The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-10-10

Candidate for Associate Justice Of the Su-
preme Court.
the building and ownership of the great
national highways Of commerce, and the
making and issuing of the nations money.
We have given to the railroad and bank
monopolies, as toll gatherers and usureres,
an almost unlimited power Of taxation.
The people in ignorance and fear hopeless,
helpless, because disunited, have allowed
these usurpations to go on. Had the rail-
road corporations in the exercise Of this
function Of the state, been WISE moderate
and faithful to the trust; had they been
content to exercise this power conferred
upon them by the state for the public bene-
mt, receiving due compensation for their
services, their lease of power might have
been longer; but it was clearly impossible
for them to so act. Organized capital knows
no law save that which serves its agumen-
tatlon. The few restraints put opon rail-
road corporations were like pack-thread in
the hands of a gaint. The interstate COM
merce act has proved to be dead letter
as Mr.. Stickney, great railroad owner
ana manager, admits in his book, 1.-The
Railway Problem" The federal courts re-
Versins their former decisions for the per-
iod of 80 years, at last decided that a cor
poration was Citizen for purposes Of
aggressive warfare upon the public, while
only corporation with stockholders of
limited ability for purposes of defense
Ihus equipped, OF such nature necessarily
meroiess, clothed on with sovereign power
function of the state owning and control
ling what has developed into the most vital
mstrumentality Of civiliza tion-for all trar-
nc, all commerce depends upon 1.-THE rail-
read corporations have rivaled the rapacity
ana ravage5 OF the East India Company
In India during the reign Of Warren Hast
ings, and along with other corporations and
monopolles are the efficient cause of the dis
tress, poverty and wretchedness which is so
widespread today all over the land.
While exercising this function Of the
state, these trusted agents, railroad cor
porations, breed a swarm of other corpora
IN that soulless Corporation"
companies, land companies, elevator COM
panles town site companies, coal compan-
les; and by means Of these adjuncts-engi-
neries for robbing the stockholders on the
one hand and plundering the people on the
other-rairoad managers and officials have
literally been highway robbers" and have
held up the whole community and made it
stand and deliver" The robber barons of
the Middle Ages robbed each other; the
modern robber barons rob the common peo-
pie.
Government control will always prove a
farce, so long as corporations exist. The
government is completely in the hands of
corporations, and government control is
bounded license to spoil the people The
only remedy is government ownership.
Let these great public highways be func-
ton of the state in reality as we'll as In
name. Let them serve public interests as
now they serve private peculation. Instead
of being a monstrous plot for the purpose
Of enormously taxing the people so that
life is of but little worth to them, let them
be a source of revenue to the people Is
1t not better for the people to own the
railroads than for the railroads to own
the people? Labor has built the railroads,
receiving scant subsistence for it's pains.
Labor has paid for the railroads many
times over, while what is called capital
owns them Capital has converted the rail
roads, which 1t has filched from labor, into
an instrument Of torture upon which labor
is racked. The simplest principles Of econ
omy demonstrate the necessity that the
people who have built and paid for the
railroads should own them, even If they
have to pay for them over agin. Interest
on watered stock is the tribute the people
now pay. In those countries where the
government owns and operates the rail
roads, statistics show that fares and
freights are far less than here, while a
large revenue is derived from this source
for the purpose of government. c. Wood
Davis formerly railroad manager, and
competent authority, has shown that the
people of this country have, during the
past Is years, been mulcted by the railroad
companies in the shape of tolls based Who'll
ly upon watered stock to the tune Of ST.
422, 5S3, 455. He also says that the maxi
mum cost Of all the railroads Of the United
States is $4,000, 900, and he further esti-
mates that the cost of the railway service
under government management would be
$310, 900 less annually, than under cor
pOrate management.
The people have paid for the railroads,
over and over again. and 1t stands to rea-
son that the next time they pay for them they
should own them Under the present sys-
tenn, 1t is like hiring man to cut your
own throat, and paying him all you have
got for the service. Ownership can lbe Sc
cured by the government by invoking the
exercise Of the right of eminent domain
and cOndemning the roads at their actual
value. Should the corporations object to
this legal proceeding. the government could
build new roads, which would render the
old roads In private hands comparatively
worthless. In that contingency the rail-
road companies would be eager to yield UP
their roads to the government for their
value. AS for paying for the roads, it is
sufficient to say, that Uncle Sans money
is good enough, provided 1t is issued by
himself. The people must pay for the roads
again, in any event, in a few years, but
this time they will pay for them and own
them.
When the government owns the railroads,
either by new construction or condemna-
ton, an era of prosperity will dawn on this
country unparalleled in it's history The
greatest OF all the great poverty-creating
agencies will be swept away, and the way
will be paved for the elimination of the
whole brood of monopolies, both natural
and unnatural, which ahve cursed the land
almost beyond endurance.
SUMNER LADD.
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