Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-15
RAILROAD REGULATION.
Hon. S. W. T. Lanham Gives His Ideas
on this All-Important Subject.
Commissions Have Been Tried and Endorsed IN
Other States and it Would Be Good Policy
to Have One in Texas.
sneoin1 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:
WEATHERFoRD, TEX, Aug. :, 1889.
C. W. Harmed, Esq, Secretary Merchants Ex-
change, Dallas, Tex:
DEAR SIR-Tour letter of the 18th
uIt. came during my absence from
home l 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 feel able to give specific answers
to some of your questions, for lack of the
necessary information The inter- state
commerce acts original and as amended,
were passed during the period of my pub
lie service, and gave them my support.
To be candid l will say that aside from q
conviction that some wholesome legisla-
ton in the regulation of railway corpora
lions was necessary, / 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 all its bearings. l believed then and
believe now that such legislation could
only be, in 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 pursueu, 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
cGnsideTate 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 a 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 a governmental regulation |
of the railroads in the popular interests. |
did not believe when I voted for the |
IL. =
once relieve Teyas-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-
suited to Texas specially, in consequence !
of its passage Still it must not be con- |
demned because its advantageous results |
are not instantaneous. 1t was an eX- |
preston of the authority of the govern |
ment and was designed for the good of |
the people. 1t is not yet perfect by any |
means. Time and tide will doubtless
suggest and apply correctives and amend |
ments. The commission feature of the |
act l do not think was fully approved by |
allwho supported it. Indeed, l do not |
believe that our hOnOred Judge Reagan, |
who so earnestly and honestly devoted so
many years of his valuable service in OPP
position to the oppression and intolerance
of railway corporations and mOnopolies |
generally, wholly Endorsed this provi-
sion He regarded it. / think, as
an experiment, if not with disfavor, in
very able and exhaustive speech made by
him on March IS, 30 aud so, 1882, before
the committee on commerce ii answer to
the opponents of his bill, ne said among
other things: ''But might defer to the
Judgment of others and agree to COM
mission as an experiment in addition to
what is provided for in this bill, but not
as a substitute for it. My fear as to
commission is that it would be more
likely to represent the interests of the
railroad companies than those of the gen.
eral public. The railroad companies can
always combine their influence either di-
rectly, or if thought more prudent, indi-
rectly, to influence the making Of the ap-
pointment of such commissioners by
whomsoever to be appointed.
This, l may add, seems to be peculiarly
an era of congressional commissions.
We had commission to settle cOntro-
veTsy about presidential election and
the people were cheated. We had what
is known as silver commission, COM
pOSeu OI SOOU anu dDl6 iucu W no MGut
to Europe to learn whether an American
congress should authorize the coinage of
silver. We have provided for a commits
sion on the rights of women and must
await to see whether it can propose an
on the laws of God and the
experience of the world. We have a
commission on the traffic IN alcoholic
liquors and must await to see to what ex-
tent it can promote temperance and to
what extent we can safely violate the
constitution of the United States And
we have before us a proposition for
commission to revise the tariff and
must await to see how long it
can delay that revision, and whether
1t can make our tariff legislation
more monstrous and uncomfortable than it
is at present. And this is still followed
by the proposition TO create another COM
mission to make inquiries and reports in
relation to railroad transportation.
Whether the object of proposing this last
commission is to defeat needed legislation
on the railroad problem, or to do some-
thing of real utility, must be determined