The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-03
PURE MALICE.

The Railroad Commission act was
passed because twas known that the
people Of this State were being oppress.
ed, despoiled and injured by the rail:
roads. It was passed because the roads
were guided in all their action towards
the public by the. interests of the syndi.
Gates and chiefs of corporations and dis.
regarded the principles Of Law, of busi..
ness, and Of Justice. Itwas passed be.
cause the best thinkers of the State saw
that the railroads were becoming the yir-
tuaI rulers and masters of the State and.
) the people and using their tremendous
power despotically and in arbitrary de-
3fiance Of all rules and circumstances. It
was passed because the Hon. E. B. Muir.
ray, Representative from Anderson and
editor Of the Anderson 1NTELLIGENCER,
clamored and spoke for it in and out of
season and expended all the force Of his
mind, voice, experience and influence to
pass it, and because q large number OF
Legislators who had come directly from
S the people obeyed the peoples COM
mand.
The commission bill was virtually re-
spealed because the railroads demanded
that itshould be, and enforced their de.
mand with all the mysterious and com.
plex Influences usual in such circumstan-
.ces because it was suddenly discovered
that the Commission was repelling some
hitherto unheard of and still unknown
foreign capital; because Hon. E. B.
z Murray, Representative from Anderson,
editor Of the Anderson Intelligencer and
Director of tie Columbia & Greenville
Railroad, suddenly turned from the evil
Of his ways and urged its repeal diligent-
:ely, aad because nine colored members
and our esteemed Charleston cotempora.
~ also reversed their political course and
discovered with remarkable unanimity
and enthusiasm that they had been en-
tirely wrong and altogether stupid. That
is the history in brief of the Railroad
Z Commission which now ought to beabol-
ished because it has been made power
less, useless and expensive: -
This is purely personal malice on the
part of our Greenyille contemporary, for
there are at least ten other as honorable
men as can be found in the State who
changed their votes upon the new rail.
road bill. Our contemporary will find
that Mr.. Murray is not the only railroad
director who changed his vote, but an
other leading member of the House,
who'is director in an important projec-
ted railroad changed his vote, and still
another leading and influential member,
who has been made president Of a pro-
iected railroad with which the Nsaos is
acquainted since the last session of the
Legislature, also changed his vote in this
matter. The Nesos, however, seeks to
criticise Mr.. Murray alone. He can
stand it, for his constituents favored a
more extensive curtailing of the railroad
legislation than that for which Mr.. Muir.
ray voted. The News no doubt did not
favor any curtailing Of the Commissions
power. It has just drawn $500 for ad-
versising lor tbs Commission during the
past four months. These advertisements
were mainly the rates of freights, and
.onr contemporary paid the Register for
implements and obtained a handsome
profit for simply folding these supple
.ments with the daily Ns,gs and sending