River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-04-11

afford all needful protection. ms Is
/ true only al the great commercial CEN
/ tiers and in favored localities where
competition is most active, and applies
to the larger shippers who are able to
take care of themselves. But It should
be the aim of the law TO protect the
weak. and it is at the great number of
non-competitive points, where the pro-
Queer and shipper are most completely
in the power of the railroads that pro-
/ lection is most needed.
The railroad attorneys before the
committees talked long and eloquently
about the beauties and safeguards of
the common law and the ample pro-
1 lection it affords to the people. The
theory of the common law is that all
who are situated alike must be treated
alike. But the law is not enforced, and
| individuals, against great corporations,
are powerless TO enforce it. The United
States senate committee says on this
point:
The experience of all states and
nations where railroads have been built
shows that the people cannot with safety
rely upon the ordinary common law
remedies to protect them against unjust
discrimination and extortion. In the
| language of one gentleman who came
| before the committee. the ordinary
courts are open theoretically, but they
are closed practically to the individual
man who has grievance. "
Senators, can we not more safely
trust the judgment of this committee,
composed of five of the ablest lawyers
in the country, having ne elientage 10
serve, but looking only to the public
good, than to accept the reckless state
ments of salaried attorneys sent here
to plead the cause of the railway com
paniesP
but it is claimed that we have a rail-
road law now and commission to
enforce it. That is true, but it isn't
generally known. Unfortunately the
law is so weak, and the commission
under it necessarily so helpless, that the
people have actually forgotten that
they nave any protection. l have no
criticisms to pass upon the commission
BY their fruits We shall know them [
will simply remark that the law is a
| dead statute-that its enactment was a
| farce-that the commission affords the
people no relief, and that the expense
of supporting it is so much money
squandered from the treasury of the
| state.
''Mr. President. it was deeply affect
ing to me, naturally tender-hearted and
| sympathetic as | am, to listen to our
railroad friends plead for harmony.
They love the people so. Their great
hearts go out in sympathy for them.
They yearn and yearn for peace-that
peace which passeth all understanding.
They mourn that wicked men should
attempt to stir up strife. They wonder
that they should be accused of any
wrong. They cannot understand why
their motives are misconstrued. and
their efforts for the public good I'M
appreciated. | am with them, /, too,
want peace on this vexed railroad ques-
ton, and will have, if / have to fight
/ for it.
"Great Indignation was expressed
by the opponents of this bill at the pro-
visions naming penalties for willful
violations of law. If they intend to be
honest, they ought not to complain of
this. They can easily escape the penal
ties. All they would have to do would
be to obey the law 1t is the law
| breaker alone who suffers its penalties.
! To protect the innocent and to scourge
\ the guilty is the object of all law. The
| honest man has nothing to fear. As
well might the tramp complain of the
calaboose. the burglar of the Jail, or
the murderer of the penitentiary or the
gallows. If they intend to be honest
and law abiding, then why do the rail-
roads rage and their attorneys imagine
! vain things.
"Mr President, come now to con-
slider the most painful effect of this bill.
| wrestled with it long and hard. l
schemed and struggled TO ignore or
dodge it. But like Banquo's ghost, it
would not down, and conscience which
makes towards of us all, drove me
with its. memorable logic. to give it in
sertion here refer to the cruel edict
that takes away our passes. Our
passes gone, no longer could we adj
journ over from Friday until Tuesday.
| No more could we have the blessed
privilege of visiting our city friends
in Milwaukee or Chicago, or hold
sweet communion with our country
cousins in Mukwonago or Rhinelander.
We couldn't even afford to visit the
| charitable institutions Of our state, or
accept an invitation to share the gem
erous hospitality of the LOO business
men of Oshkosh No longer could we
get our friends to attend the legislative
balls, or transport our admiring con-
stituents to the capital TO gaze upon
our statesmanlike forms as we legis-
late for the commonwealth.
"But, seriously, this system of pass
| giving by the railroads is one of the
most pernicious and contemptibleforms
of petty bribery ever invented. The
| railroad companies never intend to
! give something for nothing. They
always expect value received for their
favors. No man, however eminent. or
citizen however deserving, receives
1 these transportation cOurteSics at their
/ hands unless he is in a position to aid
or iniure them. II is the legislators,
the Judges, the marshals. sheriffs, etc,
and their friends who alone are the
| henefeiaries of the free pass system.
Those who make, interpret aud execute
the laws are the men the railroads are
taking care Of They can use them in
their business. No matter how OBJ
scure a man may be, perhaps has never
/ paid the railroad dollar in freight.
I let him get elevated to one of the
offices | have mentioned, and how the
4 passes pour in with the compliments of
, the president or general manager.
/ What is this for? Ii is, TO put it mildly,
that in the discharge of their official
duties these officers may be induced to
/ better serve the railroad interests. 1t
/ is polite bribery. 1t is the cunning
I courtesy tina. railroads so kindly ex-
Z tend to public authority. The general
manager of one of the leading roads of
/ this state told me recently that he
never signed one of these passes. that
/ he was not ashamed of himself, and
never offered one that he did not feel
he was giving an insult. As long as il
is the custom to tender passes to menu
bers of the legislature, for instance.
every member will naturally accept
/ them. neither he cares to or not, for
by refusing he invites unpleasant criti-
cism. and the suspicion that be may be
/ posing as one of the i am holier than