Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-06-18
The Railroad Question Again.

we believe that the question of what
Is a fair compensation for railroads
ought to be tried before the courts,
on the evidence of persons familiar
with railroad management and the
cost of transportation.
This matter of railroad control is
no more a party question than is the
regulation of steamboat, ferry, the
post-office or hotel business. The
railroads have become the champions
of the precept sanctioned by divine
and human laws, that I" the iaborer
| is worthy of his hire" The railroads
| challenge the people and say: /" You
charge us with extortion, with rob-
berry, with pilIage, with keeping you
poor by our exactions. Now, we are
willing to leave this question to the
courts, to the charge OF the judge, to
the testimony of witnesses under
standing the facts, to the verdict of
sworn and impartial juries." "No,"
| replies tho self-appointed advocate of
| the people, "you have no right to go
into court at all. You must beseige
the next legislature with your vete-
ran band of lobbyists. You must
contend with your counter-lobbyists
| who will plead for still lower scale
of tariffs, and every village where
your cars stop will challenge you
with discriminating in favor of their
neighbors. Your very existence and
profits will depend upon your skill in
manipulating and controlling the
| legislature; and the sam Q battle has
to be fought over and over again,
year after year" The HERALD be-
lieves this:-that if the Potter act
allows the railroads fair oompensa-
ton, it ought to be law; otherwise it
ought not to be law: and that the
question ought to be tried and finally
determined by the courts, as all other
claims for services rendered by one
person for another are tried.
If anybody should ask US whether
we believe the Potter act allows the
| railroads enough or not, we answer
that on the question of freights we
are not so familiar with the facts as
to come to definite conclusion. In
reference to passenger fares our judg-
ment would be that the Potter act
allows the railroads more than they
are justly entitled to. If the fare
was reduced to two cents per mile
we think the volume of travel would
so increase, that the roads would
| realize more from this source than
they do now. Considering how the
reduction of letter postage has in
creased the revenues of the post
| office department, we have wondered
why the railroads have not tried the
experiment of reducing individual
faro to augment the aggregate. OF
course we know that if the railroad
| managers so believed, they would in
stantly adopt the experiment; and
the Bloomington Grange must agree
with US that it is time they did so.
1t would certainly multiply the num-
Der of their friends (for the railroads,
we mean) with the people. The
despicable dead head leach is now no
longer seeking their life-blood, and
through them the sweat and blood of
the producing and laboring commu-
nifty But we fully concede the right
of the railroads to be heard on this
question before the courts of the
country.
The HERALD has exerted itself to
show to it's readers the ruinous con-
sequences of claiming that our State
Constitution excluded railroad com
panies from the courts to settle what
| transportation was worth. The men
who are now urging the supremacy
and finality of the legislative judg-
ment, have no railroad projects in
view. They either have no money
or are not willing to risk Investment
in railroad building, which they claim
is as remunerative as the good seed
| of old that produced some sixty and
some an hundred fold. And yet it
is we'll known in the financial world
that railroad building and operation
is the only successful agency ever de-
vised in drawing money from It's
great centres and scattering it broad
cast among the people from ocean to
ocean. Business can never resume
its former tone till railroads are be-
ing built and extended either by the
people or by the state or national
government. And it has not been
the Potter act that has paralized
railroad enterprises, but it is the
enormous assumption that the legis-
lature has final control, to the exclu-
sion of the courts, of the question of
what the services rendered by rail.
roads to their employers is really
worth, that has thrilled all owners of
railroad securities, stock or property
| with the terrors of impending confs-
| cation. We would render no service
to the people of this state by sane.
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