The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1891-10-02

4 w !
n. A. DUNN1N0.
buy shares or stock in any other corpor-
alton In this state or elsewhere, or to
make any contract or agreement what
ever with any such corporation which
may have the effect or be intended to
have the effect to defeat or lessen COM
petition in their respective businesses or
to encourage monopoly, and all such
contracts shall be illegal and void"
From that day to the present there have
been repeated efforts by legislators to
enact a law to enforce the same.
In the same constitution clause was
adopted authorizing the appointment of
a railroad commission, with certain
powers. to supervise and control the
means of transportation within the
state. Every effort to frame a law to
prevent the lessening or defeating COM
petition as set forth in the constitutional
paragraph above recited has proved q
failure. During the present session of
the legislature bill was introduced ap-
pointing committee to investigate the
contracts between railroad corporations
that had combined, to ascertain, if pos
sible, whether such contracts lessen com
petition or not. That investigation is
now going on. There is also a bill pend
ing to forfeit the charters if said investi-
cation develops the fact that such con-
tracts lessen or defeat competition.
This investigation and effort has pro-
duced very intense interest and ex-
citement both in railroad circles and
among Georgia stockholders in such
corporations. We have about seven mil
lions of stock in these amalgamatel
railroads owned by Georgians. The
threatening attitude of the legislature
to forfeit these contracts has driven
railroad stock to very low figure, and
if the bill passes this large amount Of
Georgia stock will be almost complete
loss to Georgia people, while the cor
porations are suffering and gasping for
railroad life on account of the lowering
of their listed stock. All this depression
of stocks and unfriendly legislation
makes it exceedingly difficult to borrow
money to pay the maturing interest on
their bonds, and from the standpoint of
an outsider it looks as though there was
going to be railroad break up.
There has been recently bill intro
duced into both houses of the legislature
known as the Livingston BILL" which
provides, instead of litigation in the
courts and forfeiture of contracts, that
the railroad commission shall make in
vestigation, and whenever contract is
entered into by railroad corporation
with another similar corporation, and
which lessons or defeats or tends to les
sen or defeat competition, said commits
sion shall in such cases take charge Of
the passenger and traffic rates and force
them down to reasonable and just rates,
such ~ in their opinion would have OBJ
tsined had no combination taken place.
This Il considered by far the most safe
and conservative measure for the people
and tho railroads. There is strong
probability Of this last bill becoming a
law. II so, the railroad muddle so long
on hand in Georgia will be settled and
entirely removed from the political arena.
II will bs little singular if the shay
seeders" Of Georgia (Alliance men)
should at last be the parties to reach a
Just and safe solution of this difficult
problem.
The intense interest has caused some
leading Georgians to appear very often
on tho hustings before vast crowds of
listeners to descant on one or more of
these measures alluded to. Hence the
interest and excitement has been ex-
tended to the homes of thousands of
farmers.
There has been a wonderful effort
made recently to divide prominent
Alliance leaders on this railroad question
in Georgia. This will fail. The Alli-
ance men Of Georgia will stand solidly
by that plank in the Ocala platform
covering the railroad question-which is
as follows: 1--WE demand the most rigid,
honest and just state and national gov
ernmental control, and supervision of
the means Of public communication and
transportation, and if this control and
supervision does not remove the abuse
now existing. we demand the govern
ment ownership Of such means of COM
munication and transportation"
The president of the state Alliance,
Who holds tenaciously to every plank in
the Ocala platform, is making some
ringing speeches to his Alliance brethren
throughout the state, demanding strict
adherence to the very letter of this rail
TOAD plank, as well as the remaining
plenks In the platform.
It Is supposed that Jay Gould and his
millionaire friends and conductors are
behind one of the bills before tho legis.
lature-the one looking to litigations in
the courts and forfeiture of contracts
knowing full well that if the Living.
ston bill becomes a law there will be no
chance to buy up deprecated stocks fo,
q song, and thus gobble up the entire
railroad system of Georgia.
II the Alliance people. with Livingston
at their head, settle the railroad question
on the basis Of the Ocala platform gam
bling in railroad stock and bonds will
come to an end in Georgia. The hue
and cry Of the Jay Gouldites to the Al
lance farmer in the legislature is that
Livingston is in favor of the railroads,
hoping to defeat them by the settlement