Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-10-20
A PUNGENT LETTER.
TIE RESPONSIBILITY OF OFFICIALS
UNDER THs CoNsrI rUTIoE.
Attempt Of Politicians and Certain Papers
to Coeres Public officials Into
Unlawful Acts.

r .ilroad Commissioner, in answer to |
friendly letter concerning the work of the
Commission and the pressure that has been |
brought to bear to coerce it into certain |
course of action. Mr.. Johnson's letter. |
which is given in part below, is published in
full in the OAkland Times, with this intro
ductory remark:
The following letter, though not written for pub
Ication appears to embody much Democratic
sense upon the question OF official responsibility,
that we have requested and received permission for
ne pubication.-lEd. Times.
Ia his letter, the writer says
commenced yesterday to write newspaper COM
munication on "Who the Peope Are, and How
They Must Govern" Finding it impossible to COM
press it within as limits as l wish, aban-
doned the attempt. Some of the thoughts which l
intended for the proposed newspaper article think
1t best to introduce in this connection.
Under the Constitution the enacting clause OF
every law must read 1.-The People of the State OF
California represented IN Senate and Assembly, do
enact as follows" Who, in legal contemplation, are
s'the People OF the State Of California? Not all
the men, women and children, but the legal voters
Of the State do not know what their exact num-
Der may be, but it exceeds hundred and sixty
thousand l will call it one hundred and sixty
thousand for practical convenience. OF that num-
ber 1t requires more than eighty thousand to make
3 majority.
Scattered all over the STATE Oh CallIornla, unueI
circumstances which preclude the possibility OF their
coming together at some central point and organ
izing as deliberave body, it is impossible for them
ever to act as such. There is possible method by
which they exercise any function OF government
beyond that OF voting.
What | have parted with is no longer mine
What the people have parted with is no longer
theirs. Under usage they must be heid 10 nave
retained the right OF instructing the Legislature
upon mere questions Of policy. If upon question
of that kind 100 voters should express themselves
one way, either by petition or remonstrance, they
ought 10 be obeyed. But the Legislature would
have no right to trample the Constitution under
foot in order TO please the people Neither shouio
it ask " VIII t do the people wantf while engaged
In the performance Of any duty Of Judicial nature.
What all the voters in the State cannot 90, any
number less than all cannot do. The voice oil the
people has been spoken in the Constitution wnich
they have adopted, and in the laws which they have
made in pursuance thereof. The duties OF every
officer are defined by law and in the performance OF
them he should take the laws as his only guide
AL the people in the State have right to control
any officer from the lowest to the highest, in the
performance Of any official act. For instance, no
person of common will say that all the people
in the State can rightfullY tell any Constable or
Sheriff how to serve writ or any Recorder how to
record deed, any Justice OF the Peace or Judge
how to decide any question OF law.
This reasoning applies with peculiar force to cases
Ia which the Constitution has created certain duties
and specified what tribunal or officer is to perform
them.
Article XII. Section o. of the Constitution pro-
Vides for the election OF three Railroad Commis
sioners and that they " shall have the power, and
it shall be their duty to establish rates OF charges
for the transportation of passengers and freight by
railroad and other transportation companies, and
publish the same from time to time with such
changes as they may make to examine the books,
records and papers of all railroad and other trans
ortation companies and for this purpose they shall
have power issue subpenas and all other necessary
process to hear and determine complaints against
railroad and other transportation companies, to
n 1rDl
take testimony, and punish for contempt of their
orders aud processes in the same manner and to the
same extent as Courts of record, and enforce their
decisions and correct abuses through the medium
OF the Courts"
1t is too plain for argument that neither ali the
people in the State nor any number less than all
have right In the least, to control the Railroad
Commission in the performance OF any OF the ABOVE
enumerated duties.
Upon that point the people have spoken through
the Constitution, and through Statute made in
pursuance thereof, and they have spoken in no
other way.
The people Of course, have opinions. Except in
so far as he may have expressed them each mans
opinions known only to himself The people
have delegated to nobody the right to declare what
their opinions are. Newspaper editors often make
the mistake Of supposing that they voice public
opinion. That is great mistake An editor hav-
ing true manhood is fearless in the expression Of
his o Sn manhood and tries to make public opinion
right As far as public opinion has been expressed,
he may have facilities beyond other men for ascer-
tanning what 1t i9- But as TO uneX pressed puouc
opinion, he knows no more than other people do.
One Of the crying evils Of the times is, that too
much power is welded by irresponsible parties.
The Railroad CommissiJ Jners have been elected by
she people and taken the oath Of Office Ii has been
their duty to study thoroughly every question upon
which they may be called upon to act. RESPONSE
bility should always accompany power, and power
should always accompany responsibility. The re-
sponsibility for what is done by the Commission
attaches TO the Commissioners, and TO nobody else
As the responsibility ID theirs, the power should be
theirs II is theirs in law and reason, and nobody
should share it with them.
II the trainers of the Constitution had thought it
important that the Railroad Commissioners should
have Board Of Advisors they would have so pro-
vided. But they did not so think. OF the hundred
and sixty thousand voters OF the State any man has
a. good right as any other to obtrude his ad-
vice upou the Railroad Commission, and to be
offended II it is not followed.
An editor makes great mistake when he con-
eludes that he has right to advise every body and
to take oense every time his advice is not followed
But many editors appear 80 to think. The advice Of
an editor Is worth no more than the advice of the
same man il not an editor. The advice of twenty or
thirty editors is worth no than the advice of
the same number OF equally intelligent citizens who
are not editors The opinion OF any member Of a
State or County Central Committee is worth
more tnan the opinion of equally intelligent
citizen.
The editors and proprietors Of the Examiner. the
editors OF few other papers, few Central Com
mittee men, and few other politicians, have
mitted the great mistake Of calling themselves "the
people" They have attempted to dictate what fares
and freights shall be- They have sought to control
the action Of the Commission through intimidation.
They have sought to control the Governor. But
shey have 80 far failed, and trust will fail.
| NAV seem to dwell upon this topic al undue
length, but think that do not.
An attempt has been made to overturn one SEQ
ton of the Constitution The Constitution provides
that fares and freghts shall be regulated by Railroad
Commissioners That implies that the Commission
ers sh all in all things follow the dictates Of their
"a andr
of what outside opinion may be. An attempt has
been made 10 compel the Commissioners to do just
as the politicians told them to do You are familiar
with the comparison OF " the power behind the
throne" "a power behind the throne greater than
the throne" for all practical purposes, is the
throne In like manner power behind Railroad
Commission, that controls the Commission, is The
Commission. The power that can control tribunal
is always greater than the tribunal it controls.
The Eramsner has advanced the detestsble doc
trine that every officer should obey the people, and
il REQUIRES comparatively only few persens to con-
stitute what il is pleased to call " the people" In
proportion as the doctrine is carried out, mob
Government will be substituted for one of Consti-
sutton and laws
the Legislature for the purpose, not OF giving Mr..
Humphreys and yourself impartial trial, but of
eonvicting you 1t proposes to accomplish that re-
suit through the presence OF committee OF q
thousand aud forty men, whose business it shall be
to intimidate the Legislature. The wretch who
makes the suggestion does not seem to realize the
fact that there Is any sucn thlrg As sAnctty IN an
cath
A Railroad Commissioner virtually fills judicial
position He cannot take notice, without proof of
what is reasonable compensation for the trans
portation Of fares and freghts 1t is his duty, there
FORE to hear testimony anG to impartially weigh it
and consider it upon those points. Having done,
he should act with entire impsrtiality between the
payers of fares and freights on the one hand and
the receivers OF them the other.
To make my meaning palmer l will here suppose
Q ease:
Jones' who is common carrier, brings suit against
Thompson to recover the sum OF five hundred dol
lars for the transportation Of freights Browne the
Judge before whom the is pending for trial. has
said and persisted in saying, " Jones resorted to
bribery and every corrupt means he could employt
defeat my election" Will any lawyear in the
world pretend that Browne impartially try the
ase
what is the odds between s1ch Judge and one
who has hurled eroer denunciations against railroad
men q classt
There never was good Judge who was not an i'm
martial one There can be no trait more important