The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-29
THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.

to accomplish nothing, except to demon
strate its own worthlessness as depart
ment of the State government and to dis
play the shameless disregard of it's mem
bers for the pledges they have taken and
the official duties they have assumed and
sworn to perform.
The schedule of grain rates which Mr..
La Rue laid before the board several weeks
ago, and of which yesterday he was ex-
pected to urge the adoption, got no further
than the point of idle discussion and use
less talk. The old and oft-used tactics
of the railroad company were again en-
ployed to accomplish that delay which de-
stroys the hope of the people for relief, and
in the employment of this policy the rail-
road found in DR.. Stanton a most willing
tool. 1t is easy to imagine the smile and
sense of complacency with which the
officials of the Southern Pacific Company
regard the Railroad Commission after such
meeting as that of yesterday.
The attitude of Mr.. Stanton at the meet
ing of yes terday appears to be inexcusable
fir ON any point of view. He had taken
the pledge which his party had presented
to him as the condition of his nomination
to the Office of Railroad Commissioner.
He had been elected because he had taken
it and had thereby bound himself to de-
vote his whole time during his official term
to its performance. He acknowledged
Yesterday that he had studied the
subject of railroad schedules thoroughly,
and he had evidently prepared himself for
their discussion from one point of view, al
least. That point of view, however, was
altogether from the side of the railroad
and of its interests. Instead of seeking to
amend the schedule of Mr.. La Rue in any
item wherein he deemed it detective in
stead of even pointing out it's specific de-
fects; instead of presenting schedule of
rates upon all commodities drawn in
conformity with the terms of his
solemn pledge, the whole effort of
Mr.. Stanton was directed to the PROPOSE
ton of delay. He would resolve the COM
mission into judicial body. He would
require specific complaints from the ship
pers of all commodities. He would cast
upon the shippers the burden of proof
that the present rates are excessive.
This in nutshell is Mr.. Stantons
position. 1t is not surprising that repre-
sentatives of the railroad company who
were present at the meeting yesterday felt
themselves called upon to add nothing to
the effort of so able an advocate of the
railroads policy of delay as Mr.. Stanton
proved himself to be.
The attitude of Mr. Clark is, if anything,
more contemplate than that of Mr.. Stan
ton, with whom he was evidently in full
accord. He, too. had no schedule to offer,
no reduction to propose, no relief to sug-
gest, no policy to adopt, save the railroad
policy of delay. In fact, the only dispute
during the entire session between Mr..
Stanton and Mr.. Clark occurred over the
issue as to which of them was liable to the
charge of being the greatest scoundrel in
office, and even this simple issue was not
settled at the meeting of yesterday.
There are two things, however, which
the Railroad Commission succeeded in
demonstrating to the people of California
beyond the necessity of further proof.
The first OF these is that the pledge which
the Democratic party exacted of its candi-
dates for the Railroad Commission was
a fraud in its purpose and a trick in
its PRONUNCIATION, and was SO under
stood to be by the men who took
it, and who succeeded in being elected by
the reason of having taken it. 1t is evil
dent now that the Democratic members of
the Railroad Commission never intended ia
comply with the terms of their pledge, and
that the open violation of its every SEN
tence will be continued by them and each
of them during their official term.
The second point which reached the per-
lection of proof yesterday was the abso-
lutte worthlessness of the Railroad Com
mission to the people of the State. 1t may
be set down as a fixed and final fact that
this body OF men will bring to the shippers
of California no relief whatever from the ex-
cessive ,discriminative, arbitrary and unrea-
sonable freight rates of the Southern Pacific
Company. Their relief must come from
another source, and that source is the one
which it has been the recent mission of
this paper to place before the public mind.
The building of a competing railroad
through the fertile valleys of California,
and its patronage and encouragement
when built, is the only practical
and possible means of securing reasona-
bic transportation rates within this
State. Let the people of California who
have heretofore looked with diminishing
hope upon the Railroad Commission as a
means of relief turn their eyes and
their hopes to the great project of
the Valley road and give to i, it
and to its construction that substantial
aid which shall insure its completion at
the earliest possible date. When its rails
shall parallel the tracks of the Southern
Pacific Company and its trains shall begin
to move, then and not until then will the
railroad rates of the State of California be
reduced and regulated in accordance with
reason and justice as between the shipper
and the carrier of freight.
Mp EACTAMIC pIAM