The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-12-01
Correspondence of an Unusual Kind.

.or their guidance, they should proceed
with the performance of that which
hey have undertaken TO do, regardless
Of the opinions Of men in place, no mat
ter hos distinguished they may be. 1t
may be proper for the Commission in
cases Of legal embarrassment or doubt
to consult the Attorney General, but
beyond this source Of advice they can
not as officials safely 60. We give them
credit for the utmost good faith and the
strictest integrity Of purpose, and a
hearty sympathy in the objects intended
TO be accomplished by the law under
which they hold Office, and we appreci-
gte TO the fullest extent the embarrass |
ment with which adverse judicial deeis-
ions have surrounded their efforts in the
direction of conscientious discharge of |
their duties; but their application to
Senators George and Walthall for a |
public expression of their views will |
be misconstrued. Such action carries |
with it the suspicion, either that the
Commissioners are not sure of their foot |
ing or that they doubt whether they
have the sympathy of the public. Ii
they are not sure Of their footing, then
they are not the right men in the right
places. If, on the other hand, they be-
lieye that they can render the State
substantial service they should perse-
we're in the work they have undertaken
earnestly and faithfully, not counting
favor or fearing reproach.
The people of the United States, no
less than those of Mississippi, are to be
congratulated that they have in Senator
Walthall so able a champion of their
rights in the battle which is being con-
stantly waged between them and the
great monopolies which seek to control
the commercial interests of the country.
With The CLARION he believes that the
declarations of the Democratic plat
forms of this State meant something.
and he has been, since 1877, in favor of
searching for the power of supervising
railroad corporations and of exercising
it 'to prevent the arbitrary absorption
Of an undue proportion of our State prod
ucts in the expense Of Transporting them
to market and returning those articles
for which these products are exchanged"
By the decision of the courts, whether
we concur in them or not, it seems now
to be settled that Congress alone has the
power to regulate carriage between the
States, and that the States have the
power to regulate that entirely within
their borders, though Senator Walthall
seeing to be of the opinion that Congress
sional regulation may extend to railroads
located entirely in one State, meaning,
we suppoae, when they are dealing with
interstate traffic. However this may
be, it seems clear that all purely local
traffic is committed by the decisions of
the courts to State regulation. If this
be so, the necessity for State regulation
is now as great as it ever was; because
any system of regulation which may be
adopted by the United States will be in
complete unless it be supplemented by
system embracing the matters over
which only the States have jurisdic-
ton.
Whether, when Congress has passed
an interstate commerce bill, ''some more
inexpensive system may not be devised
to deal with those transportation ques-
tons, adjudged to be within the juris-
-diction of the State" is a question of
great importance, which the interests Of
the people require should be wisely CON
sidered, but we agree with Senator Wal
thall that the time for such considera-
ton has not yet arrived. Until Con-
gress has acted it will be scarcely posi-
/, bic to tell IN what way the national sys-
TEN can best be supplemented by the
States, and until then the State laws
should be enforced to the extent that
they have not been declared unconsti-
tutional, in the interest of the people.
Senator Walthall takes issue with the
claim of Judge Hill that he is vested
with the power to protect the Receiver
of the Vicksburg & Meridian Railroad
from the operations of the State law
and his suggestion that the authority of
the court be further tested is a good
one. Judge Hill claims, as we have
before said, that he is enforcing law
which the commissioners have violated
when he authorizes the Receiver to dis
regard rates which he has adjudged to
be unreasonable. But the answer to
this assumption is that the law pre-
scribes different mode for testing the
reasonableness of the rates from that
adopted by Judge Hill, and he is as
much bound by that law as any citizen
of the State. It is not the business of a
court to run railroads, aud, as was
said day or two since by an eminent
jnris:, the appointment of receiver for
that purpose is a ghave abuse of judicial
power. 1t would be well to incorporate
in the pending interstate commerce bill
protection against the continuance of
the evil.
Those who elamor loudest for the re-
peal of the Supervision Law because the
Commission has been denied the right
to regulate interstate traffic are the
same persons who have all along con-
tended that the sacred railroad corpora
tons should be left to manage their own
business as best suited them; but in the
end it will be found that those who have
been guided by desire to establish a
great principle in the interest of the
people have not been stampeded by the
failure of any NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. They,
like Senator Walthall, feel it to be their
duty to search for the power, and when
it is found to exercise It fairly and rea-
senably, for the accomplishment Of the
desired end.
Gov. GORDON, of Georgia, recon-
mends the taking of the convicts of that
State out of the hands of the lessees and