The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-08-12
A RECORD TO RUN ON
From the .sunday Call"

party in this State Will call upon Cldn-
cellor McGill to lead that organization as
candidate for Governor this Fall.
arouses inquiry into characteristics OF
the mar and his views upon important
questions OF public policy. The ONCE
of Chancellor is second to none In real
eminence In New Jersey, but filling IT
acceptably does not imply fitness for the
duties of Governor. The executive office,
like the Chancellorship. requires that
its occupants be able, honest. pure and
equitable; but 1t also demands a man
of affairs, with decided opinions in re-
gard to the policy of the State govern
ment. Chancellor McGill has, we be-
lieve. this second great qualification,
and we estimate his character especially
upon the grounds furnished by two
official acts, and generally upon his
lifelong cleanliness of reputation and
uprightness of action. The two acts
referred to are. first, his recent vote in
the Court of Pardons against the par
don of the Hudson County gamblers
and rascally politicians. and second.
his opinion in chancery upon the coal
combine.
The decision against combinations in
restraint of trade was delivered at the
May term of the Court of Chancery, 1892,
and was called for by the action of the
Attorney General against a combination
for the control of the coal trade, made by
| the New Jersey central Philadelphia and
Reading, Lehigh Valley and Port Read
| ing railroads. Leases had been made and
an agreement entered into for the prac-
tical monopoly of the coal trade, and the
Attorney General raised the point that
the lease was void legally, and that the
agreement was against public policy.
The Chancellor decided the points well
taken. Equity" said the syllabus of
"the opinion. looks at the substance and
will disregard names and penetrate dis
guises of form, to discover and deal
with it."*** "Where a corporate ex-
cess of power tends to the public INJURY
or to defeat public policy it may be re-
strained in equity at the suit of the At
torney General" The lease was illegal.
explained the Chancellor, land it's ef-
feet was to combine coal producers and
to partially destroy competition In the
| production and sale of anthracite coal, a
staple commodity of the State. Held to
be a corporate excess of power which
tends to monopoly and the public injury
Said the Chancellor. further:
Corporate bodies that engage in a pub
lie or quasi public occupation are created
by the State upon the hypothesls ina.
While the State. confers special prlvll-
eyes upon these favorites, 1T at the same
time ea x from n1h,, them Ma, duties NH whicn wh alIe
scheme of the laws of their Organize
ton is to equip and control them as N.
serrqp%sntfions for hold dh fheREr s'p powef goG not m sasn
~ in trust for the pecuniary profit OF
their stockholders, but also in trust for
the public veal, h impress for ro, the
and it becomes a duty which though not
prescribed in express language OIL law, Is
s to be i poWer d fpom Sns ve Whe na'd there el
fore, it appears that such corporation,
unmindful of its plain duty, acts preJu-
d iind to the sn ppp prof n o for it's 50 s mahe
| holders, 1t uses its powers in a manner
not contemplated by the law which con,
fers them. The use becomes ABUSE ana
is -tantamount to excess power.
After considering at some length the
/ question of his lease and the evident
falsity of the pretense which was made,
the Chancellor said:
TT is well settled that where a corpor-
ate excess of power tends to the public
injury or to defeat public policy. 1t may
also shows that It is not necessary. to
| show that substantial public. injury mas
been done; a contract which threatens
SuCn5 Injury Ildy D6 PIOIlbllSu. iiS AS
pricks the bubble of the railroad theory
that the companies themselves were not
coal producers; that they merely owned
stock in mining companies. This IS re-
jected as an evasion. Devices for DIS
guising the real purport of the leases
and agreement can not Pc permitted 70
the true state of the case; The Chaneel,
lor quotes, with approval, the Standard
OIL decision that ''the claim OF having
cheapened the price to the consumer is
the usual pretext on which monopolies of
this kind are defended 'The fact ex-
lists" said Judge Champion in the Dla-
discretion Of the company, at any time.
to raise the price to an exorbitant de-
gree"
The Chancellor concludes his main ar
gument as follows:
1.-THE commodity in which. these COM
gg aantles d Il IS IS the & nef prinespai Gn fuel teY Of its its
homes and factories. The slightest IN
crease in its price is felt by a population
Of hundreds Of thousand tss OF persons pc SOM tf LOT
Increase. If once a complete monopoly
be established by the destruction Of com
or by corporation, the promoters of it
and sharers in it may have whatever
price their cupidity. suggests. The dis
aster which will folloW cannot pc @s meas meas
munity. furnaces. FORCES factories ana
homes. leaving in it's trail murmurs OF
discomfort with a government Which VII
tolerate it, and all the other evil effects
of oppression"
During the term of the next Governor
of New Jersey. the relations of quasi
public corporations to the State will be
the subject of public discussion and leg
islative action. The State has gone wild
in its encouragement Of corporate enter
terprise. 1t is necessary and inevitable
that the tendency should be checked and
the relations of the public to corpora
tions re-established on a footing of
greater justice to the people. A Govern
who would view this question with fair
ness and breadth. and who would bring
to its consideration learning and cour-
age Of opinion, would spare the State
much harm and confer lasting benefits
upon. citizens. The Chancellor is fitted
for this task, and in the general admin
istration of the executive office would be
trusted by all the people. The Demo-
cratic party could find no better leader
in a campaign where personal character
and fitness is likely to have greater