Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-10-03
rnE EFFIcAcY on rnE COURTS.

The CHRONICLE is in no sense the
champion of railroads or other corpo-
rate interests. We have never sup
posed that railroads, or anything con-
trolIeG by human agency, could do no
wrong. To the contrary, we think
moneyed corporations. with their inn
mense power, are capable OF inflicting
great wrongs, and for that reason need
to be guarded by the strictest legisla-
ton.
In Tennessee we have a law that
makes it penal in railroads to discrim-
mate in their freight rates. That is,
they render themselves liable to a
heavy penalty when they charge one
person more or less than their Gus
tomary rate.
Whenever such wrong doing as this
is attempted, we should be glad to see
the law enforced and the perpetrators
made to suffer.
It is a sad reflection on our courts
and 1uries to say that this law can't be
enforced, no matter il railroads "em-
ploy their lawyers by the year." or by
the century. We don't believe that
such an assertion is true. Our obser-
walton has been to the contrary. Jul
ries are apt to be too severe in verdicts
against railroads, and it would be a
grave charge indeed to say that the
Judges OF the State do not render inn
partial justice between all htigants.
The late Judge Gill, OF Nashville,
was won't to remark that the best way
to improve the breed of the razor
backed hog was to cross him with a
railroad. This homely witticism car
ries pungent truth that argues forci-
bly, against the idea that courts pander
to railroads
1t has been said that railroad COM
mission is necessary to prevent these
determinations. What could a COM
mission do but bring the matter into
the courts 7 Or if it was an arbitrary
commission with power to decide it
self in the premises, what would it be
but another court, in which the rail
road attorneys could appear as we'll rs
in those already created?
The tendency in the State now is To
reduce the judiciary. Why should
the people be burdened with a special
court when those in existence have
less work than they can attend tot
We have so often presented the strong
arguments against the general duties
that it is proposed to confer on rail
road commission, (such as were con-
ferred on the Savage commission that
relieved the State treasury OF $4,000
and did no good that any one can
point cut,) that it would be a useless
iteration to repeat them here.
Our object in this article is to show
that the discovery of some unlawful
discrimination by railroad in the
State does not call for a commission.
We are against commission because
it would he an unnecessary burden to
the taxpayer and detrimental to the
best interests of the State. We would
be glad to see railroads punished
whenever they do wrong, and we be
lieve the law and the courts are ade-
quate to that end. If not, the State Is
indeed in desperate condition that
nothing short of tearing up all the rail-
roads in its borders could remedy.
If a party feels agrieved at the ac-
ton of a railroad, he should first en-
quire at the headquarters of the road
to see If it is not local influence that
is operating against him, and as last
resort he should exhaust the remedy
the law gives before complaining of it's
inefficiency.
A State railroad commission could
have no power to regulate commerce
between the States. 1t is absurd, then,
to talk about a Tennessee commission
fixing rates in Kentucky. A congress
sional committee has been investigat-
ing this subject, and some intelligent
action, we hope, will be taken on the
report that is to be made to the next
session of Congress.
The best guarantee for cheap rates is
competing lines, and Tennessee should |
do everything in her power to encour-
age the building of new roads. How
much our State lacks of development |
in that particular can be seen by a
glance at the map of Ohio, or any of
the advanced States of the Union.