New-York tribune., 1874-07-07
TIE RAILROAD WAR IN THE WEST


ING FOR THE PRESENT AT AN END.
rrRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNEl
MILWAUKEE, July 4-The United States Cir
cult Court Madison this morning refused 10 grant tno
Injunction asked by the creditors OF the chicago ana
Northwestern lrOad Company. and decided that tue
provision OF our Constitution relating to charters forms
part OF every charter and every cOrporaed obligation
No oplpion was expressed as 70 the regulations OF
freight between States That question is left open
The effect Of this decision is to leave the 5atelaws un-
touched The Attorney General is in position to
obey the orders Of the Governor requiring ther lu-
mediate enforcement. continued resistance to them
on the part of the railroads would probably be held 10
work forfeiture OF their charters.
This lends special interest to the whole legal war
fare which has been going for many months be-
tween the and the GraDgers or in fact between
the railroads and the whole population Of Wisconsin, as
we'll as some Of the other Westers States, and makes
resume Of the later aspects Of this war specially de-
sirabe.
The principal parties to this contest are the chicago
and Northwestern aud the Milwaukee and St. Paui
Railroad Companies the one side and the Governor
the AtorneyGeneral the Railroad Commissioners, ana
the people on the other The two corporations eaoh own
and operate about miles OF road lying In the state OF
Wisconsin. and it Is upon them that inc
Potter act" OF last Winter takes effect with tho
greatest severity. They stand In the nTst class;
they penetrate the Oldest and most densey populated
railroad business and 1t was against them that tne
most stringent provisions OF the recent act were aimed
The other lines OF road such the Wisconsin Central
the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac the Lake shore ana
Western the West Wisconsin, and the Green Bay ana
Lake Pepn, are differently classified. are allowed
higher rates respects and do not feel the force
OF the act as severely the two frsnamed corpora
ons which utterly refuse TO obey the law ana are re
stinc its execution In every way possible Their Pres
rents Mr. Mitchell OF the ST. Paul and Mr. Keep OF the
NorthWestern addressed open letters 10 Gov william
r. Taylor, notifying TO him that the oincers oi tneir
roads had been instructed TO dsobey some OF the pro-
visions of the act that they believed 1t to be uncons
utonal and void for the that 1t was virtual
on0scation OF their property that they took thls
oonrse deliberately and with full knowledge OF the
peDates incurred by their dsobedence and that they
would only yield what they regarded as the arbitrary
and unjust requirements OF the act after all ega TO
dress bad altogether failed The letters were ioiO"ed
by able and elaborate opinions from TWO OF the must
distinguished lawy in the United States, MT EVarts
of NewYork and Judge Curtis OF Boston, regarded the
act as unconstitutional advised their clients to ds
| regard it,
Gov. Taylor issued two proclamatons, addressed 10
the people the State recitiug the condition OF adlr
declaring his intention to enforce the law until IL was
pronounced unconstitutional by the proper tribunal
and calling upon all good citizens to AID In enforcing H.
He also called for published the opinion of the Hon.
A. Scott sloau the Attorney General Of the State In
which that officer argued at great length, and win
much cOgency and power in favor OF the constitution
ay OF the act and advised the Governor 10 enforce IL
by all the means at his command Other lawyers, great
and small followed with opinions in favor OF the Valld-
ity OF the law and urging its execution Senator Car
penter volunteered an opinion also Offset to the
opipops Of essrs Evarts and Curtis; but as the next
Legislature is to choose Mr. Carpenters successor In
the Senate his unsolicited views were looked upon in
the light stump speech rather than as possessing
| any legal merit
| So much for the war on paper In the time both
parties were preparing In earnest The law re-
oures the roads in the first class carry passengers at
the rate OF cents mile The roads exact four
| cents a mile. The Railroad Commissioners have pub
shed tables OF distances between all stations on all the
lines so that passengers can provide themselves win
and tender to conductors the exact amounts allowed
nv the law per mile To checkmate this the Superin
tendeuts OF the roads issued orders to the train
men not 10 allow passenger to enter the cars uhtl He
has bought ticket Of the agent. This order Is now
rigdly enforced and suits are almost daily lnsuuleu
against the ticket agents for charging more than the
law allows The other day Gov Taylor got the train
without o ticket paid his regular three cents
| a mile to the conductor and was not put
| of The ticket agent at RipOn was pros
ecuted for dsobeyng the law, and tried before jury
in Justices court. The jury failed TO agree then the
attorneys agreed leave 1t to the Justice and he fined
the agent g. For similar ofense in another county
an agent was fined 500. more important sut has
inst been decided by Judge Small in the Milwaukee CIR
cult in which the act of last Winter is declared to be
constitutional This isl the first that has been tried
in Circuit Court The company has appealed all these
| cases 10 the Supreme Court.
| Next tho Attorney General carries the war Into
Africa and appears before the Suprene Court OF the
State praying for decree that shall declare the char
ters OF these two recacitrant railroads forfeited This
he insists can be done under the Constitution OF Wis
c0nsin And last Of ALL the Hon. c. b. Lawrence made
applcation to Judge Drummond Of the United States
Circuit Court in ,beha OF some OF the bondhoders OF
| the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, for
an Injunction against A. Scott Sloan, AttorneyGeneral
OF the State OF Wisconsin, and the Railroad Commits.
sioners of said State to restrain them from enforcing
| the Railroad law. This application re-
sisted by the Attorney-Ge and the Court
has now refused to grant the injunction.
OF course the object OF this last proceeding was to get
| the matter before the Supreme Court Of the United
States speedily possible. In making this apphca-
tion Judge Lawrence, the attorney for the North
Western Company declared that the stock OF his cor
poration had deprecated In the market nearly $1,000 900
since the enactment Of this law, The value Of St. Paul
stock has also been similarly affected but to what
! extent it Is impossible TO state with any degree OF
accuracy. 1t ceraip however, that this unriendy
legislation" In regard to limiting the charges OF the
railroads will not encourage capitalists TO invest money
in new enterprises and railroad building IN Wisconsin
may be considered at end until this excitement has
passed, and golden mean is found upon which these
| two extremes meet and work together in peace.
From the fierce controversy that Is going on in
the Wisconsin newspapers thissublect, people at
distance will arrive at these two conclusions: That the
Potter act Of last Winter which the State authorities
are now trying enforce is very crude and digested
piece Of legislation and that the two recalctrant rail-
roads have made mistake in not obeyng the law until
the Supreme Court decide upon its constitutonaty
Their open defiance of what must DO considered valid
and binding enactment until declared otherwise by
competent legal tribunal will only TO aggravate
he st