Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-01-13
STEEL RAIL FURTHER COMMENTS ON
THE POTTER LAW.


the right of eminent domain, and
secondly, because the people haye
been so heavily taxed TO build the
roads. | have already shown that
the lost claim rests on a very fimsy
foundation, for of the SS8,000,O00
that our completed roads have al
ready cost, the people of Wisconsin
have only furnished 100000, and
nonresident and foreign capitalists
have invested the remaining So, 0(0,-
900, so that it would be hardly lair
for those who own less than one
twelfth of the stock in orr roads to
set up the claim to control them, NJ
dependent and in defiance of The |
rights and wishes of the Others. |
Besides, it is undenia able that he |
people who furnished less than one
twelfth of the capital stock Of our
roads, have got their money back in
the enhanced value of their lands, in |
the development of the country, in
the increased price Of their mgrket~
able commodities in consequence Of
cheaper means of transportation
over the old methods, and in the
stimulus that railroads giveto every
means of civilization and human
progress. a railroad is refner of
manners and an educator, as well as
convenience in transporting us and
our baggage from point to point II
not only disseminates the latest nows
with promptness, but the latest
fashions also, and it carries to isola-
ted districts enough Of the refine
ment of the CITIES TO elevate and i'm
prove.
Now if the people Of Wisconsin
owned majority Of the stock of our
railroads, then by the right OF ma
orities they might take them in hand,
but as they make no pretensions to
such ownership. it looks as if their
right to control might be called IN
question | am speaking now of the
right to make tariff OF rates, as the
Potter law does, without reference
to the effect which such rates have
upon the income Of the roads. The
constitution of the State gives the
Legislature the right to alter or re-
peal any charter granted by it, but
the inviolability of contracts must
be respected and vested rights are
made secure by the constitution Of
the United States. The laws of the
State have always been extended
over railroads. They are required
to fence their roads, to stop their
trains before crossing each others
lines for the safety Of passengers, to
run at slow rate of speed through
the streets of cities, and other limit
/
tons, and do not tend to DESTROY the
Ualue Of tie property by fixing the
rates below paying point, as the
Potter law does. Now a good many
mon and some lawyers claim that
railroads are public highwayS, and
that the legislature has the right to
govern them for that season On
this point want to quote what
Judge Swan of the Supreme Court
of Ohio recently said in an elaborate
opinion upon the rights of stock
holders. | think Mr.. l.. will hardly
be able to overthrow the Judges ar
gument. He says;
Works, of whatever kind, con-
structed by private capital for pr-
vate emolument under an act incor.
porating the company, are private
property, although the emolument
of the owners is derived exclusively
from the patronage of the public 1t
seems hp rdly necessary to say that
the Incorporation Of a company by
the State. where the property Of the
corporation is acquired and paid for
by the individual oorporators, does
not vest in tho State any ownership
title or estate; for the State has
neither acquired nor paid for any
property. The State has merely |
given to the corporators the privi-
lego of holding the property which |
they purchased in an artificial name |
instead of holding il, as they would |
have had right to do, in their own
individual names.
The great object of an incorpora-
tion is to bestow the character and |
properties and individuality on q
collective and changing body of
men.
When the State condemns private
pro oerty for tho use Of the State, she
must pay tor it and at its full value.
When private corporation, such as
railroad company, wants private
property for its railway, the corpor
ators must pay for it, and its fall
value. In the one case the title
vests.i in the State; in the other il
vests in the corporators, and is pri-
vate property. represented by their
paid up shares of stock or debt. from
whence the purchase money was
raised.
A railroad is no more q public
use, or q public property, than a
hotel, or q newspaper house, or I.
steamboat or stage company.
They are no further public than as
they have 20 DO with great numbers
of people. How many persons Will
it take to turn either into a public
use, and confer on the general as
sombIy the right to confscate them,
or any estate in them, by direct or
indirect Legislation for the public use
or welfare, | submit to the good
sense Of those who have property
enough to be interested in its pro
lection. They are all needed by
I'll a mn r liz ara pntarnrisaS in N h;ch