The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-10-30
Railroad SFOnOpOIieS.

The last mail brings us two
speeches which present a perfect
contrast. The first is by Victor E.
Piollet, Master of the PENNSYLVANIA
State Grange, before the Delaware
County Agricultural Society at Ho-
bart, n. Y. The other is by Thos.
F. Bayard, United States Senator
from the State of Delaware, before
political meeting in New York
City. The one is the utterance of
representative farmer; the other
is that of a representative politician.
Col. Piollet Incorporates as a part
of his speech the following declara-
ton copied from the Western RI
rat, prominent and influential ag-
ricultural journal
''The most important question be-
fore the American people to-day,
involving as it does something of
the principles that underlie popular
liberty and individual rights, and
the general prosperity and perpetu-
ity of our Government is the ques-
tion Of subduing the arrogance of
our railroad corporations and of re-
duclng them to recognition of al
leglance to the power that created
and sustains them. 1t is a question
which really involves no principles
of injustice towards the roads, and
consequently is of a character to
invite the support of every citizen
of the nation who is not absolutely
controlled bu selfish influences of a
personal nature. But if it were
even true that the objects sought by
the advocates of lower freight rates
and a stricter Government surveil
ance of our railroads, embodied a
serious ininry to the corporations,
the principle of the "greatest good
to the greatest number" would
make their accomplishment per-
fectly justifiable.
'Individual rights, as a rule, are
among the most sacred things in
society. The citizen usually has
the right to demand absolute re-
spect and protection for his life and
property, and complete guarantee
that he shall have free and full en-
joyment of his liberties. But all
this is secondary TO the rights and
privileges of the whole. When the
rights of society and the rights of
the individual come into conflict,
the latter must submit to any sacri-
flee which society may demand in
the enforcement of its rights and in
claiming its privileges. When the
rights of the few and those of the
many antagonize each other, the
the latter's right to triumph is uni
versally acknowledged in properly
organized society,""
Col. Piollet endorses this declara-
ton, and emphatically adds:
The whole batch of purchased
legislation which now disgraces the
statutes, ought to berepealed." The
people. he says, ''have the unques-
toned right to alter or abolish any
law that confers privilege upon
any man or set of men that is inju-
rious to society, or which is calcu-
lated to work the permanent inc
quality of the American people,
The portion of Mr.. Bayard's
speech to which we call attention is
an arraignment of Mr.. John Sher-
man for having used the following
language:
"Mv hope, then, is that Congress
win pass laws to establish and limit
maximum rates of freight, so that
the production of a farmer may not
be in danger of confiscation by ex-
orbitant rates, that it will limit and
restrain the cutting and reduction
of freights, SO as to destroy the abil-
ity of railroad companies to pay
fair prices for honest labor and to
prevent the companies from making
paupers of men who perform essen
tial functions in commerce.
With Mr.. Bayard and Mr.. Sher-
man we have nothing to do, except
so far as their utterances affect the
rights of the people. Both these
men are politicians of National rep
utation, and Mr.. Bayard is legis
lator In openly espousing the
cause of the railroads he is respons-
ible to his constituents. But in
speaking for the roads he goes out
of his way to make a covert attack
on the Grangers of the United
States. for, he says, the speech of
Mr.. Sherman was made during
the labor riots of 1877, when Gran
gers of the West were crying for
cheaper transportation Of their
crops to the seaboard, and the en-
ployees of railway lines of trans
portation were striking for higher