The clarion., 1883-10-31

True Only = Part
INC Railroad rom NeW Qlle "
Meridian Is completed md Alef al
has 4 new ledge Tor cen sinued gre r. /
and prosperity. Along flas route /
rerv valuable region which Is beng
o,.fsskened into life and ACTIVITY and /
knowledge BIZ TIE railroad and tele-
oraph. acting as an artery and neTYe,l
Hre congratulate our friends Of s5oufn
and East Mississippi upon the,cOmple-
tion of this great thorough ghlare. Jack-
son CLARI0N.
YES. the railroads and telegraphs are
aouickening into life and activity,
many regions In our State in which the
hoot Of the owl and cry Of the wild cat
were about the only sounds that dis
turbed the silence of nature q few
months ago, save when the winds trayer-
sing the forests in advance of the piO-
neer woodsmen. struck thunder harp
of pines" And yet demagogues are
stumping the State all over bidding for
ballot box support By denunciatien OF
the men and corporations that are try
ing to find investment for their moneys
in Mississippi, instead Of Kansas, Iowa
and Dakota.
As one result of the completion Of
this road we note that Meridian Is pay
ing the same price for cotton that Is.
offered in Mobile, and within small
fraction of New Orleans prices. Yet a
few weeks ago both of our Meridian
contemporaries were clamoring for
Legislative Supervision of railroads -
supervision that would rob Meridian
Of all her advantages SO far as transit
IN the State is concerned, aad send cot
| ton past her gates to the commissions
merchants in the sea-board cities
Aberdeen Examiner.
The observations of our esteemed CO.
temporary are correct only in part
There are, as parties to the railroad
supervision question, three distinct
classes of men: those prejudiced in favor
Of the corporations, and who, therefore,
advocate and demand absolute non-in-
reference on the part of the State in
railroad management, eontending that
these corporations, ike individuals, have
the right to manage their own affairs; i;
those opposed to these, and on the other
extreme, are those men who hate rail-
roads because they hate progress and
envy capital, some of whom may, per-
haps, be doing as suggested by the Ex-7
aminer, asking for votes by denouncing
the men and corporations that are trying
to find investment fortheir money in
our State: but there is also third class
who occupy a medium, conservative and
more tenable ground that either position
of the extremists. This last clafs wei
come capital and are glad to see rail-
| roads built in our midst, but recognize
in them a power for evil as well as
good, and wish only to have the
State exercise such control over them as
will not work to their detriment, but
prevent them from doing anything to
to the hurt, or, may be, even to the i'm
poverishment of the country through
which they pass. This class contend,
and rightly, that the people yield some
of their inherent rights in granting
the right of way and that concessions
should be to some extent mutual; that
every road is necessarily monopoly for
a greater or less distance on each side
of the track-in other words, for about
half the distance between any road and
the nearest parallel line, the country is
! tributary to, and must patronize, the
given road That this state of things,
unless controlled by hand which is
neutral between the carrier and the
shipper, or mutually interested in the
success of both and the general veal
and prosperity, is bound to work to the
oppression of the shipper. This, class
recognize that, by combinations easily
effected, the natural competition of diff
! ferent lines can be, and often has been,
completely destroyed; that then the
whole business of the country is in the
hands of the carrying interest. They
recognize that such state of things
is against public policy and, to forestall
and prevent such result, urge legisla-
tive control in the interest of the general
welfare, the corporations included. 1t
may be urged that the continGency feared
VIII never occur-that the best Interests
of the roads themselves precludes such
a result To sustain this position is to
presuppose that men always act wisely
as well as justly. But if such is the case,
the legislationspoken Of can neyerdo any
harm, as it viii only be in harmony with
the plans of the corporations. The
most influential and conservative of
those who ask for Legislative control, /
desire the appointment of commission
which shall comprise men representing
the opposite interests, and acting in
conformity with well defined general
law, decide all matters coming before
it, with justice to both or all parties.
The railroad question is all the growth
Of the last half century, and is, there !.
fore, comparatively new, but Its work, +
ings have already demonstrated to the4
mind Of many eminent jurists the necesssi
ty for State control in the interest of the
general veal, which in the considera-
ton of every question is paramount. !
Several of the States have recognized
This need, and acting upon this recogni-
ion have undertaken supervision with
results which show no injury to the /.
'oads and great good to the people. :
indeed, those States, such as New York, h
illinois and Iowa (alluded to in the ex.
ract), where supervision obtains, show !
,reat railroad profits. = .4,a
The truth is, the whole question is only
matter of time. Shall we now take G
ueh measures as viii prevent conflict, il
T, waiting until the necessity has be- !,
ONE dire, try to loosen the grip nonop1 Il
ly viii have taken upon the people? i
Butler on Large Landed Estates. 4 st
T.