vote per share, although in the North and South Atlantic States the graded system of voting, by which the number of votes of the individual stockholder decreases as his holdings increase, is

common.

It is a familiar fact that our early railways were built for short distances and without reference to one another, and that our present magnificent systems are but consolidations of large numbers of smaller roads. We are not surprised, therefore, to find the subject of consolidations rarely touched upon in early charters. To be sure the term is used; and now and then a clause, either directly authorizing or prohibiting consolidations, was put into a charter. The right to cross other railways, as well as to form junctions, was frequently granted; and in reality such a right can easily be construed as the right to consolidate. Similarly, the power to operate and lease other railways was frequently given, although in the Southern States the term. "farming" is sometimes used.

Most later charters expressly prohibit the leasing or joint operation of parallel or competing lines; and, in numerous early charters, companies are protected against the construction of parallel lines, either within a certain number of years or a certain distance from their own roads.

A great majority of charters provide for an annual report in one form or another. This report is most frequently made by the board of directors to the stockholders; in fewer instances to the legis

lature; and, in still others, to both the stockholders and the legislature. The number of items specified in this report varies all the way from less than ten to more than one hundred.

Forerunners of laws relating to safety appliances and the protection of persons and property can also be detected in early charters. Provisions may be found relating to the order in which cars shall be put into a train, the manner in which crossings shall be protected, bells placed upon locomotives and fences built along tracks. (It is a matter of curiosity that, in some of our earliest charters, provision is made for the construction of gates across the railway tracks, which the train operators are to open and close whenever they cross the public highways.)

The transportation of troops and munitions of war is occasionally provided for; and in various Southern States railway officers are expressly exempted from the performance of military duty. In a few charters the power of the company to own slaves is treated. A sinking fund is also mentioned in a very few of them.

An archaic feature of our charters is found in the provisions relating to the use of the same railway track by different shippers, and the rules governing the construction of rolling stock. For example, in Massachusetts1 a corporation was authorized to specify in its by-laws the form and construction of the wheels, and the weight of the Laws, 1826, ch. 26, § 6.

1

In

loads which should pass over its road. This clause had directly in view the use of vehicles other than those owned by the corporation. several charters granted in the Northwestern States the form of the vehicles, as well as the price to be charged for the transportation of goods and owners' vehicles, is specified in the charters. In New Jersey,1 it is provided "that no farmer belonging to this state shall be required to pay any toll for the transportation of the produce of his farm to market over the said road or roads, in his own carriage, weighing not more than one ton, when the weight of such produce shall not exceed 1,000 pounds, but the same farmer may be charged toll as for empty carriage." It will be noticed that the term "toll" is here used to designate remuneration for the act of transportation, while the term expense" or or "cost of transportation," as was noted in an earlier paragraph, relates more particularly to remuneration for the use of the track, and represents a contribution to the fixed charges of the road.

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1 Laws, 1831, p. 100.

CHAPTER II

LATER CHARTERS AND EARLY GENERAL LAWS

General Characteristics. The terms "early" and "late," used with reference to railway charters, are relative in their significance; for a year which is early in the history of one state may be late in that of another. For instance, charters granted in the New England and Middle States between 1835 and 1840 may be characterized as later, while those granted in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota during those years would decidedly belong to the earlier charters of that section. The legislative history of railways in the various states of the Union is essentially similar, and as we observe the movements of this legislation from east to west we may notice that in turn each state goes through, in the main, all the experiences and stages of advancement of other states which preceded it in railway development. An examination of the contents of these charters, as one observes their march westward, clearly indicates the fact that the restrictions of the earlier types granted in the East are gradually made milder, if they are not altogether lost. Occasionally there is a reversion to type-a Western charter embodying all the

salient restrictions and regulating features of the severest Eastern charters. The additional observation may be made that the maximum rate provisions, which are rather common in the earlier charters of the East and Middle West, are frequently embodied in later charters. Then, as time advances and the more modern phases of railroading make their appearance, clauses referring to consolidations, discriminations, and even long and short haul are occasionally inserted. Aside from the enumeration of names comprising the board of commissioners, which usually appears in the first or second section of the charter, no regular order is maintained.

It is clear that states copied largely from one another, and, in the process of copying, different charter sections appear to have become badly mixed; and in numerous instances a considerable number, even a majority, of clauses incorporated in the more complete charter which served as the model are left out altogether.

While large numbers of special charters were granted up to 1870, general laws relating to railways appeared early in the thirties, and in a few isolated cases even before that time. A custom which aided in bringing about the transition from special to general laws was the abbreviation of railway charters by reference to previously granted charters in the same or, in isolated cases, in other states. Under this custom the charter only contained a few purely individual and local specifica