San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-05-20

Will IRE ,tsJlDle force throughout the whole
length nul breadth of the west. One of these
elements Of public thought in this great re-
gon is the unificaton of the continent"
AS a western man, senator, you have
taken lively interest in the question Of
transportation. From an ironical remark
you made should suppose that you did not
find things much improved by the interstate
commerce law"
THE CONSTANT AIN OF THE SENATORS LIFE.
TO assist and stimulate the development
and Improvement of the vast water system
of the interior basin of the continent, extend
ing between the Allegheny and the Rocky
mountains, from Maine TO the Gulf, has been
one constant am and endeavor of my public
life. have no sympathy with those political
economists who would array the poor a-aiust
the rich with the empty and suuo"uUs Gema-
gogism which asserts that there is an ire
preside conflict between capital and labor,
and that would make indiscriminate war
upon corporations as the natural enemies OF
the people: but we are confronted with many
economic problems, chief among which is
that of cheap transportation, and | believe
its solution lies not in representative legisa-
ton, but in competition between water lines
and railroads, Under the constitutional
power Of congress 10 regulate commerce be-
tween the states, have no doubt of the au-
thOrity of the government to assume either
partial or complete control of all the great
trunk lines Of transportation and to regulate
the burdens that are imposed upon the pro-
duCtivc labor Of the country =
How can that be accomplished"
1T can best he done by establishing uni
form rates of freight, 50 as to prevent unjust
Determinations between way and through
terna improvements, opening new or i'm
proving old rats Of transportation to the
seaboarl. The Atlantic communities, by their
superior thrift and vigilance, have secured
advantages which have enabled them nth
ertO t. dictate terms to the producers of the
west They have constructed thousands of
miles of railroads aud watered the stock by
countless millions Of dollars upon which the
dividends are paid from the eXOrbitant rates
that the farmer, of the Mississippi valley are
compelled I" pay for carrying food without
which eastern commerce would languish and
the popula'ion starve The great carrying
business OF tae country is under the absolute
control of few persons, upon whose edicts
depends the prosperity of the nation. By
their combination they are enabled to fix the
price, control the supplies, create fictitious
demand or artificial scarcity, and thus dis
turb the whole basis Of values in the COM
mercial wori With daring and admirable
genius those mOnarchs have devised and with
inconceivable energy they have constructed
a system Of highways the most wonderful
known to man"
"Your friendship for the waterways does
not interfere with your admiration for the
greatness of the railroad, senator"
The capitalists Of Boston have bored
tunnel FIVE mil, long through a mountain Of
granite at an expense Of $50 OO0, 900 to reach
this region without ascending an insignificant
elevation pt l,jDl inrt and u shorten the dis
tanCe but t0rty-thre, miles. New York has
the Erie and the Central with th-Ir ConneC-
tons; PnllaieIphia and Baltimore. other in
dependent lines, built at stupendDus cost,
climbing mountains by inclined planes or
piercing them ytunmels, crossing great rivers
by viaiurt> That are miracles of engineering
skill, all t. n.r,,ia L. our produce to flow to
their Respective markets. If they would share
the expenses Of transportation with the pro-
ducerS, then there would be less cause for
complaint; but the rates are established high
enough to pay Interest on the bonds, divi-
dends on stock, the cost of operation, deteri-
Grafton AMI waste of plant and eXtrava-ant
salaries to swarm, al ornamental officials. !
Those who are familiar with the railroad
legislation and Jurisprudence Of the last dozen
years and refecc that these gigantic expendi- /
lures are derived from the revenues Of the /
roads can readily perceive why corn that m !
be worth 81 in New York in ordinary years
only bring, twenty cents in Missouri and |
Kansas. But nature, 50 bountiful to us in ali !,
things has moi left us without peaceful meth !
DDS of Redress. II /, not necessary that we |
should Use the railroads Of eastern capitalists :
nor pay tribute into the Golfers of eastern
merchants" q
you mean the water cure, suppose, SEMI
atorf
The water cure is what mean Water is
a great blessing when put to its proper uses,"i
said the senator, smiling. This great valley,
the great grain empire Of the earth, has no.
natural connection with the Atlantic seal
board. Is rivers run south, and southwark
flow the currents Of its atmosphere TheS
gloomy mountain ranges that wall this valley1
interpOse their external obstacles to this en-s
forced intercourse We have an uneuualed1
system of movable, natural highways, graded1
with a facility Of descent unattainable by the |
skill of the engineer. 1t crosses no defles ton
be spanned by costly viaducts of massve3
masonry. There is no right of way to be sen
cured from avaricious prOprietors of the soil II
no barriers to be pierced by tunnels or as-A
cended by labOriOuS engines dragging ther2
reluctant trains. No expensive appliances Off
machinery are required TO provide the powerH
to move the vehicles that require transporta-
ton. Nature has furnished the motive pOwerH
in the momentum of the irresistible currentH
that flows from the melting SHOWS of theg
north, gathering force and volume as IL del