New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-25
THE R4ILRO1D CONFUSION BILL ONCE
MORE.


MORE.
The Democratic State Convention which met
in Albany in October last adopted platform
containing the following resolution; "The
apublic welfare demands that the various
questions relating to chartered monopolies
q and the methods of transportation should be
"met and decided and we are in favor OF the
adoption OF measures to restrict the growing
spower of such monOpOlies. They should be
"subicctcd TO the supervision of Commissioners
established by public authority" Such IS the
plain and unequvocal demand of Demo
crots when il was time to talk. Now the time
has come fer action. A bill is pending in the
Legislature which provides for the appointment
of n Railroad Commission. What are the mem
bers of the Legislature who represent the
Democratic party doing about it They are
dong this about it: The bill passed the AS
sembly several weeks ago, and since then has
been embarrassed, delayed, and its Chances OF
ultimately becoming law have been seriously
ieopardized by the course which the regular "
Democratic members of the Senate have pur-
sued. They can twist and turn and explain
during the rest of their terms in the desperate
endeavor to convince the public that they have
4,
but they will simply have their labor for their
pains. The facts are dead against them.
They have written themselves down plain as
preaching" as carefully pretending to favor a
Commission bill while taking precious good
care not to favor ii, and they will receive the
full measure of popular contempt which their
arrant hypocrisy has earned for them.
What are the facts ? The bill rs originally
drawn by the Hepburn Railroad Committee
provided that the Commissioners should be APP
pointed by the Governor The bill az rcportc d
to the present Assembly was in that form, b TIT
before it was passed an amendment prevailed
providing that the Commissioners should be
elected by the people ut the next general cleo
ton. But to show how much opposition there
was to the amendment, it is only necessary to
recall the vote on its adoption-yeas 66, nays
81. Reaching the Senate the bill was assailed
by the "regHlar" Democrats with unlawful
and revolutionary weapons. The majority
favored the bill in the shape in which 1t was
originally reported to the Assembly, giving the
power OF appointment to the Governor. llav-
ing exhausted all legitimate means OF defeat
ing IT, the "regular" Democratic SenatOrs-to
their honor be it said that no one of the Tam
many Senators was in the miserable plOt-when
the bill came up for third reading deliberately
broke one of the rules of the Senate, and by
declining to vote at all defeated the bill for the
time being. Tactics more discrcditable were
rarely before employed to defeat bill. In
order to bring to naught the will of the majority
the minority consented to become lawbreak-
ing lawmakers.
Nor does the indefensiblc record of the regu-
lar Democrats of the Senate Oh the bill end
here. There is another chapter. The majority
of the Senate are so DESTROYS of having the bill
pass in some shape that, overlooking the out
rage which the minority had perpetrated upon
them, they have submitted Il compromise pro-
position. They propose that the first Railroad
Commission shall be named in the bill, the Re
pubicans to select one Commissioner, the
Democrats one. and the Chamber of Commerce,
the Anti Monopoly League and the Board OF
Trade and Transportation the third. No COM
promise could he fairer than this, but the
Irregular" Democrats, true to their policy OF
obstruction, have decided to reject it 1t is
impossible at this writing to state with any
degree of pOsitivencss what will be the ultimate
fate of the bill But this one thing is certain
if it fails there will be no trouble about
fixing the responsibility. Tho "rcgular
Democratic Senators will have to bear the
odi