The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-10-09


regulations, shall be born by the State, and
it is matter of fact, that the Republican
legislature of 1878 did appropriate money
to pay counsel, whose arguments tended to
secure the decision by which these regula:;
tons were sustained. Will it be claimed
that for these acts the party must be led out
to instant execution?
have said this much about the perma
nency of parties, for the purpose Of SUSTAIN
ing the assertion which I now make, that
the Republican party, by virtue of the very
principles upon which it was founded, is
possessed Of ample resources for the adjust
ment of the present complications in which
are involved the relations of the people to-
ward these corporate monopolies. 1t has
grappled with them in Minnesota, and even
while this discussion is going on, congress
sional committee is gathering materials for
more comprehensive and efficient legisla-
ton on the subject than any State can give.
To proceed now to matters of more i'm
mediate interest. What are the relations
of the railroad companies toward the people
OF the State; to what extent has the State
lost Its power OF regulation and control;
and. if it has any such power, in what man
ner can it be exercised?
The answer to all of these questions is in
volved in the circumstances out of which
In the early territorial days the means of
transportation consisted solely of the wagon
road. That simple fact made the settlement
of the country very difficult. Indeed, it
practically fixed the limits Of settlement
within the area over which it would pay to
haul wheat by team to the river. To has
ten the growth of the country the
nation granted to the territory of Minnesota
many millions of acres. The territory was
then called upon to grant acts of incorpora-
ton and to confer upon these institutions
thus created by it the lands which it had re-
ceived from the United States. These rail-
road companies said, in substance, to the
people, "permit us to share with you the
execution Of that duty which has ever been
an attribute Of sovereignty of all States in
all ages, namely, the duty of constructing
highways; assist us to perform this duty by
granting lands for that purpose which will
in time reimburse us for constructing the
roads; assist US still further by delegating
to us, upon the theory that we, like the
State, are public bodies, two essential attri-
butes of your sovereignty, the right to take
private property for our uses, and the right
to levy and collect tolls upon the highways
which we shall construct; grant US the ex-
elusive right to occupy and operate these
highways to the exclusion of competition !;
discriminate in our favor in the way of taxa.
ton so that we shall not be embarrassed by
local burdens. such as county, town, school
or load taxes, but be permitted instead to
pay into the: treasury OF the State per cen.
tum upon our earnings. DO all this, and
these public functions in trust for the popu-
ar use. We will substitute for the wagon
road the most finished and costly result of
modern civilization, and upon the roads
thus to be built by US we will be-
come common carriers for hire, subject to
carriers. and also subject to the duties I'M
posed upon US by way of trust, which we
will assume in consideration Of the extraor-
binary concession which we ask" With
every one OF these demands the State COM
piled. 1t parted with these attributes of
sovereignty, and the railroads assumed them
! upon the theory that the companies were
BY and through them delegated powers to
subserve public use, and in the execution
use their franchise in such way that the
public good. and not the public injury,
should be subserved and accomplished. A
trust more formal and better defined could
not have been created by the most elaborate
form of written conveyance aud contract.
And from this relation the obligations of
the trustee were no less binding than in
transactions of similar nature which af-
feet private and individual interests only.
The State creates an artificial being-a cor
poration-for the purpose Of enabling it to
perform the trust; and the fact that the
corporation is at the same time to use these
franchises for private profit, does not abate
one jot or title from its obligation toward
the public.
Whenever any of these companies have
perverted or abused this trust, they became
at once liable to the corrective interference
of the Legislature and the courts. They
can I've mulcted in penalties, or the more
radical remedy of a forfeiture of their fran
chises can be applied. Itcosts no more to
haul busnel of wheat than it cost last year.
: The railroad companies are bound both by
the duties of common carriers. and by that
more comprehensive obligation that they
will exercise their franchises for the public
benefit. Sach considerations as that which
) recently by an arbitrary edict, Illuminated in
other States, advanced rates on wheat three
cents per bushel, are conspiracies at com.
= mon law, and are not only such violations
| Of the immemorial code, but of the compact
8 between the companies and the State, that
= the State has the right to demand Of the
: courts judgment that the charters of these
t companies be declared forfeited. If this is
a done, the artificial being which has wrought
9 these injuries ceases to exist. The power
: which raises or lowers rates ceases at once
: to be, and the property belongs to the
t stockholders or creditors. But these per-
t sons are individuals, and have no immuni.
ties or privileges such as the corporation
r had. Their immunities and privileges have
g been forfeited, and the States own them alb.
" solutely. If the'creditors or stockholders de.
8 sire to continue to operate the road, and
{. attempt to do so as corporation after such
:. a forfeiture, the power of the courts is am.
a pie to restrain them by Injunction, quo war.
e ranto or by seQuestration.
/ To operate the road as individuals, were