Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-30

PtSs0ht COMMISSIONERS proceed unde
the present law, or that another super
visory law is passed and they are re
appointed, what win they dor VIVA
can they do? We have carefully OK
amined and reread the opinions of th,
Judges, Baxter, Key and Hammond
published in full in the American OF
the LIST of March last, to see if the de
cision only reached the form of tina
law, or if it reached the prineipl,
involved, and we find that, If this de
cision is the law, then no Law can b,
enacted to create a supervisory boart
"a board to do what is now proposed
that win stand. In other words
the three United States Judges fol
Tennessee have unanimously held
that the very thing now proposed can.
not be done.
Under this decision a supervisory
commission cannot be created, and no
commission can be created that in
any way interteres with or undertakes
to regulate freights passing over a
State line.
This decision cuts off debate. The
Supreme Court OF the United States
may reverse it, but until it is reversed
it is absolutely certain judges Baxter,
Key aud Hammond will instantly in
terfere and restrain a railroad COM
mission from acting under the present
or any law which may be created. To
doubt that these Judges would have
the courage to sustain. their own hold
ing until the Supreme Court reverses
them would be manifesting the gross
est ignorance of their character.
This being a proposition that mo-
body will deny, how much business
intelligence is there in creating and
paying commission that can't move
a peg. We are aware that newspapers
have seriously criticised the decision;
that they claim the Supreme Court
has decided differently, and that the
decision is ridiculed, but the question
is this: If the Judges who decide
questions of this kind differ with the
newspapers about what the Supreme
Court has decided, and they made
this decision, believing that the cases
decided by the Supreme Court have
nothing to do with this question, and
these Judges have the courage to
stand by their decisions, is there
any remedy except in the Supreme
Court of the United States?
And If the case in the Supreme Court
can't be reached under four or Eve
years at least, do we want q Commits
sioner during the interim just to draw
pay? Five years will be $4,000 be-
sides expenses. Would any bust
ness man, holding patent which
he was enjoined from using, when the
money came out of his own pocket
and not out of the would any
business man under such circum-
stances employ agents at large salaries
to look after the business while the
right to use the patent remained in
allegiance under the decision enjoin-
ing him?
All sound lawyers who have exam
ined the decision in the Ten
nessee case, and carefully looked
into the Illinois Mum case and
other cases decided by the Su
preme Court, know that the questions
now raised in the Tennessee case are
ne ", and that the Illinois cases have
to do with the questions.
And with all the bold assertions
about railroad commissions in the diff
ferent States, well informed people all
know that no railroad commission with
plenary powers has succeeded
in any State, and whenever
ignorance and stupidity have prompt
ed the enactment of laws, in substance,
as the Tennessee statute did-to put
State agents in the management of
railroad property, leaving the com
panies to provide for their debts and
running expenses, the result has
been disastrous and generally aban-
doned. In some of the States ad-
visory commissions have been created
and maintained.
1t needs no argument to show that
commissions, if they can
be established and maintained, at once
put an end to all new roads. The last
Legislature saw this and undertook
to except the new roads, but the
Judges said laws must be impair
tial and apply to all alike, and for this
reason, with many others, the statute
was declared unconstitutional.
No man with sense enough to make
money would put it in railroad and
put the road under the management
of the State, leaving him to take care
of his liabilities. We are aware that
some newspapers say this is just what
capitalists want, but to argue with
such newspapers would be waste of
time. All business men. know better,
and to state the proposition to bust
ness man and ask his approval would
be effrontery.
The commercial cities of the State