of Arnold DuBose against the Georgia Railroad for
extortion in freight charges.

The principles he had gleaned from this laborious record made him
resolve to place restrictions upon corporate power in the new
constitution. The time was ripe for this movement. The Granger
legislation in the West had planted in the organic law of Illinois,
Ohio, and Missouri the policy of government control over the railroads.
The statutes of Pennsylvania also reflected the same principles, and the
Supreme Court of the United States had decided this great case on the
side of the people. General Toombs was master of the legislation on this
subject in England, and had studied the American reports on the right
and duty of the state to regulate railroad companies. He declared, in
proposing this new system, that these laws had been adopted by the most
enlightened governments of the world. "From the days of the Roman Empire
down to the present time," said Toombs, "it has never been denied that
the state has power over the corporations."

At once the State was in an uproar. "Toombs is attempting a new
revolution," was alleged. He was charged with leading an idolatrous
majority into war upon the rights of property. Conservative men like
Jenkins deprecated the agitation. Atlanta was filled with a powerful
railroad lobby, and the press resounded with warning that development of
the waste places of Georgia would be retarded by this unjust and
nefarious warfare. Robert Toombs was not an agrarian. His movement
against the corporations was reenforced by delegates from the small
towns in Georgia, who had suffered from discrimination in favor of the
larger cities. Railroad traffic had been diverted by rigid and ruthless
exactions, and a coterie of delegates from southwest Georgia stood
solidly by Toombs. These debates drew crowds of listeners. From the
galleries hundreds of interested Georgians looked down upon the last
public service of Robert Toombs. He never appeared to finer advantage.
His voice lacked its old-time ring, his beard was gray and his frame was
bent, but he was fearless, aggressive, alert, eloquent. He was master of
the whole subject. Railways, he declared, were public highways. Upon no
other principle could they receive land from the State, under its right
of eminent domain, than that this land was condemned for public and not
for private use. A public highway means that it must be used according
to law. In those States where people ha