Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-10-26
TO raz PRODUCERS OF wIscossta
Mt Snell Sets Forth the IDiusucs Pfac!icsd gaips,
Them By Corporatiors

York, who possess and VINO not infre.
quently exercise powers which the con.
gress of the United States would not
venture to exert. They may at apv
time, and for any reason satisfactory to
themselves, by a single stroke of the pen,
reduce the value of property in this
country by hundreds of millions Of dol
lars. Ana by the additional charge Of
five cents per bushei on the transporta-
ton for grain and other crops add mil
| lions TO their profits WHICH Is A DIRECT
TAX UPON THE PRODUCER No CON
gress would dare to exercise SO vast a
power Gpon q necessity of the most i'm.
perative nature; and yet these railway
kings Of Wall street exercise it whenever
! 1t suits their supreme will and pleasure,
without explanation or apology
! With the rapid and inevitable pro-
| gress of combination and consolidation,
| these colossal corporations are daily be-
! coming stronger and more imperious.
| And what are the taxpayers the pro-
| dncers doing to do abontit3 The day is
| not distant when you must decide by
your votes that You will send men to the
United States senate and state legisia-
| ture that will enact laws that will secure
| free and equal transportation privileges;
.FOL4 ulUAl nave AlCA III ELE lyHlIBQ SOGRGES
| and st&5e senate that are not the agents
Of this system, that has no principle of
action bat personal and corporate ag-
grandizement. 1t is time when the busi-
ness man who secures special rebates
was held amenable to the law. While
public sentiment is all powerful regard
ing this question of discrimination and
rebates to some favored shipper, it will
not decide these issues. We must have
laws and officials with ample power to
enforce them before this transportation
matteg is settled and settled right. The
mistake made in Wisconsin after the re-
peal Of the Potter law was in not pro.
viding proper safeguards to protect the
public interests and hold the railroads
TO a strict accountability for their trans
actions Thus through the laxity and
repeal of laws that were enacted to cor
rect the very evils that are present, and
the want Of state control; in measure
excusable at the time, but no longer
pardonable in the light of evidence that
has been submitted to the legislator dur.
ing the last decade. 1t is conceded that
railroads being public highways and
common carriers should treat all ship
pers with equality under like circum-
stances and with relative equality when
circumstances differ The function of
the railroads being especially public in
nature and the vote of the small ship
per having had as much to do with cor,
ferring the franchises under which rail-
roads are constructed aud operated as
the large shipper, the right Of the citi-
zen on the highways here comes in to
limit the operation of the law of whole
sale and retail, which governs in private
transactions. When the capital invested
in railroads has been fairly compensat-
ed, the rest of the advantages accruing
from the discovery of steam to the pur-
pose of transportation should be enjoyed
by the public. This transportation ques-
ton is one great and overshadowing but
under the manipulation Of Wall street
corporations it becomes Il tax of giant
proportions. But this question must be
e'and throttled These roads were
built under that clause of our constitu-
tion which allows private prof srty to be
tai en- for public use by payin4 the owner
thereof just compensation. By some
unexplained process unknown to com
MON law this public property has be-
&C me the private property of these cor
ptrationa 20 be used to crush production
The venal and unscrupulous class of
sc me men who have engaged in these
railroad enterprises since the repeal of
the Potter law, have resorted through
tleir attorneys to every means known TO
base humanity to accC mulate fortunes
Tor the few at the expense of the many.
They use almost the entire newspaper
press TO pettifog ard Try to whitewash
over the defects of q system that is
honeycombed with defects Had the
press Of Wisconsin that today is de-
nouncing La Toilette and his adherents
been true to the interests of the masses,
there would have been no occasion for
the Stetfens article which but family
portrays the corrupt methods in our pol
itical and I might include our business
methods for the past thirtY-hve years.
A railroad official is subject to three
practical tribunals First, the president
of the company, second the law affect
ing transportation, and third the un-
written law Of commerce II has been
the policy of the railroad companies
since the repeal Of the Potter law; that
whenever this public unwritten law
came into contact with the interests Of
stockholders, to decide in favor of the
stockholders. Or in other words, the
public has to pay what the traffic will
bear. What the traffic will bear is, to
some extent q legitimate consideration
in fixing rates. but left to the nncOn-
trolIed discretion of railroad managers.
The public interest is not considered
and out Of the power to make special
rates and give rebates, which railroad
companies have conferred upon their
agents, favoritism, both as between in
dividuals and communities, has result
ca. Hence the need of commissioners,
and laws that will give the state con-
troll over the creatures it has created.
The abuses Of which the public justly
complain, has occurred since the repeal
Of the Potter law. and largely within
the last decade, Continue for another
quarter of q century the present power
to tax the people, and we will have moni-
edsaristocracy in this country such as the
ROthchilds never dreamed Of, and with
it all the attendant phenomena Of venal
legislators and corruption in high places,
which has caused the downfall Of all the
great republics Of history.
IL is for the taxpayer to determine
whether the TsOple through law and the
laws instrumentalities have the power
to regulate freight and passenger rates
on the railroads Of Wisconsin, to the
end that those rates shall be reasonable.
After the home consumption and tine
home demand is supplied the people are
ia the power Of these railroads, for the
surplus must be carried on their roads
or it is worthless, and it is that very
| fact that has led our courts to establish
| this power Of control on the part of the
| people otherwise they could ruin and
| destroy the industry Of the state, and of