The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1904-11-24
Government Ownership Of Railroads

should itself observe the maxim which
it is instituted to enforce. namely:
that itiis the chief end of the state to
preserve the peace by administering
justice.
it should exert no power beyond what
is necessary to that end. II it ex-
ceeds that limitation, it is guilty Of
direct usurpation. To secure them
selves against such abuse, the people
of the United States have inserted in
the federal and several state constitu-
tons certain restraining clauses. Ex-
cessiye fines and cruel and unusual
punishments for crime are prohibited;
defendants in criminal cases are de-
clared entitled to counsel and to be
confronted with the witnesses against
them: the right to writ OF habeas
corpus is. secured; no person is to be
deprived of his life, liberty or property
without due process of law; liberty OF
speech, and Of the press must not be
abridged; religious freedom is guar
anteed,. and SO on. Every one OF these
guarantees reaches it's roots deep down
into history They are concessions
which shaye been wrested from usurp-
ers. Each of them is the epltaph OF
some form of tyranny, and testlnes 10
the truth of Rousseau's fine utterance
that the most important kind OF laws
ssare neither engrayen on brass or mar
Bile, but in the hearts OF the citlzenS,
forming the real constitution OF the
state. These are the laws which ac-
uuire daily fresh influence, and when
others grow old and obsolete, lnylg-
crate and revive them. these are the
laws which keep alive in the hearts
of the people the original spirit OF
their institution, and substitute lnsen-
sibly the force of habit to that of
authority. The laws l here speak OF
are, manners, customs, and above all,
public opinion; all unknown or dis
regarded by our modern politicians,
but on which depends the success OF
all the rest.
Neither should the state ever lend
or surrender to any part OF the people
any part of its powers for their private
use OF aggrandizement To do this IS
to confer on some people an unnatural
advantage over others. to divide So
ciety, and to set loose forces that Will
destroy liberty and foment discord.
II That this lis the law may be seen
from the following quotations:
Opinion of the supreme court. OF the
United States in Butchers Union Co.
VS.. Crescent City Co.~t111 U.S., 746):
The police power SIS SO necessary to
the best interests of social organiza-
ton that wise policy forbids the leg
islatiye body to divest itself of the
power to enact laws for the preserVa-
ton OF, health and the repression OF
crime
Lewis on Eminent Domain cd ed,
Sec 261a): "The sovereign powers OF
the state can not be bargained away,
restrained, surrendered, or extin-
guished by the action of the legisla-
ture."
Cooley, Constitutional Limitations
10th ed, sec. 341): 1T would seem,
therefore, to be the prevailing opinion,
and one based upon sound reason, that
the state can not barter away. or in
any manner abridge or weaken any Ut
those essential powers which are inner
ent in all governments, and the exis-
tence of which, in full vigor. is i'm
portant to the well-being Of organized
society; and that any contracts to that
end are void upon general principles.
A different expression of the sane
law, not generally recognized as the.
same, is found in the legal doctrine
that sovereign powers must be exer-.
cised only for public purposes; for, Of
course, if they are delegated to indi-.
viduals they will be employed for pri-i
vate purposes, to the invasion Of equal
rights.
This doctrine is SO important as to-
Justify further quotation:
Cooley, Constitutional Limitations
(Ch. XVI: ut is conceded on all hands
that the legislature has no power, in
any case, to take the property of one
individual and pass it over to another
without reference to some house to
which it is to be applied Tor the public
benefit" and ...the public use implies
a possession, occupation and enjoy
want ~ fbo 1opd NV tho 11uhlic at