Weekly Trinity journal., 1871-05-20
THE RAILROAD QUESTION.


18th, instant by the Supreme Court of this State,
in the case of the Stockton and Visalia Railroad
Us. the City of Stockton. The object of the
suit was to determine the constitutonaiity of
" An Act to Empower the City of Stockton to
aid in the construction of the Stockton and
Visalia Railroad" passed by the last Legisla-
ture. The Bill provided, in effect, for the dona-
Company, provided a majority of the voters of
Stockton were in favor of the proposition. An
election was held, the ayes carried the day,
and the Common Council refused to levy the
necessary taxes. Hence the suit. The Court
afirms the validity of the Act mainly upon two
grounds. The leading opinion is based upon
the legal principle that all presumptons are in
favor of the constitutonality of Legislative
Acts, and such enactments will be upheld by the
Courts, unless they clearly appear repugnant to
and in contravention of the State Constitution.
Three of the Justices specially concur on the
ground that it is not an open question, but has
repeatedly been passed upon by the Courts.
The railroad question in this State and many
others is an important one. 1t is important to
the people to know just how much they can be
| taxed. OF course, when demanded for the pub
lie use or safety, the citizen can hardly call his
property his own. The Court argued that the
Legislature declared the aforesaid railroad a
matter of public concern, that this judgment
cannot be reversed and that the legislation by
which the tax was imposed was a determination
that the public good was to be promoted by the
tax. Now we have no quarrel with this decision
nor the Court nor the Railroad Company. We
consider it necessary, however, that the people
| should know what the law is on this point, that
they should understand that the Legislature
can authorize elections for the purpose of voting
on the questions of aiding any enterprise and that
majority of the qualified voters in the district
may thus impose tax upon all its property
We believe in aiding railroads by Government
donations in exceptional cases, but when all
railroads must be subsidized, the evil has grown
out of all proportions. Under such measures
as the Act before mentioned, bare majority of
a county can saddle upon the tax-paying minor
ity debt rendering all property comparatively
worthless. We have known this to actually
happen in a fourishing Western town. The
way the game was played there was that an
Alderman would propose that certain grading
should be done or such street be macadamized.
I Under the city charter, the proposition must be
voted upon. The street-contractors, quarry
men, teamsters and day laborers were always
represented in the City Council, and constitu-
ting an irresponsible non-tax paying majority,
pushed the expenditures in this way till the city
finally repudiated. And we'll it might. Eigh-
teen thousand people owed million and a-half
of dollars. Here we stick in a peg and contend
that no man ought to be allowed to vote that his
neighbor's property be specially taxed unless the
voter has also property qualification. This
would be sufficient to guard against undue rail-
road taxation, and something of this sort is nec-
essary. Railroads open up otherwise valueless
territory, enhance the value of agricultural
products and populate States and Territories.
They are great ciVilizers, and their extent and
character is the surest index of the wealth and
vigor of a Nation. The growth of our railroads,
however, is almost too rank. In all other Ma
tions, the Government controls their manage
ment. In no other country but this is there
such a tendency to the concentration of capital
and political influence in the hands of few in
dividuals in the form of Railroad Corporations
One difference is happily expressed by Mark
Twain in his very readable book L" The Innocents
Abroad" Speaking of what he saw in France
he says, "They have no railroad accidents in
France. But why Because when one occurs
somebody has to hang for it," This is feature
about which the American people won't COM
plain great deal. We are fast people, and
we will take the train upon which the most ac-
cidents occur, provided we are likely to gain
half minute by so doing. The point of Mark
TWain's observations is that the French rail-
ways were made completely subservient to the
public good. In the United States, the ques-
tion is taking very tangible shape whether the
Railroads shall belong to the Country or the
Country belong to the Railroads. The issue
must be made and passed upon whether the
Congress shall sit hereafter as committee to
register the DEGREES of Railroad Corporations. :"
The people are vitally interested in this mat
ter. We may not apprehend any immediate
danger, but man invested with power is
like the tiger when he has once tasted blood.
When we consider how the Camden and Amboy
Railroad ruled New Jersey for many years, and
how the Erie Company and Tammany combined
are welding the great State of New York, it is
high time we should pause and reflect Jim
Fisk in his little speech before Tammany, assem-
bled to ratify Hoffman's nomination, modestly
stated that he thought it was not much out of
place for them TO listen to the opinion of man
who had twenty-five thousand others under him.
We want railroads, must have them, the more
the better. But their power to legislate the
property of other people into their corporate
strong boxes must be vetoed by the people,