The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-02-06
THE rRaNsPoaFA.i0N EoS0PLY.
Another Slavery.

The iotcd State Register thus sums Hr
the transportation question Railroad
ui0nonlles are eating the lile Cut of both
sections. Their exacl;oEs deprive labor
OF its reward in the west; they place the
necessities of life almost out o. the reach
OF labor in the east More than t,To
thirds OF all the labor, of ali the rent OF
| the land, and of the whole expense OF
raising corn Is consumed IN getting it to
| the market. This problem is no lass
| startling at the east. When labor will
no longer supply the necessities Of life
! for the artisan aud his family, then
something in the social economy needs
amendment, and such is very nearly the
state of affairs The cost OF bioadstufIs
i In the eastern market IS exaggerated out
| of all proportion to the returns for la
/ Dor. Economy aud hard work are un
| able to supply thousands with bread,
| nile we IN iowa have been able TO figure
| cut the result tina. corn is cheaper fuel
than wood OF coal While the extremes
OF the country are thus equally suffering,
| and great railroad corporations which &c
| the carrying trade are growing stronger
| and more prosperous, schemes OF re
licf have been presented to Congress
time after time only to be sinothered in
committee, or die from total neglect II
has become almost an impossibilty to
effect any Legislation inimical to railroad
interests, or tending to curb their own
almost unlimited power. Meanwhile the
great corporations are swallowing up the
smaller ones gradually rival com panes
are coming together and combining their
interests. The number of competing
lines is rapidly diminishing; and two
great corporations threaten to obsorb the
entire carrying trade between the east
and west. We hear of no competition
to reduce rates, hut only of increasing
charges with a distribution of the spoils
Unless something be done to check the
growth of this enormous power, the
country will soon be at their mercy, aud
the title Of railroad king" will cease to
be an empty sound " Wt
We have learned the hopelessness of
expecting relief from the construction of
new railroads. They are no sooner con-
>tructed than they are swallowed up by
those already III existence, while another
corporation is thrown upon the public
for support. Let Us regulate those which
we already have. Let Congress assert
It's right to regulate commerce by pro-
tec;ing its most important branch, the
To This we would aid, that
Railroad Kings" has already ceased
to be an empty sound.
These Kings of the great R. r. nets
of the United States are ii e Shareholders
of the present time, but their powers are
much more extensive and pcrnicious, than
were these of the negroowners of the
South; for they extend over the entire
value of the labor of millions of the sett
lers of the great west. By arbitrary ex-
tortion, they cal lower the value Of their
production to such degree that there
it hardly bare living left for them
they can even by favor or disfavor ele-
vate one settlement and destroy another
one, or they can keep in humble depen-
dence entire cities or whole regions of
our country.
The inhabitants and especially the far
ners of our great west have become
fearfully conscious of this mighty power,
and the cry for the overthrow of this
monopoly is already so loud and pierre
ing, that further inattention to it has be
come impossible. The messages of the
Governors of Wisconsin, Illinois and To-
wa have given expression to it and the
transactions Of the late Agricultural
Conventio at Bloomington, Ills. give
ample proof, that the people have the
will and the cowerage 10 move to the at
tack. Contfscation and Administration
by the States of all Roads refusing to
comply with the rates of passage and
freight prescribed by the Legislatures
are the Watchword. 1t will not take
long TO bring this great question of white
Slavery-the despotism of Railroad
kipgs-to final solution. and it is high
time, that all who claim any influence in
the destiny of ou. country, to express
their views on this "a absorbing topic