The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-08-29
Senator Georges Letter on Super.
vision.

NAoAl4a
EDToRs CLARION: have read the n
letter of Senator George upon the sub e
ject Of Railroad Supervision. This let i
ter by reason of the high esteem in which :
the anthor is held by the people Of Mis- c
sissiPpi, Is in the humble opinion Of the (
writer more calculated to resasd the {
adoption Of proper measures for the rez- +
ulatiOn Of railroad tarifs, than any |
thing that has yet been said or written $
upon the subject.
| Whether intended or not tie distin- !
guished Senator has struck heavy blow /
for the Railroads, and against the peo-
pie. The whole argument seems to be
an effort 'how not 10 DO IL rather than
contribution tending to the solution
Of the problem in the interest Of and for
the protection Of the people.
The letter boiled down seems to be
this, that the power conferred by the
constitution Of the United States upon
Congress so regulate eOzsmeses aritb foreign
nations and a1oRo tie scucnal Stats an5
9TH he Iaaiun t,SBes" clothes Congress
with power to prescribe by law the
rates Of charge by Railroads for the ]
transportation of articles Of commerce |
from one State through aud into smother 4
and that the States can only regulate i
the tariff on articles being transported /
wholly within their borders. The idea /
that any such power resulted to Con /
greSs by reason of the grant 20 regulate /
commerce WAS first advanced by Mr.. /
Morton Of Indiana, and 80 advanced in /
the interest Of railroad monopolies, for 1
the Clouds Nanderbilts and Hunting A..
tons want nothing better than the IS
sumption by Congress of this power to
the exclusion Of the States, they can
then concentrate all their power ON the
Senate and If the future is to be judged
by the past il requires no gift Of Prpph-
ecy TO fore-tell who viii be regulated,
that body, OF the railroads. This sug-
gest;en. crust will not in the light of
, the disclosures made by Dorsey as To
2 how Stanley Mathews, came to be ap-
pe;ated and confirmed as Judge Of the
e Supreme Court, he regarded a. reaec-
ton upon the integrity Of that great
e and dignifed tribunal.
b Mr.. Morton said that the power to
: regulate commerce "among the several
a States" carried with it the power TO reg
s ulate the vehicles of commerce, aud il
r is upon this assumption that the advN
Gates Of federal regulations base al
r their arguments and enrich their theorie.
which if adopted and inaugursted = :
q" policy by the general government, in my
humble judgment will rsauIt in confer
ring upon the monopsiies increased faeil
titles for depressing the people, Who's
z sole protection from the exorhitant de
m mands Of this unrelenting money power
Is is in and through the State governments
lie II was through the action of the Stat'
G Cove nmeRt in the exercise Of III,
: rigat of eminent domain that those cor
s yorations entered upon and appropri
y ated the private property of the citizen
l. to their own use, and it was upon the
re ASSUMPTION that such Use was public in
y Is character that the Legislature Wa.
y justified in exercising the right of emf
e nent demain in behalf of Railroads
lie This right of eminent domain exist:
K alone in the States twill not be claim
d ed by any well informed lawyer thai
u Congress could exercise this right in
Mississippi by chartering a railroad anC
giving it the right of way through on
V borders, and providing by an act O
Congress for the condemnation of the eiti
ne zens' land for the purposes Of a road be,
/. for the corporation-and yet if Congress
g. under the power "to regulate commerce
90 among the several States, has tn
V. right as an incident, TO regulate tn
vehicles of commerce, it would reguir
= no stretch of the Imagination an
he little violence to logic to elothe it wit
as power to bring into being the vehicl
IL itself. The same provision gives Cor
-, gress power to regulate commerce wit
lie foreign nations, get it has never bee
CT claimed that as an incident to this powe
ms Congress would have the right TO pr
IN scribe tariff of charges for the ocea
ON steamers that transport articles of me-
.ts chandisc from this continent to foreig
an ports. So Congress is authorized to re.
nc ulate commerce with the Indian tribe
II and with like propriety might it fix til
to rate of charge for the proprietor of tn
re OK cart that transported the goods q
ca the Indian Trader from the States I
nd the reservation. In Gibbon " Ogde
III Justice johnson of the Supreme Court G
in the United States in commenting o
9 |. q this provision Of the constitution say
ID the power 10 regulate commerce her
a meant to be granted was that power t
ne regulate commerce which previousl
we existed in the States
no The States were unquestionably Il
ng preme; and each possessed that powe
res over commerce which is acknowledged /
reside in every sovereign State. Til
definitions and limits of that power al
to be sought among the features II il
Of ternational law. The Law of n:
DTS tons regarding man a. social anima
iue pronounces all commerce legitimate j
nj state Of peace until prohibited b
W. positive law. The power Of soyereig
les State over commerce, therefore, amour
Mt to nothing more than power to linn
tie. and restrain it at pleasure" CONNER,
ill means an exchange Of goods-and tn
per exchange is effected through private el
terprise-and while Congress possess,
the power to prohibit the exchange
certain commodities, as for instance Il
zen landing Of goods from infected ports,
he has no more right to say what the ca
Re- rier shall charge for the transportatiC
ION than it has to fix price for the GOO
at which they must be sold by the ow
er, for the manifest reason that % far
a. relates to the Federal Government. the
m are all matters of private enterprise, Al
y this Is true whether the vehicle Of tran
Oes portation be a railroad or a steaabos
OF As TO the States. railroads bear an e
tirely different relation. With refereH
to the State Railroads, they are n
to wholly private, but are Of public chs
a. acter, owing their existence to Sta
.-e authority, the right Of eminent donna
en- being invoked and exercised IN that I
ex- half in obedience to public necessil
It'll their franchise and privileges proceedil
rvs directly frem the sovereign power