The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1882-03-08


rticle on what it calls the railway mon
rchs of America-the Vanderbilts,
3oulds, CARROTS, Gowens, etc. The
,bject seems to be to bring home to the
British public that, though the United
states is a Democratic country, its peo-
Die to-day are dominated by power
which is imperial both as regards the
territory and capital which controls,
with a corresponding influence as re-
CARDS political Importance. We quote
"No protentate has ever welded 3 chair
mans sceptre here endowed with anything
ike the aptitude and splendor OF the royal
which appertaln to railway
presidents in the Tilted States. A repre- |
sentative character is always seen to belong /
TO the rulers at English railway boards.
They are not only elected but elective. In
the United States railway president, when
once chosen, governs by sort OF right d.
vine. At all events he exacts passive ODE,
dieuce. Each administers his section OF
territory with absolute power. signs trea.
ties by which neighbOring sovereIgns nind
themselves not to tresspass. Mhen tney
trapsgress what he CONSTITUTES to have Deen
stipulated he retaliates. These lllustrlous
personages do not court political honOrs
No chief of the States or party caucus Would
venture an invitation to them to accept
Office. which would be sure to be declined.
They go about modestly among their fellow
citizens as if they were ordinary men. Their
names are seldom heard in Europe, unless
[ ~ al mr. a famous
nicture. Yet they have one hand always
on the throat of America and another on
| that of Europe. They decide at what price
/ Furope shall eat and for what wages the
vast American West shall pillow. Fortu-
nateIy. they have not scared to the sublime
/ misanthropy Of a Roman Cesar, or, with
| their fingers at the common neck OF both
hemispheres, they might in caprice doom
| the world to starve."
The picture is somewhat over
drawn; but it serves the good
purpose of enabling us to see
our condition and perils as others
see them. In this we feel assured !:
the great organ of British opinion ex-
aggerates the power of the corporations;
or at least it is mistaken in saying it
cannot be restrained. In proportion as
the American people comprehend the
perils of the situation and the menace
to their political system by the over
Swallowing influence of corporations,
their demands will increase for such
legislative restraints as will restore the
safe equilibrium between the railway
sovereigns and the sovereign people.
There are many manifestations of thai
demand, and he must be very blind
or a very deaf man that cannot see mol
hear them. Under the combination
system, which shuts out competition IL
some of the great railroad States, thi'
feeling bids fair to grow more and more
intense. Hence, vast as the power o
the railway monarch is, and difficult as
it may be to manage with due regard tC
all the interests at stake, it can never
become wholly beyond control. 1t viii
continue to be power for good, as al
instrument of industrial development
and if in many ways it is also a power
for evil, we think our transatlantic
friends may be assured the com
mon sense of the American PEG
pie, will take care to provide the
necessary legislation for their own
protection. The signs are portentious
nevertheless, of the struggle of the future
between corporate powers and pfivileg
ed orders in which money will be pc
tent factor, and the people in which the
spirit of liberty and equal rights, viii
be the grand inspiration on the other
and as this is a government of the PEG
pie and for the people, we need not feal
the ultimate result.