The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-25

nies pay handsomely In the way of taxes
 for their protection, The Government | ought, therefore, to make adequate pro- | vision for the capture of these highway | men as 1t does in cases of mall robbery. | Under present conditions. as pointed out | in the comnJttee's report. the greatest | difficulty is encountered in securing the | cooperation of the State constabularies | in pursuing and capturing these maraud- | CTS. Officers are human, and t Is but | natural that they should consult their own | interests. They do not hold dangerous and responsible trusts for the sake of | their health. but for pecuniary profit and l gain. They generally wait, therefore, for
 large rewards, which they know will be offered. before trying to apprehend these | desperate thieves. The burden falls heav- I ily upon railroad and express companies. corporations having interstate relations. | and l submit they ought to have the as- | sistance in such cases of all means and I instrumentalities at the command of the States marshals and their deputies and l detective force. and, If necessary, of the | Governments Secret Service Bureausalso. We would soon find. in my opinion, a | great dimnution in the matter of rail- | road "hold-ups" and express robberies, | and. at the same time, the oppressive re- | sponsibility of affording protection to hu-
 man life and personal property would | fall where 1t rightly belongs. upon the Government and not upon private indi- | viduals and corporations.
 | Railroads, by reason of their cheapness and fieetness, have almost entirely su- perseded water transpo 'tation, and are today the great medium of commercial intercourse. Whenever and wherever the tracks of a railroad are put down upon the earth, there has begun to be laid a happiness. and the improvement and pro | gres of our race. They pay their legiti-
 mate share of taxes to the Government | and are entitled to its protection. Ex- | press naniqS also their lepitiTn tp | share of taxes to the Government and l are likewise entitled to it's protection. | Articles intrusted to express agencies for l transportation can not be regarded as mere merchandise in the possession of an l individual Ofttimes such articles are more important and valuable than the
 mails themselves, and ought to be just | as sacred in the eyes of the law; and
 precisely the same protection which the | Government throws about the mails | should be extended to all matters in-
 trusted to the care and safe-keeping of | express companies. In such cases, there l tose. tnere !s neither fairness nor justice | in requiring the onus of prosecuting train | robbers to fall upon either railroad or | express companies.
 l In this connection I read. as part of my remarks, an able editorial on this i subject from The Savannah Morning News. It expresses the sentiment Of the 1 Southern people in regard to this ques- l tion:
 ''The bil Ithat Is pending before the Judi | ,netv Carnm;ttes of the House giving the l United States authorities the same ju- 1 risdiction in case of train robbers, where passengers and express companies are | robbed, as they have In cases where the | mails are robbed. Is a good one, and | should receive the approval of Congress | at any early day. 1t seems to us that Congress should be prompt to take steps l to check the crime of train robbery. It | Is a crime that is calculated to bring | the nation into disrspute in foreign coun- | k,-fA t.. .In ,..It have it said in Europe that 1t is no safer | to travel in the United States than it ] Is in Bulgaria.; that train robbers are
 as bad as brigands, There ought to be | q vigorous effort to put stop to train | robbinS. and the only way concerted 1 effort can be made in that direction is | for the General Government to take hold | of the matter. It s worthy of notice that 1 1t is seldom that the mails are disturbed | by train robbers nowadays. That Is be- | cause the robbers are afraid, to disturb | the mails. They know that the Govern
 rfent has unlimited means at its com
 mand, and that it will spare no expense
 to arrest and punish them. Pass the | pending bill and long step will have 1 been taken in the direction of putting q | stop to train robberies."
 My only objection to this bill is that it l is too narrow in it's operations. Its pro- visions should embrace every case of rob ! bery committed against person or prop erty where the train is carrying the
 
 l limits of State sovereignty or between and across different StacC lines. For instance. would any good lawyer contend that the i Congress could not constitutionally con | fer upon the United States courts juris- | diction to try and punish an offender who
 stole from boy the horse upon which | h5 was riding and carrying the mail, and | thereby prevented it's prompt delivery, l simply because he did not rob the mail | itself and because the animal was being l used within the limits of State and had not travelled across State lines?
 In my opinion, therefore, the ends of justice would have been better subserved
 by a short bill entitled "A bill to pro tect railroad trains conveying United
 States mails, persons and property" pro- viding in tho first section
 That any person who shall maliciously
 rob. obstruct or retard the passage of
 any railroad train upon which the United States mail is carred, and persons and property thereon. shall for every sucn otfense be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten years"
 And providing further in the second sec | tion
 That any person intentionally obstruct-
 ing or retarding the passage of any rail-
 road train upon which the United States
 mail is carried, and persons and property 1 thereon, by any means whatever, with | intent to rob the same. or any person | travelling thereon, and, in consequence | thereof, any such person travelling there
 on is kill9d, snail be guilty of murder, anu
 suffer the death penalty or be imprisoned l at hard labor for life, in the discretion of
 the jury trying the same"
 | There can be no doubt that such a bill would be upheld as constitutional
 | It is provided by the Constitution that | Congress shall have power to provide for | the common defense and general welfare | of the United States. How it shall pro- | vide for the common defense and gen l eral welfare is not specified. The Su-
 preme Court 0f the United States decided 1 the national Lank act to be constitutional | on tho ground that Congress alone was | the judge of the necessity of such an act. l Under this general welfare" clause of l the Constitution large powers are vested | in Congress, and measures will generally
 be upheld as constitutional where in the | judgmelt of majority of this body they
 are needsul, either for the common de- | fense or the general welfare.
 l In pra 2tico Congress has been very ib- | eral in the construction of its powers. | It not only supports the Army and Navy, | which to educate young men especially | for that service. It not only builds forts, l but improves rivers and harborS SO that | they can be better nav!gated. It has 1 passed the oleomargarine bills to prevent | a discrimination against pure butter, and
 and morals of the people, saying in many | instances even. what shall eat and l drink, and whereWithaI we shall be | clothed It has indorsed. and continues
 to indorse, the notes of national banks. | in order to give them value, to the eX- | tent of hundreds of millions of dollars. l It not oily builds post-roads, but guar anteeI the bonds of railroad companies
 for millions of dollars to aid in con structing railways. on the ground that 1 they may in time be needed for carrying 1 troops. It has given subsidies to ships !