The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-10-10
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF RAIL
ROADS.
The Right and the Way to Secure It
Valuable Article From Judge sum-
ner Ladd.

The Right and the Way to Secure It
Valuable Article From Judge Sum-
ner Ladd.
have been requested by the Representa-
tive to state my views upon the question:
'How are the people to obtain ownership OF
the railroads." and to whatever extent 1
may fall my attempt shall be to ascertain
fundamental principles and apply them to
this momentous and urgent question. Those
who are satisfied with present conditions
because they seem to inure to their advant-
age, and those who are suffering from pres
ent conditions but are too inert to arouse
themselves to secure better Ones will have
no use for this article. 1t is only to that
rapidly increasing army of humanity who
believe that new era is dawning that l
address myself If the preliminary PROPOSE
ton, HAS the government right to own
the railroads." can be answered in the af-
firmative, the first proposition resolves it
self. Granted the right, the way and
method are mere matters of detail At the
very threshold of the discussion We come
upon adjudiciations which settles this right.
Judge Cooley in his Constitutional Limi-
tations," under the title Eminent Do
MAN," admits that there are objections to
compelling citizen to surrender his prop
erty to railroad corporation, yet excuses
such appropriation the ground that
these facilities for travel and commerce
(railroads) are a public necessity" and ar
CUES that the legislature rejecting public
sentiment, has a right to decide that the
general benefit is better promoted by their
construction through individuals or corpora
tons than by the state itself
1t will be observed that the right of the
state itself to build its own railroads is the
main proposition implied in this language
of Judge Cooley; and he finds 1t necessary
to make an ACKNOWLEDGMENT lame it
may be-to show that the state can dele
gate this right to individuals or corpora
tions OF course The converse OF his propo-
sition is self-evident. and may be put in
these words: The legislature, rejecting
public sentiment, may decide that the gen.
eral benefit is better promoted by the con-
struction of railroads by the state itself,
than through individuals or corporations"
The supreme court of the United States,
In the case Of Wabash Railway VS.. Illinois,
says: The highways (railways) in state
are the highways of the state. The high
ways are not of private, but of public In
stitution and regulation. In modern times
it is true, government is in the habit, In
some countries Of letting out the construc-
ton of important highways (railways) re.
d
agents, generally corporate bodies created
for the purpose, and giving them the right
of taxing those who travel or transport
goods thereon, as means Of obtaining
compensation for their outlay. But super.
intending power over the highways, and
the charges imposed upon the public fol-
their use always remain in the govern.
ment."
Again the supreme court Of the United
States, in Olcott VS.. Supervisors, says
whether the use Of a railway is a public
or a private one depends in no measure
upon the question who constructed it OF
who owns it, 1t has never been considered
Of any Importance that the road was built
by the agency of a private corporation. Nc
matter who Is the agent the function per.
formed is that of the state" and Mr.. JUS.
tice Bradley, Of the same court, says
when railroad is chartered it is for per.
forming duty which belongs to the stats
itself. 1t is the duty and prerogative OF
the state to provide means of inter-com.
munication between one part of its terri.
tory and another
These judicial dicta emanating from the
highest court in the land, are not the as.
sertion Of any new right Every nation
since the dawn Of history has, in it's gov.
ernmental capacity, built and owned its
public highways. those of the Roman EN-.
pire rtvaling In extent and cost the great.
est railroads of modern times; and it Ia
only In this capitalistic age that corpora.
lions have performed this "funtion Of the
state" and when they have performed II
they have so done as mere agents Of the
state.
. 1t is well to inquire right here whether
such an agency as a corporation to per-
form function of the state was contem.
plated by the founders Of the republic We
will search in vain in the preamble Of the
constitution or in the constitution itself
for one word Of authority for a grant of
charter to corporation; and a recent
writer in the Arena says justly that there
Is no basis in the constitution for a charter
for special privileges. The spirit of cor
poration is alien to its whole purpose"
recurrence to the debates in the constitu-
tional convention fully confirms this posi-
tion. When the original draft of the con-
stitutlon was presented to that body it con-
tanned among it's provisions one for the
creation Of corporations. This clause was
debated and stricken out 1t was then pro-
posed to insert the power to establish
specified corporations-among others a ma
tional bank. This was opposed and reject
ed, and there the subject rested.
Did the members Of that convention fore
see the calamitous consequences which
might ensue to their country, which they
were launching into national life, from a
sanction to corporal tons?
Did some angel spread before their minds
eye vision, the reverse Of that which
was the promise Of the preamble, in the
event that that vast rpas tree, corpora
TONS should be permitted 20 derive it's
waters of life from the fountain Of the
constitution? They had just broken away
from thralldom to q nation cursed with
special privileges. Did they see with pro-
phetic eye that q new feudalism, more
arrogant and merciless than the old, lurked
In the soulless neutrality-suspicious.
The care and foresight Of the fathers
have been of no avail. Corporations,
thanks to the decisions of the courts, are
outside Of constitutional sanction, have
become enthroned in the land. They swarm
in every avenue Of trade and have invaded
and appropriated every field of industry,
wrestling from the laborer most Of the
fruits of his toll, so that millions of men,
with the horrible specter Of famine They
have secured by bribery and corruption
exclusive privileges from the temporary
tenants of legislative power" They have
been experts in combination whereby they
have suppressed competition in certain lines
so that the great middle class, rapidly sue
cumbing to their power, are driven into
the ranks below. They have controlled and
cornered markets. putting their own prices
on the necessaries Of life, and thrusting
aside the law Of supply and demand. They
have subsidized the press, so that this
supposed free exponent of public opinion
has been degraded into a mere hireling
of this autocracy.. They have paralyzed
the church. 80 that it has lost most
of it's moral influence in the world, and
have converted its leading ministers into
mere retainers of corporate power. They
have robbed the people of vast domains of
agricultural lands sufficient In extent to
support in comfort the 100000 900 people of
this nation, and many millions more. Thew
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