The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-07
Extremists viii Try and Shape The
Texas Legislation To Conform
Ia Their Wishes.
CORPORATIONS WILL SUFFER.
Drastic Measures Aimed al Large
Interests 10 Bc Introduced
Farmers" Shaw and Hen
dcrSOn Have Agreed.

| REP Bio SPECIAL.
Dallas. Tex. Jan. Railroad and kin
dred legislation Of a radical character will
be attempted a. the regular session of the
I stat" Legislature. 10 assemble al Aus,i .
on January = Whether the wishes of the
{ extremists viii bee enacted into Law i~ q
doubtful problem. But certain b. O. that
som" kind OF changes in present laws vii
d be made. And they will not he made Oh lines
, Iuiifsins TO- the corporations directly AZ
fert"i 10y them. Probably no Legislature
sine" that which met Ga January. ls>'. and
! elected John n. Reagan 10 the inited
! Si",eE Senatc-vith jhr uossibl- eNrepd"I
( a. the one that passed what are known as
Z the Hogs houl-and-stoak Laws ali"a land
. Laws. ctc.-.as lad as many members 50
I firmly committed to drasti" measure IL
: r'ctrd AGAINST corporations as tas the bpGy
I about &" start opera ion. az Austin.
Among the men VINO Will be foremost m
! tho flsht al"Ei, lines indicated viii O.. the
| Honorable ". =. shaw 81 Dallas anil Hon
I "f.lhlc Travis Henderson of Lamar ''un's-
! I"th 80" powers iu the councils 80 Ih'
/ b-nldcr1tic party and have u"en influential
I in shaping much of the IaSt Legislation
aimed AT control % corporations. AIR Hen
d'Tsfon has had much legislative Nlcri"He',
Alr Shaw has never bcinr' held = seat %
/ the Legislature. but his rffCris have c.t"h
tftf fnf~k poe llilhl as IT IT, VII
! titled To answer To- rDn call. Eo;h BcndrT-
son and Shaw have L.t bestowed nTo1
! them by tire general public the coSnOIEen
of Farmer a. a familiar prefix to theif
names.
How Their Titles Were ObtHined.
Farmer shaw g. known O. approximate
" every agriculturist in Texas as the
editor Of the Texas Farmer. IN, Official -
gan Of the stat. Grange Farmer H"noer-
son won his "tauui- t.f which he = I'M
nlensely proud because OF his uuiic:';i
.line-rp' on aerariaH and corporation letis-
latiln. when n came To the time for tie
decisive yeas and nays Shaw and Hender-
suu agree upon almost every principle ~
i--i-lttlon under the TWO heads Just ic-
i-ITed to- Within the last ten days the two
Farmers have had frc'u-nt conferences.
They have cIuvass-d various measures IKE
ly 10 DE among the ''pdTamounts' during
the next ninety days At Austin. 'FIrm-.'
Shaw, just before taking hIs departure flr
the state capital to-day. said To- Thc I.t-
public CORES puudeut.
yes. / ADMIT having talked over pro
spectiVe legislation with Farmer" Henlirr-
son. / consider MIN one Of the best agri
culturists and one Of the safest Iegisla-
iors in Texas. Al sitncr Cume he J.
wise a. a serpent. but - harmless -
dove. "FatmeT" Henderson and myself rot
long ago discussed bill which he ielt III
ciined u offer. II j., of cOUrs" indirectly
in the interest Of farmers ana everybody
else. but has an especial bearing upou es,rn-
fnerce II Is mi which will materially
change the relation Of the Railroad Corn
mission to the railroads. The effect OF Tho
LII, II enacted into law. will b. To make ali
rates established BY the commission ma,i-
mum rates. and then permit the railroads 10
ctmpete for business al any rates uEdc- the
maximum. The penalties against discrimll.,-
tlons. OF course. holding now. | am not
sure my friend Henderson will offer tho
bill bot hope he wiz
Then you indOrSe such a billg'
VIII solve the Problem.
sure. IL viii DO much toward solving the
freight problem IN Texas. Under present
conditions. the commission can only .. a
bureau To maintain high rates The Fed
eral Court stands with that capitalization
club ready to knock the commission in
the head whenever ii daros put rates lower
than the railroads want them. You must
give the m rates. say those Internal Federal
judges. that will yield legitimate interest
upon capital. whether II be real or fcti-
tiOus.' This makes the commission really
helpless. While am a strong commission
man. and while that body has done some
good in other directions as a rate-rnak-r
IL has been failure. As RUE. IL has
never got rates by fifteen 10 twenty per
cent az low as they were before the COM
mission agitation. and in the face Of this
Federal Court made them raise rateS
So you see. the commission Is helpless as
u rdte-maker. The only plan left in sight
- TO permit the railroads to compete for
business under maximum rates prescribed.
The only argument that can be offered
against such a bill will BE- that IL would
tend To destroy stability and uniformity
In rates. and might. under certain cOntin-
b'itl--. De IsSIOllSlDlt lOr GuttnTOdt ngnfS
among the railroads. This f. argument I
at all. One might a. well contend for uni /
form rates in everything else. on the same !
principle that 'compefi f. ths. life of
trade To destroy competition f. corr /
rnercial abSurdity. IL robs the people OF /,
their legitimate rights and reduces com !
nerce to humdTum. drOny complexion. In :
which there is no spur to enterprise and z
activity. And this applies with especial .
force to railroads.
of course, II may be ihat some OF the T,
railroad companies viii attempt TO prevent
the enactment of this proposed law bat / I
fail to see any legitimate reason fOr their 1
doing so.
Nay Oppose the Measure.
There can. in fairness. be none .Shriv- |
eled localism' may prompt some places to I
oppose II. under the impression that pres |
ent conditions discriminate in their favor. l
Yet mature thought ought to convince even I
these that they would gain more than they 1
would lose by such measure. But be- I
licve the railroads. one system excepted /
VIII favor IL. II would give them moro Ub- /
eriy on the management OF their business: !
]. would minimiz" contentious with the
commission: ii would reduce freight TO the
lowest reasonable figure. w.thCu, reference .
10 WIND ana wafer I'm capitalization: IL /
would tend TO ailay prejudice against the
railroads on the part Of the pooulp who I
under the maxinums prescribed would be
protected against cRtOrtions ana ,,ndcr ,bo
law be protected against determinations
while at the same time they would 90. INC
henefit Of live competition. In a word IL
N'ulN .'"n 10 ,f'piH tle natural laws 6f .
trade I" me Immense railway traffic OF
Texas. putting TcXa= roads ia a shane
where they could protect the people sgaInst
The cutthroat tactics practiced l,v Interstate I
commerce am ore Of those vino believe
ttat railroads would be governed undor ,rcb
q law by the rules or fairness
'But the railroads are not the opI,, ,,-- |
poration Interests almost certain 10 ,,,-,. !
IN Tor reform legi-lstiOn. Telegraph teIe
] none and Kin ired cUmps mes viii ,yn,Jo,Ib,- ]
edy DE looked after. believe they |
should come under commission or sIroiI,,
regulation. '
Hates should he Fixed.
Maximum rates 10 be charged cusfomers /
rhOElh h.. nsIahIisl.cH - L. - /