Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-10
RAILROAD REGULATION.
Hon. 5. W. T. Lanham Gives His Ideas
on this AIl-ImpOrtant Subject.
Commissions Have Been Tried and Endorsed In
Other States and it Would Be Good Policy
to Have One in Texas.
Special to the Gazette.

Special to the Gazette.
DALLAS, TEX, Aug. &C. W.
Harmed, secretary Dallas manufacturers
association, has received the following
letter bearing on the freight question:
WEATHEkFoRD, TEX, Aug. 2, 1889.
c. W. Harmed, Esq, Secretary Merchants Ex-
change, Dallas, Tex:
DEAR SIR-Your letter of the 18th
ult. came during my absence from
home. 1 do not hope to specially en-
Tighten yourself, those for whom you in
stitute inquiry, or the general public on
the subjects indicated by your letter;
nor do I feel able to give specific answers
to some Of your questions, for lack of the
necessary information The Interstate
commerce acts original and as amended,
were passed during the period of my pub
lie service, and gave them my support.
To be candid I viii say that aside from a
conviction that some wholesome legisla-
ton in the regulation of railway corpora
tons was necessary, l followed the lead
of representative and more experienced
legislators in all the matters of detail
those whose opportunities, experience
and committee assignments had enabled
them to specially investigate the subject
in ali its bearings. l believed then and
believe now that such legislation could
only be, in a great degree, tentative and
experimental; that it was and is an ex-
tremely difficult question to solve.
The line which separates the pub
lie character and responsibility of
these corporations from the private
rights belonging to the capital invested
in them is not always easily traced. The
blending of obligation to the public with
individual privilege and personal right of
the citizen incorporation, aside from con-
siderations of evils to be corrected and
the best policy to be pursued, surrounds
the question with embarrassment and
requires thorough and careful treatment.
A recent discussion in the daily News by
two of our ablest and most eminent men,
each an ex-judge of the highest rank,
and both sincere from their respective
standpoints Of observation on the rail-
road problem, cannot fail to attract the
considerate attention of any one familiar
with the personnel of the disputants
The statement is credited to Mr.. Choats
that railroads are made for the people,
and not the people for the railroads -
This is captivating statement, and not
without its influence in any legislative
body, state or federal That it was
necessary for congress to act upon the
subject, when combination had absorbed
competition, was generally conceded,
and the public were prepared to receive
with approval any proposition which
contemplated q governmental regulation
of the railroads in the popular interests.
did not believe when l voted for the
original act that its provisions would at
once relieve Texas-it being geographic
ally at the end of ''long haul from
all the ailments to which it was heir, in
consequence of oppression, discrimina-
ton, etc, and l doubt, very capitally,
If up to this good day, any very
marked or material advantage has re-