Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1866-12-21
8eotoro gnqurer.
aEsrRIcrIoN oF MoNoPoLIEs.

A great majority Of the mammoth corpo-
rations Of .he present day, are exercising
their influence and expending their wealth,
directly in opposition to the best interests
Of the people. They step aside from their
legitimate privileges ard endeagor to con
troll legislation and the ballot in such man
nor as to further their uischievous and self
ish ends They oppress and burden the
weak and fortify themselves by legislative
enactments in the grossest wrong. They
not only initiate against the best interests
Of the citizens, but they grasp almost the
reigns of Government. The interests of the
State are as naught if they conflict with any
one of these hydras. Under such eireom-
stances it becomes the imperative duty Of
the citizen to protect himself and the State
before it is TOO late,
There is no way that 50 much can be done
70 eradicate this great and growing evil as
by passing a Free RAILROAD Law. There
was a time when it was necessary to protect
railway companies By special legislative
enaetments, but that day has gone by. Every
man, or company Of men, that desires to
construct a railway for public Or private
purposes, should have the same privileges
70 do so that they would have to construct
an ordinary road by complying with the
Law. Why should there be more restric
tions thrown around railroads than any
other roads2 IF men go into an unpaying
speculation it is a matter Of their own If
they desire to build railroad, and comply
with the law upon the subject, let them do
so. If number of men desire to start
manufacturing establishment, they perfect
au organization under a general law, and no
one endeavors to interfere with their doing
so. If a general manufacturing law meets
all the necessities of that great branch Of
human enterprise, we are quite sure that
railroads can be just as successfully con-
structed upon the same principle.
Under the present system every railroad,
whether great or small, is a monopoly, All
that party of men has to do is to secure
certain route, construct a road and stock
it, and the president becomes really mon
arch of all he surveys. With a well lined
pocket he seats himself in our legislative
halls and coolly observes that which may be
averse to the interest of his company, and
readily checks it, and, if it is designed 20
further his ends and aims, he buys it
through. Corrupt men have too long had
this kind of legislation continued for their
individual advantages. 1t is high time that
it were discontinued The people have
universally expressed themselves in favor
of taking this pernicious temptation out Of
the reach of their members.
The concentration Of vast quantities Of
---'tal for the pTIrnnse Of pIIrsuinp a husi-
ness for individual ends has always
been productive of great evil The law
makers of every age have had to restrict
such operations. The company that has
sufficient capital to buy up all the grain, all
the cotton, all the neeessaries of life, all the
cattle in The country, and stow them away or
herd them up until they can procure any
fAASO hAiSiA ADC4 SSG II " uCtLihtANi
would be no worse monopoEsts, in their way,
than the railroad company that controls all
the legislation of State aud thereby ex-
cludes all other persons from developing
regions which are now inaccessible, simply
because II might have a tendency to deprive
them Of the privilege Of extending their
own corporation or debar them from car
rying few tons Of freight IF the Penn
sylvania Railroad company were to buy up
all the cattle in the country, tomorrow, and
hold them up for their own prices, there
would be such cry that the legislature
would not dare to hesitate moment to
restrict their purchases. They arA doing
this very thing in the railroad business, will
our legislature restrict them and all other
monopolies by passing Free Railroad
Law? We think they will