The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-03-17
The Granger DecIsious.

1t will probably astOnish almost every on'
Who has made study Of the Granger cases
and has supposed that they chiefly turned o.
lie matter of the oblig CATION OF contract con
aimed in the railroad charters, 10 hhu INA
his branch of the case is not raised oy me ue
endants nor considered By the court. In tac
he whole decision is made to turn on princi
lies of law antecedent 10 all modern statutes
IN the rights of public" corporations, and
,s Il seems TO us, also antecedent to most con
alterations of pubic expediency as they exist
1t the present day.
The findings of the court may be described
IA follows: In distinction from men like a
grocer doing purely private business, there
ire certain men and certain corporations that
stand in such relation to the community
hat the public has in their business direct
md positive interest. Hackney coach drivers,
'ailrOad companies, elevator owners, inn
keepers and other persons are examples OF
he classes in whose business this direct pub.
ic interest exists. Now the English common
aw lays 1t down that the compensation which
hese classes of traders can demand from the
public must be reasonable The interpreta
\ ion of the term reasonable" may rest I'M.
nedlatcly in the courts, but ultimately and
lnreservedly in the state legislatures This
power of regulation under the term treason
able" IS not abrogated by the fact that it may
Indirectly affect commerce between the states,
because in the eye of the law it is applied di-
reCtly only to domestic commerce. This
right is also one which legislature cannot
permanently ALLEVIATE or impair, and ii 1t re-
suits, as is likely, in wrong through caprice
Iof legislatures, the appeal is not to the courts,
but to the polls.
These, briefly summarized, are the points
of the decisions, and they bring out In striK,
ing manner the difference between law anu
expedicncy in economic matters For exam
pie, under the common law OF England lhele
are wellnigh numberlcss instances where the
state has endeavOred to regulate the charges
of these "public" traders, but almost never
with Success. The laws were not usually re.
pealed, and stood as bad precedcns long af-
Ter they had died and were buried away in
venerable and dusty law books. Even such
matters as the regulation of the fares of hack.
ney.cGach drivers, both in this city and in
London, where public sentiment is all on one
side, show that in these matters OF trade the
law is one thing and its enforcement another;
and the modification Of the "Pot'cr law Is
another instance of the same kind. Again,
we may observe that the chief danger IN most
of these matters is on the side OF the state, be-
cause, while the power OF the state and the
party in power is absolute, that Of the corpor.
atoms Is Immediately or finally restrained by
questions OF patronage and competition. we
do not apprehend, however, that the immedl-
ate effect of this decision will be seriously to
impair the value Of railroad property. The
force Of the old granger movement spent IT.
self long ago, and the decision OF the Supreme.
Court is announced like the will of a dead
bankrupt that disposes Of estates long since
wasted away so long as popular feeling is
ouiescent the voters of a state will be dispos
ed to treat corporations with fairness and to
allow them good and even generous profits
The chief dangers OF the decisions are future
ones Railroad management in this country
has become so ramIfed and vast in its enter
prises that it almost Of necessity results II
Determinations against districts which may
occasionally be as large as whole state. Inc
varying cost of railroads, and in consequence
the variations of fair profit, the complications
which may arise from the consolidation OF
lines, the comparatlv ly cheap rate at which
freight may be carried long distances because
1t has to be handled only twice, which is nc
oftener than 1t has to be handled for short dis
tances, are examples of cases that may give
rise to onerous determinations which are
conspicuous rather than unjust, but which
nevertheless, will excite public indignation
In such cases we may look for mlsdirected
public zeal guided by the arts Of the dema
gOgu., and visiting the corporations with I'm
scientific laws and ill-devised penalties. The
result will be that for fear Of exciting local
jealousy and inviting regulation" corpora
lions will sudlously endeavor to conceal their
profits, and an additional risk will enter into
new railroad enterprises which will be likely
to restrict or check them, particularly in the
states where the grangers are strongest. we
may also have perhaps an era of intermittent
and shifting egslation in certain states which
will be bad for the railroads, but worse for
the law itself.
Whether these decislons--the mos. impor
tant perhaps in commercial sense ever rem
dered by our courts-may not finally he the
legal foundation for the states assuming con
troll of the railroads and taking to themselves
broader and more centralized powers, is a
question which may be left TO the next gener
atlon-N Y. Erening Post.