Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-01-21


with the whole.
The power of the State over the franchises of
corporations, rs thus far judicially determined,
is absolute. l most firmly believe that the reser-
Walton of this power TO this unlimited extent was
clearly and wisely intended by the makers of the
fundamental law. Doubtless the trainers of that
instrument foresaw and appreciated the benefits
mat might ensue from the prosecution of public
enterprises by means of organized and ag-
! greSated capital. But they also toresaw and
appreciated the possible dangers that might
arise from the creation, within the State, of
power more formidable than the State itself
however plausible the argument in behalf of the
| contrary view, We can never intelligentlv con-
cede that the sovereign can become the servant
OF the subjects. We do not deny the sacred and
binding character Of contract or the duty of the
| State 10 protect the just pretensons of claims
| founded upon vested rights. But because
| and because of the just pretensions of claims
founded upon vested rights, our Constitution
has denied 10 the representatives of a year the
authority 20 make charter contracts incapable of
modification or repeal. In representative gov
eminent me people OILY are the perpetual foun-
tam otJusuce and power. and in such cases they
only can rightfully determine, from time to time.
the extent of their obligations TO others, or of
others TO themselves.
Nor is this doctrine peculiar TO our own State
| or country. In Great Britain the charters of
! corporations are held to be subordinate to the
will OF Parliament, and, matter of fact, the
railway laws of England are ubject TO continuous
modification by the legislative power. In this
country al the present time nearly third of
the States claim and safely assert similar prerog-
| atIve, almost entirely without question or dis
pate.
| PROTECTION OF FOREIGN CAPITAL.
1t is alleged that this reservation of power in
| our Constitution will endanger the investment
| of foreign capital and restrain the progress of
public improvements in Wisconsin, | indulge
| In no forebodings of this kind The power to
/ destroy includes equal power to encourage
| and protect Moreover. the power of the State
| to destroy, by ways more direct than those of
public supervision, has never been seriously de-
! MED. No railroad company exists which may not
be annhilated by legislative enactment permitted
other
/ those under discussion. Under all circumstances
possible investments of capital in Wisconsin and
all other States are more or less dependent upon
| the moral obligations 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 modern
! railway enterprise and its management. No one
can deny that in many instances capital is de-
| prived of its rightful compensation No one will
| dispute that public confidence in investments of
| this kind by those not immediately concerned in
the management is now, and long has BEEN seri-
| ously impaired. We should be slow to conclude
measure of public supervision and con-
| troll as would insure him an equitable
| dividend upon his investment; and equally slow
to conclude that railway stock habitually sold in
the market for bare fraction of its nominal value
can be seriously deprecated by power of legis-
| Iation capable of enhancing its value. Candor
cOmpels me to say, more plainly, that / believe
no real occasion exists for the present deprecia-
ton in the capital stock of many of our principal
railways except the absence of that judicious SUI
| pervisiOn of railway management which our Con-
stitution wisely permits.
THE RAILROADS AND THE AGRICULTURAL CLASSES.
| Pending the litigation between the State and
| the railways, distinguished counsel for the cor
porations arraigned the agricultural classes Of
! the Northwest on the charge of forming Combina-
| lions, of resisting a just administration of the
| laws, OF fostering the spirit of communism, and
| Instigatlng new distribution of land, by taking
| from those who have to give to those who have
| not; and this disparaging discourse has been
widely circulated in the annual report of one of
/ TpDr tod /
! this aspersiOn upon the mass of people to
| pass without contradiction and rebuke. The
agricultural classes of the Northwest are not con-
| spIrators They are not agrarians. They are
| not the enemies of public order or the
public faith. Their lives of peaceful industry
are stained by no offensive record of reputation,
| bankruptcy, ignorance crime. They earn an
| honest living, as all men should. They pay
| their honest debts as promptly as most men do.
| They are Obedient to law, and in peace or i'll
war are prompt to defend their Government and
! its laws from open or secret assault They
| have assented to enCroaChment upon vested
| rights, unless it be upon rights vested by their
| own Constitution in themselves They have de
| fed the mandates of no statute by ingenious,
specIous and protracted appeals to courts of last
resort. They have never thronged the doors of
our legislative halls to camOr for an increase of
| special privileges and an enlargement of their
| property rights They have EMPLOYED no profess
siona lobbyists to infest your presence or to cor
! rupt the fountain of law. They have
| structed no mountains of county or municipal
| debt for any but themselves to pay. They have
| avoided no burden of taxation demanded by
| equity or law. They have resorted to political
or legislative legerdemain to fOrestall or subvert
public opinion. They have coined mammoth
fortunes from property that fails to pay interest
upon ITSELF They have encouraged appOr-
tionment of lands to the landess, except as
they have approved free and frequent dona-
tions of the common domain or mortgaged
the homes of their wives and children that
they might enhance the hard-earned wages of
their daily labor and contribute to the general
welfare of the State They have encouraged no
colossal associations of moneyed power, or organ
lied concentration of influence, within without
the forms of law, not INDUCED in by all intelligent
men for the promotion of their and the
mon 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
the transgressiOns they condemn.
The agricultural classes are not, and cannot be,
the enemies of hOnestly-managed railroads On
the contrary, their natural relation TO all hon
Orabc undertakings of this kind is that of
patrons. allies and friends. This relation they
will endeavor to maintain. In demanding the
upright management of railways by law they
aspire 10 no exercise of public influence not just-
fled by their numbers, their intelligence, the dig
nifty Of their calling and the vast interests they
have at stake. Limited in their mutual inter
course by the stern necessities of their occupa-
ton, and moved by no ambition but that of pro-
noting the general welfare, they are not likely to
conspire against the general principles of pub
lie justice, consciously to subvert the progress
of enterprises which contribute so largely to the
prosperity of all.
If the grave charges so sedulously circulated,
duplicating the good faith of our State toward
invested capital, have truly impaired the credit
of our corporations, and their ability to COM
plete extend their lines, they alone are re-
sponsible who should have been prompt to de-
fend the interests they represent by vindcating
the honor of our people. But facts that are in
contrOvertible prove that capital itself has failed
! to share largely in the alarm thus jealous and
wantonly engendered. The year has been
| noted for financial conservatism. In all things
and everywhere prices have gravitated to a lower
| level Business and business men have not
capped the reverses OF labor and laboring men.
| Production has been restrained. Exchanges
have been limited. All the avenues of trade bear
abundant evidence of the reaction that inevitably
succeeds of careless government, specu-
lative thrift and luxurious expenditure. Railway
enterprise within and without the State has shared
| the common fortune
The whole number of miles of railroad con-
structed in the United States during the year
! 1872 was 1865. The number of miles constructed
| in 1873 1906, or about one-half the number
| constructed in 1872. The number of miles con-
Structed in 1874 1903, or barely one-haf the
number constructed in 1873. The number of
miles of road constructed in Wisconsin dur
| ing the same period has been more than the
| average for the other States proving that the
c,uses of decline in this department OF public
! improvement are general and possess no special
relation to the structure of our Constitution or
| the character of our legislation.