Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-03-02
THE READING DEAL
PoWderly's Answer to Attor-
 ney-General Hensel.
THEINvEsTIeATIoN To-MoRRow
Ha1 No Knowledge WhereOn He Gould
 Make Affidavit to the Charges.

Says He is Powerless to Produce Such
 Evidence as win Prove Violation of the
 Fundamental Law oe the Common
 wealth Unless Aided by the State of
 Pennsylvania-He VIII Go to Harris
 burg If the Attorney General Wants Him
 to Appear at the Investigation. SCRANTON, Pa,, March 2.-General Master Workman Powderly, of the Knights of Labor, has forwarded to At torney- General Hensel an answer to the notification received by him to appear tomorrow at an investigation into the Reading railroad consolidation.
 In this answer, MT. Powderly, after referring to the time and place of meet ing on his complaint, already made, says he has no knowledge whereon he could make affidavit of the charges or allegations. That he was prompted to enter complaint by what passed between him and Gov. Pattison in an interview, in which the Governor was quoted as saying that he ''had no knowledge of the existence of such a combination, but would entertain any complaint of the abuse or misuse of corporate franchises D Referring to the South Penn case Mir. Powderly says:
 'sThe Governor then acted without any complaint, and, If the facts therein warranted it then, they are measureably substantiated in the one now complain ed of.
 'fThe statements with which every paper in the land bristled for several days before took steps in the matter were of even greater importance, since they comprehended a wider field of oper- ations-a massing of a greater aggrega- tion of capital, and, as 8 natural se- quence, greater opportunities to advance the price of coal.
 II am powerless to produce such evi- dence as will prove the violation of the fundamental law of the Commonwealth, unless the proper authority shall insti- ute judicial proceedings and compel an obedience to the laws of the State.
 '1f there is vested in the authorities of the Commonwealth no stronger or greater power than that which is com prehended in mere notification (such as is given to the several officers of the rail roads at interest to appear), then the in vestigation of Thursday will not be pro- life of good to the Commonwealth, for I entered complaint in seriousness and earnestness, with reason to hope 1t would enable the Governor to see the way clear to stop the violation of the Constitution.
 Private litigation is totally made quate- to protect the Commonwealth against wrong. In this case, it is not the individual or even limited number of individuals who will suffer, but the people and good name of the Common. wealth. I am not prepared to believe that there is one law for the Pennsyl. vania, and another for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad.h
 Reminding the Attorney General of the duty required of him by his oath of office, Mir Powderly says "From such inva- sions of popular rights as are contempla- ted in the combination, the people of the State should be defended, the constitu- tion in it's denial of such privileges to corporations is positive or meaningless. If positive, then your duty is clear if meaningless, we should know it from the higest legal authority of the Common wealth, that we amend, alter' or abolish it, as allowed by the bill of Rights. It is illegal for any. corporation, foreign or domestic, to transact it's business in this State without a warrant of law there being no record of such in this case in the State Department. If a mere corpor- alton Is denied the privilege of doing business until 1t places it's application and charter open to the inspection of all citizens, can it be less so for so vast an aggregation of capital, or in other words; so vast a combina ation of corporations as make up what is known as the " Read ing Deal?' ~,
 MT Powderly closes with reference to other engagements which interfere with his appearing at Harrisburg tomorrow but will cancel them if attorney General Hensel wants his appearance in person.