Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-07-15
THE RESULT OF RAILROAD REGULA-
TON IN GEORGIA

During the railroad craze inaugurated by
the Stockton Democracy, and which foated
to the surface whole regiment of dema-
gogues, and finally eliminated in an extra
session of the Legislature, there was much
reference to the Georgia railroads, the
chcapness of fares and freights over those
lines, and the splendid and efficacious curb
bit the Georgia Railroad Commission kept
in the mouths of the railroad corporations,
preventing them thereby from rearing and
plunging all over the acreage of that State,
TO the destruction of all the goody-goody
and-raiiroad crusaders in the region. 1t
did not serve any purpose at that time to
point out how i'll the Georgia roads were
operated, nor how poorly the lines We're
manned, nor At what low rates thccmployes
were paid, nor the declination of railroad
business. 1t availed nothing with the de-
moniacal Observation-Disclosures to point out
that the conditions in Georgia and Califor-
MIA were totally dissimilar, and that, all
things duly considered, railroading in Cali
fornia was better and more cheaply done.
it now appears that the inevitable has
happened, and change of sentiment about
arbitrary railroad regulation is coming
about. The demand now is" says the
Charleston Is. c. Nctrs for such amend
ment Of the railroad law of that State as
will modify the powers of the Railroad
Commission, and give the railroads better
chance to prosper than they now have. The
Georgia Commission has the right to make
and enforce rates that determine absolutely
the earnings of the railroads. From its de-
cisions there is no appeal, and the vast in
tcrcsts Of the great lines of transportation
and travel are at the mercy of three men.
The Commission was established to pro-
tect the people and certain communities
from alleged unjust determinations Of the
railroad corporations. But the law went
too far, and the powers of the Commission
are too arbitrary The Macon Telegraph
and Messenger declares that the law under
which the Railroad Commission exists not
only permits but" under its present execu-
ton enforccs upon the owners of our rail
road property the wrong and injustice of
helplcssness in the first place and of coniis-
cation in the second. 1t involves control
without responsibility, power without &C
countability.'
or course, whenever that is the case
there must be a declination of energy,
slackening Of industry and a decay of in
terest, with disposition to withdraw CAPT
tal TO more promising fields. 1t is not
surprising, therefore, that Southern jour
mails declare that the inactivity in rail
road construction in Georgia is due to the
arbitrary control exercised by the State
Commission. 1t is admitted that railroad
building in Georgia. as an enterprise and
investment, ceased when the Commission
was established. The AcieS says:
short lines, or feeders, have been built
by subscriptions obtained from persons d.
rectly interested, and who are willing to
sacrifice their investments for the Quiet OBJ
tained. Speculative lines have, in one or
two instances, been built and placed in
operation, and the railroads themselves
have found it necessary to build connecting
links in self-defensc. But in all these en-
terprises outside capitalists have kept aloof.
1t is urged by the leading newspapers in
Georgia that there will be no railway i'm
proyement in that State while the Commits
sion exists in its present form that outside