Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-01-21
Gov. Kirkwood's Inaugural,

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first part of the address is devoted to
Centennial retrospect of our Ma
tional and State history. 1t is an
admirable document, and marked by
the peculiar strong sense and matured
judgment of the author:
Fears have of late been freely ex.
pressed in certain States, and to some
extent in our own, that it is settled
purpose with some to divert the
school fund from its legitimate object,
and use it, at least partially, for the
maintenance OF private and secta' ian
schools, and thus eventually to de.
stroy the school system. l hope this
is groundless fear, or, that if such
purpose has been entertained. it will
be abandoned. Persistence in it will
certainly place those engaged in it in
direct hostility to the settled and cher
ished policy Of the State, and 1t is
worthy their grave consideration
whether they shall assume that atti-
tude. 1t belong to you to inquire
whether any ground exists for the
fears l have indicated as subsisting;
and If SO to do what may be needed
to guard against any probable or pos
sible danger.
1t is found to be 4 part of the
criminal law of the State that a per-
son convicted Of crime, after fair
and impartial trial in the proper court,
may have his conviction set aside be-
cause of some informality or irlegu-
larity in the formation of the Grand
Jury by which the indictment against
him was presented. consider this
a serious defect in our imlnal law,
and recommend that the statute be
SO changed that upon the impanellng
OF Grand Juries the proper officers
shall certify of record to the regular
ity of all the proceedings, and that
such certificate shall be conclusive.
l also recommend to your careful
consideration the question whether it
would not be wise to repeal the pro-
visions Of the criminal law which re-
quire that the evidence given before
the Grand Jury, on which an indict-
ment has been found, with the names
of the witnesses giving it, and also
the names Of any other witnesses the
attorney for the State may intend to
produce on the trial, with the sub
stauce Of the evidence expected from
each, shall be furnished to the party
accused before trial. do not think
such provision necessary for the pro-
lection OF an innocent person accused
OF crime, and | am confident they
are often the means by which guilty
parties escape conviction and punish
ment.
The question of cheap transporta-
ton Is one Of great imp' rtance to our
people. Our surplus products are gen
orally bulky and heavy in proportion
TO their value, and the cost Of trans
portation makes large percentage
Of the price We receive for them
Before the advent of railroads all the
internal transportation and travel Of
the country was done on common
highways, turnpikes, navigable rivers,
and canals. All these were open to
all. Any person could place on the
land-lines his wagon, or Oh the water
lines his boat, and engage in the
business Of carrying passengers and
property. Since the building of rail
roads al! this is changed. Now a
large part Of the internal transporta-
ton, and substantially all the travel,
Of the country are done by rail, and
undoubtedly better done and more
speedily than by the old method
But with the new system another i'm
portant change has been brought
about. Combination has taken the
place of competition. No one is al
lowed to engage in carrying persons
and property over the railroads ex-
cept those who own or lease the lines;
while those who own CT lease what
should be, and what were intended
to be, competing lines, by combining
among themselves, destroy competi-
ton. The result is, that, unless the
people can in some way prevent it,
the companies controlling the man
through lines Of railroads have it in
their power to fix the price Of carry
ing persons and property at just such
sums as, in their own judgment Of
what is to their own interest, seem to
them proper. To-day, four gentle
men in Chicago, representing the
four through lines Of railroad from
that city to the Missouri river, can, at
their own will and pleasure, add to
or take from the value Of every bush
el OF grain and of every head OF live
stock in the State of Iowa. The
same condition of affairs obtains in
Chicago with the four main lines
leading to Baltimore, Philadelphia,
and New York.
This state of things, the knowledge
that this power wes claimed and ex-
ercised by the railroad companies,
has for a few years past challenged
the close attention of the country;
and Legislation has been inv oked to
protect the people from the abuses
and extortion practiced by these cor
porations. At the last session Of the
General Assembly of this State, 8 law
was passed intended to limit and con-
troll, to some extent, the privileges
and powers of railroad companies.
The purpose Of this law is to fix
rates, beyond which they shall not
Charge for carrying passengers and
freight; but, as | understand, the law
was only designed to operate within
the limits of our own State, because
j: has been supposed that the State
has not the power to limit or control
the charges tor carrying outside the
State limits.
The States OF Illinois, Wisconsin,
and Minnesota have passed similar
laws. In this State some Of the rail
road companies have promptly COM
piled with the requirements of the
Law, Others have resisted it and
carried tho matter into the United
States courts, claiming that the State
has not the power to limit, even with
IN its own boundry. their charges of