Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-06
The Vice-President of One and
Attorney for Another Road.
ON THE COMMISSION BILL,
He Regards II as a Good Bill, But Can b.
AwfulIy Abused if Placed
In inexperienced Hands. Such as the
Elective Feature Would Doubtless
Bring About-His Views on Lob
bying and its Future
Special 10 the Gazette.

Special TO the Gazette.
AUSTIN. TEX, April 5.--Thomas ".
Dodu, ylce-president Of the Texas and
Mexican railway company, and attorney tor
the Mexican National, arrived here - day
or TWO ago On business.
MIR. Dodd is not one Of That class Of RAJ
road men who think that railway cOUmIS-
slOnS are UnmiXed evils. ASKED what hd
thought of the bill recently passed BY tha
legislature, he replied that he had not seen
copy of II since II went into tht hands %
the conference committee, but trusting ~
what lie had heard about it, he regarded =
as 4 good bill. He did not much Like tLt
idea OF vesting the Travis county Glstr.c-
court with sole Jurisdiction III al Gases b.
tween the state and the railroads, but Sliica
ne had heard that the county would IL
given an additional court, and ali commits
sion cases right Of way, insuriug spc1Iy
trial,
HE THOUGHT 1T ALL RIGHT.
As to the powers conferred by the Law IL
the commission, he said that they We're 10
fuller than they should be: in fact. the
could be made stronger with SoOd effect. TIA
depends on the character OF the men WL1
are 10 execute the law. The commission
should have power to fix rates and Sd
what tariff the railroads may charge the
people, as well as prescribe the manner IL
which the physical condition of the roads
shall be maintained. With less powr-
than that, q commission would be worth
less. II must have the right 10 ordain and
the power to execute its mandates, else u
would prove to be farce. 1t should b:
the arbiter i'll all such matters, leaving, OK
course, the right with the railroads 10
APPEAL FROM ITS RULINGS
10 the courts. That right they should have
is provided in the bill. y great deal de-
ponds on the commissioners. They should
be practical, levcl-hcaGed men, men chosen
for their special fitness as arbiters between
the people and the roads. And that brings
up the question of electing them, - said he.
"In a conversation with member of tbs
senate who advocated and voted for An
elective commission, ] said to him that
4 man who would do that was
an enemy to the bill. And l still
think so, although he begged to differ with
ne. The most delicate and trying TASK
three men can be called on to perform vii
be encountered when the commissioners
undertake to prescribe rates and rules fol-
the railroads. Weak or Unbalanced men
would in all probability make a mess Of it.
and a bowling farce of the law itself. BY
bad management, they could make it so
RIDICULOUS AND ODIoUs
that the people would rebel against II. In
the hands of men carefully selected and
able to understand and master the situation
it can be made blessing to the people aHt
to the railroads themselves, as 1t viii pro
tect them from each other. The weak
points-and there are several of them IN
the interstate commission law-lre cured IN
your bill. 1t gives power not conferred b.
that law, and is to that extent FAR superior
to it. No sirl No political convention
should be entrusted with the power TO se!eci
men for such a position as that, and
as l said before, the man WIS
thinks it should, is doubtful
friend of the law He'll bear watching.
las a railroad man ] favor commission
and have always done so. AS newspaper
man in Georgia was among the first u
when proposed in 1873. The railroads have
to be regulated by the state. That Is a uni
yersally admitted proposition. They say It
is pateInalistic. What If it ISL 1t Is also
paternalistic for the
STATE TO CREATE RAILROADS.
viii any one seriously contend that the
creator shall not regulate its creatureSi
The only question remaining is, what is the
best and most effective manner of doing sol
When you have found that and made the
proper use of it you have solved the prob
lem
Seeing that regulation in some form or
other was inevitable, why have the rail-
roads in this state for years opposed the
creation of commission, when if they had
kept their hands of law would have
been enacted years ago whose
power would have been weak
compared with the bill Just passed." he was
asked.
Don't you know" said he, ''that the
railroads are operated by agents. The
owners of them live in the East or in Eu-
rope. Is it not q fact that agents are the
hardest of taskmasters2 That fact is pro
verbal. In the days of slavery the agent
or overseer and not the owner of tho
slaves was the one who applied the lash 10
the back Of the negro. These presidents,
managers and attorneys are merely
THE PAID SERVANTS
of railway corporations, who do what they
think will recommend them TO the favor Of
their employers, the distant stockholders.
a few years ago they litigated everything.
They would pay no claim, no matter how
just, without 4 law suit. That was the line
of policy which they adopted and adhered
to for a time. This thing Of opposing q
q railway commission is Of similar char
acter To oppose the law is to serve no
tice on their employees that they are
duly watchful and attentive TO their
they make of it, and the harder
they fight, the greater credit will they be
entitled to with those who pay their sal
aries and keep them in good fat positions,
That is all there is TO that"
Il am told that you had railroad lobby
here since the legislature met and from al
| have heard about it | am only surprised
that you managed to get as good bill as
you did. Some of those who constituted
the lobby deny any connection with it il
fact they all do, simply because they did
not parade their presence in the legislative
halls as they did in the previous legisla-
lures. IL is true, they kept themselves hid
away about the hotels, but
THEY WERE HERR
all the same and did what they could &c
defeat railroad legislation. II was, IN my
Judgment the more formidable on that ac
count, and but for the emphatic manner il
which the people instructed its represents
tives whose political lives were at stake, Il
would have put spider in the commission
bill that would speedily end its career
'sThe time is coming when the business
Of the lobbyist will be felony like the cor
rupting Of iuries. The law will require
that any man who wants a certain bill
passed or defeated, shall apply in form to
the speaker of the house or president of the
senate. and receive a permit to go before
the committee and state his case. Lobby
ing is all right if
PROPERLY REGULATED
and robbed of the secret and surreptitious
that makes it odious and damnable
Corrupting legislator either BY bribery or
by the smooth and seductive wiles of the
trained advocate, is as vicious and culpable
as the corrupting OF juror, and ought to
be punished in like manner