 00
00 CO
00 rH rH rH

rH rH rH rH
J
Pm Pm
D
GO GO GO GO
QQ m


c3 Q e c3
Pi Ph Pi Pi
71 51 76 57
84 64 89 70
89 67 94 75
1 03 81 1 08 89
1 05 83 1 10 91
1 07 85 1 14 93
1 11 89 1 16 97
1 11 89 1 16 97
15 93 1 20 1 01
1 17 95 1 22 1 03
1 07 85 1 12 93
1 03 81 1 08 89
1 07 85 1 12 93
1 09 87 1 14 95
1 00
1 14
p
o
GO

We present here a statement of the office expenditures made during the last fiscal yearVouchers for these expenditures are on file in this office ready to be submitted to the proper
authorities
Wages of office attendant 46 50
Gas bill 29 90
Telegrams 3 65
Subns to newspapers and periodicals 39 95
Postage stamps etc 75 80
Fuel 24 80
Express charges i 1 20
Stationery and desk furniture 8 40
Books 4 90
Insurance on furniture and incidentals 3 00
Office furniture 6 35
Maps for office 5 55
Office rent July 1 81 to Oct 1 82 250 00
500 00
We may be pardoned for stating that as Georgians we feel a pride in being able to say
that many States of the Union and even the authorities of European governments have sought information as to the provisions of the act creating this Commission and of its practicar workings The main provisions of our law have in some instances been adopted by other States
Since the date of our last report Texas and New York have placed themselves in the list of States that have found it necessary to establish Commissions for the control of the transportation interests within their limits
The constitutionality of the law creating this Commission has been settled in the minds of all thinking people The experiment which Georgia has made has been successful and the law as it now exists is believed by not only our own but by other States to be sufficient for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it was enacted
We have at present no change in the law to recommend except that a proper increase in the salary of our Secretary be made The compensation now allowed him we consider insufficient remuneration for the great labor devolving upon and the skill and experience required of him in the discharge of his very responsible duties
Experience has proved that the transportation companies need a power over them which will curtail their growing extravagance and lesson their current expenses for the benefit of their own stockholders The people need a power sufficient to control these corporations and prevent excessive and discriminating rates growing out of loose and extravagant management
This Board has constantly kept in view the very desirable object of bringing the railroads and the people to a full recognition of each others legal and equitable rights
Apprehensions that the Commissioners might abuse their powers have ceased to exist There is a feeling of confidence that no combination of capital either home or foreign invested in railroads can materially injure or affect the public interest so long as transportation is wisely and prudently regulated by law
Railroad manufacturing mining agricultural and every other material interest have within the past three years received a remarkable impetus in Georgia Confidence in the stability of the value of every species of prop
12
erty in this State and in our progressive prosperity as a people is greater than ever before
All predictions that the action of the Railroad Commission of Georgia would paralyze the railroad interests of the country have failed An experience of three years of the practical operations of railroads in this State under the supervision of law has for that period shown largely increased revenues to the railroads larger dividends to the railroad stockholders higher prices for railroad shares greater volume of business largely stimulated travel
greatly increased tendency to invest capital in our State more miles of railroad builtand being built in Georgia and corresponding benefits to the public generally and the railroad authorities and the people on better terms with each other than ever before during a similar period in our history
JAMES M SMITH CAMPBELL WALLACE L N TRAMMELL
Commissioners
EXPEITDITUBBS
The following exhibits show the expenses incurred and paid by the Commission between November 1 1880 and October 15 1882 two years
From November 1 1880 to July 15 1881
for account of
Office furniture 70 00
Office rent Jan 1 to July 1 1881 100 00
Maps for office use 14 50
Maps for third semiannual report 80 00
Postage 31 20
Gas Light Co 13 44
Wages of porter ft 33 10
Coal and wood 24 65
Stationery and desk furniture 17 10
Subscriptions to papers and periodicals 27 95
Express charges on books maps etc 4 40
Printing law of 1879 and decision in
Tilley case 33 50
Telegrams 90
Copy of order in Tilley case 2 00
Incidentals 1 60
454 34
From July 151881 to November 1 1881
Postage and stamps 12 50
Office attendant 1200
Express charges 1 22
Repairing lock 25
Newspapers and periodicals 6 50
Books 5 50
Gas bill 54
Stationery and office boxes 7 15
From November 11881 to October 15 1882
for account of
Wages of office attendant 46 50
Gras bill 29 90
Telegrams 3 65
Subns to newspapers and periodicals 39 95
Postage stamps etc 75 80
Fuel 24 80
Express charges 1 20
Stationery and desk furniture 8 40
Books 4 90
Insurance on furniture and incidentals 3 00
Office furniture 6 35
Maps for office 5 55
Office rent July 1 81 to Oct 1 82 250 00
500 00
45 66
James M Smith chairman
Campbell Wallace Eailroad Commissioners
Leander N Trammell
Robert A Bacon Secretary
Atlanta Georgia
CIRCULARS OF THE COMMISSION
On March 2d 1880 Circular No 1 was issued On March 4th 1880 the Commissioners Schedule of Kates and Kules and Kegulations was issued The Schedule was originally intended to take effect April 4th 1880 but the time was postponed until May 1st 1880 at which date the first public action of the Commission appointed under the Act approved October 14th 1879 was of force The following circulars from 1 to 22 inclusive comprise the circulars published between May 1st 1880 and May 10 1882
CIRCULAR No 1
Office of K K C ommission of Georgia 1 Atlanta Ga March 2 1880 j
The tariff herewith furnished for your information has been adopted as a standard Schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges which the law requires to be prepared by this Commission for each railroad company of the State It will constitute the basis upon which such changes of rates may be engrafted from time to time as justice may require We have not been able with the information at our command to determine with sufficient certainty the extent and character of the diversity of conditions among the various railroads of the State and the possible corresponding diversity of tariffs which may be ultimately required For this reason we have concluded to make the tariffs uniform leaving it to each of the companies interested to point out to us wherein its operations would be unjust or unequal to itself
The law requires that our tariffs shall be published once a week for four weeks in some public newspaper in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Macon Savannah Kome and Columbus before going into effect
The interval occupied by the publication will furnish to the railroad companies and the public the opportunity of pointing out to the Commission at an early day the particulars in which they may think the tariff submitted will operate unjustly to the respective railroads
localities and interests affected by it Such suggestions when made under our rules will be considered without unnecessary delay by the Commission and if well founded in their opinion changes in the tariff will be made to correct the wrong complained of In this way just and proper changes in rates may be secured without great delay and such special tariffs established for each railroad in the State as its peculiar condition and circumstances may require and as shall be just at once to itself and the public
This tariff will remain in force until so changed
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
CAMPBELL WALLACE
SAMUEL BARNETT
Kailroad Commissioners
CIRCULAR No 2
Office of the K K Commission I Atlanta Ga March 26 1880
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace Commissioners Samuel Barnett
The following changes are made in the Standard Schedule of Maximum Kates for Passengers and Freights established by the Commissioners for each railroad company in this State viz
1st The several Passenger Rates now in use on the Hartwell Railroad the Cherokee Railroad the Rome Railroad and the Sandersville and Tennille Railroad maybe continued as maximum rates on said roads respectively nutil changed hereafter by the Commissioners
2d The Brunswick and Albany Railroad Company is allowed to make its maximum rates for freights by adding 30 per centum to the said Standard Rates established by the Commissioners
3d The Columbus and Rome Railroad Company is allowed to make its maximum rates forfreights by adding 25 per centum tp the said Standard Rates of the Commissioners
4
4th The Northeastern Railroad Company is allowed to make its maximum rates for freights by adding 10 per centum to the said Standard Rates of the Commissioners
This circular will be published as the law requires and a copy of the same is directed to be sent to each railroad company in the State
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
o o w th r
a corH g
H U M
J n h OT 11
CIRCULAR No 3
Atlanta Ga April 51880
The following changes are made in the Standard Schedule of Maximum Rates for passengers and freights established by the Commissioners
1st The Macon and Brunswick Railroad Company may make its maximum rates for freights by adding 20 twenty per centum to the Standard Rates of freights established by the Commissioners
2d The Louisville and Wadley Railroad Company is allowed to continue as its maximum passenger rates those charged by it at present
3d Lumber laths shingles and staves will be classed when in car loads at Class O in place of P Tanbark in car loads will be Class O
By order of the Board of Commissioners
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 4
Atlanta Ga April 151880
1st The maximum rate for freights for the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad is hereby fixed at 20 twenty per centum above the Standard Freight Tariff
2d For the Central Railroad and Banking Company at 20 twenty per centum above the Standard Freight Tariff except on cotton which remains at standard rates
3d The Upson County Railroad at 50 fifty per centum above Standard Freight Tariff for freights and for passenger tariff rates 1 one cent per mile can be added to its full rates and onehalf J cent to half rates
4th Inasmuch as the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company entertain doubts as to their right under the provisions of their charter to charge the Standard Freight Rates prescribed by the Commission for short distances it is ordered that Rule 6 six be so relaxed in its operation as not to require that company to reduce along the entire line by reason of reduction on such short distances
5th The following changes have been adopted in the Standard Freight Tariff viz The columns of rates for Class JCottonand Class HFertilizersshall be as follows
GO rH tH

I I I
A K H W U O I I
I I
6th The following additon is made to Rules for Sleeping Car BerthsProvided however that for a lower berth with the upper berth not lowered the fare may be not exceeding 150 for 150 miles or less and for distances between 150 and 200 miles not exceeding 2 Bv order of the Board of Commissioners
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 5
Atlanta Ga April 28 1880
Upon the joint request of the Brunswick and Albany Railroad and the representatives of not less than fourfifths of its patrons the following changes are made in the Freight Rates of that road V 4
1st Section No 2 of Circular No 2 allowing thirty per cent advance on Freight Rates is repealed
2d Lumber is transferred from Class O to Class P
3d The Schedule of Millers lumber rates submitted below to the Commission is confirmed
EOR TRAIN OP NOT LESS THAN
10 CAES 7 00
For 27 miles per car
5
For 40 miles per car 8 00
For 44 miles per car 8 25
For 50 miles per car 9 00
For 52 miles per car 9 00
For 11 miles per car11 25
For 82 miles per car12 00
The above are Time Kates that is a charge of one dollar per car per hour is made for the time consumed in loading the cars at the mills and in unloading them after they arrive in Brunswick
FOB TRAIN OF NOT LESS THAN 10 CARS
For 91 milesper car13 00
FOR NOT LESS THAN 15 CARS
For 130 miles per car13 00
For 137 miles per car 15 00
For 142 miles per car any number of cars 16 00
4th The Standard Rates on Cotton are maintained
5th The rates on all other classes of freight are the same as those prescribed in the Standard Tariff for a distance 70 miles greater viz The rate for 10 miles is that fixed by the Standard of 80 miles for 20 miles that fixed for 90 miles and so on
By order of the Commissioners
JAMES M SMITH
K A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 6
Atlanta Ga April 29 1880
The following changes are made in the Standard Schedule Rules etc
1st To Rule No 6 add the following
Competing lines not all within the jurisdiction of the CommissionBut when from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then any line or lines which are so subject may at such competing point make rates below the Standard Freight Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
2d To Rule No 3 and the following
In any ten mile group may be embraced at the discretion of the railroad any station not more than two 2 miles beyond the upper limits Thus 41J miles may be put in the group between 30 and 40 miles
3d A car load of lumber is 22500 pounds
4th On the Savannah Florida and Western the Macon and Brunswick and the Central Railroads lumber is transferred from Class O to Class P without the addition of twenty 20 per cent heretofore allowed on lumber in our Circulars Nos 2 3 and 4 and these rates to embrace transportation from the mills without charges for side tracks and to the terminus nearest to the wharves at Savannah and Brunswick
By order of the Commissioners
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
The above six circulars include all the changes made by the Commissioners in the Standard Rates Rules and Classifications between March 4th 1880 the date of its adoption and May 1st 1880 the date it was put in force
CIRCULAR No 7
Atlanta Ga May 7 1880
1st Ice fresh fish and meats on ice or otherwise when heretofore transported on passenger trains were permitted to be charged double firstclass rates This permission is hereby revoked and the maximum freight rates on these articles will be on less than car loads 6th class on car loads class L on any kind of train
2d Railroad companies will observe rule 11 strictly
3d Bran and millstuffs in car loads will be class P
By order of the Board of Commissioners
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
LETTER TO VIRGIL POWERS GENERAL COMMISSIONER OF SOUTHERN RAILWAY STEAMSHIP ASSOCIATION
Office of the R R Commission Atlanta Ga June 3 1880 j
Jas M Smith Chmn 1 Campbell Wallace j Commissioners Samuel Barnett J Virgil Powers Esq
Genl Com S B B a S Assn Macon Ga
Dear SibIn reply to your favor of May 18th and your verbal inquiries of 1st inst I am directed by the Commissioners to say that they will be obliged if you will impart the following information to the parties in interest
Under the law freights coming from or going beyond the boundary of the State re not within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners A shipment from Rome to Charleston passing over the Rome Western Atlantic Georgia and South Carolina Railroads for example could not in any way be regulated by the Commissioners This line then is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission It competes withlines to the sea however which are within the jurisdiction of the Commission All such cases are intended to be covered by Rule 6 to the end that our own roads and searports may be able to compete with roads and seaports without the State Shipments covered by Note 1 over more than one road in this State being shipped from any point in this State to another point in the State are held to be within the meaning of that notethe intention being to give the railroads the largest liberty in fostering the industries of the Stateand each road in such line can lower rates on such articles without conflicting with Rule 6
Two or more roads in the State desirous of making joint rates between points on their respective roads may make such joint rates on articles not controlled by Note 1 by taking the rate allowed for an equal distance if the points were on one road and applying it to the different roads For example
FirstClassMarietta to Atlanta20 miles per
100 pounds20 cents
Atlanta to Macon103 miles per
100 pounds48 cents
Macon to MacRae76 miles per
100 pounds39 cents
The sum of these locals for 199 miles would be 1 07
But the rate for 199 miles if on one road would he per 100 poundsfirst class70 cents Now a joint rate of 107 or of 70 cents per 100 pounds could be made or a rate between these amountsthe railroads making their own divisions of the total rate between themselves
Any further information the Commission will be glad to furnish if within its power at any time
I am respectfully yours
B A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 8
Atlanta Ga June 191880
Upon a full and fair showing of two months business by the Columbus and Borne Bailroad the allowance of 25 per cent on the Standard Bates is continued as the maximum rates as to Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber and on all other classes one hundred per cent on the Standard Bates is allowed as a maximum
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
B A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 9
Atlanta Ga July 29 1880
Upon careful consideration of the report of the Atlanta and West Point Bailroad its relation to the Standard Tarifi is changed as follows viz
1st Cotton Fertilizers and Lumber maximum remaining at Standard Bates
2d On all other classes maximum rates can be estimated at 25 twentyfive per cent above Standard Bates
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
B A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 10
Office of the B B Commission 1 Atlanta Ga Aug 13 1880 James M Smith 1 Campbell Wallace Commissioners Samuel Barnett J
Upon a full and careful consideration of the elaborate reports of the Central Bailroad and Banking Company the Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Bailway Company and the Macon and Brunswick Bailroad Company showing the effect of the rates authorized by the Commission on their business for May and June 1879 and 1880 the following changes are made in the relations of these companies to the Standard Tariff
The Central Railroad and Banking Company
1st The Central Bailroad and Banking Company is authorized to operate their railroads in the following divisions The Savannah the Southwestern Bailroad the Atlanta the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Bailroad
2d On the Savannah and Southwestern Bailroad Divisions and the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Bailroad upon all classes other than Specials the maximum Freight
rates between 30 and 40 miles to be 50 per cent j on Standard Bates between 40 and 70 miles I 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent and one hundred miles and over 20 per cent as heretofore fixed
3d Upon the Atlanta Division on all classes other than Specials the maximum rates to be 30 per cent over Standard
4th Upon Cotton Class J the maximum on either Division or on Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Bailroad for all distances shall be 15 per cent above Standard All other Specials K L M N O and P remain at Standard
5th A tariff of joint rates on all the roads operated by the Central Bailroad and Banking Company prepared with the approbation of the Commission will be furnished by the Company on application
The Macon and Brunswick Railroad Company 6th The rates applied to the Savannah Division of the Central Bailroad apply also to the Macon and Brunswick Bailroad in lieu of rates heretofore in force
The Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine
7th The maximum rates on this road on Fertilizers are fixed at 15 per cent and on all other classes at 10 per cent advance on Standard Bates
Rules Rates and Classification
8th In car loads the maximum rates on Bosin and crude Turpentine shall not exceed Class K of Standard and on Spirits of Turpentine shall not exceed Class D of Standard and reduced rates may be made under Note 1
9th Shingles Laths and Staves are hereafter included in Class O
10th To Buie 1 prefix the words Unless otherwise specified
11th Note 1 having been sometimes misconstrued is altered so as to read as follows NoteI The rates specified for Ores SandClay Bough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tan bark Turpentine Bosin Tar Household Goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Buie 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
B A BACON Secretary
CIBCULAB TO EAILBOADS
Office of the B B Commission 1 Atlanta Ga October 291880
In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at this
7
that no avuiuaukc Vi m
and tliat when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies or distributing amongst themselves for transportation according to per centages the cotton or other freight ottered for shipment such companies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unnecessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that mav exit amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective com
panies
By order of the Commissioners
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 11
Atlanta Ga December 11 1880
In order to graduate and equalize passenger rates therailroads in Georgia are divided into three classes for that purpose as follows PASSENGER CLASS A includes the following
Those portions of the Central Railroad and its leased lines
Between Savannah and Macon
Between Augusta and Millen
Between Macon and Atlanta
Between Macon and Eufaula
Between Fort Valley and Columbus
Between Smithville and Albany
Those portions of the Georgia Railroad Between Augusta and Atlanta
Between Camak and Macon
Between Union Point and Athens
That portion of the Macon and Brunswick Railroad
Between Macon and Brunswick
The Western and Atlantic Railroad
The Atlanta and West Point Railroad
The Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Railway The East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad
The SelmaRome and Dalton Railroad
The Brunswick and Albany Railroad
The Savannah and Charleston Railroad
PESSENGER CLASS B includes the following
Those portions of the Central Railroad and its leased lines
Between Fort Valley and Perry
Between Cuthbert and Fort Gaines
Between Gordon and Eatonton
Between Albany and Arlington
The Upson County Railroad
The Savannah Griffin and North Ala Railroad
That portion of the Georgia Railroad Between Barnett and W ashington
That portion of the Macon and Brunswick Railroad
Between Cochran and Hawkinsville
The Northeastern Railroad
The Elberton AirLine Railroad
The Rome Railroad
The Marietta and North Georgia Railroad
The Cherokee Railroad
The Columbus and Rome Railroad
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad
PASSENGER CLASS C
includes the following
The Hartwell Railroad
The Walton County Railroad
The Lawrenceville Railroad
The Louisville and Wadley Railroad
The Sandersville and Tennille Railroad
On and after February 11881 the passenger rates shall not exceed for any one passenger with 100 pounds of baggage on railroads in Class A three 3 cents per mile in Class B four 4 cents per mile in Class C five 5 cents per mile and for children over five and under twelve years of age half the above rates But a railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents for a half rate when the fare would be less than those amounts
When the fare does not end in 5 or 0 the nearest sum above so ending shall be the fare
Tickets on sale at any office in a city must be kept on sale at the depot ticket office of the some railroad at the same prices
Railroads are restricted to the aboverates as maximum rates only and have full liberty to reduce these rates on all and every character of passenger service at their own option
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
MinuteThe following railroads coming under the jurisdiction of the Commission since Circular 11 took effect are placed
IN CLASS A
The Savannah Florida and Western Railroad
IN CLASS B
The Augusta and Knoxville Railroad
The Georgia Pacific Railroad
in class C
The Talbotton Railroad
The Roswell Railroad
The Waycross and Florida Railroad
CIRCULAR No 12
Atlanta Ga February 91881
The injunction granted in the Circuit Court of the United States in the case of George H Tilley vs Savannah Florida and Western Railroad Company et al having been dissolved the following order has been passed by the Commissioners viz
1 The relations of the Savannah and Florida and Western Railroad to the Commissioners Standard Tariff are hereby made the same as those of the Macon and Brunswick Railroad and the Savannah and the Southwestern Railroad Divisions of the Central Railroad as published in Circular No 10
2 The Savannah Florida and Western Rail
road is placed in Passenger Class A of Circular No 11 JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
8
CIRCULAR No 13
Atlanta Ga April 14 1881
The following changes in the classification adopted March 4th 1880 are made to take effect May 1st 1881
1st Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except ale and beer barrels L C L Class 1 Same in car loads charged at not less than
10000 pounds Class K
2d Lumber laths shingles and staves on all roads Class P
1 3d Domestics denims sheetings shirtings tickings jeans checks cotton rope and thread manufactured on or near any of the railroads within the territory and jurisdiction of this Commission Class 5
4th Melons in car loads subject to Note 1 Class O JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 14
Atlanta Ga April 18 1881
1st The relations of the Waycross and Florida Railroad to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff are hereby made the same as those of the Savannah Florida and Western Railway as published in Circular 12
2d The Waycross and Florida Railroad is placed in Passenger Class C
3d The Commissioners classification of freight which took effect on all railroads in Georgia on May 1 1880 is their present classification modified only by such changes as have been published in their circulars since that date and copies of the same should be kept conspicuously posted by the railroads at each depot in the State
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 15
Atlanta Ga June 81881
Corn Field and all other peas car load or less than car load will be placed in Class D Standard Tariff
Marl ground limestone and slacked lime in sacks or casks in car load or less than car load in Class L
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 16
Atlanta Ga July 161881
The following changes in classification take effect August 101881
1 Rags and paper stock in sacks crates or hogshead C L Class 6 Same less than car load Class 4
2 Rags and paper stock pressed in bales
C L Class D Same less than car loads Claes 6 JAMES M SMITH I
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 17
Atlanta Ga July 291881 1st On the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad the maximum rates for all distances on cotton Class J are hereby made thirty per cent above the Standard Tariff
2d And on class goods 1 2 3 4 5 6 AB C D E F G H for distances over one hundred miles twentyfive per cent above Standard Tariff Other classes remain unchanged JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairmrn
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 18
Office of the R R Commission i Atlanta Ga September 11881 j James M Smith 1 Campbell Wallace jCommissioners Samuel Barnett J 1st On the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad the maximum rates for all distances on cotton Class J are hereby made fortyfive per cent above the Standard Tariff
2d And on class goods 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D E F G H for distances between 0 and 60 miles 60 per cent 60 and 100 miles 50 per cent 100 and 150 miles 40 per cent 150 and 200 miles 35 per cent over 200 miles 30 per cent above Standard Tariff Other classes remain unchanged
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 19
Office of the R R Commission I Atlanta Ga December 11881 James M Smith 1
Campbell Wallace Commissioners
L N Trammell j
The maximum rates allowed on fertilizers will on and after January 1st 1882 be twenty 20 per cent higher than Class K of Standard Rates except when rates have been agreed on between different railroads for a less rate or may hereafter be agreed on by such roads
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 20
Office of the R R Commission 1 Atlanta Ga Feb 10 1882 J The following changes will take effect April 1st 1882
1st An additional class R is hereby added
9
to the Commissioners freight classification and tbe maximum rates per hundred pounds allowed for each of the divisions of that column R in the Commissioners Stand ard Freight Tariff hereafter shall be the same as those heretofore allowed Class D in the 1 Standard Freight Tariff which was dated May 1st 1880
2d Spirits Turpentine C L carriers risk Class R Rags pressed in bales C L carriers risk Class R Rice in car loads carriers risk same maximum rates as Class N Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except ale and beer barrels L C L Class R Under Note 1 reduced rates can be made for these articles
3d All connecting railroads which are under
the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same company shall in applying the rates and divisions allowed below on Class C D and F be considered as constituting but one and the same railroad But not less than 25 cents need be charged on any single shipment for any distance
4th The right to charge any additional percentages on Classes C J and F which may have heretofore been allowed by circular to any railroad is hereby revoked and the following columns are substituted as the maximum rates of the Commissioners Standard Tariff on Classes C D and F in lieu of those heretofore in use
MILES 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
0 per 100 poundscents 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10
D per 100 poundscents 4 5 54 6 6 7 7 8 84 9 9
F per barrelcents 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
MILES 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220
0 per 100 poundscents 10 11 H 12 13 14 14 15 15 16 16
D per 100 poundscents 10 10 11 1H 12 13 13 14 14 15 15
F per barrelcents 21 22 23 24 26 28 28 30 30 32 32
MILES 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350
C per 100 poundscents 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23
I per 100 poundscents 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 21
F per barrelcents 34 34 36 36 38 38 40 40 42 42 44 44 46
5th Class C comprises flour and meal in sacks any quantity and mill stuffs in less than carloads
Class D comprises grain malt and cow peas in any quantity and hay shucks fodder and straw pressed in bales and corn in ear in carloads to be charged as 20000 pounds
Class F comprises flour and meal in barrels any quantity
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 21
Office of the R R Commission 1 Atlanta Ga March 3 1882
On and after April 1st 1882 the rates of freight transported by regular passenger trains must not exceed one and onehalf the rates allowed by Commissioners Standard Tariff for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains but a charge of 25 cents may be made for any single shipment
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 22
Office of the R R Commission 1 Atlanta May 10 1882
James M Smith 1
Campbell Wallace Commissioners
L N Trammell J
1 The Georgia Pacific Railroad Company and the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Company are each permitted to add the percentages mentioned below to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff and charge such totals as maximum freight rates
2 Add thirty 30 per cent to Classes 123 4 56 A B E G and H
3 Add fifteen 15 per cent to cotton Class J
4 Add twenty 20 per cent heretofore allowed every other railroad by Circular 19 to Fertilizers
5 Classes C D and F remain at Standard rates allowed by Circular 20
6 All other classes remain at Commissioners Standard rates
7 The Georgia Pacific Railroad and the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad are each placed in passenger Class B and allowed to charge four 4 cents per mile
8 The Roswell Railroad and the Talbotton Railroad are each placed in passenger Class C and permitted to charge five 5 cents per mile passenger fare
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
EXTRACTS FROM THE
CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA
ARTICLE IVSection II
Paragraph I The power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
Par III The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existing nor alter or amend the same nor pass any other general or special law for the benefit of said corporation except upon the condition that such corporation shall theieafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution and every amendment of any charter of any corporation of this State or any special law for its benefit accepted thereby shall operate as a novation of said charter and shall bring the same under the provisions of this Constitution Providei
That this section shall not extend to any amendment for the purpose of allowing any existing road to take stock in or aid in the building of any branch road
Par IV The General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation to buy shares or stock in any other corporation in this State or elsewhere or to make any contract or agreement whatever with any such corporation which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition in their respective businesses or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and void
Par V No railroad company shall give or pay any rebate or bonus in the nature thereof directly or indirectly or do any act to mislead or deceive the public as to the real rates charged or received for freights or passage and any such payments shall be illegal and void and these prohibitions shall be enforced by suitable penalties
Par VI No provisions of this article shall be deemed held or taken to impair the obligation of any contract heretofore made by the State of Georgia
Par VII The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation
Extracts from the Code of Georgia of 1873
PART II TITLE III CHAPTER III Article I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
22058 Definition A bailment is a delivery of goods or property for the execution of a special object beneficial either to the bailor or bailee or both and upon a contract express or implied to carry out this object and dispose of the property in conformity with the purpose of the trust
2059 Property in bailee In all cases the bailee during the bailment has a right to the possession of the property and in most cases a special right of property in the thing bailed For a violation of these rights by any one he is entitled to his action
2060 Care and diligence All bailees are required to exercise care and diligence in protecting and keeping safely the thing bailed Different degrees of diligence are required according to tbs nature of the bailments
2061 Or inary Ordinary diligence is that care which every prudent man takes of his own property of a similar nature The absence of such diligence is termed ordinary neglect
2062 Extraordinary Extraordinary diligence is that extreme care and caution which very prudent and thoughtful persons use in securing and preserving their own property The absence of such diligence is termed slight neglect
2063 Gross neglect Gross neglect is the want of that care which every man of common sense how inattentive soever he may be takes of his own property
2064 burden of proof In all cases of bailments after proof of loss the burden of proof is on the bailee to show proper diligence
Article II
OF CARRIERS AND HEREIN OF THE LIABILITIES OF RAILROAD AND STEAMBOAT COMPANIES
2065 Definition Any person undertaking to transport goods to another place for a compensation is a carrier and as such is bound to ordinary dilegenee
2066 Common carrier One who pursues the business constantly or continuously for any period of time or any distance of transportation is a common carrier and as such is hound to use extraordinary diligence In cases of loss the presumption of law is against him and no excuse avails him unless it was occasioned by the act of God or the public enemies of the State
2067 Carrier of passengers A carrier of passengers is bound also to extraordinary diligence on behalf of himself and his agents to protect the lives and persons of his passengers But he is not liable for injuries to the person after having used such diligence 2068 Effect of notice to limit A common carrier cannot limit his legal liability by any notice given either by publication or by entry on receipts given or tickets sold He may make anexpress contract and will then be governed thereby 2069 Duty as to reception of goods eta A common carrier holding himself out to the public as such is bound to receive all goods and passengers offered that he is able and accustomed to csrry upon compliance with such reasonable regulations as he may adopt for his own safety and the benefit of the public 2070 Time of Responsibility The responsibility of the carrier commences with the delivery of the goods either to himself or his agent or at the place where he is accustomed or agrees to receive them It ceases with their delivery at destination according to the direction of the person sending or according to the custom of the trade
11
20tl For baggage The carrier of passengers is responsible only for baggage placed in his custody yet a passenger can pot relieve himself from liability for freight by assuming to take egre of his own baggage
ST 2072 Checks forbaggage It shall be the duty of the railroad companies to cuse their conductors agents or employes to be provided with checks so as to check all trunks or separate baggage of passengers from station to station on their roads when required and it shall be the duty of the conductor of every passenger train to cause upon application to him ail trunks and baggage to be checked from any station to any point of destination on their read or any road running under fifty dollars for every failure to comply promptly with such requisition tobe recovered in the Justices Court of the District where the demand for check was made out of the company upon whose conductor the demand was made
g2073 For delay The common carrier is bound not only for the safe transportation and delivery of goods but also that the same be done without unreasonable delay
g20T4 stoppige in transitu A stoppage In transitu by the vendor or consignor relieves the carrier from his obligation to deliver nor is he thenceforward responsible for more than ordinary diligence in the care of the goods
p075 When il exists The right of soqpage in transitu exists whenever the vendor in a sale on credit seeks to resume the possession of goods while they are in the hands of a carrier or middle man in their transit to the vendee or consignee on his becoming insolvent It continues until the vendee obtains actual possession of the goods
giOT6 Estopped on Carrie The carrier cannot dispute the title of the person delivering the goods to him by setting up adverse title in himself or a title iu third persons which is not being enforced against him
2017 Lien The carrier has a lien on the goods for the freight and may retain possession until it is paid unless this right is waived by special contract or actual delivery 1 his lien exists only when the carrier has complied with his contract as to transportation He can recover pro rata for the actual distance transported When the consignee voluntarily receives the goods at an intermediate point
82078 Freight listshow made out All freight bills or freight lists chaiged against or to be collected out of any person for whom a railroad shall carry freight in this State shall contain the items of freight charged in said bills or freight lists by some certain and specific description before they shall he collectable
2079 On baggage The carrier of passengers has a lien on the baggage not only for its freight but for the passengers fare
2080 Fraud on carrier The carrier may require the nature and value of goods delivered to him to be made known and any fraudulent acts sayings or concealment by his customers will release him from liability
2081 Limit as to value of baggage A carrier of passengers may limit the value of the baggage to be taken for the fare paid iu case of loss however and though no extra freight has been demanded or paid the carrier is responsible for the value of the baggage lost Provided the same he only such articles as a traveler for business or pleasure would carry for his or her own use
2082 What passengers may be ref used Carriers of passengers may refuse to admit ox may ejectfrom their conveyance all persons refusing to comply with reasonable regulations or guilty of improper conduct or of had dissolute doubtful or suspicious characters so they may refuse to convey persons seeking to interfere with their own business r interest
2083 Liability of railroad companies as carriers Bailroad Companies are common carriers and liable as such As such companies necessarily have many employees who cannot possibly control those who should exercise care and diligence in the running of trains such companies shall be liable to such employees as to passengers for injuries arising from the want of such care and d 11 i gence
2084 When there are several When there are several connecting railroads under different companies and the goods are intended to be transported over more than one railroad each company shall be responsible only to its own terminus and until delivery to the con
necting road the last company which has received the goods as in good order shall be responsible to the consignee for any damages open or concealed done to the goods and such companies shall settle among themselves the question of ultimate liability
EXTRACTS FROM THE ACT CREATING THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION
Sec 5Powers and Duties as to Rules and RegulationsThat the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this Act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights shall make such jxist and reasonable rules and regulations as may he necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State shall make reasonable andjust rates of charges for use of cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned or carried and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to prevent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly or indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State and on which freight less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad hut said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freights as they possessed before the passage of this Act and said Commissioners shall have power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances
Sec 6Duties as to Maximum RatesThat the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said Commissioners
shall from time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall he the duty of said Commissioners to cause publication thereof to he made for four successive weeks in some public newspaper published in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Savannah Macon Rome and Columbus in this State and after the same shall he so published it shall he the duty of all such railroad companies to post at all their respective stations in a conspicuous place a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people
Swo 9PenaltiesThat if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall he guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shall not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than live thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State where such violation has occurred or wfbng has been perpetrated and shall he in the name of the State of Georgia The Commissioners shall institute such action through the AttorneyGeneral or SolicitorGeneral whose fees shall be the sanie as now provided by law
Seo 10DamagesThat if any railroad company in this State shall in violation of any rule or regulation provided by the Commissioners aforesaid inflict any wrong or injury on any person such person shall have a right ot action and recovery for such wrong or injury in the county where jthe same was done in any court having jurisdiction thereof and the damages to he recovered shall be the same as in actions between individuals except that in cases of willful violation of law such railroad companies shall he liable to exemplary damages Provided that all suits under this Act shall be brought within twelvemonths after the commission of the alleged wrong or injury
Sec 13Duplicate ReceiptsThat all railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall he stated the class or classes of freight shipped the freight charges over the rdad giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt If any railroad company shall violate this provision of the statute such railroad company shall incur a penalty to he fixed and collected as provided in section nine of this Act
Sec 17 That all laws militating against this Act are hereby repealed
Approved October 141879
AN ACT
To prevent monopolies in the transportation of freights and to secure free competition in the same and for other purposes
Section l Be it enacted etc That from and after the first day of July next all railroad companies in this State shall at the terminus or any intermediate point he required to switch off and deliver to the connecting road having the same gauge in the yard of the latter all cars passing over their lines or any portion of the same containing goods or freights consigned without rebate or deception by any route at the option of the shipper according to customary or published rates to any point over or beyond such connecting road and any failure to do so with reasonable diligence according to the route by which such goods or freights were consigned shall be deemed and taken as a conversion in law of such goods or freights and shall give aright of action to the owner or consignee for the value of the same with interest and not less than ten per cent nor more than twentyfive per cent for expenses and damages Provided that should the defendant in any suit brought under this Act set up as a defense that the plaintiff has accepted a rebate or practiced fraud or deception touching the rate it shall be a complete reply to such defense if the plaintiff can prove that defendant or its agents have allowed a rebate or rebates or practiced like fraud or deceptions from the same competing point against the rival line
Sec 2 That where any railroad in this State joins another at any point along its line or where two of such roads have the same terminus either line having the same gauge may at its own expense join its track by the proper and safe switches with the other should such other road or company refuse to join in the work and expense
Sec 3 Thatno railroad company shall discriminate in its rates or tariff of freights in favor of any line or route connected with it as against any other line or route nor when a part of its own line is sought to be run in connection with any other route shall such company discriminateagainst sueh connecting line or in favor of the balance of its own line but shall have the same rates for all and shall afford the like usual and customary facilities for interchange of freights to patrons of each and all routes or lines alike Any refusal of the same shall give a like
right of action as mentioned in the first section of this
Sec 4 That should any railroad company refuse to allow the connecting switches put in its line when request ed under section two of this Act it shall and may be lawful for the other road seeking such connection to proceed to procure the righttouse so much of the franchise of the former as may pe necessary for such purpose in the man ner pointed out in the charier of the Central Railroad and Banking Company for ascertaining the value of and pay ing for private property taken for use of said road r Sec 5 That none of the provisions of the foregoing sections of this Act shall apply to shipments or consignments of freightsfrom points Deyond the limits of this State except such as come by sea and except such as pass over the Western and Atlantic Railroad and in respect to said road this Act shall be construed as in harmony with and in furtherance of the provisions of the law and contract under which the same is leased by which discriminations against other lines are forbidden
Skc 5 Repeals conflicting laws
Approved February 281874
AN ACT
To confer police power upon the conductors of passenger trains in this State to provide a punishment far a neglect of their official duties and fa other purposes
Section 1 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same That from and after the passage of this Act the conductors of every train carrying passengers within this State are hereby invested with all the powers duties and responsibilities of police officers while on duty on their trains Provided nothing herein contained shall affect the liability of any railroad company for the acts of its employees
Sec 2 Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid That when a passenger is guilty of disorderly conduct or uses any obscene profane or vulgar language or plays any game of cards or other game of chance for moneyor other thing of value upon any passenger train the conductor of such train may stop his train at the place where such offense is committed or at the next stopping place of such train and eject such passenger from the train using only such force as may be necessary to accomplish such removal and the conductors may command the assistance of the employees of the company and of the passengers on such train to assist in such removal and said conductor may cause any person or persons violating the provisions of this Act and which are in violation of the laws of this State to he detained and delivered to the proper authorities for trial as soon as practicable
Sec 3 Repeals conflicting laws
Approved September 13th 1881
BILL OF COMPLAINT
OF THE
GEORGIA RAILROAD BANKING CO
WILLIAM
AND
M WAD LEY
Against the Commissioners
STATE OF GEORGIA T Fulton County
To the Honorable George Hillyer Judge of the Superior Court of said County holding and exercising jurisdiction in equity
The bill of complaint of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company a corporation existing under the laws of said State and of William M Wadley against James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Leander N Trammell composing the Railroad Commission of the State of Georgia and against Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral of the State of Georgia the actual and official residences of said Smith Wallace and Trammell being in said county of Fulton and the actual residence of said Anderson being in the county of Bibb in said State Humbly complaining show unto your Honor your oration that your orator The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company was incorporated by a public act of the Legislature of Georgia assented to December 27 1833 under the name of the Georgia Railroad with power to construct a railrqad or railroads as in said act set forth That by an act of the Legislature of Georgia approved December 18 1835 amendments were made to the charter of your orator The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company by one of which the name and style of your said orator was changed from The Georgia Railroad to its present name and style The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company That by the twelfth section of said first mentioned act it was provided as follows The said Georgia Railroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or
conveyance of persons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be by them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right Provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for every one hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger Provided always that the said company may when they stee fit rent or farm out all or any part of their said exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons on the railroad or railroads with the privilege to any individual or individuals or other company and for such term as may be agreed upon subjet to the rates above mentioned Your orators further show that in pursuance of the authority granted in said twelfth section of the first named act of the Legislature a certain deed of lease was made and executed between your orator the seventh day of May eighteen hundred and eightyone by which your orator The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company rented and farmed out to your orator William M Wadley its right of carriage and transportation of persons and property for a term of ninetynine years Said deed of lease is here in court ready to be shown to the court but it is not annexed hereunto as an exhibit in its entirety on account of its great length but parts of said deed are hereunto annexed marked Exhibit A and the usual leave of reference hereto prayed Your orators further show hat by virtue of said first mentioned act of the Legislature and of said deed of lease there ex
ists at the time of the filing of this bill the following legal status of your orators Your orator the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company owns the right in perpetuity to transport persons and property on its lines of railroad and to charge fare for every passenger not exceeding five cents per mile and freight for property at the rate not exceeding fifty cents per hundred pounds for heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot for articles of measurement for every one hundred miles Your orator William M Wadley at present enjoys that right and will enjoy it for the term limited in the said deed of lease unless it is sooner surrendered or forfeited Notwithstanding said deed of lease your orator The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company remains liable to the public and to those whose persons and property are transported over the leased railroads for any breachor failure of duty in and about the operation and management of said railroads and might incur as well as your orator William M Wadley the penalties hereinafter mentioned
Your orator further shows that the Legislature of the State of Georgia passed an Act which was approved the 14th day of October 1879 and is entitled
An Act to provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates charged for transportation of passengers and freights and to prohibit railroad companies corporations and lessees in this State from charging other than just and reasonable rates and to punish the same and prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto and to appoint Commissioners and to prescribe their powers and duties in relation to the same
That in pursuance of this Act a Board of Commissioners was constituted designated the Railroad Commission composed of three members which three members were at first James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Samuel Barnett but are now the two first named and Leander N Trammell
That said board have assumed and still do assume to prescribe rates of freight and passenger tariffs less than the maximum of those prescribed in the 12th section of said charter and to make them binding on your orators Your orators further show that they have
quietly and peaceably though not always without protest acquiesced in the requirements of said board Your orators have so acquiesced not as admitting any right on the part of said Commission to prescribe or obligation on the part of your orators to obey but they have done so hoping that the legal rights to be hereinafter stated of your orators would be recog nized by said Commission and the oppression of your orators cease But your orators show that so far from this just expectation being realized said Commission has recently towit i the tenth day of February 1882 and again the third day of March 1882 by two instruments known as Circulars No 20 and No 21 copies i of which marked Exhibits B and C are hereunto annexed and the usual leave of reference prayed prescribed rates of freight which are not only unreasonable and unjust but are far below the rates which your orators are allowed by the 12th section of said charter to charge Your orators further show that as to Circular No 20 they have appealed to said Commission to modify it but your orators appeal has been refused in an official communication from said Commission dated March 16 1882 a copy of which marked Exhibit D is hereunto annexed and the usual leave of reference thereto prayed Wherefore your orators bring this their Bill of Complaint and say 1 That said Circulars Nos 20 and 21 are not legal and binding for the rates which they prescribe are not just and reasonable rates but on the contrary they are unjust and unreasonable in that they compel your orators to transport the articles in said circulars specified at rates which not only deprive your orators of fair profits on their business but require your orators to carry on their business without remune ration 2 Under paragraph one of section two of article four of the Constitution of the State of Georgia the power and authoriy are conferred and the duty is imposed upon the General Assembly to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and the Act of October 14 1879 is unconstitutional and void as being an attempt to delegate legislative powers to said Railroad Commission 3 Said Act is unconstitutional null and void because in conflict with paragraph nine article first of the Constitution of the State of Georgia which forbids the imposing of excessive fines or the inflicting of unusual punishments 4 The charter of
15
our orators The Georgia Railroad and Bank1 ing Company is a contract between the State and your said orator By said contract your orators have the right to charge any rates of freight and of passenger tariffs not exceeding those limited in said 12th section of said charter Said Act of the Legislature of October 14 1879 and said Circulars Nos 20 and 21 issued in pursuance of said Act forbid your orators under heavy penalties from charging the rates allowed by said contract Wherefore said Act of the Legislature is by virtue of paragraph 1 section 10 of article 1 of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits the States from passing any law impairing the obligations of a contract unconstitutional null and void
Your orators aver as the grounds upon which they can come into a court of equity and seek the relief hereinafter specifically prayed 1
That said Act of October 14 1879 fixes a penalty of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than five thousand dollars for each violation of the rules of said Commission and your orators while believing in good faith that they are not bound to obey siid rules cannot afford in advance of the certain and judicial ascertainment and decision of their rights to act upon such belief however honestly entertained when the penalty of an honest mistake would be crushing and ruinous to your orators
2 The said Act of October 14 1879 and said rules of the Commission subject your orators to a multiplicity of suits by which your orators would be greatly harrassed and in making good their defence to which they would be subjected to grt expenses 3 Your orators can have no adequate relief save by the writ of injunction restraining said Commission and said AttorneyGeneral as hereafter specifically prayed Your orators pray that 1 Said Act of October 14 1879 be declared to be null and void 2 That said Act be declared to be inoperative against your orators 3 That said Commission be perpetually enjoined from prescribing rates of fare and freight over said The Georgia Railroad and its branches or in any manner enforcing the provisions of said Act of October 14 1879 and especially said Circulars Nos 20 and 21 4 That your orators may
have such other and further relief as the nature of the case may require and to your Honor may seem meet 5 That the Attorney
General be restrained from instituting any suit of any sort against your orators or either of them for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of said Act To pthisend your orators pray not only the States writ of injunction directed to said Commissioners and said AttorneyGeneral restraining them and each of them as hereinbefore prayed but also the writ of subpoena to be directed to each and every one of them requiring them and every one of them on a day to be therein fixed and under a penalty to be therein limited to be and appear before your Honor in this honorable court there full true and perfect answers to make to the matters herein set forth and to stand to and abide the order and decree of this honorable court
JAS B CUMMING
A R LAWTON Complainants Solicitors
STATE OF GEORGIA
Richmond County j
You Charles H Phinizy do swear that you are the President of The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company one of the complainants in the foregoing bill That what is contained in said bill so far as it concerns the act and deed of said complainant is true of your own knowledge and that what relates to the act of any other person you believe to be true
C H PHINIZY
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 29th day of March 1882
J s HENRY C GOODRICH
Notary Public Richmond Co Ga
STATE OF GEORGIA 1 Richmond County j
You John W Green do swear that you are the General Manager of the Georgia Railroad and that as such you are the agent and attorney in fact of the Lessee of The Georgia Railroad and its branches and that what is contained in the foregoing bill so far as concerns the act or deed of the Lessee is true and that what relates to the act or deed of any other person you believe to be true
JNO W GREEN General Manager Ga R R
16
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 28th day of March 1882
IS s W T EICHARDS N P
EXHIBIT A
LeaseThe Georgia Railroad and Banking Company to William M Wadley
GEORGIA
This indenture made this seventh day of May anno domini one thousand eight hundred and eightyone between The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company a corporation under the laws of said State party of the first part and Wm M Wadley of Monroe county in said State party of the second part Witnessed That the party of the first part in conformity with the provisions of its charter and acting in this behalf in pursuance of a resolution of its Board of Directors regularly convened the twelfth day of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and eightyone for and in consideration of the covenants conditions and agreements hereinafter set forth on the part of the said party of the second part
Hath rented and farmed out to said party of the second part and his assigns and does by these presents rent and farm out to said party of the second part and his assigns for the full term of ninetynine years from the virtue of this indenture to the full extent that the said party has control except the Western Railroad of Alabama as hereinbefore provided and that he and they will not for such purpose vote any of the stocks or bonds of the corporations the power of voting which is hereinbefore given and that the irrevocable powers of attorney hereinbefore stipulated to be given may be restricted on their face in this respect
The party of the second part also covenants for himself and his assigns that the party of the first part shall have the power to enter upon and inspect the railroads hereinbefore mentioned and appurtenances including the rolling stock used on the same by persons selected by the party of the first part as often as the party of the first part may think proper
The party of the first part reserves the right in addition to all other remedies now usual or hereafter to Provided always
that nothing herein contained shall be construed as giving or attempting to give to the party of the second part or his assigns the right to do or omit any act or thing the doing or omission of which would furnish a ground for forfeiture of the charter of the party of the first part and all such acts and omissions
W
EXHIBIT B
CIRCULAR NO 20
Office of the R R Commission Atlanta Ga Feb 10 1882
The following changes will take effect April 1st 1882 1
1st An additional class R is hereby added to the Commissioners freight classification and the maximum rates per hundred pounds allowed for each of the divisions of that column R in the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff hereafter shall be the same as those heretofore allowed Class D in the Standard Freight Tariff which was dated May 1st 1880
2d Spirits Turpentine C L carriers risk Class R Ragspressed in bales CL carriers risk Class R Rice in car loads carriers risk same maximum rates as Class X Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except ale and beer barrels L C L Class R Under Note 1 reduced rates can be made for these articles
3d All connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same company shall in applying the rates and divisions allowed below on Classes C D and F be considered as constituting but one and the same railroad But not less than 25 cents need be charged on any single shipment for any distance
4th The right to charge any additional percentages on Classes C D and F which may have heretofore been allowed by circular to any railroad is hereby revoked and the following columns are substituted as the maximum rates of the Commissioners Standard Tariff on Classes C D and F in lieu of those heretofore in use
17
5th Class C comprises flour and meal in sacks any quantity and mill stuffs in less than carloads
Class D comprises grain malt and cow peas in any quantity and hay shucks fodder and straw pressed in bales and corn in ear in carloads to be charged as 20000 pounds
Class F comprises flour and meal in barrels any quantity
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH
R A BACON Chairman
Secretary
EXHIBIT C
CIRCULAR NO 21
Office of the B B Commission Atlanta Ga March 3 1882
On and after April 1st 1882 the rates of I 2
freight transported by regular passenger trains must not exceed one and onehalf the rates allowed by Commissioners Standard Tariff for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains but a charge of 25 cents may be made for any single shipment
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
B A BACON Secretary
EXHIBIT D
Office of the B B Commission Atlanta March 16 1882
Maj J W Green G M
Ga Railroad and Banking Company
Dear SirPertaining to your letter of February 27th and one from Col E B Dorsey G F A of March 8th 1882 Subject matterBequest for modification of Circular 20 on your road The Commission today at a called meeting after a patient investigation of the papers submitted resolved to respectfully decline to grant your request as to modification of Circular 20
I am very truly
B A BACON Secretary
At Chambers March 30 1882
Let this bill be filed in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Fulton county and duly served with the order upon the defendants The defendants will show cause if any they have before me at Macon Ga at ten oclock the tenth day of April why the writ of injunction should not issue as prayed for In the meantime the Bailroad Commission is restrained from enforcing the Circulars Nos 20 and 21 set forth in the bill and exhibits and the Honorable the AttorneyGeneral is restrained from instituting any suit for enforcing said Circulars or for the disregard by the complainants of the requirements of the same This order granted by me upon information that Judge Hillyer of the Atlanta Circuit is disqualified to preside in the cause
THOS G LAWSON Judge S C O C
At Chambers 28th March 1882
Being disqualified by reason of interest I decline to act in this case
GEO HILLYEB Judge S C A C
ANSWER OF THE COMMISSIONERS
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Co and Wm M Wadley vs
James M Smith 1
Campbell Wallace j RR Commissnrs
Leander N Trammell J and
Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral Bill for Injunction and Relief in Fulton Superior Court
The answer of James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Leander N Trammell to the above stated bill of complaint
These respondents making the usual reservavations answering say that they are Railroad Commissioners under the laws of this State as is charged in said bill that they admit that the Georgia Railroad Company was chartered by an act of the Legislature of this State as complainants allege they further admit that by an act passed by said Legislature December 18th1835 the corporate name of the said railroad company was changed to the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company they further admit that the 12th section of said act of 1833 is properly set forth in said bill but they do not admit and do deny that the said section gave to said company the privileges claimed by said complainants They say that they are advised and believe it to be true that it was not the intention of the Legislature in said
sequent Legislatures of said State of the right to regulate and fix tolls within the limits stated in said provision upon said road That in immediate connection with the proviso in said section under which complainants claim an exemption from the authority of the Legislature and of this Coinmission in fixing their tolls it is further provided in said section that the said company in the exercise of their right of carriage or transportation of persons or property or the persons so taking from the com pany the rights of transportation or convey
ance shall so far as they act on the same be regarded as common carriers That these defendants are advised and believe that it was the intention of the Legislature in this last provision to make it obligatory upon said company to charge no more than just and reasonable rates as prescribed at common law for services rendered by them and to limit the discretion of said company to what then in the opinion of the Legislature would be just and reasonable rates for1 such services And so these respondents say thatwithin the limits fixed in said charter it is still in the power of the Legislature and is the duty of this Commission to fix and determine what rates on said road are just and reasonable and that it was not the intention of the Legislature by any language used in said charter to deprive the public of the right to supervise and fix the rates of toll to he collected by said railroad company
These respondents further answering say that while the provision of said act authorizing said company to farm or lease out its privileges is correctly set forth in said bill they deny that the said company have pursued the authority granted in said provision They say that they are advised and believe it to be true that it was not the intention of the Legislature in said provision to give to said company the right to lease or farm the privilege of conveying merchandize and produce over their said road That the very language of their charter confines their power of leasing or farming to the transportation or conveyance of persons on their said road And so these defendants say that in leasing to the said William M Wadley the right to convey merchandize and produce on said road the said company acted ultra vires That they had no right or authority of law for conveying said last mentioned franchise to the said Wadley or any other person That the right to charge and collect toll for freights on their road was a special trust confided by the
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Legislature to said company and that in assuming to assign the same to said Wadley they have violated said trust and for this reason among others have shown that neither the said company nor the said William M Wadley can justly claim the interposition of a court of equity in their behalf in the premises
Further answering touching said lease these defendants say that they believe that the same was not made to the said William M Wadley in fact to be his property The deed of lease of said property appears to convey to William
M Wadley and his assigns and it does not appear that the same was to be to said Wadley and Ms heirs for the term of ninetynine years That the said Wadley is in green old age and it could not have been reasonably expected when said transaction was made that he would live ninetynine years longer nor was it intended as the defendants are advised and believe that he should take the whole property conveyed and hence there was no conveyance to his heirs but the conveyance was made to him with the intent and understanding that he should assign the same to others who in effect should be the lessees thereof And in manner aforesaid these defendants say that said transaction was arranged and carried out to evade the Constitution and laws of this State which n effect prohibi t a suppression of competition iin business between rival railroad companies in this State Touching this point these defendants say that the said Georgia Railroad and Banking Corhpany and the Central Railroad and Banking Company of this State of which last mentioned railroad the said Wm M Wadley long had been and is still the President were until the making of said lease principal competitors from important points for the carrying trade in said State And these defendants answering from information and belief charge that the said lease was entered into and is now being carried out with the purpose and intent of destroying competition between these two great lines of railway and to build up a monopoly for the benefit of said companies at the expense of the general public of this State
And these defendants further answering say that it is their duty under the law acting for the interest of the public as well as for the interest of the railroads themselves and mani
festly to the interest of the public that they should be informed of the exact contract relations existing between the railroads of this State To this end they pray that this answer may be taken as a cross bill and in order that justice may be done in this case that the said complainants do answer on oath the same before the hearing of the said application for injunction They pray that the following interrogatories be answered by the said complainants
Let the said William M Wadley answer
First For whom were you acting in obtaining the franchises of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company which lease is dated May 7th 1881 and a part of which you have made an exhibit to the bill filed in this case
Second In obtaining said lease contract were you or not acting directly or indirectly for the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia and for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company or for one of them
Third If you answer that you were not acting for said companies or for either of them in obtaining said lease contract for what railroad company or corporation were you acting in obtaining the same Is any railroad company or corporation or other company of individual person other than yourself in your own right directly or indirectly interested in said lease contract If yea what railroad company or corporation or other company or individual person is so interested
Fourth Has the one million of dollars which it was agreed in said lease contract should be deposited to guarantee the agreements and covenants therein been so deposited If yea is the same your money and property and was it so at the time such deposit was made If not yours whose was it at the time of such deposit and who is now the owner thereof If such money was or is yours were you at the time of such deposit and are you now indebted to any person or corporation for the same or any part thereof If so indebted to what corporation or person were or are you so indebted
Fifth W as this lease obtained in your individual right for you William M Wadley alone And is no other person or corporation interested beneficially or otherwise in the same If any other person or corporation is so inter
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ested name the parties so interested and the amount of their respective interests
Sixth Are you not President of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia If yea does this company and the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company compete in the carrying trade over their roads If yea point out particularly the manner and the points between which competition exists now and did exist prior to the date of said contract Have not said roads common agents at certain points now If yea name such points Is not competition defeated to some extent at Newnan Macon Milledgeville Ga and other points that were before competitive points between said roads If not was not such competition prior to the lease defeated to some extent by reason of agreements between the railroads
Seventh Is there no other writing to evidence the terms of said lease except that exhibited to your bill If there be any other attach the same to your answer together with all agreements entered into between yourself as lessee with the said Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and any and all other persons or companies beneficially interested either directly or indirectly in or under said lease contract If there was any verbal agreement not reduced to writing please answer and state the terms thereof
Eighth Exhibit with your answer all writings and papers touching said lease contract
Nipth Have you not assigned said lease to some other person corporation or company If so attach a copy of such assignment to your answer to this cross bill
Tenth Is there not some understanding existing between the parties to said lease contract that you shall hereafter assign the same to some individual person corporation or company and state fully in your answer all such verbal understandings or agreements in the premises
Let Charles H Phinizy President of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company answer
First With whom did you or your company negotiate the lease of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company or its property
Second If you or your company made the negotiation of said lease with any person save William M Wadley who was that person
State what railroad company or corporation or other company or individual person has or has had a beneficial interest either direct or indirect under or by virtue of said contract of lease What officer or officers of railroad companies contracted with you or your company for such lease Name all persons or corporations or companies who took at the time said contract of lease was made or have taken since any beneficial interest in or under the same as assignee of Wm M Wadley or otherwise
Third Is William M Wadley the actual and only person interested in and by virtue of said lease Is or was any railroad or railroad company or other person interested with WmM Wadley or by assignment from him If yea what railroad company or person and name the extent of such interest Answer fully
Fourth Is there or has there been since said lease contract was made or before that time any verbal understanding not expressed in said lease and not reduced to writing allowing or intended to allow any benefit under said contract to any railroad companies or company or other companies or individual person other than by your own railroad company If yea state the terms of such verbal agreement or understanding Name the persons to become or that were so interested and state whether said lease contract was made with reference to such understanding in any manner Is such verbal agreement or understanding acted upon by you or your company Is there any memorandum in writing other than said lease contract itself intended by the parties thereto to give rights or effect rights under the same If yea attach copies of all such to your answer
Fifth Has your charter of 1833 ever been rene ved by the Legislature If yea when
Further answering these defendants say that they have never specially assumed the right to prescribe rates for the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company distinct from other railroads of the State That in discharge of their duty as Railroad Commissioners they have prescribed under the law rates applicable to each railroad in the State but they deny most positively that in doing so they have ever sought or intended to deprive the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company of any right granted to it by the Jaw of its charter That very soon after entering upon the discharge of their du
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ties it was brought to their attention that the said company claimed certain charter rights as to rates That the then President of the railroad company was informed by the Commission that if his company was in any manner exempted by law from the jurisdiction and authority of the Commission it was not the purpose of the Commission to override such exemption That all such rights as he might have by law would be respected by the Commission The question of the privileges granted by law to the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company was and is a judicial question and the Commissioners did not then deem it nor do they now deem it within their province to act as a court to decide the same especially when the public seryed by said road would of right be a party interested in said question and the Commissioners could have no power to bring the public before them that the public interest might be properly represented In deference however to the claim of special exemption mentioned in said bill the Commissioners as far back as April 15th 1880 in a circular published by themdeclared that inasmuch as the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company entertain doubts as to their right under the provisions of their charter to charge the Standard Freight Rates prescribed by the Commission for short distances it is ordered that Rule six 6 be so relaxed in its operation as not to require that company to reduce along the entire line by reason of reduction on such short distances This is still of force and is here referred to for the purpose of showing the scrupulous regard with which the Commission has ever acted in reference to the complainants pretended claims of charter rights These defendants do not admit and never intended to admit by any action taken by them that the said pretended rights which complainants assume to have under their charter were valid They simply intended to avoid deciding or seeming to decide a question which they believed beyond their province and a question which they then believed and still believe quite immaterial to the interest of the railroad company as well as that of the public
Further answering these defendants deny that the rates established by this Commission were ever so far as these defendants know put into operation unwillingly by the Georgia
Railroad and Banking Company While the road in fact entered protests on some occasions it did so as a mere formality for the purpose as it avowed of protecting the charter rights which it pretended to claim and were so understood by these defendants The authorities of this railroad company have expressed not only a willingness but an earnest desire to act in harmony with the Commission and we have never understood that except for the purpose of preserving what they pretended to claim might be some of their chartered rights did they protest against the authority of the Commission
Further answering these defendants say that while they will not undertake to state with what hope the said Georgia Railroad Company acquiesced and so long conformed to the requirements of the Commission they do state most positively that such acquiescence was not the result of any threat or attempt upon the part of the defendants to coerce the said company into such acquiescence So they do here answer and say and are warrahted in averring that the long voluntary acquiescence of the campany in the rulings of the Commission was the result of a conviction upon the part of the managing officials of the company that it was subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission and that no valuable right of its charter nor its pecuniary interest was affected thereby
These defendants further answering state that they admit that the Commission on the date mentioned in said bill did issue what is therein termed Circulars 20 and 21 and that correct copies of said circulars are exhibited to said bill But these defendants deny that the rates prescribed in said circulars are unreasonable and unjust but on the contrarythey say that said rates are reasonable and just These defendants respectfully submit some of the many reasons which led them to conclude that it was their duty to issue said circulars Again calling attention to the fact that said circulars are general in their application to the railroads of the State and that if the said Georgia Railroad or any other railroad is exempt by law from the operation of said circulars then they have no application and were never intended to have any application in such exempted cases Defendants say that early in the history of the labors of the Commission they took into consideration the propriety of so regulating rates
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on the railroads of the State as to incidentally encourage and build up the manufacturing enterprises and industries within her limits They deemed it to be clearly their duty to exercise their powers in this direction as far as the law would permit The interest of the public required this and we felt that we would be derelict in duty if we should fail in this regard But not only was it due to the public but to the railroads themselves and more manifestly to the latter that manufacturing enterprises should be established and encouraged along their lines of road This policy we hoped and believed and still believe would make the roads selfsustaining from their local business Convinced as we were of this and of our duty in the premises we adopted what is known as Note 1 in the Buies and Begulations of the Commission which was published before the first Schedule of Batesv adopted by the Commission went into effect That note is in the following language
Note 1Bates specified for Ores Sand Clay Bough Stone Common Briefer Bones Bough Lumber Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tanbark Turpentine Bosin Tar and Household Goods are maximum but the railroads are left free without violation of any rule to make lesser rates by special contract This provision shall apply also to articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for material used in such manufacture
The effect of this regulation the Commission hoped would be to induce the railroads to serve the public interests as well as their own interests by encouraging local industries along their lines of road In this hope the Commission was in a large measure disappointed Instead of availing themselves of the privilege given them in said note with but few exceptions the railroads practically and in effect refused to do so In no manufactured articles was this more perceptible than in meal and flour ground within the limits of this State The milling interests of the State are of vital importance to the public and no policy could be more unjust than that which would paralyze this branch of industry within our limits If these enterprises prosper the producer has a home market for his grain the consumer has a home market in which he can purchase his bread Its effect would be to encourage the production of grain in the State and to encourage all other indus
tries upon which the prosperity of the whole people depends Any unjust discrimination therefore in rates of transportation against the local millers of the State must seriously and damagingly effect all classes of the public
The course pursued by the railroads in this regard is clearly illustrated by the discriminations in favor of Western and Northwestern millers grain growers and dealers against our local millers grain growers and dealers We beg leave to submit here some examples many of which may be seen by reference to Exhibits A B C D and E hereunto attached It requires about 300 pounds of wheat to make a barrel of flour To ship that amount of wheat from Cincinnati Ohio or Louisville Ky to Atlanta for illustration and there grind into flour and reship to Augusta the freight charged would on the wheat at 31 cents per 100 pounds be 93 cents the freight on the flour from Atlanta to Augusta would be 42 cents per barrel These rates would make the charge really on a barrel of flour ground in Atlanta out of Cincinnati or Louisville wheat from Cincinnati or Louisville to Augusta 135 per barrel while if the same wheat had been ground into flour at Cincinnati or Louisville and then shipped directly through Atlanta to Augusta such shipment would have only been charged by the railroads for transportation over the same line and distance the rate of 78 cents per barrel being a discrimination of 57 cents per barrel against the Georgia miller in favor of the Western miller
Another striking instance of discrimination against Georgia millers is found in the rate from Cincinnati or Louisville to Charleston S
C over the Georgia Bailroad A Cincinnati or Louisville miller can ship a barrel of 200 pounds of flour from his place to Charleston S C through Atlanta for 30 cents per barrel If an Atlanta miller shipped 300 pounds of wheat from Cincinnati or Louisville he paid 93 cents freight to Atlanta after grinding it into flour he then paid 60 cents per 100 pounds or 120 per barrel of 200 pounds of flour to Charleston making 213 per barrel that the Georgia miller really paid on the barrel of flour ground in this State as against 30 cents that the Cincinnati and Louisville miller paid being a discrimination of 183 per barrel against the Georgia miller in favor of the Western miller We are further informed and believe
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that the Western miller was permitted to ship one barrel or any other quantity of flour at his low rates whereas the Georgia miller Avas required to ship a car load of flour to receive the benefits of the discriminating rates he was charged
Out of the rate from Cincinnati or Louisville to Augusta the Georgia Eailroad received 17 eents as toll on a barrel of flour while out of a rate from Atlanta to Augusta the said road received for hauling the same distance 42 cents per barrel which was the maximum rate permitted by the Commissioners schedule ofrates or about two and onehalf times as much Out of a rate from Cincinnati or Louisville to Charleston S 0 the Georgia Eailroad voluntarily accepted 6 15 cents as tolls on a barrel of flour but the proportion of the rate on a barrel of flour shipped by a Georgia miller from Atlanta to Charleston was about 32 cents That is over five times as great a rate was collected by the Georgia Eailroad on a Georgia millers barrel of flour shipped to Charleston S C as was voluntarily accepted by that road on a barrel of flour shipped by a Cincinnati or Louisville miller the same distance over its road And in addition the Georgia miller was required to ship a car loard of flour to get the benefit of even this rate while the Cincinnati miller was permitted to ship any quantity from one barrel up at the greatly discriminating rates mentioned granted him by the railroads
A Georgia miller making say in Atlanta 100 barrels of flour a day and shipping the same to Charleston S C would suffer a discrimination against himself as compared with a Cincinnati miller of 187 per barrel or 18700 a day upon his business This discrimination against the Georgia miller is equal to 62 cents a bushel on wheat and to that extent injures the Georgia Avheat grower The illustrations presented have been confined to the Georgia Eailroad Discriminations on ether railroads in the State against Georgia millers and grain growers are equally gross arid unjust as could be easily shown if the same were pertinent in this cause
These defendants for further illustration refer here to another instance of unjust discrimination against Georgia grain growers grain elevators and dealers to which we are informed and charge that the Georgia Eailroad is a party
It is what is called a Eeshipping Eate at Nashville Tennessee The rates from Louisville and other Ohio Eiver points on grain are made on a basis of so much per ton per mile These rates are invariably less per ton per mile to points in the South than are the rates from Nashville or from any place in Georgia to the same points of destination But the railroads have voluntarily agreed to grant to the Nashville grain dealers and grain elevators a rate at the same per ton per mile which is allowed the dealers at Louisville Ky and other Ohio Eiver points This regulation alIoavs the Nashville dealer and elevator to withdraw the grain shipped from Ohio Eiver points from the cars of the railroad at Nashville and to handle and reship the same to points in the South at the lesser rate per ton per mile given to the dealers at Ohio Eiver points This privilege is denied to the Georgia grain dealer and elevator who are required if they wish to stop their grain shipped from Ohio Eiver points to pay the full rate per ton per mile charged from the shipping point to their places of business and if they reship to pay the much higher rate per ton per mile charged by the Georgia Eailroad For instance the rate from Louisville Ky to Charleston S C was prior to the date of Circular No 20 twenty cents per 100 pounds the rate from Nashville Tenn to the same point of destination was eighteen cents per 100 pounds The rate from Atlanta to the same point was 24 cents per 100 pounds The Nashville dealer or elevator was permitted to stop grain at Nashville shipped from Ohio Eiver points by paying the pro rata share of 20 cents per 100 pounds accruing between the Ohio Eiver point and Nashville which amounted to about 3 55100 cents per 100 pounds and then reshipping it and paying the balance of 16 45100 cents per 100 pounds to Charleston
S C thus the rate paid by the Nashville dealer or elevator was no more than the rate paid from the point of shipment on the Ohio Eiver to Charleston S C This reshipping rate applies not only to grain but to all other articles contained in Classes C D and F mentioned in Circular 20
The privilege thus granted to the Nashville Tenn dealer and elevator was denied to the Georgia dealer and elevator The latter was required to pay the rate from Ohio Eiver points to Atlanta for instance of 31 cents per 100
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pounds on grain if he reshipped to Charleston he was required to pay an additional rate of 24 cents per 100 pounds from Atlanta thus the Atlanta dealer was forced to pay for transportation of the same article shipped from the same original point and hauled over the same roads and distance to the same point of destination 55 cents per 100 pounds This rate stood against 20 cents per 100 pounds charged the Nashville Tenn dealer for precisely the the same service This discrimination made against Georgia wheat growers and dealers tended to drive them from the market and to build up similar interests outside of the State The difference between the rates given above tended to drive our millers and all dealers in grain without the limits of this State where they could find markets for their productions free from such unjust discriminations To these discriminating rates as has already been indicated these defendants have been informed and believe the Georgia Railroad has been and still is a voluntary party
We here repeat that by this mistaken policy on the pay t of the Georgia railroad companies we are informed and believe that the millers in this State found themselves unable to compete at their very doors with their competitors in the West and Northwest That these discriminations also depressed the price of grain grown in this State so that the Georgia miller could not afford to pay the prices for wheat in competing with the Northwestern miller with the discriminating rates against him added thereto He found himself so hedged in and crippled by ruinous rates of transportation as to be forced to carry on his business at great disadvantage or tear out his machinery and move without the limits of the State The latter alternative as these defendants were informed and believe was held in serious contemplation by many citizens who had embarked in this branch of industry in Georgia
When these unjust discriminations on the part of the roads and the injurious consequences likely to result therefrom came to our knowledge the Commission investigated the whole subject with a view to ascertaining whether it was within the power conferred upon them by law to apply a remedy The law prohibited the Commission from regulating freights coming from or going without the limits of the State It had no power to change
what is commonly called through rates of freight but the law expressly makes it the duty of the Commission to make just and reasonable schedules of rates for the roads within the State upon what is usually called local freights The Legislature intended that the schedules so made should be just and reasonable for the peopleall classes of the people as well as for the railroads Our investigations led us very reasonably to the conclusion that if the Georgia Railroad for instance could haul a barrel of flour shipped at Cincinnati over the entire line from Atlanta to Augusta for six and onefifth cents that twentyeight cents the rate allowed them by the Commission in Circular 20 would not be unreasonably and unjustly low for hauling a barrel of flour shipped at Atlanta over the same line and length of road In this connection it must be borne in mind that the pro rata share of the rate received by the Georgia Railroad for hauling the Cincinnati flour is a rate agreed upon by and acceptable to that road The haul in both cases is the same length and the service the same with the exception of what is called terminal expenses on an Atlanta shipment The rate allowed the Georgia Railroad in Circular 20 is not only sufficient to defray all these terminal expenses but also to give to the road a large excess over the share allowed it upon the division of the rate from Cincinnati hereinbefore mentioned If the Cincinnati rates acceptable to the Georgia Railroad were just and reasonable to the railroad then the greatly discriminating rates the road had been charging the Georgia grain growers millers and merchants were clearly unjust and unreasonable
These defendants further answering beg to submit the following statement of facts as further illustrative of the justness and reasonableness of the rates allowed under Circular 20Under that circular the railroads of this State are permitted to charge four and onehalf cents per 100 pounds or nine cents per barrel on flour for hauling the same 10 miles This is nine dollars per carload of 20000 pounds and is at the rate of nine cents per ton per mile For 20 miles the charge allowed is five and onehalf cents per 100 pounds or eleven cents per barrel amounting to eleven dollars per carload of 20000 pounds or five and onehalf cents per ton per mile For 30 miles the charge
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allowed is six cents per 100 pounds or twelve dollars per carload of 20000 pounds which is at the rate of four cents per ton per mile For 40 miles the charges are six and onehalf cents per 100 pounds or thirteen dollars per carload of 20000 pounds being at the rate of three and onefourth cents per ton per mile For 50 miles the charges allowed are seven cents per 100 pounds which is fourteen dollars per carload of 20000 pounds being at the rate of two and fourfifths cents per ton per mile For 100 miles nine and onehalf cents per 100 pounds being nineteen dollars per carload of 20000 pounds which is a rate of one and ninetenths cents per ton per mile For 131 miles eleven and onehalf cents per 100 pounds is allowed or twenty three dollars per carload of 20000 pounds which is a rate of over one and threefourths cents per ton per mile For 171 miles fourteen cents per 100 pounds is permitted being twentyeight dollars per carload of 20000 pounds or a rate of one and sixtyfour hundredths cents per ton per mile
The Georgia Railroad received for hauling a barrel of flour 171 miles when shipped from Cincinnati out of a rate voluntarily agreed to by that road 6 15 cents per barrel which is 6 20 per carload of 20000 pounds or 36100 cents 3 and 610 mills per ton per milewhereas the lowest rate that Circular 20 required should be charged for hauling flour 171 miles was 28 cents per barrel which is 2800 per carload of
20000 pounds or about If cents per ton per mile being about four and onehalf times as great as the rate voluntarily accepted by the Georgia Railroad
These defendants further answering say that they are informed and believe that the average rate charged per ton per mile on classes C D and F comprising flour and grain shipped to all points on the Georgia Railroad except Augusta and Athens Ga was during ten months ending January 31 1882 3 20100 cents per ton per mile while the average rate on similar articles shipped to Athens Augustaand points east of Augusta was 88100 of a cent per ton per mile being an average discrimination against the local stations of the Georgia Railroad of 2 32100 cents per ton per mile in favor of its competitive business The Georgia Road has stated we are informed and believe that it thought its revenues would be reduced about 25000 per annum by putting into force the
rates on flour and grain in Circular 20 on its local shipments of such articles and that its belief was based on the shipments of these articles and revenue derived therefrom for 10 months ending January 31 1882 That this 10 months business showed that the Georgia Railroad had collected 8484100 as revenue from Classes C D and F named in Circular 20 hauled to Athens Augusta and points east of Angusta and that this amount was an average rate of 88100 of a cent per ton per mile while it had collected as revenue on similar articles hauled to all local points on its line 4975200 being an average rate of 3 20100 cents per ton per mile That the 8484100 was 11 per cent of the entire revenue of the road derived from freights hauled and that the 497520u was 6 410 per cent of such entire freight revenue That the average discrimination against the local consumer in favor of the competitive consumer was 2 32100 cents per ton per mile That upon that business for 10 months if the same proportion continued the annual reduction in revenue would be 25000 as before stated That the Georgia Railroad in order to receive the 8484100 had hauled an amount of flour and grain and other articles in Classes C D and F equivalent to 9679958 tons a distance of one mile while to earn the 4975200 the road had only hauled 1547483 tons one mile Now if the Georgia Railroad should lose 25000 by Circular 20 rates in one year it would lose in 10 months at the same average about 21000 but by the addition of only 2J mills a quarter of one cent per ton per mile to its average rate of 88100 of a cent per ton per mile charged on its competitive business this supposed reduction would he made up and even then the rate to its competitive points would be only 1 13100 cents per ton per mile which is 2 07100 cents per ton per mile less than it charged its local shippers
These illustrations are drawn from copies of divisions of rates and other papers furnished by the railroad authorities and other parties to this Commission and we believe them to be correct The discriminations by the railroads against the millers grain growers and dealers in Georgia north of Atlanta increase over those hereinbefore given and against similar industries south of Atlanta are about the same In the illustrations presented we have taken Atlanta because it is the terminus of the
T
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Georgia Railroad in the interior part of the State and a central point of trade The illustration given apply with equal force to other points in the State and to some with even greater force
The investigations of the Commission touching the grievances of Georgia millers farmers merchants and the public generally hereinbefore referred to placed it in possession of the facts here briefly set forth This information as before intimated was drawn in a large measure from reports of railroad authorities to this Commission and for the correctness of this information the Court is respectfully referred to the exhibits hereto attached and made part of this answer
Possessed of this information the duty of the Commission as it seemed to us was very plain That this may be clearly seen we beg here to present to the Court our conclusions drawn therefrom It already appears in our answer that great and unjust discriminations have been habitually made by the railroads against the local industries of our State in favor of similar industries without the limits of the State
The suggestion made by the railroads in defense of these discriminations we considered and do now consider as unjust and as unfair as are the discriminations themselves They are unjust not only to the people of our State but to the railroads and serve but to prove in fact the shortsighted policy which unfortunately seems to have controlled the actions of these corporations It is pretended that freights brought from without the limits of the State and carried even at a rate below cost enables the carrier to do his business more cheaply for local customers that it brings just so much more money to the coffers of the carrier and enables it to be more liberal to local shippers The mere statement of such a proposition carries with it its own refutation It would be hard to induce even the most credulous to believe after the sad experiences of the past that the Georgia Railroad for example would voluntarily consent to lose money hauling Cincinnati and Northwestern freights simply for the benefit of the Georgia public The truth as it seems to us is that in pursuing this policy the railroads have disregarded their own interests as well as that of the public The true basis of rates is upon the cost of transportation
This cost can only be ascertained by experiment The road that systematically and persistently carries freights at rates less than cost for its patrons abroad must in the course of its business make up the deficit arising therefrom from its home patrons or go into bankruptcy The history of the Georgia Railroad shows that it has so carried of its own accord freights from abroad at a very low rate We do not believe that the wise and capable business men who have had charge of that railroad for years past have intentionally been guilty of the folly of carrying these freights at less than cost of transportation We believe and are warranted in believing that the rates upon their through freights as hereinbefore indicated have been remunerative to the road no matter how low such rates may have been We thought and still think as before intimated that the true interests of the railroads themselves would be promoted and made secure by encouraging and fostering as far as practicable the local industries and business of their own State The policy pursued by many of them has not done this The true interest of the people of Georgia seems to have been lost sight of in a large measure It was the duty and the inclination of this Commission to serve what they deemed to be the true interests of the public and the railroads also in any action which they might take We could not see and do not yet perceive the soundness of that policy which would build up the interest of enterprises and industries abroad at the expense of similar enterprises and industries at home Cheap flour is of course desired by our people and they will purchase where cheapest If Northwestern flour is cheaper than flour manufactured at home the consumer will purchase the former and it is right that he should do so But if home manufactures can be furnished as cheaply to the consumer as manufactures from abroad he will very naturally purchase the production of his own home industry Nor will the benefits of cheap home manufactures be confined strictly to the home consumer As hereinbefore intimated the grain grower the producer of every crude material that enters into any species of manufacture the merchant who handles such materials or manufactures and the railroads themselves will all be sharers in the blessings resulting from diversified labor In the opinion of this
27
Commission by this course only can our State i become prosperous and truly independent
Further answering these defendants say j touching Circular 21 exhibited to complainants bill that the same would allow the Geor gia Eailroad and Banking Company to charge the same rate with fifty per cent thereof added thereto for all classes of freight transported by passenger trains that the road can now charge i for firstclass freights by regular freight trains Before said last named circular went into effect this road was permitted to charge double instead of one and onehalf times the rates on such freights transported Consequently the rates allowed by Circular 21 would permit the road to charge threefourths of the rate before allowed for such freights Take the rates permitted under Circular 21 If the Georgia Railroad for example should choose to transport a car load of 20000 pounds of freight over their road by passenger train from Atlanta to Augusta they coidd charge therefor 19800 which is eleven and onehalf cents per ton per mile instead of 26400 the amount the road was allowed to charge at the date that Circular 21 was issued and which was at I the rate of fifteen and onehalf cents per ton per mile For ten miles the rate allowed un der Circular 21 would pay the Georgia Railroad for hauling a car load of 20000 pounds of j freight 4800 or 48 cents per ton per mile instead of 6400 per car or 64 cents per ton per I mile as at date of said circular We think it I unnecessary to state further facts to show that the rates allowed by Circular 21 are just and I reasonable and would prove remunerative and I profitable to the railroad
Further answering these defendants say that the said complainants never having put into effect on their own road the rates directed by Circular 20 cannot and do not state of their own knowledge what its effect would be They state that if these rates were to be put into operation on their road they would reduce the rates a certain amount and thereby reduce their revenue proportionately Such has not been the experience of this railroad company in conformity with the reduced rates here tofore established by this Commission Since the Commission went into operation the road has received a much larger revenue than ever before and these defendants repeat that the complainants do not and cannot know that the
effect that Circulars 20 and 21 will not be to increase even these large revenues
These defendants further state that they have been advised by prominent railroad authorities in this State that seven per cent per annum net interest on the capital stock of a railroad if reliable would be a satisfactory rate of profit They have also been informed by equally as high railroad anthority that six per cent net would be a just and fair profit These defendants are informed and believe that the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company is now paying as much as ten per cent per annum dividend on its capital stock under the Commissioners rates and that its Board of Directors intend to declare after October 1st next as much as eleven per cent net per annum to be paid quarterly These large profits show that the action of this Commission has not been injurious to the stockholders of the said company On the contrary we submit that they tend to prove that the rates heretofore allowed by the Commission on said road might be considered as unreasonably and unjustly high for the public
The defendants further answering say that even should the gross revenue of the complainants road be reduced 25000 per annum as it is claimed by complainants agent it would be provided that the rates of Circular 20 were put into force thereon this supposed reduction would only amount to an actual reduction of the annual dividend declared on its capital stock of about fiftyfour 54100 one hundredths of one per cent and that the annual net dividend after such supposed reduction would then be about ten per cent and fortysix 10 46100 one hundredths of one per cent on the total capital stock and that we are informed and believe that this net dividend is much larger than any annual dividend declared by said road prior to the enforcement of the Commissioners schedule of rates and that therefore the rates of Circular 20 are not unjustly or unreasonably low for that road
Further answering these defendants say that a reduction of the rates charged by a railroad do not in many instances cause a loss of either gross or net revenue and the Georgia Railroad is an instance of this for its earnings under the reduced rates that it has charged since the Commissioners first schedule went
into effect have we are informed and believe with very few if any exceptions been each month greater than for the corresponding months in either of the two years preceding the date that the Commissioners schedule of rates went into effect in Georgia and that the dividends now being paid on its capital stock are very much larger than the dividends paid prior to the date of the Commissioners schedule of rates and that therefore the Commissioners rates are neither unjust nor unreasonable to that road
So far as the question of the constitutionality of the law creating this Commission is concerned we deem it unnecessary to make answer to the same further than to say that the questions in reference thereto raised in the complainants bill have been argued fully and settled by a court of high authority in this State
Further answering these defendants say that for the reasons hereinbefore set forth the application of complainants for an injunction ought not to be granted and that the same ought not to be granted for the following additional reasons Because equity by the laws of this State can only grant a writ of injunction to restrain proceedings in another or the same court or a threatened or existing tort or any other act of a private individual or corporation which is illegal or contrary to equity and good conscience and for which no adequate remedy is provided at law
The Railroad Commission of Georgia is not a court but are simply the agents or commissioners through which the Legislature performs its constitutional duty of prescribing just and reasonable rates for the railroads of this State and whether rates prescribed by them are just and reasonable is a question which under the Constitution is for the Legislature itself to determine These defendants as railroad commissioners have never committed any tort against complainants and they deny that they have ever threatened to do so The complainants bill is not filed against these defendants as private individuals nor is it complained in said bill that as private individuals they have ever committed or threatened to commit any act against complainants
which is illegal or contrary to equity and good conscience and for which no adequate remedy is provided at law They deny that they ever have in any capacity whatever threatened to commence suit or legal proceedings against complainants for refusing to comply with Circulars 20 and 21
They further show that they are advised and believe it true that complainants show by their bill no legal ground of complaint whatever against these defendants either as railroad commissioners or individuals That the complainants aver in substance in their said bill that the act under which these defendants were organized and from which they derive their authority is unconstitutional null and void That this illegal and unconstitutional body having no binding power and authority whatever has assumed to prescribe rates on the said railroad and that such rates are not legally binding on complainants and consequently must be mere brutern fulmen on the part of the defendants If these assumptions by complainants be correct these defendants submit that Circulars 20 and 21 cannot possibly do any hurt or injury to complainants
And these defendants ask that they may be permitted to set up these facts by way of demurrer in response to complainants application for injunction and having fully answered pray to be hence dismissed with their reasonable costs in this behalf laid out and expended
MYNATT HOWELL Solicitors for Respondents
You James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Leander N Trammell do swear that what is contained in your answer as far as concerns your own act and deed is true of your own knowledge and that what relates to the actor j deed of any other persons you believe to be true
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE
L N TRAMMELL
Sworn to and subscribed before me this April 25 1882
C D WOODSON Notary Public Fulton county Ga
EXHIBIT A
Rates from Cincinnati Ohio Louisville Ky and certain Ohio River Points via Atlanta pe Barrel 0200 Pounds
TO No of miles hauled by the Georgia Railroad Prorata share of Rate accepted by Georgia Railroad from Railroad Rates voluntarily Rates in Circular 20 allowed the Georgia Railroad Excess allowed by Rates of Circular 20 over the Rates accepted by the Ga R R froin other Railroads Revenue per ton per mile voluntarily accepted by the GaRR from Rates made by Railroads Revenue per ton per mile from Circular 20 Rates Excess of Revenue per ton per mile allowed by Rates of Circular 20 over Rates allowed by Railroads and accepted by Ga R R Revenue in Dollars and Cents per car of 20000 lbs from Rates accepted by the Georgia Railroad voluntarily from railroads Revenue in Dollars and Cents per Car of 20000 lbsfrom Circular 20 Rates Excess of Revenue per car of 20000 lbsin dollars and centsby Circular 20 Rates over the Rates accepted by Ga R R vountarily
Per Barrel Flour Per Barrel Flour Per Barrel Flour
CLASS F CLASS F CLASS F
Charleston or Port Royal S C 171 062 cts 28 Cts 218 cts 036 cts 164 cts 128 cts 9 6 20 r 28 09 9 2 80
Augusta Ga 171 172 28 10 8 100 1 64 064 l 17 20 28 00 10 80
Milledgeville Ga 172 185 28 95 107 163 056 18 50 28 00 9 50
Athens Ga 169 23 61 1 125 171 046 16 90 23 00 6 10
Washington Ga 131 251 g i 23 Decrease 21 191 176 Decrease 015 cts 25 10 23 00 Decrease 2 10
Totals 780 839 cts 1 30 461 cts 559 cts 838 ets 279 cts 9 83 90 9 130 00 9 46 10
By taking rates to Augusta Milledgeville Athens and Washington adding them together and then averaging these totals are gained 609 777 cts n 02 243 cts 127 cts 167 cts 49 cts 77 70 102 00 24 30
By taking rates to Charleston Augusta and Milledgeville which rates the Georgia Railroad seems to have accepted a prorate on adding them together and then averaging these totals are gained 514 419 cts 84 cts 421 cts 81 Cts 163cts 82 cts 41 90 84 00 42 10
By taking the rates to Augusta and Milledgeville which appear to he proratedadding them and then averaging these totals are gained 343 357 cts 56 cts 203 cts 140 cts 163cts 23 cts 35 70 56 00 21 30
By taking the rates to Athens and Washington which are not prorated and are consequently arbitrary local rates demanded by the Georgia Railroad adding them and then averaging these totals aie gained 266 42 cts 6 cts 4 cts 157 Cts 173 cts 16 cts 42 00 9 46 OO 4 00 1
The four last named points are the only places on the Georgia Railroad that the Southern Railway and Steamship Association publish rates to and are used in averaging rates as against Circular 20 rates
30
EXHIBIT B Rates on Classes C and D per ioo Pounds and on Class F per Ban el of 20 Pounds from Cincinnati Ohio Louisville Ky and certain Ohio J Points
TO C Per 100 lbs D Per 100 lbs P Per Bamj
Atlanta I Washington Ga f Milledgeville j Augusta J Athens f Charleston Portlioyal or Beaufort Total Rate Western Atlan Total Rate Western Atlar Georgia Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Georgia Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Georgia Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Georgia Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Georgia Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Central Railroad Total Rate Western Atlan Central Railroad tic R R received tic R R received received tic R R received received tic R R received received tic R R received received tic R R received 34 cts 99 39 73 14 39 I 84 I 103 36 96 37 73 9 20 33 4 20 36 77 36 86 64 31 cts 9 36 1 6 7 129 36 77 96 33 71 87 34 66 82 20 33 4 20 3 6 1 77 33 79 I 59 61 ct 17 j 70 I 131 251 j 70 1 15 I 385 65 132 172 67 137 j 16 9 30 5 J 62 1 30 5 4 115 65 155 116
Savannah 1 Macon City and for stations on the M li and S W E B j ic R R received received tic R R received received
EXHIBIT C TABLE AStatement of Georgia Railroad Revenue and Ton Mileage of Classes C D and F for lj Months ending January 31 1882 2 hrough Freight shown here covers Freight to Roads East ad to Athens and Augusta Ga
CLASSES C D F Revenue Percentage on Total Freight Revenue Ton Miles Percentage on Total Freight Ton Miles Rates per Toni Mile I
Local Through Total 49752 00 84841 CO 64 119 1547483 9679958 42 265 320 cts I 88 j
134593 00 174 11227441 307 119 cts 1
TABLE BStatement of Georgia Railroad Revenue and Ton Mileage of Classes C D and F for id Months ending January 311882 Through Freight shown here covers Freight to Roads East ami to Athens Augusta Washington and Milledgetville Ga
CLASSES C D F Revenue Percentage on Total Freight Revenue Ton Miles Percentage on Total Freight Ton Miles Rate per Ton Mile
Local Through Total 42620 00 91973 00 55 119 1230092 9997349 34 273 346 cts 1 92 1 I
134593 00 174 11227441 307 119 cts 1
TABLE CStatement of Georgia RailroadRevenue and Ton Mileage of Classes C I and F to 4 Stations on Georgia Railroad for 10 Months ending January 31 1882 showing same exclusive ef Freights going to Roads East
CLASSES C D F Revenue Percentage on Total Freight Revenue Ton Miles Percentage on Total Freight Ton Miles Rate per Ton Mile j
Local Competing Stations Georgia Railroad Total 42620 00 70091 00 55 9 1230092 6403934 34 175 346 cts I 109 1
112711 00 145 7634026 209 147 cts 1

Qi 0 03
8 1 A
5 H
EXHIBIT TX
From St Louis Mo
Freight on 300 pounds Wheat to Marietta Ga and on one barrel Flour from Marietta Ga to
Freight on one barrel of Flour direct from St Louis to
Difference in favor of Flour shipped direct from St Louis as against Marietta mills per barrel
To Macon or Augusta Ga
To Savannah Charleston S C or Brunswick
From
Freight on 300 pounds Wheat to Marietta Ga and on one barrel of Flour from Marietta Ga to
Louisville Ky I Freight on one barrel Flour direct from Louisville Ky or Cincinor 1 nati Ohio to
Cincinnati Ohio Difference in favor of Flour shipped direct from Louisville or Cincinnati as against Marietta mills per barrel
From
Nashville Tenn
Freight on 300 pounds Wheat to Marietta Ga and on one barrel of Flour from Marietta Ga to
Freight on one barrel of Flour direct from Nashville to
Difference in favor of Flour shipped from Nashville as against Marietta mills per barrel
To Albany or Cuthbert Ga
c L L c li
72
54
90
72
1 45
1 98 1 18
801
To Thomasville Ga
To Greenville S C
1 711 1 78
92
99
97
55
47
56
85
1 84 2 13
1 55l 1 55
29
58
1 09
1 09
82
1 24
92
To Athens Ga 1 To Washington or Milledgeville Ga I To Americus Ga To Fort Valley Ga To Eastman Ga I To Davisboro 1 Ga 1 To Bartow Ga
i C Ii L C L C L L C L O L L C L C L i fi Q t 0 L L C 1 C L L 0 L C L L C L
Sj 1 G l 85 1 85 1 94 9 2 01 1 84 1 89 5 1 90 1 2 15 1 94 Mf 2 01 1 9f 8 2 01
9 83 83 86 86 1 39 1 29 1 19 1 19 1 25 1 25 1 29 1 29 1 31 1 31
4 1 00 1 00 99 99 65 72 65 70 65 90 65 72 65 70
1 56 1 56 1 60 1 60 1 67 1 74 1 57 1 68 1 63 1 88 1 67 1 68
83 83 86 86 1 11 1 11 1 02 1 02 1 09 1 09 90 90
73 73 74 74 56 64 55 63 54 79 77 78
1 32 1 32 1 36 1 36 1 43 1 50 1 33 1 44 1 46 1 64 1 43 1 50
69 69 70 70 96 96 86 86 92 92 96 96
63 63 66 66 47 54 47 58 54 72 47 64
To Jesup
1 35
SI
EXHIBIT E
I Buie 6 and Note 1 of the Rules and Regulations of the Railroad Commission
Rule 6 Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They may carry however at less th an the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except 1 as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust I discrimination as against any person or locality
Competing Lines not all within the Jukisdiction of the CommissionWhen how ever from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then the line
I or lines which are so subject and arc irorki at the lowest rate under the rules may at sun competing point or other point injuriously affected by such competition make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of road
Note 1The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tan bark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household Goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of carloads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
32
JUDGE LAWSONS DECLINATION
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and William M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammel Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralIn Fulton county In Equity and motion tor injunction
The undersigned declines to hear and decide the above motion for the following reasons He is the Secretary and Treasurer of the Eatonton Branch Railroad a corporation created by the laws of Georgia Said railroad is leased for an indefinite term of years to the Central Railroad and Banking Company for the sum of fourteen thousand dollars payable annually and has nothing whatever to do vith the transporta ion of passengers or property over its tracks and nothing to do with the charge for such transpor ation It has a President and Board of Directors who have elected the undersigned to the office above stated His duty in said office is to receive and distribute as dividends among the stockholders of the Eatonton Branch Road the above sum of money to retain for taxes and pay taxes on the property of the company to keep the minutes of the board and attend to the transfer of stock on the books of thecompany andeountersign the scrip issued therefor He receives his compensation from the Eatonton Branch Road as well as his eml
ployment he is not in anywise employed by the Central Railroad and Banking Company receives no compensation from it owes no duty to it and neither it nor its officers have any control whatever over him in the conduct of his office
But inasmuch as the bill in the above cause assails the Act creating the Railroad Commission on the ground that it is unconstitutional null and void and inasmuch as every railroad in the State is directly or indirectly interested in the question the undersigned without inquiry into the question as to his legal disqualification to hear and determine said cause concludes that it would in view of the facts above stated be improper for him to do so the more especially so as the defendant considers him disqualified His connection with the Eatonton Branch Railroad did not suggest itself to him at the time he granted the restraining order and did not occur to him relatively to this case earlier than yesterday The duti s of his said office are so trivial and so infrequent outside of the annual payment of the dividends that the impropriety of his presiding in said cause had not occurred to him in time to give earlier information to the parties
THOMAS G LAWSON
Judge S C O C I
May 25 1882
DEMURRER OF COMPLAINANTS To the Cross Bill of the Railroad Commissioners
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and William M Wadley Lessee vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralBill for Injunction Fulton Superior Court
These complainants defendants in said cross bill by protestation not c onfessing or acknowledging all or any of the matters and things in said cross bill to be true in such manner and form as the same are therein and thereby set forth and alleged do demur thereto and for cause of demurrer show that said defendants have not by their said cross bill made such a case as entitles them in acourt of equity to any discovery or relief from or against complainants touching the matters contained in said cross bill or any of such matters
And for special cause of demurrer complainants say
1 That said cross bill is not confined to the matters in litigation in the original bill
2 That it neither seeks discovery in aid of the defence nor any relief from or against complainants
3 That defendants have no interest as to the matters of so much of their answer as makes this cross bill
4 That discovery is sought for the purpose of enforcing a penalty or forfeiture
Wherefore and for divers other good causes of demurrer appearing in said cross bill these complainants do demur to the said cross bill and to all the matters and things therein contained and humbly pray the judgment of this honorable court whether they shall be compelled to make any other or further answer to said cross bill
JOS B GUMMING A R LAWTON j Complainants Solicitors j
33
ANSWER OF GEORGIA RAILROAD BANKING
COMPANY
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company
and W M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralBill for Injunction and Relief Fulton Superior Court
Answer and cross bill filed by defendants
The separate answer of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company to the cross bill of defend an tjy the above stated case
This respondent making the usual reservations as to the insufficiency irregularity etc in said cross bill and being advised that it is only necessary that answer should be made to the specific interrogations propounded in said cross bill to Charles H Phinizy President of this respondent answering says
1 This respondent negotiated the lease of the Georgia JJailroad and the property belonging to the Georgia Railroad and Banking Co with this respondents cocomplainant William M Wadley and with him alone
2 This respondent having made the negotiation of said lease with said William M Wadley there is no person to be named in answer to the first part of defendants second interrogatory
Answering the rest of said interrogatory this respondent says No officer or officers as such of any railroad companies contracted with this respondent for said lease The contract was negotiated and made solely with the said Wm M Wadley who was then and is now the President of the Central Railroad and Banking Co of Georgia but who negotiated and contracted as an individual with respondent in this behalf No individual other than the said William M Wadley and no corporation took any beneficial interest in or under the contract of lease at the time the same was made As to what railroad company or corporation or other company or individual has at any time had any beneficial interest either direct or indirect under or by virtue of said contract of lease or has taken any beneficial interest thereunder as assignee of the said William M Wadley this respondent says that nothing is known unto this respondent except by hearsay That such information as this respondent has touching the matters inquired of in this interrogatory is set forth in the answer of this respondents cocomplainant William M Wadley to the second interrogatory propounded to him in the cross bill and this respondent believes that the facts therein set forth are true
3 This respondents cocomplainant Wm M Wadley individually is the actual and only person with whom this respondent has at 3
any time dealt in negotiating and making said lease and touching all matters relating to said lease since the same was made As to the interest of any railroad or railroad company or other person with the said William M Wadley or by assignment from him this respondent has no knowledge except from hearsay and this respondent again refers to the answer of the said William M Wadley to the second interrogatory propounded to him in the cross bill for all the information which this respondent has touching the matters here inquired of
4 There is not and there has not been since said lease contract was made or before that time any verbal contract whatsoever between this respondent and any other person natural or artificial allowing or intending to allow any benefit under said contract to any railroad company or other company or companies or individual
There is no memorandum in writing made by this respondent with any person natural or artificial other than the lease itself intended to give rights or to affect rights under said lease
The only instrument in writing other than the deed of lease touching said lease of which this respondent has any khowledge is the memorandum of agreement to make the lease dated April 131881 a copy of which is hereunto annexed marked Exhibit M
In reference to this instrument this respondent says that Moses Taylor and Samuel Sloan whose names are signed to said instrument by William M Wadley as his associates declined to enter with him into the lease provided for by this memorandum So that when said lease was executed May 71881 it was made by this respodent with William M Wadley alone in his individual capacity and with him alone in such capacity has this respondent dealt in all matters pertaining to said lease and to him alone in such capacity and to the security deposited by him does this respondent look for the fulfilment of the terms of said lease
5 The charter of this rpondent granted by the Legislature of Georgia December 211833 has never been renewed
It has been amended at various times by public Acts of the Legislature approved at the dates following towit
December 18 1835
December 22 1835
December 261836
December 1837
December 22 1840
November 24 1841
I December 91843
34
January 21 1852
December 11 1858
March 9 1865
October 5 1868
March 191869
October 12 1870
October 19 1870
February 28 1874
February 27 1875
February 26 1877 Three acts of same date And this respondent having fully answered prays to be hence dismissed with his reasonable costs in this behalf most wrongfully sustained
JOS B CUMMING
A R LAWTON Complainants Solicitors
STATE OF GEORGIARichmond County
You Charles H Phinizy do swear that you are President of the Georgia Railroad and Ba nking Company and that what is contained in the foregoing answer so far as it relates to your own act and deed as President and to the act and deed of said company is true of your own knowledge and so far as it relates to the act and deed of any other person vou believe it to be true C H PHINIZY
Sworn to before me this 12th day of May 1882
u s FRANK E FLEMING
Not Pub Richmond Co Ga
EXHIBIT M
State of Georgia
This agreement made this 13th day of April 1881 between the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company of the first part and William M Wadley Moses Taylor Samuel Sloan and others their associates of the second part
Witnesseth That the party of the first part acting in this behalf in conformity with a resolution of its Board of Directors regularly convened April 12th 1881 has rented and farmed out to the parties of the second part for the full term of ninetynine years from the first day of April 1881 all its general and exclusive privileges of transporting and conveying persons merchandise and produce over the lines of railroad owned or controlled by the party of the first part to the full extent and subject to all the obligations and with all the privileges of the party of the first part and alsd the use and enjoyment of the property of the party of the first part as hereinafter set forth
That is to say as follows
The Georgia Railroad from Augusta to Atlanta and its branches viz The branch from Camak to Warrenton the branch from Barnett to Washington and the branch from Union Point to Athens and also the railroad known
as the Macon and Augusta Railroad from Warrenton to Macon A Iso its right claim and interest in to and upon the Walton Railroad
Also all the right to manage control and use the Western Railroad of Alabama which the party of the first part now has oris entitled to have
Provided That when either branch of the Western Railroad of Alabama from Opelika into Georgia shall be sold onehalf of the proceeds of the sale shall be received by the party of the first part but in consideration that the parties of the second will thereby lose the free use of the interest of the party of the first part in said branch so sold the party of the first part will pay to the parties of the second part interest on said half of the proceeds at the same rate that the then bonds of the Western Railroad of Alabama may bear at the date of payment of the interest on said bonds
The party of the first part also agrees to assign and transfer to the parties of the second part for and during said term of ninetynine years the income of the stock now held by the party of the first part in the Atlanta and West Point Railroad Company towit Four thousand four hundred and nine shares and in the Rome Railroad Company towit Fourteen hundred and eightynine shares and threeeighths of a share
Also to give to the parties of the second part an irrevocable power of attorney to vote said stocks as fully as the party of the first part might vote them if this agreement had not been made
Also to assign and transfer to the said parties of the second part for and during said term of ninetynine years the income of the stock and bonds held by the party of the first part in the Port Royal and Augusta Railroad Company and to give to the parties of the second part an irrevocable power of attorney to vote said stocks and bonds as fully as the party of the first part could vote them if this agreement had not been made but this provision is not to include claim of the party of the first on the Compress Company of Port Royal its Elevator Compress and other property
This agreement is not to affect the ownership use and enjoyment of the party of the first part as to all the cash notes claims demands rights and credits owned by the party of the first part on the first day of April 1881
The party of the first part also agrees to deliver to the parties of the second part at the expense of the party of the first part all steel rails whicn have been contracted for by the party of the first part
Provided always That the Banking House banking privileges and business are nowise affected by thy agreement and provided further that lands houses or tenements belonging to the party of the first part other than its elevator in the city of Augusta not necessary for railroad purposes are not affected by this agreement and that contracts relating to such houses
35
lands and tenements made before the date of of these presents although not yet executed shall not be affected by this agreement but may be carried out by the party of the first part
Party of the first part also agrees to pay the principal and interest of the bonds of the party of the first part and of the Macon and Augusta Railroad Company
Also to pay the taxes which may be payable under the charter of the party of the first part on the rental hereinafter stipulated or so much thereof as may be taxable and also any taxes if any which may become by law collectable from the party of the first part on the shares of its stock in the hands of its shareholders but all other taxes which may be payable on the property and franchises which or the control use or enjoyment of which is hereby rented farmed out assigned or transferred to the parties of the second part shall be paid by the parties of the second part
All contracts no y existing between the party of the first part and other railroad companies except as otherwise hereinbefore provided for shall be carried out by the parties of the second part
In consideration of the things hereinbefore agreed to be done by the party of the first part the parties of the second part hereby agree to pay to the parties of the first part the sum of six hundred thousand dollars annually for the full term of ninetynine years in two semiannual payments of three hundred thousand dollars each at such times as the party of the first part may hereafter designate said payments to be made in such money as is legal tender of the United States at the time of such payments
Also to return the property hereinbefore rented farmed out and assigned to the parties of the second part in as good condition as it is now in and unimpaired in value that is to say the railroads and their appurtenances as well adapted to the business of transportation as they now are and the personal property in personal property equal in value and as well adapted to its uses as it now is And all the property substi tuted for and added to that which is hereby rented and farmed out shall be the property of the party of the first part to the same extent as the original property for which it may be substituted or to which it may be added
And the parties of the second part also agree to keep the railroads and their appurtenances and the means of transportation in firstclass condition of such property the parties of the second part also agree to indemnify the party of the first part against any damages losses or liabilities which may be incurred by reason of the operation of the railroads the use and control of which is hereby granted and farmed out
The parties of the second part further agree that they will pay the interest demandable of the party of the first part on the bonded debt of the Western Railroad of Alabama so that
said indebtedness shall never be increased and at the termination for any cause of this agreement to return the property which the party of the first part have in said railroad without any greater incumbrance than it now bears
It is also agreed that the privileges of free passage to the stockholders and directors of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company shall be continued to the same extent as they are now enjoyed by stockholders and directors respectively under the usages of the party of the first part
The parties of the second part shall have no power to encumher or to permit to be encumbered any of the property passing into the cpntrol of the parties of the second part by this agreement
The party of the first part shall have the right to enter upon and inspect the railroad and appurtenancies including the rolling stock used on the same by persons selected by the party of the first part as often as the party of the first part may think proper and not less than twice in each year
The party of the first part reserves the right in addition to all other remedies now usual or hereinafter to become usual in the law to enter upon and resume possession and enjoyment of all its property for the breach of any of the stipulations of this agreement
At the termination for any cause of this agreement all necessarry and proper betterments which shall have been made by the parties of the second part shall be paid for by the party of the first part at their then fair value
Provided always That nothing herein containd shall be construed as giving or attempting to give to the parties of the second part the right to do or to omit to do any act or thing the doing or omission of which would furnish a ground for forfeiture of the charter of the party of the first part and all such acts or ommissions are hereby declared to be contrary to the terms and spirit of this agreement and void
In order to guarantee the performance of the agreements hereinbefore made of the parties of the second part said parties of the second part further agree to deposit in such place and in such manner as the President of the party of the first part may designate 1000000 in bonds of the United States or in bonds of equal value Said bonds to be kept up to the clear market value of 1000000 provided that the parties of the second part shall have the privilege of collecting for their own benefit the income of said bonds and of changing the kind of bonds from time to time
It is also agreed that within sixty days from the date of these presents a full and complete inventory of all the property delivered under this agreement showing its character and value shall be made by two disinterested experts and annexed to this agreement as a part thereof Said inventory to be made at the joint expense of the parties of the first and second part
36
And it is mutually agreed that any other instrument cr instruments advised by counsel learned in the law to be requisite or proper to carry out the intentions and designs of the parties in this behalf according to their true spirit and interest will be duly executed by the parties
In witness whereof the party of the first part has caused its President to sign and its Cashier to countersign these presents and to affix its corporate seal hereunto and the parties of the second part acting in this behalf by William
M Wadley have signed and sealed these presents the day and year first above written
THE GA R R BANKG CO
By C H Phinizy President Geo P Butleb Secretary WM M WADLEY l s
MOSES TAYLOR
By Wm M Wadley l s SAMUEL SLOAN
By Wm M Wadley l s
Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of HENRY C GOODRICH
Not Pub Richmond Co Ga
ANSWER OF WILLIAM M WADLEY To Answer and Cross Bill filed by Defendants
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and William M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralIn Equity Bill for injunction and relief in Fulton Superior Court
The separate answer of Wm M Wadley to the cross bill of defendants in the above entitled case
This respondent making the usual reservations as to the insufficiency irregularity etc in said cross bill and being advised that it is only necessary and proper that he answer unto the specific interrogatories propounded to him as one of the complainants in the orignal bill answering says
First This respondent in negotiating for and securing the lease of the Georgia Railroad as formerly evidenced by a written paper dated May 7 1881 a part of which is attached to the complainants bill as an exhibit in this case acted for himself alone and on his own responsibility
Second This respondent in obtaining said leasecontract was not acting directly or indirectly for the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia Indeed the Central Railroad and Banking Company had shortly before that time expressly refused to entertain a proposition for the lease of the Georgia Railroad and this respondent had not conferred with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad on the subject of the lease
Third This respondent has already answered that he was not acting for the railroad companies named or either of them in obtaining the lease of the Georgia Railroad and now repeats the same statement And in further response to this interrogatory says that after he had effected his purpose and secured the execution of the lease of the Georgia Railroad the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Company did become interested in the working of the Georgia Railroad under said lease to this respondent and in this wise
On or about the first day of June 1881 after this respondent had secured the lease and was in full possession and control under it of the Georgia Railroad the Central Railroad and Banking Company agreed to pay to this respondent 12500 in money and to give him the use of 500000 at par value of its mortgage bonds to be deposited by him as lessee as security for the performance of the conditions and covenants of the lease in consideration of the agreement on the part of the lessee that the said the Central Railroad and Banking Company should exercise control over and receive the benefits to accrue from the management of the Georgia Railroad under said lease to the extent of onehalf And a similar agreement was entered into about that time with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company And this respondent as lessee in furtherance of this arrangement did deposit with the Farmers Loan and Trust Company of New York City bonds to the extent of one million of dollars thus received as loans from the two last named railroad companies onehalf from each to secure the execution of the terms and covenants of said lease But this respondent states positively that the Georgia Railroad was not directly or indirectly a party to any of these agreements with the two railroad companies last named but that all contracts verbal or written made by the Georgia Railroad Company touching the lease of its railroad and appurtenances and for securing the covenants thereof were made directly and solely with this respondent
Fourth This respondent has already stated that the bonds to the extent of 1000000 were furnished to him as lessee by way of loan onehalf by the Central Railroad and Banking Company and onehalf by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company and were by this respondent deposited with the Farmers Loan and Trust Company The bonds in question
37
were not then and are not now the property of this respondent hut were received from the two railroad companies named as set forth in answering the third interrogatory
Fifth The lease of the Georgia Railroad was obtained by this respondent in his own individual righthis contract of lease was neither authorized by por did it implicate or bind any other person or corporation whatsoever This respondent has already set forth the extent and character of the interest which the Central and the Louisville and Nashville Railroads now have in the working of the Georgia Railroad under the lease and he now asserts distinctly that no other person or corporation has any interest in or control over said lease and that this respondent is the sole contracting party with the Georgia Railroad Company touching the same
Sixth This respondent is the President of the Central Railroad Company There was before the lease of the Georgia Railroad by this respondent some competition or the opportunity for competition between that road and the Central road at the points indicated and perhaps at other points but then as now the evil effects and serious losses that might have resulted from an improper use of such competition to a great extent were avoided by reasonable and proper arrangements between the two companiesand these arrangements are essentially the same since the lease as they were before The chief and important effect of the leasethe great inducement to the earnest effort of this respondent to accomplish ithas been to prevent other and antagonistic interests outside of the State of Georgia from controlling the operations of the Georgia Railroad to the great injury if not the utter ruin of most important interests within the State
Seventh There is no other writing or paper to evidence the terms of said lease except the one executed May 7 1881 already referred to and there are no verbal agreements to vary the terms of said lease in any respectand all arrangements with other railroad companies growing out of said lease have been already set forth
Eighth This respondent brings into court the full text of the leasecontract executed May 7 1881 and he has no other paper touching the same
Ninth Respondent has made no assignment of the leasearid has already set forth the nature and extent of the interest of the Central and the Louisville and Nashville Railroads and stated that no other person or corporation has any interest in it except this respondent
Tenth There is no understanding verbal or or written between the parties to the lease as to any future assignment of any interest whatsoever to any persons or corporations
And this respondent having fully answered prays to be hence dismissed with his reasonable costs and charges in this behalf most wrongfully expended
JOS B CUMMING
A R LAWTON Complainants Solicitors
You William M Wadley do swear that what is contained in your answer so far as it relates to your own act and deed is true and so far as it relates to the act and deed of any other person you believe to be true
WILLIAM M WADLEY
Sworn to before me this tenth day of May 1882 ROBERT S PIERCE
Not Pub Richmond Co Ga
The complainants filed the following affidavit
STATE OF GEORGIARichmond County
Before me personally appeared Charles H Phinizy President pf the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company who on oath says
That the right granted to said company by the twelfth section of the original act of the Legislature approved December 21 1833 to regulate its own freight and passenger tariffs within the limits of the maximum rates fixed by said section is of great pecuniary value to said company
That it is difficult to say definitely what said right or privilege is worth but in the opinion of this deponent its pecuniary value is not less than two hundred thousand dollars
C H PHINIZY
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 23rd day of May 1882
us HENRY C GOODRICH Notary Public Richmond Co Ga
BRIEF OF JOS B CUMMING
Solicitor for the Georgia Railroad and Banking Co
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Co and Win M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral injunction Fulton Superior Court
JURISDICTION OF COURT OF EQUITY
A
L One ground of equitable jurisdiction is found in the law of Georgia where the common law remedy is not as complete as the equitable relief Code 8095
In Hollingsliead vs McKenzie 8 Ga 457 the Court say on page 459 But the true rule we understand to be this that it is not enough that there is a remedy at law to make such a plea a good bar to a proceeding in Chancery it must be shown that it was as practical and efficient to the ends of justice and its prompt administration as the remedy in Equity
In Dart et al vs Orme 41 Ga 376 head note the Court say A Court of Equity will entertain jurisdiction when the remedy in common law Court is not as complet e or effectual as it would be in a Court of Equity
38
In Riddle et al vs Kellum et al 8 6a 374 the Court on page 378 hold that Equity may assume jurisdiction when the remedy at law is not adequate
In Jordan vs Eaircloth 27 6a 372 the Court sayi n the head note Although there may he at law a remedy for a person yet unless that remedy is a complete one he may nevertheless go into Equity
In Pope vs Solomons36 6a 541 in a head note the Court say Although a party may have a common law remedy yet if it is not as complete and efficient as it would he in a Court of Equity the latter having first taken jurisdiction of the cause will retain it
In IT E R R Co vs Barrett 65 6a 601 the Court on page 602 say If hy the hill it was shown that this company could not he as fully and completely protected at law as in Equity then the hill would be sustained and the inj unction granted
is the remedy at common law as complete and effectual as m a Court of Equity
The remedy at law is to defend whenever a suit is brought for the violation of the rules of the Commission
When will such suit he brought Until some one is found to bring it there will be no suit In the meanwhile until the statutory bar has attached which under this statute is one year countless suits can he brought against complainants These suits are of two kinds viz those required to he brought by the Commissioners for penalties ranging fromflOOO to 5000 section 9 of the Commission act and those brought by the private suitor section 10 of the Commission act each transaction offence of the complainants in the course of their business may be the ground of either or both of these suits
Complainants would seem to have a strong equity to have so important a question settled They can have it settled in no other way than that which they have pursued in filing this bill The complainants in good faith believe that they have a legal right It is denied by the Commissioners There is no action at law which complainants can institute to assert their right Whereas the Commissioners can assert their claim at any time Any view which would close a Court of Equity to complainants would put them in the position of having either to abandon their claim of right or to act upon it at deadly and peculiar peril Why should not a Court of Equity interpose and save the law from the scandal of such tyranny The penalties denounced by the statute should be construed as launched only against the willful and the contumacious and not against those who make an honest effort to ascertain their right In two points of view the denial of equity jurisdiction practically decides complainants claim without a hearing
First they can not institute any suits on the common law side of the court they are obliged in all the cases covered by the statute to be defendants they cannot compel any one to sue them
Secondly they cannot go on in the exercise of their clai i without incurring a peril too deadly to De encountered
It is no answer to say that if we are right we are in no danger To this we reply that if we are wrong we are in greater danger than any personshave ever before incurred m the assertion of a mere pecuniary claim When we appeal to a Court of Equity it is no answer to taunt us with being afraid to stand a suit at law We are afraid with a fear hitherto strange to 6eorgialitigants Theyhitherto have asserted their pecuniary claims at law at no greater peril than an adverse decision and the loss of what they claimed But we must defend with halters about our necks and with condign punishment and ruin as the penalty of an error of judgment a mistake in the construetion of a legal instrument We appeal to a Court of Equity to save our system from reproach
We do not as it is charged ask a Courof Equity to protect us from any penalties which we have incurred but ask it inasmuch as we cannot take the initiative in a Court of Law and inasmuch as the statute environs those courts with such deadly perils peculiar to us when we do anything which permits our adversaries to drag us into those courtswe ask the court to protect us
We in view of the fact that we cannot initiate proceedings in a Court of Law but as far as the Courts of Law are concerned must surrender in advance or await the pleasure of our adversaries when delay brings destruction in its train say that not only is the remedy at law less com plete and adequate but there is indeed no remedy
We cannot afford to try the common law remedy The statute by pains and penalties practically shuts us off frightens us off if you please from the common law courts
2 Under section 3095 of the Code a mere privilege to a complainant to sue at law does not deprive equity of jurisdiction
But these complainants have not even this mere privilege They cannot sue at law at all They must either appeal to a Court of Equity to try their right or they must wait some indefinite period for the Commissioners to sue themnumberless suits accumulating the while and pehalties piling up
In this inability to sue on the part of complainants at law and their being subject to future liability the act of October 141879 the Commissioners act assuming it to be an unlawful infringement of the railroad companys char
ter is analagous to a cloud upon titlefor which the only remedy is equity
We repeat complainants cannot bring any suit at law Any person who cannot sue at law may complain in equity and every person who is remediless elsewhere may claim the protection of a Court of Equity to enforce any right recognized by the law Code 417836 6a 534
4 Equity jurisdiction is established and allowed for the protection and relief of parties where from any peculiar circumstances the operation of the general rules of law would be deficient in protecting from anticipated wrong etc Code 3081
Assuming that the Commission act and the circulars of the Commissioners are unlawful infringements of complainants chartered rights wrong is reasonably anticipated and is threatened
It is in legal intendment threatened for whatever mav be stated on this point by the defendants in their answer or elsewhere it is made their duty to bring actions as numerous as the violations of their rules against complainants for large penalties See Commission act section 9
Of course if these actions are threatened from this quarter they are to be anticipated Private suits are to be anticipated in equally vast numbers See Commission act section 10
Moreover the refusal by the Commission to exclude the 6eorgia Railroad on itsrequest from the operation of the Circulars is equivalent to a threat to insist on the penalties etc
So much for general grounds of equity jurisdiction
MULTIPLICITY OP SUITS
1 There is a specific ground of jurisdiction which is strongly relied on viz The Prevention of Multiplicity of Suits
Equity has jhrisdiction over a bill to avoid a multiplicity of suits by establishing a right in favor of or against several persons which is likely to be the subject of legal controversy Code 3233
The prevention of vexatious litigation and of a multiplicity of suits constitutes a favorite ground for the exercise of the jurisdiction of equity by way of injunction and it may be laid down as a general rule that whenever the rights of a party aggrieved cannot be protected or enforced in the ordinary course of proceedings afflaw except by numerous and expensive suits a Court of Equity may properly interpose and afford relief by injunction And when there is one common right in controversy which is to be established by or against several persons one asserting the right against many or many against one equity may interfere and instead of permitting the parties to be harrassed by a multiplicity of suits determine the whole matter in one transaction High on Injunctions section
In order to maintain a bill of peace to prevent a multiplicity of suits it is not necessary that the right for which protection or of which enforcement is sought should he first established at law if the parties against whom protection or enforcement is claimed are numerous Adams Equity 407 Note 2 John Chancery 281 1 Ibid 166
It is sufficient if complainants right De established for the first time in the Court of Equity to which he resorts with his bill 1 John Chancery 166 High on Injunctions 571
C
CORPORATE FRANCHISES
Another ground of equitable jurisdiction is the protection of corporate franchises
The violation of franchises or special privileges conferred by legislative authority either upon individuals or upon corporations afford frequent occasion for asking the extraordinary aid of equity by way of injunction to remedy evils which the usual modes of redress in Courts ol Law are powerless to nrevent High on Injunctions sec 570
Equity jurisdiction is freely exercised for the protection of franchises Ibid section 601
RECAPITULATION OF GROUNDS OF EQUITY JURISDICTION
1 Common law remedy not as complete or effectual as the equitaple relief Code of6eorgia section 3065
2 Inability to sue at law Code 4178 36 6a 3095
Not even a mere privilege to complainants to sue at law Code 3095
3 The operation of the general rules of law deficient in protecting from anticipated wrong Code 3081
4 The prevention of a multiplicity of suits Code 3233 High on Injunctions section 12 Adams Equity407Note 2 John Chancery 281 1 Ibid 166 High on Injunctions 571
5 Protection of franchises High on Injunction section 570 Ibid 601
II
STATUS OF COMPLAINANTS
A 1 Of the Heorgia Railroad and Banking Company
The bill avers The Heorgia Railroad and Banking
89
Company owns the right in perpetuity to transport persons and property on its lines of railroads and to charge for every passenger not exceeding five cents per mile and freight for property at a rate not exceeding fifty cents per hundred pounds for heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot for articlesof measurement for every one hundred
mThe bill also avers Notwithstanding said deed of lease vour orator the Georgia Eailroad and Banking Company remains liable to the public and to the third parties whose persons and property are transported over the leased railroads for any breach or failure of duty in and about the management and operation of said railroads and might incur as well as your orator William M Wadley the penalties hereinafter mentioned
The company has not attempted by the lease to avoid the performance of any duty owed under its franchise to the public or to escape the failure of performance The deed of lease recognizes the continuance of the companys duty and legal responsibility See Lease
It could not have relieved itself if it had sought to do so 1
The evidence submitted to the Chancellor at the hearing I for an injunction viz the affidavit of defendants answer and crossbill and the affidavits of complainants answers to crossbill do not vary the facts set forth in these aver
mTheSse averments we think show that the complainant company has an interest which gives it a standing in a Court of Equitya vital interest a present interest an interest which must be protected now or he forever lost
jor it is the owner of the franchise which it is sought to protect from invasion
Non constat that its lessee would go to the trouble and expense of protecting it This would be perhaps more apparent in a bill filed by the company alone but the joinder of the lessee does not change the principle Even now the lessee might withdraw There is no obligation on him j to fight the battle of his lessor In any view the lessor has in no way parted with its right to defend its own property It has only parted with its use of the property for a term of years If the term were six months instead of ninetynine years the interest of the complainant company would he more apparent but the length of the term does not in contemplation of law affect the legal interest Moreover many contingencies attend the contract of lease which might at any time bring it to an end We have already shown that the protection of the franchise is a favorite exercise of equity jurisdiction
Who will protect its franchise if the company does not
2 When should it protect it
The position is taken by defendants that the company must wait until the termination for some cause of the
On the contrary it would then be too late Already it is averred feebly it is true by the defendants that they can claim acquiescence by this company in the order of the Commissioners up to the time of the filing the bill as an estoppel While this position of defendants is untenable for the reason that such acquiescence as there has been in the regulations of the Commission has been of short duration and for the most part under protest and as to Circulars Nos 20 and 21 no acquiescence at all still the principle is true that
Laches delay in prosecuting ones right will be assumed to be acquiescence in the assertion of adverse rights Storys Com on Equity page 735737
It is requisite that a complainant seeking the aid of a Court of Equity by injunction shall not have been guilty oflaches or delay in the assertion of his rights for while delay may not amount to proof of acquiescence in the wrong for which he seeks redress it may yet suffice to prevent his obtaining relief by inj unction High on Injunctions section 7
In all cases of the exercise of the strong arm of equity by injunction the right to the relief may be lost by ones own negligence and delay in seeking protection Ibid 397
The relief even against a void assessment of taxes is lost by acquiescence Ibid 364
He who seeks the aid of equity to enjoin the violation of an agreement or for the protection of his contract rights must show that he has used reasonable
diligence in asserting his rights and demanding their protection and unreasonable delay in seeking the aid of a court of equity or acquiescence in the violation of the agreement in question will generally prove a bar to the exercise of the jurisdiction Ibid 707
As in all cases where the preventive jurisdiction of equity is invoked for the protection of rights he who seeks relief against a violation of his franchise must make his application promptly and without delay and must use reasonable diligence in the assertion of his rights Ibid 575
So this company which owns this franchise can protect it only by prompt present action
The argument to show that the company has a standing in court to maintain this bill has proceeded thus far on the assumption that the company was not in the present possession of tbe franchise But this is not the fact For the purpose of being responsible to the public and to all persons using its road as passengers or shippers and for the purpose of being liable to the multiplicity of suits al
lowed and even required by the Commission act the company is in the full possession of the franchise This status of the company is averred in the following language of the bill here again quoted
Notwithstanding said deed of lease your orator I he Georgia Eailroad and Banking Company remains liable to the public and to those whose persons and property are transported over the leased railroads for any breach or failure of duty in and about the management and operation of said railroads and might incur as well as your orator William M Wadley the penalties hereinafter mentioned i
This averment is the statement of an established and uncontroverted proposition of law
The company cannot in the absence of special statute authority and exemption divest itself of responsibility lor the torts extortion of persons operating its roadby transferring its corporate power or leasing the loads to them It cannot by its own act absolveiitself from its public obligations without the consent of the Legislature Bierce on Eailroads 283
The same principle is set forth in Eailroad Co vs Barron 5 Wallace 90 and in a number of cases there cited
In Eailroad Co vs Brown 7 Wallace 455 the court say on page 450 It is the accepted doctrine in this country that a railroad corporation cannot escape the performance of any duty or obligation imposed by its charter or the general laws of the State by a voluntary surrender ol its road into hands of lessees
In Macon and Augusta E E Co vs Mayes 49 Ga 355 the court in the head note say
Where arailroad company permits other companies or persons to exercise the franchise of running cars drawn by steam over its read the company owning the road and to which the law has entrusted the franchise is liable for any injury done as though the company owning the road were itself running the cars
This last decision elaborates the principle fully and establishes it by most satisfactory reasoning and abundant authority
Indeed it is questionable under the decision in the Cen tral EE Banking Co vs Brinson 64 Ga 475 whether a suit against the lessee alone would be good
Such being the law on this branch of our argument we ask against whom could and would the multiplicity of suits which are threatened by the Commission act be brought
And if they could and would be brought against the railroad company has it not notwithstanding the lease a present interest in this suit
B Status of the Lessee
1 It will hardly be disputed that the legality of the arrangements between the lessee and The Central Eailroad and Banking Company and the Louisville and Nashville Eailroad Company as disclosed by the affidavit answer of the lessee to the crossbill is not a subj ect of legitimate inquiry in this proceeding except so far as it affects the question whether the lessee has or has not any interest calling for the protection ef the court
Whenever the legality and validity of these arrangements or of the lease from complainant company to the complainant lessee are called in question by persons authorized to question them and in a proceeding instituted for that purpose they will be defended and we humbly but confidently believe defended successfully
But at present they are not subjects of legitimate consideration except for the purpose of ascertaining the status of the lessee before the court
The bill and uncontroverted affidavits answers to cross bill of both complainants sustaining it show
First That the Lessee while giving certain artificial persons an interest in the workings of the leased property and a voice in its control has not assigned th lease to any one i
Second That the complainant company knows no one in this business but the complainant Lessee
Third That the complainant Lessee alone is responsible to the complainant company for the payment of the ren tal and for the performance of the covenants of the leaseand to him alone and to the 1000000 of securities deposited by him and for which he must account does the complainant company look
These facts certainly show the lessee as having such an interest in subject matter of this suit as would give him a standing in the proper tribunal
If the standing of the complain ant in court is otherwise good it cannot he injuriously affected upon any idea that the lease from the company to Mr Wadley or the arrangements of the latter with other persons are illegal or against public policy
For even were this true and the contrary is maintained by complainants the alleged illegal acts of the corporations concerned in them can be called in question only by the sovereign acting through the proper officers not the Eailroad Commissioners who are special agents for a different purpose and with limited authority and in a proceeding instituted for that purpose These alleged illegal acts cannot be attacked collaterally
40
Field on Corporations 493 6 Ga 130 32 Ga 273 and numerous authorities
ni
CONSTRUCTION OP CLAUSES OF THE COMPLAINANT COMPANYS CHARTER
A Rules of construction of charters
1 It is admitted that language in a charter relied on to sustain an exemption from the operation of general tax laws must he clear and lioequivocal
2 That grants of exclusive privilege will not be presumed and must be based upon express words
3 That the grant of franchises which affect the public interest will be construed strictly
Pierce on Railways pages 154 and 452 9 Ga 475 49 Ga 475
4 But these authorities especially the first citation
froin Pierce also hold that rights are taken from the public and given to corporations when such would be the effect of the words naturally and properly construed J
B It hardly is necessary to combat the position of one of the counsel for defendants viz That the charter of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company expired several years ago Counsel seems to have been misled by the 2d section of the charter which is in these words The company shall have the exclusive privilege of constructing railroads from any point in this State within twenty miles of the road herein designated as the Union Road and its branches leading to Eatonton Athens and Madison continuously to the city of Augusta for and during the term of thirtysix years
This exclusive privilege of constructing roads has expired It expired in 1869 or 1870 But the charter as to all other parts of it continues in full force Having been granted before the Code of 1863 changed the common law in this respect the corporation had the common law attribute of perpetual succession The silence of the Legislature would have been sufficient to leave it possessed of this attribute But the Legislature was in fact not silent but on the contrary expressly declared in the 9th section of the char tor that the company should have perpetual succession of members
CTHE POWER TO MAKE A LEASE
1 Defendants seem to admit that the complainant company has a qualified right to make a lease It is true that there is some intimation that the right to lease was abrogated by the Sate Constitution of 1877 But this can hardly be seriously claimed For if the company had prior to that Constitution the vested right to make a lease the Constitution could no more take away that right than could a statute
2 But it is contended with great earnestness that the
power to lease extends only to the passenger traffic and the following language of the 12th section is relied on to support that view viz The said company may when they see fit rent or farm out all or any part of their said exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons etc 1
If this were the only language used in the charter on this subject there might be some color for defendants position
But let us try this question by reason and in connection with all parts of the charter in pari TfiatcTid instead of by the letter of a fragment of one sentence
a There would seem to be no reason why the com
pany should have the right to lease the privilege of conveying persons and not have the same right as to the transportation of property On the contrary there would seem to be controlling reasons why they should not be separated Obviously there would be more danger of the accidents peculiar to railroads by having a divided management Moreover there could not be that combination of the transportation of both persons and property so advantageous to the Company and convenient to the public but each train must be exclusively a passenger train or exclusively a freight train
b This view of defendants would make both the words transportation or conveyance in part of the sentence selected for their purpose apply to passengers only Complainants sar that the true meaning is
transportation of property or conveyance of persons Nowhere else in dealing with the right to lease does the charter use two terms in speaking of one subject but in every other instance where any two ofi
the terms transportation carriage or convevance are used the two subjects property freight and persons passengers are clearly meant The words in the fragment of a sentence selected by defendant to sustain their position are in the same section preceded twice and followed twice by the use of two terms indicating the act of transporting applied to the two subjects freight and passengers of transportation 1 saving an irresistible inference that in the isolated instance relied on by defendants the two terms oi transportation were meant to apply as in the other four instances to the two subjects of transportation
c Again in the sentence next preceding that one which contains these vauntod words three rates of charges are fixedtwo of them as to freight one of them as to passengers Now if the right to lease the passenger business only was given it would have been subject to the rate above mentionedfor there was only the one single rate above mentioned as to passengers But the language actuallv used is subjectto the rates above mentioned Now if only persons and not property were referred to the use of the plural was strikingly incorrect only one rate having been named for persons But if both persons and property were intended the use of the plural rates was necessarythree rates having been above mentioned
D ain the very next sentence after that relied defendants speaks of the company themselves m the exercise of their right of carriage or transportation of persons or property or the persons so taking from the company the right of transportation or conveyance etc What right does this language import was to be taken leased from the company Certainly the same right which the company themselves were exercising And what was that right The right of carriage or transportation of persons or property i Again the sentence just quoted provides that the persons so taking from the company the right of transportation or conveyance that is the lessee shall be regarded as common carriers It is not denied tha this phrase common carriers might have been used with reference to the carrier of passengers only but it 18 ot at all likely When the term is used without qualifying words the idea of property freight and of these only naturally rises to the mind
f Again the fourteenth section of the charter treating of the subject of leasing says Whenever the company aforesaid shall see fit to farm out as aforesaid to any person or persons or body corporate not the right of transportation or conveyance of persons only but any part of their exclusive rights of conveyance and transportation etc In this language we find a clear and distinct recognition of the right to farm out I freight as well as passenger business
It will be seen from the foregoing review of the provisions of the charter relating to the leasing power that they are seven in number and that in only one of them is found any color for the positioh taken by the defendants and in that one only so long as it is considered alone and without reference to the other provisions in pari materia while all the other six references in order to make sense require the leasing power to apply both to freight and passengers
a But we are not left entirely to our own views of these provisions of the charter or to rely only on such hid fu San from general rules of construction We think that we have in the reasoning of the Supreme Court of Georgia in Arnold DuBose vs the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company 50 Ga 304 ample support for our views
That was a suit brought by plaintiffs against this railroad company for charges greater than those fixed in the 12th section of the charter In arriving at a decision the court on pages 3 7 and 308 comment on the leasing power and derive the reasons for their decision from a consideration of the duty of a lessee in the transportation of freight After citing the very sentencereiid P by the defendants to this bill the court assume that the provisions apply to a lessee in transporting property Considering this very provision along with another provision of the charter the court say Each implies that less than one hundred miles of the road might be used more or less permanently but if it was the owner or the lessee as the case might be should be subject to the rate of fifty cents per hundred pounds tor one hundred miles
So we claim confidently that reason the language used and the authority just quoted establish beyond
41
controversy that the power to lease includes the freight as well as the passenger business and that the lease actually made was not in excess of the power of the complainant company
h But even if the lease were void as to the freight business what effect would that legal conclusion have on this suit Ony this The complainant company being left in the full possession of its freight business would simply gain in its status before the court what the lessee had lost from his statu While such a conclusion might deprive the lessee of a cause of complaint it would at the same time furnish an unquestionable ground of complaint to the company
TV
EIGHT 03 THE COMPLAINANT COMPANY TO FIX ITS OWN
RATES POE FREIGHT AND PASSENGERS WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS
1 This right is claimed under the following language of the 12th section of the companys charter The said Georgia Eailroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or converariee of persons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be hy them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right Provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for every hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger etc etc
Complainants say that this language gave to the railroad company the franchise of transporting freight and passengers but by the proviso limited the rates which the company could charge
Defendants claim that this language does not limit the rates to be charged but makes those rates a condition of the exclusiveness of the grant
In other words The company claim that this section defined their business and inasmuch as it was a business subject to regulation by the Legislaturethe Legislature did in fact in the language of the proviso reglateit and
The defendants claim that the only object of the proviso was to prescribe the terms on which the company were to have the exclusive use of their roads So that under the construction claimed by defendants this section would mean The company shall have the right to transport freight and passengers subject like other common carriers to control as to their rates provided however that whenever the company shall charge higher rates than those named in this section the exclusiveness of their use of their road shall be forfeited That is to say the language of the proviso was not the limitation which the Legislature put upon the right of the company 1o make rates but was simply a condition upon which the company was to have the exclusive use of their roads We state fairly the position of defendants counsel
Now under this construction claimed by defendants the effect of charging more than the prescribed rates would not be a violation by the company of the law of their charter but the consequence would be to lose their exclusive right and to throw open their roads to use by othersnot to lose their own right to use them but to admit others individuals or corporations to share that use with them on equal or unequal terms However crude the ideas about railroads may have been at the date of this charter the court will hardly impute to the Legislature so impracticable a schemenot to say so great a follywhen the language of the charter does not require it and when nothing extrinsic to the charter suggests it except a vague floating misty tradition of wha was the expectation of the corporators at that early day
The error of this construction by defendants has grown out of their misapprehension oF the purpose of this 12th section They have treated the section as if its purpose was not to grant to the company the franchise to pursue the business of common carriers but to secure exclusiveness Id the business of the company Whereas this section is one of granting Lithe orderly arrangement of the provisions of the charter the point is reached at this 12th section where the Legislature for the first time in the charter grants the franchise to carry on business Up to this point nothing has been said in the charter as to the business which the company is to carry on
Section 1 Describes the roads tobe built
Section 2 Grants an exclusive privilege for 36 years to build railroads in a certain defined territory
Section 3 Authorizes the capital stock and directs how it shall be divided etc
Section 4 Opens books and appoints commissioners to receive subscriptions
Section 5 Provides how long the books shall be kept open etc
Section 6 Directs how the company shall organize
Section 7 Prescribes the voting power of the shares
Section 8 Provides for the election of President and Directors
Section 9 Names the cornoraion gives it what it would have had without this section perpetual succession and the usual attributes Of corporations generally
Section 10 Authorizes tbe obtaining by purchase contract etc of lands right of way etc
Secioii 11 Provides the means for exercising the right of eminent domain
And then Cjmes this 12th section after the corporation by the preceding sections is completed and the means provided to perform the purposes of its creation and says what that business shall be and grants the franchise to carry it on
And this allimportant section bringing into life the business of the corporation the defendants seizing upon a word having as we shall show no special sig nificanee treat as if its purpose was to name the condition upon which the business was to be exclusive
We say this word has no special significance as used in this section The franchise here granted would have been no less effectual if this word had been left out Prom the nature of things but one person whether natural or artificial could have enjoyed such a franchise There is nothing shown to the court in reference to those existing facts circumstances or ideas which would warrant us in imputing to our fathers whether as legislators or corporators any such impracticable fancies as those made necessary by tbe defendants construction The Georgia Kailroad was one of the first in hue but it had some predecessors and many successors and it is not shown or hinted that at any time in the history of railroads was there any view of them which gave the control and management of the same road to more than one person natural or artificial the exclusive management
This 12th section simply contains a grant or rather as we have already seen and shall presently show again two grants witti limitations upon the grantnot a condition of exclusive enjoyment
The grant is not of exclusiveness but of tbe franchise of carrying on the business of common carriers and the first proviso is the limitation which the Legislature put upon this grant i
The grant and the limitation together mean that the company may transport freight and passengers and may charge for such service the rates named
2 Further considering this 12th section as one granting powers and privileges we say that it is not denied that the second proviso gives a right to leasetthough the extent of that right is indefinite But if the first proviso is a condition of exclusive enjoyment why is not the second proviso found in the same section and in the same sentence and commencing with the same word Providedwhich word in the view of the defendants stamps it with the quality of a condition why is not this second proviso also a condition of exclusive enjoyment It has the same right as the first proviso to be so considered But to give to it this meaning would be to make the power to lease also a condition of exclusive enjoymenti e exclusive enjoyment would be granted on the Condition of parting with the enjoyment or the enjoyment would be exclusive on consideration that it was not exclusive which is the reductio ad absurdum
3 Hut we say as to this question also we are not left
solely to reasoning and the general rules of construction We thiiiK we have direct authority in a decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia We refer again to Arnold DuBose vs The Georgia Kailroad and Banking Co 50 Ga 304
The construction claimed by defendants is that the conn any can charge greater rales than those named in ihe 12th section without violating a y law orfailingin any legal duty to shippers but that the penalty would be tbe loss of the exclusive feature of the companys enjoyment
But this suit Arnold DuBose vs The Railroad Co was brought on the theory that the Legislature had prescribed those rates as binding on the company to govern its business The court so decided and held see second head note The Georgia Railroad and Banking Co under the 12th section of its charter can only charge for freight fifty cents per one hundred pounds on heavy articles for one hundred miles and in proportion to that rate for a less distance than one hundred miles
In this case we find the court deciding directly in accordance with our views of this section that it was the law of freight and passenger rates for this company It did not occur to the court or to any of the large array of counsel on both sides in that case that this section had any such meaning as that suggested by the ingenuity of counsel for defendants in the case at bar
V
Whatever provision on the subject op maximum
RATES BECAME INCORPORATED IN THE CHARTER AND
PART OP IT IS A CONTRACT THE OBLIGATION OP WHICH
CANNOT BE IMPAIRED BY AN ACT OP THE LEGISLATURE
It would be inexcusable to consume time in arguing a proposition brought down from the Dartmouth College case 4 Wheaton to the present hour bv an unbroken line of authority that the charter of a private corporaiion is an executed contract between the government and the corporators and that the Legislature in the absence of power reserved for that purpose cannot repeal impair or alter it against the consent of the corporation or without its default judicially declared
Embarrassed by the limitless mass of authority sustaining this proposition we confine ourselves to citing the following from the reports of our own Supreme Court towit 6 Ga 130 19 Ga 325 54 Ga 423 62 Ga 485
The last two decisions were rendered upon the charter of the company complainant in this case when the complainant claimed the protection of the charter against general taxation Surely it will not be contended that a claim of exemption from taxation is regarded more favorably by the courts than the claim of right to regulate rates within certain limits as set up in this bill
The cases cited by one of the counsel for defendants viz Buggies vs Illinois 91 111 Illinois Central Railroad Co vs The People 95 111 313 do not conflict with this principle for in those cases the Legislature had not as m the case at bar permanently fixed the maximum rates and made them a part of the charter but the provision on the subject of rates in these Illinois charters was that the Directors might fix rates This is a power inherent in Directors and the charters simply declared what already existed without such declaration and in
42
no sense fixed the maximum rates or contracted wif the corporation w
We say then that if the Legislature did as we claim it did perman ently fix the maximum charges and makp them a part of the charter of the company the barrier of a contract was thus presented against future legish tive interference This proposition so fully supported by principle is also very clearly implied if not expressly decided in Chicago etc Railroad Co vs Iowa 94 U V 155 Munn vs Illinois Ibid 113 Peik vs Chicago etc Railroad Co Ibid 165 Shields vs Ohio 95 U s 319 and in Judge Woods decision so much relied on by defendants in Tilley vs Railroad Commission In thecas Chicago ec Railroad Co vs Iowa 94I S 155 Chief Justice Waite says on page 162 It was within the Dower of the company to call upon the Legislature to fix permanently this limit and make it part of the charter and if it was refused to abstain from building the road and establishing the contemplated business If this had been done the charter might haye presented a contract against future legislative interference
VI
THE POLICE POWER
If as we claim and have endeavored to show the charter of the railroad compan y fixes maximum rates which the company and their lessee are authorized te charge no legal application of the pol ce power can reach this purely pecuniary right For the limit to the exercse of the police power in these cases must bo this The regulations must have referenc to the comfort safety or welfare of society they must not be in conflict with any of the provisions of the charter and they must no under pretence of regulation take from the corporation any of the essential rights and privi leges which the charter confers In short they must be police regulations in fact and not amendments of the charter in curtailment of the corporate franchise Cooleys Con Lin 577 70 IB 191
VII
EMINENT DOMAIN
If this franchse of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Comnany is an incubus on the welfare of the public the public is not remediless
If there was previously any difficulty on this point it has been removed by the State Constitution of 1877 which provides that the franchises as well as the other property of corporatons may be taken for public use If the public good require that this franchise of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company should cease let it be taken in the exercise of the right of eminent domain
Then there will be just compensation instead of 1 unjust confiscaiioa
BRIEF OF MYNATT HOWFLL
Solicitors for the Railroad Commissioners
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and Wm M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace and Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralBill for Injunction and Relief in Fulton Superior Court
1st The Court will not enjoin the officers of the Stai who are proceeding under authority of law and the a legations that the statutes in question is uuconstiti rional is no ground for granting the injunctioi Ihompson vs Commissioners of Canal Find 2 Abl Par 248 2 High on Injs secs 1326 and 1327 Peepi vs Canal Board 55 N Y 390
2d There is no charge in this bill that the Commif sioners are doing more than prescribing rates els pr vided by the statutes they are executing It is nc stated that they have commenced proceedings again the plaintiffs or either of them for a violation of th rates fixed or that they have intimated that they ir tend to do so If an injunction can issue in this cas
then any man may enjoin another who has cause of action against him whether he intends to exercise the right to sue or not The injunction asked in this case is upon the merest apprehension so far as any act of the Commissioners is concerned It is a grave request of the Court to sit in judgment upon the constitutionality of a law not being enforced It is equivalent to asking the Court to exercise the veto power
3d The company insists upon the right to fix its own rates not to exceed the maximum rates mentioned in its charter and that the State cannot deprive it of that right by any law it may pass On this subject the language of its charter is this The Georgia Railroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be by them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right Provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for every one hundred
43
miles and five cents per mile for every passenger In order to put a proper construction on this proviso we must see what was the common law on the subject of rates It will hardly be disputed that at common law the canier was not allowed to charge what he pleased hut his rates must be reasonable Atigel on Carriers sections 124 129 and 356 Harris vs Packwood et al 3 Taunt 264 Fitchburg Kailroad Company vs Gaye et ftl 12 Gray 298 2d Kent 6th Ed Marg 599 Chic
Ta B B Co vs Peeple 67 111 That this common law entered into and made a part of the charter is too well settled to need citation of authorities Accompanied with that principle the foregoing proviso would read that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall be reasonableand shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for everyone hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger The law explicitly says the rates shall be f reasonable It says they shall not exceed the figures mentioned If the maximum rates mentioned are reasonable then they may be charged But it cannot be contended that they may be charged if they are not reasonable The maximum mentioned is a limit beyond which the road cannot charge in any event but it may charge that much if reasonable if unreasonable then it could not charge the maximum If before the Act of October 141879 a shipper had desired to make the question of unreasonable charge he would have done so by resort to the courts It was then a judicial question But since the Act 1879 the question is to be determined by the provisions of that Act This is settled by the Granger eases The question was made that the Legislature was assuming judicial functions and depriving corporations of their property without due process ot law in violation of the fourteenth amendment It was held however that legislative regulation of rates of public carriers was not a violation of said amendment and that the Legislature of Illinois had a right to create a commission with power to fix rates Munn vs Illinois 94 U S R 113 See also Tilley vs Georgia Railroad Commission where Judge Woods cites Peek and Munn two of the Granger cases on this subject and declares it to be the right of the Legislature to fix reasonable and just rates The argument then is that under the plain language of the charter of the complainant company read in connection with the common law its rates must in any event be reasonable that the courts had the right prior tojthe Act of 1879 to make them reasonable and that the Legislature under the Constitution of 1877 has succeeded to the power of the courts and it is now not only the province but duty of the Legislature to make them reasonable which it is doing through the Commission
4th We contend that when the Act of October 14 1879 was passed the Georgia Railroad aad Banking Company was subject to the provisions of said Act on another ground apparent in the 15th section of the Act of 1837 The part of said section necessary to quote is as follows
44 Sec XV The exclusive right to make keep up and use the railroads and transportations authorized by this Act shall be for and during the term of thirtysix years to be computed from the time when the said road from Augusta to either of the points hereinbefore designated shall be completed for transportation Provided that the subscription of stock or shares of said company to the amount of at least five thousand shares as aforesaid be filled up within six months from the passing of this Act and the work from or between Augusta and either of the places hereinbefore first mentioned be commenced within two years and be completed within six years after the five thousand shares shall be subscribed And after said term of thirtysix years shall have elapsed though the Legislature may authorize the construction of other railroads for the trade and intercourse contemplated herein Nevertheless the Georgia Railroad Company shall remain and be incorporate and vested with all the estate powers and privileges as to their own works herein granted and secured except the exclusive right to make keep up and use railroads over and through such parts of the country toat shall so have expired by the foregoing limitation but the Legislature may renew and extend that exclusive right upon such terms as may be prescribed by law and be accepted by the saidincorporated company
It is plain that the company is to remain and be in
corporate for no specified period after the thirtysix years At the end of that time it is simply to exist It is then at the will of the Legislature Regarding the charter as a contract between the State and the corporation the State says on the one side to the corporation you shall have certain exclusive privileges for thirtysix years and after that time you may remain and be incorporate This is accepted The State has not said you may remain and be incorporate forever or for ten years or for any particular time if the State has not said so how can the corporation claim such a right If the corporation is claiming the obligations of its contract what are those obligations Simply that it may be incorporate That is all Now it may be said that corporations are immortal unless restricted in their being But there is no such principle of law as this written or unwritten It has perpetual succession and in this sense may be immortal Grant on Cor 3 Angels Ames on Corporations If you give the corporation the benefit of its contract as it made it it had that to the letter when it remained in existence after the end of thirtysix years How would such a contract be construed between individuals Suppose ohe agrees with another that he shall remain in and occupy his house after the expiration of a certain rental period Would this give him a house forever Under every rule of law custom or common sense the tenant would be tenant at will and liable to be evicted after a reasonable time if the rules of law fixed no particular period So innumerable instances might be given of the construction of similar contracts between individuals
But for the sake of argument we will consider the charter without reference to the common law It is then a charter granting the right to the corporation to charge rates not to exceed certain amounts mentioned This is no greater authority in the corporation than to give it power to fix the rates The power to fix rates absolutely is as great and it seems gi eater indeed than the power to fix rates limited by a maximum mentioned In the case of power to fix rates without restriction the Supreme Court of Illinois has held twice that notwithstanding this absolute power and with no restrictions whatever in the laws or charter the State had the right to alter the rate fixed and prescribe others It is a power inherent in the sovereignty of the State It pertains to the demeanor of the corporation in its dealings with the public It is like providing for the comfort of the passengers It is like the duty of providing good crossings at the highways These things must necessarily be under the control of the Legislature Just as individuals exercising the rights of carriers are subject to the control of the Legislature so are corporations unless the State has expressly contracted that they shall not be Indeed it is questionable whether or not the State may contract its sovereignty to that extent No Legislature has the right to bind its successors in these particulars more than in the passage of any general law
On this subject Judge Cooley says It would seem therefore to be the prevailing opinion and one based upon sound reason that the State could not barter away or in any manner abridge or weaken any of those essential powers which are inherent in all governments and the existence of which in full vigor is important to the wellbeing of organized society and that any contracts to that end being without authority cannot be enforced under the provisions of the national Constitution now under consideration Cooleys Const Limitations 283 Again at page 574 the same author says The occasions to consider this subject in its
bearings upon tne clause of the Constitution of the United States which forbids the States passing any laws violating the obligations of contracts have been frequent and varied and it has been held without dissent this clause does not so far remove from State control the rights and properties which depend for their existence or enforcement upon contracts as to relieve them from the operations of such muerai regulations for the good government of the State and the protection of the rights of individuals as may be deemed important All contracts and all rights it is declared are subject to this power and not only may regulations which affect them be established by the State but all such regulations must be subject to change from time to time as the general wellbeing of the community may require or as the circumstances may change or as experience may demonstrate the necessity Chief Justice Marshall in the Dartmouth College case uses this language The
framers of the Constitution did not intend to restrain the States in the regulation of their civil institutions adopted for internal government and the instrument they have given us is notto be so construed In the case of Ruggles vs Illinois 91 111 the question before the Supreme Court of Illinois was as to whether or not the State had the right to fix rates of fare on the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad The charter of that road which was enacted before the law authorizing commissions to fix rates and when there was no reserved power in the Legislature to change or modify charters authorized the directors to fix the rates The Court says The General Assembly may exercise all power not conferred on the General Government or which is not prohibited from exercising by constitutional limitation This being true has the General Assembly the power to control natural persons and corporations in their business to protect the community from oppressive unjust and wrongful impositions in transacting their business or in performing their duties to the public
When the General Assembly brings into existence an artificial person or corporation it may at pleasure endow it with such faculties or powers as it mav deem proper and for the benefit of the corporation and the public It nlay grant or withhold powers at pleasure but it is believedthat body is harmless to confer greater or more unlimited powers than are possessed by natural persons The power however may no doubt be conferred to that extent when necessary to accomplish the end sought but it would he contrary to the very object of the creation of government to create bodies or artificial persons beyond the power of control by the government To create bodies in its limits beyond the governing power of the state bodies that are only controlled by their own will independent of law and beyond its control would be beyond the purpose of establishing government It has been repeatedl y held by the Court that where a corporation is thus created it becomes amenable to the police power of the State to the full extent that natural persons are subject to its control
Again in the same case the Court says If the General Assembly may fix maximum charges beyond which individuals may not go in performing services for the general public and require them to conform to such requirements then there can be no just reason whv the General Assembly may not require the same of corporate bodies That body may undoubtedly for the same reason and to accomplish the same ends limit the power of each In the same case after referring to the Granger cases the Court says That Court meaning the United States Supreme Court further held in Chicago Burlington and QUincv Railroad Company vs Blake Id 180 that the Legislature has the same control over railroad corporations And in these cases there does not seem to have been any reservation of such power in their charters in the Constitution of the State or in any general law But the doctrine is placed on the general or necessary power of the State And it was held not to violate any constitutional limitation either State or Federal
In the case of Winona and St Paul Railroad Co vs Blake supra there does not seem to have been any statutory or constitutional power reserved to thus regulate the charges of the company And the original charter of the company we infer like that of this company authorized that company to fix its own rate of charges The court say that the constitutional provision that all corporations being common carriers shall be bound to carry mineral agricultural and other productions or manufactures on equal and reasonable terms or the act of the General Assembly of the 28th of February 1866 providing that the company shall be bound to carry freight and passengers upon reasonable terms do not add anything to or take from the provisions of the original charter
The Court then quotes from the Supreme Cout of the United States in the cases of Chicago etc Railroad Company vs Iowa 94 U S R page 161 as follows In the case of the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company vs Iowa supra it was urged that by its charter it had the righ t to fi x the rates of compensation for the transportation of persons and property over its road that it could not be controlled or taken away by the Legislature of Iowa fixing a maximum rate of charges for the road But the court held the law valid and binding and say 11 This company in the transac
tion of its business has the same rights and is jujlJ to the same control as private individuals under tt same circumstances It may carry when called upon tl do so and can charge only a reasonable sum for the cal riage In the absence of any legislative regulation unon the subject the courts must decide for it as they dofoi private persons when controversies arise what is reasonable But where the Legislature steps in and pro yides a maximum of charges it operates upon the corporation the same that it does upon individuals engaged in a similar business It was within the power of th company to call upon the Legislature to fix permanent ly this limit and make it a part of the charter and if ft was refused to abstain from building the road and es tablishing the contemplated business If that had been done the charter might have presented a contract against future legislative interference but it was not and the company invested its capital relying upon the good faith of the people and the wisdom and impartiality of legislators for protection against wrong under the form of legislative regulation This case cannot be distinguished in its principles and material facts from the one under consideration
To the same effect is the case of the Illinois Cent Kail road Co vs The People 95 111 313 In the last case the charter of the company declared that in considers tion of the grants privileges and franchises conferred one of which was that the Board of Directors should have power to establish rates of fare and freight from time to time by their bylaws the corporation should pay into the State Treasury a certain per cent of its earnings Yet the court held that the Legislature might establish or empower the Commission to establish rates
5tb The defendants demur to the bill on the ground that there is a complete remedy at law If such a suit as seems to be apprehended by the complainant company should be brought against it there is no question but that it could set up all the defences suggested in the bill The existence of statutory relief for the injury complained of is of itself sufficient cause for refusing an injunction says High on Injunctions section 90 The reason given in the bill for coming into equity instead of waiting to be sued at law is that in the event of being convicted at law the penalty is too great Well this is the penalty fixed by law The gist of such an objection is that the Legislature fixed too great a penalty and the Chancellor is asked to prevent the enforcement of the law to declare that it is wrong in this particular and restrain the ofiicers of the State in the discharge of their legal duties until he shall determine whether or not the law is unconstitutional He is asked to take in charge both law and fact and hold all in abeyance dispite the will of the Legislature that the complainants may persuade him that the law for some reason should not be enforced against them No Chancellor has ever yet done so and if what seems well established precedents are to guide will not now High on Injcs 8994 Yates vs Village of Batavia 79 111500 Chambles admr vs Taber 26 Ga 167
6th It is objected that the Legislature has made a delegation of its power to Commissioners This question was made and thoroughly considered in thecaseof Tilley vs Commissioners et al above mentioned fudge Woods quotes from the case of The People vs Harper et al reported in 92 111 where the precise question arose under the Constitution and laws of Illinois The Commission of that State has power to fix rates of charges of warehouses as well as railroads In the case of Tilley Judge Woods cites Brunswick vs Finny 54 Ga 317 and Powers vs Dougherty county 23 Ga 67 The case is decided upon what seems overwhelming authority
7th Now as to excessive fines and unusualpunishments complained of in this bill it seems only necessary to say that the fines and punishments contemplated in paragraph 9 article 1 of the Constitution of Georgia has reference to judicial and ministerial officers in the discharge of their duties and not to fines and punishments fixed by statutes Certainly the Chancellor would not enjoin the enforcement of a law because the Legislature had fixed too great a penalty for its violation This was insisted upon in the Tilley case with many other clauses from the Bill of Rights Judge Woods says this of all of them in a lump
The ingenuity of counsel has brought into the case these various paragraphs of the Constitution in the
45
hope that the Railroad Commissioners act might be impaled on some one of them
iff have considered them all Most of them have but very remote application to the lawsome of them have already been considered by the Supreme Court of the United Stages in Munn vs Illinois and Peik vs Chicago 94 U S supra and decided to have no control
over similar legislation
8th Under the charter of the complainant company wr Wadley can only lease the right to transport or convey persons The proviso in the 12th section of the Act of 1833 im Provided always that the said company may when they see fit rent or farm out all or any part of their said exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons on the railroad or railroads with the privilege to any individual of individuals or other
company and for such terms as may be agreed upon subject to the rates above mentioned
Now as this only gives the power to lease the privileges of carrying persons the lease to Wadley can be operative to that extent only The bill makes no complaint that the passenger fare as fixed by the Commission is in any way wrong ho Mr Wadley is without cause of complaint being only a lessee of passenger business The complainant company is without cause of complaint for Mr Wadley is exercising all its rights as to transportation of freights if this be without legal right as argued above nevertheless the complainant company must resume the exercise of its rights under the charter before it can complain
MYNATT HOWELL Solicitors for Commissioners
BRIEF OF CFIFFORD ANDERSON
AttorneyGeneral
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and Wm M Wadley vs The Railroad Commissioners and the AttornyGeneral of GeorgiaBill etc for Injunction in Fulton Superior Court
1st A court of equity has no jurisdiction in such a case as this The Act creating the Railroad Commission rives complainants adequate protection at law for any injustice which has been or may be done them They cau refuse to conform their charges for the transportation of freight and passengers to the rates prescribed by the Commission and defend any suits which may be brought by the AttorneyGeneral or by individuals by pleading that the Act creating the Commission is unconstitutional This is the sole ground on which they invoke the interposition of a court of equity
But it is said equity will enjoin to prevent a multiplicity of suits That doctrine has no application to a case like this How can the court enjoin from suing all the individuals who may feel aggrieved by the refusal of the road to conform its charges to the rates prescribed by the Commission
As to enjoining the State or the AttorneyGeneral from enforcing the penalty for extortion imposed by the Act a court of equity might with as much propriety be invoked to enjoin a prosecution for carrying concealed weapons on the ground that the Act prohibiting persons from carrying arms except when fully exposed to view is unconstitutional The fact that the offender might be subjected to numerous prosecutions would not give a court of equity juiisdiction
This case is unlike the case of Dodge vs Woolsey in 18th Howard on the authority of which Judge Woods entertained the bill in the Tilley case Tilley was a stockholder of the Savannah Florida and Western Bailroad Company and the object of his bill was to enjoin that company from charging the rates prescribed by the Commission It was in this view the bill was entertained Tilley as a stockholder had no other remedy If th Act is as claimed unconstitutional the company can safely await any suits which may be founded on a violation of its provisions If no suits are brought it can suffer no injury
2d As to the Act creating the Commission being an unconstitutional delegation of power by the General Assembly see brief used in the argument of the Tilley case before Judge Woods a copy of which was published in the report of the Railroad Commission dated May 1st 1881
3d I deny that the charter of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company contains any grant of power to fix and regulate its own rates within certain specified limitations Complainants claim that it does and rely on the 12th section of the charter to support this claim That section reads as follows
The Georgia Railroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons merchandise and produce over the
railroad and railroads to be by them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement fof every one hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger
Complainants in order to maintain their position must show a grant of the power claimed in clear and unequivocal words They can take nothing by implication See 49th Ga 151 50th Ga 620
Now what is the grant contained in this 12th section Clearly in the language of the section itself the exclusive right to transport passengers and merchandise over the railroad and railroads to be constructed by them while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right 1 On what condition If the charge for trans portation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for every one hundred miles etc
There is certainly no grant here that so long as the rates specified are not exceeded the company may charge what it pleases But complainants insist that such is the proper if not necessary inference The reply is that such a power cannot be implied It must be given in clear and unequivocal language or it will be held not to exist
I go further however and maintain that such a grant of power is not even inferable from the language used The Legislature has simply guaranteed to the company and its lessees the exclusive right to carry freight and passengers over the road or roads to be constructed if the charges do not exceed certain specified rates It has not undertaken to confer on the company or its lessees the power to fix its own rates below a certain maximum it in plain language hasgranted an exclusive right on certain conditions An exclusive right to convey freight and passengers Because the Legislature has prescribed certain maximum charges which cannot be exceeded without forfeiting this exclusive right of using the road the Court is asked to infer that it intended to grant the power to the company to charge any rates it pleases less than the maximum charges mentioned This the Court cannot do without disregarding the wellsettled rule of construction applicable here that such a power as that claimed by complainants cannot be held to exist unless it is granted in plain and unequivocal language That it cannot rest on inference Even if the word provided in the second proviso to the 12th section is not synonimous with if it is sufficient to say that the same word is often used in different senses
4th As to the general power of the Legislature to regulate freight and passenger tariffs on railroads in the absence of any provision in their charters to the contrary it is unnecessary to cite any other authority than Munn vs Illinois 94th U S Reports
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DECISION OF T J SIMMONS
Judge Superior Court Macon Circuit
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and W M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander NT Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralBill for injunction in Fulton Superior Court
It appears from the record that this bill was presented to Judge Hillyer of the Atlanta Circuit who declined to hear it because he was disqualified on account of interest in the subject matter of the suit It was then presented to Judge Lawson of the Ocmulgee Circuit who granted a temporary restraining order and set the case for a hearing on the 10th of April It seems to have been continued by consent of counsel until the 25th day of May when Judge Lawson determined hei was also disqualified
The bill was then presented to me on that day and by agreement of counsel for both parties I heard the case on that day and the next
The regular term of Bibb Superior Court was in session at the time of the hearing and continued in session until the first of July On account of the continuous duties devolving upon me as judge of this circuit I regret that I have not had more time to devote to so grave and important a case as the one under consideration The bill seeks to enjoin the Railroad Commissioners of the State from enforcing Circulars Nos 20 and 21 issued by them upon four grounds
PLEA FOE INJUNCTION
1 Because the charter of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company is a contract between the State of Georgia and by said contract the company has the right to charge any rates of freight not exceeding those limited in the charterand that Circulars Nos 20 and 21 forbid the company from charging the rates allowed by the charter and that therefore the acts of the Commissioners impair and destroy the contract between the State and the company and are void under the Constitution of the United States
2 The act creating the Railroad Commission is null and void because it is in conflict with the Constitution of Georgia which forbids the imposing of excessive fines
3 Said act is unconstitutional and void be I cause it is the duty of the Legislature under I the Constitution to regulate freights and this is an attempt of the Legislature to delegate its power to a commission
4 Because the rates prescribed by the Commission in Circulars Nos 20 and 2i are not just I and reasonable but unjust and unreasonable
The respondents demur to the bill and for I cause of demurrer say that there is no equity in the bill and that complainants have a complete and adequate remedy at law
Respondents also plead and for plea say that complainants the Georgia Railroad Company and W M Wadley have not sufficient interest I in the subject matter of the suit to authorize I them to maintain a bill of this character They I say that the railroad company has leased the railroad and all its franchises to Mr Wadley II and that Mr Wadley has leased or transferred I his interest to the Central Railroad and to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Respondents also answer the bill and deny 1 that the railroad company have any such con 1 tract with the State as claimed by them in their I
bill They insist in their answer that the rates prescribed by them in the circulars complained I of are just and reasonable and that the act I creating the Commisssion is a valid and consti l tutional law This is the substance of the I pleadings of the parties
The first question that claims my attention is the demurrer of the respondents
HAS EQUITY JURISDICTION
Has equity jurisdiction in a case like this j I am inclined to answer that it has Here is j a railroad company who allegesthat they have I a charter granted them by the State that in j said charter a right is given them by contract I to regulate the charges for freight and passenger j tariffs on their railroad
They allege also that the State by another i act of its Legislature has deprived them of the benefits of their contract previously made j They say that the State not only does that but j in the latter act it provides for large and excessive fines and penalties against them if they L should insist on their rights under their charter
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and thus violate the last act or refuse to submit to the rates prescribed by the Commission The act declares that the Commission the officers of the State shall institute suits for a violation of their rules and that in case of conviction the fines shall be from one to five thousand dollars It also allows every person who ships freight over the line of the railroad to bring suit in case he is charged more than the rates pregcibed and he will be authorized to recover damages
The complainant in good faith relying upon its alleged contract but uncertain as to the judgment of the courts upon the construction of its charter alleging that it has obeyed the rules of the Commission until the rates prescribed by them have been reduced so low that they cannot run their road at a profit alleging that their very existence as a corporation is threatened by the action of the Commission that their franchise will be rendered useless knowing that if they refuse to submit to the rates prescribed that they will be sued and if they should be wrong in the construction of their charter and the courts should so determine that the fines inflicted for every violation of said rules would be more than they can pay and exist believing that every person who ships freight or travels over their road will institute suits as well as the Railroad Commission with no right or power on their part to institute a suit at law to test their rights with no adversary that they could hold liable for damages in case they sustained any by the action of the officers of the State they ask the courts of the other contracting party to construe this law and to tell them the meaning of it before they run this great risk I do not think that a Court of Equity should close its doors to such a complainant Especially is this true between the State and one of its own citizensits own creatures It is true that as between individuals when there is a complete and adequate remedy at law equity will not take jurisdiction But is that true in this case What remedy has this complainant if he is forbidden the Court of Equity He cannot institute a suit at law Must he go forward and violate the law in order that he may be sued and then defend Or must he submit to what he believes to be a great wrong for fear of the fines to be inflicted in case he is not sustained by the courts
THE states INTEREST
What matters it to the State which one of her courts construes her laws Here her good faith is attacked her policy is questioned her courts are appealed to She cannot be hurt in either court If her suiter is denied this remedy if she refuses by her own courts to construe this law one of her citizens may be ruined What matters it to her whether the person she has appointed to construe her laws be addressed as Chancellor or as Judge He is the same person and holds both courts
Equity will always interfere to prevent a multiplicity of suits It will scarcely be denied that if complainants are denied this jurisdiction that they will either have to obey the rules of the Commission or that numberless suits will be brought against them If they are right in the construction of their charter of course they will prevail but at the end of numberless suits in every county along their line If they are wrong the consequences would be fearful
Besides all this equity will interfere to protect a franchise The State has granted these complainants a franchise to run its road from Augusta to Atlanta They allege that by the action of the Commission their franchise is being destroyed That a part of this franchise is their right to charge rates subject to the limitation of their charter That the rates of Commission are so low thatthey cannot run their road and make a profit
Whether these charges are true or not I cannot say but in considering this demurrer I must take them as true because the demurrer admits them to be true If they are true then the complainants should be heard
I cite the following authorities to sustain this conclusion Code 4178 3081 as to the right to sue in equity As to multiplicity of suits Code 3283 High on inj unctionssection 12 f Adams equity 407 As to protection of franchises High on injunctionssection 570 Ibid 601 Osborn vs U S Bank 9 Wheaton 740 This case will also dispose of the position of one of respondents counsel that a public officer of a State cannot be enjoined
The plea of the respondents will be next considered That is that the Georgia Railroad Company and Mr Wadley have not sufficient interest in the subject matter of this suit to entitle them to maintain it
It appears from the bill of complainants and
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the exhibits that the Georgia Railroad Company on the 7th day of May 1881 leased their railroad from Augusta to Atlanta with all its branches and with all its privileges both general and exclusive to William M Wadley dor the sum of 600000 per annum
It further appears from said lease that the lessee agreed to deposit one million dollars of bonds as a security for the faithful performance of his part of the contract and to indemnify the company against all damages which they might sustain by the running of the road by the lessee These bonds were to remain on deposit as long as the lease existed
It further appears from the crossbill of respondents and the affidavit of Mr Wadley read before me that after the lease was consummated he turned over the leased property to the Central Railroad and Banking Company and to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company upon their payment to him of 12500 each and that the Georgia Railroad is now being run under the management of the Central and Louisville and Nashville Railroad Companies and that as an individual Mr Wadley has no interest in the running of said road1 neither in the profits nor losses
THE COMPLAINANTS INTEREST
If this be true have the complainants sufficient interest in the subject matter of the suit to authorize them to maintain it
I think not To enable a party to maintain a suit he must have an interest in the subject matter of it or in the result of it What interest has the Georgia Railroad Company in this suit
It has leased its road its cars engines branches privileges general and exclusive indeed everything it possessed but its bank to Mr Wadley
It is true that the bill alleges that it is still liable to the public for any breach or failure of duty by the lessee There being no stipulation of that sort in the deed of lease it must be a conclusion of law of the complainants Is the conclusion correct In this case I do not think it is The authorities cited in the brief of complainants counsel do not apply to the facts of a case like the one under consideration The cases cited are where the railroad companies leased without authority from the Legislature The case in 5th Wallace is where the Illinois Central owned the road and had leased to
the Michigan Central the privilege of running I its train over a part of its road without au thority from the Legislature The case cited I in the 49th Ga 355 is where an excursion party the officials of the Georgia Railroad Company were allowed to run an engine and I cars belonging to the Georgia Railroad over the track of the Macon and Augusta Railroad I and the damage was done by a collision of the excursion train with an engine of the Macon and Augusta Company In the case of Railroad vs Brown in 17th Wal 450 the road on which the injury was sustained was run by a receiver at one end and by lessees at the other I
In all these cases the court held properly that the road allowing other roads to use its j track was liable None of them had legislative authority to make the lease
The citation made from Pierce on railroads sustains my position Wherever a railroad company allows another company to use its I track without special statute authority it is liable for any injury or wrong which the railroad company using its track may commit
The reason for this rule is that the Legisla ture has granted to this company a franchise to I run its road through the country over any per I sons land with or without his consent I and grave and responsible duties and obliga j tions devolve upon the company that accepts the franchise These obligations and duties I they cannot absolve themselves from without E the consent of the Legislature 17 How 40
If upon the other hand they the railroad company has authority from the Legislature to lease its road and in conformity to that authority does lease to an individual or other company then it is not liable for the acts of the lessee In the case under consideration the Georgia Railroad Company had authority un I der its charter to lease any part or the whole of its exclusive right of transportation of persons or property over its road Mr Wadley had the right to lease it and did so The IXth section of the Act of Octoher 14 1879 declares j That if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents or employes shall be I guilty of a violation of the rules etc The XII section defines what is meant by railroad company or railroad corporation and says that the terms shall embrace all corporations owning or operating any railroad in the State and that the Act shall apply to all persons and firms
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that shall do business on railroads Now it is conceded that the Georgia Railroad Company is not now doing business in this State It has no agent or employe upon the whole line of its road or engaged in the business of transportation over it Corporations act through their agents How then could it be held liable for acts which it never did or authorized any one else to do
How could it be made liable for a violation of the rules of the Commission when it had never violated them or authorized any one else to do so As far as we know it may be willing even anxious to adopt the rates prescribed but it has no voiceit has no power Its corporate name and its bank is all that is left of this once rich and powerful corporation It has leased everything it possessed for ninetynine years That is in effect a sale As far as this and the two succeeding generations are concerned it is a sale Some recent authorities declare such a lease a virtual sale I am of the opinion therefore that the Georgia Railroad Company has not a sufficient interest either present or in remainder in the subject matter of this suit to maintain this bill
If the Georgia Railroad Company has not sufficient interest has Mr Wadley It appears from the record that Mr Wadley leased this road on the 7th day of May 1881 The terms of the lease were 600000 rental per annum and that to secure the payment of the rent and for other purposes he was to deposit 1000000 worth of bonds It further appears that on the first day of May 1881 the Central Railroad and Banking Company and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company agreed to pay Mr Wadley 25000 for his bargain and to lend him one million of their bonds to be deposited in accordance with the terms of his lease in consideration of the agreement upon the part of Mr Wadley that the two roads should exercise control over and receive the benefits to accrue from the management of the Georgia Railroad under the lease
In other words Mr Wadley for a sufficient consideration sublet the Georgia Railroad to the Central Railroad and Louisville and Nashville Railroad That is really the legal effect of the contract which he says he made with the two companies He as an individual exercises no control or ownership over the leased road He receives noneof the profits nor bears
none of the losses The security of a million dollars of bonds does not belong to him but is the joint property of the sublessees If the road makes profits he is not entitled to share them If it sustains losses he does not bear any part of them certainly none until the one million of bonds is exhausted and that amount seems to have been considered by all parties a sufficient security or indemnity
What interest then has he in the subject matter of this suit or the result of this litigation
I am compelled to answer that he has none He has sold the interest which he acquired under the lease and according to his affidavit the Central Railroad and the Louisville and Nash ville Railroad are the only parties who have a sufficient interest in the matter to file a bill of this character
The validity of their contract with Mr Wadley is not before me and I will not pass upon it now It may have been and doubtless was a good arrangement for the two roads It might turn Put upon an investigation of the charters of the Georgia Railroad and Central Railroad that the Central had the right to lease not only from Mr Wadley but from the Georgia Railroad Upon this I express no opinion now
It may be asked that in case the rules of the Commission were violated whom Gould they sue under the Act of i879 My reply is that the Xllth section of that Act points out the proper parties Whoever owns or operates a railroad whether they be a corporation a person firm or association of firms they are the persons who are liable under that Act If they are operating the road and violate the rules of the Commission they are liable
This disposes of the demurrer and plea of respondents and I might stop here and refuse the injunction for the reasons given in considering the plea It is an important case and other questions were argued before me and I deem it my duty to consider and determine all the questions made in the argument
This brings me then to the grounds urged by the complainants in support of the injunction These as before stated are four in number Two of them were not insisted on before me towit the 2d and 4th and I will not pass upon them
The third ground is that said Act is uncon
gtitutional because it is the duty of the Legislature to regulatefreights and that the Act of 1879 is an attempt of the Legislature to delegate its power to a Commission
The truth of this ground was ably and forcibly argued by complainants counsel but I have been unable to arrive at the conclusion of the learned counsel I must say as I intimated at the hearing that the opinion of Mr Justice Woods is conclusive upon that point On account of the earnestness and sincerity manifested by counsel in their argument upon this point have reexamined the opinion of Judge Woods and am convinced that it is a sound exposition of the law upon that point I deem it unnecessary for me to elaborate but adopt the reasoning and conclusion as my own upon this point
The only remaining point in the case and the one most elaborately argued before me is the proper construction of the Xllth section of the charter of the Georgia Railroad
It reads as follows
That the said Georgia Railroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be by them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right Provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for everyone hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger Provided always that the said company may when they see fit rent or farm out all or any part of their said exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons on the railroad or railroads with the privilege to any individual or individuals or other company and for such term as may be agreed upon subject to the rates above mentioned Acts of 1833 page 262
It was insisted by counsel for complainant j that the proviso was a contract made between them and the State whereby the State agreed with them that it would never seek to regulate their freights and tariffs so long as they did not exceed the maximum mentioned in the proviso They insist that they have the right under their contract with the State to regulate their own charges free from the intervention or control of the State so long as they do not exceed
the limits fixed in their contract They say also that the rates prescribed by the Commission is in violation of that contract and is void under the Constitution of the United States The counsel for respondents insist that that is not the proper construction of the proviso that it is not such a contract as claimed by complainants That it is no part of the grant from the State to the company but a limitation upon the grant I have given this subject more study and reflection than I have to any other branch of the case
In order to determine the true meaning of this section we must endeavor to ascertain the intention of the Legislature which granted the charter To do that we must go back to the year 1833 when this charter was granted and ascertain if We can the ideas entertained by the people of that day as to what a railroad was We are also allowed by the authorities to consult contemporaneous legislation upon the same and similar subjects to ascertain the true meaning of an Act and the intention of the Legislature in passing the Act We find then that at the time this charter was granted that there was not a mile of railroad in the State That this was among the first charters granted by the Legislature I have learned from a communication from a gentleman who was a member of the Legislature in 1833 that this charter was copied from a charter granted by the Legislature of New York or Pennsylvania
I also find from reading railroad history that the first charter ever granted to a railroad was copied from a canal charter
In reading the charter under consideration we find that the title to the Act was to authorize the company tto construct a railroad or turnpike Power was given the charter to purchase land on which to erect tollhouses In case the company saw fit to open their road to public use it had power to prescribe the construction and size or burthen of all carriages and vehicles that were to be used or pass over said road Power was also given to the company to construct common roads and use steam carriages thereon if they should deem them preferable In reading the charter of the Central Railroad granted at the same session of the Legislature we find the same ideas The exclusive use of the railroad is given the company with power if they see fit to let others use it to collect tolls on any boat car or vehi
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cle with power to stop them in case the tolls are not paid The charter further provides that if any boat car or vehicle shall pass by any place appointed for receiving tolls without paying them they shall forfeit for such offense twentyfive dollars In the charter granted to the Monroe Railroad at the same session this name exclusive right of transportation is given almost in the exact language of this charter and the next section makes it a misdemeanor for any person to intrude on said road by any manner of use thereof without the consent of said company
Other charters granted about the same time contain similar clauses Taking all these things into consideration I come to the conclusion that the idea of the Legislature in the year 1833 was that they were granting the power to these companies to build public highways similar to turnpikes or canals If they were public highways any person had the right to pass over them with his vehicle his carriage or his car by paying the tolls demanded of him by the company In consideration however of this company going forward and constructing their road the Legislature gave them the exclusive right to transport persons or property over the road
It is said to the company if you build this road it will be a public highway but we will grant you the exclusive right to use it so long as you see fit to do so upon the condition that you do not charge more than fifty cents per hundred on freight and five cents per mile for passengers As long as you do not charge more you shall have this exclusive right and no person or other company will be permitted to interfere with you If you do charge more you shall forfeit your exclusive right and the road shall be open to the public as a highway This may seem crude and even fanciful to us now but we must remember that this charter was granted fifty years ago when there was not a rod of railroad in the State and when there was only a few hundred miles in the whole United States and they were being run by horsepower instead of steam I apprehend that not a member of the Legislature which granted this charter had ever seen a railroad or a locomotive or had the remotest conception of the railroads of today Having shown the reason or the intention of the Legislature in inserting this section in this and other charters
granted at the same time let us apply the rules of judicial construction to this grant and see if the claim of the complainants counsel is sustained by those rules We find that the grant to this company was twofold
X The right to construct and maintain a railroad from Augusta to Atlanta
2 The exclusive right of transportation over said road when built
The character and extent of the first is not material to the question under consideration
What was the extent and what were the conditions of the second grant are the questions to be determined
Did the Legislature give to this company for all time the exclusive right to fix their rates of freight and passage provided the same did not exceed a certain amount Certainly an express grant to do this cannot be found in this charter and it can only be implied from the first proviso to this section and such meaning can only be arrived at by supplying or changing the words of the section This section must be construed strictly against the company giving them no power except by express grant and depriving the State of no right of future legislation except such as there is a clear and manifest intention on the part of the Legislature to have conveyed away
In West End Street Railroad Company vs Atlanta Street Railroad Company 49 Ga 151 the Supreme Court say that it is a well established rule of law that an exclusive grant in derogation of common rights as well as in all cases in which exclusive rights are claimed under a legislative grant to a corporation that such grant should be strictly construed and that nothing is to be intended beyond the express words contained in it
And in Mayor and Council of Macon vs The Central Railroad 50 Ga 621 it is announced as a cardinal rule of construction of grants by the public that nothing passes by implication that statutes under which special privileges are claimed by a corporation will be strictly construed in favor of the public In the latter case Trippe J in his opinion says that the authorities on this point are so uniform that it is unnecessary to discpss it and says that the principle has been repeatedly recognized by our Supreme Court Referring to 7 Ga 221 8 Ga 23 9 Ga 517 The reason for this rule is certainly of the strongest A
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corporation which claims by the action of one Legislature to have been placed above and beyond the power of all subsequent Legislatures should be required to sustain its claim by the clearest and strongest evidence and should not be allowed to set up a presumption that the Legislature meant to give more than they actually did give This being the rule of law in cases like the one under consideration can we give the section the construction claimed by complainants without violating the rule that nothing passes by implication While it is true that a proviso may contain a grant yet that is not the office of a proviso
A proviso in deeds or laws is a limitation or exception to a grant made or power conferred the effect of which is to declare that the one shall not operate or the other be executed unless in the case provided
Voorhees vs U S Bank 10 Wheaton 471 Sedgwick on Construction of Statutes 49 Potters Dwarris 119
Keeping in view the object and purpose of the Legislature in making this exclusive grant of transportation as before shown and applying these rules can it be said that the proviso is apart of the grant Is it clear to the judicial mind that the Legislature intended to grant in this proviso the power to this company to fix rates for all time without being subject to legislative control Can it be said that the right claimed by the complainants is clear and manifest
In order to meet their construction would it not be necessary to supply certain words
Is it at all clear that any grant is made in the proviso Certainly no express grant is made On the contrary is it not clear to the judicial mind that the proviso was intended as a limitation upon the exclusive right of transportation It was a right granted in deroga
tion of the rights of the public Railroads are public highways The public had a right to use all highways but in this case the public were forbidden to use this highway upon the condition that the company would not charge more than the rates mentioned
The only effect of charging more than the rates mentioned in the proviso would be to render inoperative so much of the section as precedes the proviso No penalty is attached for charging greater rates than those prescribed nor could any be exacted for making such charge Nor would they by doing so place themselves in a position where their franchise might be forfeited Their powers and privileges under the other section of the charter would not be in any manner affected by such action on their part Can it be said that when the Legislature have made only a part of the franchise granted dependant upon a certain rate being charged and the franchise being of such character that the remainder of it can be exercised without reference to that part so conditionally granted that they have therefore fixed rates that can never be subject to other legislative action A greater charge than those mentioned in the proviso would not affect the company as to their general rights under their charter The only effect would be to lose or forfeit their exclusive right of transportation They could still use the road and charge what rates they pleased subject to the regulation of the Legislature or the courts In case they charged more than the rates mentioned in the proviso the Legislature might if they saw fit authorize other companies to run their trains over the road This is frequently done in England
For the reasons given in this opinion I refuse to grant the injunction prayed for by complainants T J SIMMONS J S C
ORDER DENYING INJUNCTION
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and William M Wadley vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneralBill for Injunction Fulton Superior Court This case was argued before me on the 25th and 26th days of May last I have held it up
for consideration until today and after considering the bill the answer and cross bill and the affidavitsIt is ordered considered and adjudged that the injunction prayed for in said bill be refused on the grounds and for the reasons given in a written opinion filed herewith
It having been intimated to me by Complainants counsel that they desired to except
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to this order and carry the cause to the Supreme Court it is further ordered that the temporary restraining order heretofore granted W Judge Lawson be continued in force for twenty days when further supersedeas may be
granted on the filing of the bill of exceptions
It is further ordered that the Clerk of Fulton Superior Court enter this order on the minutes of said Court T J SIMMONS
July 13 1882 Judge S C
BILL OF EXCEPTIONS
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and Wm MWadley plaintiffs in error vs James M Smith Campbell Wallace Leander N Trammell Railroad Commissioners and Clifford Anderson AttorneyGeneral defendants in error
Be it remembered that heretofore towit on the 28th day of March 1882 The Georgia Kailroad and Banking Company a corporation created by and existing under the laws of said State and William M Wadley a citizen of said State presented their Bill of Complaint hereinafter set forth on the Equity side of the Superior Court of Fulton county to the Honorable George Hillyer the Judge of said Court who by reason of interest was disqualified from presiding that said Bill was then presented to the Honorable Thomas G Lawson Judge of the Superior Courts of the Ocmulgee Circuit at chambers who passed the restraining order and order Jo show cause hereinafter set forth That by regular assignment said cause came on to be heard on the 25th day of May 1882 before said Judge when said Judge declined to hear said cause and passed a written order to that effect which is hereinbefore set forth Whereupon the said Complainants presented said Bill to the Honorable Thomas J Simmons Judge of the Superior Courts of the Macon Circuit notice of such presentation having been duly given to the Dfendants solicitors
The said Bill of Complaint and the orders and endorsements of the several Judges are as heretofore set forth
And the said Complainants then and there by their Solicitors excepted to the said opinion order and decree and now on the 31st day of July 1882 within twenty days from the rendition of the said decision and the j filing of the same come and tender this their Bill of Exceptions praying that the same may be certified according to law and say that the said Judge erred
First In refusing to grant the Injunction as prayed for on each and every of the grounds in Complainants said bill set forth
Second In deciding that the Complainants The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and William M Wadley have not a sufficent interest either present or in remainder in the subject matter of the suit to maintain the bill
Third In deciding that the Act of the Legislature creating the Railroad Commission was not unconstitutional null and void as being an attempt to delegate Legislative powers to said Railroad Commission and in conflict with Paragraph 9 Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Georgia which forbids the imposing of excessive fines or the inflicting of unusual punishments
Fourth In the construction which the said Judge placed upon the charter of the ComplainantThe Georgia Railroad and Banking Company
Fifth In deciding that the twelfth section of said charter did not create a contract between the State and the said Georgia Railroad and Banking Company by which the said company has the right to charge any rates of freight and of passenger tariffs not exceeding those limited in the said twelfth section of said charter
Sixth In deciding that said Act of the Legislature creating the Railroad Commission is not unconstitutional null and void by virtue of Paragraph lrSection 10 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits the States from passing any law impairing the obligation of contracts
JOS B CUMMIMG
A R LAWTON
Solicitors for Plaintiff in Error
I do certify that the foregoing Bill of Exceptions is true and contains all the evidence material to a clear understanding of the errors complained of and the Clerk of the Superior Court of the County of Fulton is hereby required and ordered to make out a complete copy of the record of said case and certify the same as such and cause the same to be transmitted to the next September Term nf the Supreme Court that the errors alleged to have been committed may be considered and corrected T J SIMMONS
July 311882 Judge S C
RULES RATES AND REGULATIONS
ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSION
The following pages to No 7 inclusive are certified by the Commission to be the substance of all circulars and correction of all errata up to date
OCTOBER 15 1882
A STANDARD SCHEDULE OF JUST AND REASONABLE RATES
Of Charges for the transportation of Passengers and Freights and Cars made by the Railroad Commission in conformity with the Act of October 14 1879 to be observed within the State of Georgia by each of the Railroad Corporations doing business in this State with such modifications only as may be hereinafter set forth and a copy to be posted by each Railroad Company at each of its Stations This Schedule to go into full effect and operation on October 15 1882
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSIONAll complaints made to the Railroad Commission of alleged grievances must plainly and distinctly set forth the grounds of complaint and if more than one the several grounds the items being numbered and objections all set forth in writing
In like manner all defenses must be distinctly set forth in writing and the items numbered as above stated
These specifications whether of complaint or defense may be accompanied if the parties desire by any explanation or argument or by any suggestion as to theproper remedy or policy The parties may also be heard in person or by attorney or by written argument upon such written statement being first filed
2
PASSENGER RULES AND TARIFFS
The Railroads operated in Georgia are for Passenger business divided into three classes A B and C and permitted to charge respectively 3 4 and 5 cents per mile
IN PASSENGER CLASS A
3 cents per mile
Alabama Great Southern
Atlanta and West Point
Central including the Central the Southwestern Savannah Griffin and North Alabama the Upson County Railroad and all branches and leased lines
Cherokee
Columbus and Rome
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia including the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia the Selma Rome and Dalton the Cincinnati and Georgia the Macon and Brunswick and all branches or leased lines
Georgia Railroad
Marietta and North Georgia
Richmond and Danville including the Richmond and Danville or Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine the Elberton AirLine the Hartwell the Lawrenceville the Roswell the Northeastern the Georgia Pacific
Rome Railroad
Savannah Florida and Western includ ing Waycross and Florida Railroad
IN PASSENGER CLASS B
4 cents per mile
Augusta and Knoxville
Gainesville Jefferson and Southern
IN PASSENGER CLASS C
5 cents per mile
Gainesville and Dahlonega
Louisville and Wadley
Sandersville and Tennille
Talbotton
Walton County
STANDARD PASSENGER TARIFF
For a passenger with baggage not exceeding 100 pounds the rates per mile shall not exceed the following viz
FOR PASSENGERS ON ROADS IN
Class A Class B Class C
12 years old and over 3 4 5
Over 5 and under 12 If 2 2
PASSENGER RULES
1 No more than these rates for passengers shall be charged when the Ticket Office shall not have been open for a reasonable time before the departure of the train from a station
2 When the passenger fare does not end in 5 or 0 the nearest sum so ending shall be the fare For example for 27 cents collect 25 for 28 collect 30
3 This Tariff applies to through as well as local rates and is not to be exceeded directly or indirectly by any through arrangement Provided That a railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as half rate when the fare would be less than those amounts
4 No restriction of any sort is placed by the Commission upon the reduction of passenger rates below the Standard Passenger Tariff
5 Tickets on sale at any office in a city must be kept on sale at the Depot Ticket Office of the same railroad at the same prices
PASSENGERS WITHOUT TICKETS
6 The regulation of the railroads as to passengers without tickets are matters of police with which the Commission will onlyinterfere upon complaint of abuse An extra charge of more than 1 cent a mile full rate or J cent half rate is regarded as excessive unless such extra charge would fall below the minimum above given
SLEEPING CARS
7 The fare for berths on Sleeping Cars shall not exceed 100 for 100 miles or less and for distances over 100 miles shall not exceed the rate of one cent per mile for each berth Provided however that for a lower berth with the upper berth not lowered the fare may be not exceeding 150 for 150 miles or less and for distances between 150 and 200 miles not exceeding 200
BAGGAGE CHECKS
8 By 2072 of the Code of 1873 it is made the duty of all railroads to furnish baggage checks from any station to any station on the line controlled by it
3 COMMISSIONERS STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFFS
CLASS GOODS
loo rpocricsrDS 33Tsl 100 s
DISTANCE 1 First Class 1 Second Class Third Class Fourth Class Fifth Class Sixth Class Bagging and Ties Bulk Meat C L Bacon packed Flour Meal etc in Sacks Hay Straw etc C L Grain Peas etc in any quantity Ale and Beer Flour Meal etc Beef and Pork A3 3Q 2
X 2 3 4 5 6 j A B G D B F K
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts fiCts Cts
10 16 14 13 10 9 8 8 8 4 9 9 28 10
20 20 18 16 14 12 10 10 10 5 12 11 35 14
30 24 21 19 17 14 11 11 11 6 5 14 12 38 17
40 27 24 22 20 16 12 12 12 1 6 16 13 43 20
50 30 27 25 22 IS 13 13 13 7 6 18 14 45 22
60 33 30 27 24 19 14 14 14 n 7 19 15 49 24
70 36 33 29 26 20 15 15 15 8 7 20 16 53 26
80 39 36 31 28 21 16 16 16 8 8 21 17 54 28
90 42 38 33 29 22 17 17 17 9 22 18 59 29
IOO 45 40 35 30 23 13 18 18 9 9 23 19 63 30
110 48 42 37 31 24 19 19 19 10 24 20 67 31
120 51 44 39 32 25 20 20 20 10 10 25 21 70 32
130 54 46 41 33 26 21 21 21 11 10 26 22 73 33
140 57 48 43 34 27 22 22 22 11 11 27 23 77 34
150 60 50 45 35 23 23 I 23 23 12 11 28 24 81 35
160 62 52 46 36 29 24 24 24 13 12 29 26 84 36
170 64 54 47 37 30 25 25 25 14 13 30 28 87 37
180 66 56 48 38 31 26 26 26 14 13 31 28 91 38
190 68 58 49 39 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 39 I
200 70 60 50 40 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 40
210 71 62 51 41 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 41
220 72 64 52 42 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 42
230 73 66 53 43 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 43
240 74 68 54 44 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 44
250 75 70 55 45 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 105 45
260 76 71 56 46 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 1 05 46
270 77 71 56 46 36 31 31 31 19 18 36 38 1 08 46
280 78 72 57 47 36 32 32 32 19 18 36 38 1 12 47
290 79 72 57 47 37 32 32 32 20 19 37 40 1 12 47
300 80 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 20 19 38 40 116 48
310 81 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 21 19 38 42 1 16 48
320 82 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 21 20 39 42 1 19 49
330 83 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 44 1 19 49
340 84 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 44 1 19 49
350 85 75 60 50 40 35 1 35 35 23 21 40 46 122 50 j
360 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
370 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
380 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
390 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
400 88 76 61 5I 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 125 52
410 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
420 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
430 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
440 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 31 56
450 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 31 56
460 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 31 56
BSTSee page 6 of this Appendix for Explanations
COMMISSIONERS STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFFS
SPECIALS
100 Lbs Ton Car Load 100 Lbs
d ci t pi 3 Salt CeSeed Jug ke Lime etc g g H CQ 03 ne C L in bales half bbls ept Ale C L etcj
DISTANCE d 0 0 u 0 t V 2 3 ft 0 t Coal Coke Ice 0 w 1 rCj w 0 c5 M 0 m 3 c C oCm p ware Oil Ca Bark Melons Lumber Ores S Stone Brick Wood etc Spirits Turpentii Bags pressed C LBarrels and kegs exc Beer bbls L
j E It m X O 3 R
MILES Cts Cts Cts i 01 1 Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 12 5 50 80 10 00 8 00 5 00 5
20 14 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00 6
30 16 7 70 1 00 15 00 11 00 8 00 7
40 18 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00 8
5 20 8 90 i 20 20 00 13 OO 10 OO g
1 60 22 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00 10
70 24 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00 11
80 26 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00 12
90 28 n 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00 13
IOO 30 10 I 20 i 70 30 00 17 OO 14 OO 14
110 31 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00 15
120 32 10 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00 16
130 33 m 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00 17
140 34 11 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00 18
150 35 ii I 50 2 20 40 00 20 00 17 00 18
160 35 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 17 00 19
170 36 12 1 70 2 30 42 00 21 00 18 00 19
180 36 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 21 00 19 00 20
190 37 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00 20
200 1 37 13 2 OO 2 45 45 00 22 00 20 OO 20
210 38 13 2 10 2 50 46 00 23 00 20 00 21
220 38 14 2 20 255 47 00 23 00 21 00 21
230 39 14 2 30 2 65 48 00 23 00 21 00 21
240 39 14 2 40 2 65 49 00 24 00 22 00 22
250 1 40 15 2 50 2 75 50 00 24 00 22 OO 22
260 1 40 15 2 60 2 75 51 00 24 00 22 00 22
270 41 15 2 70 2 85 52 00 25 00 23 00 22
280 I 41 16 2 80 2 85 53 00 25 00 23 00 23
290 42 16 2 90 2 95 54 00 25 00 24 00 23
300 1 42 16 3 00 2 95 55 OO 26 OO 24 OO 23
310 j 43 17 3 10 3 05 56 00 26 00 24 00 23
320 j 43 17 3 20 3 05 57 00 26 00 24 00 24
330 i 44 17 3 30 3 15 58 00 27 00 25 00 24
340 44 17 3 40 3 15 59 00 27 00 25 00 24
350 45 17 3 50 3 28 6O 00 27 00 25 OO 24
360 1 1 45 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
370 45 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
380 47 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
390 47 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
400 47 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
410 48 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
420 48 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
430 48 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
440 49 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
450 49 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
460 49 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
For Standard column of Cotton Class J after December 11882 see Circular Page12 AppntifTB
Relations of the Railroads to the Standard Tariffs
NAME OF ROAD
PASSENGER
Full Rates
Cents per mile
FREIGHT RATES dd thefollowing percentages to Standard Freight Tariffs to ascertain maxiTUm rates
Alabama Great Southern
Atlanta West Point R R
Augusta Knoxvillle
Central R R Bk Co Upson Co R R Div
Atlanta Division Savannah Division Southwn RR Div Sav G NA DivJ
Cherokee Railroad
Columbus Rome R R
East Tenn Va G RR including the East Tenn Va Ga RR the Selma Rome Dalton the Cincinnati A Ga and the Macon Brunswick R R
Gainesville Jefferson Southern R R
Georgia Railroad
Louisville fli adley R R
Marietta North Ga RR
Richmd Danville R R Atlanta Charlotte Div
Elberton AirL RR j Hartwell R R
Lawrenceville R R Roswell R R J
Georgia Pacific R R
Northeastern RR
Rome Railroad
Sandersville and Tennille
Savannah Fla Western incliid Way cross Fla
Talbotton Railroad
Walton County Railroad
Western Atlantic R R
Brunswick Albany RR
CLASS GOODS 1 234 5 6 A B E G H
30
SPECIALS
Cotton J Fertilizers in Class K except marl ground limestone slaked lime in Class L L M N 0 P Except Lumber
15
50
15
15
25
15
15
25
50
100
10
A The Brunswick and Albany Railroads Standard Freight Tariff is TO miles greater than the Commissioners Standard that is for 10 miles that road can charge ihe same that the Commissioners Standard allows for 80 miles except on cotton which is same as Commissioners Standard and on lumber for which an agreed rate between the millers aad the Brunswick and Albany Railroad to be found in Circular No 5
B For distances 0 to 40 miles add 50 per cent to Commissioners Standard Tariff from 40 to 70 miles add 40 per cent from TO to 100 miles add 30 per cent over 100 miles add 20 per cent with privilege of making local rates on each division separately For joint rates between terminal and local stations a separate table is necessary which will be furnished on application by the Central Railroad Co
C For distances 0 to 60 miles add 60 per cent to Commissioners Standard from 60 to 100 miles add 50 per cent from 100 to 150 miles add 40 per cent from 150 to 200 miles add 35 per cent over 200 milts add 30 per cent
Where no figures are used in the columns the Commissioners Standard Tariff applies as a maximum
6
CLASSIFICATION
The Commissioners original classification published March 4th 1880 with the errata in it corrected by publication of April 15th 1880 to take eftect May 11880 is still in force with the following exceptions
Lumber a carload is 22500 pounds L C L is less than car load C L is car load
0 R is Carriers Risk O R is Owners Risk
Tan Bark in car loads Class O at C R
Ice Fresh Fish and Meats on ice or otherwise L C L 6th Class C L Class L
Bran and millstuffs C L Class P
Rosin and Crude turpentine on all railroads Class K of Commissioners Standard Tariff without any additional percentages allowed on other articles in Class K
Spirits of Turpentine Class R
Lumber includes Logs Laths Shingles and Staves
Barrels Half Barrels and Kegs empty except Ale and Beer L C L Class R at C R Same C L a car to be charged as not less then 10000 pounds C R Class K
Domestics Denins sheetings shirting ticking and jeans checks cotton rope and thread manufactured on or near any of the railroads within the jurisdiction of this Commission 6th Class
Melons C L Class O
Field and other peas any quantity D
Marl ground limestone and slaked lime in sacks or casks any quantity Class L
Paper stock in sacks crates or hogsheads C L 6
Paper stock in sacks crates or hogsheads L C L 4
Rags i n sacks crates or hogsheads C L 6
Rags in sacks crates or hogsheads L C L 4
Paper stock pressed in bales C L can be charged as 20000 pounds to a car Class D
Paper stock pressed in bales L C L 6
Rags pressed in bales C L Class R
Rags pressed in bales L C L 6
Rice 1 times Class C
Corn in ear C L car can be charged as 20000 pounds at Class D
EXPLANATION OF COMMISSIONERS STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFFS
In the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 and if not then opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the freight for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen its Class 1 In the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distance 250 miles is seen the rate 75 cents In the column Miles 10 signifies 10 miles or under20 twenty miles or over 10 and so on
FRACTIONSWhen the Standard Tariff is raised by a per cent omit fractions less than cent and regard cent or more as 1 cent except in computing cotton rates where a half cent can be used Thus for 20 per cent on 17 cents add 3 cents not 34 cents and for 20 per cent on 18 cents add 4 cents instead of 36 cents
Examine the preceding page to find the relations of the various Railroad Tariffs to the Standard Freight Tariff
7
FREIGHT RULES AND REGULATIONS
1 All connecting railroads which are under the mar agement and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same companyshallfor punosesof trim portation in applying this tariff be considerll afeonsti tuting but one and the same roadandtheratesslfalfhe
otherwise pSf f ne and ttle same road unles a separate rate cannot be convenizes thf romSfaeT possible distancethe law authorjzes ine commission to ascertain what shall be the limits olJS dl8taB and KMs
frSghtrates11 flXed aS We
miles may8erouped8athe amefreiiTrar In any 10 fffoup may be embraced at the dlcretfon of thl railner limit7 mSre than t miles beyond the up
iweenSOandSmtle1168 ay be put ln the oup bl J16 ilroads may however if they desirebe more exact in the apportionment of rates than the tahip pp ternfediatebetwepn jPtermiiate distances rates also in95miles m flrsfoc ln the taWe Thus For
twen cents Vthe 8 Wf Sar8 may be made be
rate for 1 M m He wh f0r 90 miles and 45cents the tion o7a mifp oPpLaWil AnA0mputln8 distances a fracnext ffreatlr distance may be counted at the
next greaternumber of milesas 9K for 10 miles
sell railroad company shall make a Table of Tiis
whinh shall boosted itS rePective stations by name
r be Psted conspicuously near the Schedule T6 RKGULATerolin oases specifledl is the same both ways
lj TIONS COTCRRliIli FRETGTTT Ratb npva
rateVhteh shaUott116 ComUsn ae maximum Thev mav eArr1 hTi be tlascended by the railroads rates Sovided at less than the prescribed
thevVln for the utVi thy carry for less fr one person ratifor all nersonikelSrvice WWjW the same lessened iaue ioi an persons except as mentioned hereafter and
make7 a edVeion1 oP th rateS from one 8tation they shall along the line of real ahe saine pr cent at all stations I cne 9 of road so as to make no uniust diserimi Si any Person or locality J discnmi
COMPETING LINES NOT ALL WITHIN THR1 TTnTTTr
Mint i9n thTiStath I88IOTWben however from any not subieet to th are competing lines one or more
thpiino rtwi the jurisdiction of the Commission then the lowest rallf W dlcb Are 80 subject and are working at point T1 otheoTdr therules may at such competing ETOt r othei point injuriously affected bvsuch comne
competition witholft W vbe standard Tariff to melt such IthllSf road 4 COrresponcUng reduction
of VatesmSavnheSnier2r 7er 250 miles a reduction stations smS if iS d wlthout making a change at all any railroaTshn mite68 povded however that when over 250 mfielbthl ke a reduction of rates for distances on all tooiiioitfiod111 APplyt0 similar distances no such ea11hoi0nt 0ll7d bT the same company and in er distance h U m0re be charged for a less than a great
777 auy reduction of rates is made immediate no
sill i deiKdShalj be given to the lililroad Commlt
noul ie7b PtM plc
Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hav Fod iJeUorn in ear TanJbark Turpentine Rosin TarHousetil pdp101wi andor articles manufactured on or near the anor materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce
th1onetratio1eof0Riifie alI such rates are exempted from wiii ErSEn e 6 Any complaints as to such rates
Sads IS cIssesIM W duly codered Shippers of car in Classes Li m N O and P may be required to nav the cost of loading and unloading p y
9 hJiere fhall be no secret reduction of rates nor shall
thJifl1eilhboeiFhVeEeany rebate paid to any person but the rates shallbe uniform to all and public
1U The rates charged or freight service by regular nas
cTafsVih16 nef I half times7thaf for first st elg by ordinary freight trains
with anvrpinr1s0C1EpAny 8haI1 by reason of any contract winn any Express or other company decline or refuse tn act as common carrier to transport any article proper for transportation by the train for which it is offered 9
SHIPMENNT AND DELIVERY
13 Duplicate ReceiptsThe Act of 1879 Section 18
whfchlhip Bhlperslj
7Ti ti stated the classes dr class of freight shin an b8 freight charges of the road giving the receint mi so far as practicable shall state the freillit chwges ovi
class of freights mentioned in the receiptg the
ized statement showing charges on other roads sensvoa atinthW Dy charges ofitsown aside frmtt itquRed T ff and thlS statement for each class if
ing and fi EasThis term embraces the follow
rio n a ainicies when intended to be used as FVrHif zers Ammonia Sulphate Bone Black Bones roiinri
of Muriate of lubhate ltaaarllfj
use diligence to find it and after rreasonfh tbre fVJ
151CDAMPAsn rdI1 iveryi slaI1 pay for the same
case oi damage open or coneefliri and clamis for leakage or wastage more than ordinary if the Agmit of the delivering railroad and the consigneecannot agree as to terms or settlement either partv mav1ai1awihl1TTediate arbitration and the award shalThf paid by the delivering agent without delay 6
per6charllsHisEe1itfti7dIt consignee on payment of prols entitled to immediate delivery of fieicht by delivering Agent and if he has paid an overchaiw i demand0 b liately repaid Pby same Alnt fpon 17 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds A car load is 9n
ToOOaid24UoTo1nhdsrWiSe 8Pfecified For loadl bftwen pounds pro rate at car load rates A oav load of lumber is 22500 pounds Loads exceedin 24 00ft rates8 1 b refUSed 0r the cess chaled at CT
railroads as t demurrage or oSSSiiSS CmFs are matters of police with whicn the io118811 W14 OIl ioorfere upon complaint of abuse the act of February 281874 any railroadmiv switch off and deliver to any connecting railroad all cars CTinn 0r yona such1 connectng1 road an trCopy J OrderAtlanta October 29th 880 In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at this point and elsewhere in this State and an iSiurfous blockade of freights anticipated and now partially ex 18iivrailroad companies in this StateP are herehv notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will he permitted and that when such avoidable blockade ockcauseoi any arrangement existing between railroad companies for distributing amongst themselves for
held accouma W p d shipment such companies will be
tion And hp1iiilodamages arising from such detenrectedrmp1 pptdi mp dnlelare requested and diirpEidiE remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities with
cre
freights bertwfennthe r0estpetipandeSdlStnbUti0n of Note 4Joint RatesNo special or general rule has
roadso 1eontrpdb 1Aven 8tatIons on different railroads not controlled by the same carrier but armlicii
under the UyTnSideed PPllSS for
under the rules of Proceedings before the Commission
R A BACON Secretary Atlanta Ga October 15 1882
TAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE
L N TRAMMELL
Railroad Commissioners
RAILROAD DISTANCES IN GEORGIA
Stations out of the State are Printed in Italics
Great Southern
Chattanooga Tenn o 295
Morganville 12 283
Trenton 18 277
Rising Fawn 26 269
Dade Sul Springs 31 255
Alabama Line 32 254
AtaMu 87 208
Birmingham Sdma Junction 143 152
York Ala 268 27
Meridian Miss 295 0
Jackson Miss 392
Vicksburg Miss 435
Atlanta and West Point
Atlanta 0 87
East Point 6 81
Fairburn 18 69
Palmento 25 62
POWrllS 33 54
Newnan 39 48
Gran ville 51 36
Hogans vil le 58 29
Whitfield 61 26
LaGrange 71 16
Long Cane 80 7
West Point 87 0
Augusta and Knoxville RR
Augusta 67 0
Maysville 11 56
Woodlawn 17 50
Greenwood S C 67 0
Brunswick and Albany
Brunswick 0 171
Jamaica 16 155
Waynesville 24 147
Lulaton 32 139
Schlatterville 50 121
Waycross 61 111
Waresboro 67 104
Millwood 78 93
Pearson 90 81
Wiilicoochee 10L 70
Allapaha 112 59
Brookfield 122 49
Riverside 133 38
Alford 145 26
Isabella 151 20
Davis 16 10
Albany 171 0
Central R R B Co Savannah and Atlanta 295 286 275 265 255 245 233 224 216 212 205 199 195
Savannah 0
Pooler 9
Eden20
Guyton30
Egypt 40
Haleyondale 50
Ogeechee 62
Scarborough 71
Millen 79
Cushingville 83
Herndon 90
Mid ville 96
Sebastopol100
Wadley107
BartowIll
Davisboro122
fSun Hillj129
Tennile135
Oconee 146
Toomsboro 155
McIntyre162
Gordon 170
Griswold181
Macon 192 103
Summerfield200 95
Bolinbroke207 88
Smarrs214 81
Forsyth 219 76
Colliers 224 71
Goggins230 65
Barnesyille235 60
Milner241 54
Orchard Hill246 49
Griffla252 43
Sunnyside259 3
Hampton263 32
Lovejoys268 2
Jonesboro 274 21
Morrows 279 16
Forest282 13
East Point289 6
Atlantai 295 0
Augusta Savannah
Millen 79
Lawton 84
Waynesboro100
53 48 46 42 32 26 20 12
Augusta132 0
Gordon and Eatonton
Gordon 170 38
Whiting179 29
Milledgeville187 21
Meriwether195 13
Dennis200 8
Eatonton208 0
Upson County Branch
Barnesville235 16
The Rock
Thomaston251 0
Sav Griffin N Ala
gf
ns2
2
2
21

Sharpsburg2
Newnan
Sargents
Whitesburg
Carrollton
Southwesteri
Macon
Seago
Echeconnee
Byron
Powersvilie
Fort Valley
Marshallville
252 60
260 52
262 50
264 48
271 41
276 36
277 35
287 25
293 19
298 14
312 0
RR Div
192 0
200 8
204 12
209 17
213 21
221 29
228 36
231 39
236 44
241 49
Anderson 252 60
Americus 263 71
Smithville 275 83
Browns 283 91
Dawsoi 290 98
Wards 300 108
Cuthbert 310 11
Morris 321 129
Hatcher 325 133
Georgetown 333 141
Eufemia 335 143
Fort Gaines Branch
Cuthbert Junction310 22
Coleman 320 12
Fort Gaines 332 0
Ai bany Branch
Smithville 275 59
Adams 281 53
Leesburg 288 46
Albany 299 35
Blakely Branch
Walker 310 24
Ducker 312 22
Holts 317 17
Leary 321 13
Williamsburg 327 7
Arlington 334 0
Blakely
Columbus Branch
Fort Valley 221 71
Everetts 328 64
Hood 32 1
Chip ley 33 0
E Tenn Va Ga R R 98 Atlanta Chattanooga Bristol
Bristol Tenn353 633
608 557 597 544 540 502 420
Reynolds234
Butler 242
Howards252
Bostick257
Geneva262
Juniper266
Box Springs269
Jones Crossg275
Wimberly 278
Schatulga283
Columbus292
Perry Branch
Fort Valley221
Perry233
Cherokee Railroad
Cartersville 0
Ladds 4
Stilesboro 10
Taylorsville 14
Deatons 17
Brooks 20
58
5J Garfield 56
Rockmart 51
Braswell 45
MacPherson 38
Dallas 34
Hiram 28
Powder Springs 23
Austell1 38
Pineville 35
Goddards 27
Fish Creek 29
Cedartown 37
Columbus and Rome
Columbus 0
Vances 7
Fortsons 10
Hines 12
Kimbrogh 15
Cataula 16
Kingsbro 20
Hamilton
Johnsons328
Bogersville Jun 277
Wolf Greek317
Morristown264
GareysvlUe260
Knoxville222
Cleveland140
State lane128
Oh attanooga152
Tyners142
Ooltewah 136
OBrien131
Cohutta126
Varnells121
Dalton112
Starkville106
Carbondale102
Millers 99
Sugar Valley 96
Skelleys 91
Reeves 89
Plain ville85
Pinsons 82
Hermitage 80
Harpers 76
Rome 72
Rome Junction 70
Silver Creek 67
Brice 60
Seney 58
Mableton Chattahoochee Six Mile Siding
Atlanta
Macon
Cochran
Jesup
Brunswick
14
432
422
416
411
406
401
392
386
382
379
376
371
369
365
362
360
356
352
350
347
349
338
336
331
325
318
314
308
303
298
290
287
285
280
190
151
43
0
Macon and Atlanta
Bristol Tenn353 433
Chattanooga152 442
Dalton112 202
Rome 72 162
Rockmart141 180
Atlanta 0 90
Constitution 6 84
Moores Mill 10 80
Ellen wood 13 77
Stock Bridge 19 71
McDonough 29 61
Locust Grove36 54
Jackson46 44
Indian Springs 51 39
Frankville 60 30
Dames Ferry 73 17
Holton 80 10
Macon 90 0
Cochran 39
Jesup 147
Brunswick 190
9
E TennVa Ga R R
Macon and Brunswick
Bristol Tenn 443 633
Chattanooga 242 432
Dalton 202 392
Rome 162 32
Rockmart 141 331
Atlanta 90 280
Macon 0 190
Reids 9 181
Densons 11 179
Bullards 16 174
Adams Park 20 170
Buzzard Roost 26 154
Magnolia 31 159
Coleys 35 155
Cochran 39 51
Hawkinsville 49 161
Dubois 48 142
Dempsey 52 138
Eastman 57 133
Godwinsville 62 128
Chauncey 67 123
Longview 73 117
McRae 78 112
MeVille 83 107
Towns 88 102
Lumber City 95 95
Hazlehurst 102 88
Graham 108 82
Pine Grove 111 79
Prentiss 114 76
Baxiey 117 73
Wheaton 121 69
Surrency 127 63
Brentwood 132 58
Satilla 137 53
Jesup 147 43
Gardi 154 36
Pendarvis 157 33
Sand Hill 164 26
Sterling 178 12
Brunswick 190 0
Corinth Miss 369 297
Middleton Tenn 393 321
Grand Junction 408 336
Moscow 423 351
Memphis 462 390
Atlanta Rome and Meridian
Brunswick Jesup
280 352 237 309
Cochran129 301
Macon 90 162
Atlanta 0 72
Rockmart 51 21
Bristol Tenn353 281
Chattanooga152 50
Dalton112 40
Rome 72 0
Cave Spring88 16
Priors 95 23
Etna Furnace 97 25
Tecumseh 98 26
Anniston 135 63
Catera208 134
Serna268 196
Marion Junction 282 210
York349 277
Lauderdale Miss 363 291
Gainesville Dahlonega
Gainesville
Chattahchee Bdg
Gainesviie Jefferson and So
Gainesville
Hoschton
Virgil
Jug Tavern
Georgia R R B Co
Augusta and Atlanta
Atlanta 0 171
Decatur 6 165
Clarkston 11 160
Stone Mountain 16 155
Li thon ia 25 146
Conyers31 140
Covington 41 130
Alcovy46 125
iSocial Circle 52 119
Rutledge 60 111
Madison 68 103
Buckhead 75 96
Oconee81 90
Greensboro 88 83
Union Point 95 76
Crawford ville107 64
Barnett113 58
Norwood 121 50
Camak124 47
Mesena 128 43
Thomson134 37
Dearing142 29
Saw Dust145 26
Harlem146 25
Berzelia150 21
Forest 155 16
Grovetown156
Belair161 10
Augusta 171 0
Macon Branch
Camak 0 78
Warrehton 4 74
Mayfield 13 65
Culverton 20 58
Sparta24 54
Devereux 32 46
Carrs 36 42
Milledgeville 48 32
Browns 54 24
Haddock 59 19
Roberts69 9
Macon 78 0
Washington Branch Barnett 0 18
Marietta Sc N Georgia
Marietta 0
Walkers7
Woodstock
Lebanon
Holly Springs
Canton
Ball Ground Jasper
12
15
20
24
Meridian381
Atlanta Rome and Memphis
Brunswick280 352
Jesup 237 309
Cochran129 301
Macon 90 162
Atlanta 0 72
Rockmart 51 21
Rome 72 0
Dalton 112 40
Cohutta126 54
Chattanooga Tenn15 80
Stevenson Ala190 118
Boyds Switch215 H5
Decatur Junction 272 200 Decatur274 202 Wadley
309 Ra town 4
Ficklin 10
Washington 18
Athens Branch
Union Point 0
Wood ville 5
Bairdstown 7
Maxeys 13
Antioch J6
Lexington22
Winterville 32
Athens40
Richmond Danvilie R R Ex Cos W Pt Terminal Co
Atlanta and Richmond
Atlanta 0 261
Goodwins 11 256
Roswell Junction 13 254
Doraville 15 252
Norcross 19 248
Duluth 25 242
Suwanee 31 236
Buford 38 229
Flowery Branch 44 223
Odells 47 220
Gainesville 53 214
New Holland 55 212
White Sul Springs 60 207
Lula 65 202
Bellton 66 201
LoDgview 74 19
Rabun Gap June 76 189
Mount Airy 80 187
Ayersville 86 181
Toccoa 93 174
Tugalo 98 169
Ft Madison S C 102 165
Seneca121 146
Greenville160 107
0 104 65 39
N E R R Athens Br
Atlanta
Lula
Gillsville 72
Maysville 78
Harmony Grove 86
Nicholson 92
Center98
Athens104
Louisville and Wadley
Tuscumbia
317 245 Louisville
Spartanburg192
Gastonia N 246
Charlotte267
AirLine June 269
Sahsberry311
Greensboro 360
Danville Via408
North Danville409
utherlin419
Burkeville496
BeUe Isle547
Richmond549
Franklin Junction 436
Lynchburg475
f harlottesville534
Orange G H562
Warrant on June 600
Manassas June614
Alexandria641
SPasburg677
Warrenton609
Wahala S C121
Anderson144
Belton 154
Hodges 209
Abbeville221
Greenwood219
Newberry256
Lauren 8 287
Columbia303
Alston261
Hendersonville N C
Henderson 275
Oxford288
tatesviile313
Chester S 0311
Cheraw
Carey N C433
Raleigh441
Goldsboro490
Salem388
Asheville Junction 454
Asheville456
Warm Springs492
Paint Rock499
N E R RClarksville Branch
Atlanta 0
Athens
Lula 65 39
Rabun Gad J unc 76 40
Clarksville 84 48
Turnersville
Tallulah
Elberton AirLine R E Branch
Martins
W Bowersville
Bowman
0 51
12 39
18 33
24 27
26 25
31 20
39 12
51 0
Hartwell R R Branch
Bowersville 0 10
Hartwell10 0
Lawrenceville Branch
Suwannee 0 10
Lawrenceville 10 0
Roswell R R Branch Roswell Junction 0 10
Roswell 10 0
Georgia Pacific Ry
Atlanta 0
six Mile Siding 7
Chattahoochee 8
Mableton 15
Austell 18
Salt Springs21
Douglasville27
Winns 32
Villa Rica 38
Temple45
Bremen 54
Tallapoosa 64
Ga Ala Line 68
Anniston Ala104
Rome Railroad
Rome 0
Freemans 5
Dykes Creek 7
Bass Ferry 9
Eyes 12
Taylors Ferry 15
Woolleys 18
Kingston 20
Sandersville Sc Tennille
Tenuille135 4
Sandersville139 0
Savannah Charleston
Savannah 0 115
Savannah Junction 2 113
Montieth14 101
Charleston S C115 0
10
Sav Fla W Ry
Sav Thomasville
Ways
Fleming
Poctortown
jesup
Tebeauville 97 161
Glenmore1C I
Naylor Valdosta
Quitman174
Albany Branch
Savannah 0 258
Thomasville 200 58
Ocklocknee 211 47
Pelham 224 34
Camilla 232 26
Baconton 242 16
Hardaway 250 8
Albany 258 0
Bainbridge Thomasville
Savannah 0 236
Thomasville 200 36
Cairo 214 22
Whigham 221 15
Climax 227 9
Bainbridge 236 0
Chattahoochee
South Florida Div n
Savannah 0
Albany 0
Dupont Forrest 130 128
143 141
Staten ville 151 149
Jasper 163 161
Marion 168 176
Live Oak 179 177
Padlock 184 182
McAlpin 190 188
OBrien 197 195
Jacksonville Division or Waycross FlaJiR
Savannah 0 172
Albany
W aycross 96 76
Tebeauville 97 75
Braganza104 68
Fort MudgeIll 61
Race Pond118 54
Spanish Creek125 47
Folkston131 41
Callahan 152 20
Jacksonville172 0
Talbotton Eailroad
Bostick 0 7
Talbotton 7 0
Walton County B E
Social Circle 0 10
Monroe 10 0
Western and Atlantic
Atlanta 0 138
Bolton 7 131
Gilmore 10 128
Vinings 11 12T
Smyrna15 123
Ruffs
Marietta 21 117
Big Shanty 29 109
Acworth 35 103
Allatoona 40 98
Bartow 43 95
Stegalls 46
Etowah 46 92
Cartersville 48 91
Rogers 51 87
Cass 52 86
Bests 56 82
Kingston 59 80
Halls 64 75
Adairs ville 69 70
McDaniels 75 63
Calhoun 79 59
Resaca 84 54
Tilton 90 48
Dalton 100 38
Tunnel Hill 107 31
Ringgold 115 23
Graysville 120 18
Chickarhauga 127 12
Boyce 131 7
Gin So June 133 5
Chattanooga 138 0
CIRCULARS OF THE COMMISSION
For Circulars No 1 March 4th 1880 to No 22 May 10th 1882 inclusive see pages 2 to 9 of Appendix A of this report
The following Circulars from No 23 to 31 inclusive comprise the Circulars issued between May 10th 1882 and October 31st 1882
CIRCULAR No 23
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga August 4th 1882 JAMES M SMJTH A
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL J
On and after September 1st 1882 the maximum rates allowed on rice in any quantity for any distances will be those ot Class C with fifty 50 per cent added thereto and subject to rules in 3d paragraph of Circular 20 dated February 10th 1882
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 24
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga August 91882
1 The Gainesville Jefferson and Southern Railroad and the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad are permitted to add the percentages mentioned below to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff acd charge such totals as maximum freight rates
2 Add thirty 30 per cent to classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G and H
3 Add fifteen 15 per cent 4to cotton rates
4 Add twenty 20 per cent to fertilizers in Class K
5 Classes C D and F remain at Standard Tariff allowed by Circular 20
6 The Gainesville Jefferson and Southern Railroad is placed in Passenger Class B and is permitted to charge four 4 cents per mile passenger fare
This circular to take effect September 15th 1882
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 25
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga September 21st 1882
1 On and after November 1st 1882 in addition to the roads named in preceding Circulars all portions of the following railroads branches or leased lines situated in Georgia are placed in Passenger Class A Ticket rate three 3 cents per mile
The Alabama Great SoutEern R R The Central R R lines between
Gordon and Eatonton Fort Valley and Perry Albany and Blakely Cuthbert and Fort Gaines the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama R R the Upson County R R
The Cherokee R R
The Columbus and Rome R R
The East Tennessee Va and Ga R R between Cochran and Hawkinsville
The Georgia R R between
Barnett and Washington
The Marietta and North Georgia R R
The Richmond and Danville R R the Northeastern R R the Georgia Pacific R R the Elberton AirLine the Hartwell R R the Lawrenceville R R the Roswell R R
The Rome Railroad
The Savannah Florida and Western R R the Waycross and Florida R R
2 Railroads are restricted to the above as maximum rates only and have full liberty to reduce these rates on all and every character of passenger service at their own option
3 A railroad may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as a half rate where the fare would be less than these amounts
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 26
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga September 291882 The maximum rates on lumber allowable on the Savannah Florida and Western R R on and after No
11
vember 1 1882 will not for any distances be greater than the rates for Class P of the Commissioners Standard Bates less 20 per cent deduction f rom the Standard Rates
By order of the Board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR NO 27
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 21882
1 All connecting railroads which are under the management or control by lease ownership operation or otjberwiseof one and the same railroad company shall in applying the Commissioners tariffs for all purposes of transportation within the limits of this State be considered as constituting but one and the same railroad and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same railroad and all exceptions to this rule heretofore made by this Commission are hereby repealed
2 Under the preceding paragraph the following railroads will for all purposes of transportation be considered as forming different railroad systems and each system will be considered as one continuous railroad in computing rates between stations on the different roads branches operated or leased lines composing that particular system
8 The Central R R system will consist of the Central R R the Southwestern R R the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama R R the Upson County R R and all the branches or railroad lines owned leased or operated by either of these railroads
4 The East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia system will consist of the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia R R in Georgia the Cincinnati and Georgia R B the Macon and Brunswick R It and all the branches or railroad lines owned leased or operated by them
5 The Richmond and Danville system will consist of the Richmond and Danville R R or Atlanta Charlotte AirLine in Georgia the Northeastern RR the Elberton AirLine R R the Hartwell R R the Lawrenceville R R the Roswell R R the Georgia Pacific R R
6 The Savannah Florida and Western system wilt consist of the Savannah Florida and Western RR and its branches and leased or operated lines in Georgia and the Waycross and Florida R R
7 The maximum rates on lumber for any distance on all railroads within this State will be twenty 20 per cent less than the rates on Class P of the Commissioners Standard Tariff for the same distance
8 This circular goes into effect November 11882
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 28
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 21882
1 The maximum rates of freight heretofore allowed the Richmond and Danville or Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine Railroad the Northeastern Railroad the Georgia Pacific Railroad the Elberton AirLine the Hartwell Railroad the Lawrenceville Railroad and the Roswell Railroad are hereby repealed and in place thereof those railroads are permitted to add the following percentages to the Commissioners Standard Freignt Tariff and charge such totals as maximum freight rates viz add ten 10 per cent to Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G H and J add twenty 20 per cent for fertilizers in Class K Classes C D and F remain at Standard Tariff as allowed in Circular20 All other classes remain at Commissioners Standard Tariff except lumber which is twenty 20 per cent below Class P of Standard Tariff The computation of freight rates between stations on any and all of the above railroad s will be made strictly in accordance with rules of Circular 27 twentyseven
2 Paragraph 1 3 and 5 of Circular ten 10 are hereby repealed The Atlanta Division of the Central Railroad is placed under the rules of paragraph two 2 of Circular ten 10 All joint rates issued by the Central Railroad under paragraph five 5 of Circular ten 10 are hereby withdrawn The computation of freight rates
between stations on the Central Railroad the Southwestern Railroad the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad the Upson County Railroad and any oi the leased lines or branches of these railroads will be made strictly in accordance with rules of Circular twentyseven 27
3 The Louisville and Wadley Railroad is permitted to add to the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff the following percentages and to charge such totals as maximum freight rates viz add thirty 30 per cent to Claeses 1 2 3 4 5 6 A B E G and H add fifteen 15 per cent to cotton rates add twenty 20 per cent to fertilizers in Class K Classes C D and F remain at Standard Rates allowed in Circular twenty 20
4 This circular goes into effect November 1 1882
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
R A BACON Secretary
CIRCULAR No 29
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 9th 1882
JAMES M SMITH J
CAMPBELL W ALL ACE Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL j
1st To meet the extensions of railroads within the State the following additions are made to the Standard Freight Tariff
SPECIALS 2 I v r IS TlJtOtOtOOOOOOOOOO JrH 1 g jNNNNNNNNCOCOCO
Per car load Ah 1 2 1 w 1 m 1 ooooooooooo I OOOOOOOw ooo i1 rl 1 01NNNC1C1NCV1 CO COCO
O CO 1 ooooooooc g ooooooooooo ItItICOfOCO N N N N N CO CO O CO CO CO
25 ooooooooooo OOOOOOwOOOO OOCOCOWKOCOtOOOO COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO
Per ton OOOOtItlilTtlTfiTfHIlI NNTpxPTpll43COCO COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO
3 o 1 ooooooooooo io io CD CD CO I I l CO 00 CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO
per 100 lbs Kj I to I jooooccoijjoioco 1 O
S 1 ur idiiv cooocoo5 0ia5 sH Tp Tt XP TP TP XP Xp XP Xp Tp
Per 100 lbs w o OOCICllNrtiCCKOO lOiOtOhOiOiOiOiOiOtOiO
Per bbl o NOvJiOiOiOCCOOOOHitH NNNNNNNNCOCOCO ii tH HHH t1 H t1 tH rH tH
f COCOOOONN N xp xp TffH TjtiOiOiOlOiOiOiOiOtO
Per 100 pounds h o O O r H t1 N N N CO CO CO tPxPxPTtfixpxPxPxPxPxP
p o hh COCOCOxPxPxPuOiiO NNNNNNNNNNN
o COCOOllOCOCOCOIil NNNNNNNNNNN
CD ft O O 3 o OiOCOCOCOIlNl 30 CO OC COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO
lO lO 0 CD CD 1 P P QC CO CO COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO
S CO cts lO iO CC CO CO 1s i J CO CO CO COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO
3Q 20 A o 11 1 OOrHrHrHNN NCOCOCO xP xP xPxPxPxPxPxPxPxPxP
4th cts COn tINNNCOCOCC iCiOiOiOtOiOiOiOiOiOlO
1 3d r O O t ti H N 03 M CO CO CO 43 CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO co
a I 3 N O lClOCOCOCOlIIGCOOCO l i l l 1 l 1 l l l l
1st rf I hOlOCOOOOOH rH tfi xp xP 43 OOCOOOCOOO o
QQI QTT I O O O O O O O O crUJWHJ I COJOC050rNWTfOCCO I COCOCOCOTPTrpTppTpl
12
2 The class M column of the standardfreight tariff between 200 and 350 miles inclusive is changed to ri ad as follows
Dollars Dollars Dollars
Miles per ton Miles per ton Miles per ton
2 45 260 320
910 2 50 270 2 85 330 3 15
020 280 2 85 340 3 15
230 2 65 290 2 95 350 3 28
240 2 65 300 2 95
250 2 75 310 3 05
Bv order of the board
JAMES M SMITH Chairman r A Bacon Secretary
CIRCULAR No 30
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 271882
The enforcement of all of Circular No 27 except paragraph 7 seven and all of Circular No 28 except paragraph 3 three is hereby postponed until January
I 1883 H
CAMPBELL WALLACE R A BACON Chairman pro tem
Secretary
CIRCULAR No 31
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga October 271882
1 Column J Cotton of the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff now in use viz
Distances10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
J Cents12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 33
Distances140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 JCents 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39
Distances250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 JCents 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45
Distances360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440 450 460 JCents 45 45 47 47 47 48 48 48 49 49 49
is hereby repealed
2 The following is adopted as the column for Class J Cotton in the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff
Distances10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 JCents10 13 15 17 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Distances 140 150 160 170 18 190 200 2 0 220 230 240 JCents 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
Distances250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 JCents 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Distances360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440 450 460 JCents 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 59 60
3 The percentages now allowed certain railroads on cotton are continued in force and are applicable to the Standard column J as adopted by this circular In estimating cotton rates where additional percentages are allowed in cases where fractions of cents occur the nearest half cent may be used
CAMPBELL WALLACE
R A BACON Chairman pro tem
Secretary
RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN GEORGIA
In the pamphlets of the several sessions of the General Assembly Railroad Laws along with all other laws will of course be found an easier method however may be indicated
The older digests were before the days of railroads The la ter contain much of the railroad legislation towit Princes and Cobbs Digests the Code and Harris Supplement A new Code will probably be issued durtbe present year
Princes Digest contain in full between pages 300 and 381 under the head of Internal Transporta tion all the Railroad Charters passed to December 301836 prior to the session of 1867 including the earlier charters and amendments of the Central Railroad the Georgia the Monroe and other roads
Referenc s to all the resolutions of the General Assembly to the same date are to be found on page 381
In these private acts occasional new features are incorporatedand these sometimes run in shoalsthe charters of each session containing the same new provisionssay of individual liability banking privileges taxation exemptions conditions of increase of capital stock etc
Cobbs Digest brings the Private Legisla ion up to the 23dof February 1850 containing references to all acts prior to the session of December 1851 see pages 423 to 426 with the full text of all the laws concerning the Western and Atlantic Railroad pages 401 to 419
The General Laws also prior to the session of 1851 are given in full Pages 395 to 400 On page 419 are references to the resolutions of the General As embly and on page 420 the action of the State of Tennessee in regard to the Western and Atlantic Railroad
For legislation subsequent to Cobbs Digest beginning with the session of 1851 consult the pamphlet laws and the Code under the heads Internal Transportation Railroads Corporations and Taxation
We prefac the railroad legislation with two notable incidents in the early history of Georgia
1 The invention of a steam engine and a paent for the same See No 402 Watkins Digest p 382 Feb 11788 An act to secure to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet for the term of fourteen years th sale and exclusive privilege of using a newly constructed steam engine invented by them This was intended foruse on one of natures water waysthe Savannah river railroads being as ypt unknown
2 The first steamship which ever crossed the Atlantic the Savannah was a Georgia enterprise The impossibility of this had been demonstrated but the s ientific impossibility became a practical reality As in other cases it cannot be was confuted by it is
SUMMARY VIEW OF RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN ORDER OF TIME
Act 1837See Code 44378Intruding on railroad obstructing railroad etc
1838 Railroad crossings See Code 706 713
1839 Pam 191Right of way See Code 302234 3032
1840 Pam 151Stock killed Code 3042
1845Road exemptions Code 638
1847Pam 250Passengers oijstock Code 3042 B ggage checks Code2072
1850 Pam 337Stock killed 338 Sunday freight 338 slaves need permits See Code 816
Several of the foregoing acts are given in full in Cobbs Digest
1851 2 January 20 1852Pam 1078Through rates by consent authorized and publication of same p 283 Road Duiy See Code 636 Tax Code 816
1852 January 22Pam 18512 p 1089Road crossings sign board engineer compelled to whistle etc See Code 708910 Facetiously perhans truly pronounced by a distinguished Judge an act to compel horses to run away when they encountered a train
13
They often stand trembling till the whistle blows and thisis the signal to he off
1852 January23Pam 1089Railroad hands commutation fee road duty
18534Pam 93 Stock killed damages etc P 95 note Coie 3038 In charters of this session company presumed at fault Supreme Court decisions etc shown P 110 See Code 86
1856 February 17Pam 110Tax on stock and assets See note
1855 6 Pam 155Freight lists See Code 2078 Damages Code 8033 3036 3368
1856 Pam 154Costs of suits service etc Pam 155Freight bills
1857 December 22Pam 65Checks for baggage Code 2072
1858 December 11P 105Tax per cent on all roads not exempt Code 818
1859 P 48 Jurisdiction of courts in what county P 64Whistle posts Code 7089 P 65Road duty Code 636
1860 P 57Eoad duty Code 636
1861 P 69Building bridges Code 4383 P 81Tax warlegislalionCentral Eailroad and Savannah Albany and Gulf Eailroad authorized to connect in Savannah
1862 3 jpg 61County tax P 158Stock killed P 161Suits vs Lessees P 180Transporting provisions
THE CODE
went into operation July 11863 There have been two revisions so that now the editions are those of 1863 1868 and 1873 A supplement has been published to 1877 in ludingthenewConstitutionand anew edi ion is now in progress The numbering vaiies in the different editions The numbers of the sections given below are those of the edition of 1873
The main titles are CorporationsEailroadEailroad CompaniesCrossingsTaxes
Many of the acts referred to elsewhere are repeated in the Codebut not in chronological order and so not conforming to the principleof the present arrangement which is intended to exhibit the order of growth of railroad legislation
PBOVISIONS OF THE CODE
5 The word Person includes corporations
EXEMPTIONS
636 Eailroad hands exempt from road duty on conditions
659 Eoad duty
1060 Military duty
EAILEOAD CEOSSINGS
705 Railroads mav cross each other terms
706 Railroad crossings
707 Eailroad crossings
708 Whistle posts
709 Whistle failure penalty
710 Whistle failure to blow
711 Cows on railroad
712 Suits where brought
713 Keeping up crossings
714 Penalties
715 Exemptions
716 Use of money
717 Defences
719 Eailroads not to use public roads unless by express authority
EAILROAD TAXES
815 Tax same as on other property unless exempt
818 Tax of 1 per cent on net incomeon certain conditions viz dividends not exceeding 6 per cent till they reach 8
819 Tax on new branch Railroads
826 Tax returns to ComptrollerGeneral
876 Defaulting corporations execution
877 Penalty forfeiture of charter
878 Threefold tax
881 ComptrollerGeneral to assess if no return
882 ComptrollerGeneral to issue executions
RAILROADS AS CORPORATIONS
1651 Artificial person subject to modification
1674 Charter of corporations
1676 Organization by courts
1681 Public corporations subject to be dissolved bv
General Assembly 1
1682 Private corporations In all cases of private charters hereafter granted the State reserves the right to withdraw the franchise unless such right is expressly negatived in the charter
1683 Heretofore granted not so subject to dissolution 1685 Conditions of forfeiture
877 Nonpayment of taxes or nonreturns grounds of forfeiture
LIENS
1979 Lien of contractors
1980 Proceedings
1981 Proceedings
COMMON CARRIERS
2065 Defined
2066 Diligence
2067 Diligence exempts
2068 Cannot limt liability by notice may by contract
2069 Must receive goods
2070 Responsible after delivery
2071 Baggage
2072 Baggage checks
2073 No unreasonable delay
2074 Stoppage in transitu
2075 Stoppage
2076 Carrier cannot dispue title of consignee
2077 Carriers lien
2078 Freight Lists to be specified
2079 Lien on baggage
2080 Fraud on carrier
2081 Baggage value
2082 Certain passengers may be refused
2083 Railroads are common carriers
2084 Connecting roads how far responsible
EIGHT OF WAY
3022 Railroad right of way telegraph may use on terms
3023 Terms
3024 Compensation
INJURIES BY RAILROAD CARS
3032 Damages for right of way
3033 Damages by trains
3034 Effect of negligence
2972 Effect of negligence
711 Onus
1680 Responsibility for officers
3035 Equal accommodations to persons of color 3035 Injury to coemploye
2083 Responsibility for employes
3037 Record of stock killed
3038 Record report of overseers
3039 Posted
3040 Overseer when liable
3042 Railroad when liable for live stock
3043 Notice by owner
3044 Notice by owner
3045 Trial
3046 Appeal
3047 Levy and sale
3048 Disposition of proceeds
3049 Tender and its effects
3050 Suits by partner or joint owner
SUITS AGAINST RAILROADS
3367 How sued
3368 Liability of agent
3369 Service
3370 Service by publication
3371 Notice to stockholders
3372 Judgment or decree
3373 President to give names
3374 President may defend
3375 Illegality
3376 Cumulative of common law remedies
INJURIES TO RAILROADS
24383 Arson of bridges
4437 Intruding on
4438 Obstructing injuring ete
4603 Overcharged by agent
References to pamphlets containing acts of legislation
resumed
1863 4Pam 656Stock killed
P 132 Water and lights in passenger ear Code 3038 and on
1864 No general law
1865 6No general law but see Code 1676
1866 Pam 165Tax yz per cent on stock unless ex
empt
1866 Pam 150Burning railroad bridge Code
4383
1867 No Legislature
1868 P141State aid
143Tax
143State aid Air Line road
1869 P 167 and on State aid
170Taxes A per cent on net earnings
Act 1856 as to county jurisdiction repealed
1870 P 398Equal accommodations for colored per
sons Code 3035
628Same
428 Railroad crossings Code 705
429 Registry of State endorsements numerous State aid acts See Index P 523
1871 2P16State aid cautions
77Tax yi per cent net earnings
1872 P 10Road duty Code 636
78Telegraphic use of right of way
5 6 7Certain State aid bonds void
1873 P 17Buying roads endorsed for
24Employe injury to by employe
63Live stock on Sunday Tax on nonresident railroads Profit and earnings 65Tax 1 per cent on net earnings Code 819
69Telegraphic use of right of way Code 302234 Lien of railroad contractors Code 1979 19801990
1874 P 94To prevent monopolies Hillyers law Passed February 28 1874 A brief abstract is appended viz
3 Forbids any discrimination for or against any connecting line
22 Gives the right to join tracks
34 On refusal provides for right of way gl Allows any railroad to switch off and deliver to connecting road all cars consigned to points on or be
14
yond such connecting road Failure to receive and forward is treated as a conversion of the goods and damages allowed of from 10 to 25 per cent unless owner himself in default by rebate
5 Exempts extra Sta e freight unless by sea or Western and Atlantic road
1874 P 97Explosive oils Sunday freight trains
till 8 a m
98 tate aid repealed
103Feb 26Tax A per cent net earnings 107Feb 28Tax on railroads as on other property McDaniels law
1875 P 10South and North Railroad
14To protect State
26Intruding on track
118Tax
1876 P118Purchasers may form corporations
121 Service on railroads
122 Receivers creditors lien State as
owner Macon and Brunswick sale North and South Railroad Tax laws
1877 P115Sale railroad stock by adminis rator
taxation
124Act 1874 Feb 28 confirmed AttorneyGeneral to sue etc
123 ComptrollerGeneral to scrutinize
1878 December 16Tax sale unclaim d freight
Dec 5Corporation formed by purchasers
18789P 125October 14 1879Railroad Commission
167Purchasers of unfinished roads
163 Obscene literature
164Obscene lrerature at depots Tax
1880Tax act 11 reaffirms tax laws
18801P 29Changing time of fiscal and report years
33Arbitration S F W R R
39 Sections 7 and 8Taxation
40 Sections 111213 and 14Tax returns 77Inspection of grain and fees
89Weighing cotton and fees
108Garnishments
115Suits against telegraph companies
130131 and 147Railroad purchasers forming corporations
134Extending time to complete railroads 138Police powers to conductors
115Settlement with Marietta North Ga Railroad
150Legal weight of rough rice
156 General Railroad incorporation law
178To punish cutting bagging from cotton bales
SEVENTH AND EMTH SEMIANNUAL REPORTS
COMBINED
o3OF THE
Railroad Commiss
OOF THEo
STATE OF GEORGIA
Submitted to the Governor October 15 1883
ATLANTA GEOKG1A CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING CO PRINTERS
1883
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE v Commissioners LEANDER N TRAMMEL
A C Bbiscoe Secretary
REPORT
To His Excellency Henry D McDaniel Governor
Sir We have the honor to submit to your Excellency the following report of the operations of this Commission since the date of our last report
Circulars Nos 27 and 28 mentioned in our last report were intended to go into effect on the first day of November 1882 By these Circulars the Commissioners intended to enforce Rule No 1 of this Commission In reference to this rule we say in our last report Properly enforced Buie No 1 will prevent cumulative rates or what in railroad parlance are known as the sums of the locals from being charged on shipments between stations on different portions of connecting roads in cases where such connecting roads are virtually owned operated or controlled by one and the same carrier Experience has shown that this rule is not only correct in principle but also beneficial to the public as well as reasonable and just to the railroads
There had been some doubt in the minds of the Commissioners whether they possessed sufficient power under the law creating the Commission to make joint rates for connecting roads in the State For this reason after the publication of the two orders mentioned commenced the Commissioners thought it prudent to postpone their enforcement for a limited time With this view Circular No 30 was issued which is in the following language
CIRCULAR No 30
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 271882
The enforcement of all of Circular No 27 except paragraph 7 seven and all of Circular No 28 except paragraph 3 three is hereby postponed until January 1 1883
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman pro tern
R A BACON Secretary
By this order the enforcement of Circular No 27 except the 7th paragraph thereof and all of Circular No 28 except the 3d paragraph thereof was postponed until January 1 1883
On December 19 1882 another Circular order was passed postponing the operation of said two Circulars until September 1 1883 The last order of postponement is Circular No32 in our series of Circulars
The purpose of the Commission in issuing these orders of postponement was to give the Legislature of the State which it was known would be in session an opportunity to settle by appropriate legislation all existing doubts as to the powers of this Commission to make joint rates for connecting roads in this State No such action having been taken by
the Legislature thereby leaving this power to be exercised in each particular in such way as might in the judgment of the Commission conduce most to the welfare of the railroads and their patrons Said Circulars Nos 27 and 28 were finally disposed of by the terms of Circulars Nos 34 35 and 40
CIRCULAR No 31
The Commissioners issued Circular No 31 on October 271882 as follows
OFFICE OF THE EAILEOAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 271882
1 Column J Cotton of the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff now in use viz
Distances 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
JCents 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 33
Distances 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
JCents 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39
Distances 250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350
JCents 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45
Distances 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440 450 460
JCents 45 is hereby repealed 45 47 47 47 48 48 48 49 49 49
2 The following is adopted as the Standard Freight Tariff column for Class J Cotton in the Commissioners
Distances 3S 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
JCents 10 13 15 17 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Distances 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
JCents 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
Distances 250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350
JCents 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Distances 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440 450 460
JCents 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 59 60
3 The percentages now allowed certain railroads on cotton are continued in force and are applicable to the Standard column J as adopted by this Circular In estimating cotton rates where additional percentages are allowed in cases where fractions of cents occur the nearest half cent may be used
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman pro tern
E A BACON Secretary
5
The object of this Circular was to equalize more justly the rates on cotton between stations on the roads in this State and in its Operation it has had the effect intended by the Commissioners
CIRCULAR No 32
The Commissioners issued Circular No 32 on October 271882 as follows
OFFICE OF THE RAILEOAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga December 191882
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL J
The time for the enforcement of those portions of Circulars 27 and 28 which were postponed until January 1st 1883 by Circular No 30 is further postponed until September 1st 1883 unless otherwise ordered
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman pro tem
ROBERT A BACON Secretary
Circular No 33 dated December 211882 is in the following language
CIRCULAR No 33
1
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga December 211882
1 Syrup in barrels or half barrels and sugar in barrels or boxes of the kind known as Florida or Georgia syrup or sugar and sorghum produced on or near the line of any railroad within the jurisdiction of this Commission is hereby placed in Class R and all connecting roads which are under the management or control of one and the same company in applying the rates on these articles shall be considered as one and the same railroad
2 This Circular takes effect January 20th 1883
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman pro tem
R A BACON Secretary
Before this order went into operation the manufacturers of syrups in our State were in effect prohibited by the high rates of transportation on the railroads from shipping the products of that industry to market Syrups from without the limits of the State were being introduced on through tariffs at very low rates The home manufacturer found himself debarred thereby from entering his own home markets with the products of his labor The consequence of this was to prevent in a large measure the development of this useful branch of industry By Circular No 33 syrup in barrels or half barrels and sugar in barrels or
6
boxes of the kind known as Florida or Georgia syrup or sugar and sorghum produced on or near the line of any railroad within the jurisdiction of the Commission was placed in m Class R of the Commissioners schedule of rates By this regulation freight on these articles made on or near the line of railway was reduced from twenty to fifty per cent according to the character of the packages in which such shipments were made Charges of the sum of the locals upon such shipments were prohibited by the application in effect of Rule No 1 This Circular went into operation January 20th 1883 the benefitsof which are greatly extended by section 12 of Circular No 34 to which we refer in this connection Since which time our homemade and all other syrups are being introduced into all parts of the State free from excessive railroad charges for transportation
Circular No 34 was issued January 30 1883 and went into effect on March 1st the eafter as follows
CIRCULAR No 34
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga January 30 1883
Tiie East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad between Macon and Bruns
wick is allowed to charge as maximum rate of freight the standard rates published in the Commissioners Sixth Annual Report Appendix B pages 3 and 4
2 On Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G and H and may add thereto on distances hauled between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent between 40 and 70 miles 40 per rent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent and over 100 miles 20 per cent
3 Classes L M N and O remain at Standard and Classes B C D F P and R also remain at Standard but must be computed as required in rule one
4 To Fertilizers in Class K 20 per cent may be added computed under rule one
To Class J Cotton fifteen per cent may be added to Standard in Circular 31 Appendix B page 12
6 The foregoing rates are applicable to and will be the governing rates for freight tariff for the Central and Southwestern Railroads and branches between all points South and East of Macon
7 No percentages either in mileage or rates are allowed to be added to Standard rates by the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad between Macon and the Tennessee State line or to the Central Railroad between Macon and Atlanta except twenty percent may be added to fertilizers in Class K
8 Classes B C D F K P and R must be computed as required in rule one
9 The Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama Railroad may add no more than twenty per cent to the Standard rates on Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G H and K all other classes remain at Standard
10 The Columbus and Rome Railroad may add to Standard rates no more than fifty per cent on all classes except class K to which twepty per cent may be added and except classess B C D F P and R which will remain at Standard rates
11 Class P embraces all kinds of sawed or hewd lumber poles posts logs laths shingles and staves in car loads
12 Circular No 33 will be construed to embrace all classes of syrups in half barrels or largerasks without regard to the place of production
13 Circular No 26 and Section 7 of Circular No 27 are hereby repealed
14 Apples and Peaches not dried and other green fruit in barrels or boxes and Trees
7
and Shrubbery in bales or boxes less than car load owners risk 6thClass Same in car
loads owners risk Class O i
15 The Central railroad will furnish to this office for approval joint rates for the transportation of freights between all stations on the various divisions of railroads under its
control
16 The East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia approval joint rates to be used between all stations its line
17 This Circular takes effect March 1st 1883
By order of the Board
railroad will furnish to this office for North and stations South of Macon on
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
ROBERT A BACON Secretary
By the provisions of this circular the two great lines of railway namely The Central and the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia were in effect placed upon a footing ot equality in the rates of transportation allowed to be charged by each The observance o this circular by these companies and the enforcement of Rule 6 of this Commission and the application of Rule 1 to certain classes secure at once a healthy competition between the roads themselves and at the same time prevents all unjust discrimination between persons and places
Circular No 35 adopted March 1st 1883 reads as follows
CIRCULAR No 35
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga March 11883
On the petition of certain lumbermen of Southeastern Georgia after patient and full investigation and consideration of the conflicting interests of the railroad companies the lumbermen and the public the following Circular order was adopted
Whereas The railroad companies most interested in the transportation of lumber in Georgia are the Central the Savannah Florida and Western and the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia south of Atlanta and
Whereas The Savannali Florida and Western railroad has since July 1882 been during a part of the time voluntarily charging an average of about onehalf of class P rates and is now voluntarily charging an average of about thirty per cent less than class of the Commissioners rates on lumber and
Whereas The Central railroad is now and has been since October 1st 1882 voluntarily charging for hauling lumber twenty per cent less than class P of Commissioners
rates and
Whereas The East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia railroad company through its division superintendent has assured said lumber men of its willingness to haul lumber at less than class P to and in the direction of Savannah and Brunswick provided the Commis
8
sion would allow that road to charge a higher rate when carried in the direction of Macon and Atlanta and
Whereas These three great lumber hauling railroads have thus indicated by their action that a less rate than class P would not be unjust or unreasonable therefore it ig ordered
1st That on and after Monday April 2d 1883 no more than class P of Commissioners rates less twenty per cent shall be the maximum rates for lumber hauled over the Savannah Florida and Western the Central railroad and the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia railroad and all the lines controlled by these roads by lease or otherwise south of Atlanta except the Savannah Griffin and North Alabama railroad
2d Lower rates than the above will be sanctioned by the Commissioners when made in accordance with the law and their published rules
3d Any avoidable failure on the part of the railroads in furnishing cars and transporting them speedily when loaded will be considered an evasion of this order
By order of the Board
ROBERT A BACON Secretary
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
This Circular upon its face shows the considerations which led to its adoption by the Commission A petition of certain lumber men of Southeastern Georgia was laid before the Commission In considering this petition the Commissioners were led to investigate the whole subject of lumber rates as they existed on the part of the lumbercarrying railroads of the State Before the date of our last report the Commissioners in Circular No 26 had taken action with the intention of opening up the markets of the West and Northwest to our lumber dealers In that report we say A thorough consideration of the whole subject however led the Commission to conclude that it was its duty to unlock as far as practicable all the cities and markets of the great West to the lumber men of Georgia These markets have hitherto been almost entirely supplied over the lines of the Louisville and Nashville railroad and the Alabama Great Southern railroad from the forests of Alabama and Mississippi High rates over the Georgia roads had almost entirely excluded the lumber men of the Southern portion of this State from entering the markets mentioned with their products
The object which the Commissioners had in view in passing Circular order No 26 had been in a great measure accomplished For the purpose of removing as far as possible every ohstacle from its accomplishment however Circular order No 35 was issued The result has been beyond the most sanguine expectation of the Commission Orders for mil lions of feet of Georgia pine lumber are received from the West and Northwest and are being rapidly filled Our lumber men are no longer forced to ship the products of their labor from the coast alone but are secured by this action of the Commission in a choice of markets
9
Circular order No 36 was issued March 21st 1883 as follows
CIRCULAR No 36
THE EAILEOAD COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF GEOEGIA
Atlanta Ga March 21st 1883
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TEAMMELL
The weight of a car load of any of the articles specified in class P of the Commissioners classification except lumber will on and after April 23 1883 be twentyfive thousand 25000 pounds Shippers to load and unload
By order of the Board rt I
J JAMES M SMITH Chairman
E A BACON Secretary
The purpose of this Commission in issuing this Circular sufficiently appears by the terms of the order itself
From evidence laid before the Commissioners we concluded that the special rates of freight which had been allowed on the Brunswick and Albany railroad now Brunswick and Western Eailway should be revised and hence issued Circular order No 37 June 27 1883 as follows
CIRCULAR No 37
OFFICE OF THE EAILEOAD COMMISSION OF GEOEGIA
Atlanta Ga June 271883
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TEAMMELL j
LUMBEE EATES BEUNSWICK AND WESTEEN EAILEOAD
1 On and after Wednesday August 1st 1883 on the railroad known to this Commission as the Brunswick and Western formerly Brunswick and Albany Railroad no more than class P of the Commissioners rates less ten 10 per cent shall be the maximum rates of lumber hauled in any direction over said road
2 The weight of a car load of lumber is 22500 pounds
3 Any avoidable failure on the part of this railroad in furnishing cars and transporting them speedily when loaded will be considered an evasion of this order
4 The schedule of Millers lumber rates ior trains of not less than ten cars and for trains
of not less than 15 cars as provided and allowed in Circular No 5 dated Atlanta Ga April 28th 1880 is hereby repealed
5 Printed tariffs of the rates required by this Circular must be furnished the Commissionersoffice on or before the 20th of July 1883
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
A C BEISCOE Secretary
This circular has had the effect intended by the Commission
10
Circular No 38 was issued June 27 1883 and reads as follows
CIRCULAR No 38
9 OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
On and after Wednesday August 1st 1883 the following changes in the Commissioners classification
A C BRISCOE Secretary
This Circular was adopted mainly for the purpose of protecting the interests of planters of the State by cheapening the rates on improved agricultural implements and also to give more just anp reasonable rates to manufacturers and shippers of trunks
From actual observation by the Commissioners themselves as well as through other channels of information it came to their knowledge that many of the railroads of this State were without sufficient means for the protection of goods in their care as common carriers at many of the stations on their lines of road In a very able report made by a committee of the Savannah Cotton Exchange the extent of the damage resulting from this lack of sufficient protection for the property of shippers is thus referred to
One serious complaint which the merchants of Savannah in common with all partie
m Georgia interested directly or indirectly in cotton have against the railroads is the want of protection against bad weather provided by them for that article The law which makes common carriers responsible for damage caused to merchandise committed to their care by reason of negligent handling or of exposure to bad weather should certainly apply to cotton as well as to other articles Unfortunately the damage done to cotton by exposure to rain or by being stored on wet ground becomes apparent only weeks or months after it really has occurred viz When in most cases the cotton is already thousands of miles distant and when proof against the roads has become impossible
The utter disregard with which cottonthe main product of this Stateis being treated would scarcely be justifiable in a semibarbarous country The damage thus caused to the cotton crop by exposure to bad weather amounts probably to more than one per cent of its value or on the Georgia crop in round numbers to half a million dollars annually Such a sum of money would probably be nearly sufficient to pay for rough but staunch sheds at all the depots in Georgia so that one years outlay of money would save the people of the State an annual loss amounting to about the same sum Action under the premises
Atlanta Ga June 27th 1883
CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION
carriers risk released
Mowers Reapers and Binders knocked down and boxed
L C L
Fish pickled or salted in kegs or kits
Trunks single
Trunks in nests or filled with merchandise crated or strap
Same C L not less than 20000 pounds
2d Class 4th Class
4th Class 6th Class
3d Class 6th Class
1J Class 1
ped
1st Class 2d Class
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
INCREASED FREIGHT DEPOT FACILITIES
11
ff0uld certainly seem to come within the province of the Railroad Commissioners of the State
After mature consideration the Commissioners thought proper to issue Circular No 39 for the purpose of guarding as far as was practicable against the evil alluded to in the above extract
CIRCULAR No 39
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga June 271883
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL J
INCREASED FREIGHT DEPOT FACILITIES
1 It is hereby ordered that each railroad company in this State at each and every freight station shall provide on or before the first day of September next ample and suitable depot or shedroom for the reception and protection from theft or damage by weather of all cotton or other articles of merchandise that may be offered them for IMMEDIATE shipment over their respective roads
2 Where depot room is not now sufficient to meet this requirement cheaply constructed wooden sheds may be supplemented to fully protect the cotton or other merchandise stored from dampness by contact with the ground sides or over head
3 Railroads are not required to receive cotton or other merchandise and warehouse the same unless the articles offered are in good shipping condition well prepared by proper pack ing and intelligent plain marking and accompanied with orders for immediate shipment
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
In issuing this order it has been charged that the Commissioners sought to exceed the power vested in them by law This makes it proper that we should here briefly state our own views upon this important subject
When goods are received by a railroad company for immediate shipment the company takes upon itself all the duties and responsibilities which the law imposes upon common carriers The carrier agreeing to perform the service immediately is bound to exercise extraordinary care and diligence in complying with this as well as with all other obligations of his contract If he fails to perform his duty in this respect he is liable in damages for all injury resulting from such failure We are aware that it is frequently difficult for the railroads to comply literally with their contracts for immediate shipments from all the stations on their lines of road A reasonable time should be allowed to enable the company to bring its cars to the point required if necessary and for loading and moving them upon schedule time This in many instances is productive of some delay but such delay ought in no case to be longer than is reasonably necessary During such delays the goods received for immediate shipment remain in charge of the company who holds them under its con
12
tract as a common carrier If while the shipment thus delayed there should be loss ex
cept from the act of God or the public enemy the company would be bound to answer in damages therefor
Beyond question a carrier is bound for any loss caused by his own careless handling or by unnecessary exposure of the property of his patron If after receiving the goods upon a contract for immediate shipment the carrier leaves them exposed to rains and to thieves an oss an amage should result therefrom there could be no question as to his liability tAeretor Losses occurring from the first mentioned cause and the extent as well as the irreparable nature of the same are clearly stated in the extract given above from the report ot the committee of the Savannah Cotton Exchange In this report the annual losses on n Produced in this State resulting from careless handling and negligent storing bv rail roa carriers is put at half a million dollars In the very nature of the case it is impossible in most instances to fix liability for these losses upon the railroads by proofs in courts LiUS 1Ce many instances tlle losses cannot be known until the cotton is thousands of miles away from the points of shipment and it therefore becomes impracticable to show by evidence where in the long course of transit the damage was done Thus the producer and snipper m many instances are in effect left without any remedy whatever Have the Commissioners power to prevent this evil With but rare exceptions reparation for the wrong cannot be obtained through the courts of justice If the Commissioners have power to prevent the evil then it is clearly their duty to exercise that power in the interest of the publie this we have attempted in Circular No 39
7the actestablishing the Commission it is made the duty of the Commissioners to maXe just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all the railroad companies in this State doing business on the railroads thereoff and also to make reasonable and just regulations to be observed by all the railroad companies doing business
of freihts t0 CliarSeS at an7 and a11 points for the necessary handling and delivering
It is further made their duty to make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may e necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads of this State
in fixing upon wh8t are just and reasonable rates and charges of freights to be transported by railroads proper compensation for the labor bestowed and the expense and risk incurred in the handling and caring for the goods before they are actually placed on the cars must be duly considered taken into account and allowed Any rate which excludes this allowance does injustice to the carrier It follows then that just and reasonable rates ot Ireight includes compensation to the company for all required attention given to the shippers property from the moment it is received until it is delivered at the place of its destination The company is compensated in the form of just and reasonable rates of freight for extraordinary care and attention bestowed from the time the freight is received from the shipper to the time of its delivery to the consignee If the carrier fails in his duty by carelessly and negligently handling and keeping the goods before they are shipped he not only receives compensation for services which he has not performed but if damage ensue he is liable for a violation of his contract In order to transport goods at all it is necessary that the carrier shall have possession of them He must receive and control them from the time of their reception until his contract for transportation is fully ended The preliminary possession and handling are necessarily incidental to and they form a part of the transportation itself The compensation therefor is received in the form of rates allowed for the entire service these rates being fixed with reference to every risk and expense incident to such service But m fixing what shall be just and reasonable rates we must also consider the work with reference to the facilities and accommodations which it is the duty of the carrier to furnish for the protection of his patrons goods It would not be reasonable and just to allow as high a rate of compensation for bad service as for good service for insufficient
13
accommodations as for sufficient ones The carrier who in the course of his business throws hi customers goods upon the ground allowing them to be exposed to loss and damage does not deserve as high a rate of compensation as if he had kept them safely and securely from iniury But the Commissioners would find it entirely impracticable to vary the rates to be charged with reference to such a distinction as this From the very nature of the case we find ourselves obliged to fix rates upon the basis which the law itself has established viz That the carrier is bound to extraordinary diligence in keeping and transporting his em nloyers property entrusted to his care By the Commissioners rates the railroads are given Lt and reasonable compensation for the entire service rendered by them upon the assumption that they will perform their duty as common carrier according to law
It is impossible to enforce rates based upon this assumption without requiring the roads to discharge their whole duty to the public They must be required to furnish sufficient protection for goods in their charge as common carriers awaiting shipment or delivery We have imposed no new duty upon them In Circular 39 we have simply made a regulation which is intended to prevent a much complained of evil Tim power to make such a regulation is clearly included in the powers vested in the Commission to make just and reasonable rates of freight because necessarily incidental thereto
But in issuing the order under consideration we did not exceed our powers because the law also makes it our duty as Commissioners to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers pn the railroads in this State Rules and regulations to prevent unjust discriminations between persons and places by the railroads is what is here required The Legislature intended through the Commission to provide for enforcing the great principle that the railroads in their dealings with the people ought to act reasonably and justly Great powers are given to these corporations to be exercised for the benefit of the public as well as for the profit of the corporations themselves It was intended that the Commissioners should by reasonable rules and regulations prevent such an exercise of corporate powers as would build up the fortunes of favorite persons and places at the expense and injury of other and
less favored persons and places
It will be noted that the preventive remedy to be provided here by the Commissioners against the evil of unjust discrimination is not confined to unjust discrimination in rates of transportation alone Such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for the prevention of unjust discrimination in the matter or thing of transportation itself is also intended The giving of superior and unjust advantages for transportation to one place or person over other places or persons to the injury of the latter are to be prevented by just and reasonable rules and regulations issued and enforced by the Commission
The Commissioners are required to prevent unjust discriminations between places on the lines of railway by just and reasonable regulations requiring the companies to provide sufficient means of protection at the stations on their respective roads for the protection of the property already transported or to be carried by them over their lines of road If at one station sufficient protection against all damage and loss is provided for the secure keeping of goods received for shipment and at a neighboring station no such provision exists at all but the goods received for shipment thereat are thrown upon the ground and left exposed bythe carrier to danger of injury from weather and to loss from thieves will it be pretended that the public served at the latter station are not unjustly discriminated against in the matter of transportation Is not the one furnished by the carrier with advantages which are denied to the other To ask this question is to answer it affirmatively
Each place should be treated with justice and fairness in the advantages and facilities afforded for transportation by the carrier All stations on the road should be treated reason
To secure this important object the Commissioners thought proper to issue the circular under consideration It was not intended in that circular that the railroad companies
14
shouid be required to make extravagant expenditures in furnishing protection for the prop erty of shippers Sufficient protection such as may be reasonably necessary to save
r f thf radS awaiting 8hiPmeot or deliry from loss and damage was
what Jhe Commissioners desired to secure and Circular No 39 was issued accordingly
In concluding what we have to submit upon this particular subject we take pleasure in stating that the order referred to seems to have produced the effect intended by the Com missioners No complaint growing out of a nonobservance of the order has reached this Cead the roads asfar as we are advised are moving the present crop expeditiously and with due regard to all the obligations imposed upon them as common carriers by law 7 g Circular No 40 issued by the Commissioners went into effect September 17 1883 as
CIRCULAR No 40
OFFICE OF THE EAILEOAD COMMISSION
JAMES M SMITH Atlanta Ga August 161883
WALLACE i Commissioners
L N TEAMMELL j
JOINT BATES ON COTTON
M In aordance with Circular No 34 section 15 joint rates on cotton between all stations of he various roads owned leased or operated by the Central railroad will be no more than twenty 20 per cent on standard tariff computed as required in Eule One No
ad rate nTf1Smg 0n Cotton from competitive points or stations injuriously affected thereby is intended to be allowed by this circular
2d The maximum rate of the Savannah Florida and Western railroad on cotton shall be no more than thirty 30 per cent on Standard Tariff
EMPTY BABBELS
r 3d ates authorifd t0 be cliarRed in Circular No 20 section 2d on barrels half bars an egs empty C L except ale and beer barrels are changed as follows For 10 miles and under 8 cents per 100 pounds for 20 miles and over 10 miles 9 cents 30 miles and over 20 milesi 10 cents 40 and over 30 miles 10 cents 50 and over 40 miles 11 cents 5
7acente Fr all other disinjr
NAEEOW GAUGE STANDAED CAE LOAD WEIGHT a tj1 arow Sauge railroads in fixidg rates on articles enumerated in classes N1 O and P and on other freights where a rate per car load is given In clarification will count
on rndard gauge Car 1ad and eStimate their chae pro rta with flowed CHAEGE FOE EXCESS FEEIGHT
5th All permission heretofore given by Circular or classification allowing railroads to charge extra dn excess freight where more than the car load allowance is put on the car fi ereby repealed and a pro rata charge of the car load rate only will be allowed hereafter or the excess This rule applies to standard weights respectively allowed broad and narrow gauge railroads
POSTPONEMENT OF CIECULAES NOS 27 AND 28
6th All of Circulars Nos 27 and 28 except section 3d of Circular No 28 are for the present indefinitely postponed
15
7th This Circular to take effect Monday September the 17th 1883 and all circulars orparts of circulars in conflict therewith are hereby repealed
By order of the Board JAMES M SMITH Chairman
A C BEISCOE Secretary
A careful reading of this important order will clearly show the effects which its provisions were intended to have Comment thereon is therefore deemed unnecessary
THE CASE OF THE GEORGIA RAILROAD AND BANKING COMPANY
Vi
THE COMMISSION
In our report of the 15th October 1882 we called attention to the litigation then pending in the Supreme Court of the State between the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and this Commission The court at the February term 1883 pronounced its opinion in the cause affirming the judgment of the court below We append to this report a copy of the judgment of the Supreme Court and respectfully request that the same may be printed as
an Exhibit to the report
Bv this decision the matters in controversy in said cause between the Georgia Railroad and the Commissioners representing the public interest have in effect been finally settled in favor of the latter so far as the courts of the State are concerned No steps have been taken by the Company as we are advised to carry the case to the Federal Court for review We take pleasure in saying that the company after the decision of the Supreme Court was pronounced conformed to the rules and regulations of the Commission on the points of dispute and is now applying the same in the business of its road
COMMISSIONERS STANDARD TARIFF OF RATES
Accompanying this report and intended as a part thereof will be found what is known as the Commissioners Standard Tariff of Rates for the Railroads of this State This standard varies the rates from a greater to a less rate for each ten miles gradually lessening the pro rata of charges as the distance increases and always including starting and terminal expenses as items in the rates fixed This standard of rates and distances is made to apply to the real necessities of the people and of the railroads by percentages added to or deducted therefrom as the necessity in each case may require and also by changes as to distances m which the rates are to apply adapted to each road as in the judgment of the Commissioners may be reasonable and just to the shipper and the carrier Frequent reference to this Standard is necessary in order that our Circulars changing rates may be correctly understood For this reason we include it in this report and ask that it may be considered a part
MalorYt A Bacon the Secretary of the Commission resigned his office to take effect on the 1st day of June 1883 On that day A C Briscoe was appointed to fill his place
The past year has been a prosperous one in the history of the railroads of the State and we see no reason why their prosperity should not continue so long as their business is properly regulated by law
OFFICE EXPENDITURES
Accompanying this report will be found an itemized statement of the money received and disbursed by the Commission during the year ending today to which you Excellency s
attention is respectfully invited JAMES M SMITH 1
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners L N TRAMMELL j
A 0 Briscoe Secretary
16 COMMISSIONERS STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
CLASS C3003DS
100 roisaiTiDs rBTol lOOBft
DISTANCE GO CD cd P 3 ao 5 GO GO c3 P rO a 0 0 a GQ 2 GO GO 03 P E Eh GO GQ a p rg s 3 O fH GO OQ e P H PH GO GO O rg M 02 GO D EH rd a e3 be 9 bo pq rC s 3J 543 75 O O c3 i 5 03 S a a c m 0 E As 0 BS Ph 0 QDI csCJ K X A a a w 1 6 0 S a a u D O E O PH rd 3 Q m A OQ 3 5 B Cts 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 49 50 50 50 52 52 52 54 54 54 56 56 56
1 3 4 5 6 A B c D XI F
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 20 30 40 5o 60 70 80 90 IOO 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 35 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440 450 460 16 20 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 62 64 66 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 85 85 88 88 88 91 91 91 94 94 94 14 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 74 75 75 75 76 76 76 77 77 77 78 78 78 13 16 19 22 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 59 60 60 60 61 61 61 62 62 62 63 63 63 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 49 50 50 50 51 51 51 52 52 52 53 53 53 9 12 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 38 38 39 39 39 40 40 40 41 41 41 42 42 42 43 43 43 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 34 35 35 35 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 38 38 1 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 34 35 35 35 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 38 38 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 34 35 35 35 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 38 38 H 6 62 7 n 8 82 9 9J 10 10 11 Hi 12 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 23 25 25 25 26 26 26 27 7 27 4 5 5i 6 6i 7 n 8 8i 9 9J 10 IQi 11 III 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 21 21 21 23 23 23 24 24 24 25 25 25 9 12 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 33 34 I 34 35 35 36 36 37 38 38 39 39 39 40 40 40 41 41 41 42 42 42 43 43 43 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 28 28 30 30 32 32 34 34 36 36 38 38 40 40 42 42 44 44 46 46 1 46 1 50 1 50 1 50 1 52 1 52 1 52 1 54 1 54 1 54 1 28 35 38 43 45 49 53 54 59 63 67 70 73 77 81 84 87 91 95 95 98 98 1 01 1 01 105 I 05 L 08 t 12 L 12 116 16 19 19 19 22 22 22 25 25 25 28 28 28 31 31 31
COMMISSIONERS STANCAMI FREIGHT TARIFF W
I SPGiAiS
DISTANCE 100 Lbs Ton Car Load 100 Lbs I
O O Fertilizers Rosin etc Coal Coke Ice Marl etc 5 A Q d V O GQ bp as r A O M Live Stock etc Fire Brick Slate Salt Cement Cotton Seed Jug ware Oil Cake Lime Bark Melons etc Lumber Ores Sand Clay Stone Brick Bran 1 Wood etc Spirits Turpentine C L Barrels half bbls and kegs except Ale Beer bbls L C L etc
J K 8 O B
MILES Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 10 5 50 80 10 00 8 00 5 00 5
20 13 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00 6
30 15 7 70 1 00 15 00 11 00 8 00 7
40 17 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00 8
50 19 8 90 I 20 20 00 13 00 10 00 9 H
60 21 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00 10
70 22 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00 11
80 23 n 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00 12
90 24 n 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00 13
IOO 25 10 I 20 I 70 3O OO 17 00 14 OO 14 1
110 26 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00 15
120 27 10f 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00 16
130 28 10i 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00 17
140 29 11 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00 18
150 30 II I 50 2 20 40 00 20 00 17 00 l8
160 31 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 37 00 19
170 32 12 1 70 2 30 42 00 L 2100 18 00 19
180 33 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 2100 19 00 20
190 34 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00 20
200 35 13 2 00 2 45 45 00 22 00 20 00 20 I
210 36 13 2 10 2 50 46 00 23 00 20 00 21
220 37 14 2 20 2 55 47 00 23 00 21 00 21
230 38 14 2 30 2 65 48 00 23 00 21 00 21
240 39 14 2 40 2 65 49 00 24 00 22 00 22
250 40 15 2 50 2 75 50 00 24 00 22 00 22
260 41 15 2 60 2 75 51 00 24 00 22 00 22
270 42 15 2 70 2 85 52 00 25 00 23 00 22
280 43 16 2 80 2 85 53 00 25 00 23 00 23
290 44 16 2 90 2 95 54 00 25 00 24 eo 23
300 45 16 3 00 2 95 55 00 26 00 24 00 23
310 46 17 3 10 3 05 56 00 26 00 24 00 23
320 47 17 3 20 3 05 57 00 26 00 24 00 24
330 48 17 3 30 3 15 58 00 27 00 25 00 24
340 49 17 3 40 3 15 59 00 27 00 25 00 24
350 50 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
360 51 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
370 62 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
380 53 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
390 54 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
400 55 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
410 56 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
420 57 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 0 29 00 28
430 58 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
440 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
450 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 OO 33 00 3100 30
1 460 60 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
is Relation Railroads to the Standard Tariffs
NAME OF ROAD Passenger Fari Pfr MIle Allowed KATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
Alabama Great Southern 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 STANDARD TARIFF used on all other classes
Atlanta West Point R R 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G H and Kadd 20 per cent On all other classes use Standard Tariff
Augusta Knoxville 4 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Brunswick Western 3 cents Class J per Standard Tariff Lumber 10 per cent less than Class P Fertilizers See Note A page 21 On all other classes allow same as those prescribed in the Standard Tariff for a distance of 70 miles greater viz The rate for 10 miles is that fixed by Standard Tariff for 80 miles for 20 miles that fixed for 90 miles and so on
Central Savannah Division 3 cents To Classes 1 23 4 5 6A E G Hadd as follows Between O and 40 miles 50 per cent 40 and 70 miles 40 percent 70 and 100 miles30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One L M N O per Standard B C D F K and R per Standard and per Rule One On joint cotton rates J as per Rule One add 20 per cent to Standard Tariff
Central Upson County Branch 3 cents Same as Savannah Division
Central Savannah Griffin North Alabama 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd 20 per cent On joint cotton rates J as per Rule One add 20 per cent B 0 D F per Standard Tariff and Rule One Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Central Southwestern Division 3 cents Same as Savannah Division
Central tlanta Division 3 cents On joint cotton rates K as per Rule One add 20 per cent to Standard Tariff Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Cherokee 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 Standard Tariff used on all other classes
Columbus Rome 3 cents To Classes 2 3 4 5 6A E G H J L M N Oadd 50 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 3 C D F P and R per Standard
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R between Macon and Brunswick 3 cents 1 ro Classes 1 2 34 5 6A E G aiid Hadd on distances hauled between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent liasses L M N and O remain at Standard Classes B C D F and R also remain at Standard but computed as required in Rule One fertilizers See Note A page 21 o Class J cotton 15 per cent may be added to Standard under Rule One mmber 20 per cent less than Class P under Rule One
Relation of the Railroads to the Standard Tariffs
NAME OP ROAD Passenger Pari Per Mile Allowed RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R betweer Macon and the Tennes see State Line 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 Lumber between Atlanta and Macon 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One for all territory south of Atlanta All other Classes per Standard but Classes B C DF and R must be computed per Rule One
Gainesville Jefferson anc Southern 4 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 80 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard
Georgia 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 Standard Tarifi used on all other classes
Georgia Pacific 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Louisville Wadley 5 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To cotton J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tarifi
Marietta North Georgia 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To cotton J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Richrr ond Danville Atlanta Charlotte AirLine 3 cents Fertilizers See NoteA page 21 To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E GH J L M N 0 R add 10 per cent All other classes per StandardlTariff B C D F and K per Rule Onel
Richmond Danville 1 Elberton AirLine Hartwell Branch Lawrenceville Branch Roswell Branch J 3 cents Same as Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine
Richmond Danville Northeastern 3 cents Same as Atlanta and Charlotte AirLine
Rome 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Sandersville TennHle 5 cents
Savannah Florida Western 3 cents ToClasses 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hallow as follows Between O and 60 miles 60 per cent 60 and 100 miles 50per cent 100 and 150 miles 40 per cent 150 and 200 miles 35 per cent over 200 miles 30 per cent To J add SO per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 21 Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P All other classes per Standard Tariff 0 D F and K under Rule One
Talbotton 5 cents fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Walton County 5 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 21 All other classes per Standard Tariffi
Western Atlantic 3 cents Fertilizers See Notel Apage 21 All other classes per Stan dardTariffi
CLASSIFICATION
The Commissioners original classification published March 4th 1880 with the errata in it corrected by publication of April 15th 1880 to take effect May 1st 1880 is still of force with the following exceptions
Apples and peaches not dried and other green fruit in barrels or boxes L C L 0 R 6th Class C K O R Class O
Barrels half barrels and kegs empty L C L except ale and beer barrels are changed as follows For 10 miles and under 8 cents per 100 lbs for 20 miles and over 10 9 cents 40 miles and over 20 10 cents 60 miles and over 40 11 cents 70 miles and over 60 12 cts For all other distances Class R applies
Same C L a car to be charged at not less than 10000 pounds carriers risk Class K Binders see mowers below
Bran and millstuffs C L Class P
Corn in ear C L car can be charged as 20000 lbs Class D
Domestics denins sheetings shirting ticking and jeans checks cotton rope and thread 6th Class
Fertilizers See Note A page 21
Fish fresh see ice below
Fish pickled or salted in kegs or kits carriers risk 3d Class O R 6th Class
Fruit dried in boxes barrels o sacks C R 4th Class O R 6th Class
Fruit green see apples above
Ice Fresh Fish and Mats on ice or otherwise L C L 6th Class C L Class L Lumber includes all kinds of sawed or hewed lumber poles posts logs laths shingles and staves in car loads
Lime slaked and limestone ground see marl below
Marl ground limestone and slaked lime in sacks or casks any quantity Class L Melons C L Class O
Mowers reapers and binders knocked down and boxed L C L C R 2d Class 0 R 4th Class v
Same C L not less than 20000 lbs C R 4th Class O R 6th Class
Millstuffs same as Bran above
Meats fresh on ice or otherwise same as Ice above
Baper stock in sacks crates or hogsheads of any kind in any quantity 6th per Rule One
Same pressed in bales Class R per Rule One
Peas field and other any quantity Class D
Peaches not dried see Apples above
Pipe earthen L C LC R5th Class O R 6th
Pip earthen C L 25000 lbsC RClass O O R Class P
Rags same as paper stock
Rice any quantity 1J times Class C
Rosin on all railroads Class K
Soap C R 6th
Soap O R R
Stamp Mill machinery boxed L C L 5th C L 6th Class
Stamp Mill machinery loose L C L 4th C L 5th Class
Stamp Mill castings L C L 6th Class
Stamp Mill castings C L Class M with 20 per cent added
Syrups in barrels and half barrels Class R
Tanbark in C LC RClass O
21
Trees and shrubbery in bales or boxes L C L 0 R 6th Class
Same C D O R Class O v
Trunks single C L l times 1st Class
Trunks single O R 1st Class
Trunks in nests or filled with merchandise crated or strapped C R 1st Class O R 2d Class
Turpentine crude same as Rosin above
Turpentine spirits of Class R
The rates of freight transported by regular passenger trains must not exceed one and onehalf the rates allowed by Commissioners Standard Tariff for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains but a charge of 25 cents may be made for any single shipment
Note AFertiiizers L C L Class K with 20 per cent added per Rule One
Fertilizers C L not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 lbs eaoh Class M with 20 per cent added per Rule One
OFFICE EXPENDITURES
From October 15th 1882 to June 1st 1883
Office rent two quarters 100 00
Office boy 36 00
Gas 2913
Fuel 26 25
Postage stamps 44 55
Stationery 500
Periodicals 05
Legal Decisions 25
Express charges 1 5
Incidentals 1 30
Binding Reports W 752Q0 73
From June 1st 1883 to October 1st 1883
Office rent two quarters 100 00
Office boy 16 25
Gas 3 12
Postage stamps 10 25
Stationery 16 96
Supreme Court Decision 4 00
Office furniture 45 34
Ice 1 55
Incidentals H 0 209 27
Total 500 00
22
FREIGHT RULES AND REGULATIONS
s naex5ed 107 Circvulsbrs
Aconecg railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of sam company shall for purposes oftrans111 aPPiyng this tariff be considered as constine and the same road and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the Same road unless otherwise specified
2 pi8TAMOKsSince a separate rate cannot be convenUnAglen f0r sveiy possible distancethe law authorizs the Commission to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances10 miles has accordingly been fixed as the usual limit for a change of freight rates
3 Stations whose distance does not vary more than 10 miles may be grouped at the same freight rate In any 10 mile group may be embraced t the discretion of therailnot more than two miles beyond the
between 30 and 4uUmiles me8 pUt in the group
4 The railroads may however if they desire be more exact m the apportionment of rates than the table requires by giving for intermediate distances rates also intermediate between those given in the table Thus For twaieo0n flstPlass goods the charge may be made be
cents the rate for 90 miles and 45 cents the rate for 100 miles When in computing distances a fraort0faDlle occnrs the distance may be counted at the next greater number of milesas 9 for 10 miles
5 Each railroad company shall make a Table of Diswhivof0vntKeen nlts respective stations by name
be posted conspicuously near the Schedule i ne l ate except in cases specified is the same both ways
6 Regulations Concerning Freight KatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads
I hey may carry however at less than the prescribed
thPvSLiiVdetltviat u theJ carry for less for one person shall for the like service carry for the same lessened r Persons except as mentioned hereafter and it they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
But when from any point in this State there are comPf Ug neor more not subject to the jurisdiction L Commission then any line or lines which are so Iay1ai 8S competing point make rates below the bi andard Tariff to meet such competition without road S a corresponcling reduction along the line of the
7 For distances under 20 or over 250 miles a reduction ot rates may be made without making a change at all stations short of 250 miles provided however that when any railroad shall make a reduction of rates for distances
milethe am sba11 aPPly to similar distances on all the roads controlled by the same company and in
er distance6 more 13e charged for a less than agreat
rWllTUany reduction of rates is made immediate notice of the same shall be given to the Railroad Commission and the reduced rates shall also be posted conspicuously near the Freight Tariff
9 There shall beno secret reduction of rates nor shall any bonus be given or any rebate paid to any person but the rates shall be uniform to all and public
10 The rates charged for freight service by regular passenger trains may be one and a half times that for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains
11 No railroad company shall by reason oi any contract wita any Express or other company declineor refuse to act as a common carrier to transport any article proper lor transportation by the train for which it is differed
SHIPMENT AND DELIVERY
liver the article shipped on payment of the rate char for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt ged
i ReceiptsThe railroads delivering
freight shall on demand furnish the consignee an hem8 ized statement showing charges on other roads seDS from its own and any charges of its own aside from th rate in the Tariff and this statement for each clas if required
12 Duplicate ReceiptsThe Act of 1879 Section 13 provides That all railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the classes or class of freight shipped the freight charges of the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the Agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such Agent shall de
article entered upon a Bill of Lading or Railroad Receipts is missing the delivering Acenf shall use diligence to find it and after a reasonable K for search upon nondelivery shall pay for the sameme
15 DamageIn case of damage open or concealed
and claims for leakage or wastage more than ordinarvl if the Agent of the delivering railroad and the consigned cannot agree as to terms of settlement either party mar demand an immediate arbitration and the award shal1 he paid by the delivering agent without delay De
16 OverchargesAny consignee on payment nf
proper charges is entitled to immediate delivery nf ireight by delivering Agent and if he has paid an over charge is entitled to be immediately repaid bv same Agent upon demand 1 e
17 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds A car load is 20 OOOpounds unless otherwise specified For loads above 20000 pounds pro rata at car load rates
18 The regulations of the railroads as to demurrage or detention of cars are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
19 By the act of Septemb 28 1883 railroads are required to switch oft and deliver to any connecting railroad all cars consigned to points on or beyond snch connectmg road
iooa BlockadeCopy of OrderAtlanta October 29th 1880In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at tins point and elsewhere in this State and an injurious Blockade of freights anticipated and now partially existmg the rariroad companies in this State are hereby notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will be permitted and that when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies lor distributing amongst themselves for transportation according to percentages the cotton or other freight offered for shipment such companies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freightswhen delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unneceessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that may exist amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective companies
Note 1The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tanbark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
Note 2Extra HandlingThe charges for handling extra heavy single articles may be as follows viz For any article weighing 2000 pounds or less no extra charge from 2000 to 3000 3 3000 to 4000 5 4000 to 5000 7 5000 to6000 3 6000 to 7000 10 over 7000 rate by special contract
Note 3FertilizersThis term embraces the following and like articles when intended to be used as Fertilizers Ammonia Sulphate Bone Black Bones ground or dissolved Castor Pomace Fish ScrapGuanos trito Vella Fish Navarro Navarro Lump Peruvian Soluble PacihcNitre CakePlaster of ParisPotash German Salts of Muriate of Sulphate ofSalt CakeSouth Carolina lump and ground PhosphateSoda Nitrate of and Sulphate ofTank Stuff etc
EXPLANATORY NOTES
1 In the Com missioners Standard Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 and if not then opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the freight for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen its Class 1 In the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distance 250 miles is seen the rate 75 cents In the column Miles 10 signifies 10 miles or under20 twenty miles or
I over 10 and so on
2 FRACTIONSWhen the Standard Tariff is raised by a per cent omit fractions less than cent and regard J cent or more as 1 cent except in computing cotton rates where a half cent can be used Thus for 20 per cent on 17 cents add 3 cents not 34 cents and for 20 per cent on 18 cents add 4 cents instead of 36 cents
3 L C L means less than car load C L means car load C K means carriers risk O R means owners risk
4 A car load of lumber and all articles embraced in lumber is 22500 pounds
5 Narrow gauge railroads in fixing rates on all freights where a rate per car load is given will count 15000 pounds for a car load and estimate their charge pro rata with rate allowed on standard gauge
6 A car load of any article enumerated in Class P except lumber and articles included in lumber is 25000 pounds shippers to load and unload
Supreme Court of Georgia
FEBRUARY TERM 1882
TIao Oeorgist Eetilroad Et A1
VS

SmitlA Et Commissioners
OPIKTIOKT
CRAWFORD Justice
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company denying the power of the Railroad Commission of the State of Georgia to regulate freight and passenger tariffs over its road has filed this bill that the right of the said Commission to exercise this power maybe judiciously determined This power is denied
1st Because by Art IV Sec 11 Par 1 of the Constitution of Georgia the duty is imposed on the General Assembly to regulate freight and passenger tariffs
2d Because the Act of October 14 1879 is unconstitutional and void as being an attempt to delegate legislative powers to said Railroad Commission And because it is in conflict with the Constitution of Georgia which forbids the imposing of excessive fines or inflicting unusual punishments
3d Because the charter of said Company is a contract between the State and the Company by which the Company has the right to charge any rates of freight and passenger tariffs not exceeding those limited by its charter whereas the said Commission under the authority given it by the Act of October 14 1879 forbids the said Company under heavy penalties from charging the rates allowed by said contract Wherefore the said Act is by
24
virtue of Par 1 Sec 10 Art 1 of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits the States from passing any law impairing the obligations of a contract unconstitutional null and void
The prayer of the bill is 1 that the Act of October 14 1879 be declared null and void1 2 That it be declared inoperative against the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company 3 That the said Commission be perpetually enjoined from prescribing rates of lare and freight over the Georgia Railroad and its branches or in any manner enforcing against it the provisions of the said Act of October 14 1879 4 Eor general relief
The Chancellor below after considering the bill and exhibits of complainant and cross bill and exhibits of defendants refused the injunction prayed for and that refusal is assigned as error
The questions to be determined by this litigation are
1 Whether the Act establishing the Railroad Commission of the State of Georgia with its powers and duties is not unconstitutional and void because it is the duty of the Legislature under the Constitution to regulate freights and passenger tariffs and this Act seeks to delegate this power to the said Commission
2 Whether the said Act in so far as it attempts to interfere with the chartered rights of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company does not violate that clause of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits the States from passing laws impairing the obligation of contracts
1 The Constitution of 1877 confers upon the Legislature the power and authority of regulating freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs It further makes it the duty of the Legislature to pass laws from time to time to carry into effect the constitutional provision and to enforce the same by adequate penalties
For this purpose and to this end was the Act under consideration passed It declares among other things substantially that if any railroad doing business in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its tracks the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction dealt with as by the said Act provided
In order that fair and reasonable tolls or compensation for the transportation of passengers and freight might certainly be had it was also provided that there should be three Railroad Commissioners appointed whose duty it should be to make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by 11 the railroad companies doing business in the State on the railroads thereof And that a schedule of such rates should be made for each railroad doing business in the State which said schedule should be deemed and taken in all the courts of the State as sufficient evidence that the rates were just and reasonable charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads in all cases brought against any road involving unjust discriminations or improper charges Adequate penalties were likewise provided for the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the said Commission for the establishing of reasonable and just rates to be observed by the railroad companies
Thus it appears that the Constitution provided that the legislature should have power to regulate the railroad freights and passenger tariffs and to require reasonable and jus4 rates for both that it made it also the duty of the legislature to pass laws necessary for its execution and that in pursuauce of that duty the law complained of was passed
The object of the constitutional provision and the legislative enactment was to give proper protection to the citizen against unjust rates for the transportation of freights and passengers over the railroads of the State and to prevent unjust discriminations even though the rates might be just It was not expected that the legislature should do more than to pass laws to accomplish the ends in view When this was done its duty had been discharged
2
All laws are carried into execution by means of officers appointed for that purpose Some with more others with less but all must be clothed with power sufficient for the effectual execution of the law to be enforced
Legislative grants of power to the officers of the law to make rules and regulations which are to have the force and effect of laws are by no means uncommon in the history of our legislation I need only mention the power given to the Judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts of this State to establish rules which if not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States of this State or the laws thereof are binding and must be obeyed And it has never been claimed that they were unconstitutional because they had not been passed by the legislature and read three times on three separate days in each house of the General Assembly
The Act of October 14 1879 provides that fair and reasonable rates onty shall be charged by the railroads of the State Did the Constitutional Convention by Par 1 Sec 11
Art IV intend more than the passage of a general law such as this to carry into effect the clause here referred to It certainly was not contemplated that the details of rates to be I fixed over the many miles of railway in the State should be settled and determined by the Legislature The many influences that combine to cause changes in the ever varyin
I vicissitudes of trade and travel were neither overlooked nor forgotten by that body
I The utter impossibility of preparing by the legislature just and proper schedules for the various railroads with their differences of length locality and business appears to us to be so clear and manifest as that to have entertained it would have been absolutely absurd And especially so when it is remembered that schedules just and right when arranged for the months of winter might be ruinously unjust and wrong for the months of summer or that such as were proper for the year of the meeting of the General Assembly might the i succeeding year well nigh bankrupt every railroad corporation in the State
In our judgment the Act creating the Railroad Commission is not unconstitutional and void That it may need amendments is most probable indeed an experiment so new and untried would be exceptional if it were perfect in its very inception The difference between the power to pass a law and the power to adopt rules and regulations to carry into effect a law already passed is apparent and strikingly great and this we understand to be the distinction recognized by all the courts as the true rule in determining whether or not in such cases a legislative power is granted The former would be unconstitutional whilst the latter would not 91 111 Rep 357 Tilly vs Sav Fla West R R Co and cases cited Pamphlet Dec Supreme Court of Ga Sept 1880 94 U S Rep 113 155 164
2 The next question made by the record is whether the Act of October 14 1879 violates the chartered rights of the stockholders of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Co as contained in the 12th section of the Act of incorporation That clause is as follows
That the said Georgia Railroad Company shall at all times have the exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be by them constructed while they see fit to exercise the exclusive right Provided that the charge of transportation or conveyance shall not exceed fifty cents per hundred pounds on heavy articles and ten cents per cubic foot on articles of measurement for every one hundred miles and five cents per mile for every passenger Provided always that the said company may when they see fit rent or farm out all or any part of their said exclusive right of transportation or conveyance of persons on the railroad or railroads with the privilege to any individual or individuals or other company and for such term as may be agreed upon subject to the rates above mentioned Acts of 1833 page 262
It is well settled that the charters of incorporated companies granting exclusive privi leges to the corporators are always to be strictly construed and that whatever is not expressly given therein or not necessarily implied therefrom is withheld In support of this rule of law we quote from the case of Commonwealth vs Erie Northeast R R Co 27 Pa St Rep 339 Black Ch J in rendering the judgment of the court said That which a
26
company is authorized to do by its act of incorporation it may do beyond that all its acts are illegal And the power must be given in plain words or by necessary imp ication All powers not given in this direct and unmistakable manner are withheld jg In such cases ingenuity has nothing to work with since nothing can be either proved or disproved by logic or inferential reasoning If you assert that a corporation had certain privileges show us the words of the legislature conferring them Failing m this you must give up your claim for nothing else can possibly avail you A doubtful charter does not exist because whatever is doubtful is decisively certain against the corporation And again is the rule clearly and forcibly stated in the case of Fertilizer Co vs Hyde Park 97 U S 659 Swayne J said The rule of construction in this class of cases is that it shall be construed most strongly against the corporation Every reasona e ou is to be resolved adversely Nothing is to be taken as conceded but what is given in unmistakable terms or by an implication equally clear The affirmative must be shown Silence is negative and doubt isfatal to the claim This doctrine is vital to the public we fare It
is axiomatic in the jurisprudence of this court
Guided by these authorities let us see if the 12th seotiou of this charter can stand the test prescribed and give to the company hat it claims It was incorporated to construe a rail or turnpike road and after providing for its organization conferring upon i he right to cross the public roads and bridge the rivers and water courses and giving l lie right of way etc the Act then proceeds to declare the special right to be enjoyed These were that the company should at all times have the exclusive right of transportation of fersons merchandise and produce over the railroad and railroads to be by them const ucted while they see lit to exercise the exciusive right The exclusive right here granted was to L enjoyed only upon one condition and that was that the company should notcharge mors than flfty cento per hundred pounds per hundred mile on heavy freight and live centoa mile fo ever passenger transported over the road The legislature was dealing wilh h subject matter of a public highway and public highways had theretofore been open to the fr J use of all persons for travel for the transportation of goods and the conveyance of passeLrTw thouUhe payment of toll or charges To deny the use of a public highway to thepubUc at large Li give it to an itmorporated company for its 9 nassengers and freights was deemed an extraordinary privilege and this extraordinary privilege the legislature agreed to grant to this company provided it would not charge more fhan the above rates Or to put it in the form of contract it was agreed by the State that thL company might build the road and so long as it carried freight and passengers as prescribed by its charter it should not in any wise be used by the public but by the company
eXClUnder no reasonable construction of this charter can it be claimed that the State contracted with this company to guaranty to it the exclusive right to charge the full amount of the rates or indeed any rate so long as it did not exceed them can i
strued to mean that so long as the specified maximum of rates were not exceeded the co itg lessee should have the exclusive right to carry freights and passengers over t e road This seems to us to be the unquestionable meaning of the words used but even i this be doubtful whatever is doubtful is decisively certain against the corporation
Besides we hardly think it will be denied that the State has the power to regulate he
rate of freight aud passenger fare upon railroads unless that right ha been
lheir charters Indeed the words of the charter parting with this right
WthamouutTa positive itract In the case of the Charles Eiver Bridge to v Warren Bridge Co etal 11 Pet 544 Ch J Taney in pronouncing the judgmentof the court said that it wa necessary to show that the legis a contracted not to do the act of which complaint is made e J
then is does the charter contain such a contract on the part of the S ato1
such stipulation to be found in the instrument
subject can be gathered from the charter it must be by implication and cannot be found in the words Can such an agreement be implied The rule of construction before stated is an answer to that question In charters of this description no rights are to be taken from the public or given to the corporation beyond those of which the words of the charter by their natural and proper construction purport to convey There are no words which import such a contract and none Can be implied See also 49 Ga 151 50 Id 620 40 Eng C L 298319 42 Id 496 46 Id 2345
Applying these rules of law to the charter under consideration can it be said that there is a clear contract either express or necessarily implied that the company should have the absolute right to regulate its freights and fares and that the State will guaranty to them that right up to the maximum sums named in the charter Such a contract cannot be found in the words and in charters of this description no rights are to be taken from the public or given to the corporation beyond those which the words of the charter by their natural and proper construction purport to convey
The natural and proper construction of the words used is that the State stipulated upon certain terms not to interfere with the companys exclusive right of transportation This was all It nowhere stipulates not to interfere with its rates And to bind the State it must be shown that she contracted with the c mpany that it would not thus interfere
Let us enquire then how does the act complained of deprive the railroad of its exclusive right to conveypassengers and freight By what paragraph therein is the road opened to the public The answers are obvious There is not a line to be found in it that deprives the corporators of the exclusive use of the road as against everybody Hence the learnecl and able counsel for the railroad to maintain their position were compelled to insist that the word exclusive in the 12th section of the charter should be stricken out or at least that no special significance should be given to it Where we ask is there authority in any court when construing the grant of chartered law and power to a corporation to strike out or weaken the force of any word whatever so a to enlarge the meaning or cover what it would not cover if it remained therein We know of no such authority and none such has been or can be shown for this
It is claimed by the company that the proviso makes the contract between it and the State But beore this can be construed into a contract such as is contended for it would be necessary to insert words therein which are not used and to make that a covenant in which no words of covenant appear The construction contended for is we think unauthorized and violative of the rules as to what constitutes the usual office of a proviso See 15 Peters 423 1 Barn Add 99 Comyns Dig condition A 2 Yol 3 Coke on Littleton 203 b Bouvier L Die Proviso 399
It may not be out of place in concluding this opinion to say that whilst we hold the Act of October 14 1879 constitutional and the orders of the Commissioners valid and binding yet we are not to be understood as holding that their powers are unlimited or beyond legal control by the proper authorities of the State On the contrary we hold that the powers which have been conferred upon them are to be exercised within legal and constitutional limitations and in such way as not to invade the legal and constitutional rights of others If therefore the case made by the complainant against the Commissioners had shown a violation of the chartered rights of the company it would have been the duty of this court by proper order and decree to have restrained and enjoined them from such violation All grants of power are to be exercised only in conformity to the Constitution of the State and federal government and the laws passed in pursuance thereof
Judgment affirmed
i
NINTH SEMIANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Railroad Commissio
STATE OF GEORGIA
SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR MAY 15 1884
ATLANTA GEORGIA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING COMPANY BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS
1884
JAMES M SMITH CAMPBELL WALLACE LEANDER N TRAMMEL
A C Briscoe Secretary
i Commissioners
REPORT
Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 15th 1884 j
To His Excellency Henry D McDaniel Governor
Sir We have the honor to submit to Your Excellency the following report of the operations of the Railroad Commission of the State covering the period from the date of our last report to the first day of May instant
Circular No 41 of the series of orders issued by the Commission went into effect January one 1884 and is in the following language towit
Circular Mo 43
Office of the R R Commission
Atlanta Ga November 28th 1888 V
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE l Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL
Change in Classification
The following changes in the Commissioners classification published March 4th 1880 are made
Soap common in boxes CARRIERS RISK RELEASED
6th class 4th class 5th class Class 0 Class R 6th class 6th class Class P
Fruit dried in boxes barrels or sacks
Pipes earthen L C L
C L 25000 lbs

This circular to take effect January 1st 1884
James M Smith Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
The object which thfe Commission had in view in issuing this order is sufficiently apparent from the language of the circular itself This remark is also applicable to circulars Nos 42 and 43 which went into effect on the days named in said orders respectively as follows
Office of the R R Commission
Atlanta Ga December 4tli 1883 y
Circular So 42
t Change in Classification
1 Rags and paper stock of any kind in crates sacks or hogsheads in any quantity Cth class
2 Same pressed in bales class R
3 Fertilizers in car loads of not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 pounds each Class M with 20 per cent added
4 Same less than car load Class K with 20 per cent added as heretofore
5 Stamp Mill Machinery boxed L C L 5th class
C L 6th class loose L C L 4th class
C L 5th class
6 Stamp Mill Castings L C L 6th class
C L Class M with 20 per cent added
7 All rates heretofore given upon any of the above articles are hereby repealed
8 Rags Paper Stock and Fertilizers must be computed as per Rule One
9 This Circular to take effect January 1st 1884
A v Campbell Wallace Acting Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
Office of the R R Commission
Atlanta Ga December 18th 1883 f
Circular Pfo 43
Change in Classification
On January 1st 1884 the following changes in the CommissionersClassification will take effect
Cotton Seed Cotton Seed Meal and Oil Cake L C L Class R
Same C L Class D
Potatoes owners risk L C L Class R
C L Class D
carriers risk any quantity Class 6th
1L Campbell Wallace Acting Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
While the Brunswick Albany Railroad now the Brunswick Western remained in an incomplete state and without connections with other roads its revenues depended almost entirely upon its local business These being comparatively small the road received extra favorable schedules of rates from the Commission Connections having been made with other roads at Albany however the reason which led the Commission to grant such rates ceased in a large measure to exist and the tariffs which had theretofore been allowed were revised by the Commission We felt it to be our duty to place this road as nearly as possi ble upon a footing of equality with other roads in the same section of the State To this end Circular No 44 was issued as follows
5
Office of the R R Commission
Atlanta Ga January 31st 1884 f
Circular Wo 44
Change of Freight Rates on Brunswick and Western Railroad
Taking effect the first day of March 1884 the Brunswick and Western Railroad Company will charge as maximum rates of freight no more than Standard Rates on all classes of freight with the following exceptions i First
To classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G and H they may add on distances hauled
Between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent
Between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent
Between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent
Over 100 miles 20 per cent
Second
On cotton hauled any distance they may add fifteen 15 per cent to class J
Third
On fertilizers hauled any distance in less than car loads to classK and on same in car loadsof not less than ten 10 tons to class M they may add twenty 20 per cent
On all kinds of hewed and sawed lumber logs posts poles laths shingles and staves m S may cliare no more than class P less twenty 20 per cent
Printed tariffs in accordance With the above directions must be sent to the office of the Commission on or before February the 20th and must also be posted conspicuously at each depot along the line of said Road
James M Smith Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
Circular No 45 went into effect the first day of April 1884 The provisions of this order when considered in connection with previous orders issued by the Commission applicable to the Savannah Florida Western Railroad are sufficiently explicit nd need no comment here The order is as follows
Office of the R R Commission
Atlanta Ga February 27th 1884 f
Circular Mo 45
Change of Freight Tariff of Savannah Florida and Western Railroad
Taking effect the first day of April 1884 the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad company will charge as maximum rates of freight no more than Standard Rates on all classes of freight with the following exceptions
irst To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 8 A E G and H they may add on distances hauled Between 0 and 60 miles fifty 50 per cent
Between 60 and 100 miles forty 40 per cent
I Between 100 and 150 miles thirty 30 per cent
Between 150 and 200 miles twentyfive 25 per cent Over 200 miles twenty 20 per cent
hauled any distance they may add thirty 30 per cent to Class J haYled any distance in less than car loads to Class K and on pi 55 loads of not less than ten 10 tons to Class M they may add twenty 20 per cent stftw ntinU Snds of hewed or sawed lumber logs posts poles laths shingles and EirtL 5 oads helmay charge no more than Class P less twenty 20 per cent nf thnL inted tariffs hi accordance with the above directions must be sent to the office
posted at hSdepo along Je line f said road1 1884 mUSt alS be Pously A C Briscoe Secretary jAMES M Smith Chairman
6
Circular No 46 of the Commissions series went into effect on the first day of April 1884 as follows
Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga February 27 1884 y
Circular No 46
Change in Classification
Earthen Pipes in car loads of not less than twentyfive thousand 25000 pounds carriers risk are changed from Class 0 to Class R taking effect April the first 1884 See Circular No 41
James M Smith Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
Comment upon the provisions of this Circular is unnecessary when it is read in connection with Circular No 41
The Commissioners have always thought that as few changes as was considered consistent with the public interest should be made in the schedule of rates provided for the railroads of the State We have felt that stability in rates was an important feature to be considered In prescribing schedules and making changes therein we have ever kept this important feature in view This accounts sufficiently for the very few circulars changing rates that the Commission has found it necessary to make since the date of our last report Many questions arising out of the varied interests of the railroads and the people have been presented to the Commission for its decision In most of these cases however we have not found it necessary or proper to order changes of rates In all such cases we have not published the action of the Commission We have frequently been called upon by the people of other states as well as of our own state for information in reference to our action and its results in the light of experience Whatever we have done is shown by the records and papers of this office which are always open to inspection and to which we respectfully invite Your Excellencys attention
Complaints have frequently been made that the right of appeal to the courts does not lie from the decisions and rulings of the Commission This has in some instances been made a pretext for assailing the Commission itself It has been claimed that the decisions of the Commission were autocratic and that the great interests of the railroad companies of the State were placed by the law in the hands of an irresponsible tribunal We hardly think it necessary to call Your Excellencys attention to the erroneousness of such a claim
So far as the Commissioners themselves are concerned as far back as May 1881 in a report then submitted to the Governor of the State they took occasion to call attention to this subject They then felt as they still feel that the want of the right of direct appeal from their decisions greatly increased their responsibility Acting upon this conviction they have been ever careful to so regulate their conduct in all cases as to do no injustice either to the railroads or to the public
We would not be understood however as intending to admit that the right to have the decisions of the Commission reviewed by the Courts does not now exist under the law Any decision made by this Commission which does injustice to any party may be reviewed by the Courts
To show more particularly and at large what our views are we would respectfully invite Your Excellencys attention to the following extract from our last mentioned report
7
Prior to the act of 1879 the Common Law right of the citizen to be protected against extortion and unjust discrimination existed in its full force but the remedy for its violation was wholly inadequate Practically the citizen had no rights though his theoretical right was ample and complete
The rights of the Railroad Companies were well defined enough and their remedies also were adequate being in their own hands It was their capacity for abusing their powers which was not sufficiently held in check
In the very nature of the case the citizen stood at such a disadvantage that his rights were merely nominal To illustrate Suppose him to receive a package on which the actual freight charge was 150 while a just and reasonable rate would be but 100 What could he do Usually he could not wait but must pay the 150 under protestand bring suit afterwards if he thought it worth his while for the half dollar overcharge But could he afford to do this His interest in the matter would not warrant the expense the costs fees witnesses the discussion of the principles and facts involved as to what rate would be reasonable and just in the particular case And only the one case would be settled after all The next day a parcel would be charged 75 cents worth but 50 and the 25 cents would involve a new suit Practically he was obliged to submit Were it a merchant who overcharged him he would transfer his trade to another house But in dealing with the railroad he is dealing usually with a monopoly unless at a competing pointand now even at such a point by reason of poolingand so he was remediless A litigation would usually settle but a single caseone classone distancescarcely any principle at all
Such was the attitude of the citizen Consider next the attitude of the Railroad prior to the act of 1879
It had a large interest in results Instead of 50 cents multiplied by 1 the citizens interest the railroad had 50 cents multiplied by 1000 or 100000 as its interest It would have also ample experience and the best legal talent already engaged and trained and waiting and all the experts favorably inclined
So unequally were the parties matched that in the whole history of the State there has been so far as we remember not one single case of a suit by a citizen to enforce this Com mon Law rightand but one to enforce even a statutory right for an overcharge In that case the charter of the railroad in express terms limited the rates yet the railroads fixed its rates beyond the chartered limitprinted them and collected them and was checked by this suit
A remarkable commentary on the absolute worthlessness of Rights without Remedies
The consciousness of this huge disparity between the parties is the greatreason why juries lean toward the weaker side Notwithstanding all this howeverunless the sum involved was large say a suit for life or limb or injurythe party aggrieved would not enter into so formidable a controversy even with the sympathy of the jury in his favor
Indeed the case was not prepared for jury trial As well turn a jury loose into a great pile of copartnership or bank books to strike a balance as into the complex principles and facts involved in rates of freight without some report like that of a master in chancery as the basis ofx decision
Now all this has been in large measure remedied by the act of 1879 and adequate provision made also for such a report so that the parties can stand on a level
A residual remedy remains however still to be provided viz an improved mode of reviewing the action of the Commission when bona fide believed to be erroneous by any party interestedrailroad citizen or community
Suppose a tariff made by the Commission in their judgment just and reasonable but in the honest opinion of the officers of the railroads lower than is just and reasonable and not properly remunerative or in the opinion of some citizen or community as too high or
8
discriminating unfavorably against such citizen or locality Does the law as it stands sufficiently provide for testing the question Perhaps not so fully as it might
It is true that the Commission itself is always open for a new trial and that without formality But aside altogether from pride of opinon or other fault an error of judgment is not easily cured in those who make it and so an appeal to some outside tribunal is usually the safest mode of securing a fair rehearing
Such an appeal is that which lies from the Superior to the Supreme Court Although the three Judges of the latter court are the very last resort yet the parties to other cases have first had a hearing before a different tribunal and it requires a concurrent judgment of two fairly disposed tribunals to reach finality
As the matter stands parties are not without the right of appeal to the courts but the remedy is not sufficiently obvious and attainable If any doubt of this right of appeal ever existed it has been settled by the Tilley case
Under that decision the day in court exists and the actionof the Commission is as stated heretoforea report as to just and reasonable rates presumed to be correct until the contrary is established
The remedy so far as the citizen is concerned is far better than it was prior to 1879 The remedy for the railroad even now without change of the act is far better than the citizens ever was But it is capable of some improvement and should be perfected as far as possible
The remedy is chiefly declaratory With some small amendments of a declaratory sort showing the mode of proceeding for convenience and adaptation the act stands The Tilley case has plowed and cross plowed the whole field for objections but in vain
In the provision by which the rates of the Commission were made sufficient evidence that term sufficient has been construed to mean simply prirria facie in accordance with the view of both partiesso construed by counsel for complainant and counsel for defendants One remaining point of objection has been removed by the adoption by the Commission of a rule as to notices which settles the mode of proceeding more satisfactorily Thus the strong features of the law referred to in our first report as thumbscrews have been so cqnstrued as largely to obviate the objections and allow to the railroads their desired day in court
It remains to make the provisions for appeal more complete and satisfactory
As the law stands the action of the Commission is madeprima facie evidence of what rates are reasonable and just let it so continue until the contrary is decided but provide for exceptions to it In case of dissatisfaction with the action of the Commission let any party interested whether citizen or city or railroad file exceptions against the same specifying the grounds of such exception as if to a report by a Master in Chancery to the court in which they are filed
If filed by a citizen city or community let It be in the name of the State for the use of A B vs the Railroad Company in the county in which an action would lie for any excessive
charge If filed by a railroad company let it be theRailroad Company vs the
State of Georgiaperhaps best filed at the Capital the situs of the State authority the State granting leave for such a proceeding
When the exceptions are filed let it be the duty of the Railroad Commission to certify their action in the particulars complained of with any other action explanatory thereof and any comments or remarks they may think proper to submit showing the grounds of their decision
If the parties waive a jury let the proceeding be at Chambers The Attorney or Solicitor General to represent the State if defendantthe party complainant to represent his own case and the court to give such damages as it may think just as in claim or other like cases for a proceeding found to be frivolous or vexatious
9
Let the penalty and damages before a decision by the courts be so qualified as to make the amount less and let the penalty be graduated by the gross income of the road for the preceding fiscal year say a certain per cent instead of by a fixed sum for all roads large and small A penalty upon officers would really best meet the case as they are really the derelict parties The stockholders are scarcely capable of controlling the action and so are innocent Let the scienter be part of the offencei e let the charge include knowingly and wilfully jr
It is a difficult matter to balance offcounselexpert vs expert Fees for the Solicitor or Attorney General should be provided and the Governor authorized to engage assistance when necessary But this would probably be of rare occurrence On the whole very generally with a properly constituted Commission the safety of all interests would finally be felt to rest m its decisions as safer from its constitution than a jury and more specially educated than the courts and so the inclination would be to appeal to rather than from it
The Commission were not jesting nor acting a part when in their first report they referred to their deep sense of responsibility in the exercise of the large powers conferred upon them And it will be with a profound sense of relief that they will see such a clear right of appeal as will relieve them from the anxieties of a tribunal once regarded to be strictly of the last resort as well as the first No member of the board has failed at some time to feel an oppressive weight of anxiety
Summary proceeding is important because neither the railroads nor the public can well afford to go on with their daily business not knowing what they are to receive and pay in their constant mutual transactions Neither of them can understand its business nor regulate its affairs expenses and prices without this knowledge
The inexperience of the Commission has been commented on How much will the experience of a jury for a half day mend the matter
The British law on this general subject is to be found in Hodge on Railways from I which we make some extracts
In 1872 the necessity of the establishment of a special tribunal to deal with certain railway questions was universally acknowledged The railway and canal act of 1854 had been administered by the Court of Common Pleas with indifferent success Indeed with respect both to main and through traffic considered irrespective of undue preference this act had been a complete failure not a single successful application having been made Anri although the decisions of the courts between different classes of traders had been satisfac lory in principle and there was no reason to suppose that any tribunal specially constituted would come to sounder conclusions it appeared that questions of fairness of charges were matters of administrative policy rather than simple questions of law and could be better and more cheaply investigated by a special tribunal acquainted with the subject The committee therefore after pointing out that a Board of Trade is not sufficiently judicial a court of law not sufficiently informed and a parliamentary committee not sufficiently permanent recommended the appointment of a Railway and Canal Commission to consist of not less than three persons of high standing of whom one should be an eminent lawyer and one a person well acquainted with railway management
The bill followed the recommendations almost verbatim and became the Regulators of Railways Act 1873
Among other provisions Railway Commissioners are absolutely prohibited from holding railway stock of any kind
I The aetjprovides 25 that for the purposes of this act the Commissioners shall subject as in this act mentioned have full power to decide all questions whether of law or fact and after naming certain exceptions that save as aforesaid every decision and order of the Commission shall be final
10
The decision of the Commission may be made the Rule of a Superior Court in order to its legal enforcement by proper officers
t empowered if they think fit to state a case in writing for the opinion of any
Superior Court determined by the Commissioners upon any question which in the opinion
of the Commissioners is a question of law
Thus the law of Georgia is evidently not the wild and unprecedented action sometimes alleged whether by analogy with the English lawor by the decision of a United States Judge
The sensible views here expressed as the result of long British experience have largely been incorporated into the Georgia law Under it as it stood and far more as herein proposed to be amended the rights of railroads are more facile for appeal and less subject to three men than in Great Britain At last however three men that very objectionable number must decide the law
The right of exception brings up a great case of Interpleader using this term in its popular sense which will first be heard before the Commission itself and the appeal be to the Courts for a rehearing if desired
Pending suit the rates stand for all parties men cannot stand at a ferry for rates they must settle and pass on So at a train In the Tilley case the Savannah Florida and Western got the benefit and the people had to suffer
In that case the objection being to the want of jurisdiction the old rates were kept of force until the jurisdiction had been sustained Now the decree has settled the matter the onus has been changed and the new rates are observed as prima facie correct
At the summer session of the Legislature of 1881 a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives having for its object the settlement of this question This bill we would remark was not submitted to the Commissioners before its introduction nor were they consulted with in reference to its provisions The committee to whom the bill was referred requested the Commissioners to present their views as to the propriety of recommending the bill for passage In response to this request we submitted the following changes in the bill for the consideration of the committee and of the General Assembly
In order to speed the cause when the complainant files Exceptions let him include therein the demand for a jury if he desires one When notice is served on defendant if he demands a jury let him give notice so as to allow the Judge to have tlfe jury ready and so save one uselessmeeting and ten days time
Let the parties with the consent of the Judge set down the case for trial at any time within twenty days
In regard to venueIf the exceptions be made by a citizen let it be in the county in which an action would lie for any excessive charge or other damage
If made by a railroad let the State be the party defendant in form as it is in fact and let the State grant the right of suit at its own residenceviz the capital
In no case let the Commission be a party either plaintiff or defendantbeing a tribunal not a party
The provision in section 2 which makes the action of the Commission prima facie wrongpending the litigationinstead of prima facie right seems to be inconsistent with the 5th section Instead of the supersedeas the action of the Commission shouldbe regarded according to section 5 as prima facie correct until reversed and a provision to that effect inserted Otherwise the whole effect of the law can be defeated
Cases could be brought at critical periods and continuances cover say the whole cotton season It would be the interest of the Railrords to protract cases The citizen would he
11
worse off than at common law his statutory remedy would be a broken reed piercing bis own band
The real difficulty underlies all this and was thoughtfully considered by the Commission before making the recommendations embodied in the third report
Were it practicable the true solution would be not a supersedeas but keeping the Commission rates of force during the trial and theq provide that the party in fault should refund the proper difference to the other party
This would be the best plan but for certain inherent difficulties In our report page 133 we say
Pending suit the rates stand for all parties men cannot stand at a ferry for rates they must settle and pass on So at a train In the Tilley case the Savannah Florida and Western got the benefit and the people bad to suffer
In that case the objection being to the want of jurisdiction the old rates were kept of force until the jurisdiction bad been sustained Now the decree has settled the matter the onus has been changed and the new rates are observed as prima facie correct
This may be further illustrated The matter will not keep the show will be over too soonthe business season
i The reasons for this policy are much greater however than merely to preserve consistency They are really vital to the efficiency of the whole system
The object of the State in establishing the Commission was to have rates fixed by an impartial tribunal During the litigation which is the more probable rate that fixed by a disinterested tribunal or by an interested
In regulating a monopoly if either party is to fix the rate why not let the community or citizen occasionally try its band
It would fix them too low The railroad would fix them too high But in a monopoly why one party rather than the other
A merchant cannot tell what prices to fix without knowing this elementtbe rate of freight We could expand this view but on the whole it is best to provide as quick a remedy as possible meanwhile leaving both parties to abide for a short time the best decision attainable The British decision is final
Really the Tilley case gives an adequate solution Whilst the constitutionality of the act and the jurisdiction of the Commission was the matter in question the court suspended the rates When these were established the rates went on not waiting for final trial
The Tilley case illustrates another thing alsohow delays can defeat the whole system For ten months the case was protracted although the State and the Commission were always ready to try Really with this provision in the law the State and the citizens have a good fence but the gate being left open as well have no fence
We have always thought that parties claiming to be injured by a ruling of the Commission might under the law as it now stands have a remedy in the courts But this remedy as the law now stands is not easily available Hence we have favored and still favor such a change in the law as would authorize a direct appeal to the courts from the decisions of the Commission But any law authorizing such change should be so guarded in its provisions as not to impair the usefulness of the Commission to the public While a complaining party ought to have the right of appeal he should not be left at liberty to indefinitely suspend the action of the Commission by a frivolous and wanton exercise of that right Persons familiar with the practice of our courts know how easily cases may be continued from term to term and how frequently such continuances result in gross injustice In the matter under consideration such an evil should be strictly guarded against
Impressed with the importance of this we do not hesitate to recommend that a supersedeas of our decisions should not be worked by any appeal which may be given The reason
12
ableness of this view is sufficiently pointed out in the extracts which we have submitted We do not think that great injustice would result from a short delay in the enforcement of the Commissioners rulings
Under the law as it now stands we are required to publish for a certain period any schedule of rates adopted by the Commission and pending such publication such schedule is not of force The period required for such publication would in most instances be sufficient to enable the party complaining to have his cause adjudicated by the courts
With proper legal provisions for prompt action and speedy hearing before the court we see no reason why the right of appeal should not be given so that complaining parties whether railroads individual citizens or communities might be allowed to enjoy a highly valued constitutional privilege while the public interest would not necessarily suffer thereby
But we desire to impress upon Your Excellency the very great importance of having such appeals finally decided within the shortest period of time consistent with justice to the parties
It has been the practice of the Commissioners to provide that their orders requiring publication shall not go into operation short of thirty 30 days after their adoption Experience has shown to us the wisdom of this practice This period of time we think sufficient to secure appealing parties their rights in the courts
We would therefore respectfully suggest that any amendment of the law giving the right of appeal from the decisions of the Commission should be so guarded as not to allow a suspension of the action of the Commission for a period longer than thirty 30 days
We do not venture to suggest all the special provisions which would necessarily enter into legislation on this subject We deem it sufficient that we should very clearly indicate to Your Excellency our opinion as to the propriety of giving the right of appeal to the courts and the necessity of incorporating into the law provisions guarding the public against the evils which might possibly result from any attempt to abuse the privilege
The Commissioners have had under consideration the propriety of recommending other changes in the law establishing the Commission We beg to reserve these recommendations however for our annual report which will be submitted to your Excellency prior to the meeting of the General Assembly of the State
James M Smith
Campbell Wallace Commissioners
L N Trammell
A C Briscoe Secretary
TENTH SEMI ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
v
Railroad Commission
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR OCT 15 1884
ATLANTA GEORGIA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING COMPANY BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS
JAMES M SMITH
CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
LEANDER N TRAMMELL j
A C Briscoe Secretary
RKPORT
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAl COMMISSION Atlanta Ga October 15th 1884
To His Excellency Henry D McDaniel Governor
Sir We have the honor to submit to your Excellency the following report of the operations of the Railroad Commission of the State covering the period from the date of our last report to the 15th day of October 1884 and to respectfully present some recommendations and reflections which seem to us necessary and proper
As each circular order which we have issued since the date of our last report bears upon its face the object for which it was adopted we herewith submit them in consecutive order without comment as follows
On and after May 15 1884 the following changes in the Commissioners classification will take effect
1 Barrels half barrels and kegs empty except ale and beer barrels in any quantity
Class K
2 Hoop IronClass A
8 Paper printing wrapping and roofingL C L 4th class
SameC L 5th class
4 All circulars or parts of circulars in conflict with the above are hereby repealed See especially Circular No 40 paragraph 8
OFFICE OF THE RAILFI j I
CIRCULAR No 47
CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION
A 0 BRISCOE
Secretary
CAMPBELL WALLACE Acting Chairman
4
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga May 27th 1884 j
CIRCULAR No 48
Switching and Trackage Charges
1 On and after July the first 1884 a charge of no more than two dollars per car will he allowed for switching or transferring cars from any point on any road to any connecting road or warehouse within a space of three miles from starting point
2 When in the transfer of cars between said points it is necessary to pass over the line of any intermediate road said intermediate road shall charge no more than one dollar per car for the use of its tracks
8 When a charge is made for the transfer of loaded cars between said points no additional charge shall he made for the return of said cars
4 Nothing in this circular shall he construed as authorizing any railroad company to charge for services as required in the act of the General Assembly approved September 28th 1883 which is entitled An act to compel railroad companies in this State to receive from connecting railroads all freights when tendered in cars and for other purposes
A C BRISCOE CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman pro tem
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga May 27th 1884 j
CIRCULAR NO 49
Gainesville Jefferson and Southern and Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Companies
PASSENGER TARIFF
On and after July the first 1884 the Gainesville Jefferson and Southern and the Augusta and Knoxville Railroad Companies will he placed in Class A of passenger rates
A C BRISCOE CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman pro tem
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga May 27th 1884 j
CIRCULAR NO 50
1 On and after July the first 1884 the Louisville and Wadley the Talbotton the Elberton the Hartwell the Lawrenceville and the Roswell Railroad Companies will be allowed to charge no more than the Standard Tariff on all classes of freight with twentyfive 25 per cent added
2 All circulars and parts of circulars in conflict with the above are hereby repealed
A C BRISCOE CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman pro tem
5
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga June 11
CIRCULAR NO 51
1884
Gainesville Jeeeerson and Southern Railroad CompanyFreight Tariff
1 On and after July the first 1884 the Gainesville JeiFerson and Southern Railroad Company will be allowed to charge no more than the Standard Tariff on all classes of freight with tweiltyfive 25 per cent added
2 All circulars and parts of circulars in conflict with the above are hereby repealed
A difference of opinion having arisen between the Baltimore Chemical and Fertilizer Exchange and the Central Railroad and Banking Company of this State as to the construction which ought to he given to paragraph third of Circular No 42 issued by this Commission and application having been made to this Board to construe the same as applicable to local freights after due notice given to the parties the Commissioners determine and order as follows
Said paragraph is in the following language towit Fertilizers in car loads of not
less than ten 10 tons of 2000 pounds each Class M with 20 per cent added
The true intent and meaning of the Commission in said paragraph was and is that the shipment of a lot of a car load or more of fertilizers made by any one shipper to one and the same point of delivery to the same consignee shall be transported by the road carrying the same at car load rates as fixed by this Commission although the same may in fact he carried by the road to the point of delivery in lots of less than ten tons to the car
On and after October the first 1884 the following classification will take effect
StoneBlocks rough class P less twenty 20 per cent
StoneCurbing class P less twenty 20 per cent
StoneSlabs rough and protected otherwise owners risk class P less twenty 20 per cent
StoneRubble class P less twenty 20 per cent
StoneBlocks dressed and protected otherwise owners risk class P
StoneSlabs dressed and protected otherwise owners risk class P
2 A carload embraces twentyfive thousand pounds
3 Granite same as stone
A C BRISCOE
Secretary
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga July 29th 1884
CIRCULAR NO 52
Construction of Circular No 42Fertilizer Rates
A S BRISCOE
Secretary
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga August 26 1884
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE
L N TRAMMELL
Commissioners
CIRCULAR No 53
CLASSIFICATION of stone
A C BRISCOE
Secretary
JAMES M SMITH
Chairman
6
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE
L H TRAMMELL
OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga August 26 1884 j
Commissioners
CIRCULAR No 54
Cotton TariffSavannah Florida and Western and Brunswick and Western
Railroad Companies
On and after October the first 1884 the Savannah Florida and Western and the Brunswick and Western Railroad Companies will be allowed to charge no more than class J with twenty 20 per cent added for the transportation of cotton
A C BRISCOE
Secretary
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga September 23 1884 j
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
CAMPBELL WALLACE J Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL J
CIRCULAR No 55
Change of Freight Tariff of Marietta and North Georgia Railroad Company
On and after November the 1st 1884 the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad Company will be allowed to charge no more than the Standard Tariff on all classes of freight with twentyfive 25 per cent added
A C BRISCOE JAMES M SMITH
Secretarv Chairman
OFFICE EXPENDITURES
FROM OCTOBER 1st 1888 TO OCTOBER 1st 1884
Office rent 224 97
Office boy 52 85
Postage stamps 46 10
Furniture 121 51
Fuel 17 50
Gas 13 75
j Periodicals 18 00
Insurance 4 70
Map 10 00
Supreme Court decision 1 00
Removing office furniture etc 4 05
Stationery 49 67
Incidentals 11 70
Total 575 80
Credit by sale waste paper 1 95
Credit by sale old furniture1 II 25 13 20
562 60
Amount allowed by law 500 00
Deficiency 62 60
As intimated in the closing part of our report we desire to present to your Excellency the following recommendations
1st That the salary of the secretary to this Commission be increased
The amount at present allowed by law is inadequate compensation for the duties required to be performed by the secretary and is not a fair and reasonable compensation for the experience and ability demanded in the performance of his duties which should be equal if not superior to that of railroad experts in the general freight and passenger departments of railroad companies who are paid for their services salaries from twentyfive hundred to five thousand dollars per annum Especially is this true when we consider that his duties are laborious and more responsible than that of said railroad officials We make this recommendation in siinple justice to the merits high qualifications and claims of our present efficient secretary We respectfully suggest that his salary should be fixed at a sum not less than eighteen hundred dollars per annum This we understand would only put him upon an equal footing with the secretaries in the Executive Department
8
2 We desire to call your Excellencys attention to the insufficiency of the sum of 500 the amount now allowed by law for supplying the Railroad Commission with suitable office accommodations furniture and stationery and would recommend an allowance of seven hundred and fifty dollars
As a reason for this recommendation we submit that the Commission has been embarrassed for the want of proper office accommodations located accessible to the public and affording convenience and comfort for the Commissioners as well as for the want of sufficient and suitable stationery necessary for records which should be preserved With the greatest possible economy we have failed to keep the expenditures for these purposes within the sum allowed An itemized estimate of what is absolutely necessary will be given
It has been assumed that the policy of the State in establishing a Railroad Commission for the purpose of regulating railroad traffic within this State has been detrimental to the interests of the railroads as well as injurious to the general welfare of the people and in its operations has had a tendency to retard the building of railroads in the State In response to this assumption we desire to call your Excellencys attention to the following facts showing the same to be without any foundation
1st The records of this office show that for the five years previous to the establishment of the Commission in 1879 there were built within this State less than one hundred miles of railroads and that during the five years since the establishment of the Railroad Commission more than six hundred miles of railroads have been constructed within the limits of the State
Again it is an undeniable fact that more of the stock of the railroads within the State of Georgia have been taken by foreign capital and at higher rates since the establishment of the Commission than at any like period of time previous to its existence
Further neither the policy of the State in enacting laws for the regulation of railroad traffic nor the action of the Commission has deterred nonresident capitalists from purchasing the following roads already built namely
The Macon and Brunswick Railroad one hundred and ninetyeight miles in length the Brunswick and Western Railroad one hundred and seventyone miles in length the majority of the stock of the Western and Atlantic Railroad Company nor from taking onehalf of the lease of the Georgia Railroad for a period of ninetyriine years at six hundred thousand dollars per annum which is equal to a fraction over fourteen per cent annual dividend on the capital stock of 420000000 of said road
Not only has foreign capital flowed into the State and been invested in the trunk lines which have been constructed since the establishment of the Com
9
mission and those in existence before its establishment but from the records in this office showing the number of miles of branch roads built and being built by the citizens of Georgia it would seem that they have been stimulated to a degree in providing themselves with railroad facilities that has not been equalled in any five years in the history of the State preceding the same
The present railroad system shows the State to be well provided with trunk lines and it is a matter of congratulation to know that out of the one hundred and thirtyseven counties in the State there are only thirtytwo which are not traversed by railroads and that many of these are of easy access to railroad stations And from the numerous short roads now projected and being constructed we have a gratifying assurance that it will not be long before every county in the State will have within its own territory railroad facilities
These facts justify the conclusion that this policy of the State has neither lessened the confidence of her citizens in the continued value of railroads located within the limbs of the State nor deterred foreign capital from seeking investment in the same Neither do the values as shown by the market quotations of the stock of Georgia railroads as compared with the quotations of stocks of railroads in other Southern States sustain the assertion that the policy of the State or the action of the Commission has tended to their depreciation
The assurance of just and reasonable rates of transportation guaranteed to the citizens by the law has inspired their confidence as is manifested in all sections of the State by an increased impetus given to all branches of manufactures and other industries
Moreover we think that it can be justly claimed that a fair and impartial review of the work of the Commission in carrying out the purposes of the law by a reduction and equalization of rates that were of force by the railroad companies at the time of its passage will show a saving to the people of Georgia annually a sum equal to the full amount of their annual taxes while the healthy financial condition of the railroads does not indicate that they have been injured thereby
In conclusion we wish to express our appreciation of the prompt manner in which the railroad companies have furnished this office with reports and other information when called upon and for the carrying into effect the action of the Commission All of which is respectfullysubmitted
Campbell Wallace
L N Trammell
A C Briscoe Secretary
Commissioneri
ELEVENTH SEMIANNUAL REPORT
OP THE
ailroad Commission
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
SIIBIITTD TO THE GOVERNOR JOLT ms
ATLANTA GA
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING COMPANY BOOK AND JOB PKINTERS
1885
JAMES M SMITH CAMPBELL WALLACE LEANDER N TRAMMELL
A C Briscoe Secretary
j Commissioners

REPORT
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga July 6 1885
His Excellency Henry D McDaniel Governor Etc x
SirWe have the honor of presenting the following report of the work of the Railroad Commissioners since the date of our last semiannual report We do not deem it necessary or proper to burden the text of the report with a minute and detailed statement of all I the labors of the Board during the period mentioned The office of the Commission has always I been open to the railroad companies and to the general public and our records and corI respondence show in minute detail all the work which our official duties have required I us to perform
We attach hereto in the form of an appendix official copies of circulars issued to I railroad companies since our last report These orders are in themselves sufficiently exI plicit to show the objects which the Commissioners had in view in issuing them The apj pendix also contains other matter to which we respectfully invite your Excellencys attenI tion
Much dissatisfaction has been expressed by the railroad companies of the State in reference to the powers conferred upon the Commissioners by the Act of 1879 An attempt j will he made at the approaching session of the General Assembly we learn to have the j law so amended as to make it more consistent with the views and wishes of the railway I corporations In view of this we deem it not improper to give expression to our opinions upon this very important subject through the medium of this report
The constitutionality of the law of 1879 under which the Railroad Commissioners were appointed has been settled by the highest Judicial authority of the State
The Supreme Court of the State in the case of the Georgia Railroad etal vs Smith et I il Commissioners after referring to the provisions of the Constitution of 1877 which confers power and authority to regulate rates on the various railroads of the State upon the General Assembly and to the legislation intended to carry that provision into effect used the I following language
Thufe it appears that the Constitution provided that the Legislature should have power to regulate railroad freight and passenger tariffs and to require reasonable and just rates for both that it also made it the duty of the Legislature to pass laws necessary for its execution and that in pursuance of that duty the law complained of was passed
It was not expected that the Legislature should do mqre than pass laws to accomplish 1 the end in view When this was done its duty had been discharged
The Circuit Court of the United Stated used the following language in the Tilley case
Under the Constitution of Georgia power and authority is conferred upon the Legis
4
lature to pass laws to regulate freight and passenger tariffs on railroads and require just and reasonable rates and it is its duty to pass such laws that it may prescribe such rates either directly or through the intervention of a Comjnission and the question whether the rates prescribed by the Legislature either directly or indirectly are just and reasonable is a question which under the Constitution the Legislature may determine for itself
Again in the same case the Circuit Court says
The railroad company after testing the results of the schedule of rates fixed by the Commissioners and finding it to be unjust and unreasonable can apply to the Commissioners for redress If redress is denied them there they can appeal to the Legislature for relief Believing the law under which the Commissioners are appointed to be within the Constitutional power of the Legislature th redress must come either from the Commissioners or the General Assembly it is not in the power of this Court to give relief
Keeping in view the construction above given by the Courts as to the nature and extent of the duties imposed by the General Assembly and to the manner in which such duties may be performed we respectfully invite your Excellencys attention to the following suggestions
Power and authority are especially given by the Constitution to the General Assembly to regulate rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State The Constitution declares that the Legislative Judicial and Executive powers shall forever remain separate and distinct and no person discharging the duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of either of the others except as herein provided Code 50 15
It is no where provided in the Constitution that the power and authority of regulating rates of freight and passenger tariffs and of preventing unjust discriminations on the various railroads of the State may be exercised by any but the Legislative department The powers mentioned and the duty of executing the same are both alike conferred and imposed upon the Legislature Hence such powers and duties are made entirely legislative in their character by the organic law It would seem to follow that a law providing that the duty of exercising such powers might be discharged by the Judiciary would be unconstitutional and void It would clearly be violative of the provision of the Constitution which requires that the Legislative Judicial and Executive power shall forever remain separate and distinct from each other
A Judge who might take jurisdiction under such a law would be exercising functions which by express provisions of the Constitution are conferred upon the Legislature alone Any person discharging the duties of a Judge is prohibited while discharging such duties from exercising any functions which are legislative in their character
Nor would it in our opinion make any difference even if a court were created by the Legislature for the specia purpose of hearing and determining cases of alleged wrongful overcharges and unjust discriminations by the roads Such a court although it might be styled a Bailroad Commission would be no more than an inferior court under the Constitution and could not be given any powers not judicial in their character Such a court would simply be a part of the Judiciary department of the State government It could not discharge the legislative function of regulating freight and passenger tariffs and prohibiting unjust discriminations on the roads of the State Powers might be conferred upon such a court to adjudge that wrong had been done by a railroad company in the past but no power could be given to it to regulate by judicial proceedings the rate business of the railroads so as to prevent wrong and injury from being done in the future This power we repeat can he exercised under the Constitution by the Legislature only
Complaint has been made by the railroad companies that the right of appeal from the
5
action of the Commissioners is not allowed by law Desiring that the roads should he given very possible right we have on more than one occasion suggested that this privilege be allowed but so guardedly as to prevent the legal powers of the Commission from being impaired by the exercise of such privilege These suggestions upon our part seem to have met with little or no favor from the railroadCompanies They claim that the priyilege of appeaTshould be granted to them freeTrom any restrictions whatever save such s fixe applicable by law to all litigants alike Argument is not needed to show that the privilege iflhusgranted might be so exercised as to destroy in effect alDtKe legal powers of the Commission If it is demed essential to the public interest that the Commission should beeves ted with tEe ratemaking power at all then its action in the exercise of such powers ought to remain of force until set aside either by itself or by some other competent authority
But would not a law giving the privilege of appeal from the action of the Commissioners to the courts be itself obnoxious to objection on constitutional grounds In all such cases the question tried would be Is the action of the Commissioners complained of reasonable and just To settle this question the court trying the same would have to determine what would have been just and reasonable action on the part of the Commissioners and then adjudge accordingly If the appealing party should prevail the judgment of the court would be to the effect that the action of the Commissioners appealed from was unreasonable and unjust If for example that action involved a schedule of rates the court would first decide whether the tariff fixed by the schedule was just and reasonable
Thus the Court would be performing the office of regulating the tariff of rates in the case tried Would not this in effect be an exercise by the Court of power conferred by ithe Constitution upon the Legislature exclusively It seems to us that it would
But would it be practicable for the Courts to discharge efficiently the ratemaking powers and duties specified in the Constitution This question can be learly answered by supposing a case as an illustration If a court should attempt to ascertain whether a given rate on cotton from Atlanta to Savannah for instance was just and reasonable it would first have to inform itself by evidence as to the value of the service rendered by the railroad company It is hardly necessary to suggest that this inquiry would involve the solution by evidence of an untold number of minor questions Indeed what is the value of the services rendered by a railroad company in any given case is the most difficult of the many complicated questions which railway managers are required to solve This difficulty can only be met and overcome by making frequent adjustments of rates as experience may show that necessity exists requiring changes to be made The judgments of courts could never make such adjustments Necessarily the effect of such judgments would be confined to the subject matter involved in the suits in which the judgments were rendered Such judgments could not affect the interest or business of any road not a party to the suit or suits It needs no argument to show that such proceedings could never be made to discharge the office of regulating rates on the various railroads of the State and of prohibiting unjust discriminations thereon
Would any law having the effect of leaving the railroads to exercise the privilege of fixing their own rates be constitutional The Supreme Court in the case from which we have already quoted says
The Constitution of 1877 confers upon the Legislature the power and authority of regulating freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs
For this purpose the Act of 1879 was passed The object of the Constitu
tional provision and the legislative enactment was to give proper protection to the citizen against unjust rates for the transportation of freight and passengers over the railroads of the State and to prevent unjust discriminations although the rates might be just
6
Would not the objects here stated be defeated by any legislation allowing the railroad companies to fix their own rates It seems to us that such a law would in effect be an attempt to perpetuate and even legalize the very evil against which the framers of the Constitution found it necessary to provide a remedy in the fundamental law of the State
Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1877 the railroad companies exercised the privilege of fixing rates on their respective roads The Courts were then in the possession of all the powers which could now be given to them by statute to enable them to correct the abuse of this privilege For every right there exists a remedy is and always has been axiomatic in the law Our courts have ever been open to complaining parties hut notwithstanding all this the framers of the Constitution finding that the remedy through the Courts was entirely inadequate and that the evil growing out of allowing the roads to regulate their own rates had become intolerable devested the companies of this privilege and imposed the same as a special duty upon the General Assembly
But finally upon this particular subject we respectfully suggest that the remittal of the ratemaking power either directly to the railroads themselves or indirectly to the Courts would be an abdication by the General Assembly of powers which the Constitution expressly enjoins upon the Legislative department It would in effect be a refusal by the Legislature to discharge the duties imposed upon it by the organic law of the State
We would next invite your Excellencys attention to the reasons given by the railroad companies for desiring a modification of the powers of the Commission These reasons are too numerous to be here discussed or even mentioned in detail but they may all be summed up in two propositions viz
1st That the exercise of the powers given to the Commissioners greatly injures and damages the railroad interests of the State
2nd That the very existence of the Commission clothed with the powers given to it by existing laws is injurious to the public interest
Wb will with as much brevity as we may find consistent with the importance of the subject now proceed to discuss these propositions but in inverted order from that in which they are above stated
It is contended that the very fact that the Commission exists with its present powers prevents capital for the building and equipping of railroads from being brought into the State thus causing injury to the Commonwealth It is urged that capitalists abroad wil not invest their money in railroad building here because the Commissioners may possibly so exercise their powers as to render such investments unproductive and valueless
In reference to this particular subject the Commissioners used the following language in their last semiannual report
has been assumed that the policy of the State in establishing a Railroad Commissiou for the purpose of regulating railroad traffic within this State has been detrimental to the interests of the railroads as well as injurious to the general welfare of the people and in its operations has had a tendency to retard the building of railroads in the State In response to this assumption we desire to call your Excellencys attention to the following facts showing the same to be without any foundation
1st The records of this offic show that for the five years previous to the establishment of the Commission in 1879 there were built within this State less than one hundred miles of railroads and that during the five years since the establishment of the Railroad Commission more than six hundred miles of railroads have been constructed within thes limits of the State
7
Again it is an undeniable fact that more of the stock of the railroads within the State of Georgia have been taken by foreign capital ancl at higher rates since the establishment of the Commission than at any like period of time previous to its existence
Further neither the policy of the State in enacting laws for the regulation of railroad traffic nor the action of the Commission has deterred nonresident capitalists from purchasing the following roads already built namely
The Macon and Brunswick Railroad one hundred and ninetyeight miles in length the Brunswick and Western Railroad one hundred and seventyone miles in length the majority of the stock of the Western and Atlantic Railroad Company nor from taking onehalf of the lease of the Georgia Railroad for a period of ninetynine years at si hunfired thousand dollars per annum which is equal to a fraction over fourteen per cent annual dividend on the capital stock of 1420000000 of said road
Not only has foreign capital flowed into the State and heen invested in the trunk lines which have been constructed since the establishment of the Commission and those in existence before its establishment but from the records in this office showing the number of miles of branch roads built and being built by the citizens of Georgia it would seem that they have been stimulated to a degree in providing themselves with railroad facilities that has not been equaled in any five years in the history of the State preceding the same
The truth of these statements has never been questioned upon any reliable evidence and we are warranted in saying that their correctness cannot he successfully assailed
Speculations as to how many miles of railroad have heen built in States where commissions have not existed or what might have been done in a similar direction here if no commission had ever heen created in Georgia amounts to nothing either as evidence or argument The fact that the spirit of railroad building in this State has not been destroyed or even weakened still remains in tact
We take occasion just here to remark that we do not call to mind a single instance in which New York or other foreign capital has heen subscribed for the building of a railroad in this State in the inception of the enterprise Such instances may have existed but we think that they have been of very rare occurrence The usual course pursued by foreign capitalists has been to buy up the roads of greatly embarrassed or bankrupt companies at almost nominal prices capitalize the property sometimes using much water in the process and then reimburse themselves for all investments they had made by extorting as high rates from the people as business would bear In this way the public has often been made to repay the capitalists in the form of oppressive rates the original cost of railroad property and also for all the improvements placed thereon This was doubtless a portion of the evil which the constitutional convention found it necessary to correct through the organic law
Every good citizen ought to encourage the introduction of capital intended in good faith to be applied towards developing the resources of the State but we submit that this end can never he accomplished by legislation which would only be effective in promoting the schemes of mere speculators in railroad enterprises
We insert as pertinent here a tabular statement taken from The Railway Age of July 2 1885 the leading railroad organ in the United States showing the number of miles of railroad track laid during the first six months of the year 1885
8
TRACK LAID DURING THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 1885
States
No
Alabama Arkansas California Dakota Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana
Iowa
Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts
lines Miles States No lines Miles
1 600 Minnesota 2 10200
1 250 Mississippi 2 4350
4 2700 Missouri 4 9250
1 300 Nebraska 1 10300
4 6550 New York 3 1900
6 5300 Pennsylvania 4 4470
i 1000 South Carolina 1 4100
i 700 Tennessee 1 1000
i 700 Texas 6 10300
4 7080 Virginia 1 400
2 1700 Washington Territory 1 275
1 1300 Wisconsin 1 4000
2 825 Total 25 States 56 8955
This table shows that in the period named fiftythree miles of track were laid in this State Georgia stands second among the States lying south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers in railway construction during the first six months of the present year
There are six new lines of railroad now in actual course of construction in this State as shown by this table In new enterprises of the character mentioned Georgia stands with Texas at the head of the list in the whole country From this it can hardly be reasonably inferred that the action of the Railroad Commission of this State has had the effect of either preventing or crushing out railroad enterprises within our limits
What we have already said on this point together with what we shall hereafter add when we come to speak of the direct effect which the execution of the Commission laws as had upon our railroad interests will show very conclusively we think that the existence of Such laws has produced no injurious consequences to the people of the State
2nd Has the exercise of the powers given by law to the Commissioners proved injurious to the railroad interests df the State
It is claimed that the execution of the law by the Commissioners has had the effect of impairing the credit of the railroad companies It is alleged that they cannot place new bonds so as to redeem their old ones because their business instead of being controlled by themselves is in the hands of the Commission Are these allegations correct We beg to present the following table showing the values of the stocks and bonds of a number of the railroad companies of this State on the 1st day of July of the years mentioned This statement is taken from reports which we find in the Atlanta Constitution
1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885
Georgia Railroad Stock Central Railroad Stock Atlanta fe West Point Railroad Stock Atlanta Charlotte AirLine R R Stock Southwestern Railroad Stock Georgia Railroad 7 per cent Bonds Georgia Railroad 6 per cent Bonds Atlanta West Point Bonds Central Railroad 7 ner cent Bonds Southwestern Railroad Bonds 78 80 64 66 106108 98i00 105107 98100 110112 107109 100102 93 95 78 80 113115 99l01 100102 106108 173176 122125 79 81 116118 109 111 110 118 117119 137140 89 90 100105 67 71 1101U 107109 106109 100105 113114 145147 97 99 100105 62 64 114116 104 106 107108 105 107 Hi112 145147 97 99 105107 62 64 114116 104106 107108 111112 147150 60 62 93 95 68 70 112114 102104 108li0
Atlanta Charlotte AirLine R R Bonds 107108 102i04
The foregoing table shows that the old bonds of the companies are at a high value in the market notwithstanding the ruinous effect which it is pretended the exercise of the
9
Commissioners powers has had upon the railroad interests of the State If the acts of the Commissioners have not depreciated the old bonds it is difficult to understand how such acts could have the effect of so impairing the credit of the companies as to prevent the redemption of their old securities by the issuing of new ones
We submit that the facts demonstrate that the fears felt upon this subject by the companies are merely imaginary
But it is also claimed that the action of the Commissioners in the exercise of tneir powers has depressed the value of the railroad stocks of the companies of the State
Taking the case of the Central Railroad and Banking Company as an illustration we find that its stock fluctuated in value from 1879 the year the Commission was established to 1883 inclusive as follows On July 3 i879 the price offered was 64c On the same date in 1880 the offered price was 78c in 1881 on the same date 122 was offered m 1882 the same date 89c was offered in 1883 the same date 97c was offered
Since the last named date the stock of the Company with many fluctuations has generally declined and the offered price for the same on June 30 1885 was reported at 60c The chief reason for the marked decline in the value of the stock of the Central Company after 1881 will be found in the fact that the Company since that date has issued to its own stockholders forty per cent of 6 per cent interest bearing certificates of indebtedness upon the entire stock of the Company This issue although called certificates of indebtedness is really in the nature of preferred stock the interest thereon being payable before any dividends are allowed on the common stock of the Company The effect of this operation can be seen at a glance Under the weight of this heavy encumbrance the value of the common stock necessarily declined It needs not to say that the decline thus caused was the consequence of the action of the Company itself and is in no way justly chargeable upon the Railroad Commission of the State
But whether there has been an actual decline in Central Railroad stock since 1881 is not to be correctly ascertained by the apparent decline therein since that time The script issued as above mentioned is an encumbrance running with the common stock of the Company and as a matter of course depressing Iffie value thereof in the market To illustrate Suppose the holder of a share of the common stock should call for his annual dividend thereon If no script had been issued upon his share the holder would be entitled to claim eight dollars we will suppose but he is informed that he is not entitled to receive so much because script in the nature of preferred stock has been issued to the amount of forty per cent upon his share and that that script belongs to and is the property of another person who has already received his 6 per cent interest upon the same and that consequently no more than the remaining portion of the dividend will be paid to the share of common stock presented This illustration shows the practical effect which the issuance of the script has had upon the market value of the common stock The interest in the Company which was in 1881 represented by shares of stock alone is no longer so manifested A hundred dollar share of stock plus forty per cent of script issued thereon are both now required to represent one share of the stock as the same stood in 1881
But the Central Railroad Company has not only depreciated its stock by issuing script to its own stockholders as above stated but momemtum has been given to the decline by the issuance of 32 per cent of the like script upon five millions of dollars to the stockholders of the South Western Railroad Company The railroad and branches of the latter Company were leased some years ago by the Central Company at an annual rental of seven per cent upon a capital stock of 5000000 The amount of script issued to the South Western Company was 1600000 The annual interest at 6 per cent upon this script is 96000
The rental agreed to be paid is 350000 being 7 per cent upon the capital as already
10
stated The annual script interest and the rental added together make 446000 which must be paid annually by the stockholders of the Central Company to the stockholders of the South Western Company before any dividend to its own stockholders can be declared by the former These operations taken together cost the Central Company within a fraction of 9 per cent on the capital stock of the South Western Company which must be paid annually whether th 3 earnings of this company have warranted it or not
The guaranteed rental alone of the South Western Company is certainly a handsome dividend upon its capital stock The effect of this guaranty has been to keep the stock at a high figure in the market hut it should not be forgotten that the cause which has produced j this effect has at the same time tended to depress the value of Central stock What the former company has gained in this regard the latter seems to have lost
We may not without becoming tedious refer in detail to the many other burdens I which the Central Company has voluntarily taken upon itself the direct tendency of which has been to depreciate apparently the market value of its stock Sharp competition with j rival roads shortness of crops and general depression in business have had the effect here as elsewhere of greatly reducing the values of all railway stocks These causes alone are j quite sufficient we think to enable us to account for all such reductions if any really exist j without undertaking the task of showirig that they have not been caused by the acts of the Railroad Commissioners of the State
Just here we would suggest a noteworthy fact The stock of the Central Railroad Company was quoted at near the same value on July 1 1879 as it bears at the present time i The law establishing the Commission was passed in October 1879 The burdens which the company has since placed upon itself together with all the acts of the Commissioners claimed to be so adverse to the interests of the Company seem not to have had the effect of destroying or of impairing even the vitality and elasticity of its stock
Like remarks might be applied with similar or even with greater force to the stocks of the various roads of the State
Georgia Railroad stock was quoted July 3 1879 at 7880 Its value this day is quoted at 147160 Atlanta and West Point stock was quoted on Juty 3 1879 at 106108 todayit is 9395
Since July 3 1879 the last named company has issued 6 per cent certificates of indebt ness to its stockholders to the amount of 100 per cent upon its whole capital stock To as j certain correctly therefore the present value of this companys stock the value of the same should be added to the value of the script which is quoted today at 9293 in the market This would make 185188 the true value of the stock if valued on the same basis as in 1879
The values of stocks of other roads in the State might be given showing conclusively that j there has been in fact no depreciation but on the contrary an appreciation in the stocks of railway companies of the State In the face of such facts how can it be pretended that the j execution of the rate law by the Commissioners has had the effect of diminishing the value j of the railroad stocks of the State
It appears from the foregoing that neither the stocks nor the bonds of the railroad companies of the State have suffered any material diminution in value not justly attrihu 1 table either to the action of tl e companies themselves or to other causes over which the j Railroad Commission could have exercised no control
Just here it becomes pertinent to direct attention to the scope and object of the powers and duties imposed by law upon the Commissioners The extent and nature of the powers j so conferred upon them briefly stated are
To make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies of this State to make just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the
11
necessary handling and delivering of freights and to make just rules and regulations for preventing unjust discriminations the paying of rebates bonuses etc
The other powers granted to the Commissioners are in the main ancillary to these and intended to secure the enforcement of the action of the Commissioners in the performance of their chief duties In discharging their duties under the law by what consideration ought the Commissioners to he controlled In answer to this we beg to quote from the testimony of Mr Albert Fink before a committee of the United States Senate on September 17 1883 Mr Fink said
1 The principle that railroad charges should be based on the value of services rendered rather than on cost is I think the correct one
2 You have always to go hack to the foundation and that is What are the charges Are they reasonable in themselves The amount of dividend paid does not enter into the question at all
3 I do not think that the people have any thing to do with how you got the railroad or what you paid for it The only question is whether you make reasonable charges
4 It does not make the least difference what the indebtedness of a railroad company is in arranging tariffs I have shown that the tariffs are not based on
the cost of the service or indebtedness of the company
It is not out of place here to say that Mr Fink is considered by intelligent railroad men to be the very highest authority on railroad transportation questions in the Union If his opinion above given be correct then in adjusting rates no attention ought to be given to the questions either of indebtedness of dividends or of the cost to the company of the service to be rendered He seems to think that the only question which in fairness can concern the patrons of a road is Are the charges reasonable and just If they are so what difference does it make whether the company rendering the service be in or out of debt or whether the just and reasonable chargesallowed will be Sufficient to enable the company to declare dividends If the customer is required to pay nomore than is reasonable for the services performed for him and the company receives from him all it is entitled to demand then all the ends of reason and justice are attained It is hardly necessary for us to say that we have shown greater liberality towards the roads in adjusting rates than Mr Finks opinion would seem to warrant
As germain here we would remark with emphasis that in arranging rates for railroads no attention whatever ought to be given to the effect which the rates to be allowed may have on the value of railway stocks or bonds in the market The only proper question to be considered in making rates is What is the reasonable and just value of theservices to be rendered Stock values concern speculators therein Certainly it could not be considered proper to allow higher rates than reason and justice require in order that speculators in stocks and securities of railroad companies may be benefited thereby
In discharging their duties under the law the Commissioners have sought to do entirejustice to the people and to the railroad companies alike In our opinion the interests of the one are virtually the interests of the other In arranging tariffs of rates for the various railroads of the State we have as a thing of course had to encounter the many difficulties which are inherent in the subject Some of these difficulties are thus referred to by our Supreme Court in the case from which we have already so often quoted
It certainly was not contemplated that the details of rates to be fixed over the many miles of railway in the State should be settled and determined by the Legislature The many influences that combine to cause changes in the ever varying vicisitudes of trade and travel were neither overlooked nor forgotten by that body The utter impossibility of preparing by the Legislature just and proper schedules for the various railroads with theirdifferences of locality length and business appears to us to be so clear and manifest as to
12
have entertained it would have been utterly absurd and especially when we remember that schedules just and right when arranged for the months of winter might be ruinously unjust for the months of summer
To secure the ends sought to be accomplished by the law we have very frequently been compelled to readjust tariffs of rates on the roads We append hereto a tabulated statement which shows the rates established by the Commission known as the Standard Tariff and the rates now in force on each one of the various railways of the State The present tariffs are the results of the many changes which expe aience has shown from time to time should be necessary and proper As an illustration we here insert in the body of our report the rates prescribed in the Standard Tariff und the present rates of freight allowed for certain distances on the Central Railroad on the principal articles of production and consumption
DISTANCE Per Hundred Pounds Per barrel Per hundred lbs
Mils 1st 4th 5th 6th Bacn B Flour in Sack c Gran D Flour F Cotton Fertili zers
Com Standard Tariff or Basis of Rates 10 16 10 9 8 8 4 4 9 10 5
Rates allowed C R R Co by per c on S T 10 24 15 14 12 8 5 11 12 6
Commissioners Standard Tariff 40 ti 0 l ih 12 6 6 13 17 T
Central Railroad 40 41 30 24 18 12 8 7 16 20 10
Commissioners Standard Tariff 70 Ms 0 15 15 8 16 22 9
Central Railroad 70 50 36 27 21 15 9 9 19 25 11
Commissioners Standard Tariti 100 45 30 23 is 18 9 9 19
Central Railroad 100 58 37 29 23 18 tm 11 23 29 12 1
Commissioners Standard Tariff 150 di 25 ti 23 12 24 30 11
Central Railroad 150 72 42 34 28 23 14 13 27 35 13
Commissioners Standard Tariff 200 TO d i ti 27 15 14 30 35 il
Central Railroad 200 82 47 38 32 27 16 15 33 39 16
A careful examination of these tables will show that the changes made from the Standard with but few exceptions have been liberally favorable to the railroad companies We have ever sought to equalize the advantages of railway service between persons and places as much as could be done consistently with reason and justice to the roads and to the general public We feel very confident that the rates now allowed are as high as hey ought to be always keeping in view the duty of protecting the people against unreasqpable an d unjust exactions by the railway carriers of the State
In concluding what we have to say cn this particular subject we do not hesitate to state that the closest scrutiny fairly made will show that the schedule of rates prescribed by the Commission are not only liberal to the roads but in this respect will not compare unfavorably with rate tariffs in any other State of the Union How the companies expend their money after it has been earned is a matter over which we are not authorized to exercise any control
We beg to submit the following summary of our views as presented in this report lv The Constitution of the State confers power and authority to regulate freight and passenger tariffs and of preventing unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State upon the legislative department of the government alone
2 Authority to exercise these powers cannot under the Constitution be conferred by appeal or otherwise upon the judiciary departments
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3 That in the very nature of judicial proceedings the courts could not so frame theirjudgments as thereby to discharge the duty of regulating freight and passenger tariffs requiring reasonable and just tariffs of rates for the transportation of freights and passengers and preventing unjust discrimination upon the various railroads of the State
4 That any law conferring such power and authority upon the courts would in effect be a delegation of the power and authority entrusted to the General Assembly alone and in effect would he an abdication of such power and authority by the Legislature
5 That any legislative act leaving such power and authority to be exercised by the railroads themselves would be a renunciation by the Legislature of powers and duties made by the Constitution peculiar to itself and virtually would be a refusal on the part of the General Assembly to carry into effect by appropriate legislation a provision of the fundamental law
6 The existence of the Commission law with its present provisions has not been injurious to the interest of either the public or the railroad companies in this State
7 The exercise of their powers by the Commissioners has not damaged the railroad interests of the State
After thoroughly investigating the whole subject and fully considering the many important questions briefly discussed in this report we are forced by a sense of duty to conclude that any material change in the present Railroad Commission law would operate injuriously to the public interest without giving any corresponding benefit to the railroad companies themselves The policy of the State on the subject of railroad transportation charges within its limits is fixed by the organic law The commission law carrying into effect that policy has been pronounced Constitutional by our State Court of last resort That law confers no powers upon the Commissioners not necessary for the discharge of the duties required by the Constitution The General Assembly can not perform such duties except through officials appointed for the purpose vide the opinion of the Supreme Court already quoted Judicial power to discharge such duties cannot be conferred upon norcan they be efficiently exercisd by a court There can be no appeal under the Constitu tion from the ction of the Commissioners in the discharge of their duties except to the Legislature vide opinion of U S Circuit Court in Tilley case The fixing of local railroad charges in this State cannot under the Constitution be left in the companies themselves
For these reasons briefly stated wo cannot recommend any legislation which will have the effect of changing the present commission law either directly or indirectly iby diminishing or withdrawing from the Commissioners the powers now exercised by them
Labor strikes have occasionally occurred among the employes of railroad companiesin some of the other States of the Union Happily no such disorders have taken place in this State so far as we are advised Such disorders always result in serious injury not only to th interest of the parties immediately concerned therein but in many cases are1productive of very mischievous consequences to the business of the country These strikes are in the main the results of sudden reductions by employers of the wages of their employes Frequently the laborer is not consulted at all before he is required to yield to what he consider a wrongful exaction or go out of employment Submission or its alternative starvation is what is offered to him
We think that employes ought to be given reasonably timely notice before any considerable reduction is made in the amount of their wages In almost every imaginable case if such notice were given the evil consequences resulting from labor strikes might be avoided Differences caused by such notices might and in almost all cases would be amicably adjusted Or if not the laborer would have reasonable time given him to seek employment elsewhere
14
We respectfully recommend the passage of a law requiring that railroad companies doing business in this State shall give reasonable notice to their employ es before any reduction is made in the wages of the latter What should constitute reasonable notice in such cases ought to be defined and suitable penalties prescribed to enforce the provisions of the act We believe that such legislation would be effective as a preventive remedy against the evils of labor strikes among railroad employes in the State
We recommend that the compensation of the Secretary of the Board be increased and that the Commissioners be allowed an increase of appropriation to defray expenses for necessary printing The amount now allowed for this purpose is insufficient to enable the Commissioners to impart all the information to the public which the true interests of the Commonwealth demands
In conclusion we take pleasure in saying that the roads of the State are in good working order and that their business has in the main been efficiently conducted
We are with great respect your Excellencys
Obedient Servants
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE LEANDER N TRAMMELL
A C BRISCOE Secretary Commissioners
APPENDIX
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE
L N TRAMMELL
OFFICE OF THE RAIDROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga January 27 1885
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 56
Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad Company Freight and Passenger Tariff
On and after March the first 1885 the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad Company will he allowed to charge for the transportation of freight and passengers as follows freightOn Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G and Hadd fifty 50 per cent to Commissioners Standard Tariff
On Class J cotton add twenty 20 per cent to Standard Tariff
Fertilizers L C L add twenty 20 per cent to Class K Fertilizers in car loads of not less than ten 10 tons of two thousand 2000 pounds each add twenty 20 per cent to Class M On Classes B C D F L M N O P and R apply Commissioners Standard Tariff
PassengerFour 4 cents per mile Class B
A C BRISCOE CAMPBELL WALLACE
North Eastern Railroad CompanyFreight Tariff
On April the first 1885 the following order will take effect
1 The enforcement of Rule One is suspended on all business passing over the North Eastern Railroad
2 The North Eastern Railroad Company is allowed to charge no more than the Commissioners Standard Tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added on all classes of freight except classes C D and F
By order of the Board
Secretary
Chairman fro iem
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga March 9th 1885
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE
LN TRAM MELL
CIRCULAR NO 57
A C BRISCOE
Secretary
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga April 30th 1885
JAMES M SMITH Chairman 1 CAMPBELL WALLACE V Commissioners
L N TR MMELL J
CIRCULAR NO 58
Sylvania Railroad CompanyFreight and Passenger Tariff
On and after May 15th 1885 the Sylvania Railroad Company will be allowed to charge for the transportation of freight and passengers as follows
FreightOn Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G and Hadd fifty 50 per cent to Commissioners Standard Tariff
On Class J cotton add twenty 20 per cent to Standard Tariff
Fertilizers L C L add twenty 20 per cent to class K Fertilizers in carloadof not less than ten 10 tons of two thousand 2000 pounds each add twenty 20 per cent to Class M On Classes B C D F L M N O P and R apply Commissioners Standard Tariff
PassengerFour 4 cents per mile Class B
A C BRISCOE JAMES M SMITH
Secretary Chairman
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION Atlanta Ga May 28th 1885
JAMES M SMITH Chairman 1 CAMPBELL WALLACE Commissioners
L N TRAMMELL J
CIRCULAR NO 59
CLASSES C D AND E
On and after July the first 1885 railroad companies doing business within the State of Georgia with the exceptions provided for in paragraph 2nd below will be allowed to charge on Classes C D and F as follows
1 For distances of fifty 50 miles and under the standard tariff with twentyfive 25
per cent added
Fordistances of one hundred miles and over fifty 50 miles the standard tariff with twenty 20 per cent added
For distances of one hundred and fifty 150 miles and over one hundred 100 milesthe standard tariff with fifteen 15 per cent added
For distances of two hundred 200 miles and over one hundred and fifty 150 miles the standard tariff with ten 10 per cent added
For distances of three hundred 300 miles and over two hundred 200 miles the standard tariff with five 5 per cent added
For distances over three hundred 300 miles the standard tariff
2 The increased allowances above given do not apply to the Louisville and Wadley Ma
rietta and North Georgia Talbotton Elberton Air Line Hartwell Lawrenceville Roswell and Gainesville Jefferson and Southern railroad companies these compa nies having been by order of the Commission heretofore given an allowance of twentyfive 25 per cent on the standard tariff
3 Nothing in this Circular is intended to impair the force of the provisions set forth in
the third paragraph of Circular No Twenty 20
By order of the Board
A C BRISCOE Secretary JAMES M SMITH Chairman
17
THE DECISION OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION AS TO THE OVERCHARGE AT SAVANNAH
Application of Hitt Co Americus against the Central Railroad Company for the refunding of overcharges
The Railroad Commission rendered the following decision
Messrs Hitt Co of Americus Ga apply in writing to the Commissioners to require the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia to recompense them in the sum of 82145 overcharges collected from the applicants for carrying a lot of cotton from Americus to Savannah Ga The facts set forth in the application briefly stated are as follows
During the present season beginning the 31st of September 1884 and down to March 18 1885 the applicants shipped from Americus to Savannah Ga for export 5543 hales of cotton on said railroad The railroad company in addition to the charge of 50 cents per 100 pounds the alleged regular tariff charge made in pursuance of law charged and collected from the applicants on said shipment the sum of 15 ceiits per bal as a claim for transferring said cotton in the city of Savannah that no such transfer was in fact made and thai no transfer for which the railroad company had any right to make such a charge ever occurred that said cotton was in fact carried in the cars in which the same was shipped and oh the line of track of said railroad to the wharf in Savannah and there unloaded by said railroad company that no similar charge was made on the Atlanta division of said Central Railroad nor upon any of its divisions except upon the South Western Railroad ait Americus and other points that Americus is over 250 miles from the terminus of said railroad at Savannah The applicants pray that upon the hearing of the case the said railroad company may be directed to recompense them fr such overcharges etc
The case made by this application was heard on th 29th day of April last tlie parties being present by their agents and attorneys at law
The counsel for the railroad company objected to the case being heaTd and determined on its merits by the Commissioners upon several grounds The only one ofthese grounds necessary to be here considered is that the said shipment being of freight going beyond the boundaries of this State the Commissioners have no power under the law to hear and determine the case made by the application
The first question to be considered under this objection is was this shipment of cotton in fact freight going beyond the boupdaries of this State and if s secondly has the Commission any jurisdiction over the questions made by the application
The application itself shows in terms as does the bill of lading also that the cotton was shipped from Americus for export To export is to transport from one country to another
It furth appears from the evidence submitted to the Commission that th shipment was made from Americus over the line of the Central Railroad to the wharf one of the termini of the road in the city of Savannah that the cotton was there unloaded from the cars of the road and there placed aboard ships to be exportedi e to be carried away from this country to another country
It further appears that in all cases where cotton is shipped under similar billsof lading to the one given in this case itis the usage of the railroad company to carry the cotton to the wharf as wasMone in this case and there unload the sam for exportation by se
Do these facts show that it was the intention of the parties to the contract for shipment thaf the freight shipped should not be local freight but should be freight intended to go beyond the boundaries of the State W think they clrly do Thfe can b no doubt
18
but what the intent of the shippers was that the transportation of thecotton should not cease until the freight passed beyond the boundaries of this State The fact that the road upon the line of which the shipment was commenced terminates in this State makes no I difference The contract provided that the cotton was to be shipped for exportthat is for transportation to another country And in pursuance of the agreement made for that purpose it was in fact carried by the railroad company to the wharf at the terminus of its line and was there delivered to vessels and was in fact thence exported from the State It seems to us that no clearer case could be presented of an intention by the parties that the freight in question should not be local merely but that it should by a continuous line of transportation part rail and part water go beyond the limits of this State of which line the Central Eailroad from Americus to the wharf in Savannah formed a part
The fact that a portion of this line of exportation was by rail and a part by water j makes no material difference so far as the question under consideration is concerned
Being satisfied from the terms of the application itself as well as from the evidence j submitted to us that this shipment when made at Americus was intended by the parties to be freight going beyond the boundaries of the State and that in pursuance of such intention the same did go beyond the boundaries of the State the second question to be considered is Has the Commission legal power to make the ruling applied for in the application The question here presented is an important one and this is we believe the first dime that the decision of the Commissioners upon any similar question has been evoked
The powers granted to the Commission are very clearly specified in the fifth section of the Act creating this Board which reads as foilows
Sec V That the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger i tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the neces j sary handling ana delivering of freights shall make such just and reasonable rules and I regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation I of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State shall make reasonable and just rates of charges for use of railroad cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned of carried and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to prevent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly or indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers Provided that nothing in this act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State and on j which freight less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freight as they possessed before the passage of this act and said Commissioners shall have full power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter1 distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of j longer and shorter distances
The proviso in the concluding part of this section operates as a limitation upon the powers granted in the first part of the section The Legislature here says in effect that the Commissioners shall have all the powers granted in the section except in the cases which are specified in the proviso The cases specified in the proviso are all rates charged By any railroad company in this State for freight which comes from or goes beyond the
19
boundaries of the State and on which freight less than local rates are charged In all such cases the Commissioners are denied the power to control rates of freight and the railroad companies of the State are expressly declared to possess the same power and right to charge rates for carrying such freight as they possessed before the passage of the Act
Now in the case before us if the freight delivered to the railroad company at Americus was shipped to go beyond the boundary of the State and did go beyond the boundary of the State in accordance with the agreement for shipment then it seems clear to us that this Commission has no jurisdiction whatever in the case made by the application Whatever right the applicants may have in the premises it is quite apparent to us that the Commissioners possess no legal power to pass upon such right We must not assume to exercise powers withheld from us by law We express no opinion as to the merits of the case if it were before a tribunal having jurisdiction to pass upon its merits We simply determine that we have no power in the premises The Legislature has withheld such power fromthe Commission and if any wrong has been done the applicants we are compelled by a sense of duty to say that they must look for a remedy elsewhere
This being our opinion we must sustain the objection and refuse the application
JAMES M SMITH Chairman CAMPBELL WALLACE LEANDER N TRAMMELL
A C BRISCOE Secretary Commissioners
DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONERS IN THE CASE OF THE COMPLAINT OF BLOUNT HILL et ah vs THE WESTERN ATLANTIC R R CO
REFUSAL TO RECEIVE FREIGHT AND DELIVER TO SIDE TRACKS OF
PLAINTIFFS
1st When a railroad company has delivered freight at its depot or on its platform in accordance with the terms of the contract accompanying the same it has fulfilled its obligation as a common carrier
2d The terminal facilities of a railroad company such as depots sidetracks platforms buildings turntables etc cannot be used by any other railroad company to facilitate its business without the consent of the owner
3d When two or more railroad companies have terminal facilities in the same vicinity and by agreement use the same in common to promote a common interest and for the ac commodation of the patrons of said roads the Commission will interpose its authority only when necessary to prevent any unjust discrimination
4th In the case of complaint of Blount Hill J M Wilson J C Kimball et al vs The Western and Atlantic Railroad Company the Commissioners do not find in the order complained of issued by the said railroad company to take effect on the fifth inst that the said railroad company has violated any rule or order of the Commission
5th The Commissioners therefore order that the said application be refused
JAMES M SMITH Chairman
CAMPBELL WALLACE
L N TRAMMELL
A C BRISCOE Secretary Commissioners
STANDARD TARIFF
Rules Classification Etc
OF THE
Railroad Commission
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
REVISED TO JULY 1st 1885
22
COMMISSIONERS1 STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
CLASS GOODS
1 o l STol loo lbs CO 2
DISTANCE First Class Second Class Third Class Fourth Class Fifth Class Sixth Class Bagging and Ties Bulk Meat C L Bacon packed Flour Meal etc in Sacks Hay Straw etc CL Grain Peas etc in any quantity Ale and Beer Flour Meal etc Beef and Pork
1 2 3 4 5 6 A B C D E F G H
Miles Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts I
10 16 14 13 10 9 8 8 8 4 4 9 9 28 io
20 20 18 16 14 12 10 10 10 5 5 12 11 35 14 j
30 24 21 19 17 14 li 11 11 6 5 14 12 38 17
40 27 24 22 20 16 12 2 12 6 6 16 13 43 20
50 30 27 25 22 18 13 i 13 13 7 6 18 14 45 22 i
60 33 30 27 24 19 14 14 14 7 19 15 49 24
70 36 33 29 26 20 15 15 15 8 20 16 53 26
80 39 36 31 28 21 16 16 16 8 8 21 17 54 28
90 42 38 33 29 22 17 17 17 9 22 18 59 29J
100 45 40 35 30 23 18 18 18 d 9 23 19 63 30
110 48 42 37 31 24 19 19 19 10 24 20 67 31
120 51 44 39 32 25 20 20 20 10 10 25 21 70 32
130 54 46 41 33 26 21 21 21 11 10 26 22 73 i 33
140 57 48 43 34 27 22 22 22 m li 27 23 77 34 1
150 60 50 45 35 28 23 23 23 12 Hi 28 24 81 35
16 62 52 46 36 29 24 1 24 24 13 12 29 26 84 36
170 64 54 47 37 30 26 1 25 25 14 13 30 28 87 37
180 66 56 48 38 31 26 26 26 14 13 31 28 91 38
190 68 58 49 39 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 39
200 70 00 50 40 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 40
210 71 62 51 41 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 41
220 72 64 52 42 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 42
230 73 66 53 43 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 43
240 74 68 54 44 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 44
250 75 70 55 45 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 105 45
260 76 71 56 46 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 1 05 46
270 77 71 56 46 36 31 31 31 19 18 36 1 38 1 08 46
280 78 72 57 47 36 32 32 32 19 18 36 38 1 12 47
290 79 72 57 47 37 32 32 32 20 19 37 40 1 12 47 I
300 80 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 20 19 38 40 116 48
310 81 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 21 19 38 42 1 16 48
320 82 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 21 20 39 42 1 19 49
330 83 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 44 1 19 49
340 84 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 I 44 1 19 49
350 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 1 46 122 50
360 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
370 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 i 46 1 22 50 1
380 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
390 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
400 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 125 52
410 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54 1
420 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
430 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54 j
440 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 31 56
450 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 131 56
460 94 78 63 53 43 38 1 38 38 27 25 431 54 1 31 56 H
COMMISSIONERS STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
23
SPECIALS
lOO Ton Cap Load 100 Lbs
DISTANCE Cotton Fertilizers Rosin etc J o ti o3 S oT o ii V o O o O I j IronPig Scrap Railroad etc Live Stock etc Fire Brick Slate Salt Cement Cotton Seed Jug ware Oil Cake Lime Bark Melons etc Lumber Ores Sand Clay Stone Brick Bran Wood etc Spirits Turpentine C L Barrels half bbls and kegs except Ale Beer bbls LCL etc
J K L M N O P R
miles Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 10 5 50 80 10 00 8 00 5 00 5
20 13 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00 6
80 15 7 70 1 00 15 00 11 00 8 00 7
40 17 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00 8
50 19 8 90 1 20 20 OO 13 OO 10 OO 9
60 21 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00 10
70 22 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00 11
80 23 n 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00 12
90 24 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00 13
100 25 10 1 20 1 70 30 OO 17 OO 14 OO 14
110 26 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00 15
120 27 10 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00 16
130 28 10 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00 17
140 29 11 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00 18
150 30 11 1 50 2 20 40 OO 2Q OO 17 OO 18
I 160 31 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 17 00 19
170 32 12 t 70 2 30 42 00 21 00 18 00 19
180 33 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 21 00 19 00 20
190 34 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00 20
200 35 13 2 OO 2 45 45 OO 22 OO 20 OO 20
210 36 13 2 10 2 50 46 00 23 00 20 00 21
220 37 14 2 20 2 55 47 00 23 00 21 00 21
230 38 14 2 30 2 65 48 00 23 00 21 00 21
240 L 39 14 2 40 2 65 49 00 24 00 22 00 22
250 40 15 2 50 2 75 1 50 OO 24 OO 22 OO 22
260 41 15 2 60 2 75 51 00 24 00 22 00 22
270 42 15 2 70 2 85 52 00 25 00 23 00 22
280 43 16 2 80 2 85 53 00 25 00 23 00 23
290 44 16 2 90 2 95 54 00 25 00 24 00 23
300 j 45 16 3 OO 2 95 55 OO 26 OO 24 OO 23
310 46 17 3 10 3 05 56 00 26 00 24 00 23
320 47 17 3 20 3 05 57 00 26 00 24 00 24
330 48 17 3 80 3 15 58 00 27 00 25 00 24
340 1 49 17 3 40 3 15 59 00 27 00 25 00 24
350 50 17 3 50 3 28 60 OO 27 OO 25 OO 24
360 51 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
1 1 370 52 17 3 50 3 28 80 00 27 00 25 00 24
880 53 18 3 60 j 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
390 p 54 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
400 1 55 18 3 60 3 41 63 OO 29 OO 27 OO 26
410 56 19 370 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
420 57 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
430 58 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
440 i 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
450 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 OO 33 OO 31 OO 30
460 60 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
24 Relation of the Railroads to the Standard Tariff
NAME OF ROAD Passenger Fare Per Mile Allowed RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
Alabama Great Southern 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 STANDARD TARIFF used on all other classes
Atlanta West Point RR 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G H and Kadd 20 per ct FertilizersSee Note A p 27 C D F See Note B page 27 On all other classes use Standard Tariffi
Augusta Knoxville 3 cents To Classes 1 23 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Brunswick fe Western 3 cents On Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A i H add to Standard Tariff as follows Between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent Between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent Between 70 and100 miles 30 per cent Over 100 miles 20 per cent To Class J cotton add 20 per cent FertilizersSee note A page 27 LumberClass P less 20 per cent C D and FSee note B page 27 Class B at Standard Tariff
Central Savannah Division 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd as follows Between O and 40 miles50 per cent 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One L M N O per Standard B K and R per Standard and per Rule One On joint cotton rates J per Rule One add 20 per ct to Standard Tariff
Central Upson County Branch 3 cents fi Same as Savannah Division
Central Savannah Griffin North Alabama 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd 20 per cent On joint cotton rates J per Rule One add 20 per ct B per Standard Tariff and Rule One Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Central Southwestern Division 3 cents Same as Savannah Division
Central j Atlanta Division 3 cents On joint cotton rates J per Rule One add 20 per ct to Standard Tariff Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 All other classes per Standard Tariff
Cherokee Scents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 Standard Tariff used on all other classes
Columbus Rome 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A G H J L M N Oadd 50 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C I F Sep Note B page 27 B P and R per Standard
1 East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R between Macon and Brunswick 3 cents To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G and Hadd on distances hauled between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent between i 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent Classes L M N and O per Standard Classes B and R also per Standard but computed as requited in Rule One Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 To Class J cotton 15 per cent may be added to Standard Under Rule One Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P under Rule One 11
Relation of the Railroads to the Standard Tariff 25
NAME OF ROAD Passenger Fare Per Mile Allowed RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R between Macon and the Tennessee State Line 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 Lumber between Atlanta and Macon 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One for all territory south of Atlanta Lumber north of Atlanta Class P All otherClasses per Standard but Classes B and R computed per Rule One
I Gainesville Jefferson and Southern 3 cents Add 25 per cent on all Classes
Georgia 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 Standard Tariff used on all other Closses
Georgia Faih 3 cents To Classes 1 23 4 5 6rA B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers Sec Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27
Louisville Vad1ey 5 cents Add 25 per cent on all Classes
Marietta North Georgia 3 cents Add 25 per cent on all Classes
Richmond Danville Atlanta Charlotte AirLine Division 3 ents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F Se Note B page 27 To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G H J L M N 0R add 10 per cent All other Classes per Standard Tariff B and K per Rule One
Richmond Danville 1 Elberton AirLine Hartwell Branch 1 Lawrenceville Branch Roswell Braneh J 3 cents Add 25 per cent on all Classes
Northeastern 3 cents Add 25 per cent on all Classes
Rome 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 All other Classes per Standard Tariff
Sandersville Tennille 5 cents
Savannah Flori da Western 3 cents On Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd to Standard Tariff as follows Between 0 and 60 miles 50 per cent Between 60 and 100 miles 40 per cent Between 100 and 150 miles 30 per cent Between 150 and 200 miles 25 per cent Over 200 miles 20 per cent On cotlon Class J add 20 per cent to Standard Tariff any distance Fertilizers See Note A page 27 Lumber Class P less 2 per cent CDS F See Note B Page 27 Other Classes per Standard Tariff Class K per Rule One
1 Sylvania 4 cents On Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd to Standard Tariff 50 per cent On cotton Class J add 20 per cent Fertilizers Spe Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 Other Classes per Standard Tariff
1 Talbtbtton 5 cents Add25 pr cnt on all Classs
1 Western Atlantic 3 cents Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F See Note B page 27 All other Classes per Standard Tariff
I Wrightsyille Tennille 4 cents On Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd 50 per cent to Standard Tariff On cotton Class J add 20 per cent Fertilizers See Note A page 27 C D F Se Note B page 27 Other Classes per Standard Tariff
To ascertain the rates allowed any road apply thepercentages indicated above For instance The percentage allowed the Savannah Division of the C R R on 1st class for ten miles is 50 percent which would be as follows 1st class rate 16 cents per 100 lbs 50 per cent added 8 cents equal 24 cents per 100 lbs the rate allowed
CLASSIFICATION
T
The Commissioners original classification published March 4th 1880 with the errata in it corrected by publication of April 15th 1880 to take effect May 1st 1880 is still of force with the following exceptions
Apples and peaches not dried and other green fruit in barrels or boxes L 0 L 0 R 6th Class C L 0 R Class 0
Barrels half barrels and kegs empty any quantity except ale and beer barrels Class R
Binders see mowers below
Bran and mill stuffs C L Class P
Corn in ear C L car can he charged as 20000 lbs Class D
Cotton seed teotton seed meal and oil cake L C L Class R
Cotton seed cotton seed meal and oil cake C L Class D
Domestics denins sheetings shirtings ticking and jeans checks cotton rope and thread 6th Class
Fertilizers See Note A page 27
Fish fresh see ice below
Fish pickled or salted in kegs or kits carriers risk 3d Class O R 6th Class
Fruit dried in boxes barrels or sacks C R 4th Class O R 6th Class
Fruit green see apples above
Granite same as stone
Hoop iron Class A
Ice Fresh Fish and Meats on ice or otherwise L C L 6th Class C L Class
L
Lime slaked and limestone ground see marl below
Lumber includes all kinds of sawed or hewed lumber poles posts logs laths shingles and staves in car loads
Marl ground limestone and slaked lime in sacks or casks any quantity Class L
Meats fresh on ice or otherwise same as Ice above
Melons C L Class O
Mowers reapers and binders knocked down and boxed L C L C R 2d Class 0 Rp4th Class
Same C L not less than 20000 lbs C R 4th Class 0 R 6th Class
Mill stuffs same as Bran above
Paper stock in sacks crates or hogsheads of any kind in any quantity Class 6th per Rule One
Same pressed in bales Class R per Rule One
Paperprinting wrapping and roofing L C L 4th Class
Paperprinting wrapping and roofing C L 5th Class
27
Peas field and other any quantity Class D
Peaches not dried see Apples above
Pipe earthen L C LC R5th Class O R 6th Class
Pipe earthen C L 25000 lbsG RClass R O R Class P
Potatoes owners risk L C Class R
Potatoes owners risk C L Class D
Potatoes carriers risk any quantity Class 6th
Rags same as paper stock
Rice any quantity 1J times Class C
Rosin on all railroads Class K
Soap C R 6th Class
Soap O R Class R
Stamp Mill machinery boxed L C L 5th C L 6th Class
Stamp Mill machinery loose L C L 4th C L 5th Class
Stamp Mill castings L C L 6th Class
Stamp Mill castings C L Class M with 20 per cent added
Stone blocks rough Class P less 20 per cent
Stone curbing Class P less 20 per cent
Stone slabs rough and protected otherwise owners risk class P less 20 per cent Stone rubble class P less 20 per cent
Stone blocks dressed and protected otherwise owners risk class P
Stone slabs dressed and protected otherwise owners risk class P
A car load of stone embraces twentyfive thousand pounds
Syrups in barrels and half barrels Class R
Tanbark in C LC RClass O
Trees and shrubbery in bales or boxes L C L O R 6th Class
Same C L O R Class O
Trunks single C R times 1st Class
Trunks single O R 1st Class
Trunks in nests or filled with merchandise crated or strapped C R 1st Class O R 2d Class
Turpentine crude same as Rosin above
Turpentine spirits of Class R
The rates of freight transported by regular passenger trains must not exceed one and onehalf the rates allowed by Commissioners Standard Tariff for firstclass freight by ordinary freight trains but a charge of 25 cents may be made for any single shipment
Note AFertilizers L C L Class K with 20 per cent added per Rule One Fertilizers C L not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 lbs each Class M with 20 per cent added per Rule One
Note BOn Glasses C D F add to Standard Tariff as follows
For 50 miles and under 25 per cent
For 100 miles and over 50 miles 20 per cent
For 150 miles and over 100 miles 15 per cent
For 200 miles and over 150 miles 10 per cent
I For 300 miles and over 200 miles 5 per cent
Over 300 miles standard tariff
Rule One applied to all roads except the Northeastern and narrow gauge roads
28
EXPLANATORY NOTES
1 In the Commissioners Standard Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 and if not then opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the iate for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen itsClass 1 In the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distanee 250 miles is seen the rate 75 cents In the column Miles 10 signifies 10 miles or under20 twenty miles or over 10 and so on
2 FRACTIONSWhen the Standard Tariff is raised by a per cent omit fraction less than cent and regard cent or more as cent except in computing cotton rates where a half cent can be used Thus for 20 per cent on 17 cents add 3 cents not 34 cents and for 20 per cent on 18 cents add 4 cents instead of 36 cents
3 L C L means less than car load C L means car load C R means carriers risk O R means owners risk v v
4 A car load of lumber and all articles embraced in lumber is 22500 pounds
5 Narrow gauge railroads in fixing rates on all freights where a rate per car load is given will count 15000 pounds for a car load and estimates their charge pro rata with rate allowed on standard gauge
6 A car load of any article enumerated in Class P except lumber and articles included in lumber is 25000 pounds shippers to load and unload
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD CONMTSSION Atlanta Ga May 27th 1884
CIRCULAR NO 48
SWITCHING AND TRACKAGE CHARGES
1 On and after July the first1884 a charge of no more than two dollars per car will be allowed for switching or transferring cars from any point on any road to any connecting road or warehouse within a space of three miles from starting point
2 When in the transfer of cars between said points it is necessary to pass over the line of any intermediate road said intermediate road shall charge no more than one dollar per car for the use of its tracks
3 When a charge is made for the transfer of loaded cars between said points no additional charge shall be made for the return of said cars
4 Nothing in this circular shall be construed as authorizing any railroad company to charge for services as required in the act of the General Assembly approved September 28th 1883 which is entitled An act to compel railroad companies in this State to receive from connecting railroads all freights when tendered in cars and for other purposes
A C BRISCOE CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman pro tem
29
FREIGHT RULES AND REGULATIONS
s Aimeiided by Circulars
1 All connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease ownership or otherwise of one and the same company shall for purposes of transportation in applying this tariff be considered as constituting but one and the same road and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same road unless otherwise specified
2 DistancesSince a separate rate cannot be conveniently given for every possible distancethe law authorizes the Commission to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances10 miles has accordingly been fixed as the usual limit for a change of freight rates
3 Stations whose distance does not vary more than 10 miles may be grouped at the same freight rate In any 10 mile group may be embraced at the discretion of the railroad any station not more than two miles beyond the upper limit Thus ii miles may be put in the group between 30 and 40 miles
4 The railroads may however if they desire be more exact in the apportionment of rates than the table requires by giving for intermediatedistances rates also intermediate between those given in the table Thus For 95 miles on firstclass goods the charge may be made between 42 cents the rate for 90 miles and 45 cents the rate for 100 miles When in computing distances afraction of a mile occurs the distance may be counted at the next greater number of milesas 94 for 10 miles
5 Each railroad company shall make a Table of Distances between all its respective stations by name which shall be posted conspicuously near the Schedule The rate except in cases specified is the same both ways
6 Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be trancended by the railroads They may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if they carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they shall make a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
But when from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then any line or lines which are so subject may at such competing point make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition without making a corresponding reduction along the line of the road
7 For distances under 20 or over 250 miles a reduction of rates maybe made without making a change at all stations short of 250 miles provided however that when any railroad shall make a reduction of rates for distances over 250 miles the same shall apply to similar discances on all the roads controlled by the same company and in no such case shall more be charged for less than a greater distance
8 When any reduction of rates is made immediate notice of the same shall be given to the Railroad Commission and the reduced rates shall also be posted conspicuously near the Freight Tariff
9 There shall be no secret reduction of rates nor shall any bonus be given or any rebate paid to any person but the rates shall be uniform to all and public
10 The rates charged for freight service by regular passenger trains may be one and a half times that for firstclass freight byordinary freight trains
11 No railroad company shall by reason of any contract with any Express or other company decline or refuse to act as a common carrier to transport any article proper for transportation by the train for which it is offered
railroad that delivers such freight such Agent shall deliver the article shipped on pajmxent of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt
13 Itemized ReceiptsThe railroads delivering freight shall on demand furnish the consignee an itemized statement showing charges on other roads separate from its own and any charges of its own aside from the rate in the Tariff and this statement for each class if required
14 LossWhen an article entered upon a Bill of Lading or Railroad Receipts is missing the delivering Agent shall use diligence to find it and after a reasonable time for search upon nondelivery shall pay for the same
15 DamageIn case of damage open or concealed and claims for leakage or wastage more than ordinary if the Agent of the delivering railroad and the consignee cannot agree as to terms of settlement either party may demaud an immediate arbitration and the award shall be paid by the delivering agent without delay
16 OverchargesAny consignee on payment of proper charges is entitled to immediate delivery of freight by delivering Agent and if he has paid an overcharge is entitled to be immediately repaid by same Agent upon demand
17 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds Acar loadis20000 pounds unless otherwise specified For loads above 20000 pounds pro rata at car load rates
18 The regulations of the railroads as to demurrage or detention of cars are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
19 By the act of September 28 1883 railroads are required to switch off and deliver to any connecting railroad all cars consigned to points on or beyond such connecting road
20 BlockadeCopy of OrderAtlanta October 29th 1880In consequence of the accumulation of cotton at this point and elsewhere in this State andan injurious Blockade of freights anticipated and now partially existing the railroad companies in this State are hereby notified that no avoidable blockade of freights will be permitted and that when such avoidable blockade occurs because of any arrangement existing between railroad companies for distributingamongst themselves for transportation according to percentages the cotton or other freight offered for shipment such companies will be held accountable for damages arising from such detention And the railroad companies are requested and directed to remove cotton and other freights when delivered for shipment to the extent of their facilities without unnecessary delay and without regard to any contract express or implied that may exist amongst themselves in reference to the division and distribution of freights between the respective companies
Note 1The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tanbark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household goods and for articles manufactured on or near the line of road and for materials used in such manufacture are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O and P may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
Note 2Extra HandlingThe charge for handling extra heavy single articles may be as follows viz For any article weighing 2000 pounds or less no extra charge from 2000 to 3000 3 3000 to 4000 5 4000 to 5000 7 5000 to 6000 8 6000 to 7000 10 over 7000 rate by special Contract
SHIPMENT AND DELIVERY
12 Duplicate ReceiptsThe Act of 1879 Section 13 provides That all railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shali be stated the classes or class of freight shipped the freight charges of the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the con signee presents the railroad receipt to the Agent of the
Note 3FertilizersThis term embraces the following and like articles when intended to be used as Fertilizers Ammonia Sulphate Bone Black Bones ground or dissolved Castor Pomace Fish ScrapGuanos Alto Vella Fish Navarro Navarro Lump Peruvian Soluble PacificNitre CakePlaster of ParisPotash German Salts of Muriate of Sulphate ofSalt CakeSouth Carolina lump and ground PhosphateSoda Nitrate of and Sulphate ofTank Stuff etc

11th 12th 13th and 14th Semianndal Reports
COMBINED
Railroad Commission
OP THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
SUBMITTED TO THE GOYERHOR OCTOBER 261886
ATLANTA GA
CONSTITUTION BOOK AND JOB OFFICE PRINT 1886
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
L N TRAMMELL v Commissioners
ALEX S ERWIN
A C Briscoe Secretary
REPORT
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA 1
Atlanta Ga October 28 1886 j
To His Excellency Henry D McDaniel Governor Etc
SibWe have the honor to present the following statement of the operations of the Railroad Commission since the date of our last report
So far as the action of the Commission is embraced in the circulars issued from time to time it can be readily understood by reference to the circulars which are hereto appended and which in each case shows on its face the object for which they were issued
It will be seen that four new railroad companies namely Dublin Wrightsville Rome Carrolton Americus Preston Lumpkin and Buena Vista Ellaville have applied to the Commission for a tariff of freight and passenger rates These have been furnished and the roads are now operating under them
Questions of much importance involving sections of the Act creating the Railroad Commission have come before us and have been decided
The first is the case of Atlanta Chamber of Commerce against the Southern Railway and Steamship Association The nature and character of this case theruling of the Commission therein and the grounds on which the ruling is based and fully set out in the decision which is hereto attached
The next were the cases of Jno N Dunn and Aaron Haas against the East Tennessee Virginia Georgia and the Western Atlantic Railroad Companies These cases involved a construction of section V of the Act creating the Commission and particularly the proviso to that section
In each of these cases the constitutionality of certain parts of that Act was assailed The Commissioners however restricted their decisions to a construction of the different sections of the Act in question and declined to consider or determine the constitutional objections made By the Constitution of the State the duty of pronouncing upon the constitutionality of laws is entrusted to the Judiciary Department of the Government In our view the Commission is not a branch of the Judiciary of the State but is a legislative agency created to perform certain legislative duties which can be more conveniently performed through that agency than is practicable by the direct action of the Legislature This is the view of the character of the Commission taken by our own Supreme Court and by Mr JusticeWoods in what is known as the Tilley case in the United States Circuit Court at Savannahs
In the cases of Dunn and Haas against the railroad companies which were heard together a demurrer was interposed upon the ground that it would be a violation of the provision of the Federal Constitution which reserves to Congress the exclusive right to regulatecommerce among the several States for the Commission to take jurisdiction of the cases and grant the relief prayed for and by the Western Atlantic Railroad Company upon the further ground that that Company by virtue of its contract of lease with the State is not subject to the operation of the law creating the Commission These demurrers were overruled in the decision which is appended to the report The decision went no further we
4
had formulated no rule or circular on the subject and had arrived at no decision on the
merits of the case
The Western Atlantic Railroad Company then filed a bill against the Commissioners
in the United States Circuit Court for the Northern District of Georgia containing substantially the grounds set out in its demurrer and praying for an injunction against the Commissioners restraining them from making a rule or order on the subject The application for injunction came on to he heard before Mr Justice Woods of the Supreme Court of the United States who held that the application for injunction was premature and declined to grant the same He directed the hill however to be retained for the purpose of having the question adjudicated as to the jurisdiction of the Commission over that Company under the allegations of the bill The case is still pending in the Circuit Court so far as we are
informed
On the argument in the first instance before the Commission and afterwards before
Justice Woods a decision of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois in the case of the people of Illinois against the Wabash St Louis Pacific Railroad Company was relied on as showing the right of the Commission to entertain the cases made by Dunn and Haas and grant the relief they sought In the Illinois case it was alleged that the railroad company charged one party fifteen cents per hundred pounds for transporting goods from Peoria Illinois to New York city and on the same day charged another party twentyfive cents per hundred for the same class of goods from Gilman Illinois to New YorkGilman being eightysix miles nearer than Peoria to New York and that this constituted unjust discrimination which was prohibited by the law of that State The Illinois court sustained the action which was one of debt brought against the railroad company under the statute for unjust discrimination holding that the Act was not to be limited m its application to
freights carried from one point to another wholly within the State but may as well apply where the carriage is from a point within the State to a point without the State
The Commissioners were informed that the Illinois case had been carried by the railroad company to the Supreme Court of the United States and had already been argued before that court Under these circumstances it was deemed proper to suspend all further action in the cases of Dunn and Haas until tt e Illinois case should be decided The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has recently been pronounced and is adverse to the view taken by the Supreme Court of Illinois The majority of the court is reported to have decided that the Illinois statute as applied to freights going out of the State was a regulation of interstate commerce which can only he appropriately made by general rules and principles which demand that it should be done by Congress under the commerce clause of the Constitution Three members of the court including the Chief Justice dissented from this opinion and are reported to have held that in the absence of legislation by Congress on the subject the States could legislate thereon We have not seen the text of the decision It is to be hoped that it wili go far toward determining many difficult and perplexing questions now arising in the different States of the Union as to the power and limits of State authority on such subjects It is to be regretted that on a question of so great importance and such general interest that high tribunal should be divided in opinion
The failure of Congress so far to legislate on this subject will under this decision of the Supreme Court practically leave the citizens of the country in many instances subject to unreasonable charges and unjust discriminations for which no remedy is provided by aw
Circular No 48 issued by the Commission in May 1884 prescribed that a charge o no more than two dollars per car would be allowed for switching or transferring cars from any point on any road to any connecting road or warehouse within a space of three miles rom starting point It was claimed by some of the railroads that the words per car used in the Circular meant a car load of 20000 pounds and that where a car weighed more than
ft
20 000 pounds the road could charge for the excess in the same proportion for this service The matter came before the Commission on complaint made and we decided that under the Circular referred to no more than two dollars per car without regard to weight or
contents could be charged
A revision of the Commissioners classification has become necessary m order to embrae many articles that are not now included therein as well as to note changes that have been made in the classification of certain articles since the original classification was made lhe
Commissioners are now engaged on this work
Matters are frequently brought to our attention by parties in different parts o e a e over which we have no jurisdiction and many requests come to us for information on subjects supposed to be within our knowledge relating to railroads The information is prompt y given if in our power and where we cannot take cognizance of the subject matter of application we refer the party to what we consider the proper quarter to apply for reliefi The operations of the Commission while affording as we believe reasonable satisfaction to the people have not in our judgment worked injury or injustice to the railroads The reports of the different companies recently made to this office of their operations for the past year notwithstanding tne general depression that affects the prosperity of the country show in almost every instance a striking increase in their business and earnings
With a view of obtaining reliable information as to the railroads now being constructed in the State the Commission issued Circular Mo 77 calling upon all railroads doing business in the State and all companies having railroads under construction to make quarterly reports to the Commissionthe first to be fried by October 10 1886showing number of miles of track laid during the quarter and number of miles graded the number and lengt o sidetracks laid during same time Mew companies were requested to report the number of miles of track laid and number of miles graded at the time of making their first report This Circular has met with but a partial response from the railroad companies Enough information however has been obtained to warrant the belief that perhaps as many miles have been constructed within the past year as ever before in the history of the State About two hundred miles of track has been laid and the incomplete reports we have show that more than one hundred miles have been graded upon which the track has not been laid Several other lines of magnitude and importance have been projected and seem in a fair
way of being brought to successful completion
The General Assembly of the State by the Act of September 27 1883 amendatory of the Act creating the Railroad Commission provided that not more than fifty cents per square of usual advertising space when less than a column was occupied nor more than twelve dollars per column when as much space as a column was occupied should be charged by the newspapers doing the work for the publication of the schedules established by the Commission or any changes or revision of such schedules The law designates cities of the State where this publication shall be made The newspapers in the places designated claim and we think justly that the amont allowed by law is inadequate compensation for this service
We respectfully recommend that one dollar per square be allowed for these publications when space less than a colnum is occupied and twenty dollars per column when that much or more space is occupied
The appropriations allowed by law to the Commission for officerent furniture stationery and printing is inadequate With the closest economy we have bqen unable to keep our expenses within the appropriation The office is greatly in need of an iron safe in which to keep records and valuable papers pertaining to its business
We respectfully request also that a sufficient appropriation say one hundred dollars be made to have printed a Railroad Map of the State A map of this kind was prepared when
6
the Commission was established but so many new lines have been built since that time that it is now practically worthless
We have daily applicationf rom the people of the State for copies cf the Act creating the Commission for our reports circulars and tariffs Similar applications come from the different States of the Union and from England and Germany In many instances we have been unable to furnish the documents requested
We renew the recommendation made in previous reports for an increase of salary for the Secretary of the Commission We respectfully urge that it be placed at Eighteen Hundred Dollars From the character of the duties devolving upon the Secretary and the skill and experience requisite for their efficient performance we consider the amount recommended extremely reasonable
Circulars Nos 78 and 79 having been issued so recently no action has been taken concerning the subject matter contained therein
In conclusion we have to say that it affords us much pleasure to note the harmonious relations now existing between the railroad companies and the people of the State Complaints of substancial grievances are comparatively rare and in many cases satisfactory adjustments are arrived at by the parties themselves Where adjustments have not been reached and we have been called on to investigate the subject of difference and decide it our decisions have been cheerfully acquiesced in and in the main have been satisfactory to the parties
We are your obedient servants
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman j
L N TRAMMELL l Commissioners
ALEX S ERWIN J
A C BRISCOE Secretary
Decision of the Railroad Commission of Georgia
IN THE CASE OF
The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce ys the Southern Railway and Steamship Association
The Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta presented a petition to this Commission in which it is alleged that there exists in the State of Georgia an association of railway companies known as the Southern Railway and Steamship Association that all the railroad companies in this State belong to said association and that the chief object of said association is to make and enforce from time to time contracts for a division of their earnings that in commercial and railroad parlance these contracts are called pooling their earnings that petitioner is advised that this practice of pooling their earnings by the railroads is in violation of article 4 section 2 paragraph 4 of the Constitution of this State and of the policy of the State as declared by the courts and that such contracts are void under the paragraph of the Constitution referred to that the Act of the General Assembly of ths State of 1879 in section 8 of said Act places all such contracts between railroad companies in this State absolutely at the disposal of this Commission that the rates fixed by said association and now being enforced in Georgia are not only void under the Constitution and laws but they most unjustly and injuriously discriminate against the principal business centers of Georgia that to instance one of the many evils arising from the pooling contracts of said association it
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allows to the merchants of Nashville Tenn what is known as the rebilling privilege the direct effect of which is an unjust discrimination against every city in Georgia that the railroads of this State are parties to this contract and are continually being used to carry out its purposes
The prayer of the petition is that the Commission take this matter into consideration that the proper parties in interest be brought before the Commission that the actings and doings of all the various railroad companies in Georgia in the matter of dividing their earnings and preventing competition under any form of contract may be inquired into to the end that the Commission may pass such orders and take such action as will enforce the laws of the land and protect the rights of the people
The railroad companies of the State were furnished with a copy of this petition and cited to appear and answer the same before the Commissioners on the 6th day of August 1885 A number of the companies appeared by their counsel and demurred to the petition on the following grounds
1 Because the petition does not set forth any cause of complaint against them or either of them for a violation of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by the Commissioners whereby any wrong or injury was done to the petitioners
2 Because the contract referred to in said petition whereby the Southern Steamship and Bailway Association exists and does business is a contract in reference to interstate commerce over which the Commission has no jurisdiction
3 Because the allegations of the petition are so general vague and uncertain that the companies are not informed as to what facts they are called upon to answer
The question was argued by counsel on both sides on the 6th of August 1885 but no decision was pronounced It was afterwards most ably and elaborately argued before the Commission as at present composed on the 4th day of November 1885
As the petition in the case failed to disclose except in very general terms the provision of the contract between the companies composing the Southern Kail way and Steamship Association the Commission deemed it proper to direct that all contracts of the character described in the petition be sent in that they might examine the same before making a decision Under this order the contract of said association was produced and we have carefully examined it
It purports to be an agreement between certain railroad and steamship and steamboat companies including a number of the railroad companies of Georgia and recites that whereas the establishment and maintenance of tariffs of uniform rates and the prevention of unjust discrimination such as arises from the irregular and fluctuating rates which inevitably attend the separate and independent action of transportation lines is important for the protection of the public and whereas it is deemed to be to the mutual advantage of the public and the transportation companies that business in which they have a common interest should be so conducted as to secure a proper correlation of rates such as will proI tect the interests of competing markets without unjust discrimination in favor of or against any city or section and whereas these objects can be attained only by cooperation on the part of the various transportation lines engaged in the traffic of the territory south of the Potomac and Ohio Kivers and east of the Mississippi Biver Now therefore in order to secure such cooperation among said transportation lines by providing means for the prompt adjustment of the differences which may arise between them by placing all of their traffic common to two or more companies under the control of officers jointly elected by the general conduct of the same under well defined rules and regulations and by a just and equitable division of business such as will naturally ensue from the maintenance of rates or by actual apportionment it is mutually agreed as follows etc
Then follow the several clauses of the agreement Much of the contract is devoted to
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prescribing the details of the organization providing the machinery for carrying out the purposes and objects of the association the election of a President a General Commissioner4 a Secretary three Arbitrators and an Auditor the appointment of certain committees the duties of these several officers and committees the method of raising funds to meet the expenses of the association and many other similar provisions not necessary for our present purpose to be set out in full We shall direct the entire agreement to be attached to this decision and printed in our next semiannual report to the Governor The contract provides that the Executive Committee shall have jurisdiction over all matters relating to the joint traffic but shall act only by unanimous consent ot all its members that all the business from or to local stations of the roads composing the system is local business to the controlling system All business from or to a meeting point of two or more roads is joint traffic In the event of a failure to agree the question at issue is to be decided by the board of abitration but this shall not be construed to give the Executive Committee or the General Commissioner any control over the local business of any company even though such local business may of necessity pass through points at which the traffic is divided by apportionment
It provides further that for the mutual protection of the various interests and for the purpose of securing the greatest amount of net revenue to all the companies parties to the agreement that what are termed western lines shall protect the revenue derived from transportation of what are known as eastern lines so far as can be done by the exaction of local rates and the eastern lines shall in like manner protect the revenues of the western lines
It is further agreed that the General Commissioner shall take charge of the Green Line car reports and claims and appoint such clerks and claim agents as may be necessary and charge up the expense to the roads interested in the Green Line business on an equitable basismanaging the business for the benefit and at the cost of the companies interested
The Board of Arbitrators shall hear and determine all questions which may be submitted to them under this agreement or by consent of the partiesmembers of the association and the decision of said Board of Arbitrators shall be final and conclusive
It is further provided that the Auditor shall have charge of the clearing house and shall keep full and accurate accounts of all the joint traffic He shall keep a ledger account with the General Commissioner and each member of the association from which he shall furnish each company a statement of their account monthly showing the debits and credits to them at each point at which business is apportioned and a general balance sheet shall be drawn off monthly and copies furnished to the Executive Committee and to the General Commissioner who shall cause settlements of balances to be made promptly distributing the funds deposited to his credit for this purpose and drawing drafts on debtor companies for balances due in excess of their deposits which drafts shall be duly honored noth withstanding errors or omissions if there be any which must be adjusted in subsequent settlements
It is provided further that when all the parties interested in the joint traffic at any point are willing to maintain rates without an apportionment of the business no apportionment shall be required but if any of the initial roads insist upon an apportionment the question shall be referred to the Board of Arbitration to determine whether or not such apportionment shall be made provided nothing herein contained shall be construed to require an apportionment between Nashville and Chattanooga and points south or of Atlanta business going west This shall not affect the present agreement of pooling cotton at Atlanta
On all business apportioned on the basis of revenue there shall be deducted as an initial charge and deposited to the credit of the General Commissioner by the company which receives the freight an amount equivalent to twenty per cent of the revenue to be divided such deposits to be made in such bank or banks as the General Commissioner shall designate
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subject to bis order The amount so deposited shall be credited by the Auditor to the companies or lines by whom they are contributed and shall constitute a fund which shall beapplied at the expiration of the month during which the same has been deposited to the payment of any balances due by such companies But after a settlement of such balances if there be any remainder it shall be returned to the company to whom it belongs
The Auditor shall be furnished with copies of all manifests issued by the companies members of the Association for freights which are shipped from or destined to points at which the business is divided by apportionment such copies to be forwarded at the time the shipments to which they appertain are made and abstracts of all such manifests shall be furnished to the Auditor at the expiration of each month The tonnage books of every company in the Association shall be open at all times to the inspection of the Auditor or such agents as he may from time to time appoint for the purpose of enabling him to get a complete record of all freights shipped to or from points at which business is divided by apportionment
In apportioning business cotton and any other freight which it may be practical to divide in kind shall be so divided and not by allotment of revenue Each company shall be required to carry its allotted portion as nearly as possible but settlements must be made monthly for any excess carried except when otherwise specially agreed between the parties interested provided that no penalty shall be imposed upon a company or line which carries an excess for the benefit of any company or line that refuses or wilfully neglects to carry its allotted proportion
All divisions by an apportionment of tonnage or revenue shall constitute a special agreement between the companies or lines terminating at or passing through the point at which the apportionment is made and the terms of such agreement shall be adjusted with reference to the circumstances of each case between the parties or by arbitration if they cannot agree The companies to which allotments are made shall determine the subdivision thereof and shall be responsible for the settlement for all balances for excess carried by them Companies or lines which carry an excess shall be allowed twenty 20 per cent of the revenue for transporting the same The actual cost of compressing not to be considered as revenue
It is further provided that the Executive Committee shall organize such a system for the rendition of tonnage and revenue reports of thejoint traffic throughout the territory covered by the Association as shall enable the General Commissioner to be at all times fully informed of the movements thereof and the observance of rates established therefor in order that he may detect promptly any violation of rates and keep the several companies or lines informed as to whether they are in excess or deficit at such frequent intervals as may be necessary to effect a distribution of the business in accordance with the agreed division thereof and thus prevent the accumulation of business in excess of the deposits made to secure the same
When by reason of any actual difference in the rate or premium for insurance against marine risks any line is at a disadvantage in competing with any other water or combined rail or water line such inequality may be obviated by an arrangement with the insurancecompanies individually or collectively by which the transportation lines can assume or pay the difference between the premium or rate of insurance by their own line and that by thelines of their competitors and thus secure to shippers the same premium or rate of insurance by all lines In case of competition between all rail lines and water or combined rail and water lines the latter may assume the whole of the premiums or rates for insurance against marine risks and bills of lading to this effect may be issued It is however distinctly understo d and agreed that no reduction of the established tariff rates rebates or considerations of any kind shall be given or offered to influence shippers or to secure their preference for any road or line
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It is further provided in the agreement that members of the Association shall not enter into any agreements relative to joint traffic covered by this contract with transportation companies not members of the Association except with the approval of the Executive Committee or the General Commissioner and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Association etc
Members of the Association are forbidden to reduce the rates made by the Eate Committee on the plea that they are violated by others or because of any violation of agree1 ments or because of the action of any outside line All such violations shall be reported to tbe General Commissioner whose duty it shall be to check such violations if possible and in case he cannot do so he shall call the Executive Committee together who shall use their influence to have such offending member or members conform to the agreement and rules
Divisions or allotments of business shall be to the end of the fiscal Association year and thereafter until a new allotment is made
The Executive Committee shall have authority to make from time to time such rules and regulations not inconsistent with this agreement as may be necessary to secure a systematic conduct of the affairs of the Association and attain the objects for which it is formed
We have thVis transcribed almost literally so much of this voluminous agreement as rseems to bear in any way on the complaint made in the petition and the question to be decided is has this Commission jurisdiction to entertain the case made by the Chamber of Commerce and grant the prayerof their petition
The provision of the Constitution of the State under which this Commission was established is as follows
The power and authority of gulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred on the General Assembly whose duty it shall be to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties Art 4 sec 2 par 1 Constitution of Georgia
The clause of the Constitution which petitioners claim is violated by the contract above set out and which violation they claim this Commission should redress is as follows
The General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation fo buy shares or stock in any other corporation in this State or elsewhere or to make any contract which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition in their respective businesses or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts or agreements shall be illegal and void Art 4 sec 2 par 4 Constitution of Georgia
On the argument of this question the distinguished counsel for the railroad companies pressed upon us with great earnestness and force the point that any such interference with the contract of this Association as was asked by petitioners would be a violation of that provision of the Federal Constitution which reserves to Congress the right to regulate commerce among the several states and if the Act of the General Assembly of Georgia of October 14th 1879 establishing the Kaiiroad Commission authorized such interference it was to that extent unconstitutional and void We are not prepared to hold that the action on our part invoked by the petitioners would be an attempt to regulate interstate commerce but in the view we take of our duties under the Act referred to we do not deem it necessary 4o decide that question
We do not conceive that we are authorized to pronounce this Act or any part of it unconstitutional The Constitution of the State declares that all laws in violation of that Constitution or the Constitution of the United States are void and the judiciary shall so
11
declare them This Commission is not the proper tribunal to determine such a question It is not a branch of the Judiciary of the State It is an agency created by the Legislature to perform certain duties which by the strict language of the Constitution were devolved upon the Legislature itself but which it would be inconvenient if not wholly impracticable for that body to perform and the courts have therefore held that the creation of such agency to perform these duties was proper and legal See 70th Georgia Reports page 694 and decision of Mr Justice Woods in the Tilley case in United States Circuit Court at Savannah
For one purpose however we are at liberty to consider a constitutional objection to an act viz for the purpose of construction If an act or part of an act is susceptible of two reasonable constructions one of which appears to be a violation of the paramount law and the other not it would be our duty to presume that the Legislature did not intend to violate the Constitution and to adopt the construction consistent with that view But if the act is plain and unambiguous in its terms admitting of but one reasonable construction it would be our duty to endeavor to enforce it as we found it plainly written and leave its constitutionality to be decided by the courts
It is claimed by the able counsel for the Chamber of Commerce that we have jurisdiction to grant the prayer of the petition under the clause of the Constitution last quoted relating to contracts defeating or lessening competition and encouraging monopoly and under section 8 of the Act of 1879 before referred to The 8th section of that Act is as follows That all contracts and agreements between railroad companies doing business in
this State as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and correction that it may be seen whether or not they are a violation of law or of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act or of the rules and regulations of said Commissioners and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the division Of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval in so far as they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as to such contracts or agreements as may be then deemed necessary and proper and any such agreements not approved by such Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be deemed held and taken to be violations of act 4 section 2 paragraph 4 of the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
We do not think that the duty of enforcing the clause ot the Constitution last quoted except in so far as the contracts or agreements mentioned therein violate the general purposes and objects of the Act of 1879 and the paragraph of the Constitution first quoted under which the Commission was established has been confided to us Those objects and purposes are not to suppress contracts which may lessen competition or encourage monopoly but to regulate freight and passenger tariffs prevent unjust discrimination and prohibit other than just and reasonable rates being charged Our own Supreme Court say The object of the constitutional provision referring to paragraph 1 section 2 article 4 and the legislative enactment referring to the act of 1879 was to give proper protection to the citizen against unjust rates for the transportation of freights and passengers over the railroads of the State and to prevent unjust discriminations even though the rates might be just Georgia Railroad vs Railroad Commissioners pp 6988 70th Ga Reports
Let us look for a moment to the titie of the Act of 1879 It is entitled An Act for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State to prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates charged for transportation of passengers and freight and to prohibit railroad companies corporations and lessees in this State from charging other
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than just and reasonable rates and to furnish the same and prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto and to appoint Commissioners and prescribe their powers and duties in relation to the same The not unusual words and for other purposes are even now not added hut perhaps this is not material
The Constitution of this State declares that no law or ordinance shall pass which contains matter different from what is contained in the title thereof
It would he very difficult we think to hold that the language of the title of this Act could he so extended as to include authority to the commissioners to annul contracts or agreements which are supposed to lessen competition or encourage monopoly unless such contracts produced discrimination or exacted other than just and reasonable rates for freight and passengers
Recurring therefore to the rule before laid down in respect to our duty to consider a constitutional objection in construing the Act we ought not if the construction be doubtful adopt the one insisted on by counsel for the petitioners
But let us refer to the preamble to the Act and ascertain whether any light is thrown on the object of the Legislature and what provision of the Constitution that body considered was carrying it out by the enactment of the law in question
This is the preamble Whereas it is made the duty of the General Assembly in art 4r par 2 and section 1 of the Constitution to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discrimination on the various railroads cf this State and to prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties therefore be it enacted etc There is not one word in it that refers to par 4 sec 2 and article 4 or to contracts defeating competition and encouraging monopoly
Let us now go to section 8 of the Act itself the one relied on and see whether it is in harmony with the title the preamble and the general scope and object of the entire Act It has already been quoted in full but we reproduce the latter clause of the section The first clause of the section refers to rates in terms and clearly has no bearing on the question before us and the second is the one on which the able and ingenious counsel for petitioners planted his right tothe redress he seeks And all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the division of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval in so far as they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs Are these contracts to be submitted to the Commissioners for general approval or rejection Are they to be submitted toenable the Commissioners to determine whether they have the effect or are intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition or to encourage monopoly without reference to the fact whether they produce discrimination and cause unjust and unreasonable rates to be charged The Act does not so say On the contrary it expressly declares ihat they are to be submitted for inspection and approval in so far as they effect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs It is for this purpose only that this section confers authority on the Commissioners to approve or disapprove them The general view here taken is strengthened by the conclusion of the section And said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as may be then deemed necessary and profer and any such agreements not approved by said Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be held and deemed a violation of art 4 sec 2 paragraph 4 of the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
This is the onlv reference in the section or in the Act to the provision of the Constitution
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on which petitioners base their application in this case and it excludes the idea that the Commissioners are to execute that provision of the Constitution or deal with these contracts unless the general purposes of the Act to prevent discrimination and insure just and reasonable rates are infriaged If the counsel be1 correct in the position he assumed in the argument that contracts between competing railroad companies for division of their earnings o violate that paragraph of the Constitution on which he relies because they lessen competition and encourage monopoly and that it is our duty to enforce that provision of the Const tution then there would be no such power as the Act evidently intended there should be to approve such contracts We would be compelled to disapprove them and order them to be
submitted only to annul them
Neither the petition nor the contract complained of show a case where discrimination
is practiced of unreasonable rates charged It will scarcely be denied that the rates charged by the companies composing this Association on freight brought into or carried without the State are less than those fixed by the Commission and the charges for passengers fares are
not greater than those allowed
It is indeed stated in very general terms that the rates of the Association are void under the Constitution but it is not meant that the rates are greater than those we have fixed but that they are void under that clause of the Constitution already so often referred to because they defeat or lessen competition etc We have already disposed of that pom The petition also charges that the rates of the Association operate to discriminate against the mercantile interests of the principal business centers of Georgia and against every city in Georgia but it appears that the discrimination alleged is in favor of Nashville in the State of Tennessee It is quite clear that this is a matter over which we can exercise no control We have no more authority to interfere to prevent discrimination m favor of Nashville than we have to interfere to prevent discrimination against Nashville no more t an we would have to interpose to prevent discrimination for or against Chicago St Louis or San
JFrndsoo
When the Constitution and the Act use the term discrimination they mean discrimination in favor of one point in Georgia against another point in Georgia
The Act establishing the Railroad Commission is the charter of our powers It prescribes the limits of our authority and we cannot transcend those limits In the language of the Commission in the case of Hitt we must not assume to exercise powers withheld from us by law Every power that the Act confers on us will when the occasion arises be fearlessly exercised and every duty it enjoins will be faithfully and impartially performe and every effort will be made to accomplisb as far as we may be able the great objects and
purposes for which the Commission was established
We are not called on to express any opinion as to whether the contract we have been discussing does or does not violate the provision of the Constitution in respect to competition and monopoly We simply decide that we have no jurisdiction over the contracts on these points and if there be a wrong we are not authorized to redress it
January 29th 1886 ALEX S ERWIN
I concur in the above decision TRAMMELL
The paper filed with the Commission by the railroad companies doing business in this
State and now under consideration clearly evidences that in its main features it is a contract or agreement for the apportionment of tonnage and division of earnings thereby lessening competition and as such is in my judgment a violation of article fourth section second paragraph fourth of the Constitution which is as follows
Tue General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation to buv shares or stock in any other corporation in this State or elsewhere or to make any
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contract or agreement whatever with any such corporation which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lessen competition in their respective business or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and void and is also in violation of section eighth of the Act of the Legislature creating the Commission approved October 14th 1879 which is as follows
That all contracts and agreements between railroad companies doing business in this State as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and correction that it may be seen whether or not they are a violation of law or of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act or of the rules and regulations or said Commissioners and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the division or earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval in so far as they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs arid said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as tq such contracts and agreements as may he then deemed necessary and proper and any such agreements not approved by such Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be deemed held and taken to be violations of article four section one paragraph four oi the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
Consequently I am constrained to consider it the duty of this Commission to notify said railroad companies that said contract and agreement is not approved This conclusion has been arrived at after a most conscientious effort to coincide with my associates to whom I concede much greater ability and equal sincerity of purpose
CAMPBELL WALLACE
Attest A C BRISCOE Secretary
The Decision of the Railroad Commissioners
IN THE CASES OF
Jno N Dunn and Aaron Haas vs The Western Atlantic and East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad Cos
DEMURRERS OVERRULED
John N Dunn and Aaron Haas by petitions addressed to the Commission allege that they are commission merchants and brokers in the city of Atlanta and have occasion to have shipped large amounts of the articles included in classes B C and D of the Commissioners standard tariff
They complain that the railroads by which these freights are brought to Atlanta all of which companies are members of what is known as the Southern Railway and Steamship Association discriminate unjustly against them in the charges made for this servicethat the rates charged by said railroads are ten cents per hundred pounds from Chattanooga to Atlanta only twelve cents per hundred pounds from Chattanooga to Augusta more than double the distance and to Savannah more than three times as far from Chattanooga as Atlanta is the rate is six cents per hundred pounds that these discriminations most injuriously affect petitioners and are violations of the constitution and laws of this State
They pray that if rule 6 of the Commission does not prohibit such discrimination the
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Commissioners will make such rule in the premises as will enforce the laws of the land and protect petitioners against these discriminations
Certain tables are appended to the petitions showing as petitioners allege the rates charged by the railroad companies from Ohio river points to Chattanooga and to differentpoints in Georgia including Atlanta respectively which petitioners claim sustain the charge of unjust discrimination they make against the railroad companies
The railroad companies interested were served with a copy of the petition and cited toappear before the Commission and answer the same A number of the companies appeared by their counsel and filed demurrers upon the ground that the Commission had no jurisdiction of the case as made in the petition for the reason that the charges complained of were made on freights coming into this State from other States in other Words on interstate commerce
The Western and Atlantic Railroad Company further demurred specially on the ground that it holds and operates said railroad as lessees under a valid and subsisting con tract with the State of Georgia and that unless it is shown in the petition that the rates tolls and charges made by said company are greater than those permitted by its contractwith the State of Georgia and greater than those charged by the railroads named in the leasing statute at the time of its passage and at the time of the lease and greater than the State oi Georgia then operating said railroad charged that neither the Kailroad Commission of Georgia nor the Commissioners composing the same nor the State of Georgia by its Legislature nor any officer of the State hath any power or control over its said rates tolls or charges and that any law or rule or regulation attempting to control or interfere with the same is unconstitutional null and void as impairing the obligation of said control of lease and the rights of the company under the same
So far as the general demurrers are concerned the question turns on the construction to be given to the latter clause of the proviso contained in section 5 of the Act of October 14tbr 1879 establishing the Kailroad Commission of Georgia
The whole section is as follows That the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this Act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights shall make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may he necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freights and passengers on the railroads in this state shall make just and reasonable rates of charges for use of railroad cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned or carried shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to he observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to pretent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly or indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of this State and on which freights less than local rates on any railroad are charged by such railroad but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freights as they possessed before the passage of this Act and said Commissioners shall have full power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances
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Now does the last clause of this proviso which gives the Commissioners power to fix the difference in rates to be allowed for longer and shorter distances apply only to what we call local freightsthat is shipments that start and end in the State or does it apply to through freights by which we mean freights coming in on through bills of lading from other States We are constrained to hold that it was the intention of the Legislature that it should apply to the latter
It would he entirely unnecessary for the Legislature to enact such a provision to he applied only to local freights when in the body of the section and in other places in the Act the power is given plainly and in terms to the Commissioners to make rates for local freights The power to make rates seems broader than the power to fix differences in rates already made for longer and shorter distances and includes the latter power
The view of the Legislature apparently was that in the one case the Commissioners are to make the rates absolutely in the other the rates are to be made by the railroad company and the Commissioners are only to fix the differences in the charges ior longer and shorter distances that is to say apportion rhe rates already made according to the distance the freight is carried
Again the proviso deals exclusively with freights coming from or going beyond the boundaries of the State The broad powers conferred on the Commissioners in the body of th section are modified in the proviso that is to say it is in effect declared that those powers are not to be construed as giving authority to the Commissioners to abridge or control the rates for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State where less than localrates are charged except that they may designate and fix differences in rates to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or difieren roads and ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances The last clause is virtually a proviso to the proviso
This is the only reasonable construction we can give to the proviso to section 5 of the Act of 1879 It is said that with this construction the last clause of the proviso is unconstitutional as attempting to confer authority on the Commissioners to regulate interstate commercea power which the Legislature itself does not possess but which is reserved to Congress exclusively by the Constitution of the United States
Upon this point we express no opinion In the case of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce against the Southern Eailway and Steamship Association decided last January we said We do not conceive that we are authorized to pronounce this Act the Act of 1879 or anv part of it unconstitutional The Constitution of the State declares tht all laws in violation of that Constitution or the Constitution of the United States are void and the judiciary shall so declare them This Commission is not the proper tribunal to determine such a question It is not a branch of the judiciary of the State It is an agency created by the Legislature to perform certain duties which by the strict language of the Constitution were devolved upon the Legislature itself but which it would be inconvenient if not wholly impracticable for that body to perform We adhere to the views then expressed on this subject
In respect to the ground in the special demurrer of the Western and Atlantic Eailroad Company that denies the jurisdiction of the Commission over said company in this case by reason of the contract made by the State in what is known as the leasing act we have only to say that in our judgment the Act organizing the Commission applies to that company in the same manner that it does to all the other railroad companies doing business in the State Section 12 of the Act declares That the termrailroad corporationor railroad company contained in this Act shall be deemed and taken to mean all corporations companies or individuals now owning or operating or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad in whole or in part in this State and the provisions of this Act shall apply to all
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persons firms and companies and to all association of persons whether incorporated or otherwise that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railroad in this State street railways excepted the same as to railroad corporations hereinbefore men tioned
We have no authority to pass upon and determine the rights of the Western and Atlantic Eailroad Company growing out of its contract of lease with the State
For these reasons the demurrers in these cases are overruled
the office of the Railroad Commission within twenty days from this date all contracts and agreements between said Railroad Companies in respect to rates of freight and passenger tariffs and all contracts arrangements and agreements of any kind whatever relating to the division of earnings between competing Railroad Companies doing business in this
tracts agreements or arrangements are in accordance with the laws of this State and the rules of this Commission
If said contracts agreements or arrangements are in writing the original or a duly certified copy under the hand of the President or Superintendent of said road will be furnished and if said contracts arrangements or agreements are not in writing a written statement containing in full the provisions and details of said contracts agreements or arrangements duly certified to by said officers or either of them will be deemed a sufficient compliance with this order
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman L N TRAMMELL
ALEXANDER S ERWIN
Commissioners
Atlanta Ga April 23 1886
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Nov 6th 1885
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 60
Traffic Contracts Etc Between Railroad Companies
It is ordered that the several Railroad Companies doing business in this State furnish to
State for inspection with a view of enabling the Commission to determine whether said con
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Nov 6th 1885
Commissio ners
CIRCULAR NO 61
Dublin and Wrightsville RailroadFreight and Passenger Tariff Application having been made by the Dublin and Wrightsville Railroad Company for
18
a tariff of freight and passenger rates it is hereby ordered that on and after December thefirst 1885 the said Railroad Company will be allowed to charge for the transportation of freight arid passengers as follows t y
FreightOn Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G and H add fifty 50 per cent to Commissioners Standard Tariff
On class J cotton add twenty 20 per cent to Standard Tariff
Fertilizers L C L add twriftty 20 per cent to Class K Fertilizers in car loads of not less than ten 10 tons of two thousand 2000 pounds each add twenty 20 per eent
to Class M
On Classes C D and F add 25 per cent to Standard Tariff
On Classes B L M 1ST O P and R apply Commissioners Standard Tariff PassengerFour 4 cents per mile Class B
CAMPBELL WALLACE Ghairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary f
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Nov 6th 1885
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin
CIRCULAR NO 62
Central Railroad and Banking CompanyJoint Rates
On arid after December the first 1885 the following order will take effect
The Central Railroad and Banking Company will be allowed to charge on the classes specified on shipments passing from one division of its lines to another division as follows To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G H add as follows
Between 0 and 40 miles add 50 per cent to Standard Tariff
Between 40 and 70 miles add 40 per cent to Standard Tariff
Between 70 and 100 miles add 30per cent to Standard Tariff
Over 100 miles add 20 per cent to Standard Tariff
By order of the Board CAMPBELL WALLACE Chapman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Nov 6th 1885
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
CIRCULAR NO 63
Brunswick and Western Railroad Company Lumber Rate
On and after December the first 1885 the Brunswick and Western Railroad Company will be allowed to charge no more than Class P fori lumber and all articles embraced in lumber V ljM
By order of the Board CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
V omMcrn
A C BRISCOE Secretary
19
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION
Atlanta Ga Nov 25th 1885
Campbell W allace Chairman L N TRkMELi
Alex S Ekwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 64
Change in Classification
On December the 10th 1885 the following changes in the Commissioners classification will take effect
Cotton seed cotton seed meal and oil cake L C L Class K with twenty 20 per cent added per rule one
Cotton seed cotton seed meal and oil cake C L Class M with twenty 20 per cent added per rule one
IronBolts nuts rivets and washers in kegs boxes or casks 6th Class
SteelPacked and wrapped 6th Class
Domestics denims sheetingsshirtings ticking jeans checks cotton rope thread yarns 6th Class
By order of the Board
Rome and Carrollton Railroad CompanyFreight and Passenger Tariff Application having been made by the Rome and Carrollton Railroad Company for a tariff of freight and passenger rates it is hereby ordered that on and after January the twentieth 1886 the said Railroad Company will be allowed to charge
First For the transportation of freight the Commissioners Standard Tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added on all classes
Second For the transportation of passengers the said Company is placed in Class B Four cents per mile
By order of the Board
On and after January the twentieth 1886 the following order will take effect
First The fourth 4th paragraph of Circular No 64 is amended so as to read as follows
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Jan 6th 1886
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 65
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
AtlantA Ga Jan 6th 1886
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 66
20
IronBolt nuts rivets and washers in kegs or casks 6th Class
Second The operation of the fifth 5th paragraph of Circular No 64 with regard to domestics denims etc is hereby suspended until further notice
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Jan 29th 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 67
Rule for Computing Fractions
There having been some misunderstanding as to the construction of the rule for the computing of fractions in connection with the tariff the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows
When any rate in any class in the Standard Tariff is raised or lowered by a per cent the following rules must be observed
FirstIf the rate thus raised or lowered is in either of Classes C D F J or K the fraction of a half cent must be retained as the following example will indicate
Ex 1Standard Rate 65
25 per cent added 16
Total 81
From which deduct fraction leaving desired rate of 8 cents
Ex 2Standard Rate 95
20 per cent added 19
Total v v 114
Substituting 5 for the fraction the desired rate is 115 cts
Ex 3Standard Rate 8
20 per cent added 16
Total 96
Substituting 5 for the fraction the desired rate is 95 cents
Ex 4Standard Rate 55
25 per cent added 13
Total Jr i 68 Adding a unit instead of a traction the desired rate is 7 cents
SecondIf the rate thus raised or lowered be in any other class than those already mentioned omit fractions of less than half a cent and estimate half a cent or more as one
cent Thus
Ex 1Standard Rate 17
20 per cent added 34
Total 204
21
Deducting the fraction the desired rate is 20 cents Ex 2Standard Rate
18
36
20 per cent added Total
216
Estimating the fraction as a unit the desired rate is 22 cents
By order of the Board Taking effect February 15th 1886
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga Jan 29th 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
A
CIRCULAR NO 68 Change in Classification
On and after February the fifteenth 1886 the following change in the Commissioners classification will take effect
FencingWire and Wood
Combination 5th Class
By order of the Board
CIRCULAR NO 69
Americus Preston and Lumpkin Railroad CompanyFreight and Passenger
Tariff
Application having been made by the Americus Preston and Lumpkin Railroad Company for a tariff of freight and passenger rates it is hereby ordered that on and after March 15th 1886 the said Railroad Company will be allowed to charge
First For the transportation of freight the Commissioner s Standard Tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added to all classes
Second For th transportation of passengers the said Company is placed in Class B For cents per mile
By order of the Board
1 l T DD TP T T VA A T T A
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga February 23 1886
Commissioners
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
22
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga February 23 1886
CAMPBELL Wallace Chairman LN Trammell
Alex i3 Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 70 Change in Classification
On and after March the fifteenth 1886 the following change in the Commissioner classification will take effect
Tan barkC L 22500 lbs Class P
By order of the Board
Americus Preston and Lumpkin Railroad CompanyFreight and Passenger
Buena Vista and Ellaville Railroad Company Freight and Passenger Tariff
On and after July the fifteenth 1886 the Buena Vista and Ellaville Railroad Company will be allowed to charge as follows
First On all classes of freight the standard tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added Second For the transportation of passengers four 4 cents per mile said company being placed in Class B
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga March 1 1886
Campbell Wallace Chair L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 71
Tariff
The operation of Circular No 69 is hereby postponed until May the 1st 1886 By order of the Board
A C BRISCOE Secretary
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
OFFICE LF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga June 29th 1886
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 72
A C BRISCOE Secretary
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
23
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga July 29th 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman 1
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 73
Change in Classification
On and after August 15th 1886 the following change in the Commissioners classification will take effect
Broom corn pressed in bales L C L 6th Class f Broom corn pressed in bales C L same as hay Class D
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga August 2L 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman 1
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 74
Change in Classification
On and after September fifteenth 15th 1886 the following classification of articles mentioned will take effect
Iron bar band boiler and jail plate car wheels and axles wagon and carriage axles iron pipe Sixth Class
Wagon and carriage skeins and boxes packed in kegs barrelsor casks Sixth Class Wagon skeins loose Fourth Class
Nails and spikes bolts nuts rivets and washers in kegs Sixth Class
Plow plates points wings caitingsand steel wired or packed Sixth Class
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga August 24 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman J
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 75
Change in Classification
On and after September fifteenth 15th 1886 the following classification of the article named will take effect
24
Patent cotton baskets combination of cloth and wood knocked down and packed to
gether Sixth Class
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga August 24 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 76 Posting Tariffs
Part of Section VI of the Act establishing the Railroad Commission reads as follows
It shall be the duty of all such railroad companies to post at all their respective stations in a conspicuous place a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people
Rule No 8 of the Commission is as follows
8 When any reduction of rates is made immediate notice of the same shall be given to the Railroad Commission and the reduced rates shall also be posted conspicuously near the Freight Tariff
Complaints having been received by the Commissioners time and again that both the law and the rule of the Commission have been disregarded it is hereby ordered that each railroad company doing business within the State of Georgia shall on or before October the 1st 1886 have posted in a conspicuous place a copy of the Passenger Tariff Freight Tariff and Classification at each and every regular station on the line of its road and shall give instructions to its agents to keep them so posted
It is also ordered that when any change is made either by the railroad companies themselves or by the Commission rule No 8 shall be strictly complied with
By order of the Board
It is hereby ordered that all railroad companies doing business within the State of
sion quarterly reports as follows The first report must be to October 1 1886 and must be filed in the office of Commission on or before October 10 1886 properly certified by President or Superintendent of the road v
Number of miles of track laid during quarter Number of miles graded during quarter Number and length of side tracks laid during quarter
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE O THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga August 24 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 77
Reports on Railroad Construction
Georgia and also all companies having roads under construction shall make to the Commis
25
New companies in complying with this circular will please report the number of miles of track laid and number graded previous to the time of their first report They will also state gauge of road weight of rail etc
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga September 22 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman 1
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex 8 Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 78
Proposed Revision of Classification
To the Railroad Companies Doing Business Within the State of Georgia
The Commissioners desire to call your attention to the following table showing the approximate proportions received by railroad companies for two hundred miles on through shipments between say Cincinnati and Macon and the local rates allowed by the Commissioners for the same distance
CLASS Proportions on through sbipmnts 200 miles Local rates for 200 miles
1 36 70 Per 100 pounds
1 64 1 05 Per 100 pounds
D 1 72 1 40 Per 100 pounds
3T 1 108 2 10 Per 100 pounds
2 31 60 Per 100 pounds
3 27 60 Per 100 pounds
4 23 40 Per 100 pounds
5 19 32 Per 100 pounds
6 16 27 Per 100 pounds
The above table of local rates is based upon the Commissioners Standard Tariff Some companies are allowed from twenty to fifty per cent upon the Standard Tariff In such cases the differences would be still greater than those given
The classification of articles adopted by the Southern Railway and Steamship Association and the classification adopted by the Commissioners appear to be about the same but an application of the same classification to a through shipment and a local shipment for any given distance will clearly show that the proportion received by any road in Georgia on the through shipment is unreasonably below the amount received by the same company on a local shipment for the same distance This discriminates unjustly against all local industries
A part of the fifth section of the Act establishing the Railroad Commission of Georgia reads as follows
The Commissioners appointed shall make such just and reasonable rule8
and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State
In accordance with the requirements of this law it becomes the duty of the Commis
26
sioners to call your attention to this inequality of rates and to give notice that in the opinion of the Commissioners some action should be taken to remedy the evil
Either the rates on through business should be raised or the Conamissionersclassification so far as articles manufactured within the State of Georgia are concerned should he so reduced as to place the local rates within a nearerapproach to the proportions received by the railroad companies doing business within this State on shipments coming from points Without the State of Georgia
A study of the two classifications above referred to will show that nearly all articles manufactured within this State are embraced in the classes already quoted
With the object above mentioned in view the Commissioners hereby request all railroad companies doing business within the State of Georgia to formulate a table of classification and rates embracing only articles manufactured within this State and to file the satpe intheoffice of the Commission on or before the twentysixth day of October 1886 together with such personal or written explanations as they may desireto present to the Commission all of which shall have the earnest consideration of the Commissioners in their effort to arrive at such action as they may deem just and reasonable
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
OFFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga October 5 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman
xi NTrAMMell V Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 79
Articles Manufactured Within Georgia
In order toassist the Commissioners in procuring a list of all the articles manufactured within the State of Georgia it is hereby requested that all parties engaged in the manufacturing business within this State furnish the Commission at the earliest possible moment a list of such articles as they are manufacturing or know to be manufactured within the State of Georgia specifying the nature of the goods so manufactured giving size weight etc and also the form in which they are transported
By order of the Board
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C BRISCOE Secretary
27
OFFICE EXPENDITURES FROM OCTOBER 1 1884 TO OCTOBER 1 1885
Office rent 240 00
Office boy 66 25
Water and ice 13 40
Furniture 62 90
Periodicals 18 90
Incidentals 5 85
Telephone 64 00
Insurance 6 35
Stamps 33 05
Telegrams 1 10
Repairs 3 25
Stationery Books and Printing 17 30
Total 522 41
Amount allowed 500 OO
Deficiency 22 41
OFFICE EXPENDITURES FROM OCTOBER 1 1885 TO OCTOBER 1 1886
Office rent 240 00
Office boy 65 25
Water and ice 12 25
Furniture 1 60
Periodicals 35 60
Incidentals 3 65
Telephone 64 OO
Insurance 6 80
Stamps 22 65
Telegrams 2 70
Repairs 4 50
Stationery Books and Printing 65 71
Total 524 71
Amount allowed 500 00
By sale of old carpets 8 00
Deficiency 16 71
15TH SEMIANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Railroad Commission
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
Submitted to the Governor June 281887
ATLANTA GA
Constitution Publishing Company 1887
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman L N TRAMMELL
ALEX S ERWIN
A C Briscoe Secretary
Commissioners
REPORT
Office of the Railroad Commission of Georgia
7
Atlanta June 28 1887
To His Excellency John B Gordon Governor
Sir In compliance with law we herewith submit the following report of the operations of the railroad commission since the date of our last report
LOCAL RATES ON ARTICLES MANUFACTURED IN GEORGIA
It appeared to the commissioners that there was great inequality in the proportions received by the railroad companies on business coming from without the State to points in the State and the rates fixed by the commission on the same class of articles for the same distance between points within the State
Accordingly just before our last report we issued ciicular No 78 calling the attention of the railroaid companies to this apparent injustice
The railroad companies interested appeared at the time fixed by the commissioners and on a careful investigation it was shown that the rates established by the companies between what are designated as competitive or pooling points are in effect both ways That is to say that an article can be shipped from Macon or Atlanta for example to Cincinnati at the same rate lor which the same article can be shipped from Cincinnati to these places
It was also shown to our satisfaction that the companies had made quite as favorable if not more favorable rates on manufactured articles from points in Georgia to points in adjacent States and in Louisiana Texas and the Western States and in almost every instance liberal rates have been given on material used for the manufacture of articles when brought within the State
Under these circumstances we decided that we would not interfere with the existing local freight tariff and classification except to insert certain articles not contained therein and to adjust the classification of a number of articles now out of line with the existing state of business
There may be still cases where apparently unjust discriminations exist in the rates between certain points on various articles but they are cases that do not come within our jurisdiction Moreover the railroad companies have assured us that in all cases of unjust discrimination in the adjustment of their through or local rates brought to their attention by complaining parties or by the commissioners they would use their utmost efforts to correct such evil at once
RATES ON NAVAL STORES
In December last application was made by the Naval Stores Manufacturers Protective Association for a reduction in the rates of freight on resin After a full hearing from
all the parties interested we made a reduction of twenty per cent in the existing rate on
that article
The investigation brought to our attention in the most striking manner the marvelous increase in the naval stores industry in Georgia in the last few years It is claimed now to be the second largest industry in the State The production of resin and spirits of turpentine is said to be one million barrels of the value in round numbers of five millions one hundred thousand dollars
In the year 1875 there were received at the port of Savannah 9555 barrels of spirits of turpentine and 41707 barrels of resin The receipts have increased each year with one
m 1886 there Were received at that Port 127785 barrels of spirits turpentine and 476508 barrels of resin
In the year 1872 there were produced along the line of what is now the Savannah Florida and Western Railroad in Georgia 1770 barrels of turpentine and resin in 1886
4
the production had grown to theenormous amount of 438778 barrels It also appears that in the counties of the State where naval stores are produced there has been a large increase in th vtdue of agricultural products raised and in improved lands
THJS 4UGUSTA AND SUMMERVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY
Since our last report a complaint was made by the Cooperative Coal Supply Company against the Augusta and Summerville Railroad Company on account of charges for transferring cars etc in the city of Augusta After a full hearing of the case at the time appointed the commissioners decided that said railroad company did not come within the jurisdiction of the commission The reasons for this ruling will appear fully in the decision attached to this report
THE BRUNSWICK AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY
Numerous complaints have come to us of the condition of the track rolling stock and equipments of the Brunswick and Western railroad It is represented that the track is utterly unsafe the rails much worn the rolling stock both passenger and freight wholly insufficient and the rolling stock as well as every other portion of its equipment entirely incapable of meeting the ordinary demands for accommodation by the public
All that we can do in the premises is to call your Excellencys attention to this matter in order that such steps may he taken as in your judgment arepracticable and proper to compel the performance by this corporation of its duties to the public contemplated by its charter
Yfe have under the lawno supervision of the physical condition of railways and we think that it would he unwiseto devolve such duty on the commission While in some States such powers and duty are exercised hy the railroad commissions under the laws of those States it is not believed that that service can be efficiently performed by such agencies
Aside from the fact that an efficient supervision of the physical condition of the roads require the commissioners to be scientific experts in such matters a faithful performance of this work would consume all their time and render it impossible for them to discharge the important duties the law now requires at their hands
The roads of this Stale have been free from seriousaccidents since our last report In some of the States appalling disasters have occurred involving much loss of life and property and traceable in almost every instance to defective bridges on the lines of road
INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW
The Congress of the United States has enacted since our last report a law regulating commerce among the States and a national Commission has been established to execute its provisions This action in no wise affects the State Commissioners Their spheres of action are entirely different The Act of Congress by its terms does not apply to the transportation of passengers and property or to the receiving storeage and handling of property wholly within the State and not shipped to or from a foreign country from or to any State or territqry On the other hand the State Commission has jurisdiction only of matters relating to the transportation ot persons and property wholly in the State
REVISION OE TARIFF CLASSIFICATON ETC
Under secton VI of the Act of 1879 establishing the Commission the Commissioners are required to make for each railroad company doing business in the State a schedule of just and reasonable charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and from time to time and as often as circumstances may require to revise and change such schedules
The law further provides that when any schedule shall have bean made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of the Commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for one time in some public newspaper published in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Savannah Macon Rome and Columbus
5
Thr has ben no revision of the tariff and classification made Since th Commission was established in 1879 The numerous changes that had been mad in lgfit years were contained only in detached circulars issued from time to time during these years Unless these circulars were carefully preserved and the changes made duly noted which was rarely done except by the railroad companies it would be impossible for shippers and the public generally to know what rates and classification were in force ata given time
In view of these considerations the Commissioners felt it to be their duty to revise the standard tariff and classification They completed this work since the last Report and herewith present it in what is designated as Circular No 82
This Circular presents in a compact and convenient forni the freight and passenger tariffs and classification in force at this time It also contains the Rules of the Commission governing the transportation of freight and passengers a table of railroad distances in Georgia the provisions of the Constitution of the State and the Act of the Legislature under which the Commission was established and extracts from the Code of the State on the subject of the transportation of freight and passengers by railroad companies
The publication of the tariff classification and rates in the cities designated by law has entirely exhausted the lund inour hands available for that purpose and leaves a deficit of i41520 which amount is due the several newspapers doing the Work We respectfully ask for an appropriation sufficient to discharge this indebtedness
It will he seen that the Commissioners have no discretion as to the number of papers in which these publications shall be made When a rate or change is made affecting orily one road or locality ware not required to publish the same except in a newspaper published in the city nearest the point affected by our action but under all other circumstances we ar compelled to make publication in each of the seven cities designated
This provision of the law entails very great expense and it is doubtful whether it Subserves any useful purpose
The shippers depend largely on this office for these circulars a number of which are printed and sent to parties on application Besides the Acf of the Legislature and the Rules of th Commission require each railroad company to post a copy of the schedule of rats established by the Commission and all revisions throf in a conspicuous place for the protection of the people Under these circumstances we recommend that the law7 be so changed as to allow the Commissioners discretion in each instance as to the place where th publications shall be made of such circulars
REPORTS
The law requires the Commissioners to make a SemiAnnual Report to the Governor of the operations of the Commission No good reason occurs to us why these reports should not be made annually only
It would lessen the expenses of the Commission if the law werechanged so as to provide only for annual reports and we so recommend
NEW RAILROADS
The Augusta Gibson Sandersville and the Midville Swainsboro Mount Vernon Railroad Companies have applied since onr last report for a tariff of freight and passenger rates which have been furnished and those roads are now operating under them
RAILROADS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
We are unable to state the number of miles of track laid or roadbed graded since our last report for the reason that our circular calling for this information has not been complied with by all the companies engaged in constructing roads
6
We know the fact to be that work is progressing rapidly on several railroads and is about to be commenced on other important lines
WARNINGS OF THE RAILROAD COMPANIES
We submit the following comparative statement showing the gross earnings of the roads in the State for thesix months beginning October 188585 and tnding March 188687 It will he seen that there has been a decided increase in the earnings of most of the roads With some of them the increase is very striking The Atlanta West Point Road shows a decrease of 158232 and Ihe Gainesville Jefferson and Southern of a few dollars Some of the smaller roads are omitted in this statement for the reason that their reports were not sufficiently full to enable us to make a statement concerning them
GROSS EARNINGS
Prom October 188586 to March 188687
NAME OF ROAD AND YEARS Total Inreease Decrease
Atlanta West Point 188586 243265 59
1886 87 243682 22 1582 32
Brunswick Western 188586 158215 66
188687 176201 39 17985 73
Central Divisions 188586 2101989 21
N 1886 87 2152180 31 50191 10
Columbus Rome 188586 42433 81
1886 87 53765 89 11332 08
East Tenn Va Ga 188586 862455 97
1886 87 931028 95 68572 98
Gainesville Jeff So 188586 19801 58
1886 87 19796 10 5 48
Georgia 188586 822190 54
188687 839833 11 17642 57
Georgia Pacific 188586 97869 55
i 1886 87 140411 24 42541 69
R D branches 188586 279596 62
188687 287584 71 7988 09
Savannah Fla West 188586 1433025 69
1886 87 1517775 71 84750 02
Western Atlantic 188586 614418 75
1886 87 637179 34 22760 59
Total 323764 85 1587 80
Showing a net increase of above roads of 32217705
CONCLUSION
We append a copy of each of the circulars issued by the Commission since our last report The object for which they were issued will appear on their lace
We desire to express our gratification at the continued harmonious relations existing between the railroad companies and their patrons All parties have adjusted themselves to the statute and the rules and tariffs ot the Commission The law is working well and smoothly and we know of no dissatisfaction in any quarter as to the manner in which it is being administered We are very respectfully your obedient servants
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
L N TRAMMELL l Commissioners
A C Briscoe ALEX S ERWIN j
Secretary
7
APPENDIX
CONTAINING CIRCULARS AND DECISIONS REFERRED TO IN THE ABOVE
REPORT
RATES ON MANUFACTURED ARTICLES
Decision of the Railroad Commission on Circular 78 Rendered
November 4 1886
Pursuant to notice as contained in circular No 78 the railroad companies doing business within the State of Georgia by their representatives appeared before the commissioners on the 26th day of October 1886
It had appeared to the commissioners that there was an apparent inequality in the proportions received by the railroad companies on business coming from points without the State to points within the State and the amount allowed by the commissioners on the same articles for the same distance between points within the State The allusion made by the commissioners in circular No 78 was confined to articles manufactured within the State of Georgia
From the statements presented by the representatives of the railroad companies present on the day mentioned above the following facts were elicited
1 That the rates established by the railroad companies between what are designated competitive points or pooling points are in effect both ways That is an article can be shipped from Macon or Atlanta to Cincinnati at the same rate that the same article can be shipped from Cincinnati to Atlanta or Macon
2 That the said railroad companies have made equally as good if not more favorable rates on all manufactured articles from points in Georgia to points in adjacent States and in Louisiana Texas Missouri and other Western States
8 That the said railroad companies have not only made favorable rates on the manufactured articles but have given in almost all instances liberal rates on the material used in the manufacture of the articles when brought from without the State The commissioners are aware that some cases of apparently unjust discriminations exist in the rates between certain points on various articles but they are cases that do not come within the jurisdiction of the commission
4 That the said railroad companies have assured the commissionars most positively that if any cases of unjust discrimination should be brought to their notice either by the complaining parties or by the commissioners in the adjustment of their local or through tariffs they would use their utmost power to correct such evil at once
In view of these considerations the commissioners decide that they will not interfere with the present existing local freight tariff and classification except in so far as to insert certain articles not now contained therein and to adjust the classification of a number of articles that are now out of line with the existing state of business
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman L N TRAMMELL
ALEX S ERWIN
A 0 Briscoe Secretary
Office of th Railroad Commission of Georgia Atlanta Ga January 5 1887
Campbell Wallace Chairman L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 80
Rate on Rosin
On and afte January th 15th 1887 nriiore than clash K legs twenty 20 pfer fent will be allowed to be charged for rosin in any quantity
By order of the Board
Company for a tariff of freight and passenger rates it is hereby ordered that on and after Juaniiary 15th 187 the said railroad company will be allowed to charge
First For the transportation of freight the Commissioners standard tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added to all classes
Second For the transportation of passengers the said Company is placed in class A
Three cents per mile
By order of the Board
jk C Briscoe CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary CKavrrkhh
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga April 27 1886
Campbell Wallace Chairman 1
L L Trammell v Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
On and after May the first 1887 the following classification of the articles mentioned will take effect
Domestic Denims Sheeting Shirtings Tickings Jeans Checks Cotton Rope
Cotton Batting in lots of one hundred bales of fifty pounds each 6th Class
C Briscoe
Secretary
CAMPBELL WALLACE
Chairman
Office of the Railroad Commission of Georgia Atlanta Ga January 5 1887
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 81
Augusta Gibson Sandersville Railroad CoFreight and Passenger Tariff Application having been made by the Augusta 0ibson and Saridetsville Railroad
CIRCULAR NO 83
Change in Clssiflcation
Thread Yarns and other factory products
6th Class
Cotton Batting N O S
1st Class
By order of the bord A C Briscoe
CAMPBELL WALLACE
Chairman
Secretary
9
THE STATE OF GEORGIA
Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 25 1887
Campbell Wallace Chairman h N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 84
Monthly Reports
Railroad Companies doing business in this State are hereby required to forward all back monthly reports required by the rules of the Commission to this office by June 15th proximo and said companies are notified that such reports must be hereafter forwarded by the twentieth of each month as required by General Rule No 2
On failure to comply with this Circular the Commissioners will take steps to caus the penalty prescribed by Section 16 of the Act establishing the Commission to be enforced against such company or companies as may be in default
By order of the Board CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
A C Briscoe Secretary
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Offic of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 25 1887
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 85
Chang in Classification
On and after June 15th 1887 the following change in the Commissioners Classification will take effect
Class
Rice rough any quantity Intimes C
Rice clean in barrels L C L 1J times C
Rice clean C L C
Rice in boxes or kegs L C L 13
By order of th board
A C Briscoe CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 25 1887
Campbell Wallace Cnairnian j
L N Trammell Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J
CIRCULAR NO 86
On and after June 26 1887 the following correction of errors contained in Circular No 82 will take effect
C R Released
1 Brass N O S 1 3
2 Meal and Ashes Cotton Seed L C I see Cotton Seed
10
3 Corn Meal
4 Meal Corn
6 Axel Grease
6 Omit Wool N O S pressed in bales
D
D
6
8
By order of the board A C Briscoe
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chairman
Secretary
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 25 1887
Campbell Wallace Chairman L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 87
Amendment to Freight Rule No 23
On and after June 15th 1887 Rule No 23 of the rules governing the transportation of freight will read as follows
WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds A car load is 20000 pounds unless otherwise specified For loads above 20000 pounds pro rata at car load rates
Provided That when a car is loaded over its marked capacity by the shipper at a flag station the railroad companies are left free to charge for the excess a rate that will effectually stop a practice fraught with so much danger to life and property
Byorder of the Board CAMPBELL WALLACE
A C Brisce Secretary Chairman
Freight and Passenger TariffMidville Swainsboro and Mt Vernon R R Co
On and after June 15th 1887 the Midville Swainsboro and Mt Vernon Railroad Company will be allowed to charge for transportation of freight as follows
To classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G H add fifty 50 per cent
To class J cotton add fifteen 15 percent
Fertilizers L C L class K plus twenty 20 per cent
Fertilizers C L not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 pounds each class M plus twenty 20 per cent
To classes C D and F add twentyfive 25 per cent
Lumer class P less twenty 20 per cent
To classes B K L M N O P apply standard tariff
For the transportation of passengers class B four 4 cents per mile
By order of the board
A C Briscoe CAMPBELL WALLACE
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga May 28 1887
CIRCULAR NO 88
Secretary
Chairman
11
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga J une 9 1887
Campbell Wallace Chairman h N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
Commissioners
CIRCULAR NO 89
Freight and Passenger Tarriff of the Columbus and Rome Railroad
On and after the first day of July 1887 the Columhus and Rome Railroad Company will he allowed to charge as follows
For transportation of freight the Standard Freight Tariff with twentyfive 25 per cent added to all classes
For transportation of passengers Class A of the Standard Passenger Tariff 8 cents per mile
All orders or parts of orders in conflict herewith are hereby repealed
By order oi the Board
A C Briscoe CAMPBELL WALLACE
Secretary Chairman
Change in Classification
On and after the first day of July 1887 the following changes in the Commissioners Classification will take effect
THE STATE OF GEORGIA Office of the Railroad Commission
Atlanta Ga June 21 1887
CIRCULAR NO 90
Calicoes Powders and washing compounds etc
Pearline i
Seed Mustard
6th Class 4th Class 4th Class 6th Class
By order of the Board
A C Briscoe4
Secretary
CAMPBELL WALLACE
Chairman
12
COOPERATIVE COAL SUPPLY COMPANY
vs
AUGUSTA SUMMERVILLE R R CO
DECISION
The Cooperative Coal Supply Company filed a petition with the railroad commission in which it alleged
1 That the Augusta Summerville Railroad Company a corporation existing under the laws of this State is a railroad company and has leased that portion of the track of the South Carolina Railroad Company that is within the limits of the city of Augusta connecting the yard uf the South Carolina Railroad Company wilh the Union depot in said city and has built other tracks in the city to connect all the railroads entering therein that it has thereby formed the only connection between said other railroads That the Augusta Summerville Railroad Company claims the exclusive use of the city for railroad purposes and as a common carrier conveys over its said tracks all through freights through said city from one railroad to another and all local freights to points and warehouses on its line using in said transportation such steam engine and cars as are used on other railroads in this State
2 That doing a general railroad business as aforesaid said company is subject to the control of the railroad commission and amenable to its rules regulations and tariffs and being s subject has disregarded and violated circular No 48 of the commission which prescribes that no more than two dollars per car shall be allowed for switching or transferring cars from any point on any road to any connecting road or warehouse within a space of three miles from the starting point
8 That said company has in many instances violated circular 48 by charging and collecting more than the sum therein prescribed for transporting cars of coal consigned to petitioner from the yard of the Augusta Savannah Railroad Company to the yard of petitioner a distance of onequarter of a mile
The number of cars the dates they were transferred and the amount of the alleged overcharge in each instance are specifically set out and alleged
4 That in several instances subsequently said company has demanded from petitioner more than the sum fixed by said circular for similar service performed by it which overcharge petitioners declined to pay but tendered payment at the rate of two dollars per car which was refused That since that time the said Augusta Summerville Railroad Company has refused to transfer cartain cars for petitioner although the legal charges were tendered with the intention of compelling petitioner to acquiesce in the violation of the rules of the railroad commission
5 Wherefore petitioner alleges by reason of the foregoing said company is guilty of
13
extortion and prays that the commission declare that the Augusta Summerville Railroad Company in the doing of a general freight business is subject to said circular 48 and that it has violated the same and that the commissioners institute suit against the company as provided by law for the penalty incurred by such violation and decree to the petitioner the aggregate amount of overcharges it has paid as aforesaid and grant such other relief as the circumstancrs of the case may require
THE DEFENSE
The Augusta and Summerville Kailroad Company filed an elaborate defense to this proceeding insisting on its right to make the charges demanded for the services it performed under its charter and the contracts and ordinances of the city of Augusta
In the view we take of the case it is necessary to consider only the following grounds of defense
1 That the facts stated in the petition do not make a case which authorizes the Commissioners to proceed against respondent
2 That the Kailroad Commission and said Commissioners have no jurisdiction over
the matter set forth in the petition
3 The respondent is a street railroad and expressly excepted in Section 12 of the Act creating the Commission from the operation of said law
The case was ably argued before us on the 23d of November last by Mr 1 Hamilton Phinizy lor the petitioner and Mr F H Miller for the respondent and we have bestowed upon it the consideration its importance demanded
The Augusta and Summerville Kailroad Company was incorporated by Act of the General Assembly o the 20th of March 1866 lor the purpose of building and using with the consent of the City Council of Augusta a horse car railroad from the lower market house in said city or such other point as the directors may agree upon to the United States arsenal in the village of SummerHille or to some other point in the county of Richmond not exceeding three miles from the corporate limits of said city On the 28th of December 1866 the charter was amended so as to allow the running of dummy cars or engines on the road of said company and over such portions of the streets of the city as have been or may hereafter be allowed by the City Council and in conformity to the rules prescribed in their contracts or ordinances
ORDINANCES OF THE COUNCIL
The City Council by ordinance of 7th September 1866 granted the company during the term of its charter exclusive rightofway through and over all the streets of the city except Monument street for the purpose of building a street railroad between the points designated in the charter and authorized it to operate thereon railway cars and carriages to be drawn by horse or animal power except on the main line along Broad street on which dummy cars might he used and prescribing among other things that the gauge of said street railroad should be the uniform gauge of other railroads in Georgia
A contract was also entered into on 26th September 1866 between the company and the city confirming the grant of the exclusive use of the streets of the city foi the purpose of a street railroad to the company prescribing the manner in which the road should be built with reference to grades etc and fixing amounts to be charged for carrying passengers and maximum amounts for freights etc
By an ordinance of the 7th of September 1866 the city council authorized the Augusta and Summerville Kailroad Company to connect its tracks with the South Carolina Railroad as well as the other railroads centering in the city
On the 9th of November 1867 said company was authorized by ordinance of the city council to use steam locomotive power fpr the movement of passengers and baggage and
14
freight ears along the streets necessary to make the connection between the different railroads that had been authorized by the preceding ordinance
On the 13th of March 1868 the city council by another ordinance authorized the company to contract with the South Carolina Railroad Company for the use of the track of the latter company extending from Reynolds street to the depot of the Georgia Railroad upon such terms as should he agreed on by the iwo companies
The South Carolina Railroad Company was authorized by contracts made with the city of Augusta on August 10th 1862 and July 31st 1857 to cross the Savannah River and connect its track through Washington Street with the track of the Georgia Railroad The connection was made in pursuance of these contracts but the use of steam in making such connection between the two tracks was not permitted by the city authorities
On the 16th oi March 1868 the exclusive use of so much of the track of the South Carolina Railroad Company as ran through the city was granted to the Augusta and Summerville Railroad Company on certain terms and conditions specified in the contract
On the 26th of October 1870 the General Assembly of the State passed an Act amending the Charter of the Augusta and Summerville Railroad Company ratifying and confirming all of the ordinances and contracts of the city herinafter mentioned and auhorizing the city council to permit the use by said company of locomotive engines propelled by steam on any other streets in the city besides those named in said ordinances on such terms and with such restrictions as should be imposed by the council at the time of the grant of authority
In pursuance of contractsmade with other railroadsentering Augusta the last cf which contracts was made in the year 1869 the campany built other tracts through the streets of the city connecting said railroads with each other
THE QUESTION AT ISSUE
The question to be decided is Under the state of facts set forth is the respondent company in the matter of its freight and passenger rates amenable to the control and subject to the Rules and Regulations of the Commission
The 12th section of the Act creating the Commission is as follows That the term railroad corporations or railroad companies contained in this Act shall he deemed and taken to mean all corporations companies or individuals now owning or operating or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad in whole or in part in this State and the provisions of this Act shall apply to all associations firms or companiesand to all associations of persons whether incorporated or otherwise that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railroad in this State street railways excepted the same as to railroad corporations hereinbefore mentioned
The question of the status of this company and its relations to the railroad Commission has been informally brought to the attention of the Commissioners more than once since the Commission was established We have uniformly considered that it did not come within our jurisdiction and none of the circulars orders or schedules heretofore issued by the Commission have been held to apply to it We have thought and still think that we ought not to exercise jurisdiction except in cases where it has been clearly conferred by law
In view of the charter of the respondent and the ordinances and contracts of the city herein set out we are of the opinion that the exception in the 12th section of the Act establishing the Commission denies to us jurisdiction of the respondent or at least that our authority to assume such juiisdiction is so doubtful that we do not feel warranted in attempting to exercise it
V IN CONCLUSION
This company was chartered for the purpose of building and operating a horse car rialroad in the city of Augusta and from that point to the village of Summerville adja
15
cent to Augusta It was afterwards authorized by the municipaal uthorities to use first steam or dummy cars and then steam locomotives on its track for the purpose of connecting the railroads entering the city These ordinances of the city and its contract with the company were expressly ratified and confirmed by the Legislature
The operations of the company so far as they are the subject of the present complaint are confined exclusively to the streets of the city We think the municipal authorities by virtue of their police powers may prescribe the motive power to he used by the company in conducting its business along and through the streets of the city They may authorize theinauguration of a system of steam drayage just as they may prescribe that horse power only shall be usedcertainly they may for public purposes grant such privilege when expressly authorized to do so by the Legislature and we do not think the company ceases to be a street railway simply because it employs steam locomotives in conducting its business on parts of its line
The facts here do not present a case where a railroad or a section of a railroad onceunder the jurisdiction of the Commission is attempted to be withdrawn from that jurisdiction by lease or other contract with a street railway On the contrary the state of affairs now existing with reference to this company is precisely what it was when the Commission was established and what it had been for many years previously
We must presume that had the Legislature intended to subject it to our jurisdiction language would have been used wnich would more clearly disclose that purpose than that contained in the section of the act we have quoted
It was represented on the argument that the exclusive privileges conferred on this company and the manner in which they were exercised affected most injuriously the commercial and business interests of Augusta This was strenuously denied by the respondent If it be true relief must be sought before the Legislature or the courts We are constrained to hold that the power to grant such relief has been withheld from the Commission
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L N Trammell
Alex S Erwin
A 0 Briscoe Commissioners
Secretary
Atlanta Ga January 5th 1887
RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga March 1st 1887
fi
IRCULAR NO
As revised by Circulars to June 28 1887
STANDARD FREIGHT AND PASSENGER
TARIFFS
Rules and Classification
road Commission
GEORGIA
IN EFFECT MAY 1st 18S7
A C Briscoe
Secretary
Campbell Wallace Chairman
L IN Trammell j Commissioners
Alex S Erwin J i
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
19
RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Atlanta Ga March 1st 1887
CIRCULAR No 82
STANDARD
AND PASSENGER TARIFES
Rules and Classification
OF THE
On and after May the 1st 1887 the following Tariffs Rules and Classification will take effect All Tariffs Rules and Classifications in conflict herewith are hereby repealed
1 GENERAL RULES
1 PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION
All complaints made to the Railroad Commission of alleged grievances must plainly and distinctly set forth the grounds of complaint the items being numbered and objections all set forth in writing
In like manner all defenses must be distinctly set forth in writing and the items numbered as above stated
These specifications whether of complaint or defense may be accompanied if the parties desire by any explanation or argument or by any suggestion as to the proper remedy or policy The parties may also be heard in person or by attorney or by written argument upon such written statement being first filed
2 MONTHLY REPORTSr
Each Railroad Company doing business within the State of Georgia shall file in the office of the Commissioners on or before the 20th day of each month a report of its earnings and expenses for the month preceding upon a printed form A
3 POSTING TARIFFS
Each Railroad Company doing business within the State of Georgia shall post and keep posted at each of its respective stations in a conspicuous place a copy of the schedules of freight and passenger rates prescribed for said road by the Commission together with a copy of the Commissioners Classification and a Table of Distances between stations giving name of each station And when any change in said schedule of rates or classification is made either by the Commission or by any Railroad Company a copy of said change shall be immediately furnished the office of the Commissioners and shall also be posted in the same manner as the above
4 The rates prescribed by the Commission shall except in cases specified apply in
either direction
20
TARIFES RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
CLASSES
PEE 100 POUNDS Per Barrel Per 100 Lbs
Dis I I I
TANCE 1 2 3 1 5 6 A B c E F x H
Miles Cts cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 16 y i4 13 10 9 8 8 8 4 4 9 9 28 10
20 20 18 16 14 12 10 10 10 5 5 12 11 35 14
30 24 21 19 17 14 11 11 11 6 14 12 38 17
40 27 24 22 20 16 12 12 12 6 6 16 13 43 20
50 30 27 25 22 18 13 13 13 7 6 18 14 45 22
60 33 30 27 24 19 14 14 14 7 19 15 49 24
70 36 33 29 26 20 15 15 15 8 71 20 16 53 26
80 39 36 31 28 21 16 16 16 8 8 21 17 54 28
90 42 38 33 29 22 17 17 17 9 8 22 18 59 29
100 45 40 35 30 23 18 18 18 n 9 23 19 63 30
110 48 42 37 31 24 19 19 19 10 9 24 20 67 31
120 51 44 39 32 25 20 20 20 10 10 25 21 70 32
130 54 46 41 33 26 21 21 21 11 10 26 22 73 33
140 57 48 43 34 27 22 22 22 1 11 27 23 77 34
150 60 50 15 35 28 23 23 23 12 11 28 24 81 35
160 62 52 46 36 29 24 24 24 13 12 29 26 84 36
170 64 54 47 37 30 25 25 25 14 13 30 28 87 37
180 66 56 48 38 31 26 26 26 14 13 31 28 91 38
190 68 58 49 39 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 39
200 70 60 50 40 32 27 27 27 15 14 32 30 95 40
210 71 62 51 41 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 41
220 2 64 I 52 42 33 28 28 28 16 15 33 32 98 42
230 73 66 53 43 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 43
240 74 68 54 44 34 29 29 29 17 16 34 34 1 01 44
250 75 70 55 45 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 1 05 45
260 76 71 56 46 35 30 30 30 18 17 35 36 1 05 46
270 77 71 56 46 36 31 31 31 19 18 36 38 1 08 46
280 78 72 57 47 36 32 32 32 19 18 36 38 1 12 47
290 79 72 57 47 37 32 32 32 20 19 37 40 1 12 47
300 80 73 58 48 38 33 33 33 20 19 38 40 1 16 48
310 81 73 58 48 38 33 83 33 21 19 38 42 1 16 48
320 82 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 21 20 39 42 1 19 49
330 83 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 44 1 19 49
340 84 74 59 49 39 34 34 34 22 20 39 44 1 19 49
350 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
360 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
370 85 75 60 50 40 35 35 35 23 21 40 46 1 22 50
380 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
390 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
100 88 76 61 51 41 36 36 36 25 23 41 50 1 25 52
410 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
420 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
430 91 77 62 52 42 37 37 37 26 24 42 52 1 28 54
440 94 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 81 56
150 91 78 63 53 43 38 38 38 27 25 43 54 1 31 56
460 94 78 1 63 53 43 38 38 1 38 27 25 43 54 1 m 56
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
21
STANDARD FREIGHT TARIFF
CLASSES
Per 100 Pounds Per Ton Per Car Load Per 100 lbs
Dis tance J E L M P 0 P R
Miles Ots Cits Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts Cts
10 10 6 50 80fa 10 00 8 00 5 00 5
20 13 6 60 90 12 00 10 00 7 00 6
30 15 7 70 1 oo r 15 00 11 00 8 00 7
40 17 8 80 1 10 18 00 12 00 9 00 8
50 19 8 90 1 20 20 00 13 00 10 00 9
60 21 9 95 1 30 22 00 14 00 11 00 10
70 22 9 1 00 1 40 24 00 15 00 11 00 11
80 23 9 1 10 1 50 26 00 16 00 12 00 12
90 24 s 1 15 1 60 28 00 17 00 13 00 13
100 25 10 1 20 1 70 30 00 17 00 1400 14
110 26 10 1 25 1 80 32 00 18 00 14 00 15
120 27 10J 1 30 1 90 34 00 18 00 15 00 16
130 28 m 1 35 2 00 36 00 19 00 16 00 17
140 29 il 1 40 2 10 38 00 19 00 16 00 18
150 30 il 1 50 2 20 40 00 20 00 17 00 18
160 31 12 1 60 2 25 41 00 20 00 17 00 19
170 32 12 1 70 2 30 42 00 21 00 18 00 19
180 33 12 1 80 2 35 43 00 21 00 19 00 20
190 34 13 1 90 2 40 44 00 22 00 19 00 20
200 35 13 2 00 2 45 45 00 22 00 20 00 20
210 86 13 2 10 2 50 46 00 23 00 20 00 21
220 37 14 2 20 2 55 47 00 23 00 21 00 21
230 38 14 2 30 2 65 48 00 23 00 21 00 21
240 39 14 2 40 2 65 49 00 24 00 22 00 22
250 40 15 2 50 2 75 50 00 24 00 22 00 22
260 41 15 2 60 2 75 51 00 24 00 22 00 22
270 42 15 2 70 2 85 52 00 25 00 23 00 22
280 43 16 2 80 2 85 53 00 25 00 23 00 23
290 44 16 2 90 2 95 54 00 25 00 24 00 23
300 45 16 3 00 2 95 55 00 26 00 24 00 23
310 46 17 3 10 3 05 56 00 26 00 24 00 23
320 47 17 3 20 3 05 57 00 26 00 24 00 24
330 48 17 3 30 3 15 58 00 27 00 25 00 24
340 49 17 3 40 3 15 59 00 27 00 25 00 24
350 50 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
360 51 17 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
370 52 37 3 50 3 28 60 00 27 00 25 00 24
380 53 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
390 54 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
400 55 18 3 60 3 41 63 00 29 00 27 00 26
410 56 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
420 57 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
430 58 19 3 70 3 54 66 00 31 00 29 00 28
440 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
450 59 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
460 60 20 3 80 3 67 69 00 33 00 31 00 30
22
TARIFFS RUIES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
STANDARD PASSENGER TARIFF
Cents Per Mile
For Passengers
Class A Class B Class C
Twelve vears old and over 3 4 5
Over five fears and under twelve years of age n 2 2
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
23
RELATION OF RAILROAD COMPANIES
TO THE
FREIGHT PASSENGER TARIFFS
The Railroad Companies doing business within the State of Georgia will be allowed to apply the above
STANDARD FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TARIFFS
For the transportation of Freights and Passengers in accordance with the
following Table
M
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
NAME OF ROAD i Passenger Class RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
Alabama Great Southern A Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Americus Preston and Lumpkin B Add twentyfive 25 per cent to all Classes
Atlanta W est Point R R A lo Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G H and Kadd 20 per cent FertilizersSee Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Augusta Gibson and Sanders ville A Add twentyfive25 per cent to all Classes
Augusta Knoxville A lo Classes l 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent FertilizersSee Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Beuna Vista and Ellaville B Add twentylive 25 per cent to all Classes T
Brunswick Western A lo Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd as follows Between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent Between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent Between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent Over 100 miles 20 per cent To Class J Cotton add 20 per cent FertilizersSee Note A LumberClass P C D and F See Note B To other Classes apply Standard Tariff
Central Savannah Division See Note C A To Classes 1 23 4 5 6A E G Hadd as follows Between 0 and 40 miles 0 per cent 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent To Class J Cotton add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F Se Note B Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One To Hasses L M N O and P apply Standard Tariff To B K and R apply Standard Tariff per Rule One For joint cotton rates per Rule One add 20 per cent to Class J
Central Upson Countv Branch A Same as Savannah Division
Central Savannah Griffin North Alabama A
To Classes i 2 3 4 5 6A E GHadd 20 per eent For joint cotton rates per Rule One add 20 per cent to Class J B per Standard Tariff and Rule One Fertilizers See Note A 0 D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Central Southwestern Division A Same as Savannah Division
Central Atlanta Division A For joint cotton rates per Rule One add 20 per cent to Class J Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Cherokee A t ertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Columbus Rome A Add twentyfive 25 per cent to all classes
Dublin WrightsviJle and Wrightsville Tennille Rule One B To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G and Hadd fifty 50 per cent To Class J Cotton add twenty 20 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To other Classes apply Standard Tariff
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OK GEORGIA
25
NAME OF ROAD Passenger Class RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R between Macon and Brunswick See Note D A To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G and Hadd as follows Between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent over 100 miles 20 per cent To Classes B L M N O P and R apply Standard Tariff To Classes B and R apply Rule One Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To Class J cotton per Rule One add 15 per cent Lumber 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One
East Tennessee Virginia Georgia R R between Macon and the Tennessgg State Line A Fertilizers See Kote A C D and F See Note B Lumber between Atlanta and Macon 20 per cent less than Class P per Rule One for all territory South of Atlanta Lumber North of Atlanta Class P To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff To Classes B and R applv Rule One
See Note D
Gainesville Jefferson an Southern A Add 25 per cent to all Classes
A Fertilizers See Kote A C D and F See Note B To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff To Classes B and R apply Rule One

A To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G Hadd 30 per cent To J add 15 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff

Louisville and Wadley C Add 25 per cent to all Classes
Marietta North Georgia A Add 25 per cent to all Classes
Midvilie Swainsboro Mt Vernon B To classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A G H add fifty 50 per cent To class J cotton add fifteen 15 per Cent Fertilizers L C L class K plus twenty 20 per cent Fertilizers C L not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 pounds each class M plus twenty 20 per cent To classes C D and F add twentyfive 25 per cent Lumber class P less twenty 20 per cent To classes B K L M N O P R apply standard tariff
Richmond and Danville Atlanta Charlotte AirLine Division A To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A B E G H J L M 1 O P R add 10 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff LumberClass P

Richmond and Danville Elberton AirLine 1 Hartwell Branch 1 Lawre nceville Branch j Ros well Branch J A Add 25 per cent to all Classes
Northeastern A Add 25 per cent to all Classes
Thorne A Fertilizers SeeSoteA C D and F See Note B To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff

Rome and Carrollton B Add twentvfive 25 per cent to all Classes
Sandersville and Tennille C Add 25 per cent to all Classes
Savannah Florida Western A To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6A E G Hadd as follows Between 0 and 60 miles 50 per bent Between 60 and 100 miles 40 per cent Between 100 and 150 miles 30 per cent Between 150 and 200 miles 25 per cent Over 200 miles 20 per ceut To Cotton Class J add 20 per cent Fertilizers See Note A Lumber Class P less 20 per cent Rule One C D and F See Note B To Class K apply Rule Ope To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff

Sylvania B To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 and 6A E G and Hadd 50 per cent To Cotton Class J add 20 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To all other Classes apply Standard Tariff

1aibotton C Add 25 per cent t all Classes
26
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION
NAME OF ROAD Passenger Class RATES OF FREIGHT ALLOWED
Western and Atlantic A Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B Apply Standard Tariff to all other Classes
Wrightsviile and Tennille and Dublin and Wrightsviile Rule One B To Classes i z a 4 5 6A E G and addiifty 1 50 per cent To Class J Cotton add twenty 20 per cent Fertilizers See Note A C D and F See Note B To other Classes apply Standard Tariff
FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TARIFFS
Note AFertilizers L O L Class K with 20 per cent added per Rule One
Fertilizers C L not less than ten 10 tons of 2000 lbs each Class M with 20 per cent added per Rule One
Note B On Classes C D and F add to Standard Tariff in accordance with Rule One as follows
For 60 miles and under 25 per cent
For 100 miles and over 60 miles 20 per cent
For 150 miles and over 100 miles 15 per cent
For 200 miles and over 150 miles 10 per cent
For 300 miles and over 200 miles 5 per cent
Over 800 miles standard tariff
Rule One applies to all companies except the Northeastern and narrowgauge roads
Note C On shipments passing from one division to another division of the lines operated by the Central Railroad and Banking Company add as follows
To Classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E G and H add
Between 0 and 40 miles 50 per cent
Between 40 and 70 miles 40 per cent
Between 70 and 100 miles 30 per cent
Over 100 miles 20 per cent
Note D The East Tenn Va and Ga Railroad Company is allowed to furnish the office ot the Commission for approval a tariff of joint rates to apply on freights passing from one division to another division
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
27
rules governing the transportation
OF PASSENGERS
PASSENGER RULES
1 Each passenger shall be entitled to baggage not exceeding one hundred 150 and fifty pounds
2 No more than the schedule of passenger rates shall be charged where the Ticket Office at any station shall not have been open for a reasonable time before the departure from a station of the train upon which the passenger intends to be transported
3 At junction points where the incoming train arrives so near the leaving time of the outgoing train that it is not practicable for a passenger to procure a ticket no more than the schedule of passenger rates shall be charged
4 When the passenger fare does not end in 5 or 0 the nearest sum so ending shall be the fare For example for 27 cents collect 25 cents for 28 cents collect 30 cents
5 A railroad company may charge 25 cents as a minimum full rate and 15 cents as half rate when the fare would be less than those amounts
6 No restriction of any sort is placed by the Commission upon the reduction of passenger rates below the Standard Passenger Tariff providedno unjust discrimination is practiced
7 Tickets on sale at any ofiftce in a city must be kept on sale at the Depot Ticket OfiBce of the same railroad at the same prices
8 All assent heretofore giveh railroad companies to use drawback tickets is hereby withdrawn
PASSENGERS WITHOUT TICKETS
9 The regulation of the railroads as to passengers without tickets is a matter of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse An extra charge of more than one cent per mile full fare or onehalf cent half fare is regarded as excessive unless such extra charge would fall below the minimum above given
STEEPING CARS
10 The fare for berths on Sleeping Cars shall not exceed 1 for 100 miles or less and for distances over 100 miles shall not exceed the rate of one cent per mile for each berth Provided however that for a lower berth with the upper berth not lowered the fare may be not exceeding 150 for 150 miles or less and for distances between 150 and 200 milles not exceeding 2
28
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
RULES
GOVERNING THE TRANSPORTATION OF FREIGHT
1 All connecting railroads which are under the management and control by lease i ownership or otherwise of one and the same company shall for purposes of transportation
n applying this tarifl be considered as constituting but one and the same road and the rates shall be computed as upon parts of one and the same road unless otherwise specified
2 DistancesSince a separate rate cannot be conveniently given for every possible
distancethe law authorizes the Commission to ascertain what shall ne the limits of longer and shorter distances 10 miles has accordingly been fixed as the usual limit for a change of freight rates 6
3 Stations whose distance does not vary more than 10 miles mav be grouped at the same freight rate In any 10 mile group may be embraced at the discretion of the railroad any station not more than two miles beyond the upper limit Thus 4H miles may be put in the group between 30 and 40 miles
4TheJailradS may however if tbey desire be more exact in the apportionment of rates than the table requires by giving for intermediate distances rates also intermediate I between those given in the table Thus For 95 miles on firstclass goods the charge may 1 be made between 42 cents the rate for 90 miles and 45 cents the rate for 100 miles When m computing distances a fraction of a mile occurs the distance may be counted at the next greater number of milesas 9 for 10 miles
5 For distances under 20 or over 250 miles a reduction of rates may be made without j making a changeat all stations short of 250 miles provided however that when any railroad shall make a reduction of rates for distances over 250 miles the same shall apply to similar distances on all the roads controlled by the same company and in applying this rule no more shall be charged for a less than a greater distance
n Regulations Concerning Freight RatesThe freight rates prescribed by the Commission are maximum rates which shall not be transcended by the railroads They I may carry however at less than the prescribed rates provided that if thev carry for less for one person they shall for the like service carry for the same lessened rate for all persons except as mentioned hereafter and if they adopt less freight rates from one station they s all make a reduction of the same per cent at all stations along the line of road so as to make no unjust discrimination as against any person or locality
But when from any point in this State there are competing lines one or more not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission then any line or lines which are so subject may at such competing point make rates below the Standard Tariff to meet such competition 1 without making a corresponding reduction along the line of the road
7 The te3 ehajrged for freight service by regular passenger trains may be one and a
half times that for fifistclass freight by ordinary freight trains
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
29
8 No railroad company shall by reason of any contract with any express or other company decline or refuse to act as a common carrier to transport any article proper for transportation by the train for which it is offered
9 Railroad companies may collect twentyfive 25 cents as a minimum charge on a single shipment however small
10 No railroad company doing business in this State shall permit a blockade of any class of freights on account of any arrangement existing between it and other railroad companies as to the transportation of freight according to percentages or otherwise
11 There shall be no secret reduction of rates nor shall any bonus be given or any rebate paid to any person but the rates shall be uniform to all and public
12 The rates specified for Ores Sand Clay Rough Stone Common Brick Bone Lumber Shingles Laths Staves Empty Barrels Wood Straw Shucks Hay Fodder Corn in ear Tanbark Turpentine Rosin Tar Household Goods are maximum rates but the roads are left free to reduce them at discretion and all such rates are exempted from the operation of Rule 6 Any complaints as to such rates will on presentation be duly considered
13 Shippers of car loads in Classes L M N O P and Naval Stores may be required to pay the cost of loading and unloading
14 Extra HandlingThe charge for handling extra heavy articles may be as follows viz
Under 2000 pounds no charge for extra handling
For 2000 pounds and under 3000 pounds 3 00 for extra handling
For 3000 4000 pounds 5 00 for extra handling
For 4000 5000 pounds 7 00 for extra handling
For 5000 6000 pounds 8 00for extra handling
For 6000 7000 pounds 10 00 for extra handling
For 7000 and over in proportion
15 Fertilizers This term embraces the following and like articles when intended to be used as Fertilizers Ammonia Sulphate Bone Black Bones ground or dissolved Castor Pomace or Fish Scrap Guanos Alto Vella Fish Navarro Navarro Lump Peruvian Soluble Pacific Nitrate Cake Plaster of Paris PotashGerman Salts of Muriate of Sulphate ofSalt Cake South Carolina Lump and Ground Phosphate SodaNitrate of and Sulphate ofTank Stuff etc
16 Vehicles designed for transportation at carriers risk must be properly protected by the shipper with sufficient covering or packing from all liabilities to injury from fire weather chafing or other injury
17 In no case shall the amount collected on L C L shipments exceed the charge per car load for the same class of goods
18 Railroad companies are not required to receive cotton or other merchandise and warehouse the same unless the articles offered are in good shipping condition well prepared by the shipper with proper packing and intelligent plain marking and accompanied with orders for immediate shipping
19 Car Load Rates apply to a shipment of car load or more made by one shipper at one time to one and the same point of delivery to the same consignee although the same may in fact be carried by the transportation company tothe point of delivery in lots less than the amount recognized as a car load
30
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
ESTIMATED WEIGHTS
20 Lumber Coal Lime Brick Stone and all articles for which estimated weights are given in Classification except Live Stock Ale and Beer and empty Ale and Beer packages L C L will be taken at actual weight when the weight can he ascertained but when the weight cannot be ascertained will be chaiged at the following estimated weights This not to interfere however with the duty of Receiving Agent to weigh if possible and correct to actual weight
To be used when actual weights cannot be ascertained
White Pine and Poplar thorougly Per 1000 ft Shingles green per 1000 350 lbs
seasoned 3000 lbs Shingles dry 300
White Pine and Poplargreen 4000 Lath green 530
Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash Lath dry 450
seasoned 4000 Tan Bark green per cord 2600
Yellow Pine Black Walnut Ash Tan Bark dry 2000
green 4500 Wood green 3500
Oak Hickory Elm seasoned 4500 Wood dry 3000
Oak Hickory Elm green 6000 Fence Posts and Rails
All other kinds Lumber seasoned 4000 and Telegraph Poles 3500
All other kinds Lumber green 6000 Clay per cubic yd 3000
Sand 3000
Per Car Gravel 3200 I
Hooppoles Staves and Heading Stone undressed per cubic ft 160
dry car loaded to depth of 50 Lime per bushel 80
inches 24000 lbs Coal 80
Hooppoles Staves and Heading Coke 40
green car loaded to depth of 43 Portland Cement per barrel 400
inches 24000 Other Cements 300
LIVE STOCK ETC
To be fed by owner or at his expense charged shall equal carload rates in less than
One Horse Mule or Horned Animal 2000 lbs
Two Horses Mules or Horned
Animals 8500 lbs
Each additional Horse Mule or
Horned Animal 1000 lbs
EACH
Stallions Jacks and Bulls 3000 lbs
Yearling Cattle 1000 lbs
Calves and Sheep 175 lbs
Weight estimated as follows until amount car loads
EACH
Calves and Sheep in lots of 5 or more 150 lbs
Lambs 100 lbs
Lambs in lots of 5 or more 75 lbs
Hogs for market 350 lbs
Pigs and Stock Hogs 125 lbs
Pigs Hogs Sheep Etc boxed actual weight
Locomotives and Tenders standard gauge on their own wheels 35 cents per mile
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
31
21 In cases in which the classification of any article is lowered by a percentage companies which are allowed an increase on the Tariff must apply the increase allowed to the reduced classification
22 HiH When any article is too bulky to put in a box car it shall be subject to special contract
23 WeightsA ton is 2000 pounds A car load is 20000 pounds unless otherwise specified For loads above 20000 pounds pro rata at car load rates
Provided That when a car is loaded over its marked capacity by the shipper at a flag station the railroad companies are left tree to charge for the excess a rate that will effectually stop a practice fraught with so much danger to life and property
24 The regulations of the railroads as to demurrage or detention of cars are matters of police with which the Commission will only interfere upon complaint of abuse
25 A charge of no more than two dollars per Car will be allowed for switching or transferring a car from any point on any road to any connecting road or warehouse within a space of three miles from starting point without regard to weight or contents
When in the transfer of a car between said points it is necessary to pass over the line of any intermediate road or roads the maximum charge of two dollars shall be equitably divided between the roads at interest
When a charge is made for the transfer of loaded cars between said points no additional charge shall be made for the return of the empty cars
26 The terminal facilities of a Railroad Company such as depots sidetracks platforms buildings turn tables etc cannot be used by another Railroad Company for any purpose without the consent of the owners
1 In the Com misoners Standard Freight Tariff under the Class opposite to the distance if it ends in 0 ana n nm llBu opposite the next greater distance will be found the rate required Example To find the rate for 247 miles on a box of clothing weighing 100 pounds Opposite the word clothing in the Classification is seen its Class 1 in the Freight Tariff under Class 1 opposite the next greater distance 250 miles is seen the rat 75 cents in the column Miles 10 signifies TO miles or under20 twenty miles or over 10 and so on
EXPLANATORY
2 CHARACTERS
1 represents First Class
2 represents Second Class 8 represents Third Class
4 represents Fourth Class
5 represents Fifth Class
6 represents Sixth Class
3 T 1 represents Three Times First Class
4 T 1 represents Four Times First Class
A B C D E F and H c represent Classes
1J represents 1 times First Class D 1 represents Double First Class
A B C D E F and H o respectively L C L represents Less than Car Load
C L represents Car Load
N O S represents Not Otherwise Specified
3 Articles not enumerated will be classed with similar or analogous articles
32
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
4 To ascertain the rates allowed any company or any class apply the per centages indicated For instance The percentage allowed the Savannah Division of the C K R on First Class for ten miles is 50 per cent which would be as follows First Class rate 16 cents per 100 lbs 50 per cent added 8 cents equal 24 cents per 100 lbs the rate allowed
RULE FOR COMPUTING FRACTIONS
5 When any rate in any Class in the Standard Tariff is raised or lowered by a per cent the following rules must be observed
FirstIf the rate thus raised or lowered is in either of Classes C D F J or K the fraction ot a half cent must be retained as the following examples will indicate Fx 1Standard Rate 65
25 per cent added 16
Total 81 tjoin which deduct fraction leaving desired rate of
8 cents
Ex 2Standard Rate 95 l iL
20 per cent added 19
Total 114 Substituting 5 for the fraction the desired rate is
1 5 cents
Ex 8Standard Rate 8
20 per cent added 16
Total 96 Substituting 5 for the fraction the desired rate is
95 cents
Ex 4Standard Rate 55
25 per cent added L8
Total 68 Adding a unit instead of a fraction the desired
rate is 7 cents
SecondIf the rate thus raised or lowered be in any other Class than those already men
tioned omit factions of less than ha a v au ornate halt a cent or more as
one cent
Thus Ex 1Standard Rate 17
20 per cent added 34
Total 204 Deducting the fraction the desired rate is 20 cents
Ex 2Standard Rate 18
20 per cent added 36
Total 216 Estimating the fraction as a unit the desired rate
is 22 cents
Third In making reductions observe the same manner of placing figures before deducting the percentage
6 A car load of lumber and all articles embraced in lumber is 22500 pounds
7 A car load of any article enumerated in Class P except lumber and articles included in lumber is 25000 poundsshippers to load and unload
8 Narrow gauge railroads in fixing rates on all freights where a rate per car load is given will count 15000 pounds for a car load and estimate their charge pro rata with rate allowed on standard gauge
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
33
The following extracts from the laws of the State on the subject of transportation of passengers and freight by Railroad Companies are here inserted as relating to matters of general interest
A
Railroad companies are common carriers and liable as such Code of Georgia Section 2083
B
A common carrier is bound to receive all goods and passengers offered that he is able and accustomed to carry upon compliance with such reasonable regulations as he may adopt for his own safety and the benefit of the public Code Section 2070
c
Carriers of passengers may refuse to admit or may eject from their conveyances all persons refusing to comply with reasonable regulations or guilty of improper conduct or of bad dissolute doubtful or suspicious characters So they may refuse to convey persons seeking to interfere with their own business or interest Code Section 2082

D
A carrier of passengers is bound to extraordinary diligence on behalf of himself and his agents to protect the lives and persons of his passengers But he is not liable for injuries to the person after having used such diligence Code Section 2067
I I E
The carrier of passengers is responsible only for baggage placed in his custody yet a passenger cannot relieve himself from liability for freight by assuming to take care of his own baggage Code Section 2071
F
It is the duty of the railroad company to cause their conductors agents or employees to he provided with checks so as to check all trunks or separate baggage of passengers from station to station on their roads when required And it is the duty of the conductor of every passenger train to cause upon application to him all trunks and baggage to be checked from any station to any point of destination on their road dr any road running under the control of thecompany of which he is conductor The carrier of passengers has a lien on the baggage not only for its freight but for the passengers fare Code Section 2079
G
A carrier of passengers may limit the value of the baggage to be taken for the fare paid In case of loss however and though no extra freight has been demanded or paid the carrier is responsible for the value of the baggage lost provided the same be only such articles as a traveler for business or pleasure would carry for his or her own use Code Section 2081
H
Railroad companies shall keep in each passenger car or in any car in which passengers are transported an adequate supply of good pure drinking water at all hours during the day or night and lights during the night for the use of passengers Any conductor or
34
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
agent of said roads being requested by any passenger to furnish a sufficient supply of water to the passengers in each car and light at night and shall pass any depot or station without so doing shall be liable to be indicted in any county through which the road runs and upon conviction shall be punished as prescribed in Section 4310 of the Code Code Section 4585
I
All common carriers of passengers for hire in this State shall furnish like and equal accommodations to all persons without distinction of race color or previous condition Code Section 4586
J
The conductors of all trains carrying passengers in this State are invested with all the powers duties and responsibilities of police officers while on duty on their trains They may eject all persons gambling or guilty of disorderly conduct or using profane or vulgar language and may command the assistance of the employees of the company and of the passengers on the train to assist in the removal of such offending person or persons Code Section 4586 a
K
Whenever any passenger train on any railroad in this State shall be more than onehalf hour behind its scheduletime when it passes a depot at which there is a telegraph operator and during the hours that such operator is required to be on duty it shall be the duty of such railroad company to keep posted at every succeeding telegraph station along ts line the time such train is behind its schedule Provided that such bulletin shall not be required to be posted at any station until onehalf hour before the regular schedule time at which such train is to arrive at the station at which such bulletin is required to be kept Acts 18845 p 119
L
The carrier is bound to extraordinary diligence In cases of ioss the presumption is against him and no excuse avails him unless it was occasioned by the act of God or the public enemies of the State Code Section 2066
M
A common carrier cannot limit his legal liability by any notice given either by publication or by entry on receipts given or tickets sold He may make an express contract and will then be governed thereby Code Section 2068
N
A common carrier is bound not only for the safe transportation and delivery of goods but also that the same be done without unreasonable delay Code Section 2073
o
The responsibility of the carrier commences with the delivery of the goods either to himself or his agent or at the place where he is accustomed or agrees to receive them It ceases with their delivery at destination according to the direction of the person sending or according to the custom of the trade Code Section 2070
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
35
P
The carrier hao a lien on the goods for the freight and may retain possession until it is paid unless this right is waived by special contract or actual delivery This lien exists only when the carrier has complied with his contract as to transportation He can recover pro raia for the actual distance transported when the consignee voluntarily receives the goods at an intermediate point Code Section 2077
Q
The carrier may require the nature and value of the goods delivered to him to be made known and any fraudulent acts sayings or concealment by his customers will release him from liability Code Section 2080
R
All freight bills or freight lists charged against or to be collected out of any person for whom a railroad shall carry freight in this State shall contain the items of freight charged in said bills or freight lists by some certain and specific description before they shall be collectable Code Section 2Q78
s
Whenever any party shall deliver any freight to any railroad steamboat or express company in this State for transportation it shall be the duty of the company on demand to furnish the party so delivering a good and valid receipt for the same which receipt shall specify the shipping mark or marks and numbers thereon and the weight of such article whenever the value can be estimated by weight and where the value cannot be thus estimated the receipt shall give a general description of such article and shall specify as nearly as practicable the quantity or value thereof and also the place of destination A violation of this law constitutes a misdemeanor Code Section 4604
T
All railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight shipped the freight charges over the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the road that delivers such freight such agent shall deliver the article hipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipts Code Section 719 m
u
Where there are several connecting railroads under different companies and the goods are intended to be transported over more than one railroad each company shall be responsible only to its own terminus and until delivery to the connecting road the last company which has received the goods as in good order shall be responsible to the consignee for any damage open or concealed done to the goods and such companies shall settle among themselves the question of ultimate liability Code Section 2084
36
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Y
Railroads are required to switch oif and deliver to any connecting road of the same gauge all cars consigned to points on or beyond such connecting road Code Section 719 y They are also required at the terminus or any intermediate point to receive from the connecting road of same gauge when offered all cars consigned to any point on the road to which the same is offered and transport said cars to their destination with reasonable diligence Acts 18823 p 145
w
When any railroad company shall cause to he weighed cars loaded with freight to he shipped and charged for by the oar load such weighing shall be done by a sworn weigher such as is provided under the laws of this State for the weighing of cotton rice and other products When cars are weighed singly they shall he uncoupled at both ends and weighed one at a time
When lumber or other like article of freight which from its length lps over from one car to another shall be transported the company may cause two or three of such cars so loaded to be weighed together after being uncoupled from other cars and the aggregate weight shall be averaged Provided in such cases the shipper shall not pay less freight than the amount of freight due on full car loads Acts 18823 p127
X
No railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State shall make any unjust discrimination in its rates or charges of toll for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car on its said road or upon any of the branches thereof or upon any railroads connected therewith which it has license to operate control or use Code Sec 719 rf Nor shall any railroad company discriminate in its rates or tariffs of freight in favor of any line or route connected with it as against any other line or route nor when a part of its own line is sought to be run in connection with any other route shall such company discriminate against such connecting line or in favor of the balance of its own line hut shall have the same rates for all and shall afford the usual and like customary facilities for interchange of freights to patrons of each and all lines alike Code Sec 719 s
The Proviso to the first section of the InterState Commerce Law reads as follows Provided however That the provisions of this act shall not apply to the transportation of passengers or property or to the receiving delivering storage or handling of property wholly within one State and not shipped to or from a foreign country from or tcany State or Territory as aforesaid
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
37
CLASSIFICATION
Agricultural Implements C L
not less than 24000 pounds
owners to load and unload 4 6
Agricultural Implements
L C L as follows
Cleaners Cotton Seed H 1
Condensers and Feeders Cotton
Gin 2 3
Cradles Grain set up 3 T 1 D 1
Cradles Grain K D in bundles
or boxed 1 2
Crushers Corn and Cob 3
Cultivators K D packed 1 2
Cultivators set up 3 T 1 D 1
Cutters Ensilage Straw and
Hay set up 1 1
Cutters Ensilage Straw and
Hay K I and packed 3
Distributors Guano set up 1J 1
Distributors Guano K D 2
Drills Grain set up If 1
Drills Grain K D packed 2
Dusters Bran set up 1 T 1 D 1
Dusters Bran K D packed 2
Elevators Hay 1
Evaporators Fruit 1
Evaporators Sugar D 1 u
Fans Wheat 3 T 1 D 1
Feeders and Condensers Cotton
Gin See Condensers
Forks Hay and Manure 3
Furnaces Evaporator 1
Gins Cotton 2 3
Harrows and Harrow Frames 3 4
Harrow Teeth packed 4
Hoes in bundles 3
Hoes without handles in bar
rels or casks 4
Horse Powers K D 2 3
Horse Powers Railroad or End
less Chain H
Hullers Cotton Seed and Clover 1
Incubators X D and packed D 1
Knives Hay packed 2
Machines Hemp 1 2
Machines Smut 3
Machines N OS See Machines
Middlings Purifiers 8 T 1 D 1
Mills Burrstone Portable 3
Mills Cane Corn Hominy and Sorghum
Mills Pan
Mills Fan K D
Mills with Trains Sugar
Mills N O S
Mowing and Heaping Machines Binders and Harvesters whether combined or separate K D L C L
and partly boxed C L 20000
pounds
Mowing and Reaping Machines Binders and Harvesters whether combined or separate set up
Mowers Lawn
Planters Corn and Cotton K
D in bundles or boxes Planters Corn and Cotton set up Plow Handles and other Wood in shape for Implements boxed crated or bundled
Plow Irons and Mold Boards over 20 pounds each
Plow Plates Points Wings Castings and Steel same as Bar Iron
Plows Gang and Sulky Plows set up N O S
Plows N O S K D
Presses Hay and Cotton set up Presses Hay and Cotton K D Presses N O S See presses Rakes Hand in bundles Rakes Horse set up
Rakes Horse K D
Rollers Field and Road Rollers Sugar
Scrapers Road and Pond Scythes in bundles
Scythes in boxes
Scythe Snaths Separators See thresher ricultural Implements Shellers Corn
Shovels and Spades in bundles Spreaders Manure setup Spreaders Manure K D boxed
3 T
3 T
1
Ag
T t 1 4 D1 4
3
D 1 1 3 3 3 1 2 1
1
3
h
2
4
1
1
D 1
4 6
1
3
1
5
D 1 2
5
u
5
5
4
2
2
1
38
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Sulky Plows See Plows Agri
cultural Implements
Threshers and Separators 1
Trains Sugar3 T 1
Wheelbarrows Iron 3
Wheelbarrows Railroad Wheelbarrows WTood set up D 1
Wheelbarrows Wood K D and packed or bundled 3
A
Accoutrements Military 1
Acids N O S D 1 Acids Carbolic 3
Acids Dry 3
Acids Muriatic and Sulphuric in carboys boxed L 0 L D 1 Acids Muriatic and Sulphuric in carboys boxed C L 2
Acid Sulphuric in iron casks 3
Acid Sulphuric in tank cars 6
Alcohol same as WbisKy
Ale and Beer in wood estimated weights bbl 350 lbs half
bbl 180 lbs quarter bbl 100
lbs eighth bbl 50 lbs L C L 2 Ale and Beer in wood estimated weights as above C L 4
Ale Beer and Minerals Bbls half Bbls or Kegs empty See Barrels Ale Beer and Porter in glass packed L C L securely
wired and sealed or locked 2
Ale Beer and Porter in glass packed C L secureiy wired and sealed or locked 4
Ale Beer and Porter Boxes
See Boxes
Ale Ginger in glass packed securely wired and sealed or
locked L C L 2
Ale Ginger in glass packed securely wired and sealed or locked C L 4
Almanacs and Trade Circulars prepaid 2
Alum in barrels or casks 6
Alum N O S 4
Ammonia Sulphate of L C L 6
Ammonia Sulphate of O L
same as Fertilizers Ammonia Waters See Waters Ammonia Water Casks See
Casks
Ammunition N O S 1
Anchors 5
Antimony Crude 3
Antimony Metal 4
Anvils 5
Apples See Fruit
D 1 1
Apple Butter See Butter Argols in boxes barrels or casks Arsenic Crude in kegs boxes or
barrels
Asbestos in barrels or casks Asbestos Packing See Packing Ashes and Meal Cotton Seed See Cotton Seed
Ashes Wood
Asphaltum packed
Axes
Axles and Wheels Car
Axles Carriage and Wagon Axle Grease
4
B
4
3
6
2
4
6
4
E
4
E
4
E
Babbitt Metal
Bacon See Meats Baggage Army
Baggage Personal Effects See Trunks
Bagging in rolls N O S
Bagging N O S in bales Bagging Oil Press
Bags Burlap
Bags Cotton for Flour
Bags Gunny
Bags Paper
Bags Traveling
Baking Powders
Bale Hope
Baling Twine
Band and Hot Boxes Packed D Barilla Barilla Bark and Cob Mills Bark Ground in bags or bbls NO S
Bark Tan in sacks
Bark Tan C L See Tan Bark
Barley L C L
Barley C L
Barlty Pearl
Barrel and Box Material C L same as Lumber
Barrel and Box Material L C
L
Barrels half Barrels and Kegs empty except Ale and Beer
See Circular 40
Barrels half Barrels and Kegs empty Ale and Beer estimated weights barrel 100 lbs half barrel 50 lbs keg 30 lbs Barrels Lime or Flour estima
ted weight 25 lbs
Barrels Paper in nests packed Barrels Paper not nested 4 T
Barytes L C L
Barytes C L
Base Balls and Bats 1
Baskets N O S D 1
flos H1 Isi 05 K 0 05 005 enea ijM0iWM00505 11 ifi 05 05 05 0l005
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
39
D 1 1 4 3 1 1 2 3 2 3
D 1
3 T 1
Baskets in nests1
Bath Boilers
Bath Tubs See Tubs 1
Batting Cotton D 1
Beans in boxes 2
Beans in barrels and sacks 5
Bed Cord 3
Beef Canned packed 4
Beef Fresh See Meats
Beef Smoked in boxes or barrels 4
Beef and Pork Salted in barrels estimated weight 300 lbs B
Beef and Pork Salted in quarter and half barrels actual weight B
Beer same as Ale
Bees in Hives
Bee Smokers boxed
Beeswax
Beets in barrels
Bellows
Bells Bell Metal or Brass
Bells Cast Iron
Bells Sheet Iron packed
Belting Leather
Belting Kubber
Berries See Fruit
Billiard Tables and BilliardTa ble Beds boxed
Binders See Agricultural Imp Binders Boards See Paper
Bird Cages boxed
Bitters same as Liquor
Blacking Shoe and Stove ex cept in glass packed
Blacking Shoe or Stove in glass
packed
Black Lead in kegs or barrel Blankets i Bleaching Salts
Blinds Doors and Frames C L 6 Blinds Doors and Frames L C
L V 3
Blocks Pully See Pulley Blocks 4 Blocks Shuttle rough 3
Blueing 1
Blue Stone 5
Boats Row and Pleasure S
Bobbins packed 4
Boilers Bath and Range 1
Boilers Engine or any part of Engines or Machinery C L not less than 24000 lbs to be charged for See Rule 14 4
Boiler Flues See Flues Boilers Sectional same as Boilers but not to be taken as Castings 2
Boilers Steam 30 feet and over
ijee Rule 14 1
Boilers Steam under 30 feet
Bee Rule 14 3
Boilers Felting
Bolts See Iron Boneblack
Bones and Bone Dust
See Rule 12
Bonnets same as Dry Goods Book Cases Iron See Furn ture p
Books
Boots Shoes same as Dry Gds Borax packed
Bottle Covers See Covers Bottles See Glass
Bows and Shafts See Wagor Material
Box and Barrel Stuff C L Se Barrel Material
Box and Barrel Stuff L C L See Barrel Material Boxes Ale Beer and Porter returned with empty bottles Boxes Fruit C L not less than 24000 lbs to be charged for Boxes Fruit L C L
Boxes Cigar empty packed Boxes Cracker empty returned Boxes empty including Egg
Crates L C L
Boxes empty including Egg Crates C L 24000 lbs to be
charged for
Boxes empty N O S Boxes Match wooden Boxes Paper in nests packed Boxes Paper not nested Boxes Folding K D packed Boxes Postoffice Letter Boxes Tobacco empty Boxes Vehicles Iron See Vehicles
Brackets Insulator See Telegh
Bran L C L
Bran C L 25000 lbs
Brandy See Liquors
Brass N O S in boxes barrels or casks
Brass Bedsteads packed Brass Bearings in boxes barrels
or casks
Brass Flues See Flues
Brass Scrap loose
Brass Scrap packed
Brass Valves See Valves Brass Vessels in boxes barrels or casks Bread
Brick Common and Fire C L
See Rule 12 C L 25000 lbs Brick Common and Fire L C
L
Brick Bath
Brick Machine
K
A
1
D 1 1
1
A
1
2
1
4 T 1 2 2 1
OP1
40
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Brimstone in boxes L C L 1
Brimstone in barrels L C L 3
Brimstone C L for manufacture of Fertilizers same as Fertilizers Bristles 1
Britannia Ware 1
Broom Corn pressed in Bales
L C L 6
Broom Corn pressed in Bales
C L D Broom Corn and Broom Handles C L 24000 lbs charged for mixed same as Broom Corn
Brooms 1
Brushes 1
Buckets N O S same as Wooden Ware
Buckets Coal 1
Buckets Well 4
Buckwheat Flour 6
Buffalo Robes D 1
Buggies See Carriages
Bungs 3
Burial Cases See Coffins Burlaps 6
Burning Fluid 1J
Burr Blocks same as Mill Stones
Butter in cans 1
Butter in kegs and firkins 2
Butter in buckets pails and tubs D 1 Butter Apple and other Fruits in wood 4
Butierine and Oleomargarine same as Butter
C
Cabbages packed 3
Cabbages loose C L 3
Cabinet Ware See Furniture
Cages Bird boxed3 T 1
Cages Bird K D nested and packed D 1
Cake Nitre L C L 5
Cake Nitre C L Same as Fertilizers
Cake Oil See Cotton Seed
Cake Salt L C L 5
Cake Salt C L Same as Fertilizers
Calcicake 5
Calicoes 6
Camphine 1A
Camphor 1
Candles boxed 4
Candy See Confectionery
Canned Beef packed 4
Canned Goods N O S 4
Cannon 1
1
3
3
3
6
6
1
Cans empty N O S 3 T 1
Cans empty racked or boxed 1
Cans Tobacco empty 1
Caps and Hats same as Dry Goods
Caps Percussion l
Capstans 3
Carboys See Glass
Card Clothing packed 1
Cards Cotton and Woolen Hand packed l
Cards Cotton and Woolen See
Machinery 1
Cards Playing i
Cards Show See Signs Carpeting well covered 1
Carpet Hemp and Rag 2
Carpet Lining 2
Carriages See Vehicles
Cars Logging See Logging Cars Carsstandard gauge on wheels passenger coaches 20 cts per mile
box or stock 10 cts per mile IS flat or coal 7 cts per mile
Cars Horse 3 T 1
Cars Hand Lever and Crank
Railroad K D 2
Cartridges Metallic 1
Cases and Crates Egg See Boxes Cases Show See Show Cases
Casks Iron Ammonia Water Naphtha etc returned empty 6
Cassia same as Pepper Castings Iron See Iron Castings Plaster See Plaster Castor Pomace Same as Fertilizers
Catsup in wood 4
Catsup in glass boxed 2
Cattle See Live Stock
Caustic Soda See Soda
Cement in barrels C L
Cement in barrels L C L Cement Glue packed Chain Cotton Woolen and
Hempen
Chains Iron loose
Chains Iron Cable
Chains Iron in casks barrels boxes or kegs Chairs See Furniture Chalk
2
3
5
5
5
Chalk Crayons
Chalks Prepared
Charcoal in barrels or cask
4

L C L 5
Charcoal in barrels or casks
C L not less than 24000 lbs to be charged for O
Cheese 4
M Ol t1
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Cheese Safes or Covers boxed 3 T 1
Chestnuts See Nuts 8
Chests Commissary 1
Chests Ice 1
Chicory 4
Ohimogene same as Oil Coal
China Ware 1
Chloride of Lime See Lime Chocolate 1
Chromos same as Paintings Chufas See Nuts Churns same as Wooden Ware
Cider in wood 2
Cider in glass packed 2
Cider Mills and Presses 4
Cigar Lighters 1
Cigars boxed and strapped or
corded and sealed 1
Cigars not packed as above not
taken
Cigar Boxes empty D 1
Citron 2
Clay in boxes barrels or casks
L C L 6
Clay C L See Eule 12 250001bs P
Clay Burnishing packed 5
Clay Pire L C L 6
Clay Fire C L See Kule 12
25000 lbs P
Clay German 5
Cleaners See Agricultural Imp
Clocks boxed 1
Clock Weights packed 5
Clothes Lines 3
Clothes Pins 2
Clothes Wringers 2
Clothing same as Dry Goods Clothing Card See Card Clothg Clothing Rubber See Rubber Clover and Grass Seed C L 4
Clover and Grass Seed L C L 3
Clover Hullers 1
Coal and Coke in boxes barrels or casks A
Coal and Coke C L L
Coal Buckets 1
Coal Oil See Oil
Coal Tar See Tar
Cocoa 1
Cocoa Matting See Matting
Cocoa Nuts See Nuts
Cocoa Oil 2
Codfish See Fish 1
Coffee Extract or Essence of
See Extract
Coffee Green single sacks 4
Coffee Green double sacks 6
Coffee Ground or Roasted in sacks 3
Coffee Ground in boxes or barrels 5
Coffee Roasted in boxes or bar
5 Coffee Mills 2
Coffins N O S 1
Coffins in nests 1
Coffins K D 3
Coffins Metallic 2
2 Coke See Coal
Collars Horse See Saddlery Collars Paper packed 1
Cologne 1
Commissary Chests and Stores 1
Compounds See Powders
5 Condensers See Agricultural
4 Implements
Confectionery Candy value limited to 6 cents per lb and so specified on Bill of Lading 4 Confectionery Candy value limited to 20 cents per lb and so specified on Bill of Lading 3 Confectionery N O S 1
Coolers and Filters Water bxd 1
Copal See Gum
Copperas in barrels or casks 5
Copperas N O S 4
Copper and Brass in boxes barrels or casks 3
Copper and Brass Scrap packed 5
Copper and Brass Scrap loose 4
Copper and Brass Vessels in boxes barrels or casks 2
Copper Bottoms Copper Plates Sheets Bolts Wire and Rods 3
Copper Flues See Flues Copper Ingots Pigs and Matts 4
Copper Ore C L 25000 lbs P Copper Ore L C L 6
Copper Stills to be crated 3 T 1 Copying Presses See Presses
Cordage 3
Cork 1
1 Corn Starch See Starch
Corn D
Corn Flour same as Starch
Corn Seed in boxes See Seed Corn and Cob Crushers 3
Corn Meal D
Corsets 1
Cotton in bales J
Cotton Baskets Patent combination of cloth and wood knocked down and packed together 6
Cotton Batting in lots of 100 bales of 50 pounds each 6
Cotton Batting N O S 1
Cotton Duck See Duck Cotton Flour Sack Material known as print cloth in bales uncovered 1
Cotton Linten or Regins See
Regins
Cotton Seed Cotton Seed Meal
42
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Ashes and Oil Cake L 0 L class K with 20 per cent added per Rule 1 5
Cotton Seed Cotton Seed Meal Ashes and Oil Cake C L class M with 20 per cent added per Rule 1
Cotton Seed Mills 2
Cotton Softener Liquid in bbls 4 Cotton Waste See Waste Covers and Safes See Cheese Covers Bottle Paper Straw or Wooden packed or pressed
in bales 3
Covers Wooden See Wooden
Covers
Crackers 3
Cracklings 4
Cradles Grain See Agricultural Implements
Cranberries 3
Crates and Cases Egg See Boxes
Creameries 3T1
Cream Tartar in boxes or kegs 2
Cream Tartar in barrels or hogsheads 3
Crockery same as Earthenware Croquet Sets in boxes 2
Cross Arms See Telegraph
Crow Bars See Iron
Crucibles 1
Crushers See Agricultural Imp
Crystals Washing 4
Cultivators See Agricultural Implements
Currants See Fruit
Cutch 4
Cutlery 1
Cutters See Agricultural Imp
D1
3
D
Dates See Fruit
Deer boxed 3 T 1
Deer Skins pressed in bales 2
Deer Tongue in barrels or boxes 1 Deer Tongues in bales 3
Demijohns See Glass Denims See Domestics Dessicated Meats and Vegetables 4
Detergent 4
Disinfectants in glass packed 1
Disinfectants N O S in barrels 4
Distributors See Agricultural
Implements
Domestics Denims Sheetings Shirtings Tickings Jeans Checks Cotton Rope Thread Yarns and other factory products 6
Doors Iron See Iron
Doors and Frames See Blinds Drills Grain See Agricultural
Implements
Drugs and Medicines N O S 1
Drums 3 T 1
Dry Goods N O S 1
Dry Goods in boxes or bales 1
Dry Goods in trunks See Trunks
Duck Cotton 1
Dusters See Agricultural Imp
Dye Liquid or Wood Liquor in barrels 3
Dye Stuff in boxes or barrels 1
Dye Woods in boxes or barrels 2
Dye Woods in stick 4
B
Earthenware Jugware or Stoneware loose 1
Earthenware Jugware or Stoneware in boxes barrels or casks 2 Earthenware Jugware or Stoneware in crates or hogsheads 4
Earthenware Jugware or Stoneware loose C L 20000 lbs Common Jugware C L Egg Cases and Crates See Boxes
Eggs packed 1
Electric Light Carbons packed
L C L b 2
Electric Light Carbons packed
C L 3
Elevators See Agricultural Imp Emery value 4 cents per pound 3
Emery N O S 2
Engines Boilers or any part of Engines or Machinery C L not less than 24000 pounds to be charged for See Rule 14 4
Engines Caloric Fire Portable and Stationary See Rule 14 2
Equipage Military Camp Garrison and Horse 1
Essences See Extract Evaporators See Agricultural Implements
Excelsior pressed in bales 4
Exhibitors See Wire Work Explosives See Powder Extinguishers Fire hand glass oi grenade packed 1
Extinguishers Fire on wheels D l Extract Bark for tanning in
wood 5
Extract Bark for tanning in
glass packed 2
Extract of Indigo in barrels 3
Fxtract of Logwood 2
Extract of Logwood Dry C L 4
Extract of Malt in glass packed
same as Ale
Extract or Essence of Coffee 2
Extract and Essences N O S 1
o
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
43
R
Facing Iron and Coal in barrels
Fans in boxes
Fans Palm Leaf pressed Fans Wheat See Agricultural Implements
Farina
Faucets boxed
Feathers
Feeders See Agricultural Imp Felloes See Vehicles Felt Roofing See Roofing
Felting
Fence Wire and Wood combination Fencing See Iron
Fertilizers C L Class M plus 20 per cent Rule 1 Fertilizers L C L 20 per cent
higher than Class K Rule 1 Fibre Palmetto and Pine
pressed in bales
Figs in drums
Figs in casks or boxes Figures See Images
Filters See Coolers
Finding Shoe
Fire Arms
Firecrackers and Fireworks packed so marked Fire Extinguishers See Extinguishers
Fish N 0 S in cans boxed Fish Pickled or Salted in barrels half barrels kegs or kits Fish Dry Salted etc packed Fish Dry Salted in bundles Fish Fresh L C L prepaid Fish Fresh C L prepaid Fish Sardines and other Small Fish canned in pickle or oil packed
Fish Smoked in boxes
Fishing Rods
Fittings Iron Pipe in boxes Fittings Iron Pipe in kegs casks or barrels Fittings Iron Pipe in bundles
wired
Fixtures Gas packed
Fixtures Grate packed Fixtures Grate loose Fixtures Tobacco See Machinery
Flax pressed in bales Flax Seed See Seed
Flour in barrels estimated weight 200 pounds
Flour in sacks
Flour Buckwheat
Flour Corn same as starch
Flour Sack Material See Cotton Flour Selfraising in packages Flues Copper and Rrnss boxed C
4 2
D 1 Flues Iron 4
1 Fluor Spar L C L Fluor Spar C L Same as Fer o
tilizers
2 Fodder See Hay
2 Foil Tin in boxes 2
D 1 Food Preservatives packed 3
Forges Portable 3
Forks See Agricultural Imp Fountains Soda fully boxed 3 T 1
2 Fountains Soda not taken un
less fully boxed
5 Fowls See Poultry Frames Bed See Furniture
Frames Door and Window See Blinds Frames for Pictures Mirrors
Looking Glasses boxed or crated H
6 Frames loose or in bundles 8 T 1
1 Frames mounted with Mirrors
2 or Looking Glasses when shipped separately from other 3 T 1
Furniture
1 Freezers Ice Cream 1
1 Fruit in cans boxed N 0 S 4
Fruit in Glass packed 1
1 Fruit Berries Dried 4
Fruit Berries Green prepaid Fruit Dates 2
4 Fruit Dried Currants 2
Fruit Dried N 0 S 3
6 Fruit Dried Apples and Peaches 4
5 Fruit Grapes prepaid
2 Fruit Green N 0 S prepaid
6 or guaranteed
L Fruit Apples Peaches not
dried and other green fruit in barrels or boxes L C L
2 Fruit Apples Peaches not
2 dried and other green fruit in barrels or boxes C L
D 1
2 Furnaces Evaporators Furs N 0 S Skins and Pel 1
6 tries See Skins Furs in bags 3 T 1
D 1 Furs in boxes bundles and
2 trunks strapped D 1
2 3 Fuse D 1
n 1 Furniture Classification Furniture when in car loads as
a follows not less than mini
mum weight to be charged for excess in proportion viz
F Bedsteads manufactured of pine
c poplar or other common woods finished or in the white mini
6
mum weight 15000 pounds 3
44
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Bedsteads manufactured of
Walnut Mahogany Rose
wood Chestnut or other hard woods minimum weight 15000 pounds
Furniture all articles of Furniture N O S when manufactured of Pine Poplar or other common woods minimum
weight 15000 pounds Furniture all articles of Furniture N O S when manufactured of Walnut Mahogany Rosewood Chestnut or other hard woods minimum weight
15000 pounds
Furniture when in less than car loads and when manufactured of Pine Poplar or other common woods as follows
Beds Folding wrapped or crated Bedsteads wrapped or crated Bureaus wrapped or crated Bureau Glass Frames in bundles Chairs Cane Splint and Wood Seat set up
Chairs Cain Splint and Wood Seat packed in pairs Chair Stuff K D in bundles or
boxes
Cots set up
Cots K D or folded Cribs K D or folded Desks wraped or crated Furniture N O S set up wrapped or crated Furniture NO S K D boxed crated or wrapped
Hall Stands wrapped or crated Lounge Frames set up Lounge Frames hacks taken oft Safes Kitchen set up Safes Kitchen KD
School Desks and Seats setup School Desks and Seats K D Settees same as chairs Tables wrapped or crated Tables K D flat
Table Legs Slides Leaves and
Supports
Wardrobes set up wrapped or crated
Wardrobes K D wrapped or crated
Washstands wrapped or crated Furniture when in less than oar loads and when manufactured of Walnut Mahogany Rosewood and Chestnut or other hard woods as follows viz
Beds folding wrapped or crated Bedsteads wrapped or crated
2 3
1 2
2 3
2 3
1 2
1
2
3 4
1 2
2 3
2 3
1 2
n 1
2 3
2 3
H 1
1 2
1 1
1 2
2 3
3 4
n 1
2 3
2 3
n 1
2 3
2 3
Bookeases wrapped or crated Bureaus wrapped or crated Bureau Glass Frames in bundles Chairs Camp and Folding Seat Chairs K D in bundles or boxes Chairs NO S set up wrapped or crated
Chairs Opera Iron packed Chairs Rattan and Willow Chairs Cane Splint and Wood
Seat set up
Chair Stock K D in bundles or boxes
Cots set up
Cots KD or folded
Cribs K D or folded Desks wrapped or crated Furniture N O S set up wrapped or crated Furniture N O S K D boxed
crated or wrapped
Hall Stands wrapped or crated Hat Racks K D or folded Hat Racks wrapped or crated Lounges upholstered backs taken off
Lounges Willow or Rattan
Lounge Frames set up Lounge Frames backs taken off Marble for Furniture boxed or
crated
Mattresses Hair or Spring Mattresses Shuck Excelsior or
N O S
Parlor Frames
Refrigerators
School Desks and Seats set up School Desks and Seats K D Settees same as Chairs Sideboards wrapped or crated Sofas and Teteatetes wrapped
or crated
Spring Beds set up
Spring Beds folded
Spring Beds K D packed Tables set up wrapped or crated
Tables K D Flat
Table Legs Slides Leaves and
Supports
Wardrobes set uji wrapped or crated
Wardrobes K D wrapped or
crated
Washstands wrapped or crated
Gambia
Game See Poultry
Gasoline See Oil
Gauges Steam See Machinery Gelatine
j 1
1 2
1 2
1 1
3 4
1
Jj 1
1
1
2 3
H 1
2 3
1 2
1 2
D 1 H
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 1
n 1
n 1
if 1
i 2
i 2
D 1 1
1
1 1
2 3
1 2
2 3
H 1
1 1
n
i
2 Q
D 1 n
1 2
2 3
D 1 n
1 2
1 2
4
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
45
Generators Gas 3
Ginger Ground in boxes 2
Gingei in bags 3
Gins See Agrl Implements
Ginseng 1
Glass Stained or Signs 3 T 1 Glass Bottles and Tumblers common packed 2
Glass Carboys empty D 1
Glass Chimneys 2
Glass Demijohns empty not packed 4T1
Glass Demijohns filled not packed or boxed not taken
Glass Demijohns filled boxed
Glass Demijohns empty packed D 1 Glass Floor Lights rough and
heavy
Glass Fruit Jars common pack ed any quantity 4
Glass Insulators packed 4
Glass Lanterns packed 1
Glass Oil Cans with metal jackets packed same as empty
cans
Glass Plate 7x12 feet or under D 1 Glass Plate over 7x12 feet 3 T 1 Glass Roofing and Skylight not
Window Glass 2
Glass Stained of Signs 3 T 1 Glass Vault Lights rough and
heavy 5
Glassware fine cut or engraved D 1
Glassware N O S 2
Glass Window 14x16 inches and
under 4
Glass Window over 14x16 inches and not over 32x44 2
Glass Window over 32x44
inches D 1
Glucose same as Molasses
Glue 3
Glue Scrap 5
Glycerine in cans boxed or in
barrels 1
Glycerine in iron tanks or casks 3
Glycerine Nitro plainly labeled L C L4 T 1
Glycerine Nitro plainly labeled C L 3 T 1
Grain D
Granite See Stone
Granite Roofing See Roofing
Grapes See Fruit
Grate Baskets packed 2
Grate Baskets loose 1
Grate Fixtures See Fixtures
Grate
Grates completely packed 2
Grates completely loose 1
Grave Stones See Marble
Grease Axle 6
1
4
3
4
3T1
3 T 1
5
2
D 1 3
D1
1
3
5
4 1
4
3
3
1
Grease Car in barrels 6
Grenades See Extinguishers Grindstones
Grits Corn in barrels
Grits Wheat in barrels
Grits in boxes
Groceries N O S
Guano See Fertilizers
Gum Camphor See Camphor
Gum Copal Kowrie and Shel
lac 2
Gums N O S 2
Gun Cotton D 1
Gunny Bags See Bags Gunpowder See Powder Guns Rifles See Fire Arms Gypsum Lund Plaster Fertilizer Same as Fertilizers
Gums Chewing 1
Hair in sacks 1
Hair Cattlefor plastering pressed in bales 4
Hair Curled pressed in bales
and Hair Rope 2
Hair Goods manufactured
packed in boxesD 1
Hames in bundles or packed 3
Hammocks and Fixtures 1J
Hams same as Bacon
Handles NOS boxed or crated 5
Handles Broom boxed or
crated L C L 4
Handles Broom C L not less than 24000 pounds to be
charged for 6
Handles Broom and Broom Corn C L mixed same as above HandlesPlow See Agrl Imp Hangers See Machinery Hardward boxed N O S 2
Harness See Saddlery Harrows See Agrl Imp
Hats and Caps same as D G Haversacks 1
Hay Fodder and Straw pressed in bales C L or over minimum weight 20000 lbs to car
load all excess to be charged for at proportionate rates D
Hay Fodder and Straw pressed in bales L C L R
Heading See Shooks
Head Lights boxed D 1
Heaters Steam See Machinery
Hemp in bales 3
Herbs See Roots
Hessians in original bales 6
Hides Dry loose 1
Hides Dry in bales 3
1
ts3 O OS
46
TARIFFS RUTES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Hides Dry in bales compressed 4 Hides Green 4
Hides Green salted 5
Hinges and Hooks in barrels or casks 3
Hinges and Hooks in boxes 2
Hives Bee empty set up 1
Hives Bee K D crated 6
Hobby Horses entirely boxed or
crated D 1
Hobby Horses unboxed 4 T 1 Hoes See Agrl Implements
Hods Coal See Buckets Hollow Ware loose L C L 1
Hollow Ware loose shipped separately from Stoves C L not less than 15000 pounds to be barged for 3
Hollow Ware packed 3
Hominy except in boxes same as Flour
Hominy in boxes same as Grits Honey in glass or tin boxed 1
Honey in comb boxed 1
Honey in barrels or kegs 1
Honey Extractors crated 1
Honey Section Boxes and Frames in crates or boxes 3
Hoofs and Horns
Hoop Iron A
Hoop Poles 6
Hoop Skirts D 1
Hoops Barrel woodensame as
Box Stuff
Hoops Truss Coopers 1
Hops baled 2
Hops in boxes 1
Horns See Hoofs
Horse and Mule Shoes in kegs or boxes 6
Horse Powers See Agrl Imp
Hose Carriages See Vehicles
Hose Leather 2
Hose Bubber 3
Hospital Stores 1
Household Goods and old Furniture packed value over 5 per 100 pounds and full value expressed in bill of lading said valuation only to apply in cases of total loss D 1 Household Goods and old Furniture packed value limited to 5 per 100 pounds and so expressed in bill lading said valuation only to apply in case of total loss L C L 1 Household Goods and old Furniture well packed C L 20000 pounds to be charged for value limited to 5 per 100 piounds said valuation
1
3T1
3
5
4
3
3
5
4
K
1
4
only to apply in case of total
ffi loss 2
SoHousehold Goods and old Furniture with Live Stock one attendant to have passage o free on same train as car C L
valhe limited to 5 per 100 pounds said valuation only os to apply in case of total loss D 1
5
EXPLANATIONS
5 1All Bundles of Bedding Trunks of Clothing House hold Goods or similar arti
6 cles not Furniture will not
S be received for transporta
tion unless packed chests of J similar articles must be strapped or securely nailed
This does not applyto C L e of Household Goods
2 Bills Lading and Way Bills
mustdesignate character and
number of packages
3 These instructions apply to oldiand secondhand Furniture Clothing Beddingetc not to new articles
Hubs and Felloes See Vehicles Hullers See Agrl Imp
Husks and Shucks in bales See
Kule 12 D
Hydrants and Fire Plugs 5
X
Ice L C L in casks prepaid 6
Icfe C L L
Images and Figures Bronze or Metal packed not Iron Stat
uary 3 T 1
Incubators See Agrl Imp Indigo 1
Indigo Extract See Extract Infusorial Earth same as Food Preservatives
Ink in wood 4
Ink Printing in wood 4
Ink Writing Fluid in glass or
stone boxed 3
Insulators See Glass
Iron Bedsteads 4
Iron Castings in boxes 2
Iron Bar Band Boiler and Jail Plate Car Wheels and Axles Wagon and Carriage Axles
Iron Pipe 6
Iron Wagon and Carriage Skeins and Boxs packed in kegs barrels or casks 6
Iron Wagon Skeins loose 4
Iron Hails and Spikes Bolts
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Nuts Rivets and Washers in kegs
Iron Plow Plates Points Wings Castings and Steel wired or packed
Iron Bolts Nuts Rivets andWashers in other packages Iron Bridge Pig Scrap Railroad Spikes Chairs Frogs Pish Plates and Fish Plate
Bolts L C L
Iron Bridge Pig Scrap Rail road Spikes Chairs Frogs Pish Plates and Fish Plate Bolts C L See Rule 12 Iron Castings not Machinery unpacked each piece under 200
pounds
Iron Castings heavy not Machinery unpacked each 200 pounds or over See Rule 14 Iron Castings not Machinery or Sewing Machines in kegs or
casks
Iron Crow Bars and Forgings Iron Flues See Flues
Iron Fronts Girders and Beams
for buildings
Iron Hoop Sheet and Galvanized in rolls or bundles wired
or crated
Iron Hoop Sheet and Galvanized boxed
Iron Mantels Grate Baskets Fronts Fenders and Frames
packed
Iron Mantels Grate Baskets Fronts Fenders and Frames
not packed
Iron Nail Rods packed Iron Nail Rods not packed Iron Picks and Mattocks in bundles
Iron Picks and Mattocks packed Iron Railing and Fencing Iron Retorts See Retorts Iron Roofing in rolls or bundles wired or crated
Iron Roofing boxed
Iron Roofing N O S Iron Russia in rolls or bundles wired or crated
Irons Sad See Sad Iron Iron Scrap Sheet in rolls or bundles wired or crated
Iron N O S boxed or crated Iron Shutters and Doors Iron Sponge purifying material Iron Statuary Chairs and Lawn Ornaments boxed or crated Iron Urns
Iron Vault and Prison Work 4
6 Iron Wedges and Sledges in
bbls 7 5
Iron Wedges and Sledges loose 3
6 Iron Work Galvanized 2
Isinglass 3 T 1
2 Ivorv 1
Ivory Black 4
J
6
Jack Screws and Wagon Jacks 3
Japan Ware f 1
Taponica 4
M Jars Glass See Glass Jars
Jeans See Domestics
Jellies in glass packed 1
8 5 Jellies in cans boxed 4
Jellies in wood N 0 S 3
Jugs See Earthenware
4 5 Junk and Jute 6
Jute Butts 6
Jute Waste or Tailings See
4 5 Waste
5 PC
4 6 Kainit See Fertilizers
Kalsomine same as paints
Kegs empty N 0 S same as
3 5 bbls
Kegs empty N 0 S in crates 3
4 6 Kegs Ale and Beer empty es
timated weight 30 lbs E
Kettle Large Iron
2 4 Kerosene See Coal Oil
Kindlings 6
Knapsacks 1
1 3 Kowrie See Gum
2 6 L
3 Ladders not over 30 feet long 1
Ladders over 30 feet long D 1
5 Ladders Step 2
3 5 Lampblack in casks bbls or
boxes 3
Lamps and Lamp Goods packed 2
6 Land Plaster See Fertilizers
5 6 Lanterns See Glass
3 Lard 4
Lasts Shoe 3
3 5 Laths actual weight See lum
her
Leadin boxes 5
6 Lead in casks or pigs 6
1 2 Lead Bar or Sheet 5
4 Lead Black See Black Lead
3 Lead Pipe See Pipe
Lead White same as Paints
1 2 Leather loose N 0 S 1
3 5 Leather in rolls or boxes 3
48
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Leather Scrap in bales 4 Lye Concentrated 5
Leaves Powdered in boxes or
bbls 1 M
Lemons See Oranges
Lentils in bags boxes or barrels 3 Machinery
Letter Boxes Post Office 8
Licorice in sticks roots or mats 3 Boilers Engines or any part of
Licorice in mass boxed 4 Engine or Machinery C L
Lightning Rods in boxes 3 not less than 24000 pounds to
Lightning Rods in bundles 2 be charged for See Rule 14 4 5
Lightning Rod Fixtures packed 2 Brick Machines See Rule 14 4
Lemon or Lime Juice in barrels 4 Cotton Presses See Agrl Imp
Lemon or Lime Juice in glass Cotton and Woolen except
packed 1 2 Looms set up D 1 1
Lime in sacks casks or barrels Cotton and Woolen except
0 L L Looms crated n 1
Lime in sacks casks or barrels Cotton and Woolen except
L C L 0 Looms K D and boxed t i 2
Notes 5 and 10 Hoisting K D See Rule 14 4
Lime Chloride of in barrels or Looms 3 T 1
casks 6 Machinery C L 24000 lbs to
Lime Chloride of N 0 S 4 be charged for See Rule 14 4 5
Lime Liquid prepared for Machinery N O S L C L 3
whitewashing canned and See Rule 14 2
packed 5 Machinists Tools Planers
Limestone same as Marble and Lathes etc 2 3
Granite Printing Presses K D boxed
Limestone ground same as or crated 3
Lime Printing Presses K D not bxd 1 2
Linseed See Seed Printing Presses set up D 1 1
Liquors in glass boxes or bas Saw Mills unboxed in parts 2 3
kets N 0 S 1 1 Saw Mills boxed in parts 4
Liquors in wood N 0 S 1 2 Shaftings Hangers Pulleys etc 4 5
Liquors WhiskyDomestic Bran Shingle Machines 2
dies and Domestic Wines in Stamp Mill Machinery boxed
wood owners risk of leakage L C L 5
value limited to 75c per gal Stamp Mill Machinery boxed
Ion and so endorsed on bill C L 6
lading H Stamp Mill Machinery loose
Liquors Whisky in wood N L C L 4
O S 2 3 Stamp Mill Machinery loose
Liquors Whisky in boxes or C L 5
baskets 1 2 Stamp Mill Castings L C L 6
Lithographic Stone 1 2 Stamp Mill Castings C L class
Live Stock C L 1 N M with 20 per cent added
Live Stock L C L See Rule 20 1 2 Steam Gauges 1
Locomotives See Vehicles Steam Heaters packed 4
Locomotive Head Lights boxed D 1 Steam Heaters not packed 2 3
Locomotive Tires See Tires Tobacco Screws and Fixtures 4
Logging Cats K D or set up Water Wheels Turbine See 4
C L 24000 lbs charged for 6 Rule 14 3
Logging Cars smaller parts Wood Working set up See 1
boxed 5 Rule 14 1 1
Logging Cars set up L C L 4 Wood Working packed K D
Logs See Lumber See Rule 14 3
Logwood See Extract Machines Brick See Machinery
Looking Glasses same as Mirrors Machines Hemp See Agricul
Looms See Machinery tural Implements
Lumber Dressed or Rough L Machines Meat Cutters 2
C L 6 Machines Mowing See Agri
Lumber Dressed or Rough C cultural Implements
L 22500 pounds See Rule 12 P Machines Sewing unboxed 8 T 1
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
49
Machines Sewing or parts set up crated or boxed 1
Machines Sewing or parts K
D boxed or crated 3
Machines Shingle See Machinery
Machines Smut See Agricultural Implements
Machines Washing 2
Macaroni 1
Mackerel See Fish
Madder 3
Malt D
Malt in boxes 1
Malt Extract See Extract
Manganese Crude P
Manganese Ground packed 5
Manilla 3
Mantels Iron Se Iron Mantels Slate packed 2
Maps boxed 1
Marble and Granite Bases and Shafts for Monuments unlettered 3
Marble and Granite L C L See Stone
Marble and Granite dressed boxed or crated L C L See Stone
Marble and Gfanite rough L C L See Stone
Marble and Granite dressed except Gravestones and Monuments C L See Stone
Marble and Granite Gravestones and Monuments packed and
prepaid D 1
Marl same as Lime
Marble Dust same as Cement Marbles in casks or boxes 4
Marble Tiles See Tiles Matches properly marked and packed alone 1
Match Splints packed in cases 3
Material for Flour Sacks See Cotton Flour Sacks
Mats and Bugs N O S 1
Mats Grass Hemp Hair Steel
Wire Kubbef and Cocoa 3
Mats Oil 1
Matting 2
Mattocks and Picks See Iron Mattresses SMuck Excelsior N
0 S t 2
Mattresses Hair D 1
Mattresses Shuck and Excelsior 1
Mattresses Hair Spring or Woven v j li
Meal and Ashes Cotton Seed
L C L See Cotton Seed
Meal and Ashes Cotton Seed
C L See Cotton Seed
Meal Corn
1 Meal Oat in barrels
Meal Oat in boxes
Measures same as Wooden Ware Meat in bulk C L not less than 24000 pounds Mo freight charge to be made for Salt in same car with Meat used to preserve it in transit Meat Cutters See Machines Meat Bacon in bulk L C L Meat Bacon in bulk not less than 24000 pounds C L Meat Bacon packed in wood Meat Bacon in bags
Meats Dessicated See Dessi
cated
Meats Fresh L C L
Meats Fresh Beef Sausage 3 Fresh Poultry dressed C L
not less than 24000 pounds charged for
Meats Fresh Beef Sausage 5 Fresh Poultry dressed Bacon
and other meats mixed C L
Same as above
Medicines and Drugs N O S Medicines Patent L C L Medicines Patent C L
Melodeons See Pianos
Melons freight guaranteed Meters Gas boxed
Meters Gas not boxed not taken Meters Waterboxed
Meters Water not boxed not
taken
Mica3 T
Milk Condensed boxed
Millet same as Hay
Millet Seed
Millinery Goods same as Dry
Goods
Millo Maize
Mills Barilla Bark and Cob
Mills Coffee and Paint set up Mills Cotton Seed
Mills Flour roller
Mills N O S See Agrl Imp Mill Stones finished
Mill Stones rough
Mill Stuff Rule 12 Same as Bran
Mince Meat
Mineral Waters See Water Mining Oars and Wagons same as Logging Cars Mirrors 3 feet or under packed 3 T 1 Mirrors over 3 feet not exceeding 7x12 packed3 T 1
Mirrors over 7x12 packed 4 T 1 Molasses in cans boxed or in kegs 3
2
1
D 1 4
CO CO hiC f1 OS CoWtO CO td fcSCl
50
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Molasses or syrup in half barrels barrels or hogsheads Rule 1 R Moniknents and Gravestones metal packed value not over 30000 prepaid D1 2
Monuments and Gravestones value over 30000 S
Monuments and Gravestones
See Marble
Mops 1
Moss in sacks 1
Moss pressed in bales 4
Motes Cotton See Sweepings Moulders Dust or Sand See
Sand
Mouldings boxed 2
Mouldings in bundles 1 3
Mouldings common for building1 purposes 4
Mouldings N O S D 1
Mouse Traps See Traps
Mowers See Agricultural Imp Mucilage packed 2
Musical Instruments N O S D 1 1
Mustard Ground in boxes 2
Mustard prepared in glass pkd 2
Mustard prepared in kegs or bbls 3
Mustard Seed 6
N
Nails Brass and Copper well packed in boxes or kegs 3
Nails for Horse or Mule Shoes in boxes 5
Nails and Spikes Iron in bags 3
Nails and Spikes Iron in boxes 5
Nails and Spikes Iron in kegs 6
Naptha in iron casks 6
Naptha Casks See Casks
Nitre Cake See Cake
Notions same as Dry Goods
Nutmegs 2
Nuts Chestnuts prepaid 5
Nuts Pecans in barrels L C L 3 Nuts Pecans in barrels C L 5
Nuts Cocoa packed or sacked
LC L 5
Nuts Cocoa C L 6
Nuts Edible in bags N O S 1 Nuts Edible in barrels or casks
N O S 2
Nuts Peanuts and Ohuias L C
L 5
Nuts Peanuts and Chufas C L 6
o
Oakum 4
Oats D
Oil Cake See Cotton Seed
Oil Cloth 16 feet long or over boxed 1
Oil Cloth less than 16 feet long boxed 2
Oil Cloth baled 1
Oil Cloth not boxed or baled not in shipping order
Olives in glass packed 1
Olives in barrels or casks 4
Onions in barrels 3
Onion Sets 3
Oranges and Lemons 1
Ordnance Stores IS O S 1
Ores Iron L C L 6
Ores Iron C L 25000 lbs P Ores samples or specimens must be prepaid 6
Organs See Pianos
Oysters in cans or kegs 4
Oysters shell in barrels Oysters shell in bulk C L Oysters in glass packed 1
Oil Castor in glass packed 1
Oil Castoi in bbls 3
Oil Coal or its products in bbls
L C L3
Oil Coal or its products in barrels C L 3
Oil Coal or its products in cans D 1 Oil Coal or its products in cans boxed L C L 1
Oil Coal or its products in cans boxed C L 2
Oil Coal or its products in tank
cars
Oil Coal or its products in tank
cars or barrels must always
be charged at actual weight
Oil Cocoa in original packages 1 Oil Cocoa in barrels 3
Oil Cotton or Palm Seed crude L C L See Cotton Seed Oil Cotton Seed C L See Cotton Seed
Oil Kerosene See Coal Oil
Oil Lard and Linseed 3
Oil Lubricating the product of Coal Oil same as Coal Oil
Oil Pine same as Coal Oil
Oil Sassafras in glass or cans
boxed 3 T1
Oils in glass or cans packed except Coal Oil and Sassafras
Oil 1
Oils in jars not packed not taken
Oils N O S in bbls 3
Oleomargarine same as Butter
F
Packing Asbestos in cases 2
Packing Asbestos in rolls 4
Packing Hemp 4
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
Packing Metallic
Packing Rubber
Paintings and Pictures well bxd Value of each box not to exceed 200
Paintings and Pictures over 200 in value
Paints bulk in barrels or casks
dry
Paints bulk in barrels or casks in liquid
Paints bulk in kegs liquid Paints in pails or cans packed Paints in pails or cans unpacked
Paints Metallic same as Paints Paper Bags
Paper Barrels See Barrels Paper Binders Board in cases Paper Binders Board in bundles
Paper Bottle Covers See Covers
Paper Boxes See Boxes Paper cans crated
Paper Card
Paper Collars See Collars Paper Hangings in bundles Paper Hangings boxed Paper Medicated or Closet Paper Pasteboard Paper Printing Wrapping and Roofiing in bundles Paper the same as above boxes C L and L C L Paper in Rolls for manufacture
of bags
Paper Pulp
Paper Roofing Paper product of Southern mills shipped direct from mills Paper Sand and Flint Paper Stock in sacks barrels crates or hogsheads Rule 1 Paper Stock pressed in bales Rule 1 k
Paper Straw Boards
Paper Wall any quantity in
bundles
Paper Wall any quantity in boxes
Paper Ware N O S
Paper Writing Book or Blotting in boxes Paris White same as paint Paste in barrels
Peacbes in boxes barrels or hags
See Fruit
Peach Stones packed
Pearline
Peanuts See Nuts Pearl Ash
2 Peas in boxes 2
3 Peas in bags or barrels D
Pegs Shoe in bags 1
Pegs Shoe in barrels or boxes 2
D I 1 Peltries See Skins
Pencils Slate 3
8 T 1 D 1 Pepper and Spices in bags 3
Pepper and Spices N 0 S
0 ground in boxes 2
Pepper Sauce in glass packed 1
5 Perfumer 1
5 Petroleum See Coal Oil
3 4 Photographic Material 1
Pianos Organs and Melodeons
1 boxed H
Pianos Organs and Melodeons
6 unboxed not taken
Pickers Cotton Raw Hide 2
2 Pickles in glass packed I
Pickles in barrels or casks 4
5 Pickles in cans boxed 4
Picks and Mattocks See Iron
Picture Backing in Packages 4
Picture Frames unboxed 3 T 1
4 T 1 Picture Frames boxed
1 Pictures See Paintings
Pigs Feet Tripe and Sausage 6
1 3 Pigs Feet Pickled in barrels
2 or kegs 4
3 Pigs Feet in glass packed l
4 Pine Apples See Fruit
Pins in cases 1
6 Pins Clothes boxed 2
Pins Insulators See Telegraph
2 Pipe Copper Brass or Metal N
OS 1
6 Pipe Copper Brass or Metal N
6 O S boxed 3
6 Pipe and Tile Drain or Roofing
L C L 5
6 Pipe and Tile Drain or Roofing
3 C L 25000 pounds R
Pipe Earthen not Drain L CL 1
6 Pipe Earthen notDrainC L 3
Pipe Fittings See Fittings
R Pipe Iron See Iron
5 Pipe Lead m rolls or reels 4
Pipe Lead in casks 5
3 Pipe Organs K D boxed same
as Pianos
2 Pipe Sheet Iron Spiral 1
1 Pipe Stove D 1
Pipe Tin boxed 2
2 Pipe Wood L C L 3
Pipe Wood C L 4
6 Pipes Tobacco in boxes 1
Pitch in barrels L C L 5
Pitch C L K
6 Planters See Agrl Imp
4 Plaster Calcined 5
Plaster Castings D 1
5 Plaster Land Same as Fertil
52
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
izers
Plaster of Paris 5
Plated or White Ware 1
Plates Paper and Wood L C L 3 Plates Paper and Wood C L not less than 24000 lbs 6
Plows See Agrl Imp
Plow Material See Agrl Imp
Plumbago 5
Plumbers Material N O S
packed 4
Poles Tent See Tents
Poles and Posts See Lumber
Polishing Powders and Com pounds See Powders
Polish Stove and Shoe same as Blacking
Porcelain Ware 1 2
Pork and Beef See Beef
Porter same as Ale
Potash N O S 5
Potash Ball package 5
Potash German Muriate of and Sulphate of L C L 5
Potash German Muriate of and
Sulphate of C L K
Potatoes estimated weight 175
lbs per barrel 6 It
Potatoes C L 6 D
Poultry dressed See Meats
Poultry live in coops 1
Poultry live C L See Live
Stock
Powder Baking and Yeast 3
Powder Bleaching See Chloride of Lime
Powder Gun and other Explosives L C LD 1
Powder Gun and other Explosives C L 5000 lbs or over 1 Powdered Leaves See Leaves
Powders and Washing Compounds etc 4
Powders Cattle Horse or Condition 1
Powders Polishing Compounds etc 3
Powers Horse See Agl Imp
Preserves in glass packed 1 3
Preserves in cans boxed 4
Preserves in wood N O S 3
Presses Cider 4
Presses Copying 2
Presses Printing See Machinery Presses N O S See Agl Imp Printed Matter in sheets boxed prepaid 2
Prints same as Dry Goods Prunes in boxes or kegs 2
Prunes in casks 4
Pulley Blocks 4
Pulleys See Machinery
Pulp Paper or Wood A
Pumice Stone 3
Pumps and Pump Material wooden L C L 3
Pumps and Pump Material wooden C L 4
Pumps Hand 1
Pumps Steam and Power 2
Pumps Steam and Power K D packed 3
Purifiers See Agricultural Imp Putty 5
Q
Quartermasters Store 1
Quicksilver in iron flasks 1
R
Radiators not packed
Radiators packed
Rags same as paper stock Railing See Iron
Raisins not strapped
Raisins strapped
Rakes See Agricultural Imp Range Boilers See Boilers
Rattan
Rat Traps See Traps Reapers See Agricultural Imp Red Lead Same as Paints Reeds See Willow Reflectors packed
Refrigerators
Refrigerators thoroughly and completely taken apart and packed in sections ReGins or Cotton Linten same as Cotton
Retorts Clay
Retorts Copper
Retorts Ifop
Retorts Soaa Water Rice rough any quanty 1 times cleaninbblsjLCL 14times
cl
in boxes or kegsL CL Rice in boxes or kegs
Rivets See Iron
Rollers Field See Agl Imp
Rollers Printers
Rollers Sugar same as Iron Castings
Roofing Composition Roofing Felt in bundles or rolls Roofing Glass See Glass Roofing Granite packed Roofing Iron See Iron pooling Slate L C L Roofing Slate C L See Rule 12 25000 lbs
Roofing Tile See Pipe
1
3
1
2
1
D 1 1
2
1
1
4
5
5
6 P
weOOCai
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
53
Roofing Tin in rolls See Tin
Root Angelica in bbls or boxes 1
Roots and Herbs value not over 10c per pound 4
Roots and Herbs value over 10c per pound 3
Rope N 0 S 3
Rope Bed Cord 3
Rope Clothes Line 3
Rope Old 6
Rope Hemp or Jute 6
Rope Wire 4
Rosin any quantity Class K les 20 per cent
Rubber Belting See Belting Rubber Car Springs See Springs
Rubber Clothing and Rubber Goqds N O S 1
Rubber Hose See Hose
Rubber Packing See Packing
Rugs See Mats
Rustic Work not boxed 3 T 1 1
Rustic Work crated 1
Rustic Work entirelv boxed 2
Rye K D
S
Sacks See Bags Saddlery 2
Saddlery Horse Collars 2
Saddlery Harness boxed 2
Saddlery Harness in bundles 1
Saddles not boxed 1
Saddles boxed 2
Saddle Trees not boxed 1
Saddle Trees boxed 2
Sadirons packed in barrels 5
Sadirons packed in boxes 2
Safes Iron each weighing 3000 pounds or less See Rule 14 4
Safes Iron each weighing over
3000 lbs and not over 6000 lbs
See Rule 14 3
Safes Iron each weighing over
6000 lbsand not over 10000 lbs
See Rule 14 2
Safes Iron each weighing over 10000 lbs Special Contract
Seq Rule 14
Safes Meat and Pantry set up 1 1
Safes Meat and Pantry K D packed 2
Safes or Covers Cheese See Cheese
Sago in bags boxes or barrels 3
Sails 1
St Johns Bread in bbls or boxes 1 Saleratus 4
Salt in sacks L C L 6
Salt in saCks G L O
Salt Cake See Fertilizers
Salt Table
Salts Bleaching in bbls or casks Salts Bleaching N O S Salts Epsom in casks or barrels
Salts Epsom N O S
Saltpetre L C L Saltpetre C L See Fertilizers Samp same as Hominy
Sand C L N O S See Rule 12
25000 lbs
Sand L C L in barrels
Sand or Dust Moulding Sapolio
Saratoga Chips Same as Crackers
Sardines See FishSash Doors Blinds See Blinds Sash Glazed L C L Sash Glazed C L
Sash Weights
Sauce Pepper in glass packed Sauces N O S
Sauer Kraut in barrels
Sausage Same as Pigs Feet Saw Logs See Lumber Saw Mills See Machinery Saws Circular packed
Saws Drag
Saws Drag with Horse Power Saws N O S packed
Scales and Scale Beamsunboxed wrapped Scales and Scale Beams K D
packed
Scrapers See Agricultural Imp Screens See Wire Scythe Stones Scythes See Anricultural Imp Sea Grass pressed in bales Seed Corn in boxes
Seed Cotton less than 2000 lbs Seed Cotton L C L 2000 lbs
or over
Seed Cotton C L Same as Cotton Seed
Seed Flax
Seed Garden
Seed Grass and Clover
Seed C L
Seed Linseed
Seed Millet
Seed Mustard
Seed N O S
Separators See Agricultural Imp Shadines See Fish Shafting See Machinery Shafts See Vehicles Sheathing Metallic boxed or crated or in bundles wired Sheetings See Domestics
Shellac See Gum
Shellers See Agricultural Imp
4
6
4
5
4
5
1 4
5 6
5
1 2
1
4
H
2
5
1
1
2
3
4 2 3
6
4
2
3
4 4 3 6 2
3
en ci
54
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Shells Sea L C L prepaid D 1 1
Shells Sea C L prepaid Shingles actual weight See Lumber 5
Shingles Metallic boxed Ship Stuff See Bran Shirting See Domestics 4
Shirts 1
Shoe Findings 1
Shoe Lasts Shoe Pegs See Pegs Shoe Polish same as Blacking Shoes and Boots See Boots Shoes Horse and Mule See Horse Shoes Shooks and Heading same as Barrel Material 3
Shorts See Rule 12 D
Shot in bags or boxes 2
Shot in kegs or double sacked Shovels See Agricultural Imp Show Cards See Signs 5
Show Cases 4 T 1 3 T1
Show Cases entirely boxed Shrubberv See Trees D 1
Shucks in bales rough Rule 12 Shucks prepared baled shippedfrom factory or furniture ware D
house Shuttle Blocks See Blocks Sieves Tin nested packed in 4
boxes 2
Sieves Wire packed Signs Card Metallic or Wood 3 T 1
boxed Signs Glass See Glass Signs Trade boxed freight to 2
be prepaid or guaranteed 2
Sizing tor factories L C L 4
Sizing for factories C L 5
Skewers wooden 4
Skins Deer pressed in bales Skins Fur and Peltries value 2
limited to 25c per lb in bags Skins Fur and Peltries value limited to 25c per lb pressed D1 1
in bales 1 3
Skins Fur and Peltries N O S D1
Skins Sheep Dry baled 1
Skins Sheep Green in bundles 2
Skins Sheep Salted in bundles Slate Mantels See Mantels Slate Pencils See Pencils Slate Roofing See Roofing 3
Slates School boxed Slats See Furniture Sledges See Iron Slush Soap Stock or si miliar material for manufacturing 3
soap in barrels 6
Smokestacks See Rule 14 Snaths See Agricultural Imp 1 1
Snuff in casks barrels or boxes 2
Snuff in jars packed 2
Snuff in jars not packed D 1 Soap Castile and Fancy 2
Soap Common in boxes 6
Soap Softener Liquid in bbls 4 Soap Stock See Slush
Soap Stone Crude C L
See Rule 12 25000 lbs P Soap Stonepacked 2
Soda in kegs boxes and drums 5 Soda Ash and Sal Soda 6
Soda Caustic in iron casks or drums 6
Soda Fountains See Fountains Soda Fountain Retorts 4
Soda Nitrate and Sulphate of
L C L 6
Soda Nitrate of C L same as Fertilizers S
Soda Silicate of 6
Solder 5
Sorghum in barrels or hogsheads same as Molasses Sorghum Mills See Agricultural Implements
Spades See Agricultural Imp
Spelter in slabs or casks 5
Spices SeePepper
Spikes See Iron
Spokes and Shafts See Vehicles Sponge D1
Spreaders See Agricultural Imp Springs Bed See Furniture
Springs Car N O S 6
Springs Car Rubber loose 4
Springs Car Rubber boxed 5
Springs Iron Bed in barrels 8
Springs Vehicle See Vehicles
Starch Corns 8
Starch except Corn Starch L C
L 4
Starch C L not less than 20
000 pounds C
Stationery 2
Statues 3 T 1
Staves See Lumber Steam Gauge See Machinery Steam Heaters See Machinery Steel not packed same as Bar
Iron
Steel packed same as Hardware
Steel wired or strapped 5
Steel Bars eacji 200 lbs and over 5
Steelyards K D and packed 2
Steelyards unboxed 1
Stills See Copper
Stone Blocks rough L C L 6
Stone Blocks slabs or dressed aid protected L C L 3
Stone Blocks rough C L class
R
4
1
5
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
55
P less 20 per cent Stone Curbing 0 L class P less 20 per cent
Stone Slabs rough and protected otherwise owners risk C L class P less 20 per cent Stone Rubble C L class P less 2Q per cent
Stone Blocks dressed and protected otherwise owners risk C L class P Stone Slabs dressed and protected otherwise owners risk C L class P
A carload of stone or marble embraces 25000 pounds Stoneware same as Earthenware
Stools Piano
Stove Boards boxed or crated Stove Pipe See Pipe Stoves Gas and Oil boxed Stoves Stove Plates and Stove Furniture and Hollow Ware including the necessary pipe
L C L
Stoves Stove Plates and Stove Farniture and Hollow Ware C L not less than 24000 lbs Straw See Hay Rule 12 Straw Boards See Paper Straw Goods same as Dry Goods Straw or Wooden Bottle Covers
See Covers
Sugar in bags
Sugar in boxes strapped Sugar in boxes not strapped Sugar in barrels and hogsheads
Sugar Cane prepaid
Sugar Grape
Sulphates See Ammonia Potash and Soda
Sulphur in boxes L C L Sulphur in barrels L C L Sulphur for manufacture of Fertilizers C L same as Fertilizers
Sumac ground
Sumac leaf C L estimated weight 20000 pounds Sweepings and Motes Cotton Sweepings Factory
Syrups in barrels half barrels or hogsheads Syrups in cans boxed or in kegs Syrups in glass boxed
T
Tables Billiard See Billiard Tables
Tacks
Talc 6
Tallow in barrels B
Tallow N O S 5
Tamarinds in boxes or kegs 2
Tan Bark C L 22500 pounds P
Tanks N 0 S 3 T 1
Tanks Cotton Seed Oil etc Iron D1
Tanks Wood set up D1
Tanks Wood K D packed 6
Tapioca in boxes bbls or bags 3
Tar L C L Tar C L Same as Fertilizers 5
Tar Coal in barrels L C L 6
Tar Coal C L See Rule 12 O
Tea Telegraph Cross Arms and In 1
sulator Brackets or Pins fi
1 Telephones boxed 3 T 1
3 Tents Tent Poles and Pins Terra Cotta 2 3
1 Terra Cotta in packages 3
Terra Japonica Thread See Domestics 4
Threshers See Agricultural
1 3 Implements
Tickings See Domestics Ties Cotton and Hay A
3 5 Tile Drain and Roofing See
Pipe
Tile Fire tor Lining etc Tile Floor and Marble 4
4
Tin Block and Pig Tin Foil See Foil 5
2 4 Tin Plate in boxes or rolls 4
4 5 Tin Roofing In rolls 5
2 4 Tin Scrap in rolls or bundles
6 wired or crated 0
6 Tinners Trimmings N O S 2
6 Tinware and Tin Stamped Ware
boxed 4
Tires Locomotive 6
1 Tires Wagon same as Bar Iron
3 Tobacco Box Material same as
Box Stuff
Tobacco cases and boxes empty Tobacco Cut in boxes barrels I
4 or bales 1
Tobacco Leaf in cases 1
5 Tobacco Plug in boxes or kegs 1
A Tobacco Screws and Fixtures
A See Machinery Tobacco Smoking 1
R Tobacco Stems prized 6
3 4 Tobacco Stems not prized 1
1 2 Tobacco Unmanufactured not
prized Tobaeco Unmanufactd prized Tongues Pickled in barrels or 2

kegs 4
Tongues Smoked 3
Tonqua Beans in boxes or bbls 1
3 Tools Edge 2
D 1 4
5
1
4
56
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Tools Mechanic boxed
Toothpicks
Tow in hales
Tow in hales compressed
Toys hoxed
Train Sugar See Agricultural Implements
Traps Ply V
Traps Mouse and Rat Traveling Bags 1
Trees and Shrubbery haled or boxed L C L prepaid or guaranteed
Trees and Shrubbery baled or i boxed O L prepaid or guaranteed
Tripe See Pigs Feet
Tripe Pickled in barrels or kegs
Tripoli
Trucks Warehouse Trunks single
Trunks nested or filled with merchandise crated or strapd Trunks empty or filled with merchandise corded or wrapd Trunks filled with merchandise not corded or wrapped
Trunks N O S t
Trunks Sample
Trunks filled with personal effects corded or wrapped 3 T 1
Tubs N O S same as Wooden Ware
Tubs Bath boxed 1
Tubs Bath unboxed D1
Tubs Bath in nests 2
Tumblers See Glass Turbine and Water Wheel See Machinery V V
Turnips 3
Turpentine Spirits in packages less than a barrel 3
Turpentine Spirits in barrels R
Twine 3
Type boxed 1 2
Type Writers boxed 3 T 1
U
Umbrellas boxed 1
Urns Iron See Iron
7
Vehicles and Materials for Vehicles as Follows
In all items under heading of Vehies the term Wagons is intended only to apply to rough cheap farm wagons with or without spring and is not intended for buggies or var
nished pleasure or business wagons which articles and articles of like character take same classes as Buggies Trotting Wagons etc Bicycles boxed or crated 1
Bicycles not bqxed or crated not taken Carriages Buggies Gigs Sulkies and Trotting Wagons C L boxed or well crated charged at not less than 15000 pounds
6 excess weight in proportion 3
0 Carriages Buggies Gigs Sulkies and Trotting AVagons C L loose charged at not less than
24000 pounds excess weight in proportion 3
i 1 Carriages Buggies Gigs Sulkies and Trotting Wagonsset up L C L actual weighf 4 T 1
2 Carriages Buggies and Trotting Wagons L C L K D boxed
or well crated wheels iriside of package package not over 5 1 feet 6 inches long by 5 feet wide by not over 30 inches in height D 1
1 Carriages Buggies or Trotting
1 VV agons L C L knocked down boxed or well crated
package over 30 inches in height D 1
Gigs and Sulkies knocked down boyed or well Crated L C L 3 TT
Carriage and Buggy Shafts and Poles fully wrapped shipped separate from vehicles D 1
6 Carriages Childrens K D in boxes bundles or crates 1
5 Carriages Childrens set up un boxed v 3 T 1
Carriages Childrens set up bxd D 1
Cars Railroad See cars S
D1 Cars Railroad Hand Lever or Crank 1
CarsStreet singleactual weight D 1
Cars Street and Omnibuses two or more on a car not less than 20000 pounds charged for 5
Locomotives See Estimated Weights1 Road Village or Pleasure Carts See Buggies Stage Coaches Omnibusses and Hearses actual weight 4 T 1 3
Vehicle Materials Iron Boxes Skeins and Springs loose 3
Vehicle Materials Iron Boxes Skeins and Springs boxed 4
Vehicle Materials Iron Boxes or Skeins and Springs in bar
T1
D1
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
57
rels or casks 6
Vehicle Materials Wood Hubs Spokes Shafts Bows Felloes Singletrees Wheels Bodies unfinished etc etc L C L 4
Vehicle Materials the same 0
L 20000 poundscharged ior 5 Velocipedes K P crated 1
Velocipedes Bicycles or Tricycles set up securely boxed Velocipedes Bicycles or Tricycles set up crated3 T1
Velocipedes Bycycles or Tricycles K IX boxed 1
Velocipedes set up not boxed or crated not taken Velocipedes Railroad 1
Wagons and Carts C L charged at not less than 24000 pounds 4 Wagons and CartsFarm or Lumber set up actual weight D 1 Wagons and CartsFarm or Lumi ber taken apart and thorough ly k nocked downactual weight 3
Wagons Childrens same as Childrens Carriages
Wagons Street Sprinklers D 1 Wagon Parts Wood un painted
K D and packed in crates or bundles 5
Wagon Tires See Tires
7
Valves Brass boxed 3
Varnish in barrels or kegs 2
Varnish in cans boxed 2
Varnish in cans not boxed 1
Vaseline in cans packed 2
Vaseline in glass packed 1
Vault Lights See Glass Floor
Lights
Vegetables Dessicated See
Dessicated
Vegetables in cans 4
Vegetables N O S prepaid or
guaranteed
Veneering boxed 1
Veneering not boxed D 1
Vermicelli 1
Vinegar 2
Vinegar Shavings or Chips in bags 5
Vises Iron 4
Vitriol Blue in barrels 5
w
Wadding D 1
Wagon Jacks See Jack Screws
Washers See Iron
Waste Cotton in bags 2
Waste Cotton pressed in bales 6
Waste Jute or Tailings 5
Water Ammonia in iron casks 5
W ater A m m o n i a in glass
packed 3
Water Coolers and Filters See
Coolers
Waters Aerated such as Mox
ie same as Mineral Waters Waters Mineral in wood 5
Watbrsf Mineral in glass or stone packed 3
Wax i j 4
Wax Comb Foundation boxed 2 Wax Extractors crated 1
Wax Parafine 1
Wedges See Iron
Well Curbing 2
5 Whalebone 1
Wheat
1J Wheat Cracked in barrels
Wheat Cracked in boxes Wheelbarrows See Agrl Imp
4 Wheels and Axles Car See
Axles
Wheels and Vehicles See Ve1J hides
Wheels Water See Machinery Whips 1
Whisky See Liquors
White Lead and Zinc Paints 5
Whiting N O S 5
Whiting in boxes 3
Willow Reeds in bales 2
Willow Ware D 1
Willow Ware Baskets See Baskets
Window Shades 1
Window Shade Cloth 1
Window Frames See Blinds
Wind Mills K D in bundles 3
Wine See Liquors
Wines High same as Whisky
Wire Barbed 5
Wire Binding 3
Wire Cloth 1
3 Wire Fence Same as Iron Railing and Fencing
Wire Goods boxed N O S 3
Wire Mattresses See Furniture 5 Wire Rope See Rope
Wire Screens 1
Wire Telegraph 4
Wire N O S 3
Wire Work Racks Stands Vases Signs and Figures boxed
or crated 3 T 1
Wire Work Woven Table Toilet and Household Articles
boxed or cratedD 1
Wood Rule 12 25000 lbs Wooden Butter Dishes packed
4
4
D1
1
P
tsS O
58
TARIFFS RULES ANP CLASSIFICATION OF
Same as plates 3
Wooden Covers 1
Wooden Bottle Covers See Covers
Wooden Ware N O S 1
Wooden Ware does not include Willow Ware which is D 1 Wood Liquor in barrels See Dye
Wood Plates See Plates
Wood Screws in casks or boxes 2 Wool in bags not pressed 2
Wool in pressed bags or bales 5
W oolen Goods 4
Wool Mineral in bags 1
Wringers Clothes packed 2
Wringers Clothes not packed D 1 3T
3 Yarn Cotton See Domestics
Yarns N O S 3
Yeast in Wood 3
Yeast Cakes in boxes 3
Yeast Powders See Powders
Yokes 1
S3
Zinc 5
Zinc Oxide 5
Zinc Paints See Paints
Zinc in sheets or rolls 4
A C BEISCOE Secy
CAMPBELL WALLACE Chm L N TRAMMELL
ALEX S ERWIN
Commissioners
tu

li
l
2
3
8
14S
26
29
pkin

l
2
J
1
S

r
2
2i
2
3
31
41
E Ct

1
1
2
3
31
4
5
5
6
7
8i
81
rHE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
59
ad Distances in Georgia
Gracewood Richmond Hephzibah Bath Blythe Keysville Noah M athews Wrens Stapleton Avera Gibson Belle Springs Mitchell Hines Ohalker
W arthen Young Sandersville
9
11
15
19
22
26
30
32
36
41
45
51
55
59
61
64
70
77
80
Westonia Leiiaton Grays Mill Willacoochee Lees Mill Alapaha Enigma Brookfield Yanceville Tifton Riverside Hillsdale TvTy Sumner Poulain Isabella Willingham Davis Albany
Augusta Knosville
Augusta 0
Morris 8
Mayville Sneads 12
15
Buena Vista Ellaville
Anderson 0
LaCrosse 6
Ellaville 12
Putnam 19
Buena Vista 26
Brunswick Western
Brunswick 0
Pyles Marsh 10
Jamaica 16
Waynesville 25
Atkinson 28
Lulaton 32
Bucks Still 34
Nuhunta 36
Hoboken 45
Schlatterville 50
Waycross 60
Waresboro 67
Millwood 78
Red Bluff 82
Pearson 90
Kirkland 93
96
98
100
101
107
112
119
122
126
130
133
137
139
I45
148
151
155
161
171
CentralSavannah Division
0 9
13
Savannah Pooler Bloomingdale Eden
Marlow Guyton Brewer Egypt
Oliver Haleyondale Cameron Gotland Ogeechee Rocky Ford
Scarborough Parramore Hil Millen Cushingville Rogers Herndon Midville Sebastopol Wadley Bartow Johnsons Davisboro Sun Hill Tennille Robinsons Oconee
107
111
141
Raouls 148
Toomsboro 155
McIntyre 162
Gordon 170
Griswold 181
Macon 102
CentralAtlanta Division
Macon 0
Summerfield 8
Bolingbroke Smarrs 15
22
Forsyth 27
Colliers 32
Goggins 38
Barnesville 48
Milner 49
Orchard Hill 54
Griffin 60
Sunnvside 67
Hampton Lovejoys 71
76
Jonesboro 82
Morrows 87
Forest 90
East Point 97
Atlanta 103
CentralSouthwestern Division
Macon 0
Walden 10
Eeheconnee 12
Bvron 17
Powersville 21
Fort Valley 29
Everetts 36
Reynolds 42
Butler 50
Howards 60
Bostick 65
Geneva V 70
Juniper 74
Box Springs 77
Upatoi 83
Wimberly 86
Schatulga 91
Columbus 100
Perry 14
Marshallville 36
Winchester 39
60
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Barrons Lane Montezuma Oglethorpe Anderson Amerieus Smithville 44 49 51 60 71 83
Bronwood 91
Dawson 98
Shellman 108
Cuthbert 118
Morris 129
Hatcher 133
Georgetown 141
Eufaula 143
t ioleman 128
Fort Gaines 140
Adams 89
Leesburg 96
Albany 107
Walker 118
Ducker 120
Holts 125
Leary 129
Williamsburg 135
Arlington 142
Cowarts 149
Blakely 156
CentralAugusta and Sav Div
Millen 0
Lawton 5
Perkins Junction 7
Munnerlyn il
Thomas 16
Waynesboro 2l
Greens Cut 27
McBean 33
Bennocks Mill 37
Hollywood 41
Allens 43
Augusta 53
CentralEatonton Branch
Gordon 0
Whiting 9
Midway 15
Milledgeville 17
Merri wether 25
Dennis 30
Walkers Crossin g 34
Eatonton 38
CentralUpson County Branch
Barnesville 0
Wilkinsons 2
Middlebrooks 4
Fambros 6
The Rock 8
Thomaston
CentralSav Griffin Alabama Branch Griffin Vaughns Dunns Brooks
Senoia
Turin Sharpsburg Newnan Sargents Whites burg Carrollton
12iCedartown
16
Columbus Columbus Nances Fottsons Hines Rehoboth Cataula Kingsboro Hamilton Hood Chipley
W Sul Spring Stinsons Greenville
Bom
Covington Maco Macon Masseys Mill Roberts Station Mortons Grays Bradleys Wayside Round Oak Hillsboro Ad gates Monticello
North
0
8
10
12
19
24
25 35 41 46 60
0
7
11 13
15
16 20 24
32
33 37 40 50
Berrys
Esom Hill Warners Rowells Daileys Cross Plains E W June Sul Springs Dukes I Hebron Grays Ohatchie Francis Singleton Ackers Ragland
Fair view i Broken Arro w
Ga
Ala
37
42
46
48
53
57
62
70
78
81
84
89 92 94 95 100 104 110
0
4
10
15
175
215
245 28
335 37 45
East West of Alabama Old Cherokee
Cartersville Ga
McGinnis
Davittes Waddells Rock mart Pineville
0
4
10
12
14
17
18 19 23 25 27 29
East Tenn Virginia Georgia
Chatnoga Tenn 0 Tyners
Ooltewah OBrien
Red Clay Cohutta Varnells Waring Dalton Starks Carbondale Millers Sugar Valley Skelleys Reeves Plainville Pinsons Hermitage Harpers Rome Atlanta June Silver Creek Brice Byrds Seney
Hamlet Rockmart Vintns Switch Beattys Switch Braswell Macpherson Howelton Dallas Rogers Switch Hiram Powder Sprigs Austell Mableton
Ga
10
16
21
28
26
31
35
40
46
50
53
56
61
63
67
70
72
76
80
82
85
92
93
94 96
101
104
106
107
114
115 118 122 124 129 134 138
Concord Ga Chattahoochee Peyton
Six Mile Sidin Howell Atlanta Roseland Constitution Moores Mill Ellen wood Stockbridge Flippen McDonough Locust Grove Jenkinsburg Jackson Flovilla Williams Frankvilie Juliette Dames Ferry Popes
Holton Macon
Reids Phillips Densons Bullards Adams Park Westlake McGriffis
Coleys
Cechran
Hawkinsville
Alice
Fraziers
Fews Mill Carnes Mill Dubois
Gress Mill Dempsey Woodwards Eastman Amoskeg Mills Godwinsyille Leitchs Mill Miller Shearers Mill Chauncey Harris Mitchells
Mill Mercers Mill Longview Paxtons Mill Chapmans McRae Waif BoothCos Mill Ga McVille
140
145
146
147 150 152 156 158 162 165 171 176 181 188 193 198 203 206 212 218 225 227 232 242
251
252
253 258 262 268 273 277 281
Ga
Ga
291
285
286 287
289
290
292 294
298
299 301 304 306
308
309
311
313
315
317
319
320
321 325
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION QF GEORGIA
61
Towns Ga 330
Holland Whid
dons Still Ga 335
Lumber City 337
Ocmulgee 338
Hazlehurst 344
Johnsonville 349
Graham 360
Pine Grove 353
Prentiss 356
Baxley 359
Wheaton 363
Carters Mill 365
Surrency r 369
Brentwood 374
Satilla 379
Enville 383
Jesup i 389
Bennetts Still 4 394
Gardi 396
Pendarvis 399
Sand Hill 406
OBrien P 0 411
Sterling 420
Old Depot 429
Rrunswick i 432
Gainesville Jefferson A Southern
Gainesville 0
Candler 7
Florence 10
Pendergrass 16
Jefferson M 23
Hoschton 18
Mulberry Tug Tavern 23
27
Bethlehem 32
Camps 36
Monroe 42
Gresham 46
Social Circle 52
Georgia
Augusta 0
Wheless 5
Belair 10
Grovetown 15
Forest 16
Berzelia 21
Harlem 25
Saw Dust 26
Dearing 29
Bonesville 33
Thomson 37
Mesena 43
Camak 47
Warrenton 51
Mayfleld 60
Culverton 67
Sparta 71
Devereux 79
Carrs 83
Milledgeville 93
Browns 101
Haddocks 106
James 111
Roberts 116
Macon 125
Norwood 50
Barnett 68
Raytown 62
Ficklin 68
Washington 76
Crawtordville 64
Roainsons 70
Union Point 76
Woodville 81
Bairdstown 83
Maxeys 89
Antioch 92
Lexington 98
Winterville 108
Athens 116
Greensboro 83
Oconee 90
Buckhead 96
Madison 103
Dorsey 107
Rutledge 111
Social Circle 119
Alcovy 125
Covington 130
Conyers 140
Lithonia 146
Redan 150
Stone Mountain 155
Clarkston 160
Decatur 165
Atlanta 171
Georgia MidlandA Gulf
Columbus Ga 0
Flat Rock 11
Bllerslie 18
Waverly Hall 24
Mulberry 28
Shiloh 34
Nebula 38
Warm Springst 42
Woodbury 52
Jnkinsville 57
Williamsville 60
Concord 64
Stearnesville 72
Griffin 80
Pomona McDonough
NoteTrack laid Warm Springs
Georgia Pacific
Atlanta 0
Howell 3
Peyton 7
Chattahoochee 8
Concord 12
Mableton 15
Austell 18
Salt Springs 21
Douglasville 26
Winston 32
Villa Rica 38
Temple 45
Bremen 54
Waco 56
Tallapoosa 04
Louisville Wadley
Louisville 0
Aldred 3
Moxley 5
Joiner 6
Bethany 9
Wadley 10
Marietta North Georgia
Marietta 0
Kerrs 4
Blackwells 6
Hoys 9
Woodstock 12
Little River 15
Lebanon 16
Holly Springs 18
Canton 25
Browns 27
Mabel 30
Ball Ground 37
Nelsons 42
Tate 45
Jasper 50
Talking Rock 56
Charles 64
Ellijay 70
White Path 76
Cherry Log 79
Blue Ridge 86
Mineral Bluff 90
State Line 99
Kinseys N C 106
Murphy 112
Atlanta 0
Goodwins 11
Roswell Juncn 13
Doraville 15
Norcross 1 20
Duluth 26
Suwanee 31
Buford 37
Flowery Branch 44
Odells 47
Gainesville 53
New Holland 55
W Sul Springs 59
Lula66
Bellton 67
Longview r 74
Cornelia 78
Mt Airy 80
New Switzerland 83 Ayersville 87
Toccoa93
Travis 96
Tngalo 99
Richmond DanvilleRoswell Branch
Roswell Junen 0
Roswell 10
Richmond DanvilleLawrenceville Branch
Suwanee 0
Lawrenceville 10
Richmond DanvilleNorthEastern Division
SOUTH
Lula 0
Gillsville 7
iVLaysvilie 13
Harmony Grove 20
Nicholson 27
Center 31
Athens39
NorthEastern Division
NORTH
Lula 0
Bellton 1
Longview 8
Cornelia 12
Clarksville 20
An aid ale 24
Ebenezer 26
Turnerville 29
Tallulah Falls 1 33
89Richmond DanvilleAtlanta 971 Charlotte AL Division to
62
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
Eichmond DanviljeElberton
AirLine Branch Toccoa Eastanolle Martins Lavonia Bowersville 0 8 12 18 24
Hartwell S4
West Dowersville 26
Royston 31
Fellowship Church Bowmans 34
38
Hard Cash 42
Goss Store 46
Elberton 50
Borne Bailroad
Rome o
Freeman 5
Dykes 7
Bass 10
Eves 12
Murchison 16
Wooley 18
Kingston 20
Borne Carrollton
Rome 0
East Rome 1
Holmes 2
Holders 5j
Silver Creek 6
Chambers 7
New Bethel 10
Summit 12
Brooks 14
Lake Creek 15
Dyars 18
Cedartown 09 22
Sandersville Tennille
Tennille 0
Sandersville St
Savannah Florida Western
Savannah ta 0
Millers Burroughs Ways Fleming McIntosh Waltbourvill Johnston Doctortown Jesup Screven Patterson Blaokshear Way cross Glen more Argyle Homerville Dupont Stockton Naylor Valdosta Ousley Quitman Dixie Boston
Whigham Bain bridge Jc
10
12
16
24
81
38
46
52
57
68
Statenville Jasper Marion Suwannee Rixford Live Oak Padlock
Pine Mount McAlpin OBrien
New Branford Fort White
Ga
Fla
78 Orion
87
96
108
116
122
180
189
144
157
166
181 188 200 214 221 227 236 243 249 Fla 258 Ga 104 111 116 124 130 Fla 186 142 147 152 160 172 Ga 140
Newnansville Hague Gainesville
Drew
Lake City Ochlocknee Meigs
Pelham Camilla Baconton 174 Hardaway Albany Bain bridge
Sylvania
Rocky Ford
Central R R Williamson Woodcliff Zeagler Blackville Waters Sylvania
19
226
Ga 211
232
242
250
258
236
Talbotton Railroad
Bostick Si S R R Talbotton
Western Atlanta Bolton Gilmore
Atlantic
0
5
7
9
11
13
15
l Vinings 3 Mclvors 11
12
3 Smyrna 15
2 Marietta 20
Elizabeth 22
1 Big Shanty 2
Ac worth 35
Ruhv 37
Allatoona 40
Bartow Iron Wks 42
Stegalls 43
Cartersville 48
Rogers 51
iiiss 53
Kingston 5
Cement 60
Halls 64
Adairsville 69
McDaniels 75
Calhoun 78
Resaqa 84
Tilton 91
Dalton 100
Mont Lily 104
Tunnel Hill 107
Ringgold 115
Graysville 121
Chickamga Tenn 127
Cincinnati Jc 182
Chattanooga 138
Wrightsville Tennille and
Dublin Wrightsville
Combined Tennille 0
Peacocks Cut 5
Harrison 9
Donovan 13
Wrightsville Meadows Crossg 16
20
Lovett 23
Donalson 25
Bruton 27
Condor 32
Dublin 35
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
63
EXTRACTS FROM THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA
RELATING TO RAILROADS
Together with the Law Creating a Railroad Commission
COKTSiTTUTION
ARTICLE IYSection II
Paragraph I The power and authority of regulating railroad freight and passenger tariffs preventing unjust discriminations and requiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly whose duty it shall he to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and passenger tariffs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to prohibit said roads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate penalties
Par III The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existing nor alter or amend the same nor pass any other general or special law for the benefit of said corporation except upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution and every amendment of any charter of any corporation in this State or any special law for its benefit accepted thereby shall operate as a novation of said charter and shall bring the same under the provisions of this Constitution Provided that this section shall not extend to any amendment for the purpose of allowing any existing road to take stock in or aid in the building of any branch road
Par IY The General Assembly of this State shall have no power to authorize any corporation to buy shares or stock in any other corporation in this State or elsewhere or to make any contract or agreement whatever with any such corporation which may have the effect or be intended to have the effect to defeat or lesson competition in their respective businesses or to encourage monopoly and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and void
Par Y No railroad company shall give or pay any rebate or bonus in the nature thereof directly or indirectly or do any act to mislead or deceive the public as to the real rates charged or received for freights or passage and any such payments shall be illegal and void and these prohibitions shall be enforced by suitable penalties
Par YI No provisions of this article shall be deemed held or taken to impair the obligation of any contract heretofore made by the State of Georgia
Par YII The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation
64
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
The following is the law under which the Railroad Commission was created being Act I No 269 Fart 1 Title 12 of the Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State I of Georgia 18781879
To provide for the regulation of railroad freight and passenger tariffs in this State to pre I vent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates charged for transportation o1 pas 1 senqers and freights and to prohibit railroad companies corporations and lessees in this I State from charging other than just and reasonable rates and to punish the same and I prescribe a mode of procedure and rules of evidence in relation thereto and to appoint Commissioners and to prescribe their powers and duties in relation to the same
Whereas It is made the duty of the General Assembly in article 4 paragraph 2 and section 1 of the Constitution to pass laws from time to time to regulate freight and pssen j ger tarilfs to prohibit unjust discriminations on the various railroads of this State and to 1 prohibit railroads from charging other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same I by adequate penalties therefore
Section I Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia That there shall be three Commissioners appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate to carry out the provisions of this Act of whom one shall be of experience in the law and one of experience in railway business After the expiration of the terms of the office of the Commissioners first appointed the term of office of successors shall be six years but at the first appointment one Commissioner shall be appointed for two years one for four years I and one for six years The salary of each Commissioner shall be twentyfive hundred dol lars to be paid from the Treasury of the State Any Commissioner may be suspended from J office by order of the Governor who shall report the fact of such suspension and the reasons therefor to the next General Assembly and if a majority of each branch of the General Assembly declare that said Commissioner shall be removed from office his term of office 1 shall expire The Governor shall have the same power to fill vacancies in the office of Commissioner as to fill other vacancies and if for any reason said Commissioners are not appointed during the present session of the General Assembly the Governor shall appoint J them thereafter and report to the next Senate but the time until then shall not be counted as part of the term of office of said Commissioners respectively as herein provided Said Commissioners shall take an oath of office to be framed by the Governor and shall not i jointly or severally or in any way be the holders ot any railroad stock or bonds or be the agent or employe at any railroad company or have any interest in any way in any railroad and shall so continue during the term of office and in case any Commissioner becomes dis qualified in any way he shall at once remove the disqualification or resign and on failure so to do he must be suspended from office by the Governor and dealt with as hereinafter provided In any case of suspension the Governor may fill the vacancy until the suspended Commissioner is restored or removed
Sec II That said Commissioners shall be furnished with an office necessary furniture and stationery and may employ a Secretary or Clerk at a salary of twelve hundred 1
dollars at the expense of the State The office of said Commissioners shall be kept in X
Atlanta and all sums of money authorized to be paid by this Act out of the State Treasury f
shall be paid only on the order of the Governor Provided that the total sum to be ex I
pended by said Commissioners for office rent furniture and stationery shall in no case exceed the sum of five hundred dollars 50000 or so much thereof as mav be necessary per annum
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
65
Sec III That from and after the passage of this Act if any railroad corporation organized or doing business in this State under any Act of incorporation or general law of this State now in force or which may hereafter he enacted or any railroad corporation organized or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of any other State and doing business in this State shall charge collect demand or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its track or any of its branches thereof or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right license or permission to use operate or control the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec IY That if any railroad corporation as aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimination in its rates or charges of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freights ol any description or for the use and transportation of any railroad car upon its said road or upon any of the branches thereof or upon any railroads connected therewith which it has the right license or permission to operate control or use within this State the same shall be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of this Act and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided
Sec V That the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided shall as provided in the next section of this Act make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights shall make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the
transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State shall make reasonable and just rates of charges for use of railroad cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads no matter by whom owned or carried and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads to present the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus directly or indirectly and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State and on which freights less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such Ireights as they possessed before the passage of this Act and said Commissioners shall have full power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances
Sec YI That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State as soon as practicable a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads and said schedule shall in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad
corporation for the transporation of any passenger or freight or cars or unjust discrimination in relation thereto be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of
66
TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION OF
passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads and aid Commissioners shall from I time to time and as often as circumstances may require change and revise said schedules f
When any schedule shall have been made or revised as aforesaid it shall be the duty of tj said Commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for one time in som public Ilf newspaper published in the cities of Atlanta Augusta Albany Savannah Macon I Rome and Columbus in this State at a rate not to exceed fifty cents per square of usual 1 advertising space when less than a column is occupied or more than twelve dollars per column when as much space as a column or more is occupied by inserting said schedule or change of any schedule so that said newspaper shall not charge for such advertising any Iff rate in excess of that allowed for county legal advertising and after the same shall he so I published it shall he the duty of all such railroad companies to post at all their respective f f stations in a conspicuous place a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people
provided That the schedule thus prepared and published as aforesaid for all the railroad companies now organized under the laws of this State or that may be organized at the time 1 said publication provided That when any rate or change is made by the commissioners that effects only one road or roads in a particular locality the insertion need only be made i in the paper published in one of the cities named nearest when the change is made Act M 27th September 1873 Provided that the schedules thus prepared shall not be taken as evi dence as herein provided until schedules shall have been prepared and published as afore j said for all the railroad companies now organized under the laws of this State I j or that may be organized at the time of said publication All such schedules pur f porting to be printed and published as aforesaid shall he received and held in all a such suits as prima facie the schedules of said Commissioners without further I proof than the production of the schedules desired to be used as evidence with a cer 1J tificate of the Railroad Commission that the same is a true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named and that the same has been 1 duly published as required by law stating the name of the paper in which the same was I published together with the date and place of said publication
Sec YII That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to investigate the hooks and papers of all the railroad companies doing business in this State to ascertain if the 1 rules and regulations aforesaid have been complied with and to make personal visitation of
railroad offices stations and other places of business for the purpose of examination and to make rules and regulations concerning such examinaions which rules and regulations shall he observed and obeyed as other rules and regulations aforesaid said Commissioners j shall also have full power and authority to examine all agents and employees of said rail 1 road companies and other persons under oath or otherwise in order to procure the neces sary information to make just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and to j ascertain if such rules and regulations areobserved or violated and to make necessary and proper rules and regulations concerning suah examination and which rules and regulations herein provided for shall be obeyed and enforcedas all other rules and regulations provided j for in this Act
Sec YIII That all contracts and agreements between railroad companies doing busi i ness in this State as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs shall be submitted to said ji Commissioners for inspection and correction that it may he seen whether or not they are a ij violation of law or of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act or of the rules and I regulations of said Commissioners and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to
the division of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA
67
its they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs and said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as to such contracts and agreements as may be then deemed necessary and proper and any such agreement not approved by such Commissioners or by virtue of which rates shall he charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers shall be deemed held and taken to be violations of article 4 section 1 paragraph 4 of the Constitution and shall be illegal and void
Sec IX That if any railroad company doing business in this State by its agents dr employees shall be guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by said Commissioners and if after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation as may be directed by said Commissioners shall not he made within thirty days from the time of such notice such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars to be fixed by the presiding Judge An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State where such violation has occurred or wrong has been perpetrated and shall be in the name of the State of Georgia The Commissioners shall institute such action through the AttorneyGeneral or SolicitorGeneral whose fees shall he the same as now provided by law
Sec X That if any railroad company doing business in this State shall in violation of any rule or regulation provided by the Commissioners aforesaid inflict any wrong or injury on any person such person shall hve a right of action and recovery for such wrong or injury in the county where the same was done in any court having jurisdiction thereof and the damages to he recovered shall he the same as in actions between individuals except that in cases of willful violation of law such railroad companies shall be liable to exemplary damages Provided that all suits under this Act shall be brought within twelve months after the commission of the alleged wrong or injury
Sec XI That in all cases under the provisions of this Act the rules of vidence shall be the same as in civil actions except as hereinbefore otherwise provided All fines recovered under the provisions of this Act shall be paid into the State Treasury to be used for such purposes as the General Assembly may provide The remedies hereby given the persons injured shall be regarded as cumulative to the remedies now given by law against railroad corporations and this Act shall not be construed as repealing any statute giving such remedies
Sec XII That the terms railroad corporation or railroad company contained in this Act shall be deemed and taken to mean all corporations companies or individuals now owning or operating or which may hereafter own or operate any railroad in whole or in part in this State and the provisions of this Act shall apply to all persons firms and companies and to all associations of persons whether incorporated or otherwise that shall do business as common carriers upon any of the lines of railroad in this State street railways excepted the same as to railroad corporations hereinbefore mentioned
Sec XIII That all railroad companies in this State shall on demand issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight shipped the freight charges over the road giving the receipt and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight such agent shall deliver the article shipped upon payment of the rate charged for the class of freights men
G8 TARIFFS RULES AND CLASSIFICATION
tioned in the receipt If any railroad compan yshall violate this provision of the statute such railroad company shall incur a penalty to be fixed and collected as provided in section nine of this Act
Sec XIV That it shall be the duty of the Commissioners herein provided for to make to the Governor semiannual reports of the transactions of their office and to recommend from time to time such legislation as they may deem advisable under the provisions ot this Act
Sec XV That said Railroad Commissioners in making any examination for the purpose of obtaining information pursuant to this Act shall have power to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses by such rules as they may prescribe And said witnesses shall receive for such attendance two dollars per day and five cents per mile traveled by the nearest practicable route in going to and returning from the place of meeting of said Commissioners to be ordered paid by the Governor upon presentation of subpoenas sworn to by the witnesses as to the number of days served and miles traveled before the clerk of said Commissioners who is hereby authorized to administer oaths In case any person shall willfully fail or refuse to obey such subpoena it shall he the duty of the Judge of the Superior Court of any county upon application of said Commissioners to issue an attachment for such witness and compel him to attend before the Commissioners and give his testimony upon such matters as shall be lawfully required by such Commissioners and said court shall have power to punish for contempt as in other cases of refusal to obey the process and order of such court
Sec XVI That every officer agent or employee of any railroad company who shall willfully neglect or refuse to make and furnish any report required by the Commissioners as necessary to the purposes of this Act or who shall willfully and unlawfully hinder delay or obstruct said Commissioners in the discharge of the duties hereby imposed upon them shall forfeit and pay a sum of not less than one hundred nor more than five thousand dollars for each offense to he recovered in an action of debt in the name of the State
Sec XVII That all laws militating against this Act are hereby repealed
Approved October 14 1879