St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-20
ANOTHER FADED ROSE.

Two features, strongly marked, differ
the twenty-eighth session Of the Min
nesota legislature from any of it's pre- d.
ecessors. and, let US pray, from any of
its successors. 1t was the most openly
and shamelessly corrupt of all the
twenty-eight bodies. and it passed more
unconstitutional laws than all of them
put together. This is one of the causes
that has driven the Pioneer Press and
its echoes to these fierce attacks on
Democratic incompetency as a flank
movement to divert attention from the
real stupidity, incompetency and cor
ruption in its W political family.
One by one, as fast as any court could
reach them, the acts of the last legisla-
ture have been declared unconstitu-
tional. If the rest are not, it will be
because they are too insignificant in
their effect to warrant the trouble of
resisting them. The scalper act, the
state elevator act, the county seat sta
ton act, the insanity act are among
those that occur without exercising the
road and warehouse commission has
been obliged to put another II of. these
acts to sieep-the sidetrack act.
Among the many things that the Re-
publican candidates, from governor
down, promised if the dear people
would only continue them in control,
was the correction of the wrongs com
mitted by the railroads in the matter of
shipping facilities. In his inaugural
mnccana fto rnuarnnr pnodo. n cfrn,n
point of the refusal of some railroad to
grant sidetrack privileges to some ele-
yator. The governor, who is rather a
prosaic, matter-of-fact sort Of a man,
waxed really eloquent, and declared
that 1.-THE railroad company, in thus OBJ
structing and defying this righteous
claim Of this association, obStructs and
deies the state; for back of the humblest
farmer, in a case of this kind, ought to
stand the whole dignity and power of
the state" He closed these imprisoned
words with an injunction to devise
and enact legislation that will promptly
and effectively furnish the necessary
relief and redress in all cases of this
nature"
The legislature made response to
this advice of the governor in what is
chapter 65 of the g General Laws of 1898,
which was approved by the governor as
embodying the views expressed in his
inaugural on March Is. Now, at last,
the naughty and insolent railroads were
brought to taw. Now, back of the
humblest farmer in the state stood the
whole dignity aud power Of the state.
The governor had redeemed an ante
election promise, to be pointed to with
pride in subsequent contests.
What the governor said the ''hum-
blest farmer" had a right to, and what
the governor and his Legislature gave
the humblest farmer a right to get,
differ somewhat. The demand of the
association for a sldetrack was termed
a righteous claim" in the inaugural,
and the refusal of the company was an
obstruction and defiance of not only
the association, but the state itself.
The only Inference from this language
is that, in the opinion of the governor,
any one has a right, without terms, to
demand, and it is the duty of the COM
pany, without imposing terms, to con-
%struct. a side track to any elevator, mill
or factory on its line.
Having approved the act, we must
conclude that the governor revised his
opinion, for we find that the right to
demand is given and the obligation to
construct imposed on the company, but
coupled with the important qualification
that the applicant and the company
chan a0rnn vnnn thQ fnrmc ond non
ditions On which the track shall be pat
in and operated. If they cannot agree,
either party may apply to the railroad
and warehouse commission, which shall
investigate the matter aud decide upon
the "terms and conditions" The differ.
ence between a right to have a thing
done and a right to have it done .'on
terms is a very broad one, and the act
plainly leaves the ''humblest farmer
right where it found him.
The act receives its first construction
by the commission in a case where a
mill owner made the demand for a side
track to his mill. The company was will.
ing to put it in if he would pay for it. He
referred the matter to the commission
The company said that it was willing tc
put the track in if the miller would pay
it 6 per cent annua interest Oh its
cost. IL proved that it would cost S.. OO(
TO put the track in, and that the mil
shipped some ten or eleven cars of
freight a year. The commission will
Investigate the matter further, but they
| are agreed that the legislature could