The New York herald., 1877-03-02

ccps issued for The number OF bushels which are ne.
gotiabe and rcdcemablc Ike kind upon demand.
This mode OF conducting The business was inausuraei
more than twenty years ago has grown i'm menss
proportions The railroads have found IL
impracticable 10 own such elevators. and
pubic policy torbds the transaction Of sucn
business by The carrier. The ownershlp has tEere-
fore. been D. private individuals who have embarked
their captai ana devoted their industry 80 such bus-
ness as private pursuit. In this connection II must
also be borne 10 ms nd tha although IN 1874 there we're
IN Chicago fourteen warehouses adapted this par
ticuiar business and owned by about thirty persons
nine business firms trocd them and that the prices
charged ana received Tor storage were such as have
from year TO agreed upon and established by the
caeo. and which ra'cs have been annually published
IN ono or more newspapers printed In said city the
month OF January IN each yesr, as The established
rates Tor the year then next ensuing such publication
Thus is apparent that a the eIcvating facilities
through which these vast productions OF seven OF
eight grcat states OF the West must pass
The States on tho seashore may be
virtual monopoly uuder such circumstances II Ia
dliicuIt 10 see Why, II the common carrier or tho
miller or the icrrvman or the nnkeepcr the wharf,
inecr the hackney coachman pursles public en-
p'oyment and exercises sort OF public Office, these
plaintiffs In error do not Thcy stand 10 again the
language OF their counsel IN The very gate
all who pass Their business most certainly
tends 10 common charge aud become
gram tor ITS passage pays toll, which rs common
charge " and, therefore, according to Lord Hale every
such warchouscnan ought TO be under public regu.
lation, viz, that be lake but reasonable toll Ger.
tainly II any business can be clothed with public
terest and cease TO be only this
II may not be- made so by tho operation OF the con.
stuion OF Illinois or this statute but Il by the iac,A
WHAT rhR ILLINOIS PEOPLE DID.
We also not permitted " overlook Tho fact that
Tor some reason the people OF Illinois, when they
visei their constitution in 1870 saw dt to make e tho
duty OF the General Assembly pass laws tho
protection OF producers, shippers and RECEIVERS Of
grain and produce tartclc l3, section ~ aud by
tion OF The article require all railroad CON-
panics receiving and transporting grain in bulk OF
otherwise to deliver tho same ut any elevator
to winch it might be consgncd that could DO reached
q hs nd suc rou1
pany, and that all railroad companies should permit
connections TO DO mado with their tracks that any
pubic warehouse, Nc, might be reached by tho
on their railroads. THIS indicates very clearly that
during tho twenty years In which this peculiar bust
mense proportions" something Sa''. had occurred
which led the whole body OF the people "a
suppose that remedies such as = are usually
employed TO prevent abuses by virtual monopoiics
IN ght not DO inappropriate here For our purposes
would justify such Iegisation IL actually did exist
whom the statute now under consideration passed.
For US the question Is one OF power. not Of OK
pcdiency. II no stale Of circumstances could ex
ist TO Justify such n statute then may
declare this one void because IN OF tho legisa
tive power OF the State, but II II could pre-.
sumo II did. O the propriety OF legislative interfer
cnce within the scope OF legislative power the Lcgisa
ture Is the exclusive judge Neither IL It matter OF
any moment that no precedent Can be found for q
statute precisely liko this II IL conceded that the
business OF recent origin, that its growth has
been rapid IT is already OF great mporance
And II must also DO conceded that IL is q
business In which tho whole public has n
direct and positive interest. II presents. therefore,
case tor the application OF long known and well
established principle IN social science and this
simply extends the law so TO this develop
mcnt OF commercial progress. There is no attempt 10
compel these owners 10 grant tho pubic interest
u they use u IN this particular manner u
matters not IN this case that tho plaintiffs
In error had built their warehouses and established
thor business before tho regulations complained Of
were adopted. What they did was from the beginning
subject to tho power of the body polite to require
them TO conform to such regulations might
shcd by the proper authorities for the common
good They entered upon their business and
provided themselves with tho 10 carry
II ON subject TO this condition. II they
did not wsn to submit themselves to such
interference thcy should have cloth ed the public
with an interest in their concerns Tho same princi.
pic applies to them that does the proprietor OF
hackney carriage to him 1t has never boon su o.
posed that he exempt from regulating statutes 0i
ordinances because he had purchased hts horses and
carriage and established his business before the
or the ordinance was adopted
TIE POWER TO REGULATE
IL Is insisted however, that the owner OF tho pro.
usc even though Il be clothed with public Interest,"
and that what is reasonable is a judicial and not {
legislative question. As has already been shown the
practice mas been otherwise In countries where the
common law prevails, II has been customary
from time immomor'a for the legislature "a
declare what shall be reasonable com.
pcnsation under such crcurns stances; Of
perhaps more properly speaking to fix maximum
beyond winch any charge made would be unreason-
aJc Undoubtedly In mere private contracts relating
TO matters In which the public has interest what IS
reasonable must be asceraincd Judciaily But this is
because the Legislature has control over such q
contract So 100, in matters which do affect the pub.
lie interest as which legislative control NAV be
exercised Il there are no regulation ms npon
the subject tho determine what Is reason.
able. the controlling TACT is the power to
regulate nt all ii that exists the right 70
cs ablish the maximum OF charge of the means
OF regulation IS inpned. In fact, the common Law
itself regulation as TO price without II owner
could make his rates at viii and compel the public 10
mon law regulation OF trade or business mas
bs changed by statute A person has 10
81 ssmmSn eo ss'd law Ts. rS:
OF the forms Of municipal law and Is sacred
than any other Rights OF property which have been
created by tho common law cannot be taken away with
out due process but the law ITSELF rule OF con.
duct may be changed at the wllI at the whm,
Of tho Legislature unless prevented by constitutional
Limitations Indeed, the great Office OF statutes Is 10
remedy defects IN The Common law as they dcvcl-
opcd, ana TO adapt 1t TO the changes OF time and
circumstances. 10 limit tho rate OF charge
for services rendered public EN- mpoymcnt or ios
Tho use OF property IN which the public has inter.
est u only changing regulation which existed before.
II establishes no new principle Ia the law, but only
gives new elect 10 an old one We know that this
n power which may be abused, but that IS argu.
ment against us existence For protection against
abuses by legislatures the people must resort
has already been said II is unnecessary to re"r as
length TO tho effect OF the other provision OF the
fourteenth amendment, which rs relied upon--vz,
That no state shall "dcny TO auy person within It's
Jurisdiction the equai projection OF the laws" Cor.
ainly II cannot be claimed that This prevents tho State
IRON regulating the iarcs OF hack the charges OF
drnymcn In Chicago unless IL does The thing IL
every other place within its jurisdiction But, has
been sccn, the power regulate tho business OF
houses depends upon the same principle tho power
TO regulate hack men draymcu and what be
done IN the In this particular cannot bc
In the other.
THE POWER CONGRESS-.
We come to consider the effect upon this statute
OF The power vi Congress 10 regulate commerce. IL
was very properly said IN tho Of ahc state
railway gross receipts u5 Wall, 293) that ut Is hot
everything that Affects that amounts TO q
regulation oil II within tho meaning OF the consttu-
ton" Tho warehouses OF these paintins IN error
are situated ana their business carried exclusively
within the. limits OF the state OF Illinois. They are
used as Instruments by those engaged State as well
as those engaged IN Interstate commerce, but they
are no more necessarily part OF commerce Yscn
men The array or the cart by which, but for them,
grain woud DO transferred IRON ono railroad station
TO another Incidentally they may become connected
WITH an Interstate commerce., but not necessarily
so Their regulation s thing OF donest ic concern,
aud certainly until Congress reference their
Interstate relations the State may exercise all tho