58 The Phosphates of America. 



control to parcel out the territory among them so as to prevent 

 conflict ; raise the royalty to $52 per ton and place one or more 

 inspectors on the ground to supervise the work and weigh the rock 

 when shipped. All the river rock mined in South Carolina is 

 exported to Europe, and last year the demand was so great as to 

 necessitate the exportation of 40,000 tons of land rock, while the 

 price has steadily increased since 1887." 



This is a strong message, and how far Governor Tillman is 

 justified in assuming the river deposits to be either "practically 

 inexhaustible " or to have been very little affected by the enormous 

 drain to which they have been subjected during the past twenty 

 years, is a question of extreme delicacy. To what extent it is politic 

 or wise on the part of the State to increase the first cost of a raw 

 material which is just now threatened with fierce competition from 

 a most formidable and naturally favored rival is also a matter for 

 very serious consideration. In any event, the fact remains that the 

 Coosaw Company has seen fit to disagree with the views of the 

 Governor and has joined issue with the State on the question of 

 right. When the State Phosphate Commission, therefore, took 

 possession of the Coosaw River territory, on the 2d of March, 1891, 

 and made preparations to lease it to all who applied for a license, 

 the company filed a protest, and on March 6th was granted a tem- 

 porary injunction by Judge Simonton, of the United States Court, 

 whereby the State Phosphate Commission was en joined, from enter- 

 ing upon, or otherwise interfering with, that part of the Coosaw 

 River which the company had previously occupied. As a first 

 result of the litigation the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has 

 decided as follows : 



"The acts of 1870 and 1876 must be construed inpari matiiria. 

 Under the first act the State gave the grantees for twenty-one years 

 the right to mine in its navigable streams. This grant was upon 

 the condition that the grantees should pay annually $1 a ton on 

 each ton dug and mined, and that they make a return of their 

 operations annually, or oftener if required. This was not an 

 exclusive right (Bradley vs. The Phosphate Company, 1 Hughes). 

 It was upon condition ; that is to say, it existed so long as the con- 

 ditions were fulfilled and no longer. The act of 1876 proposed 

 modification of this contract in four particulars. 



" 1. The time for making the returns was definitely fixed at the 

 end of each month. This was an advantage to both parties. 



