Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-01-22

n. c. TINsLEY,
A. S. MORTON.
FRIDAY MORNING, JAN. %, 1892.
1--WE fail to see the spurs used by the rail-
roads on the press of Virginia. Does the
'FINDICATOR imagine for one moment that the
newspapers will gain any advantage, either
to the corporations owning them or to their
editors personally from the stand that they
are taking in opposition to the Kent bill !?
We have believed that the press always work
ed for the benefit of the majority of the peo-
pie and for the development of the State, and
shall continue to believe it, despite our con-
temporary's seeming insinnation that the
press is being ''spurred up" by the railroads
against the interest Of the people.-,S0unton
NeNs'
We said that what impressed us about
the journalistic ''banner bearers in the
forefront of the railroad army almost as
much as their enthusiasm, was their igno-
rance. If we had thought it possible any
body would have raised the question, we
should have added and their honesty. For
they are as honest as they are ignorant. There
is not an editor now opposing the Kent
bill, who has, or will have, OF expects, any
further or other reward in his pocket than
the editor of the VINDICATOR has in his
an annual pass over a road in exchange
for publishing its schedule for year. There
is no discount on the honesty OF the Viz
ginia press in our estimation of it, nor on
the honesty of the banner bearing mem
beers of it. But there is hardly an editor
in the State who hasn' It either been inter
viewed by railroad men, Or received marked
articles in papers containing awful prOphe-
sizes about the destruction of the railroads
and the repulse of foreign capital. Their
fears have been stirred and their sympa-
thies spurred until long line of banner
bearers have rushed to the forefront
utterly unequipped like soldiers who rush to
battle without gun or cartridge. Their lack
of information has led them into the most
awkward mistakes, Of which our cotempo-
rary the NecS gave a good example when it
praised the railroads for meeting sat
once" with generous compliance" petit
ton of the Augusta farmers for the same
freight rates in establishing new industry
beet sugar-that were gi;en by roads in
railroads" did not grant it until they had
haggled over it for three months, during
which time the farmers held two public
meetings. renewed their petition again and
again. and were refused once. That is the
trouble with the present discussion by a
large body OF the Virginia press; they SIM
ply take it for granted that the railroads
are doing the right thing, without looking
into it. Instead of studying the subject,
they simply ''stand by the railroads and
adopt the arguments of the railroad men as
their own. For instance, the Ne,os adopts
this extract from the speech Of President
kimball before the House Railroad Com
lnittee, as a strong reason for throwing
out the Kent bill
''To improve the road BEDS rebuild bridges,
build new passenger and freight stations,
cars engines, and to build branches and eX-
tensions into territory previously without
railroad facilities, necessitates the expendi-
ttre of large sums of money, which must be
this money cannot be obtained unless it can
he shown that the investment is safe and like
ly to prove reasonably remuneratiye. Is there
a member of this committee who would for a
moment consider proposition to invest mon
ey in a tobacco factory, a saw mill, a furnace,
a farm, or any business undertaking it there
was the possibility of having the management
of its affairs taken out of his hands and piac-
ed in charge of a commission appointed by
the legislature of the State. with power even
to fix the prices at which he shall sell the
product OF his work? The commissioners ap-
pointed might be fair and reasonable men,
but it is the uncertainty which would deter
You from investing in an enterprise where
there was such chance. And so with in
vestmentS in railroads. Ii the bill now under
consideration should become law, money
will not be invested in Virginia railroads and
the railroads will be unable to continue the
works of improvement upon which they are
now engaged
President kimball must have calculated
strongly Oh the ignorance of the House
Committee when he looked it in the eye
and made such an argument against a
Commission as that. He knew, if the
committee did not know that State Rail
road Commission backed by the most dras-
does not drive oft capital OF stop railroad
building in that State. He knew that
Georgia and Michigan have Railroad Com
missions bake Icy laws much more severe
than the Kent bill, and he also knew that
in the matter of largest increase Of railroad
construction during the year the Inter
State Commerce Commissions report for
1890 said: ''Michigaa and Georgia, each
acith orer four hundred and t1resatyJfUe
miles of new road, led the list Of States. y
That pricks Mr.. Kimball's bubble, and the
jeremiads of all the banner bearers about
railroad building being stopped OF foreign
capital being repulsed.
1t is almost accurate to say that between
the inattention Of the people and the jug
Cling of the law makers Of the Virginia leg
islature, railroads of Virginia are to-day
practically ungoverned by a railroad law.
The present railroad law Of the State is a
marvel and will well repay reading. 1t ex-
tends from Sec. 1885 to Sec. 1881 of the Re-
vised Code of Virginia, land exhibits some OF
the most remarkable specimens OF efforts at
how not to do it, that, we presume, ever ap-
peared Oh the offender of State legisla-
ture. In theory it is as bold as a lion, in
fact one fears Oh reading some of the sec
tions that it is going little too far. In
practice it is as meek as sheep. 1t does
what the banner bearers so much deplore,
takes authority over rates, connections,
bridges, depots, time tables, everything,
and then neatly provides that that authors
ty shall nowhere and never be put in execu-
ton. Sec. 1902, for instance, limits freight
and passenger rates and deals severe
ly with the question Of storing freight, and
then affixes no penalty for its violation.