Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-29

hts last message to the Nevada legis.
lature, made the people of that state
"the victims Of an injustice in the
matter Of transportation charges that
In well.nigh intolersble." 1t Is by
this theory that the same man and his
fellows have, according TO the official
statements of the surveyor. general OF
Nevada, made rates that destroyed
young manufacturing enterprises
struggling into life in Nevada, for the
reason that II goods we're made on the
ground the road would lose the trans
portstion on them from the east and
from California. Huntington's Cen
trail Pacific corporation also informed
the farmers Of Elko county that If
they assessed the property Of the cor.
porstion In hat county any higher
than the figures named by the road 1t
would chip grain from California into
their own local markets at rates so
low that their crops would be unsal-
able v e to their neighbors.
This theory was stated In Its most
aggressive and offensive form by Lo.
land Stanford, Huntingdon partner,
and the president Of the Central Pa.
cife, In o communication which he
sent to the chamber Of commerce of
New York. He denied In substance
that the railways were public high.
ways and common carriers deriving
their existence from the state, and
asserted that they owed no duties to
the public other than those of the
merchant, the farmer, or the laborer.
He repudiated the idea Of state regu.
~lation, which he said was on a par with
the principles OF the communists. As
to the decisions of the supreme court
he declared that the "agitator Kear-
ney advocated no doctrine with regard
to property more atrocious than the
principles embodied In the Granger
decisions and the laws they sustain"
The u%tterances of Messrs. Huntington
and Stanford taken together rise to
the very ecstasy of i~nsolence, consider.
Ing that their enormous fortunes are
the result Of the gift to them from the
state of charters with almost unlimited
privileges, and of tsns of millions of
acres of public lands, and tens of mil
Hons Of dollars II money. The citizen
who, bearing these facts In mind, can
read these u~tterances of the creatures
of his bounty without flaming into
anger must be q very equable person.
Railroad property is not like other
property, either practically, or legally,
or historically, or In any other light
in which 1t might be regarded. If 1t
Is like other property, like the farm by
Its side, then its wner may, II they
choose, operate 1t or not. The farmer
need not pillow. The railroad, accord.
Ing to Huntington, need not run It's
trains. The farmer may charge what
he chooses. So, says Sanford, may
the railroad. These men by the favor
of their fellow citizens get possession
of the highways of travel and traffic
and then say to their creators and VIC
Tins, we will do as we please with
'our property"
The people Of Tennessee will be per.
safe In repelling the reptllian
embrace which has caught Nevada In
such Q deadly grip. Huntington and
Stanford do not %monopolize the cap
ital and enterprise Of the world. Every
civilized nation except the United
has a national regulation of the
railroads in force. More than twenty
states In the Union have railroad COM
missions. In NJ case have they been
but q conservator of railroad
welfare. In their last report the rail.
road commissioners Of Massachusetts
say: "No one here has ever enforced
q penalty against Q railroad corpora.
ton for discrimination. No one
whose case was proved has aver failed
Of redress when he sought q more
peaceful remedy before the commits.
sioners."
Railroad capital Is safer In q com.
munity where the common carrier and
the people meet before q tribunal like
the railway commissions of Great
Britain and q majority of the states
than Ina community where the inso.
lent and purse.proud despotism of beg.
CARS on horseback like Huntington and
defes the historic rights of
the public and Anglers the lower depths
of the population Into communicate
storms like those which have swept
over California, and will ravage o
wider area If the Central Pacific and
other great corporations do not learn
In time that they cannot continue for.
ever to keep themselves outside the
law and keep the people inside the
law.