The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-12-16

just charges Is not merely drawn from tn
fact that railroads are public highways. /
they owned the corpus of the road and use,
it in the business of common carrier, the,
might be compelled to behave themselve
Justly to all their customers, and submit Z
any regulation for the public good. TIL
unanswerable opinion of Chief>Ju stic
Waite in Mum vs.. Illinois lotto 1. p. l13
settles that.
The reasonableness of the freight tolls o
taxes that may be charged upon any rail
way will depend on the expenses of runnin.
and repairing it and on the cost of construc
ton. The latter will, of course, be til,
principal element in the calculation, for tn,
tolls ought to be high enough to give tn,
eorporators fair profit on the capital they
have actually invested. But many of these
corporations have issued large amounts o
stock and mortgage bonds for which The
| holders have paid nothing, or much les
| than their nominal value. Another way Of
enlarging their apparent dimensions is II
water their stock under the pretense OF in.
creasing their capital, while, in fact, the
additional shares are divided among them
selves without putting new dollar into the
business. Of course, nobody thinks that
the real cost of the road is to be measured
by the nominal amount of these bonds and
shares. 1t is easy for competent engineer
to tell how any road ought to cost, suppos-
ing the work to be honestly done aud lber-
ally paid for. That being ascertained, you
have the true basis of calculation which
will show how much the tolls ought to be.
If railroad corporations have the unlim-
tied power which they claim, then all bust
ness is at their mercy; agriculture, COM
merce, manufactures, must suffer what they
choose TO infiict. They may rob labor of
the bread it wins. and deprive all enter
prise of its just rewards. Though this power
does not belong to them legally, they have
been permitted to usurp 1t, and L need not
tell you that they have grossly abused 1t.
They avow that they make their eXac-
tions with an eye single to their own
advantage, without considering any right
or interest of the public. They boldly
express their determination to charge
as much as the traffic will bear; that is to
say, they will take from the profits of every
mans business as much as can be taken with
out compelling him to quit it. In the ag-
gregate this amounts to the most enormous,
oppressive, and unjust tax that ever was
laid upon the industry of any people under
the sun The irregularity with which this
tax SIS laid makes it still harder to bear.
Men 90 into a business which may thrive
at present rates. and will find themselves
crushed by burdens Unexpectedly thrown
upon them after they get started. 1t is the
habit of the railroad companies to change
their rates of transportation often and
suddenly, and in particular to make the
charges ruinously high, without any notice
at all. The farmers Of the great West have
made large crop of grain, which they may
sell at fair prices if they can have it carried
to the Eastern ports even at the unreasona-
bly, high freights of last Summer. But just
now it is said that the railway companies
have agreed among themselves to raise the
freight cents per hundred weight, which
is equal to an export tax upon the whole
crop of probably $4,000, 900. The farmers
must submit to this highway robbery or
else keep the products of their land to rot
on their hands. They submit of course, as
all other classes of industrious people sub
nit to similar impositions. Common JUS
tice imperatively requires that freights be
fixed, settled, and prescribed by law, and
that they be not changed at the mere will
of the railroad companies. But the dis
which make the rates unequal
are the most odious feature. a grain-deal-
er at Baltimore gets reduction or draw
back which is denied to others, and he
makes fortune for himself while he ruins
his competitors by underselling them. A
single mill ataRochester can stop the wheels
Of all the rest if its -four be carried at 4
rate much lower. By discrimination of
this kind the profits of one coal mine may
be quadrupled while another, with all its
fixtures and machinery, is rendered WORTH
less. Such wrongs as these are done, not
only in few sporadic cases, but generally
and habitually on very large scale. FL
the railways belong to the people, then the
rights of all citizens are precisely equal
and all determinations are unlawful |
Without reference to the public right of
they are so shamefully imperious
Ia their general effect and in their particu
lar consequences that no well-governed
State will endure them.
These railroad and transportation compa-
MES connect themselves with everything.
The promotion of commerce, internal and
foreign, the interests OF buyer and seller, the
rights ofproducer and consumers, the needs
Of the poor, and the prosperity of the rich,
all cry aloud for some system of management
which will compel them to do the duties
they owe to the public faithfully, at rates
fixed, uniform, and equal, with
out eXtortion, without wantOn changes,
without discrimination. The laws necessary
for this purpose are not difficult to frame.
IF you will look at the Constitution of Penn
sylvania as amended in 1873, you will find
in the SEVENTEEN section a series of provis-
ions which if carried out and enforced,
would be amply sufficient. But the railroad
men and their advocates have managed to
impress the Legislature with the idea that
they are above the Constitution. They assert
that every restriction imposed upon them
in the interest OF justice, equality, and fair
dealing is violation of the contract embod-
led in their charters. All this is no doubt
very false doctrine, but they contrive in
some way q really do not know how to
make the State authorities accept it as true.
maintain that all States have clear and
indefeasible right to protect their people
II. IL.
power as a sacred duty. When that duty is
performed the internal trade of
each State will cease to be enslaved and
crippled as it is now. But the COM
merce between the States will be open TO
and liable to oppression and
plumber by transportation companies, I'M
less the national legislature does something
to save it. Congress has power "to regulate
between the States" Is it not
strictly within the scope of that authority
when it makes a law forbidding carriers
through the State to injure, impede, or de-
stroy the general trade of the country by
extravaganza and discriminating charges
IF that be not a regulation of Interstate
what would be The power being
an effectual mode of Fighting the
wrongs now complained of can easily be de-
vised.
Doubtless you are right in the belief that
public opinion will be in favor of your
movement. Rejecting men cannot deny
its injustice. But the influence of these
great corporations can hardly be calculated.
They have methods of defense and offense
which make them almost invincible. You
have referred to portions of their history
which proved this. Some of the State Gov
ernments are literally subjugated by them
now. 1t will require strong organization
and much labor to reduce them. Und is
ciplined Militia in the open field make a
poor fight against regulars intrenched.
What are corn-stalks against cannon
Such is truth against money. You ask
what think of regulating these affairs by
the agency of Commissioners. In England
[ believe that plan has been a complete sue
cess; in California | understand it is dead
failure.
This paper is much longer than intended