The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-17
CAN A Rail WAY KING. BEOOME n
DLSINTEREST,ED OVERNORP

nIe of the Republican Journals Whlch asSah
tba nrivate character of Asa Packer. he has
made large fortune, and made it honorably.
Ha has acquired high character for
iptaority as well as enterprise; and the opinion
of tbe Tribune that he came honestly by his
twenty millions of dollars is doubtless cor
rect. His endowment of the Lehigh Univer-
sity was also a generous and praiseworthy act,
sor which he is entitled to great credit, and
we will not join in any attempt to diminish
the public estimate of that meritorious deed.
At the same time, the peculiar personal
position of Asa Packer is, in our judgment, a
fair subject of public discussion, in view of
the important influence he might exercise
upon the whole internal Improvement policy
ofsthe State if he should be elected Governor
of Pennsylvania.
We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that
railroad influence is an important, if not
predominating, element in the politics of the
country New Jersey has often been ruled
by her great railway corporations The scale
of New York politics has repeatedly been
turned by the managers of her powerful rail
ways. Illinois has been influenced, to large
extent, by the action of the officers of the
Illinois Central. And Pennsylvania has been
by no means free from the domination of her
powerful railway corporations.
There is special significance in the nomi-
nation, at such a juncture, of Guber-
material candidate who owns infinitely more
railway property than any other man in the
State, and whose whole soul is identified with
the prosperity and progress of one of our most
powerful, progressive, and aggressive rail-
ways. AS Governor he could exercise the
veto power, and no legislation could be per-
feoted against his opposition, unless it re-
ceived a two-third vote in the House and
Senate. Practically, he would be master of
the railway policy of the Commonwealth. If he
throw the whole weight of his influence in
behalf of the corporation in which he is most
deeply interested, he could scarcely fail to
secure any legislation he desired to promote
its interests and he would undoubtedly be
enabled to crush any scheme devised
for the benefit of rival or hostile rail
way corporations. Now, as Asa Packer is the
principal owner of the Lehigh Valley Rail
road, it is not difficult to imagine contingen-
cies in which he could, as Governor, exert an
influence that would enhance, by millions of
dollars, the value of his railway stock; and it
is not at all impossible that the very act by
which he could thus be enriched would enure
to the disadvantage, to an equal extent, of
antagonistic corporations, of sections of
the Commonwealth not traversed by his road
We do not believe that Asa Packer would be
more apt to exert this fearful power than any
other citizen, but voters should consider we'll
the proposition of the Democracy to confer
il upon him, and ask themselves whether it is
wise, just or prudent to give one who has
so much at stake controlling influence over
railway as well as other legislation? When
A. L. Stewart was appointed Secretary of the
Treasury he was confronted by an old law
which forbid any importer from acting in that
capacity; and the wisdom of the enactment
was generally acknowledged. Does not the
principle which disqualified him dis
qualify Asa Packer from sitting in solemn
Judgment upon the railway legislation of
Pennsylvania? Can he be expected to act
fairly, disinterestedly, and justly on the rail
way enaotments which form large and, in
some respects, the most important, portion
Of legislation, when his own individual in
,terests hang trembling in the balance, and
when his veto or his signature to a proposed
bill may put million of dollars into his pri-
vate purse ? This possibility is by no means
remote and Asa Packer could scarcely serve
through three-years term as Governor with
out having the responsibility repeatedly
thrust upon him of deciding whether he
should prefer the promotion of his individual
interests or those of his railway rivals.
The Democratic candidate for Governor is
the embodiment of the Lehigh Valley Rail
road. He created it, extended it, and is still
its guiding and controlling spirit. This
is, in itself, creditable. But should he be
allowed to use the whole influence of the
Executive Chamber to advance its fortunes,
to crush its rivals, to form advantageous
new combinations? The position of the
Lehigh Valley Railroad is peculiar. By the
side of the main line from Phillipsburg to
Wilkesbarre, distance of 1Ol miles, runs the
parallel Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad,
and at many points they are but few yards
distant from each other. Occupying the
same territory and competing for the same
business, little legislation granted here, or
denial OF legislation there, may give con-
elusive advantage to one or the other
Oh these powerful antagonists. Then
the Lehigh Valley Road, through
's branches and connections, is advancing
in'o tne coal territory heretofore monopolized
Dy 1ne Heading Railroad. How will that cor
p-a'loh like the idea of being placed in a
s.a,a s'nAhen,al sense, at the mercy of its an
e' II has been the desire of the New