The New York herald., 1870-04-19
Our Great Rnilrond Corporntions-T"e
Duty Of Congress.

i
of jobbery This is an evil whose full elect
is certainly not foreseen by the people. They
| hear more or less discussion Of the Erie
bill; or the New York Central or Pennsylvania
| central, they read that the capital stock Of
! great railroad is doubled by law; but these
are subjects of 80 little immediate concern to
any but persons dealing in railroad property
their bearing upon the practical welfare of the
people is SO remote that they pass out of
thought, having received less attention than
! the last divorce case. Yet in the immediate
future of our great railroad corporations we
may see nothing less than the story OF vast
concentration of property and power in few
hands-a story that is the constant prelude to
great social revolutions, because such concen-
traton always makes it necessary that the
people should break up the foundations and
reorganize society to protect themselves from
the expressions and exactions of the few. In
the great majority of cases in the history of the
| past the cause of revolution has been the loss
| of proper balance in the ownership of land, the
condition of the people being always conse-
quence Of the land tenure. Suddenly, when
all the land has by various causes been
| gathered into limited ownership, the
pressure of laws made in the interests of the
few owners becomes SO great upon the people
that they can endure it no longer, and they rise
and declare themselves not subject to such
law. In the presence of such a fact the land
becomes nearly worthless, and so falls into
new hands and is divided into small estates,
and thus the evil finds its real remedy with
but little regard to the new laws that may be
made to reconcile the rebellious people. Thus
the real remedy for the cause of our Southern
war is not the reconstruction laws, but the
farmers who settle in the Southern States on
places of few acres each.
Popular safety depends upon the prevention
Of the excessive aggrandizement of any one
class at the expense, as it always must be, Of
all the other classes; and wherever there is
any operation of law that favors or furthers
such aggrandizement the liberties of the peo-
pie are in danger This is what the people
have to apprehend from the future of our
| great railroad corporations Land tenure
| tyranny made necessary the great rebellion in
| England and has kept Ireland in state of
distraction and discomfort till this day. 1t
| brought about the evils for which the French
revolution was the partial remedy it brought
| on the shareholders war in our Southern
States. But land is not the only property
that may be thus concentrated to the detri-
ment of the popular welfare. 1t has
been the main one in ages less
| han fbo 70 IF
resentative values; but it will be found that
| the concentration of the whole movable
capital of community that fourishes by trade
and manufactures will have the same disas-
trous effect. Three or four railroad corpora
tions already threaten the future Of the people
by concentration of property and power so
vast as to be practically without limit, and to
leave them without rivals should they choose
to combine with any object common to them
all. We have seen true battle of the giants
in the conflict between the Central and the Erie
on topics within our own State; but suppose
these giants should join their strength for some
common purpose on still larger field, what
power could stand in their way? How much
more difficult would it be to resist their will if,
added to the power Of these two was that of
the railroads that cross the Atlantic slope to
the south Of us? What power shall secure the
people against power that manipulates State
Legislatures with so little effort that it may at
any moment give to its lttlest whim-the ex-
preston Of its mere caprice-the force and
sanction of law?
In all the laws made for the regulation and
control Of such power it should consequently
be watched in its growth with the most jealous
care, so that the consent of the people may not
the mercy of such power. All railroad
laws should be framed only from the
standpoint Of the public interest, and
should be most stringent in the Limitation
of the power given to railroad corporations.
But, in fact, it is all quite the other way. Our
great railroad men walk up to State capitals,
pay their money and dictate their will, and
the will becomes law as the cash is handed
over. In such transaction there is, of course,
no thought of the public welfare. The pur-
chased legislator cheaply betrays his trust,
and the visible capital Of great corporation
is doubled by the stroke of a pen. In similar
way the permanent control of property is
given by law to men who were entrusted with
that control for limited period by the owners
of the property. All the legislation with
regard to railroads has its origin in the schemes
of corrupt jobbery-and this must result in
the very greatest evil. What is the remedy
There is no remedy so long as our pitiful State
Legislatures are the recognized source of rail-
road laws. These small bodies of ignorant
and merely mercenary men assemble once o
year to be bought, and it is vain to hope to
improve their character. Congress must
assume control of the railroads. On larger