Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-07-23
The Contest Over the Transportation
Question.

Senator Carpenter, in his GAINESVILLE
4th of July Grafton, made reference to
the attempt to control railroads, in the
following language:
THE FIRST ATTEMPT OF THE PEOPLE OF
WISCONSIN
to relieve themselves from the opprcs-
sion of nonopoles and fix within
reasonable limits the cost of trans
porting our products to the seaboard
has been met with defiance and insur
rection; and our railroads are operat-
ed to day in opposition to valid law.
The people are told that railroad com
papies will submit to reasonable reg
ulations, but they, and hot the people,
must be the judges of what are reas
enable regulations. This will not do.
The sovereignty of the state must con
troll its corporations, and the people
OF the state, through legislatures of
their choice, may and must determine
what is reasonable compensation to
be charged by railroad companies. -
And if the corporations persist in their
attempt to rule or ruin, they will only
succeed in running themselves.
| have referred to this subject, not
for the purpose of arousing feeling up
on local question, but because it is
one of the clements and one of the
earliest manifestations of contest
that is looming up and beginning to
darken the land.
The people of the whole country
are looking anxIously to Wisconsin to
see whether in this first controversy
between the people and the corpora
tons, which is only branch of the
general struggle between labor and
capital, the people or the corporations,
will triumph; whether a board Of di
rectors in Wall street have more pow
er than the legislature of the state.
Upon this contest depend many
mighty questions; whether under our
free institutions this government of
the people, by the people, for the peo-
pie, the rich can so manage as 10 fat
ten the fruits of labor; whether the
rich are to be forever growing richer,
and the poor poorer; whether they
who produce the wealth Of the land
must continue to live in poverty and
want, while they who produce nothing
are to riot in wealth and luxury ;
whether, in word, to quote from our
text, all men are to made equal in the
pursuits of happiness by enjoying the
legitimate fruits of their toll
A few words as to the manner of
conducting this contest. They who
stand upon the law must concede to
their opponents the protection of the
law.
THEY WHO DEMAND JUSTICE MUST
RENDER JUSTICE.
In this unexampled uprising OF the
people prudence should control No
one desires to ruin railroad companies
or other capitalists. 1t is simply in
tended that if they will not act Justly
they should be made to do so. Ii
railroad companies will not fix reason.
able rates, reasonable rates shall be
fixed for them; and when a law is
made it shall be observed; and its OBJ
servance shall be enforced as the oh
servance of other laws is enforced,
by the judicial arm of the government
The whole people are interested to
discountenance and prevent any law
less and violent proceeding against
corporations. Ifthey see fit to VIC ate
the law, let us obey the law, and com
pei them also, and compel them by lie.
gal means. Rendering them full pro-
lection for all their just rights, the
people may demand the observance Of
their own, thus we shall continue to
be people governed, not by violence,
but by the law.