Modern battles of Trenton .. . on, assisted Attorney-General8tockton in defending the work of the State Board and the legality of the keen, shrewd,insinuating and oilyBenjamin Williamson,vigorous in spite ofhis advanced years;William S. Keracher,noted as the man \yhohad sent a band ofMolly Maguires fromthe Pennsylvania coalmines to the gallows,and Robert W. DeForest,* appeared forthe railroads. Vol-umes of testimonywere taken before Su-preme Court Commis-sioner George W. Cas-sedy, and every item of railroad property was made the objectof minute inquiry as to cost and value. The case wa
Modern battles of Trenton .. . on, assisted Attorney-General8tockton in defending the work of the State Board and the legality of the keen, shrewd,insinuating and oilyBenjamin Williamson,vigorous in spite ofhis advanced years;William S. Keracher,noted as the man \yhohad sent a band ofMolly Maguires fromthe Pennsylvania coalmines to the gallows,and Robert W. DeForest,* appeared forthe railroads. Vol-umes of testimonywere taken before Su-preme Court Commis-sioner George W. Cas-sedy, and every item of railroad property was made the objectof minute inquiry as to cost and value. The case was arguedin the Supreme Court at the November Term of 1885. In the February following (1886), the State was thrown intoconfusion by the reading of Chief Justice Beasleys opinion,declaring the act unconstitutional and inoperative. The con-fusion sprang from the fact that the decision not only left theState without a source of revenue for the next fiscal year, butalso subjected it to the necessity of repaying to the railroads the. William T. Hoffman. MODERN BATTLES OF TRENTON. 243 moneys they had conditionally paid. They abstained, however,from making any demand upon the State, and the Pennsyl-vania Railroad Company even advanced the amount of its taxbill for the next year, agreeing to await the determination ofthe Court of Errors and Appeal?, to which the Chief Justicesdecision was taken for review. When the Chief Justicesadverse opinion was read, Governor Abbett found some comfortin giving Senator Griggs credit for the defeated legislation, andinsisting that if his own bill had been put through it would nothave been so easily overturned. The appeal was heard by thehigher court at its next sitting, and a few months later ChiefJustice Beasleys opinion was overruled, and the act was now Senator Griggs turn to laugh, and he insisted thatif it had been Governor Abbetts bill that the court had beenasked to maintain, the result would have been different. The Legislature o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidmodernbattle, bookyear1895
