Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-01-11
THE RAILROADS.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE
COMMISSIONERS.
California Rates Compared with
Other Notwithstanding Re
view of a Great Question.
Tsan Francisco post.I

The sixth annual report of the Railroad
Commission for tie year ending December
81, 1885, has been prepared and viii be sub
mitted at the next meeting. 1t is signed
by Commissioners Carpenter and Hum
phreys. Thegeport begins by stating that
the feet of the Commission are planted, not
or party platforms, but on the Constitution
by which it was created. With reference
10 its origin it has been said by close OBJ
server and competent judge in another
State to have been created in disregard of
precedents." 1t exists, nevertheless, by
virtue of a law which is paramount to pre-
cedents, TO disregard which for any personal
or partisan purpose would be to conspire
against itself and TO commit self-criminat-
ing suicide. But while it is administered
in defiance of the shallow platitudes and
insolent demands of clustering factionists
and agitators, it can stand against their
treacherous conspiracies, which have always
| been infamous crimes against the Constitu-
ton and every public and private interest
under its shelter.
STARTLING MINORITY ANNOUNCEMENTS RE-
| PEATE9.
|
| ted by the Constitution, is its legitimate off
| spring and is alone recognized as such, 1t
| follows that an adopted minority is with
| out lawful parentage or purpose, but aside
| from preposterous clause of the Constitu-
| ton which says the act of a majority
| of the Railroad Commission shall
be deemed the. act of the Commission" we
have no desire to forestall the startling
| minority announcements annually made
and repeated il open letters to your Excel
lency, styling themselves reviews" com
munications" and reports of my own
| Referring to the first pages of those for 1889
and 1884, relating to the "mystifying" man
ner in which we sign and send off report
we find this distinguished expositor of mo-
tives and conduct piping through your Elk
cellency, as if the Office of Governor were q
tin trumpet, as he says, ''to the people
of the State, to let them know through
you the interior workings of the Railroad
Commission, the members of which were
elected as the custodians and protectors
of the peoples rights against what /
deem to be the merciless exactions of the
railroad companies of the State" The
leading points in the ludicrous exposure by
which he devotes himself to the cause oil
the people are as follows On the eth day
of January, 1884, at about II o'clock, noon
of that day, was at the office of the Rail
road Commissioners in the city and county
of San Francisco. Commissioners Car.
penter and Humphrey were both present.
He might have said both present" as
usual; and instead of saying, Il was al
the office" he might have said that his
colleagues had telephoned for him two
days previously, and that he came in while
the bailiff was out after him. After ali
this rigmarole about nothing, he comes to
the first rascally outrage upon the people
and says: Mr.. Carpenter went to his
desk, and from one of the drawers thereof
drew forth roll of manuscript, which he
presented to me, with the remark that this
was his report" and more like it, Possibly
if the people had been told which drawer
they would have avenged the in
suit. 1t appears that after this sensa-
uonal drawer scene the Commission
changed base and took up new position
against the people. He says: "All three
of the Commissioners went into the next
room. l have announced that for reasons
which were sufficient TO my mind | should
| decline to sign the report" In honor OF
this trial and triumph of struggling virtue
| in the next room " there should have
been some suitable public demonstration
Coming down to last year we find these
thrilling passages repeated by the cor
respondent of the people through YOU
EXcellency. He devotes four mortal pages
to the old outrage and new one, which
consists in adopting our last report while
he was in Sacramento, and submitting it tc
him there, where there were no suspicious
accessories, as a desk with "a drawer
thereof, or next room, with its horrid
"reminiscences. This last offense against
mankind was aggravated by the fact that
the report, the same as this one was never
lSeen, even by the Secretary, until it wa;
Presented for adoption. And the last Of
these open letters to be forwarded to the
people by your Excellency is left open al
both ends by the saving announcement
that its reserved and reticent author is
" not in the habit of making complaints tc
newspapers or others of my official asso.
ciates."
HOW OPEN LETTERS SAVED THE COUNTRY
To acknowledge the great service to the
country OF these letters, we are severally in
our private capacities at liberty TO resort to
them, and may invest with still greater sig.
niticance the startling state secrets which
they contain. Without them your Excel
lency might never have been notified that
the Commission was in open rebellion
against an individual member who had sci
up for himself. In default of the alarming
information that the Commission was set
ting itself and the Constitution above its
self-constituted cRStOs moran and his thrice
rejected platform, there could have been
no sufficient exercise of gubernatorial
power to see that the platforms are faith
fully executed" (Constitution-Act v.
Section ~ Without them the most watch,
full agitation under the shadow of an un.
know peril might have slept ON its arms,
lulled into fatal apathy.
SUGGESTION FOR THREE MINoRIrrEs.
l Although
the cause remains, and it is time to con.
slider and determine what should he done
with Commission which is constitution.
ally IN the way of a minority A Credit
Moblller OF professional reformers. who al.
ways predicate perfection of the rascality to
be abated, would have it turned over r.
them and converted into a den of thieves
Some would make it coal bunker or ten.
der to a party machine, with the three
commissioners as stokers. of no earthly
use to railroads or their patrons Other:
would merge the majority in the majority
TWO IN one and no remainder and be en-.
tirely rid of it in that way And so opin,
ions are divided and there is no telling
what can or ought TO be done. Having nc
recommendations or remedy to offer. We
only suggest that it might be better to i;
vide the Commission INTO three D,iDorifies
required to perform the enormous labors o.
one ana TO continue Its reforms by swing
ing dark-lantern at the wrong end of til,
tram and hooting at the monopoly.
RECOMMENDATIONS RENEWED.
The Commission is the only one in tn,
United States which can exercise no con
ditional or advisory control over railroad
facilities and accommodations inyolvins
the convenience, safety and comfort of tn,
public. The cause of this difference viii
be found i'll the narrow, mandatory polio,
adopted in this State, but elsewhere cener
ally condemned and rejected. If, there
fore, the Commission is to be continued
and to subserve the most useful purpose:
OF State control. as attested by the expert
ence of other States, it should have tn,
powers recommended in the report las
year. The exhibits, of which there are
eight, summarize the operations of the
railroads for 1SSl-4, and show income from
all resources, interest on debt and taxes
construction, paid United States. etc. The
total expenditures of the Central Pacific
and leased lines for the four years. includ.
ing dividends paid, was $50, sis, $50 92. In
addition to this sum there was expended
for construction and betterments of rolling
stock the further sum of s5,5l4. 4S3 q. d
tota. of 5000, 1913 q. Except what was
paid to bondholders and to the United
States, the greater portion of this sum was