The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-02
Political Despotism Destroyed
Commercial DesPotism Threatens

cdu regulate interstate trafnc, and thus rar
it has seemed impossible to bring about that
harmony of action between the various gov
ernments which is necessary to render regu-
lation effective.
Leaving out OF consideration the notorious
and outrageous corrupting of legislative bodies
by the powerful railroad corporations, there
is another reason why state regulation of traf-
fc rate has not been effective. 1t Is now
settled as principle of law and rightly so,
that any rate prescribed by the state or gen
eral government, through their properly con-
stituted agencies, must be reasonable one.
In every rate contest, therefore, between the
state and a railroad, the reasonableness of
the rate is an issue to be decided. 1t is
readily seen that in such conrest the state
is at a great disadvantage. So many con-
siderations enter into the question, such a
mass Of facts and figures of which the off,
GERS of the railroad company have intimate
and exact knowledge, and of which the off,
GERS of the state, should they be equally
able, have but little, If any, knowledge, and
are frequently without the means to secure
such knowledge, that the contest is and must
be, an uneven one from the beginning. Every
public officer and every shipper and every
attorney who has been engaged in such a
contest, has felt and appreciated this diff
Guilty, and the most of these contests have
resulted in leaving the railroad practically
master of the situation.
A Great Struggle.
The fact that unlimited power breeds des-
potism as recorded on every page of history
and entrenched in the philosophy of human
motive. Mr.. Hill, in his public statement to
the people Of the northwest, entirely ignores.
He is mistaken if he thinks the people may
be led to believe that the struggle upon
which they are now entering is contest be-
tween rival railroads or railroad stock manip
LOTT lott CHI 1111 ho oil
Let him, and all those associated with him.
understand that they are at the very begin
ming of one of the greatest struggles in the
history Of the world. MIR. Hill is but one
/ actor in this great contest. The people Of
Minnesota, through their executive officers,
are but discharging duty to civilization and
to progress. The movement inaugurated by
the governor of Minnesota, and in which he,
by virtue of his position and prompt action,
| will become one of the leaders, will not end
| in a month nor a year. It is one Of those
| mighty movements which form an epoch in
| mans struggle for liberty. The destruction
of the Northern Securities company will be
| a signal victory in the contest, but 1t will
not end it, Commercial despotism has too
| firm a hold to be shaken loose by single
defeat; but this contest will eventually end
as such contests have ended in all the past
| in a triumph Of the right
No Personal Quarrel.
| The people Of Minnesota have no personal
! quarrel with Mr. Hill. They would leave
| that he should control the Northern Securi-
| ties company as that Mr.. Hartman or Mr.
| Morgan should control it. What they objec'
| to is the sitting of free competition In the
| transportation business. Years ago they for
| ever prohibited this by wise legislation, and
| they see in the organization Of the Northern
| Securities company an attempt to do, through
fictitious creation, that which man, its
creator, is prohibited from doing. The pri-
mary object of this contest is to preserve free
| and open competition in the transportation
| business, but it's final effect will be, and, in
! a comprehensive sense, its ultimate purpose
! is to check the encroachment of commercial
| despotism in its movement along the path
! of corporate life. Corporations, necessary
| and useful instruments Of commerce, but they
| may be converted into the most dangerous
engines of tyranny To avert this, the fun
| damental principles of free government and
| the rules Of equity must, from time to time
be invoked to re-establish the limitations OF
| these creations Of the law.
The Remedy at Law.
| The law of Minnesota and of some of the
other western and southern states nhibitne
the consolidation of parallel or competing
| lines of railroad together with the federal and
state antitrust laws stand, believe, as a
| sufficient guardian of the public right. The
! skill of able lawyers will be employed to cir
| cumvent these laws and make difficult theil
enforcement, but against equal skill it can
! not succeed. The principles of law and equity
! evolved through the development OF the Eng
| lish speaking people is the grandest work Of
| the race to which we belong. These principles
| when understood and correctly applied will
Afford through the orderly administration Of
the courts remedy for every wrong. Skill
! hou m
| forum where they preside cannot defeat Tho
plain mandates Of the law. I once heard ar
| able lawyer say that whenever he lost case
which he should have won he felt that it was
his own fault; that had he been more dilgen1
he would have found the principle which
when applied to the facts of his case, woulc
| have given the relief which he sought. Leav.
ing out of account the very rare instances
of the cupidty or stupidity of the courts, ant
he was not far wrong. The profession Of the
law Is in these latter days too often prosti
tuted to the task of helping men and cor
porations in evading and circumventing thu
law Of the land. This, however, only sue
ceeds when the laws enforcement is entrusted
to currupt, Indifferent or inefficient men.
An Executive Fault.
The fact that gigantic corporations have 81
encroached upon the rights Of the people il
more the fault of the executive than TIL
legislative departments of our state and ma
tional governments. Wise laws to check thi
encroachment have been timely enacted b,
the legislatures. This is particularly tru
at this crucial time. Courts, however; are no
self-acting, nor can they be expected t.
} seek out remedy when wrong is called t.
their attention. That, too, is the business o
counsel, and if in the actions which the stat
Of Minnesota shall commence in the courts
the principles of law and equity which lie 4
the foundation Of free government shall b
clearly set forth in their relations to tn
facts connected with the organization of tn
Northern Securities company, there will b
no doubt as to the result. The impracticabil
ity of controlling competing lines of railroad
through the individual ownership Of stock ina
been clearly pointed out by the suprem
court of the United States, and if the New
Jersey corporation shall be bereft Of it's powe
to control and vote the stock of these com
peting lines, the danger Of permanent con
solidation will be averted until some ney
scheme is devised. Eugene G. Hay
I