The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-10
Le.islafive Candidates

their candidates TO { ieSfsiatlTe hOGOr!
this fall. Select candidates who's
official record will stand the closest
then no mistake vii
likely be made. At all events select
men who Will not undo the splendid
work of the last Legislature in deal
inc with tie railroad trans ortatior
question. Fir. A. j. Kenney, Of thi:
CITY. who wss a member Of the lower
House Of the last Legislature and is
now a candidate for State Senator
took an active part in securing the
passage Of the pr esent law, creating a
board Of traBspor tation with power to
fix rates. Tie DO ard is fully eEpow-
cred 10 examine the books of the var.
ious railroa' companies. to learn'their
interior workings, cost of const-uc'
ton, operation, and 6tber details that
will enable then to pass an intelligent
judgement upon the rate question.
Judge q. =. MxsoL, n OF the seere'
taries of the board, and one Of tho
ables lawyers Il the state, seems to
be well satisfied with both the spirit
and letter of the law. In a recent
discussion of the rate problem he
stated that 1.-The saly course open for
the b.: I'd of transportation in the dis
charge Of their official duty, is to hew
to the line of the law, and see that
the rates are reasonable without re-
gard to .he consequences or without
regard to the threats of retaliation on
the part.,f the railroads or those who
pretend 20 speak in .teir favor
The action of the last Legislature
placing tbs law upon the statute book
was far in advance Of ether and more
populous Of the western states. In
Iewa the rate problem has been under
discussion fer twenty years and the
legislature refused to clo.he the CON-
missioners with power .te fix rates.
This left the saads in that state un-
checked in the matters of freight
charges. Here in Nebraska where
the question haG been under discuss
ion before the people less than ten
years. the Legislature gave she people
protection against extorticnate rates
by creating a board and clothing it
with a full power to 6x rates. One
year after this law was passed the
legislature Of Iowa enacted almost a
verbatim cepy of the Nebraska stat
ute. That material benefit to the
people has resulted from the passage
of this law no one can doubt. Even
the Omaha Bee, whose editor favored
al inAexible tariff law, has several
times admitted in its editorial COL
umns that the law and the board
created by i, Lad resulted in many
concessions to the people from the
roads. And even after these concess-
ions were obtained, and after the
board had more fully Investigated
tie question, now comes an order
from the board reducing freight rates
from fifteen to fifty per cent.
But the part Mr.. Kenney took in
securing the passage of this law does
not complete his record in the rail-
read transportation question. In the
republican state convention last fall
there was a sha:p contest between
the people and the railroads over the
nomination of a candidate for sup
rene Judge. The railroad lobbyists
were there in full force for the pur-
pose of defeating the nomination Of
judge Maxwell on account of un-
friendly decisions already rendered,
AMI ais anticipated decision Of the
r,~er Of the present law then pen
d,n- before his court. 1t may be Of
interest to the people to know that
Mr.. Kcnney was a delegate to that
convention, and was the only n of
nine from this county who voted for
the denomination of Judge Maxwell.
Then Mr.. Kenney's record on the
ransportation question is all on the
side Of the people, and of a character
that ought to satisfy the rankest anti.
monopolist.-Argus.