The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-03-03
Great Popular Movement in New
York to Break up Monopolies and
to Control Railway Corporations.
Speech Of Judge Black.

Speech of Judge Black.
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE MEETING
n. Y. Sun.
The National Anti Monopoly League held
a very large meeting in the Cooper Institut Il
last night, in response to a call to those who
believe that corporations should not bt
permitted to run this country" Many la
dies were present. Mr.. L. E. Chittenden
presided. The appearance of the venerable
Peter Cooper as one of the VicePreshents
was greeted with applause. President Chit
tenden, in his opening address, said this was
a fitting time to recall WashgtOn' sappropri
ate words, in which he called attention to
the fatal tendencies of those combinations
organized to direct, control, and counteract,
and awe the constitutional authorities" He
said that the Autobiography was not organ
lied To make warfare upon corporations, but
was the friend Of corporations 1t was organs
| lied against the tyranny, abuses, and lrregu-
| larlties of corporations The object OF the
League was to cheaper the necessaries Of life,
so that the poor man could live and bring
up his family decentiy. What was the rea-
son that coal was sold at wholesale for double
the price for which ii could be sold here at a
| fair profit? 1t was because of the exactions
of the mOnOpolies Of transportation. The
same was true of every other great staple of
! corn and other food. How could the people
remedy the evil? By legislation. To do this
the Supreme Court must be kept pure. No
corporation attorney must be made Judge
of that court The Legislature must be pure,
90 that when it becomes necessary to pass an
act for the protection of 10000, 900 Of people
| the proposition shall not be sent to the COM
mittee on miscellaneous bushes Great
| applause
| H. 1 - t. ;oI,
| Black, of Pennsylvania, as the statesman,
the profound lawyer the eloquent adVocte,
the unpurchased and unpurchasable friend
of the people. As the venerable Judge adj
| vanced to the front he received a cordial vel
come.
JUDGE BLACKS SPEECH.
Judge Black, after few preliminary re-
marks, said that he would tell what he
knew about railroad monopoly. There was
one fact underlying the whole question. 1t
was alleged that the railroad corporations,
being put into possession of the public
highways of the country, and bound to
run them in the interest of the people, to
whom they belong, are but public servants
and trustees. But they have violated their
trusts grossly and shamefully. They are
clothed by law with power sufficient to
enable them to perform their functions
effectively, and yet, not content with that,
they have grasped at and seized other pow
ers which do not belong to them. They
have perverted, misused and abused these
powers for the basest purposes of private
gain. They have right to be reimbursed
all that it cost them, and to receive reason
able profit. The allegation is, however,
that they don't stop at that, but they go
beyond and take unbounded millions of
money. 1t is alleged that these men in
doing this are doing an unutterable wrong,
that cannot be borne, because it is greatly
to the detriment of the public interest 1t
retards the general prosperity and cripples
the industry of the country, If the allega-
ton be wrong, the railroad companies are
much wronged. If it is wrong, the news
papers are libelling them. A voice
''They tell the TRUTH If it be false, the
league ought to disband AID cease its at
tacks on these disnterested gentlemen
[ Laughter. But l rather think it is true.
The proofs surround you everywhere. The |
voice of complaint comes on the wings of
the wind from every quarter of this vast
continent. The public records are full of
the evidence. Congressional committees |
have put the evidence on record. Legisla |
tive committees in different States have |
done the same thing. All agree that these
accusations are true The accused parties
do not deny it. A voice-"They boast of
it'll Some of them hang their heads in |
silent admission of their guilt Others |
brazen it out. They claim that railroads |
are not public highways, but are private |
property that any attempt to control them |
is confiscation, and that the Supreme Court |
in its decision against chem was guilty of |
communism and Kearnyism. Others adj |
nit the wrong, and yet say that they can
not see any way to safely control them.
Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Judge Black |
continued, is the ableSt advocate of railroad |
monopoly and he deprecates any legislation |
that would rob the companies Oftheir power. |
Yet Mr.. Adams would admit that the |
charges made by the companies were wrong |
and that their determinations in some cases
were cruel Mr.. Adams was even amazed |
that the general industry of the nation had
not been crushed by railroad corporations. |
Mr.. Adams, in fact, pleads guilty. Are not |
these people convinced?
GARFIELD's WARNING.
Another authority, that of a statesman
Gen. Garfield, had spoken on the question, |
showing how the railroads had got land |
equal to nine States as large as the State of |
Ohio. Gen. Garfield warned the people |
that the railroad corporations might over
throw the Government of the country I'M |
less they were throttled. If Gen. Garfield |
should act upon those convictions, there |
would be a blast in the Presidential trum- !
pet that would rally all parties. But, if Mr.. |
Garfield should not act upon his expressed |
convictions, he would be as untruthful to |
his trust as the monopoly had been to them. |
There could be no neutrality. The agatha |
ton, once begun, would go on until 50,OO0,- |
900 people would learn the important secret |
that they are $4,000, 900 strong. How much |
have these corporations taken out the |
sweat of the people A voice; "Four
ffths"] That does not answer the ques-
ton. | want to know how much in dollars
and cents. Another voice, "Ten times as
much as the national debt" The
amount is so much that | am
almost ashamed to say how much
it is. You must allow them all the cost of
their investment and fair interest. But
all beyond that they have no right to; it is
mere robbery. / will prove to the hearts
content of anybody that these people have
no right to take more. Their charter, so
far il gives them more, has no validity,
and is void.
Under the Constitution, the speaker con-
tinued, a charter cannot be made to oper-
ate as a rowing commission to 60 out and
take public plumber. Applause. What
have they taken over and above their rightsg
desire to do what the railroad companies
will rot do want to make my charges
reasonable. The freights at the lowest are
twice as high as they ought to be.
Here follow some statistics which
we omit for want of space.)
Determinations.
A man who wants to haul a ton of coal
twelve miles from Philadelphia will have to
pay as much as he would be charged to bring
the same ton from Chicago to Philadelphia.
The charge is fifty times too much. Forty
nine dollars is robbery. 1t may not be steal
\ ing according to law, but the difference be-
tween that and the larceny for which you
send man to Sing Sing is purely technical.
A man in Georgia undertook to manufac-
| ture a corn planter. He built his factory
| and made his goods, but was ruled out Of
business by the competition of distant man
/ ,,farfnrars who got nreferenees in freight