Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-08-20
AN OPEN LETTER FROM NIX. YOUNG
TO THE PEOPLE.
The Transportation teachings Of the Union
Republican Congressional Committees Adj
dress to the people OF the United States, Re-
Viewed. f #s
EelloaO. RepuJLicans and Citizens

publican Congressional Committee to
the people of the United States as
published 10 the Inter Ocean, we
quote the following ''He was a
great statesman as well as 8 great
poet, who made Cassius say
s'In such a time this 1t is not meet
That every nice offence should bear his comment"
Without questioning the poetry or It's
application, allow me to paraphrase it
thus
an such a time as thisgis It mot meet"
| = ''rhat every grave "ofense should bear
| his comm ent I"
| and leave the reader to find the ap.
| plication to the other parts Of the adj
| dreas. a
In that address under the heading,
sCHEAp TRANsPoRTATIoE," is the fol.
lowing:
| VARIOUS ExPEDIENrs
have been suggested for lessenIng the cost oil
| TRANSPORTATION. In some of the States il has
| been proposed to place railway fares aud
| freighis under the control of The State. The
| objections TO that expedient are SO serious that
| il should not be embraced If better one can
be found. This country is so new. so raw,
\ and so undeveloped, the demands for capital
1
| which would tend to drive capital from us
| should be avoided il possible. The Stale is
| but the aggregate of the people in the State.
| The people are purchasers of transportation.
| The railway companies have transportation TO
sell. The law also holds railway companies
| to be common carriers, and so bound TO carry
| fol all when the price is paid. 1t is now
mooted question whether that price shall be
named by the companies or the people, the
sellers or the purchasers of the article. Which
| of these two parties is legally authorized TO
| fix that price is probably determined by the
laws under which the several companies are
organized. But which of them can, in fact,
| is different question.
| 1t is manifest that if the company be allow
ed to fix the price they may demand too much
| Vendors of all commodities are apt to want
all they can get. On the contrary, if the peo-
| pie or their agents fix the price they may set
| it too low. Purchasers are very apt to want
commodities as cheap as they can be had. 1t
is not probable that either party to the trans
action would always hit upon the exact equiv
| alent. The consequences of mistake would
| probably be found most injurious if made by
the people. If the company makes the mis-.
take and charges too much no one IS obliged
to employ it. The producer does his own
carrying before the railway is built. He has
| perfec right to do so after it is built. So
every company is compelled by the laws of
trade, even if municipal law is silent, to carry
products cheaper than the producer can carry
them, or he will not have them to carry. The
| company must also carry them at profit TO
| the producer, else the product will cease.
The farmers of Iowa will send no wheat to
Chicago unless the roads will transport it at
prices which will yield profit to the pro-
! Queer. The carrier must earn money for the
producer as well as for himself, else he will
soon have nothing to carry. DIT is as absurd for
the railways to demand more for transporta-
ton than the producer can afford to pay as it
was for the man in the fable to endeavor to
get two golden eggs each day from his goose.
| The attempt 10 do so Was death TO the goose.
Under favorable conditions, indeed, the car
rier may demand and receive more than fair
share OF the profits of production. Where
such is the case, when the State finds that the
| producer makes but ten per cent. while the
| carrier makes fifteen or twenty per cent, it is
very easy and perfectly legitimate for it to say
| to the company s'The work you do can be
done for less money. We will pay you for
! your road what ii will cost 10 build such an
other, or you may keep your road and we will
| build another" So the people are not help
| less against exorbitant charges. On the con-
trary, if the people set The price, and set it
too low, the consequences may be graver.
| The company has no option. 1t must accept
| the prices named or not rum If the rates
named will afford slight return on the capt.
| tai existing companies may continue to run,
bnt no more capital will encounter like risks.
II the rates will yield no return the road cam
not be run. Company and community in that
case are alike ruined. This .expedieut seems
to be too hazardous to adopt if better can be
| found.
The last sentence in this quotation
is the complement of the three first,
and crowns the conclusion laboredly
reached in tho context of the whole
to wit that the people cannot be in
trusted with the sovereignty of the
state, or in other words that popular
government is failure.
To say that such teachings from
such men as comprise the committee
is not Only surprise but shock to
our intelligence, is but feeble utter
ance. To prove that we are neither
mistaken 10 these teachings nor too
sensitive of their imputation of our
understanding we cal attention to
the fact that the act Of fixing the
price upon railway fares and freights
is an act of sovereignty-an act of
absolute power. Whether exercised
by the people or by the railways it
is essentially and completely an act
of sovereignty. Add to this the ac-
copied fact that in our form Of gov
eminent sovereignty belongs only to
the people, and the logical demands
of the subject arc adjusted. But to
meet the style Of reasoning adopted
in the quotation we hopo to b. par
donod in attemptins to show why
sovereignty should along only to the
people.
Sovereignty, according to the
books, means supreme power, but ex.
ercis9 ed as a junction of government
it is taken to be blended with and
controlled by justice. This is and has
been the idea of civil rule in all ages
and countries, whether exercised by
one or many. Justice TO dictate what
is right, absolute power to enforce
1T.
And here is the beauty in the the
DRY ard the safety in the exercise of
sef-government The sovereignty
tbs aggregate sovereignty Of the
people-cannot afford to b. unjust to
the governed, for in doing so it would
be unjust ID itself. No citizen or in
tegral element of the sovereignty OF
the state, unless shielded by exclusive
privilege, can afford to sanction a
public injustice towards his neighbor,
because he could not tell how soon be
might have to share it himself
While sovereignty abides in the peo-
pie the safety of the state is guarded
not only by the virtuous instincts of