The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-08-18

State officers are collected by the
sheriff. The people of the creates s. and
w~ealthiest States do not pay their
highest officials upon any such scale
and they have the same right to e
late the salaries of railway officials,
unless they car be paid inside the 6 per
cent. interest upon the real value of
the roads, to which point and
below it the legislature has power
to cut down the rates. The Su-
preme Court of the United States
in many cases say that these high sal.
aries and other unnecessary expenses
need not be considered by the legisla-
ture in fixing reasonable railroad rates.
PEOPLE PAY LEASE MONEY
Here may be noted another favorite
extortion practiced on the traveller
and freight shipper. One railroad will
lease another. The leased road is only
entitled to rates that will produce not
exceeding 6 per cent. on the value Of
its property and these rates
should not be increased by leas
ing to another, yet the lessee
road will put it's rates so high
as to earn the 6 per cent. rental contract
ed for and 6 per cent to % per cent. ad-
| ditional for itself Decides the high salar-
/ les to the great off newspapers
and Hobbies OF the lessee. This Ia max
ing the people pay the rental for them
and the operating company, though
not spending a dollar to build a road,
taxes the people an additional 8 per
cent. to 20 per cent. on a paper capital
| Reduce the charges for fares and
freights to the legitimate 6 per cent.
on the cost OF the leased roads end we
would cease to see competition stifed
by leasing rival roads.
TWO CENTS PER MILL
If the people insist on the relief they
are entitled to there is scarcely a pas
senger or fire ;ght rate that cannot be
cut in two. Two ~ cents per mile is
the highest that can fairly be allowed
for first class fare on any railroad and
on most of them economists say that
one cent per mile would pay a fair in
terest on the property actually used.
We should make fewer m~illionaires
railroad salaries would be more moder-
ate, railroads would run fewer news
papers and Hobbies. But on the other
hand, the country would be prosperous.
Instead Of a few cars half filled with
people, and a large part of them with
free passes in their pockets, there would
be more trains and cars, filed with
people. The freight rates would not
afford a few residents Of New York and
London palaces with all their a djuncts
Where low browed basenes5 watts
perfume to pride" but there would be
countless thousands of happy homes
when the producer car get his produce
to market without all the margin be
ing taken off to pay for the traDsporta
ton.
H REMEDY
How can these moderate rates be OBJ
taiued2 Clearly experience has dem
Onstrated that we cannot get them
from the railroads themselves nor
from the railroad commissioners, either
| State or National. The remedy is by
act OF the Legislature AS to rates within
the States, and by act OF Congress as
TO Inter State rates, which acts should
l Cut down passenger and freight
rates to on an average one half those
now exa ;ted to accord with the doubled
value of money and the halving the
prices of our produce.
2 More powers ehould be given the
railroad commissions with sCr:cter pen
alties for their non observance of their
regulations.
3 Free passes should be vigorously
forbidden, as is now done by the Con
stitution OF New York and several
other States.
And lastly, railroad commission
should be made independent of corpor
ate influence, es far as possible, Oy be
ing IL all CASES, made elective by the
people instead Of by the legislature.
The railroad lobby cannot control cleo
tons Oy the people as easily it can have
a deciding influence in a legislative
caucus.
There is no influence more debasing
in legislation than that of the lobby.
Every we'll wisher of his country would
wish to see it broken up. Chief Justice
Maxwell, of Nebraska, discusses this
subject and the remedy for it in a late
number of the American Law Review.
| He calls attention to the fact that very