The record-union., 1893-03-04

! county, Fresno and San Benito, are en-
! gagged in an endeavor to free themselves
I from the disadvantages of a monopoly in
railway affairs. They have gone down
INTO their pockets, and by an exhibition
/ OF commendable enterprise have partially
succeeded in solving the railroad ques-
( tlon for themselves. They have, in fran
chises, right of way, subsidies and termi-
nal facilities, given to the Monterey and
Fresno Railway Company property val
ued at three-quarters of a million of dol
lars. Within the next two years the
transportation question for my people
will have been settled-and settled right.
The construction of railroad from
Fresno to Monterey will give the desired
relief to the people of large section OF
the San joaquin, San Benito and Salinas
Valleys. But, Mr.. Speaker, such
VICIOUS LEGISLATION
AS is proposed here will stamp out
every vestige of that enterprise and deny
to the people of these counties the fruits
their energy and pluck would harvest for
them. 1 appeal to you-realizing that
this matter is one of life or death to my
constituents-to refuse passage to this
resolution. l plead that you will not
legislate so as to render barren of results
the efforts of my people to secure for the
/ greater part of California the blessings
that follow in the wake of competing
transcontinental railroads. From Fresno
to Mojave is but short distance, and this
distance will be bridged before this
nightmare of legislation could be voted
upon If passed here, and then the State of
California will have a competing over
land railroad to regulate the freights and
fares that it IS now claimed throttle its
commerce. AT all events, Mr.. Speaker
and gentlemen of the Assembly, legisla-
tlen hostile to the investment of capital
will not remedy the disadvantages under
which we labor
1.-The passage of the Godchaux amend
ment will but add to the sutferiugs of our
| people, because it will result in COM
plete suspension of further railroad build
ing, and instead of truly and faithfully
serving the commonwealth we WILL by
engratting this law into our Constitution,
conslgn our fair State to the limbo OF
utter helplessness, retrogression and
commercial decay.
here pleading the cause of the sovereign
people 1t IS my proud privilege to repre-
sent, free and untrammeled, owing al
Iegiance to no man. set of men or corpor-
alton. l wear no mans collar, and in the
exercise of my privilege as Il member of
this body L recognize nothing but what |
conceive to be the best interests of my
constituents, whose cause | will cham
pion undismayed by the barkings of the
contemplate things whose guilt and in
famous treachery to confiding public is
now of record in one of the Superior
/ Courts of this State.
AN ABsURDITY.
''The GodchauX amendment proposes to
| place in the Constitution of the State a
schedule of freights and fares which
must remain unchanged for at least the
next two years. This is an absurdity.
for freight schedules must, from their
! very nature and operation, be the sub
| jects of constant changes to suit the fIuc-
tuations of production, of trade and of
the market price of products. This alb
surdity is made manifest by a reference
to the very Western classification
which it is sought to engraft into our
| Constitution. The resolution refers to
the classification of property as based
! upon the Western classification and the
rules governing the same, adopted and
| issued by the Western Classification
| Committee, which took effect January b.,
! lS93.' The fact is, as shown in evidence
! before the Senate Committee on Corpora
. tI.,t Iii
| ton, and the rates established under it,
was changed by the said Western Classi-
tication Committee, of which J. T. Rip
ley was Chairman, no less than 2I3 times
during the year 1892, and twenty-five
times during last December alone. Yet
this resolution, if adopted, would make
it changeless feature of the Constitution
for at least two years to come, and even
| longer if the next Legislature could not
agree on law to change it.
Another folly of this resolution is the
| provision exempting from its effects all
roads not now earning annually $1,000
per mile. Suppose this year railroad
! does not earn 81 900 per mile. 1t is there
fore not subject to this schedule. If next
year it does earn $1,000 per mile, does it
come under this law? If it does, its reve-
nues are at once cut down to less than
$4,000 per mile. Is it then relieved again
from the operation of this schedule? If.
on the other hand, such a railroad does
not come under the law, then an injustice
and inequality is consummated as be-
tween 1t and other roads whose earnings
! happen to exceed, by however little.
$1,000 a mile. The whole proposition in
! this resolution, with reference to a maxi
mum rate of fares not to exceed three
cents per mile upon railroads earning
| over $4,000 mile,is entirely unnecessary,
for the reason that four years and half
ago the Board of Railroad Commission
ers adopted and enforced an order that
the rates of fares on all such railroads
| should not exceed, with some minor ex-
! ceptions, three cents per mile, and that
order is in force to-day. The idea of
placing freight schedule in State
! Constitution is in itself an anomaly. No
other State has ever attempted such a
thing in all the history of railroad regu-
| lation."
CALL OF THE HOUSE.
After Mr.. Duckworth took his seat ac-
cording to preconcerted agreement the
previous question cut off debate Pend
ing the announcement of the vote, when
! there were 81 in its favor and q votes
against the amendment, a call of the
House was demanded and ordered.
Messrs. Thomas of Nevada, Cusick,
johnson of Humboldt, Drees and Raw
were absent. While the Sergeant-at-
/ Arms was hunting up the absentees
about fifty motions to dispense with fur
| ther proceedings under the call of the