Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 5.djvu/674

 662 Fï:SEBi.L BEPOBTEB. �constitutional power, no màtter how cruel and unjust the law may be, the court cannot apply the remedy. There is nothing in the act complained of whieh 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. The complaint is not so much against the legis- lature as against the railroad commiesioners. Their admin- istration of the law is charged to be oppressive and unjust tO' the railroad company in whioh the complainant is a stock- holder. It is alleged that the schedule of rates fixed by the commis sioners for said railroad is, if adhered to, destructive to the railroad property and ruinons to its creditors and stock- holders. The evidence submitted upon this point by the complainant, consisting of the affidavits of Mr. Haines, th& general manager of the defendant railroad company, and others on the one side, and the affidavit and reports and cir- culars of the railroad commissioners on the other, is very conflicting and irreconoilable. It is not so much a conflict as. to the îacts as it is in matters of judgment and inferences from facts. One thing is made clear to my mind by the evi- dence. It is that there has been an honest and painstaking effort on the part of the commissioners to perform their duty under the law firmly and justly. The difference between thfr railroad commissioners and thë officers of the Savannah, Florida & Western Eailroad Company is an honest differencfr of judgment, The company put the present investment in its road at $4,710,000, and claimed that a profit of 10 per cent, per annum would be just and reasonable. The commis- sioners placed the value of the investment at $4,000,000, and a just and reasonable profit thereôn at 8 per cent. The rail- road company estimated its annual expenditure for main- taining and operating the road at $700,000. The commis- sioners were of opinion that |550,000 would suffice, witb good management and proper economy. The oflScers of the railroad company declare that the rates fixed by the commis- sion will so reduce its income that it will not suffice to pay the running expenses of the road and the interest on its bonded ����