Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-12-09

RAILROADS AND THE GRANGERS-RE-
PLY TO STEEL RAIL-(N0. %

KAlLkOADo AMI lLE W.
PLY TO STEEL RAIL-(NO. 81
EDITOR misunderstanding to
railroads, "Steel Rail' says,'."I do not
believe that its earnings ought to be
restricted by the legislature any more
than the earnings of reaper factory
or cotton MILL" This is bold
proposition on the part of "Steel
Rail - the one that involves the main
issue. and the one TO be met by the
people. The general government,
and that of the States, in repeated
and numerous forms of law, have
established the wisdom and necessity
of laws for the protection of the pub
lie, in contra-distinction with individ'
ual rights. The quarantine laws,
that stop the citizen on shipboard, in
sight of home and friends for weeks,
says society has rights. The ship crew
must be declared free from disease
before they are allowed the freedom
of society. The laws of States regu'
lating the rate of interest between the
borrower and the lender, recognizes
the necessity of public protection,
and make laws to prevent capital
over-reaching labor. Bridges and
ferries are established upon public
highways and crossings and the rates
fixed by law. A corporation in the
eyes of the law is fictitious person,
created for special purposes and
strictly limited to the terms of
the charter 1t can enter into no
business transactions outside of the
limits of the charter that gave it be.
ing
"Steel Rail'' admits the constitu-
tional authority of the legislature 10
compel chartered companies to COM
ply with the law that expressly holds
that railroads must make fair and
reasonable rates. The railroads have
the full protection of the decision of
the United States courts, that hold
their charters to be in the nature of a
contract, which the State cannot vio-
late. The law gives the people
authority to compel obedience to the
charter. The illustration of the
HERALD, with stock holders and char
ter, is defective for want of analogy.
You forget the people in large part
have built the railroads; that they
are public conveyances; that private
property is taken for public use in the
right-of-way; that they are the great
thoroughfares of the people. No pub
lie necessity compels one to take the
HERALD the people must from neces-
sity use the railroad in transit to and
from the market. No public neces-
sity demands legislative restriction
when no public injury is inflicted. 1t
is the duty of the legislature agreeably
to the provisions of the constitution,
to protect the people from extortion.
1t should be no party question. Re.
| publicans and Democrats should Join
hands in it. 1t should be the business
of the legislature to ascertain what
amount of the railroad stock is fc-
ticious and what are the real invest
ments, that solid basis for determin-
ing what reasonable rates are. The
people are willing that railroads
snodna earn FAIR profit on the real
| invootnA onts, LuV cIoy r-~.~a. -cy-'--
paying upon fictitious capital. 1t is
estimated that 33 per cent of the cap
ital stock of railroads are fictitious.
The modes of creating them are mum
erous and ingenious. One is that of
making stock dividends If the road
is earning more than they care to
have the people know, they declare
stock dividends. The capital stock
is thareby increased, and the earnings
appear less. The fuctuation per ton
in single year between Chicago and
New York, has been from $500 to
$3.50. The consolidation of COM
peting lines destroys competition, and
the pooling of their earnings is COM
mon in defiance of law, when
responsible to no authority and
subject to no supervision. If,
necessarily, competition is incurred in
the through freights, loss must be
made up from local freights. and the
local freight is double that of through
freights, and the shipper is at their
mercy. Railroads discriminate I'M
Justly against the farmer. They give
to the shipper advantages that they
deny the farmer. The railroad gives
the grain dealer and stock shipper a
draw back on freight. The terms on
these contracts are secret, but no less
true, and in this way the railroad
compels the farmer to sell to the
trader, and indirectly they arbitrarily
set the price. The people see the
vast accumulation of wealth in cor
porations and see the power welded
by single individual like Wander
belt, with his 2150 miles of railroad,
and 10000 miles of telegraph, and
realize his ability to tax the industry
of the country at will, knowing that
an increase of freight of per cent.
takes from them millions in the trans
portation of their crops to the sea-
board. II is not to be wondered at
that they are FESTIVE. They see that
while the transportation of old world
is getting cheaper, ours is getting
dearer. That while corporations are
amassing great wealth, the farmer,
with pinching economy, is barely able
to save himself subsistence, land does
not keep out of debt. That he should
study the cause of these evils, and
seek remedy is natural We have
but one remedy. That is found in
the freedom of discussion. The peo-
pie are the soveregns. Our constitu-
ton has wisely delegated to the legis-