The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-01-21

the power to encourage and protect As to the
full purport Of this declaration need but remind
railway enterprise and Ire management. Noone
car deny that in many instances capital IL 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 IL now. snd long has been seri-
ensly impaired. We should be slow TO conclude
q 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 habituaIly sold in
the market for hare fraction of its nominal value
can be seriously deprecated by power OF legis
lation capable OF enhancing iis value Candor
no real occasion exists for the present deprecia
ton in the capital stock OF many Of principal
railways except the absence Of that judicions gu
pervision of railway management which our Con-
stitution wisely permits.
THE RAILROADS AND THE AGRICULIURAL CLASSES.
Pending the litigation between the State and
the railways. distinguished counsel for the cor
poraiions arraigned the agricultural classes OF
the Northwest on the charge of forming combina-
tons of resisting just administration Of the
laws, of fostering the spirit of communism. and
instigating 8 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
the companies represented | cannot permit
this aspersion upon the mass of our people 10
pass without contradiction and rebGke. The
agricultural classes of the Northwest are not con-
tplralOf-. llcy are NOT lASt ART
not the enemies of public order the
public faith. Their lives of peaceful industry
are stsined by 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 IL
war are prompt TO defend their Government and
its laws from open or secret assault. They
have assented TO no encroachment upon vested
rights, unless IL be upon rights vested by their
own Constitution in themselves They have de
81 -. zF,. afnfa ~. sar1s
specious and protracted appeals to courts of last
resort. They have never thronged the doors Of
our legislative halls 10 clamor 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 con-
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 na 5es9r,ed to no political lsn
public opinion They have coined no mammoth
fortunes from property that fails 10 pay interest
upon itself. They have encouraged no appor-
they have approved free and frequent dona-
tons OF the common domain, or mortgaged
the homes of their wives and children. that
they might enhance the hardearned wages of
their daily labor and contribute 10 the general
welfare of the State. They have encouraged no
colossal associations of moneyed power. or organ
lied 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 com
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 10 all hon
patrons allies aud 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 justi
"a hers. intelligence
nifty Of their calling and the vast interests they
have al stake. Limited in their mutual inter
coarse by the stern necessities of their occupa-
tion, 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
Inc justice, or consciously 10 subvert the progress
OF enterprises which contribute so largely to the
prosperity of all.
If the grave charges so sedulousy 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 or extend their lines. they alone are re-
sponsible who should have been prompt to de-
tend the interests they represent by vindicating
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 es-
capped the reverses of labor and laboring men.
Production has been restrained. Exchanges
have been limited. All the avenues of trade bear
evidence OF the reaction that inevitably
succeeds an era 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 wear
1872 was 1865 The number of miles constructed
III 1873 was 1905. or about one-half the mum Der
constructed in 1872. The number of miles con-
slructed in 1874 was sos barely one-half the
number constructed in 1873. The number OF
miles of road constructed in Wisconsin dur
has hoo han 1ba
average for the other States proving that the
causes of decline in this department of public
improvement are general, and possess no special
relation 10 the structure of our Constitution or
the character of our legislation.
just how to develop our immense resources to
their fullest extent-to best promote the great
and varied industries of our Statc-ana at the
same time TO mete ont equal and exact justice to
all our citizens, Is problem which yet remains
unsolved.
In the consideration of questions for the de-
velopmeIt of the physical energies of our State
we are reminded of the fact that the railway
system Of transportation is comparatively new.
The roads of to-day are not those of yesterday,
and the possibilities of the future are far beyond
The reach of present estimate. The noblest in
telects of modern times, yes have failed TO
accomplish such complete results a to arrest the
tireless spirit of progress for bid the proba-
bihty of more wondrous achievements in time to
come. Apparently the railways now con-
structed are but the main lines of . complicated
system of artificial highways. ultimately to enrich
and utilize the remotest territory inhabited by
man. The six-foot gauge has disappeared. The
advantages of speed now contest the merits of
weight and strength. To-day the great and com
pick question apparently uppermost in the minds
of engineers is how to multiply the number and
length OF lines by reducing weight, speed and
cost Narrower gauge, less expensive grades,
lshter equipment and more miles of road are the
promised fruit of present inquiry and expert
ment. the final results of which we can only hope
fully await.
Railway legislation. like railway construction,
must progress toward perfection by slow degrees.
The almost perfect law for common carriers was
the product of ages. But in controlling railroads
by law we are confronted by new conditions and
are advancing upon comparatively new and I'M
tled ground. Our progress, though unhesitat-
ing, should nevertheless be duly guarded and
restrained. Our people have declared that they
VIII not endure Encouragement extortion
But IN demanding justice for ourselves let US
be douoly sure that We do no injustice to others.
The power of redress hereafter remains contin-
hously and forever within our reach. The very
existence of that power is a permanent safe
guard against persistent encroachment and abuse.
THE POTTER INTERPRETATIONS
In the discharge of the specific duties of the
Executive Department the past year l have not
regarded the particular provisions of the law of
last winter as in issue. 1t il not my opinion that
this law expressed the best judgment of the Leg
islature which enacted il. While the general
principles upon which ii is founded command
our unqualified appreciation, and can never be
surrendered it must be conceded that the law is
defective in some Of its details The great object
sought to he accomplished by our people is not
the management Of railroad property by them
selves, but TO prevent its mismanagement by
others. such should be the purpose and the
lmlt OF legislative action. In so far as the law
accompanies this end and is a means of public
protection its provisions should be sacredly pre-
served. But in so far a. it exceeds this purpose
II Is necessarily superiuous and inexpedient.
In my lrst annual message 1 submitted to the
Legislature a series of propositions embodying
my views as to the general principles and pur
poses OF legislation upon this engrossing topic.
Further experience and reflection have confirmed
the views then expressed. One of these prop
ositions declares that Considerations of freight
and rates of fare and freight, within the State
should be subject to reyision and modification by
State authority" / am still of this opinion But
| am not of the opinion that classifcations of
freight and rates of fare and freight can be ex-
pedlently established by an iron-bound and in
flexible rule of law. with no power of re-
features of our law in respect to this
branch of the subject are exempifed in the
Establishment of maximum rates of fare. and its
worst features in the unyielding character of its
limitation upon rates of freight. In this last
spect recommend such notifications of the
law as shall remove obvious imperfections with
ont dlVesung the State. as represented By its
board OF commissioners, of power of revision
and modification on formal investigation and
complaint or on such other conditions due
regard FOR public interests may seem TO require. |
Further and more judicious legislation for the |
security of corporate debt, for the protection of
shippers from unjust determinations, for restrain
ing speculative expenditures, for preventing the
creation OF fictitious capital. for insuriDg
equitable division Of earnings, for enforcing more
efhcenf police regulations for the announcement
OF continuous and judIcioHs investment in corpo-
rate enterprises, and for requiring more saisfac
parties has been the subject of careful and pa |
tent cons deration by the Railroad Commission |
ers oil this and other States the past year. and is
earnestly commended to your attention.