The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956 Page: 365
587 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Railroad Einterprises in the Republic of Texas
profits arising from the toll, fees, and charges. In addition the
government was given the "free privilege of transporting all sol-
diers, provisions, ammunitions, and munitions of war and also all
transports and ships of war, free of tolls or other charges." The
charter was to run for 49 years and it could be renewed for a
similar period upon petition and payment to the government of
a bonus of $500,000 in specie and a guarantee of five per cent of
the annual net profits.
Another important clause of the charter, possibly the most
important, granted banking privileges. The charter permitted
the company to locate a bank at any place the directors might
think best, to establish two branch banks wherever they wished,
and more than two banks with congressional approval. The bank
was empowered to issue paper currency, to buy and sell bills
of exchange, accept deposits, and loan money although the rate
of interest on loans could not exceed ten per cent per annum.
Finally, the charter provided that in the event the first-named
bonus of $25,000 was not paid within eighten months from the
passage of the act, the charter would be "forfeited, and forever
thereafter be null and void."8
Although the charter was voted unanimously by both houses
of the Texas Congress, violent opposition to the company devel-
oped almost immediately, led by Francis Moore, Jr., editor of
the Telegraph and Texas Register. Anson Jones, who later was
to serve as the last president of the Republic, also attacked the
company and in 1837 was elected to the Texas Senate on a plat-
form of opposition to the charter. Thus the company early became
a subject of controversy and it has remained such ever since. Sam
Houston, a member of the United States Senate in i854,9 felt
called upon to defend his approval of the charter as Governor.
A rather recent writer, in referring to the banking clause, has
stated that "This was about as wild an enterprise as one would
expect to find in a new community."'1 Moore, on the other hand,
admitted that the company, if properly controlled, could provide
8H. P. N. Gammel (comp.), The ,Laws of Texas: z822-1897 (to vols.; Austin,
1898), I, 1188-1192.
9Congressional Globe, Ist Session, a3d Congress, Appendix, 12-14.
10Charles S. Potts, Railroad Transportation in Texas (Austin: University of Texas,
Bulletin No. i1g), 23.365
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956, periodical, 1956; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101162/m1/391/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.