Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-07-16

eHoiciOI- OHucT our government |
sovereignty is in the people, and all |
power comes from and is vested in
them. Representatives and rulers
are but creatures of their will. No |
man is so high in Office that they may
not reach him. No law exists that
they may cot effect It's repeal. They
may fix the power of courts, limit
their executions and control the law
making power of the land. All ques-
tions of public interest address them
selves to their Judgment and fall un-
der their control Finance, tariffs, !
revenues, public instruction, trans
portatlon, questions touching the
rights Of persons and property, come
within their sovereign power, and
with these, and all other subjects
arising from time to time under the
government, they are competent to
deal
Growing out OF tho necessity for
cheaper transportation between the
consumer and producer, and the ex-
tortionate charges of rsiroad corpo-
ratlons In the traffic OF freight and
pass engers, and their noncompliance
with the sovereign wilfof the people,
as expressed by Legislative acts,
question of overshadowing impor-
lance has arisen which agi;ates the
public mind, which has demanded
and received legislative enactment,
engaged the attention OF executives,
and tho adjudications of courts, and
which affects most vitality tho pros
perity of the people. | discuss it on
this occasion because, next to the ex-
istence OF The government itself in
Importance, is this proposition which
involves the right of the people,
within the bounds Of vested sover-
eignity, to control by legislative act
the railroad corporations which they
have created, and to SO fix the rates
OF transportation, that the people
may realize fair profits from their
labor and their toll. 1t is close
contest between money power and
the productive interests of the ooun-
try. Ii Is as broad as the continent,
reaching wherever a steam Car runs
or steamship ploughs the wave. 1t
calls for prudence and firmness and
Justice on the part of the people,
Ever since the practical application
of steam power to railroad transpor-
tation capital has sought large invest
ments in that direction. The rapid
ity with which the money kings of
the Old World and the New have
rushed into railroad speculation in
dicates very strongly that such IN
vestments have paid richly and woll.
The people have withheld nothing
that could encourage these invest
ments. They have always been gen
erous in granting railroad charters
aud have done all in their power to
promote the development Of this
class of property. They have done
this that the country might be more
rapidly developed, that larger and
better facilities for transportation
between the consumer and producer
might be Observation-Disclosures practi-
cally aunihii&ted "a more rapid in-
terchange of commodities of the va
rious sections of the land effected;
more intimate relations between the
government and the people, far and
near. promoted; to enhance the value
of pronerty and contribute to the
quick growth of the country, and
that thoy, the people, as well as the
corporations created by thom, should
derive benefit and profit tberefrom.
Thus tar the surplus earnings of the
producer have gone to swell the
money power of the corporations to
an inordinate extent There are now
upwards of $4,000 miles of railroads
in the United States One already
bull and in operation, and two 9TH
ers in progress Of construction, W II
make when finished three parallel
IRON railways, spanning distance of
1000 miles from tho Mississippi to
the Pacific ocean. A net work OF
iron rails covers the territory of the
states They are to the commerce
of the nation what the veins and ar
teries are to the human sytem. This
great corporate interest holds in it's
hands an accumulated capital of over
Sc, 600, 100000, amassed from the
industries or the country, from agri-
culture, the mines, tie workshop
and the mandatory, and all in loss
than quarter of century, under
rates of transportation fixed mostly
by corporations themselves at the
money centers of the country. al
ready this power has become impe-
rial IN it's aggregate wealth and
power. Uncurbed and unchecked by
legislative restraint in the future for
a quarter of a century, and who can
measure it's gilded proportions or
mark the extent of its influence even
upon government itself The people
demand cheaper rates of ttansporta-
ton. Practically they can only effect
this by placing the railroads, monop-
olists of the carrying trade, under
the control of the states and of con-
gress-the one as to state, and the
other as to Interstate traffic-and by
opening up water ways as means of
competition. AT the very threshold |
of this contest the people have been
met by the assumption, on the part
of the corporations, that they are
beyond the legislative control of the
people, and are only responsible as
common carriers, under the limita-
tons and obligations fixed by the |
\ 4.
whore the charters themselves have
contained the express authority to
the corporations to fix their own
rates; or where there is some consti-
tutional restriction upon the sover-
eign power. the courts have placed |
no limitation upon the exercise of
this power, except in the state of
Delaware. Under the constitution
of this state, containing the reserved