The Forrest City times., 1897-01-22

upon like conditions and at reasonable
 rates, and they are authorized to charge
 reasonable compensation for the serv-
 lees they thus perform. Being the re-
 cipients of
 special Privileges
 1 from the state, to be exercised in the 1 interest of the public. and assuming | the obligations thus mentioned. their ! business is deemed affected with a | public use, and to the extent of that
 use is subject to legislative regulation.
 That regulatih~pay extend to all measures deemed essential. not merely
 to secure the safety of passengers and
 freight, but to promote the convenience
 or the public in the transaction of bus { mess with them, and to prevent abuses i Dy eXtortionate charges and unjust discrimination. It may embrace Il general supervision of the operation of ] their roads, which may be exercised i by direct legislation commanding or 1 forbidding, under severe penalties, the i doing or omission of particular acts. or it may be exercised through com
 missioners specially appointed for that purpose. The mode or manner of reg ulation is matter of legislative dis , cretion. When exercised through
 commissioners their services are for the benefit of the railroad corporations
 as well as of the public. Both are
 served by the required supervision over the roads and means of transpor- tation, and there would seem to be no
 sound reason why the compensation of
 the commissioners in such case should
 not be met by the corporations, the op-
 eration of whose roads and the exer- else of whose franchise are super vised. In exacting this there Is no encroachment upon the fourteenth
 amendment Requiring that
 The Burden of n Service
 deemed essential to the public, in con
 sequence of the existence of the cor porations and the exercise of privileges
 obtained at their request, should be
 borne by the corporations in relation to whom the service is rendered, and l to whom it is useful is neither deny ing to the corporations the equal pro lection of the laws, nor making any unjust discrimination against them All railroad corporations in the state
 are treated alike in this respect The necessity of supervision extends to them all, and for that supervision the like proportional charge is ma,je
 against all. There is no occasion for similar regulations for the govern ment of other railroad corporations and therefore no charge is made against them for the expenses and sal arIeS of the commissioners. Tn. rule of equality is not invaded where all corporations of the same kind are sub jected to like charges for similar serv- i ices, though no charge at all is made against other corporations. There is no charge where there is no service rendered. The legislative and consti- tutional provision of the state, that Taxation of Property
 shall be equal and uniform, and in proportion to its value, is not violated
 by eXacting a contribution according to their gross income in proportion to the number of miles of railroad oper- | ated in the state to meet the special service required" The learned justice
 then proceeds to show that there are
 many instances where parties are con- pelled to perform certain acts and to | bear certain expenses when the public ! is interested in the acts which are per formed as much as the parties them selves" He instances the improve
 ments of streets, where the work done is chiefly for the benefit of the public, and yet the adjoining property owners are made to bear the eXpense; the draining of marsh lands, in which the public is directly interested in remov- ing the causes of malaria. and yet the expense of the labor is usually thrown
 upon the owners of the property; quar-
 antine regulations, which are adopted for the protection of the public against the spread of disease, and yet a part l of all quarantine systems requires the
 vessel examined to pay the expense; the compulsory examination of a railroad engineer to ascertain whether he is free from blindness, de- signed for the protection
 Of the Public
 alone, but properly chargeablc against the railroad company: work done in a particular county for the benefit of the public, the cost of which is oftentimes
 cast upon the county itself, instead of
 upon the whole state. He concludes
 by saying: Tn such instances, where i the interests of the public and of indi- viduals are blended in any work or service imposed by law. whether the
 cost shall be thrown entirely upon the individuals or upon the state or be apportioned between them, is a matter of legislative discretion"
 But there is still a stronger reason than all these for making the railroads of this state bear the expenses and sal
 aries of a railroad commission, and
 that is the fact that no such commis-
 sion would be necessary if the rail roads would obey the laws of the state against extortionate charges and un- just discrimination. Their own Unlaw-
 ful conduct renders the creation of
 such a commission absolutely neces-
 sary for the protection of the people, and they, and not the people, should
 bear the expense of it. This is just. and the people demand it. l trust you will give this matter your most serious and immediate consideration.
 Money and Interest.
 After reviewing the question of re- ducing the rate of interest to per cent. per annum, the governor concludes:
 Instead of driving money out of the state, as some may contend, 1 believe if will have inc onDoSifp pffqpt Rut