Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-02-24
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standing here representing more than
thirteen thousand petitioners asking fol-
what they believe to be their legal rights
ss sEa voters ,s In the
me to do my duty, fearless1y and without
regard to any favors that may be shown
to me. / had expected assistance from
promised 1t and l have letters from coun-
sci saying that they had been employed
to assist me as junior counsel In prose-
cutting the case Of these petitioners, and
Tor some reason. gentlemen, which ! need
not say, although l may have my views,
! have been left alone in this matter and
! assume the responsibility without any
here before you and before this immense
audience realizing the duties that devOlve
upon me in presenting this case which
has been the subject Of talk and the sub
ject Of newspaper correspondence and the
subject Of the peoples interest In this
State not only for the past three weeks,
the past three months. but for years. and
are not granted at proper time when
their case is properly presented, sOme-
thing Is going to happen in the future
gentlemen, although l do not hold it out
of the future in this State. Now in the
beginning of this case for the petitioners
/ think We should start upon true and
solid sold grounds gre and so something ein has been
in this case, yes. more, two Of the ten
OF the eminent counsel that have been
brought here against these petitioners.
As to the legal rights Of the legislature
in a matter of this nature, and thank
my brother who closed the arguments of
the ten that have been introduced here.
some respects he spoke to us upon ques-
tions OF law. and upon that, gentlemen,
l propose to show to you my position and
my standing in this case. l take the
orr 40
tribunal to determine whether it is "a
constitutional provision for you to adjust
the fares and rates upon this road in this
State. 1t goes to a tribunal known as
the judiciary of this State.
If any question arises, as l think the
learned gentleman, previous governor
Of this state. standing here TO tonight and I'd
their demand. as l claim, upon the peO-
pie of this State, l thank my brother for
the law he has cited. and from that same
States. the highest tribunal in all this
broad land-I agree with him and l will
read from the same opinion which he read
from, from. and followed & It on to the commis. s.
of it. and it sounded so much like
the commissioners report that l knew
the highest judicial tribunal of the
guage. and / asked when he closed.
where he left Off reading from the United
States court and when he began to read
from the commissioners report in this
States.
Now in the first place, we should see
where We stand. when the question aris4s
as to what rights the people have here.I
read from the highest law In the State
of Maine. from the constitution of this
State and there is no higher, and that
reads as follows:
Corporation shall be formed under the
special acts of the Legislature except for
municipal purposes and in cases where
the objects of the corporation cannot
otherwise be attained. But however
formed. they shall forever be subject to
the general laws Of the State"
That is in the highest law, higher thap
any statute which can be passed by this
mentaa msS,a law Of " this State and can @ oniy be-
changed by the people of this State Now
I read from the statutes Of this State,
passed by body of the Legislature as
sembled as you are. gentlemen. at this
session, and it is under a provision in re-
lation to railroads, and l read this. and
l hope that may not tire you, and I will
try not to before I close.
Section 43. Any railroad corporation
may establish for its sole benefit fares.
tolls and charges upon all passengers and
property conveyed and transported upon
such railroad at such rates as may be
determined by the directors thereof, and
may from time to time by its directors.
regulate the use Of its road, provided
charges and regulations are at all times
subject to alterations by the Legislature
of this State.
Now l proceed to read to you gentle
men. from that decision from which my
learned brother quoted in the case. l will
give you the book and page. Smythe vs..
Ames, 169 U. 8. Reports IA, and l take
the language Of the highest judicial tri-
bunal in the world, the United States
court Of America, and I shall use the
language they give here, and upon which
base my case here tonight. 1t was a
case preliminary to what l may read,
where the question arose in regard to
the Northern Pacific Railroad. railroad
that passes through several states in this
Union, as to whether one state had the
road went through different states. and
my brother read to you SO much as re-
lated to that which did not touch this
question: We do not undertake to regu-
setts or New Hampshire, and l read you
from the closing part OF that same opin-
ion, where they did justly hold that the
or fares between one state and another,
and in the language Of that august court
l read this:
way 14s 9. 3. sss, the court. in answer to
the suggestion that the Legislature had
no authority to prescribe maximum rates
for railroads transportation, said that
rates and the extent Of the judicial in
reference is protection against un-
reasonable rates.
I continue to read the language Of the
court.
"A railroad is public highway AMI
none the less so because constructed and
maintained through the agency of a cor
ers from the State. Such corporation was
created for public purposes. 1t performs
a function OF the state. Its authority to
exercise the right of eminent domain and
to charge tolls was given primarily for
the benefit OF the public. 1t Is under gov
ernmental control. though such control
the constitutional guarantees for the pro-
| lection >of its property. 1t cannot. there
fore be admitted that a railroad corpora