The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-01-21

all other states are more or less depen-
dent upon the moral obligation OF the
people and the good faith of the law
making power.
have said that the power to destroy
includes the power to encourage and
protect As to the full purport of this
declaration, [ need but remind You of
the peculiar relations of capital to mod
ern railway enterprise, and its manage
ment. No one can deny that III many
instances capital is deprived OF It's right
full compensation. No one viii dispute
that public confidence IN investments of
this kind by those not immediately con-
cerned in the management, is now, and
long has been, seriously impaired. We
should be slow TO conclude that any
capitalist would object to such q meas
ure of public supervision ana control rs
would ensure him an equitable dividend
upon his Investment aud equally slow
to conclude, that railway stock habItu-
ally sold in the market for bare tract
ion Of its nominal value can be seriously
deprecated by power Of legislation
capable CT EXCHANGING its value. CandOr
compels me to say, more plainly, that [
believe no real occasion exists for the
present depreciation in the capital stock
VI many VI OuI IdIi8afS, GA-
cept the absence OF that iudicious sup
eryision of railway management which
our constitution wisely permits.
THE RAILROADS AND THE AGRICUrTURAT,
GLASSES.
Pending the litigation between the
state and the railways distinguished
counsel for the corporations arraigned
the agricultural classes of the Northwest,
on the charge of forming combinations,
OF resisting just administration of the
laws, of fostering the spirit OF colnmuH-
ism, and instigating new distribution
OF land, by taking from those who have,
to give to those who have not and this
disparaging course has been widely cir
culated in the annual report of one of
the companies represented. / cannot
permit this aspersion upon the mass of
our people to pass without contradiction
and rebuke. The agricultural classes Of
the Northwest are not conspirators.
They are not agrarians. They are not
the enemies of public order or the pub
lie faith. Their lives Of peaceful indus
try are stained by no offensive record
OF reputation, bankruptcy, ignorance
or crime. They earn an honest living,
as all men should. They pay their hon
est debts as promptly as most men do.
They are obedient to law, and in peace
or IN War, are prompt to defend their
government and it's laws from open or
secret assault. They have assented to
no encroachment upon vested rights,
unless it be upon rights vested by their
own constitution in themselves They
have defied the mandates of no statute
by ingenious, srecious and protracted
appeals to courts of last resort. They
have never thron2ed the doors of our
Legislative halls to clamor for an increase
Of special privileges, and an enlargement
Of their property rights. They have
employed no professional lobbyists to
lnfest your presence or to corrupt the
fountains of law. They have construct
ed no mountains of county or municipal
debt for any but themselves to pay.
They have avoided no burden c. taxa
ton demanded by equity OF law. They
have Tesorted to no political or legisla-
tive legerdemain to foresiau or subvert
public opinion. They have coined no
mammoth fortunes from property that
fails to pay interest on itself. They
have encouraged no apportiOnment Of
lands to the landlles, except as they
have approved free and frequent dona-
tons Of the common domain, or mort
gagged the homes of their wives and chill
dren, that they might enchance the
hardearned wages of their daily labor
and contribute to the general welfare Of
the state. They have encouraged no
colossal associations Of mOneyed power,
or organized concentration Of influence.
within or without the forms Of law, not
INDUCED in by all intelligent men, for
the promotion of their own and the
common good. But if in any of these
things they have indeed offended, they
will look elsewhere for warning and for
Judgment, than to those whose eloquence
is too often the purchased product Of
the transgressions they condemn.
The agricultural classes are not, and
cannot be, the enemies of honestly man
aged railroads. On the contrary, their
national relation to all honorable I'M
dertakings Of this kind is that of patrons,
allies and friends. This relation they
viii endeavor to maintain. In demand
ing the upright management Of railways
by law, they aspire to no exercise of
public influence not justified by their
numbers, their intelligence, the dignity
Of their calling, and the vast interest
they have at stake. Limited in their
mutual intercourse by the stern neces-
sites Of their occupation, and moved by
no a1HOl1Ou puG IItG Oh pfOLHoIluS tne
general welfare, they are not likely to
conspire against the principles of public
justice, or consciously to subvert the
progress of enterprises which contribute
so largely to The prosperity Of all.
Ii the grave charges so sedulously cir
culated, duplicating the good faith of
our state towards invested capital, have
truly impaired the credit of our corpora
tions, and their ability to complete or
20 extend their lines, they alone are re-
sponsible who should have been prompt
to defend the interests they represent,
by indicating the honor of our people.
But facts that are incontrovertible,
prove that capital itself has failed to
share largely in the alarm thus zealously
and wantonly engendered. The year
has been noted for financial conserva-
tism. In all things. and everYwhere.