Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1880-12-17

lines anu union OF interests that
lie In the same general line OF
transportation, either by actual
consolidation of companies or by
combinations under contracts and
agreements which produce a virtu.
al unity Of control.
Thus there is forming on the
face of the territory comprised
within the United States a great
cOnfederacy of railroads whose ul-
innate power 1t Is not easy to fore
cast. However great the separate
systems may be, and however far
they may be rivals in the business
OF the through transportation, they
will have certain interests in COM
mon. They will have q common
interest In resisting Government
control, In obtaining and MAIN
tanning laws favorable to their pur-
poses, and In strengthening and
guarding their power over the bus.
iness of the country. By compacts
among Themselves they may lay
what tribute they will upon the in
dustries aud commerce of the peo-
pie. They will rest like one gigant-
ic despotism of iron upon the face
of this land, and regulate the de-
velopment of industrial! interests,
direct the currents of trade, and ex-
ercise a control over all the ener-
gies OF the people which they
may be powerless to resist. The
business OF the country is ahso-
lutely dependent upon the agen.
cies OF transportation, aud any
power that holds these in its grasp
will have our material interests at
its mercy. or course, such q pow
er acting without restraint would
consult its own profit and safety,
and aim to pursue the policy which
would enable the business of the
country to pay 1t the largest trib.
ute. 1t could not iDjure that BUSH
ness az whole without so far de.
feating its own purposes, but it
could do great injustice to persons
and places, and interfere seriously
with the natural and equitable
course of things; and it could lay
tax on the country for the enrich
ment of the plutocracy that direct.
ed it greater than that which the
Government would dare to- exact.
A committee of the United States
Senate reported six years ago that
even at that time the men who
controlled the four great trunk lines
between New York and Chicago
could "by single stroke of the pen
reduce the value of property in this
country by hundreds of millions of
dollars" An additional charge of
five cents per bushel on the trans
portion of cereals would" they
said, shave been equivalent to a
tax of forty-five million dollars on
the crop Of 1873. No Congress
would dare to exercise SO vast
power except upon u necessity OF
the most imperative nature.u If
this were so then, how vastly In.
creased will this irresponsible pow
er have become when the work of
consolidation and confederation
has gone on few years more. or
its incipient strength we have had
many instances already. What
will be It's enormous might when 1t
has reached its full maturity? This
growing corporate power has been
created by the people. and we are
told by high legal authority that it
holds and exercises all its privi-
leges subject to the public will. No
power inherent in the State has
been given up to it. The absolute
right to bring it into subsection
and keep 1t in control exists. 1t
holds no ultimate property in the
highways which it has been per-
mitted TO construct and to use, and
it is exercising franchises granted
by the public which give that pub.
lie authority over 1t. Bat it threat.
ems to become a question wheth.
or tho master or the SER
want is the moro power
full aud which shall rule
the other. The public can work
only through legislation aud the
administration of laws, and the
railroad confederacy will vie with
the people in making and controll-
ing Legislatures and Administra.
tiOns. They have already entered
into the contest here and there and
at one time and another, and not
without instances of remarkable
success. The United States Sena-
tor before quoted predicted that "a
struggle is impending in the near
future between this overgrown
power, with its vast ramifications
all over the Union and hard grip
on much of the political m machinery
on the one hand, and the people in
an unorganized condition on the
other, for the control OF the Gov.
eminent" This new and growing
Overlies State lines
and is outgrowing local jurisdic.
tions. Interior political bounda-
ries can neither confine nor divide
1t. The Government which 1t will
ultimately aim to control is the
National Government, and the
power that must bring it into SUBJ
iection is the National power. The
longer the struggle is put off the
harder and more disturbing it will
be. Shall it be postponed until the
whole aroused energy of the Nation
Is necessary to bring the confeder.
acy OF railroads into submission to
lawful authority and into a rasppct