USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 59
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On the other hand, the detention of the governor without the State would cause, Governor Quitman declared, the entire suspen- sion of her executive functions of government. [The constitution then in force provided that "Whenever the office of governor shall become vacant by death, resignation, removal from office, or other- wise, the president of the Senate shall exercise the office of gover- nor until another governor shall be duly qualified," also, "The gov- ernor shall reside at the seat of government."] "The Constitution has not contemplated such an event as the forcible abduction of the governor. It has not provided for the performance of his duties by another officer except in the case of a vacancy. Such vacancy cannot happen while there is a governor, though he be a prisoner to a foreign power. Although he may be absent, and incapable of performing his duties, he is still governor, and no other person can execute his office." Hence, (on this construction of the consti- tution) "there is but one remedy. That remedy is my resignation. I therefore, fellow citizens, now resign the high trust confided to my hands, with no feeling of personal regret except that I could not serve you better ; with no feeling of shame, for I am innocent of the causes which have induced the necessity of this step. . I have but to add that, during my short but exciting period of ser- vice, I have in all things striven to be faithful and true to the rights, the interests and the honor of the State." (Claiborne's Life of Quitman, Vol. II.)
The receipts of the State treasury in 1850 were $424,034, in 1851 were $221,200; disbursements in the two years, $594,570, leaving in the treasury a balance of $525,940. Under the act of 1850 $200,- 000 was distributed among the different counties for education. The Lunatic asylum was not yet ready to be occupied. An asylum for the deaf and dumb was earnestly recommended. The insti- tute for the blind was in successful operation.
A very important event of this period was the act of congress, September 28, 1850, granting the State all the swamp and over- flowed lands, for the purpose of defraying the expense of draining and protecting the same by levees. It was believed that it would require but a limited sale of these lands to provide enough money to reclaim large tracts of great value. The great importance of this enactment induced Gov. Quitman to appoint John Rayburn to locate the lands, and await the approval of the legislature. Two weeks later Gov. Guion appointed P. Bryan on the same conditions, and these two made the first locations of lands coming under the operation of the congressional act. (See Foote's Adm.)
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Internal improvements by the -State were earnestly recom- mended. The Mobile & Ohio and New Orleans & Nashville rail- roads were then in the stage of survey and promotion.
Raburnville, a hamlet in the central part of Itawamba county, 4 miles north of Fulton, the county seat. The postoffice was re- cently discontinued at this place, and it now has rural free delivery from Fulton. Population in 1900, 20.
Railroad Commission. Agitation for legislative supervision of the railroads resulted in the passage of the Barry railroad bill in- the latter part of the session of 1878, which declared all railroads to be public highways and the companies common carriers, pro- hibited the consolidating of parallel lines and discriminations, and fixed maximum rates for the transportation of cotton. Governor Stone did not return the bill, which act was called a "pocket veto," and at the next session he sent in a veto, on the ground that the act was in violation of that clause of the United States con- stitution forbidding laws to impair the obligation of contracts. In this legislature, (1880), a bill was introduced in the senate by W. W. Humphreys, known as the "Humphreys bill," which pro- vided for a railroad commissioner to be elected by the legislature, to see to the enforcement of the requirements of the bill against discrimination and extortion in rates. The bill was debated at great length in both houses, passed the senate, but failed on the last day of the session to reach final vote in the house. The legis- lature adopted a memorial to congress appealing to that body to regulate freight rates on interstate railroads.
In his message of 1884 Governor Lowry said: "The right of the State to supervise railroads within constitutional limits, so as to restrain them from unjust discriminations and exorbitant charges for the transportation of persons and property, has been asserted at various times by the people of Mississippi. Other States of the American Union have exercised, and are now exer- cising this attribute of sovereignty with results somewhat varied, but in the main satisfactory. I do not doubt the jurisdic- tion of the State to protect her citizens from abuses committed by railroads, with reference to domestic or internal commerce, but whether it is competent for the State to regulate interstate com- merce or such parts thereof as may directly affect her people, to the extent of fixing or limiting the amount of charges for fare and freight thereon, even when congress has failed to assert its ac- knowledged jurisdiction over the subject, I regard as unsettled and doubtful. I apprehend that evils might be so great as to justify the enactment of laws of doubtful constitutionality, in order to have them tested by the proper tribunals, for the pur- pose of obtaining relief by this means, if possible, where there is no other remedy, but when this course is adopted, there should be no doubt of or uncertainty as to the existence or gravity of the evils." He suggested "a just and liberal policy," and called attention to reductions in charges made by some of the roads.
A bill for railroad supervision passed both houses early in the
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session thus addressed by the governor, and he returned the same with a veto. The bill was then modified according to the gover- nor's objections, and became a law March 11, 1884, under the title, "An act to provide for the regulation of freight and passen- ger rates on railroads in this State, and to create a commission to supervise the same, and for other purposes." It provided for a railroad commission of three, representing the three supreme court districts. Roads that discriminate in freight or passenger rates shall be guilty of extortion, and liable, either for damages to the injured party, or a fine of not less than ten or more than five hun- dred dollars. It requires the railroads to submit their tariff charges for transportation to the commissioners, whose duty it is to revise said tariff charges. It requires the railroads to post their freight rates at their depot doors and makes the giving of rebates a mis- demeanor, punishable by a fine. It is also the duty of the com- mission to inspect depots and see that suitable ones are provided. The Governor appointed as the first commission: John M. Stone, W. B. Augustus and William McWillie. The legislature elected William McWillie, J. F. Sessions and John C. Kyle in 1886; Wal- ter McLaurin, Sessions and Kyle in 1888, and McLaurin, Sessions and J. H. Askew in 1890.
The constitution of 1890 provided for election by the people of the three districts, the first election being fixed by ordinance of the convention in November, 1891, the board elect to serve until January, 1896, thereafter the board, chosen at general elections, to serve four years. McLaurin, Sessions and Askew were reelected for 1891-96; John D. McInnis, M. M. Evans and J. J. Evans for 1896-1900. In 1896 the salary was reduced to $2,000 a year.
J. J. Evans, president of the board, died November 19, 1899. He had had a distinguished official career in the Confederate military service, as chancery clerk of Monroe county and eight years treas- urer of State. J. C. Kincannon, who had been elected in Novem- ber, was appointed by the governor. The board in 1900-04, was John D. McInnis, Albert Q. May and J. C. Kincannon ; in 1904 to the present, S. D. McNair, president, J. C. Kincannon, and R. L. Bradley, and T. R. Maxwell, secretary.
Soon after the adjournment of the legislature, the Illinois Cen- tral railroad brought suit to test the constitutionality of the law, asking an injunction against the commissioners "commanding that they absolutely abstain from all acts of interference," etc., and a preliminary injunction was granted by Judge Hill of the United States court on the grounds of violation of contract with the corporation and regulation of interstate commerce. The com- mission appealed to the United States supreme court. Suits in the State courts were decided against the commission, which appealed to the State supreme court, where it was held that the State had power originally to prescribe for a railroad company, created by it, the rates of compensation, and that any exercise of this power, which does not hinder or burden interstate commerce, is not an infringement of the constitutional duty of congress to regulate
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commerce among the States. But the court held that when the State had granted a company the right to fix its rates within maxi- mum limits, it could not interfere with charges so long as the com- pany kept within those limits. Only one company had no maxi- mum prescribed by its charter, and this one, the Natchez & Jack- son, appealed to the supreme court of the United States. The supreme court of the United States, on appeal from Judge Hill, in 1885 reversed the lower court, and upheld the constitutionality of the supervision law in all particulars.
In 1888 the board was required to revise the railroad assess- ments, and the duties of a Board of Control of the penitentiary were added, which became onerous after the cancellation of the lease to the Gulf & Ship Island railroad.
The board reported at the close of 1889 that the results of rail- road supervision had been to secure an uniform rate of three cents a mile for passengers, except on one narrow guage line. This was not secured without much tedious negotiation. They formulated the "Mississippi Classification" of freight rates in 1886, and on this basis, also on the basis of the Mississippi Valley and the Southern Association classifications, endeavored to secure uniformity in the classification of freight. The Southern Association classification was adopted throughout the State in 1888, except by the Illinois Central road, operating one-fourth of the mileage in the State, against which suits were begun, and withdrawn when the road sub- mitted under protest. The Illinois Central was operating a num- ber of roads, and deriving the profit therefrom, but prior to 1889, freight passing from one of the lines to another took the local rate of each line. The company was required in 1889 to establish a straight tariff. In a variety of ways, and in various cases, the com- missioners secured similar arrangements for the benefit of the public.
On September 19, 1900, the board issued an order fixing the rates on cotton seed. Injunctions were obtained in the United States court by the Illinois Central system against the enforcement of the rates, but subsequently the suits were dismissed, and the rates adopted, which it was estimated would save $60,000 annually to shippers. A case was brought against the Gulf & Ship Island road, to test the power of the board adversely to its charter, but the chancellor and the supreme court sustained the latter, "the effect of which is to guarantee the road its charter privileges." (Atty. Gen. report.)
The commission in.its report of 1900 complimented Mr. Fish of the Illinois Central, and Mr. Russell, of the Mobile & Ohio, upon their success in developing their properties and advancing the in- terests of the country. Yet, said the board, the present adjustment of rates is not fair, and if a readjustment were denied, the public weapon of taxation must be resorted to.
By the law of 1890 it was made unlawful for a railroad to dis- use a depot without the consent of the commission, and the board
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was given jurisdiction of the adequacy of passenger car service, and. condition of road way and bridges.
. The commission reported in 1906, "we have made a great many improvements for the public convenience in the matter of depot and passenger facilities. We have materially increased the as- sessed valuation of railroads and telephones, and telegraph compa- nies doing business in this State, the total increase in valuations amounting to $2,814,794. We have adopted such modifica- tions and reductions in freight rates and regulations as seemed proper, and made many orders of great importance, involving dif- ferences in freight charges of many thousand dollars." An order that Illinois Central fast trains should stop at Magnolia had been resisted, and appeal taken by the road from Judge Niles to the United States supreme court. The Alabama & Vicksburg railroad had appealed from the State supreme court to the United States supreme court in opposition to the fixing of a grain rate from Vicksburg to Meridian. The State supreme court had sustained the board in the Pontotoc depot order, and there were other cases of important litigation.
Railroads. (Also See Internal Improvements.) In 1830 a rail- road was completed for several miles out of Charleston, S. C., on yhich was operated a wonderful steam car, running 15 miles an hour. In April, 1831, a railroad four and a half miles long, from New Orleans to Lake Ponchartrain was opened. In the same year the Mississippi legislature chartered a railroad company to build from Woodville, Miss., to St. Francisville, La. The subscrip- tion to the stock was nearly completed in 1832, when also, a route had been surveyed from Vicksburg to Warren, 55 miles, and a large part of the stock taken. A railroad meeting was held at Nat- chez, October 10, 1834, presided over by James C. Wilkins, and addressed by John T. Griffith, Felix Huston and Adam L. Binga- man, to promote the building of a railroad to Jackson, with future extension to the Tennessee River. Delegates were chosen to a convention which met at Gallatin in December, the object being to open up the interior of the State. Surveys were made, and be- fore January, 1836, seven and a half miles of the road was put under contract, upon individual responsibility, in anticipation of an act of incorporation. This was "The Mississippi Railroad." According to Acting Governor Quitman's message of 1836, the Vicksburg Commercial Railroad & Banking Company, the Grand Gulf & Port Gibson, and the Woodville & St. Francisville Com- pany had received favorable charters (1835), and were proceeding "with energy to the construction of their several useful works of internal improvements." The Commercial Company was to build a railroad from Vicksburg to Jackson, with a bank attached for the manufacture of capital ; the other two were of the same nature ; and in 1836 the Mississippi & Alabama Company was chartered to build the road from Jackson east, with a bank at Brandon that soon became notorious, its downfall causing the suicide of the president; also the Mississippi Company, at Natchez, of which
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John A. Quitman was president, which established a bank at Nat- chez and started the railroad from Natchez northeastward. The proposed Lake Washington & Deer Creek road also had its bank; there was another at Columbus, and the Benton & Manchester project was similarly provided.
A complete statement of the railroad situation was printed by the Woodville Republican in January, 1837, from which it appears that about 700 men were then employed constructing the Wood- ville & St. Francisville road, to be 29 miles long. A line from New Orleans to Liberty was projected. On the Natchez-Jackson rail- road several hundred hands were at work, out from Natchez, and bets had been made that cars would be running to Washington, six miles, by July 4th. It was hoped that the public spirit that supported this enterprise would not abate until "the traveler might in the same day, drink from the Tennessee in Tishomingo and the Mississippi at Natchez." A locomotive and train was running on the road in May, 1837, when the financial crash came. Several hundred hands were also at work on the Grand Gulf & Port Gib- son road, 71/2 miles long. A line was projected from Grand Gulf via Raymond to Jackson. About 800 hands were at work between Vicksburg and the Big Black on the Vicksburg & Jackson line. Other chartered roads, not yet so far along as actual work, were the Manchester & Benton, Pontotoc & Aberdeen, Narkeeta, Jack- son & Brandon, Jackson & Mobile, and the Noxubee. Most of these would be mere feeders of the river traffic. The proposed New Orleans & Nashville line, which threatened competition with the river, was bitterly opposed. Governor McNutt, in January, 1839, said the Vicksburg & Jackson road would be completed in 1839 and rapid progress was being made with the Mississippi rail- road. Little had been done by the railroad-banking concerns toward building the Grand Gulf & Port Gibson, St. Francisville & Woodville and the Mississippi & Alabama (the Brandon bank), and the various other railroad-banking companies had confined their operations mainly to the issue of paper money. (See Bank- ing.) The Mississippi railroad company (Natchez & Jackson) owned 78 slaves. It laid iron on 2412 miles of track, before the collapse of the bank. A tornado in 1840 destroyed some of its extensive buildings. Its locomotive, the first in Mississippi, was exhibited at the Chicago Exposition of 1893. The Vicksburg & Jackson had been built 28 miles out from Vicksburg in January, 1840, at a cost of nearly $2,000,000. The Woodville and St. Francis- ville road was intended to connect on the south with the proposed Bayou Sara Railroad, to extend 101 miles from New Orleans along the left bank of the Mississippi, to St. Francisville, and on the north with a road to run from Woodville to Natchez and ulti- mately to Vicksburg. It is a curious fact that Woodville still re- mains the northern terminus of this line of road, which now constitutes the Bayou Sara Branch of the Y. & M. V. railroad.
The Vicksburg road to Clinton was the first 54 miles constructed of the present Alabama & Vicksburg. A grand barbecue was given
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followed by a ball at the Galt House in Clinton, on the date of the arrival of the first train from Vicksburg. "But the festivities were interrupted by a terrific tornado which in the afternoon swept the country and tore up the rails for miles. Carriages and wagons were conscripted to carry the visitors from Vicksburg back to the city, and soon order was brought out of chaos." (M. H. S., Vol. 7, p. 291.)
By the year 1840, 83 miles of railroad had been built in Mis- sissippi, composed of the railroads above mentioned, with an ag- gregate mileage of 61.75; Jackson & Brandon, 14 miles, and the Grand Gulf & Port Gibson, 71/4 miles. The interests of the Vicks- burg and Brandon companies were transferred to the Southern Railroad Company which, in 1854, was granted an extension of time to March 8, 1858, to build the road from Brandon to the State line. It was aided by a land grant. The Mobile & Ohio was incorporated in Mississippi February 4, 1848, and completed April 22, 1861.
In 1850 the cost of construction and equipment of railroads in Mississippi aggregated $7,998,298, and in 1855 there were 226 miles of railroad in operation according to the annual report of the Railroad Journal, N. Y. The New Orleans road in January, 1856, was graded north as far as Brookhaven and cars were run- ning to Osyka. From Jackson northward, the road was con- structed and in operation early in 1856 as far as Canton. The total mileage is given as 862 in 1860. De Bow's Review, Vol. 28, gives the following figures for that year: Grand Gulf & Port Gib- son, miles operated, 8; Memphis & Charleston, 27 in State; Mis- sissippi & Tennessee, 80; Mississippi Central, 187; Mobile & Ohio, 169 in State, and Columbus Branch, 14; New Orleans, Jack- son & Great Northern, 118 in State; Raymond road, 7; Southern, 83; West Feliciana (Woodville road), 7 in state. The New Or- leans, Jackson & Great Northern was complete with single track, and necessary side-tracks, depot buildings and water stations, from New Orleans to Canton, a distance of 206 miles, and its con- struction is said to have equalled that of any railroad in the United States. North from Canton, the Mississippi Central extended the line to Jackson, Tenn., and formed a link in the great through route between New Orleans and Chicago, while the Mississippi & Tennessee connected Grenada with Memphis. In April, 1861, the Mobile & Ohio was completed to the Tennessee line, and was in running order from Mobile to Columbus, Ky. The Vicksburg & Jackson, and Brandon (Mississippi & Alabama) lines, united un- der the name of the Southern (A. & V.), were completed as part of a through line June 3, 1861. These, and the Memphis & Charles- ton, through Corinth, were the railroads fought over during the war. The railroads built before the war were aided by loans from the State, as well as by land grants from the United States. (See Internal Improvements and Chickasaw School Fund.) After the war began the railroads came largely under the control of the Confederate military authorities. When the Union Armies en-
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tered the State they destroyed the roads, rolling stock and depots, to impair the Confederate means of communication, and in cases where the Union troops rebuilt the roads for their own use, they were destroyed by Confederate troops.
The State government favored the railroads by permitting them to pay an indebtedness to the State of about one million dollars in depreciated State and Confederate money, in 1863 and later. But after the war this act was held to be unconstitutional and the roads were required to pay in sound money. The companies were also authorized to issue scrip to circulate as money. "The Mo- bile & Ohio was empowered to issue $300,000, the Mississippi Cen- tral $300,000, the Mississippi & Tennessee $125,000, the Southern $150,000, the West Feliciana $50,000, the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern $300,000." (Garner's Reconstruction.)
The railroads were finally all seized and operated by the Mili- tary Railroad department of the United States army, and $45,000,- 000 was expended by the United States in the entire South in repair and equipment, which was a debt against the roads when restored to the companies. Practically none of the railroads were able to pay the debt, and it went by the board. The debt of the Mississippi railroads on this account was over $1,000,000. In Gar- ner's Reconstruction, pp. 142-45, is given an account of the mis- fortunes of several roads in war times. The Memphis & Charles- ton was fought for and in turn damaged by both armies. From Pocahontas to Decatur, 114 miles, it was in 1865 almost entirely destroyed. The Memphis & Tennessee, from Grenada to Mem- phis, had also been almost continuously raided. The first train, after 1862, went through on January 3, 1866. The Mississippi Central, from Canton to Jackson, Tenn., was a wreck and the company carried a debt of $1,500,000. In the summer of 1865 hand cars were used between Oxford and Holly Springs and pas- sengers were ferried across the Yalobusha River at Grenada. The N. O., J. & G. N., New Orleans to Canton, which had been com- pleted at a cost of $7,000,000 and was said to be the best equipped road in the South, was seized by General Lovell, on behalf of the Confederacy, in 1862, but later restored, and was in operation as far north as Ponchatoula, the more northern part having been wrecked as a continuous line by the raids of Sherman and Grier- son. In 1865 Gen. Beauregard was elected president, 78 bridges were rebuilt, rails laid, and equipment supplied, and trains began to run regularly between New Orleans and Canton October 3, 1865, for the first time since May, 1863. The last rail of the Mo- bile & Ohio, built mainly by English capital, was laid just before the firing on Fort Sumter. At the end of the war the company lost what was due it from the Confederate government, $5,000,000. All the bridges and trestles were destroyed north of Okolona, and the road was generally wrecked in the vicinity of Meridian. None of these suffered more than the Southern (Vicksburg to Meridian), during the war one of the most important military lines of the South. To put it out of condition was the first step in the siege
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of Vicksburg in 1863, and it was afterward destroyed as far east as Meridian by Sherman.
In 1866 the railroads memorialized the legislature for the repeal of a tax of one-half cent a mile on each passenger carried, in which they said that their whole property had been heavily mortgaged before the war to pay for construction. The creditors in the North and Europe were urging the payment of six years interest, delinquent during the war. Owing to the ravages of war the com- panies had been for 18 months struggling for life. They had suc- ceeded beyond their most sanguine hopes, but the stockholders had never received a dollar since the roads were built, and divi- dends could not soon be expected. This was signed by Gen. Beau- regard, president of the New Orleans road, A. M. West, president of the Central, F. M. White, president of the M. & T., Sam Tate,
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