The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-01-21

II this distinction is kept IN mind the dlricuity
| suggested must disappear. IL cannot for q. mo-
ment be conceded that persons engaged In CON-
| merce among the States can escape supervision
and control by being Incorporated in the several
! States through Or into which they carry their
operations. The right Of Congress to regulate
| such commerce cannot be made 10 depend upon
such commerce Is carried on. The right OF State
in general to control all corporations OF public
character which 1t creates Is not questioned;
but that this right can be carried to the extent OF
| creating q corporation and authorizing or per-
uniting 1t to engage In interstate commerce,
aud by that means taking that commerce out OF
| the control OF Congress, is emphatically denied.
The power of the State TO control its corporations
be exercised with reference to those subjects
over which the State has jurisdiction, and ID such
contracts, transactions and engagements as are
law. Those who insist that the corporate exist.
ence and character or the railroad companies CT
the country are an insuperable barrier 70 Cc5ssss
slopal legislation upon this subject must assume
the position that the states, by cnar-
sering COMPANIES for carving on inter ei.
constitutional powers in the premises. 1hat such
position Is wholly untenable Is clear. me
power OF Congress TO regulate commerce exists
Independently of the means agencies by which
that commerce is carried on. steamboat companies
engaged In enc navigation OF our great rivers are
under state laws. but 1t has never been urged That
Tor this reason tue commerce carried on 10y THESE
companies is beyond the control OF Congress.
The Questioa OF Expeaicncy.
There are already in the United States over
TO- 0V0 miles OF railway and the system Is yet in It's
infancy. The commerce carried on by this means
is vast and rapidly increasing 1t IL 10 be pre-
sumed that no one wiz CLAIM that all this immense
commerce ought TO remain permanently exempt
rom legislative control or regulation. II there
could be doubt upon this subject the most casual
investigation w0uii remove It, The rates charged
Tor railway transportion are, as rue, the result
heing Systematically avoided Upon this subject
Mr.. Charles Francis Adams, IT., IN recent speech
delivered before committee OF the Massachusetts
Legislature, has stated the facts so lorciby that
we quote as lOloWs:--
Where capital and. industry are free to flow no
YS n &c w knGW ss
The only thing which enable ecmpetion 70 exisi Is
bpe Look abroad over this country ana you viii see At
roads concerned rake, pray YOU the case Of New
Work and oaGas ws ny s ssn * be-
private capital could construct them Every gentleman
tween ' New s and Chicago Which no ~
to be sd or sna liz s the
OF the several companies meet n convcn-
or how shall and the Change
T 0h Rnoxeyey m who has oeksd 4 his
subject knows-that :he only composition which exists
tion; and when water enters into the struggie1when
are reiaced When lakes freeze up the freight
agents meet again and the rates are raised Whittier
result Of comsinaOn Again. let Us oSk at It this
iiOn certainly implies the existence AGENTS
a IS S few af
at competing pon:s-poins, that is, upon which
tsSs'
% I er o no
demand. Now, how large portion of all the towns
other words how many Of them can look to competition
the snd read
through Inhabited region iS ea With manp ae
eighty stopping places; hut Of points q railroad
t oeatTs kaIFSad ol New YORK iaeadlss
den and central thorougSiare Of the continent On the
g. miles 81 wit PIG e Snas
And those nhabiting all he other localities may use the
they may stay at home whichever they prefer But is it
regulation principles which control the production
sG ss ha ,hs
result in the agricultural West where the very of
ton to at POINTS In
the The s of es S
railroad companies throughout that region
The facts here stated are not doubted by any
wei informed person. In Illustration OF their
truth it may be mentioned that within the past 30
days it has been announced in the public press
that certain officials representing the great
through lines, at meeting held in the city of New
York, nave increased their rates OF ireignts from
tue West fully SO per cent, to take effect on the
first day OF the present month. This as an agree
ment among the railroad officials TO be enforced
poles as against the producing classes VINO furnish
the cargoes winch they are to carry, and tie con-
snmlng classes VINO must purchase ana pay ior
III the matter. AS one oil the results OF Gls system it
may also be mentioned that on the 3Otn OF Dece nber
1873, a Dushel oil wheat was worth As cents more
in New York than In Chicago, ana DusGel OF corn
worth thirty-fve cents more IN the latter than
in the lOlmer city, the difference being mainly ab-
sorbed by the cost OF transportation. That the
rates charged Tor this Carriage aie unreasonably
wen Informed experts before your committee that
grain can be carried from Chicago TO New York at
lair profit lor ABOUT twelve cents per bushel but
whether this be so or not, there Is no doubt but
that when the price charged Is twice or thrice
that sum it Is eXorbtant: and when 1t Is
remembered that about $4,000, 900 tons of freight
was carried by these trunk lines in the year 1872
probably one third OF which was Western products.
II VIII ut once be seen how important and how
vital to the interests and rights OF the people 1t is
that some other interest and some other power
tnan the combined interest and power OF these
great monopolies should be invoked in the regula-
ton OF these charges.
We assume therefore that this commerce by rail-
road should be controlled and regulated by law
Or course the laws which shall secure this regula
ton and control must be either national laws or
State legislation is of itself SUFFICIENT, but q
little reflection Will show that this is an error.
mend 4ne sces n0s TO- te
federal government upon the rightiul domain OF
State legislation, ana we say distinctly that Ia so
local or State laws to that extent should the
remedy be sought in that direction But the
controlled and regulated by State laws is too
plain for argument. The great trunk lines or
through lines as they are called, must be regulated
by national law or not regulated at all. They
make contracts to carry freight from the Missouri
River TO the Atlantic, and even sometimes from
one ocean to the other, without change of cars.
IN the transaction OF their immense business they
make no note of state lines. True, they may be
chartered by some one Or all Of the states whose
territory they traverse, but they to all ntents
and purposes one line operating inland through
many States.
We have already seen that any State law at
tempting to regulate commerce upon sucn lines as
these would be unconstitutional anu VOID, because
II would be an attempt by the state to the
power to regulate commerce among the several
States which IS cOnfdcd by the Constitution eXclu-
slvely to Congress. (oee State freight tax cases,
15 Wallace 1872; Crandall vs. Nevada, 9 Wallace, 80;
Gibbons VS.. Ogden, wheaton, ~ But, aside from
its unc0nsttutlOnaity, such legislation would be
Intellectual for other and very apparent reasons.
Let us suppose that the commerce TO be regulated
extends over a line from Council Bluffs, Iowa, TO
Boston, Mass, and passing through the states