The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1898-06-16

Regulation of Railways in the May
number of the South Dakotan Is SO
misleading that l cannot resist reply
| ing TO II.
Mr.. La Toilette tells in pompous Ian
guage how "our fathers, when they
| builded the base of our governmental
superstructure, regarded the instru-
ments Of commerce and transportation
as the property of the people" With
| this apIRal to the constitution as Il
starting point, he proceeds To make an
argUment-m confused by irrele-
want quOtatiOn-against the position
taken i'm the recent decision of the
United States supreme court TO the
effect that state commission has no
power TO regulate or control interstate
traffic. but has only power to estab-
lish reasonable rates upon local or do
nestle traffic" l am quoting Mr.. La
Follette's words.
We all know that text can he found
in the Bible to justify almost any sin.
All that il necessary is to wrench the
text from it's context and then interpret
il to suit yourself But the railroad
commissioner presumes sadly on the
ignorance o. The people OF South Ia
kOta il he imagines that they will
swallow his attempt TO quote the
United States Constitution in support
Of the power of state commission TO
regulate or cOntrar' interstate rates.
Has Commissioner La Toilette ever
read the history Of the constitution:
Has lie any idea why the colonies fed
Grated themselves into the United
States? IL there Is one thing which
''our fathers, when they builded the
base of our governmental superstruc-
ture," understood that is IA great
phrase-yOu can see the railroad com
missioner putting out his chest as he
wrote tiff there is one thing. | say.
which our fathers then understood.
clearly and unequivocally, ii was that
all matters of transportation and com
merce between the several states We're,
and must eternally be. utterly free
from the regulation or control of
every individual state, and must rest
entirely with the federal authority.
The complete reservation of interstate
relations to the federal jurisdiction was
practically the most essential and vital
iZing feature of the federation
Read the constitution to which Mr..
La Toilette appeals. The very first
powers voted in congress are:
First-The congress shall have power
TO lay and collect taxes. duties. i'm
posts, and excuses, to pay the debts
and provide for the common defense
and general welfare of the United
| States: but allRduties. imposts and ex-
| cises shall be uniform throughout the
| United States.
/ an
credit of the United States.
Third to regulate commerce
| among the several states.
Mr.. La Toilette quotes largely from
| the book of Mr.. A. Il. Stickney Mr.
| Stickney is said TO be most worthy
gentleman, but he is not generally re-
| garded as an authority on logical rea-
| soning. He has recently been called IA
most able-bodied developer of imprac-
ticable theories" But why does Mr..
La Toilette say that the main tenor ana
purpose of Mr.. Stickney's book is to
show that railway rates are. in fact Il
tax? Mr.. La Toilette carefully omitS
from his quoted passages any refer
ence to this. If he had not done SO. il
| would have exposed at once the ab-
surdity of his whole article.
1t does not seriously matter. for the
| present purpose, whether interstate
| railway rates hre in fact a tax or not
| If they are, then the right of any state
| TO regulate or control them is eXplc-
| lily forbidden by the first clause tof
See. WILD which | have quoted above.
| If they are not IL tax. then ii is express
| ly forbidden by the third clause
| However they are regarded in theory.
| and whatever they may be i'm fact. the
| one thing that 'Our fathers, when they
builded,' saw clearly, was that all
| charges on commerce and Transports
ton between states must be controlled
solely by the federal power. Mr.. La
Toilette positively shrieks because the
supreme court says now that no state
commission can control these charges.
i say now, that every man in South Da-
( kota who knows anything of our his
| tory will say with me, that il what
| Mr.. la Toilette now demands had been
permitted in our constitution. the fed
Grafton Of the United States would not
| have endured for one year.
II would have crumbled again into
| its several independent colonies. "Our
| fathers" knew 1t. They took care that
il should not crumble. 1t is this labor
of our fathers that Mr. La Toilette now
attacks and would subvert.
| | am DO POLITICIAN have no votes
TO win by attacking corporations. If |
| was seeking votes, however. | should
| trust the manhood Of South Dakota 10
follow me in prOclaiming the eternal
| fiXity of the principles of the constitu.
ton which reserved interstate relations
10 the federal jurisdiction rather than
be led by Mr.. La Toilette who. for the
sake of making partisan argument
against a railway company. is willing