The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-08-20
THE WILL OF FOUR MEN.
An Extract from the speech OF see
retary sherman AT Mansfield, Ohio,
August IL 1877.

August IL, 1877.
Let me illustrate the enormous power
that is now practically concentrated
within the will of TOUR men. When the
war broke out the common cry OF the
West was that no rebel cannon should
threaten the commerce of the Mississippi
Valley. Oar commerce should hoW un-
taxed to the sea.
The entire tonnage passing any gwen
point on the Mississippi river Is now estl'
mated to be 100000 tons.
The great lakes on the Ncrth have
been spoken of since the discovery OF
America as being the wonderful provision
| of nature for the vast internal commerce
| of the continent. The whole tonnage
passing at given point on the line OF
the lakes is about 3,OO006O tons.
The Erie Canal in New York, from
| Buffalo to Albany, has been extoiled rs
a work OF master statesmen, when mas
! contributed more to the interior develop
ment of this country than any other
single work. and hiss immoctalIzed the
names of DeWut Clinton and others.
! The entire tonnage of this canal during
the last yea is officially stated At Z,4io,-
423. snd OF all the New York canals, In
cludlng Ere, 1T 4,l72l79 tons.
These th'"s water arteries OF COM
nerce, two natural and one artificial,
| furnish tonnage OF 1918, l79 tons, ana
a few Years ago were, practically, the
! sole means of transit between the East
and the " est, and the North and The
| South. Now, within very few years,
and MANLY since the close o! the war,
! there have been built up tour grand
Trunk lines OF railway reaching from the
! Atlantic seaboard Tar away INTO the
" est, with their lines III all directions
| like the branches of great trees, whose
ORGANIZATION exteEds TO almost every
nsmlet In the Mississippi Valley, or the
Atlantic slope, with commerce so vast
that, in comparison with 1t, the great
water lines Of communication become IA
significant.
| The Erie railway carried last year 5,S2,SlI
| New York central railway carried ., ,,,,
last -ar OioooiO.
'.' Tast 1922, 81
| Baltimore and Ohio railroad car
ried last year ,eitimated) )............ 0'tUO,O
Orap aggregate of ..................Z7,6 . ~. ".
Being nearly three times as much AS the
entire commerce by water.
THIS IMMENSE COMMERCE.,
Which touches the business and home
and life OF every citizen of the United
States, East or West, within the reach OF
is influence, is controlled In all its parts
bv the ultimate Will OF four men; for
though there are msAy agents employed
in this vast business, with Boards OF d.
rentors and intermediate Superlntend'
ents, vet, practically, the executive ano
controlling power OF these vast corpora
tions rests With their Presidents, whose
will or pleasure may raise the freight on
produce, and thus affect every farmer IN
! the land, or may raise or 10 wer the wage'
of every employe, and thu; affect the
pre4d and life ot every one dependent
upon these lsborlng men.
1t is lust to say that the gentlemen
holding these important positions are
smonp the ablest and most ssgaclous OF
the business men OF this country, but
.hey must necessarily be governed IN the
Vnain by the interests Of the corporations
they represent, and must lock to those
| interests as the dominating ard control
ling motive that must guide their acts
| few wears ago the freight on these
roads WAS deemed to be unduly high, and
this aroused the whole farming Interest
of the West under the name of Grangers
who were able TO secure hostile leglsla
u,n in some Of the States and so to con
tro! public opinion that the treights IN
due time were reduced. Bat, more po'
tent than all, the
SUDDEN DEPRESSION OF BUSINESS.
caused bv the panic OF 1878, led to n RI
vslrv and competition between these
GREAT lines that in short time reduced
rates for freight and passengers beio"
ina actual cost Of the business, thus tend
ing to DESTROY the capital invested IT
more than two.thirdS OF the railway lines
in the United States and greatly Grip
pling the financial condition OF the trunk
lines. These corporations have endesv.
ored in various ways To make agreements
but either because thev were not faith
fully observed. or from the inherent dit
ficulty OF making combinations between
powerful rivals these agreements have
been successiycly broken and abandoned
and now II may be said that, on an aver
aye the amount received tor freight and
passengers does not pay the sctusl cost
running the lines.
The result hss been that the rsilroso
companies, not willing to see their prop
ertv entirely DESTROYED, have gradually
reduced the rates OF wages OF the en-
ploves until. if we can believe what ma
baen ssid. in some cases they are barely
sufficient To pay for the merest necessa
ries of life. Hence the strike.
1t has always been feared that our
republican system of government, which
depends upon the will of the msjority
could not long survive the condition Q
affsrs developed by these strikes
Mscauley and Alison have both de
scrlbed, in prophetic language the effect
of
STRUGGLE BETWEEN CAPITAL AN D LAB ol
in a government like ours, like mos
English writers, they overlooked th'
strong conservative power in govern
ment by the people, where the msjorit,
must siwsvs be independent farmer:
mechanics and workingmen who hsv
respect for law, order and religion. w
have, no doubt, lsrge numbers of mel
who will not reason about this matter
but will rush to the torch or to crime II
curing what they regard as wrongs, bu
the great body of our people have slwsy
shown sufficient moderation and intel
} ligence to lead them to find peacetu
J and proper remedy tor ali the ills whic
life may develop.