Kansas. Special charters which do not designate the period of corporate life continue ninetynine years. The legislature has power to extend the charter period as it may deem proper.

Wisconsin. The legislature of Wisconsin expressly reserves the power to pass laws relating to reasonable maximum rates, the correction of abuses, unjust discrimination, and for the protection of the just rights of the public. Corporations, however, under the laws of this state, "shall continue perpetually."

North Carolina. Sixty years, unless otherwise provided for in the act creating the same, is the corporate life under the laws of North Carolina.

Louisiana. This state limits the corporate existence to ninety-nine years.

Texas. In Texas a charter is forfeited if ten miles of the proposed road are not put into running order within two years, and twenty miles during every year thereafter until the road is completed. Charters may be granted for a period of fifty years, with the privilege of renewal for an equal number of years.

Maryland and Rhode Island illustrate an entirely different type of statutory provision:

Rhode Island. The laws of Rhode Island prescribe a course of procedure which appears to be entirely in harmony with the needs of our growing railway and industrial systems. In that state the general law alters special charters whenever the latter are found to be inconsistent with the former.

Maryland. Exactly the opposite is true in Maryland, where the adoption of the "general code" is not to affect the rights and privileges granted by special charters.

Provisions found in the laws of all the other states dealing with this subject at all do not contain anything not found in what has here been presented.1

Determination of route. Under early railway methods the route was very indefinitely indicated, the best of all descriptions being frequently contained in that clause in the charter naming the termini of the road; and it will be remembered that not all of the termini were mentioned in some charters, but that merely certain zones thought to contain "eligible points" were loosely indicated. In other charters not only the termini but one or more important intermediate points were designated; in but very few, often insignificant, charters was the entire route described with sufficient definiteness to enable one to tell beforehand exactly where the railway would be constructed. course of a railway is a matter in which the public has an interest. The manner in which the right of eminent domain has been exercised has de

The

1 States having statutory or constitutional provisions, or both, directly reserving to those states the power to alter, repeal, or amend charters, are the following: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New -Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

pended very greatly upon the extent of the public interest in the railway in question. Before the charter was granted to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway-known to all the world as the first important modern railway every piece of land to be crossed by the proposed railway had to be described, and the exact location of the entire line definitely determined before the charter was granted. Such a mode of procedure had been practically unknown in the United States until more recent times. Even at the present time great competing systems quietly send out their surveyors to gain an advantage in entering new sections or in constructing lines which will shorten the route between important competitive points. It is not uncommon to have one railway build, section by section, year after year, until finally the design, which must from the first have directed the movements of the constructors, dawns upon the public mind and the real significance of what appeared to be perhaps the construction of a subordinate branch becomes apparent. This may or may not be desirable; that is immaterial. The fact, however, remains that important public interests are affected by just such movements, and every interest which is thus liable to be affected should have an opportunity to be heard before such important industrial operations are undertaken. No state in the Union. has legislated in this respect with greater care and completeness than Massachusetts. The laws of that state provide that the termini, together with

the names of the cities and towns through which the projected road or branch is to run, are to be given with as much certainty as the nature of the case will admit. The articles of association of the company fostering the project must be published in each county once a week for a period of three weeks; and the map of the proposed route, together with the report, must be submitted to the mayor, aldermen, and selectmen of the different municipalities affected. Public hearings, after due notice to all persons interested, are also provided for.

In Maine the railroad commissioners must approve the location of the railway before construction is begun. Extensions of existing lines may be built on application to and approval of the commission. Frequently the more remote states are less restrictive in such matters; but the laws of Arkansas make it obligatory for the company to file the map with the county clerk of every county through which the proposed railway is to be run, for the inspection of all persons interested. The location having once been established, no modifications in the line, exceeding a certain distance, are permitted, and a map of the road, together with such modifications, must be filed with the secretary of state. One of the most important provisions bearing upon this question is found in a recent law (1899) of Tennessee, which prohibits one railway company from holding exclusive possession of a narrow pass, thus preventing another

railway company from laying its tracks through the same. If the pass is so narrow that only one track can be laid, joint use of the same is made mandatory upon the road which has built through it. No point named in the articles of incorporation can be avoided under the laws of California. A map of the road must be filed with the secretary of state after location. Changes in the line must also be filed. In Connecticut a map of an approved route must be filed with the town clerks on a prescribed scale; and, after construction, the lineament of the road can be changed only by permission of the board of commissioners. Florida charters must state the place from which and to which the road is to be constructed, its length, and the name of each county through which it runs. However, the direction of the road may be changed by a vote of two-thirds of the directors. provisions are found in the laws of Georgia.

Similar

In a number of states maps are not required to be filed until after construction has begun or is completed, or within a year after the road has been finished. In Indiana, on the other hand, a map must be filed with the county clerk in every county named in the articles of association before construction can begin. If necessary, the route may be changed, but no place named in the articles is to be avoided. Kansas also requires the filing of a map with county clerks before construction; and the road bed may be changed, but not the general route. The map, approved by the president and