Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-03
FAvoRrNe THE oORrORArIONs.
Another FEEDERS Judge sets Aside .
state Constitution.
San Francisco Chronicle

SNANe
San Francisco Chronicle.
Very few persons who have given the
matter attention are unaware Of the fact
that part Of the fourteenth amendment TO
the federal constitution which relates to
the privileges or immunities Of citizens OF
the United States was adopted for the spe-
cifc purpose OF securing to the then re-
Gently liberated slaves the equal protection
OF the laws. Throughout the south there
was a deliberate purpose manifested to null
lify the results Of the war for the preserva-
tion OF the union by making the condition
OF the negro worse than when he was in
servitude, and the disposition was more or
less sympathi=ed with In the north II was
solely to meet this condition that the
amendment was framed, and when II was
up for adoption no one gave any considera-
tion to the status Of corporations. Through
out the long and vehement discussion which
preceded adoption the corporations were
not mentioned in connection with the four
teenth amendment. No one dreamed that
the wording Of section !, which is as fol-
lows, referred to other than natural per-
sons:
"All persons born or naturaliEed in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdic-
ton thereof, are citizens of the United
States and Of the state wherein they reside.
No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or i'm
munities Of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any state deprive any person OF
life, liberty or property, without due pro-
cess Of law, nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection Of the
laws"
1t was not until some years after the
adoption of the amendment that a judge,
whose chief efforts while on the supreme
bench seemed to be directed to finding loop
holes for the subsidized railroads to crawl
out Of their obligations to the government,
discovered a hidden meaning in the second
sentence OF the hrst section, which, By a
subtle process Of reasoning. he contrived
to show applied as much to artificial as to
natural persons. His arguments were pow
erful enough to sway a majority OF a court
which for a long time seemed disposed to
elevate the corporations above the people
who created them, and a decision was rem
dered which has since been awaited Of by
every Judge who seeks to earn the gratitude
Of those who control the destinies of the
great concerns which are gradually sub
merging popular privileges and liberties.
The most fragrant instance Of this sort
Of susceptibility was furnished last week In
San Francisco. when Judge Kerrigan rem
utEeu the pT6pObLeTOuS OCCASION t0AL tno
Railroad commission OF the state OF Cali
%fornia, in seeking to enforce a plain pro-
vision of the state constitution which pro-
hibits a railroad company from restoring
rates lowered to meet competition, was in
violation of the section Of the fourteenth
amendment above quoted. The facts In the
case were notorious. The Southern Pacific
sought to meet the competition Of the Val
ley railroad by reducing its passenger rates,
I and when the latter corporation was taken
over by the Santa Fe and a pooling arrange
| ment or agreement of some kind was made
) by the two existing corporations, the South.
= ern Pacific coolly restored them. 1t could
3 not evade the consequences Of disobeyint
4 the state constitution except by striking
= down the constitution itself, which II sue,
3 ceeded in doing through the instrumentalit!
3 Of a Judge who invoked a far-fetchet
4 analogy to show that any attempt to regu
e late railroad fares constitutes a discrimina
9 tion forbidden by the fourteenth amend
. ment to the federal constitution. This de
cision was in defiance OF the fact that Their
. is no such thing In existence In the UniteC
States as a privately owned railroad, ant
l that consequently there could be no dis
t elimination in the premises.
1t is the duty Of the Railroad commission
to test the value OF this remarkable de
= cision, which assumes an injustice whel
r none can exist. 1t may be conceded tina
artificial and natural persons must hav
8 the same treatment under the law, but tina
does not imply that railroads are not sub
IL Ject to regulation. Judge Kerrlgan's de
cision, II affirmed. would render. It impos
h sible to regulate a railroad in this state be
/. cause our laws are all based on the fact tina
Q all railroads are corporations and deal witt
o them as such. There is only one mode o
operating railroads in the United States
and that is by means OF corporations formet
e for that purpose. There are no privat
h railroads except in the imagination Of Judg
Kerrigan. He will probably find out som
day that 1t is not wise for a Judge to Civ
e rein to his fancy and allow It to take tn
IS bit; and, above all, that 1t is decidedly in
discreet to try and make the people beiiev
d that the Southern Pacific Is being dis
eliminated against by the constitution an
Is laws Of California.