The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1881-05-19
RAILROAD MONOPOLY.

RAILROAD MONOPOLY.
Judge JsFs =. MACK - - Abuses
. nAalroaA CorpoFaslons.
l am going 70 tell yoa what I know
about railroad monopoliss Al the bot
tom Of this subject lies the question Of
moro fact, which any one man Of oom-
mon sense can decide - we'll - another
man. Il h alleged that tho railroad
corporations, being put into possession
Of the public highways Of tho country,
are bound in law and justice 70 run their
roads In Tho interest Of the public, TO
whom the highwAys belong; that they
arc public servants and trustees, but
that they have violatsd their trust most
grossly and shamefully. They are
clothed BY law with certain powers large
enough TO enable them % perform their
functions; but. mot content with this,
they have graspcd q and seized upon
other powers, and the powers granted
them and the powers which they have
seized they have perverted, misused and
abused for the basest purposes Of pri-
vate gain. They arc entitled to lair
and tull compensation for I'll tho SER
vices which they aro called upon TO per-
form they have right 10 DO reim.
bu1ed all that Il costs them 10 render
this service, and 10 receive in addition
reasonable profit on Che capital invest.
"a in The building Of their roads. But
il i alleged that they 60 beyond this,
aud take uncountod millions ol the peo.
ples money 70 which they have no Just
claim. and that they are engaged
IN this unlawful plunder every hour Of
Che day and night This ID an unen-
durable wrong, and cannot be borne.
Il retMrds the general prosperity, Grip
pies the industry oe the whole country,
and diaconrAges oil enterprise. This ID
the allegation. It = . mere question of
TACT. il Il true or il Il not truel II il
Il false, then tho railroad men are in the
Interesting position Of much.iniured and
ill.usel individuals, for they have been
foully slandered BY every man who talks
about them q III, and they are tho SUBJ
jects of continuous libel IN tho newspAr
per press II Tho whole county. II il .
false, this league ought 70 dissolve 1t
once, and yotl, gcutlcmen, ought 10 hide
your heads in shAme for having engaged
Ia movement against tho honest, dis
interested and upright citizens who run
your railroads for You But II il y true
yuu Are engaged IN ono u the noblest
works that human hands ever undertook
- accomplish, and II you succeed you
yu0 will earn aud receive the gratitude
1t redeemed and rcgenerated people.
Now, | am very sorry 70 have to gay is
but I rather think the allegation is true.
It b almost . pity 10 50 further, but
[ muats am convinced that
il il true. I know il a we'll as I know
any TACT oe which I have no personal
cognixAnce. The proofs surround us
everywhere. The voice 81 complaint
comes On tho wings Of the wind from
every quarter of the continent Cases
II individual complaint will BE- recited to
yo0 in every counting house, in every
hotcl, wherever YOU 60 10 talk with your
neighbors. The proof has assumed an
even Car more solemn form. The public
records Of the country are full of the ev-
l,lencc. Committees Of Congress and
committees II State LegislAtures have
considered il and all who have given il
attention declare with ono voice that the
accusation il true. Tho accused them
selves Do not deny il. and they dare not.
Some q thcm, when yo0 talk 10 them
On The subject, hang their heads and re-
fuse - admit or b deny anything; their
silence i naturally and rightly accepted
- an admissioE u their guilt. Some
admit that tho accusation is true, and
try 10 explain il away with weak argu-
ments. Still other braxcn the matter
up "Thc roAsls ars our property,
they sAy, "and in trying 10 restrain us
Won are attempting to confiscase
private property" They ..y that the
Supreme Court of the United States
waa guilty Of Communism and Kearney-
lam when il declared that they could NOT
ase their commissions 10 plunder the
people which granted them. Others
still admit that Il il al wrong. but they
don't quite ses their way clear 10 permit
os anv interference. OF this class ID
Charles Francis AdamA of MassAchu-
setta. man who has written and spoken
more than any other man on tho rail-
road aids u this question. Ho i the
ahlcst man that tho corporations have IN
their service He leprecates any kind
al legislation which shsnr deprive them
Il one atom of the powers which they
now enjoy. bat hs dos not stult,ty him.
self by denying tho existence of these
grave Abuscs> He does not deny ths
TACT that tho charges II the corporation
Src excessive bsvond I'll reason. and thai
the discrimination made between places
and persona u cruel, and has been car.
ried b sach : ffightful extent that he i
surprised that tho bNsincss Of the coun'
try has mot been crushed into annihi
lAtion before nov. He pleads guilty X
the whole indictment ] submit b you
then. whether these people are mot con
victed out of their own nlouths>
An exceedingly intervening question
il wc could only answer it. would be
how much in the aggregate have thes,
corporata0ns illegally extracted from tht
pocksea a Tho psoplse / con only CIV,
You some reasons Why I believe that il i
very large. appallingly large. / am 4
most aahamed b tell you how much
think il amounts 10. We can only max,
N estimate from such datA n 10 have
We must allow them, 10 start with, 4
to which they are cntitled-A ibcra
| compensation for thcr services, tho Cos
al. keeping their roads in repair. anl
\ fair profit ON the capital invested
They have right 10 take that, but Il
beyond that il mere lawless robbery
| II they came TO me with charter whicl
allowed them to take moro. should a.
that the charter was void, because unde
this glorious constitution of ours. wher,
all are entitled % protection of propert,
as well - Of life, charter cannot b
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