Middletown transcript., 1875-07-17

BY !. N. BARR.
/ will now consider the consolidating
Of railroad corporations. A railroad is
Of necessity a monopoly. It is built
for the express purpose Of monepiizing
the trade Of the region Of country
through which it passes, and its first
necessity Is to prevent or destroy com-
petition. Competition means cheap
freights. low fares and fair treatment
to the public, and is for the interests Of
the community. i Competition deprives
q corporation Of its power to tax the
public with excessive rates, and COM
Ipels it 10 make such charges aonlysas
are fair and reasonable It may be
plainly stated then. that from the very
outset the interests Of the railroad COM
ipany and those OF the public are an
Itagonistic. There was. and Is, and
Ialways,swill be aan 'sirrepressible con-
aict" between them, and il will
require more than an ordinary degree
Of forbearances and patriotism on the
part Of the railroad corporations TO bring
about . compronise d Atlthe outset the
people Of the various States Gin their
eagsrness TO have railroads constructed
granted important privileges without
demanding any sufficient equivalent.
Corporations we're granted the right of
Way and other important privileges. the
granting Of which often involved the
sacrifice, Of valuable private interests,
and the State or the people demanded,
practically, nothing ID return. In this
way many useless roads we're built. and
the present generation is called upon to
suffer for this folly The granting Of
power to build 80 many roads created
competition and At first kept down
prices. This was uotaa those corpora
tibns wished. q Their risks were in
creased bytis dIthenI dividends dimin-'
ished, Il These corporationss therefor.
began to cast about for ways and means
Of putting % end 10 this state Of affairs !;
and, ,at length bit upon an excellent
expsdisnt WHICH lhss we'll nigh'rsalized'
their widest dresHs ;of wealth land
power. They ipauguratsd q process Or
policy. q consolidating of companies p. gg
ana foads. By this policy railroad
commnu u6icatioh' has been naffcwed down
to q j fsi #roads, ooptrelled abyiis few
powerful eorperstjons;iandIl the Psnniyi
vanis. ths Philadelphia Wilmington
and Baltimore, the New York Central.
The Rrie and iii5 Baltimore and Ohio
Rsiltoads; wsrev edDsoiidated for the
express purtose nfsdesro5ing sonpsti-d
ition,, and they new sstaaa like live.
giganic ,sentinels over the avenues Of
trsdssto enforce their will. Having IN
one way and another disposed Of their
rivals. they have now sfcommon inter-
est TO keep rates upito their highest
point and they have the power and
wealth to carry out their plans and
wishes With power to prevent the
construction gof rival lines: these Eve
scOmpanies hold the transportasioni busi-l
ness Of the copptryFin their grasp; and
being subject 70 no practical restraint,
they may make, such regulations, and
compel fhs public 10 pay su6h rates as
they imay Ses Ct, - witness the tyranny
with which they; 1t tbisg moment besr
dornr nponr our peach tgrewefs; and,
how humble and subseryisnt the latter
ate Obliged to be to some of these COM
Ipadiesin order to obtain transportation
fdrstheir peaches. tIlsgs e hg7aale ls1i ]
!, These companies possesss immense
pbwer. Whyl the land grants alone
belonging to these companies amount TO
more than : eighty thousand square
imilssH; ! region eqaivaIens to che aggre-
gate possessionsa,f fonfaof the existing
kingdoms. of Euopss.E Here We hassl
i've powerful railway corporations ress
pfesss6nting ! total ownership Of more
thsf ssi71 Ihahdred mifiionaJi of dollars
Fithalh oaDDdals aggregate income Of
more, vthsnsonai hundred . mialisns,lcf1
'dQllaEss I. sgo bsnasts ssaisdas III io 81
y The object for which railways are
cdnstr6ctsd is the earning Of interest on
the capitalinSestsdsin them. The only
means BY which such sntsfprises can
Darn money are By the transportation
of freight and passengers All rail-
roads are built With view to. the ulti-l
mate freight business that will come to
them. tie passenger traffic being, with
most Of these corporations secondary
considerations. Men may travel or they
may not; but the farmer must send his
products to market, and the merchant
or manufacturer must transport their
wares to the point where there is the
greatestidemand for them. So the road
Is sure Of its freight tra6c. Men. are
compelled to use it, for it is the only
means Of transportation open to them.
Oar people are fully aware Of this and
the corporation ii equally aware Of il.
The, railrsads, then occupy the position
Of ia body corporate within the State.
and almost, if not quite Independent Of
sfhs State, levying q tax upon its citi-
gems as heavy u The corporatfon may
see fit to make It, or asthsy can COM
pei. the .eitisenr who use the read TO-
pay 1. Not one man in; the. community.
Can escape the necessity Of, in some
way. contributing to the earnings Of
the rosd. The Aggregate amount an
nuslly pontTibntsd is enormous How
much Of this represents, 4 legitimate
profit upon the capital invested in rail.
ways? And how much is wanton