Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-03-23
The Railroad Problem.


create railroad commission of higb
character bat very limited powers Will
appear singularly foolish to most mem.
bers of congress, no doubt The averaoe
legislator has tendency to believe that
legislation can cure all ills of the BODY
polite. If fifty successive attempts
have failed, each leaving the evil great
er than before. he remains firm in the
faith that the only trouble is that the
right kind of bill has not vet been de-
vised, and sits down with sublime con.
fidence to frame the fifty-first. So il
will be, apparently, to the end of time
unless constituents take pains to select
men who have mastered the alphabet
Of social science.
Mr.. Adams mastered the alnhabe,
long ago. His plan, tame as it looks tn
Numbering champions of "the cause Of
.he people against monopoly" has more
craftsmanship in it than any of the CO.
erclve measures contemplated in con.
gress and state legislatures. But we
are not quite sure that there would not
De still more craftsmanship in doing
still less. A bill which proposes to do
almost nothing may yet be inferior to
bill which proposes to do nothing Of
all Require the railroads to MAKE
frequent and regular reports of earn
lngs and traffic, and the public may in
time be educated by these oft-recurring
statements as they Fever could be by a
ponderous document. But as for regu
iat1on or supervision, we suspect it is az
true as ever that the best government is
that which governs least.
The one merit of our present position
is, that the advocates of all infinite va
rlety OF plans mutually neutraiize each
other, after the manner of the Kilken-
ny cats, and thus unintentionally pro-
duce the government that governs not
at all. But let any statute whatever for
railroad legislation be once enacted and
the probability is that, from that time
nearly every session will see it
altered, possibly for the better, proba.
bly, for the worse. But the change in
itself will be nuisance. The railroads
will at once make common cause to
fight in the courts and afterwards in
congress. A bill to regulate railroads
by law, regarded in the light of its prob
able consequences, might be entitled,
"An act to sell the government of the
United States to its corporations"
Either The legislation would be empty,
lnnocuous and futile, and in that case
changes would be instantly and inces-
sanity demanded or it would be to some
extent effective, and in fiat case four
thousand millions of capital would i'm
begin to concentrate itself
upon Washington. He who thinks that
legislation would thenceforwarI be
shaped in the interests of the people
has simple and child-like faith.
Mr.. Adamss plan misses the Scylla
of coercion, but does not avoid the
Charybdis of perpetual agitation for
change. His commissioners are ex-
pected to report measures for the con-
sideration of congress. This would
bring up, year after year, the whole
subject of railway regulation, and every
member of congress would have his
pockets full of amendments and substi-
tutes. Perhaps the Commission would
wisely argue against attempted coer-
cion, and recommend only the wisest
possible action. Thereupon every sim
cere fanatic and every demagogue in
the House would start up, all aflame,
to rebuke these "tsols OF MONOPOLY"
Commissions rarely have as much in
f1uenc over legislation as committees
composed of mem bcrs of the legislative
body. The members would feel called
upon to vindicate their own wisdom
by altering or rejecting proposed for
them, and the chances are that real
ly wise measure would fare worse than
it would if offered by a single repre-
sentative on his individual responsible
ty. In fact if the Commission should
devise any particularly good thing, its
recommendation would probably lessen
the chance of that good thing getting
done.
The railroad problem is settling it.
self a good deal faster than any Con-
gress could settle it. Ten years ago
there was not even a single fanatic
who contemplated as possible the rate
for transportation which the railroads
have of their own sweet will maintain
ed for half a year. If the practical re-
suit is bankruptcy for any company,
that event will educate more people
than any number of elaborate reports.
VT, ii tue Tesult Is tuat the IOduS
have all survived, that experience will
educate both people and managers, SO
that rates which were once common
will become forever impossible. Or,
again, if it appears that railroads have
bankruptcy only by taxing
local traffic unreasonably to support
through traffic, it will instantly become
a practical question for the business
men of every State whether they wish
to surrender the through traffic or to
see it preserved al such cost. AS
matters stand, stockholders, bond
holders, shippers and consumers are all
getting educated by the same events,
and very rapidly. 1t may be doubted
whether any Commission could posi-
bly, disseminate as much information
in as short time, and in form to
stick in the mind as long. Men re-
member lessons that they pay Tor
The best of 1t is that the rall1oad