Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-03-03

one-tentE because he is not able 10 operate
his sin tor Il smaller sum After
tedious delays, during the prog
ress of which, each day he is
subjecting himself to additional penalties,
and these penalties are accommodating mount
ain-high upon him. his case comes to trial
and the court determines and adjudges that
he is mistaken and that one-twentieth is d
reasonable rate for ginning his nelghbor's
cotton. What position is he left in2 The
penalties will more than eat up his plant.
He finds himself stripped and
ROBBED OF HIS PROPERTY
simply because he wanted 10 exercise the
right of every free man, and one guaranteed
to him by the constitution of his state-the
right to appeal to the courts for
the protection of his property by
due process of law Or take
order of the commission and changes his
price from one-tenth to oue-twentieUh and
thereupon appeals TO the courts 10 deter
nine whether the one-tenth was unreason-
able or not, and after tedious delays
judgment is finally reached in the supreme
court determining that he is right and that
one-tenuh is Z reasonable price But, IN the
meanwhile, he has been operating for one
twentieth under the order of the commits
sion. What becomes Of him in that event
He has been operating his property at
ruinOus price to the detriment and sacrifice
OF his material interests, and
WHEN INDICATED
at last by the highest court in his state, the
damage is done and there IS no means of re-
paratiou, for the state does not propose to
pay him in case the commission has decided
wrong.
Thus you see, fellow citizens, the situa-
ton with reference TO this vast interest
built up in our midst upon our
invitation and upon guarantee
of tho CANA ,,,.otAcsinn that oi17.
own people should receive under the
law, an interest which in building
itself up has built US up also, adding hun
dreds of millions TO our taxable values and
ineStimable acquisitions to cur private
property, advancing values, bringing civil
zation and prosperity in its train and en-
aiding US to enjoy at our homes the com
forts derived from the markets of the
whole world, is denied the privilege ac-
corded
THE HUAIBLEsT CITIZEN
of the state, for he can appeal to the courts
organized for his protection without let or
hindrauce. without delays, without en-
barrassment, without pains, without pen
alties. But this great interest, which is
not entitled to any more consideration than
that accorded the humbleSt citizen, is, 1t
least, entitled to the same consideration.
This bill was ingeniously framed to cut rail
roads of from their constitutional right.
1t Was OGSlSlGu 10 til6m
appealing to the courts for protection. Its
purpose was to arbitrarily force them to
obey the orders of the commission without
appeal. If this be that due process of law
guaranteed to Us by the constitution for the
protection of property, we had best amend
the constitution and make it more stringent,
for this is sacred right. Away back in
the thirteenth century, our English an
cestors took arbitrary power
BY THE THROAT
which had been selling and denying JUS
tee, and wrung from royal authority this
declaration: 1--WE Will sell to no man; we
viii not deny or defer to any man either
justice or right" and our people, in franz
ing the organic law of this state for our
government studiously observed this pre-
eept of human liberty which has been
handed down to US for many generations,
and declared ''That no citizen of this state
shall be deprived of life, liberty, property,
privileges or immunities, or in any manner
DISTINGUISHED except by the due course of
the law of the land
Shall this constitutional mandate, fellow
citizens, be observed, or shall it be disre-
gardedl 1t we trample it under foot with
reference to one-third of the taxable prop
erty of the state, how soon may it be be-
fore we are again called upon TO trample
it under foot with reference to other
rights equally as sacred, and which ought
even in
MOMENTS OF PASSION,
to ignore the great principle which has pre-
served our liberties SO far and has stood as
bulwark in our defense, giving to US when
we labor the blessed assurance that we
shall enjoy the fruits of that labor without
fear of molestation upon the part either of
government or of individuals, and that by
the exercise of frugallty and economy and
judgment IN our business affairs, we may
be enabled in the vigor of our manhood to
accumulate a sufficiency for our support
when old age comes upon u.s. Shall we
surrender this glorious right and privilege
merely for the sake of controlling railway
corporations which are perfectly controlla-
Bile without any such sacrificed
Are we afraid to trust our own
courts with the decision of ques-
tions affecting our railways, which
are our heaviest taxpayersl When our
constitution says that all persons shall have
the right to appeal to the courts
for protection of person and property it
means something substantial It does not
mean that this right shall be granted as q
special favor, or limited by any condition.
1t is an absolute right to be exercised by
the citizen at pleasure, and free from
punishment if it develops that he Is
mistaken in Judgment. Frequently we
appeal to our courts, believing that the law
and the facts are on our side and that we
are entitled to the relief demanded,
only to find that there are
two sides to every case, and the
court cannot be impressed with our
view. And yet there are no punishmeuts
lurking near
TO DEvoUR Us
because we are proved to have been mis-
taken. How would citizen feel if ne
knew that he could secure justice in the
courts only by running the gauntlet of de-
struction in case he failed2 Not destruction
merely at the hands of his adversary, but
at the hands of his state, whose duty
it was to protect him2 This is
the burden we have cast upon |
railway owners, and how does it comport |
with that guarantee of the Federal consti- |
tuition which forbfds state from denying |
TO any citizen the equal protection of the
lawl Any person can sue railroad with !
put danger if he fails, but, under this law, |
a railway cannot venture to sue the state. |
no matter how gross the oppression or I'M
the exaction, because If it fails |
it means death to itself And when sued |
by citizen it is not allowed to defend |
Can we wonder then that capital is 1ntimi- |
dated and confidence Destroyed Can we /
marvel that the outside world refuses to
trust US any more, and IN answer to our
POINTS WITH DFRIsIoS
TO these laws as true index of our inten-
tonl ask you to ponder upon this and to
give your verdict at the polls, and let that
verdict be what it ought to be, coming
from men who love justice and respect the
guarantees of The constitution.