The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-03-27

but the railroads delayed and deco-,,
in the Senate, the powerful ;nArs0ssd
some of the leading Senators wboonee of
road attorneys being quietly ale rail
against it. 1t developed so much .eAefted
however, that it alarmed the railroaJ 9Th,
ayers, who saw that no stone n,,s. 'hah-
unturned in obstructing its progro. oe let
the reconstruction Of the Come,;,.s In
Commerce by Speaker Randall s.s On
to say larger proportion of n,a
bess whe-were known as railroad mem,
who could be controlled BY them nm ann Or
ed, and the members of the com pfeaf'
believed in the necessity of thus rnr
and were in favor of doing some,b;rrM
meet public opinion found themseh,sto
the minority. After wasting weeks f Ss IN
ing cunning legal arguments and i'e"f,
road fsophistries, the committee s"a, IA
satisfy public opinion by measure Vic 70
it should be understood, is a mera .h
thrown to the whale, and purposelr , u
signed to defeat effective Legislation :, u &c
public interest. 1t is said to reAect "a .le
opinions Of Mr. Charles Francis AJ.u ne
IT., and Mr.. Adams is "a well.intora.lnS
man upon rail road questions. AS cba;r
man OF the Massachusetts Railroad Con-,
mission he did some good work in o TGm.
publicity to this great question; but anS
one who has read Mr.. Adams attent;rai
must have noticed, especially of late wear:
that the rail road problem to him has sn
parently been, How can harmony amo1s
rail road companies be promoted andd;Ts
idends earned upenathe present inasto5
basis of rail road capitalization? The nn5
lie interest has with him been secondarr
consideration, limited to the prevention cf
personal discomfort to residents along rail
way lines who were troubled by locomo
tive whistles and bells, and the preventor
of railway accidents-obieCts in then,
selves -laudable,- but, as -comnarad
with the public interest in pools, stock.
watering, determinations, etc. so utterlr
puerile and insignificant as to suggest tba,
Mr.. Adams was only talking about III.
lesser to distract attention from the greater
evils. Mr.. Adams resigned the Govern.
ment dictatorship of the Pacific roads Be:
cause, as he said, his salary was paid br
the roads and he could not criticise them
AT the expiration of his term in the rail
road commission of Massachusetts the
expenses of which, if we do not mistake
were assessed upon the rail roads, he &C.
copied position from the trunk lines Is
one of three arbitrator to settle disputes
"a somewhat ornamental position
where, it is reported, he receives $1,000
per year; while the salaries proposed in
his bill providing a National board of rail
road commissioners, position requiring
the highest order of talent and character,
with constant labor, are S. 1000, and the
remedies placed at the disposal of the
commissioners are the slow movements Of
| the courts under existing laws, pending
which shipments may be-as they have
been-ruined, and justice substantially de-
| feated. What is needed for beginnings
I. A specific law prohibiting pooling
and combinations. -..
,. A law that rates shall be public and
alike to all, changeable by the rail road
companies at pleasure.
3. A national board of railroad commits.
sioners to see these laws enforced and to
confer with State boards to protect the
public interest
f. That in case of DETERMINATIONS thr
United States courts shall grant peremp,
| tory mandamus to discontinue the dscrim.
nations while the merits arc being judi.
cially determined. This was advocated
by Franklin B. Gowen, Esq, President
of the Reading Railroad Company, before
the Committee on Commerce.
With this outline of specific law, and
railroad commission, the public interest
would, for the present, at least, be safe
but one without the other would be as
incomplete as would our police laws with
out officers, or officers without laws. This
is substantially the English system at this
time, only the English Commissioners
have much wider powers, including that
of approving rates and working agree
ments, and an absolute judicial power as
regards Determinations, from which there
is no appeal. In that country of low wa
ges, the magnitude of the subject is rec.
ognized by paying the commissioners
$4,000 or $4,000 each.
1t is well that the railroed represents
| tives i'll Congress, or those who are in
debted to railroads for contributions to
election expenses, free passes, &c, should
1 understand that this suject is becoming
pretty well understood by the public, and
that either direct or indirect defeat ofleg
islationwhich has been undertaken in the
interest of the public will not be forgotten
and that for the next decade railroad man.
ayers will probably not shape the politice
! futures of statesmen to the same extent
that they have in the past. 9aa