Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-02-10
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE,
STEEL RAIL TAKES ANOTHER TURN AT
THE POTTER LAW.

eaalloW pretense OF Mr.. L. $ tina
the people of Wisconsin have th,
right 70 exercise supervising contro
over railroads, because they 9TH,
peopie) have paid 81 much toward,
thsir c2st. | did this by showing
that IN reality the people of Wiscon
SIN have only paid one-fourteenth o
the cost OF our roads, and that they
nave received in return more thar
ten dollars proft to every one that
they have invested. also tried &c
show by quotation from the arpu
mont OF Judge Sloan, of the Supremt
| Court of Ohio, that the stakeholder.
IA a railroad company are the owner,
q their own property just as much
az the stockholders in any private
corporation, such as q bank or steam.
BOAT line, or q hotel or reaper t.c
tory. 1t is true that railroad cor
| poratlnn like railroad has to eyer.
1
else the right of eminent q Jmain. and
take private property tor their use
! out when they have 80 taken it, they
have generally paid for it at its full
value; nay, they have generally
| paid far more than ita full value. be-
Cause the moment railroad runs
through mans land it stimulates
the price of real estate, ana the
owner wants the company to pay.
not only what the land was worth
without the road, but be wants il to
pay what the land is worth with the
road built Now it seems to me when
the 81 PGul railroad company pur-
chases the land sufficient for its road
bed from Lake Michigan to the Mis-
sissippi river, pays for 1t at its fuN
ralae, gets deed Of It from tie former
oloners, and pays tarss upon it, that
the men constituting that corpora.
ii>n 0lch what they have bought aud
paid for with their own money lust
as much AZ own the l)t IN the vii
laga OF Lancaster that is bought and
paid for with my money. It. is true
that i'll the exercise of the powers
granted them by the legislature, and
10 order to construct the great high
way that IS TO be d blessing and con-
venienco To the Who'll, public. some
few individuals must suffer inconyeD-
fence, just as 10 case of war, some
few men are required 10 lIy down
their lives for she nre5orvation of
the liberties of Il whole people. The
line 4, ct NE road runs through one
anolher's orchard, aud the third is
aroused from bis sweet sleep al mid
night az tho trains thunder past his
dwelling, loaded with the commerce
of the nations. And am bolt
enough 70 assert that there is no
warrant for tho passage of such a
law as Mr.. Potters TO DO found in the
constitution, and assert tins after
hav!ng fully read Chief Justice
Rvan's yer able and elaborate opin-
ion upon that subject. II IS true
that our State constitution reserves
tho right TO alter or repeal any char
ter that it has granted, but after the
legislature has granted certain priv,
leges that have been accepted by the
companies and millions and millions
expended under the contract, it eau
not Infringe upon the vested rights
Of those corporaLors, and 60 back on
its contract without violating the
constitution Of the United States
Now in order TO get men to pat their
money into "a railroad they must
have held out to them the hope of
gain. 1t is !. matter of bUSideSS, pure
and simple, just like farming, or min
ing or merchandise, and railroad
builiing and operating differ from
other sorts Of business chiefly in the
fact that it requires more money to
carry it on. But if the right in our
constitution to "alter or repeal
charters, is to be construed to
mean also the right to confscate the
property, then the sooner the people
know il the better, for men with
knowledge enough to acquire proper
ty wiil steer clear of all such invest
ments in the future. Ii Mr.. Potter,
who knows no more about the man
agemaut Of railroads ia detail than d
t monkey knows about Running loco
motive is to frame cast iroa laws
concerning them and reducing their
rates below the paying point, 10 de-
fance of those who Olrn and Gh0 do
kn00 something about that kind OF
property, then let the world know
y hat the policy of the State is in re-
gard.to this great question. In my
jud gement there is ten thousand
times more danger to be apprehead
ed to the prosperity of the State from
the Wisconsin legislature, than from
the confined capital of all our rail
roads. SO far, the Potter law hal
proved TO be an unmixed curse tina
has disgrAced the good name of oul
people the world over, and brough
disaster to the business prosperity o
the State. Governor Ludington sees
this and with the clear vision of [
sound business man he has recon
mended its repeal, not its amendment
and IN this be is right. The Cover
nor, does not advise that the Stat
shall surrender its control over thes
corporations at oil. He woul,
retain all that it is right to retain =
every jot aud title, but he would d.
some sort of Justice to the men VIII,
have loaned Us over $4,000, 900 {,
build our railroads aud enhance tn
value OF our property.
II the legislature can fix the rate
for passengers at three cents q mile
by the same right it can fix i at on
cent per mills, and If it can make til
, rate for carrying wheat 100 miles q
| ten cents per bushel, it can fix tn
rate at one cent per bushel for tn
same distance. The only legitimitt
: exercise of the powers which tn
} constitution reserves il, in my judg
| ment, to prevent extortion on To
> part of these corporations, fixing
fariff Ri n