Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-15

the state alliance made such a demand of
the legislature. asking to increase the CON-
missioners 10 five and add two farmers. but
it fell through. Although the legislature
was three-fourths Alliance. no special
effort was made to pass the bill introduced
for that purpose, and it was lost
How have elective commissions worked
in other states 81
II can't say as to that, for have no def
mite information. There are only q few of
them and have not heard that they were
marked successes. am told, and give it
10 YOU as l hear il, that the Mississippi
commissioners chosen by the people are
pretty hard on the roads. At least we hear
a good deal of complaint from them. What
truth there is in II can't say I have
heard that the Iowa commissioners. who, il
is claimed, were elected by the roads, deal
very kindly with them. If these rumors be
true they illustrate what said awhile ago
about the danger Of electing extreme
men,
Judge, it Is claimed by friends of the
roads that they are subjected to a great
hardship by the law, IN being compelled to
operate under q certain tariff while its
reasonableness is undergoing judicial in
quiry. What have you 10 say TO thatl'
.'Simply this, that if a rate be reduced by
the commission, and the courts sustain the
fered extortion, if. while the case was pend
ing in court, the road was permitted by
supersedeas TO suspend the operation of the
commissions rates You see the case is as
broad as it is long. The presumption is
always IA favor of the fairness of com
missions rates and rulings, Just as it is
favor of the rulings and decisions of our
courts. The commission is q court
of arbitration between roads and
people with expert knowledge of
the conditions surrounding both, and
is for that reason qualified to dispense JUS
tice fairly between them if it be properly
constituted. At last there must be trib-
unal somewhere to end disputes between
roads and people, and the best that has
been devised for dispatching the business
is an impartial, capable and intelligent COM
mission. The North Carolina commission
law has provision that enables the roads
to suspend the operation of a given rate
while undergoing judicial inquiry, the
road giving bond to the state treasurer to
refund TO all shippers of the commodity
affected, the overcharge paid. in case the
rate shall be sustained by the courts. L
understand, however, that the roads do not
avail themselves of this privilege which
seems to be practically imperative, and go
on operating under the rates given them by
the commission
An effort to get some expression from
the judge concerning the political situation
in Georgia, and especially as It related TO
the commission, did not succeed very we'll
1t was gathered in general way that the
main efforts of the opponents of the COM
mission in Georgia have been of the insidi-
Gus sort all the while protesting their be-
lief in and adherence to it. But they sug-
gest this and that change in the law which
if adopted, would make the commission
merely ornamental, aud of no practical
value. This was the idea of Pat Calhoun,
for some years and until about two months
ago, general attorney of the Richmond
Terminal railway system and an owner of
railway property. The Richmond Termi-
nal passed Il short time ago, says Judge
Fort, under the control Of Brice and
Thomas-that is Senator Brice of Ohio and
New York. Mr.. Calhoun, it will be re-
membered, was the candidate of the
Georgia Alliance for the United
States senate two years ago,
and came within one vote of
capturing it. He would doubtlessly have
succeeded, having been Endorsed by a caucus
of the Alliance, had not Judge Norwood,
one of the ablest and most fiery orators in
the state, hurled himself into the fight in
behalf of the people and inducing enough
Alliancers to break through the caucus in
junction and vote against Calhoun, who in
spite of his espousal of the sub-treasury
cause, was at heart, and known TO be such,
the direct and interested representative of
corporate interests. He had the cordial
support in that memorable fight of Living
ston, the Alliance leader, and at present
congressman from that state, who, like
some of our own Alliance leaders in this
state, is protesting the Jeffersonian aud
rock-ribbed character of their Democracy.
But to return to Judge Fort. THE
question of trans portation,' said he, sis the
great question of to-day. Its solution re-
quires much care and thought. Conserya-
tive and just men will properly solve it.
The greatest peril to our free institutions
is corporate power. 1t is bold, aggressive
and defiant. Subject it 10 the law, regu-
late it wisely and justly, and it ceases to be
dangerous When we remember that
there are enough railroads in the United
States alone to make six trunk lines around
the globe that there are, in round numbers,
$40, 900, 100000 invested IN them, and about
3, 000, 900 men interested in or or employed
by them: that the gross earnings are in the
billions, some idea may be formed of the
immensely and power of this
vast interest. Without strict regulation
public. Wisely and justly regulated,
investors and employees are pro-
tected and the country greatly
benefited. The question of railway regula-
ton is full of difficulties. There are so
many interests to consider, so many differ
ent circumstances to regard, so many COM
pllcations to arise from interstate con-
nections, that it is no easy task to under
take. Experience in this, as in all other
things, will be necessary to complete sue
cess-aud it cannot be expected that i'm
mediate relief viii be afforded of all merit
orious complaints 1t will take time to ac-
complish these results. In the South one
of our greatest troubles is absentee owner
ship. There is not that community of in
terests between the owners and the pa
irons of the railroads that is necessary to
harmony, and this causes very often dis
trust and complaint Just regulation will
tend to harmonic these differences. -
j. F. o.