Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1882-03-09
Cenfiscating Railroad Property by Law.
From the New York Telegram.

cOafAASSAoiAit5 ANaAi4 VN0 AAUvV1tI NY A0Ns
From the New York Telegram.
While he State Of New York is still delib-
Grating as to the desirability or the feasibility
Of regulating railroad management by stat
ute, other states, and notably several of the
Central Western states, have been with va
rying success trying the experiment
Probably the experiment is worth the try
ing and worth oil the laundering that it has
thus far cost. The principle that corporate
citizens, like any other citizlns, should be
subject to legislative authority, is sound
one. The assumption that the law-making
power has the disposition and the ability to
do Justice is. at the base Of all organ
lied society. It is better that railroad cor
porations should be placed at the mercy"
OF the atate than that the state and its
people should remain at the mercy Of
railroad corporations OF any conflict that
may impend between the respective doc
trlRes of state sovereignty and railroad
sovereignty, there can be but one outcome.
Yet, for the.yery reason that the principle
Of railroad regulation by the state is a
sound and necessary one, any manifest in
justice in the way Of such railroad 'regula-
ton is the more to be deplored.
The other states that have exerted their
authority in this direction have either
avoided all ground for serious charges OF
injustice, or, in the light Of experience,
have SO modified their statutes as to re-
heve them Of such charges. Illinois has
not. In that State alone the worst princi-
pies, or rather the worst blunders Of the
first crude and unenlightened attempts to
regulate the details Of railway traffic still
remain in force. The Railroad Commas
sioners Of that State, under their singular
~ absolute powers, have recently. in
deed, established new schedule of
freight rates, but this new tariff,
taken as a whole, is q reduction Of the tariff
of1873, by almost 80 per cent, and this re-
duction is effected alta time when The Board
Of Equalization has increased the assess
mont Of railroad property in Illinois 81, 0C0.-
900 over that of the previous year, and
doubled the assessment as compared with
1876. Here would seem to be, without
going into the details of the respective tar
ifs, IYinsa fucie cause for the complaints
of the railrord owners that. the state Of Till
n0is is rapidly cont scating their property
under the forms of law.
A presumption ct least as to the injustice
of the Illinois method Of treating railway
property may be fairly derived from the
fact that the railroad interests have no
spokesman OF representative on the COM
mission that Yields such mighty powers over
them. Ia view of the extent Of these pow
ers and the nicely Of the interests involved,
it would seem to be no more than fair that
one out of the three members Of the board
Of railroad and warehouse commits
sioners should at least possess some
pra tical acquaintance with railroad affairs.
On the contrary, that board at present con-.
sists of druggist an insurance agent and
a politician, and, what is much worse, the
law excludes all persons employed by or
connected with the business of any rail-
road company or warehouse, and all per-
sons owning SO much as share In any
railroad, from serving as commissioner.
This provision Of the law, as to
logic and constitutionaiity, would
seem to be on 9 par with a
statute depriying all citizens who own
any kind of property OF eligibility to the
legislature OF to the office Of governor, or to
any other Office whereby property interests
may be affected.
Altogether there is indisputable evidence
that the history of railway regulation in
Illinois is little calculated to advance the
cause Of railway regulation elsewhere OF to
sustain the fundamental confidence in the
capacity Of American popular bodies to
deal justly anu 80 SLOW lAluoIs Houiu
do better for its reputation, as
we'll as for its interests,
by observing the example of Massachusetts,
the pioneer state in the matter Of railway
reform, where no statutory freight tariff
has ever been attempted. aud by following
the example Of Wisconsin, lows and Min
nesota, where the first i'll -conside tn Is
have been modifed in accordance with the
reasonable representa- tions OF the railroads,
and where, nevertheless, all genuine abuses
in railway mar agement have been abated.
2sS II :-------. $500. a
A Jolly Time.
Philadelphia Record.
Once in while the president unbends
and has agood time. = Arthur had one the
other night, when the white house was IN
vaded by half score of pretty young girls
| chiefly The t9aTaghterS of senators anG