The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-08-13

WOulu IOl occupy the du-
vanced stage that it does today
Suppose for moment that those Ro-
man roads, the arteries of the empire,
had been owned by private companies of
millionaries; that not wheel could roll
nor man move along them, nor even
| the legions except on terms dictated by
| the corporations; would not those cor
porations have had the empire by the
| throat? Would they not have appointed
consuls and pro-consuls, every Senator,
every general and every judge? They
would have been the government.
A greater than Rome is before you.
In these United States the 10000 miles
Of iron way are no less the life arteries
of the Republic. Along them pours u
tide of travel. of freight, of wealth far
beyond what the Roman ways, even
those nearest the capital, ever witnessed.
Indeed, though our railway system dates
back only seventy years, over any one
of our many great through lines, the
volume of freight and travel exceeds
that of the entire world a century ago.
1t is needless to say that the control of
this immense power must be in the gov
ernment, that is in the people, for with
us the government is still in theory at
least the people.
RAILROADS AND THE PUBLIC.
The Supreme court of the United
States held in the Granger cases (Munn
VS.. Illinois, 81 u. s. and has reiterated
in many case since that time out of
mind the control of common carriers and
their regulation as to rates and in all
other matters, rested in the government.
Though in this country transportation
by railroad is carried on by private cor
porations.' said the Interstate Com
merce Commission in their last report
QS99) to Congress, 1T is essentially a
government function. This appears from
the necessary conditions of railroad con-
struction. 1t is a universal maxim that
private property can not be taken Tor
private uses, but only for the public use.
Yet no railroad can be built without the
appropriation of private property. IL
equally appears from the relation OF the
carriers business to the community. a
merchant may sell TO one customer for
one price and to another customer for
another price, as best subserves his IN
terest. without violating any sense of
right and wrong but it is universally
felt that the rates of public transpor-
tation should be uniform to all. The
railway is, from its very nature IN re-
spect to the greater part OF It's
business. a virtual monopoly. If the
business of transportation Is essehtlaily
i government function, then the govern
ment must see that it Is property alS-
charged. liz it is in essence a monopoly
then it must be regulated. lhe i've
things, of necessity, go hand IN hari.
THIS PUBLIC IS SOVEREIGN
This is very clear statement of the
pronosition. Railroads can Cniy he CON
structed by reason of having usl.ts OF
way condemned for them rs public
use. and being public use, they are
necessarily subject to public regulation
Indeed. the Fact that you sit mere, that
we have an Interstate Commission and
that thirty-four States or more have
their Railroad Commissions, is cont'u-
sive that the sovereign, of whom The
Supreme Court of the Union and of
every State, is merely an agency
the sovereign people-haye decided once
for all that these iron horses shall ne
bitted and bridled The sun will pot
cannot. 90 Ddck SlilSiS uCSiNe 81 tHN
dial at Ahaz. Mr.. Ingalls,, President
of two great systems, in his address
to you last year, frankly said: "Regula-
ton by the people has come to stay
and railroad manager who does llol
recognize that fact is back number.
He further said that the mass of rail-
way managers fully recognized the PERM
anence Of public control and regulation
and were earnestly seeking a solution
of the difficulties attendant upon 1T.
No one can doubt that if all railway
managers loyalty accepted the yoke OF
the law, all questions of differences be
tween railways and people would be
fairly settled by these boards provided
by the law for that purpose. 1t ls be-
cause many managers do not accept n
but resort to injunctionS toften issued
by their former attorneys, promoted TO
the bench) to set aside rates, regula-
tions and tax assessments made by your
commissions that the preseDt unsatls-
factory condition of affairs exists.
OWNERSHIP VS.. CONTROL
1t results that the real question-and
we are fact to face with it's whether
it is practicable to control these great
forces. these immense aggregations Of
capital, by Commissions and by statutes,
or shall it be necessary to take the abso-
lutte ownership of them over in the gov
ernment.
In all the countries Of the world save
Great Britain and the United States,
the answer has been that government
ownership is indispensable to safe and
lust control. Accordingly in almost all
other countries, including even the Aus
tralan and other British colonies, the
railroads, or at least the controlling lines
are owned by their respective govern
ments. In the United States and the
contracted territory embraced in the
British Isles, the experiment of govern
ment control, without government own
ership, is on trial.
There are evils in government owner
shin. There are difficulties III govern
ment control unless it has ownership
1t is those difficulties which you have
had to face since the creation of your
respective Commissions. You know
their magnitude The history of your
various bodies and the published pro-
ceedings of your meetings in these joint
sessions for ten years past, show how
fully you have grasped the situation and
..l.o4 ,l.;1;t,, wa, ha ua 1icnlYScoJ Aha