Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-04


that the men the railroad newspauers
denounce as communists pay the taxes as
well as the freights. They will put up
their time and money in making the
fight because they know that the pros
perity of the interior of Texas and their
own prosperity is at stake. Some of the
largest and shrewdest merchants in Dali
las have told me that they knew that the
defeat of thls amendment would be dis
astrous. Texas Is in her infancy but if
she can combine deep water ports and
railroad regulation she will within five
years thereafter increase more in wealth
and population than she has in anv ten
years of her life. You will hear some
say and they expect sensible men to be-
Iieve them, that Jim Hogg will ruin the
state. He was selected over brilliant
lawyers for two terms to hold the RESPONSE
Bile position of encouragement. He has
come from the mud sill of politics to near
the top. he has held many responsible
positions and been found wanting in
none. Even the gentlemen be defeated
have shown their magnaminitv and conf
dence in him by volunteering their sup
port in this race. He is young and Wig
orous and full of ambition yet his political
life Will be short one, if he don t select
as able g railroad commission as the state
affords. If the commission is adopted
and he is NOMINATED he VIII have four
years in which to inaugurate and carry
TO a successful issue this important policy
Jim Hogg knows that failure means for
him political death, for he has staked his
reputation on the issue.
WHAT Is WRONG.
The railroads are not trying merely to
earn reasonable rate of interest on an
actual Investment. They are not trying
to live and let live. They will encourage
people to come here, but it is to make
their land donations more valuable and
to get more tenants on the shares. Their
every effort and policy is directed TO-
wards making the people of Texas and
the West bondsmen, first to the railroads
and then to the East. They want to
regulate the people and their earnings.
They want to regulate us by the force of
circumstances or the law of necessity,
but don t want us to regulate them by
the law of the land. They say to the
producer if you don't like our freight
rates don't ship, and then laugh at their
wittIcism? What is the use of having q
deep water port without railroad regula-
tion?-they wouldn t carry your produce
there to cheap transportation. The cat
tlemen, the farmers, the manufacturers
and the balance of the producers may
squirm, they may pout or pray, but the
relief will only come from legislation.
If prohibition had carried the boys
at the forks of the creek would have
found it long time between drinks, and
if this railroad prohibition on earning
more than bare living is not abolished
it will continue to be long time between
mince pies and store clothes, no matter
how many hours they put in for days
work.
THE COMMISSION.
The men who support commission
have got two classes of men to fight.
Those who will boldly proclaim that rail-
roads are private affairs, or private
snaps, and those who will urge that you
ought to vote against commission be-
cause it is not the proper or best method.
This latter class will urge very strongly
and their method may be the best one,
but if you don t try q commission you
will never get trial of the other, for
this discussion of methods has kept the
regulation back all this time. You can't
swop horses while crossing a stream. 1
don t like doctors who have no faith in
any but their own medicine. These men
who are not willing to accept railroad
regulation except on their own plans,
remind me of that historical fact in
Texas, where one fellow shot another
for kissing bis sister Sal. His defense
was: Judge, didn't shoot him for
the kissing of sister Sal, but for the kiss
ing of her on the back of the neck.
Men who favor railroad regulation
must get together and present solid
front all along the line, and not divide
on small issues. The fight is going TO be
tough and must be made in the school
houses of the country and mus. be fight
to the finish This is a fight for honest
toll, such as we got when we went to
mill, and which the law gave us in Geor-
gia, Tennessee and many other states
when the miller thought he had the world
in q swing. It is not fight against Mr..
Gould or the railroads, but for a fair
divide of the fruits of our toll. We want
everybody's help in this fight that feel
an interest.
LEGITIMATE RAILRoADING.
Legitimate railroad enterprises will not
suffer, and those built to be operated for
a reasonable interest on the investment
will go on. 1t is these fellows that bond
a railroad for FIVE or ten times Its cost,
and whose rapacity has no limit, who will
fight. 1t is these railroads that are not
content with owning cars, but who want
to own everything from $1,000 poodle
for the presidents child to $50, 900 judges
and 81 200 900 legislatures, which will !
resist investigation. These are the cor
porations which make supervision o nec-
costly.
On, yes, kick against the protective
tariff, but don I kick against an exorbi- |
tant railroad tariff that takes what the |
other leaves. Between the two, as the |
old negro says, ''it catches you gwine |
and a comiug.'' Texas took the lead |
in preserving homesteads to families, let /
her take the lead in seeing that common |
carriers take no more than far toll |
from her producers. If they are not |
getting more than this the commission |
won't hurt anything. If the railroads
buy the commissions they will be changed |
30 often that the circulating medium |
will be rapidly increased.
THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
Get your school teachers and young |
men generally to stump their precincts |
and counties against all corners. Let the |
people get their defenders out of the |
IL