Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-05-14
CLEARFIELD, Pa, WEDNESDAY, MAY IA. 1873

and proper purposes. 1t promised
necessary improvements which could
pot have been made III any other way.
Ono Of them, organized to make u
road from Harrisburg to pittsburg,
Undertook the duty undor a charter,
cvery part of which is marked with
cautious wisdom. If that company
bad been kept within the limits origi-
nally assigned to it, its career must
have been entirely bonifcent. But
its organization gave it an influence
upon tho Legislature which it used
unsparingly. 1t swallowed up nearly
oil the property that the State ever
bad. II took it substantially as gift ;
ths five or six millions it paid was no
consideration for the fifty or sixty mil
lions it got. But that is not all tho
Rif Of this immense domain was fol-
iowtd Uyh surrender, upon~the part
of tho Commonwealth, of her right to
collect her own revenue, amounting to
millions more, and which belonged TO
her as much as the purse in your pock-
et belongs to you.
MIR. CUYLER. My friend alludcs to
the repeal Of the tonnage tax.
Mr.. BLACK. ! do; the learned gen
tlsman understands me rightly. l
refer to that fatal, that pcrfdous stat
uie which the Legislature, the lobby
and the Railroad Company conspircd
to pass, dsarming the State Of her
jsst right to collect the duty, which
was her own, of three mills upon each
ton Of produce carried. 1t was ter
ritlc wrong; for it ground the face Of
labor TO pour a great stream Of wealth
into the imperial treasury of a corpo-
ration which had no claim Of right to
il. By such dereliction of duty on
the part of the Legislature, that cor
poration has grown so mighty that its
little finger is thicker than the loins
Of the Commonwealth which created
it. ! do not say that 1t bestridcs your
narrow State like a Colossus, for the
ancient Colossus of Rhodes was but
the image Of pigmy in comparison
to this Colossus of Railroads. Her
stride 10 across the continent from
ocean TO ocean. Her head is 10 the
clouds and the arms of her gigantic
power stretch out on either side from
one horizon TO the other.
! hope my very good and most
amiable friend from tho city Mr.. Guy.
ler) will tako no exception to what !
am saying. would fain speak no
evil, either of him or his clients.
know that he never tampered with
the Legislature and never advised
anybody else to do so. On his brow
such shame as that woula be shame
10 sit. Nor am complaining of the
corporators themselves. | will take
it for granted, if he asserts it, that
there is not man belonging to the
Pennsylvania Railroad that would moi
run away from any proposition to
mako money for it or by it. He may
say, IL ho pleases, that they have i'm.
poverished themselves by going about
to do good for the public, or that Il
they have little more than theil
share Of wealth, it has been thrust
upon them against their will But
this do say, that the several Legis
latures which have stripped me and
my fellow-citizens of our just rights
10 clothe this corporation with impc
rial power were treacherous to thcil
duty and bascly unfaithful to theil
high trusts.
Other corporations have powers
similarly bestowed and nearly al
great. Four Of them have had th,
advantages Of the loose legislation a
Harrisburg, 40 as to secure monopo
lies thousand fold moro oppresslv,
than that which made the namo o
Sir Giles Overreach infamous in tn,
dramatic literature Of England. Whal
was the exclusive privilege Of selling
sweet wines in the reign Of Elizabeth
compared to the power which puts it
own price upon every baskctful o
anthracite coal that is consumed in ,
country like this?
All Of the companies represented il
this body-nay, my friend on the lef
(Mr. Gowen) need not protest. ! d.
not say that the Reading Railroad i
represented here. He represents tn,
same constituent body that do; h,
is as faithful as am; and we ar,
both as true as steel. But bav,
some idea that my learned friend OF
tho right (Mr. Cuyler) is,or was once
connected--most honorably of cours
with the Pennsylvania Railroad a
counsel.
Ma. CUYLER. Mr.. Chairman / be,
TO remind my learned friend that
have. bad his assistance in that capac
ity.
Mr.. BLACK. True; those gentle
men, or some OF them, havo teen m,
clients, and desire to speak respect
fully Of them for that reason, II 70
no other. They have been, and the,
probably will be again, when the.
havc a perfectly good and just cas-
and want thoroughly honest lawyer
Laughter and applause.
But, Mr.. Chairman, tho unfaithful
noes of the Legislature is the subjec
with which We are dealing. let u
pass to another point in tho arraign
ment. After the corporators wer
through with her she had left to he
about nine million dolIars--tbc rem
nant of once magnificent fortune. :
That sum was deposited in what wa
called tho sinking fund. II was placc'
there with special caro-. II was hodge'
around with Constitutional interdictt
IL was declared, with tho utmost so
lemnity, in tho fundamental law II
self that it should be applied to n,
other purpose than the payment Q
tho public debt. Yet combinatio,
Of private interests was organized Z
rob the State of this last residum.
ring was formed; the Legislature ant
the lobby gave IL their united sanc
tion; they dived into the sink
ing fund and came up with tho min
millions In their hands. The gral
H.l .I..T. a.