Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1904-09-29
Fundamental Principles. +"

Eau Claire Telegram"
Just at this time a quotation from
"The Railway Problem" a widely
read work by A. b. Stickney, rail
road man of the Paul Morton kind,
is especially in point Mr.. Stickney
says:
at is perhaps natural, at any rate
it is common, for those possessing
superior education or superior
wealth, to regard with feeling akin
to contempt the opinions of the ma
jority of the people upon social and
especially upon economic questions.
"But history proves in the long run
the opinions of the majority are
more apt to be correct than the opin-
| ions of the few. The great majority
| have less self-interest, and are there
for in a better position to exercise
an unbiased judgement. They per-
haps know little Of presidents, but
the principles of justice and fairness
as between man and man are inn
! planted in their natures, and when a
new question is presented, they are
| more apt to weigh il in the scales of
the broad principles of equity than
in those Of precedent or existing
formulas. So when the question un-
der discussion arose Those pertain
ing to railroad commissions with the
power to fix rates the lawyers re-
sorted to the books for precedents,
the scholar to his formula of words,
the capitalist to his self-interest; but
the great majority of the people SIM
ply inquired what was right and fair.
They reasoned thus: the railway
companies have monopoly of the
transportation business, and all of
the people are of necessity compelled
to purchase transportation in one
way and another. Therefore it is not
fair or just that the companies
should have the exclusive right to
fix the rates; and, on she other hand,
IL is not so fair that each individual
should have the right to command
transportation at his own price.
Consequently justice and fairness
: require that these rates shall be
made by disinterested party, and
the most disinterested party in the
state,
go public opinion said, Let the
state, through the legislature, estab-
lish in advance fair rates; but let
: them be fair, and If they are claimed
70 be too low to be reasonably COM
pensatory, let the state, through its
J courts, ON application of the compan-
; les, investigate, and if the claim is
: well-founded, the courts will disre-
: gard them.
, He then goes on TO show that
while the majority of the United
, States supreme court in the great
? Wisconsin case in October, 1876, ex-
{ pressed the view that the legislature
, had authority to arbitrarily fix rates
+. which were valid and binding, even
{ though they were so low rs to de-
, prive the companies of all net reye-
, nue., vet the same court, in October
1890, dust fourteen years later than
the Wisconsin case, in the Minnesc-
"a cu-n, Ia reatlirming the right Of
legislatures to establish rates, limited
such power 20 making rates reasoua-
BILE in the sense Of being fairly re-
muueratiye to the companies. Mr..
~uckney then significantly add:
"rhis opinion seemed to be regard
ed ~ highly satisfactory TO the COM
panies, and to that element which
may he called the wall street con-
tingent 70 tine majority Of the pee-
pie In the western states il was also
satisfactory, as it was the conclusion
at which they had arrived nearly
twenty years iii advance Of the
court
80 these few remarks are good
medicine now for polttiD iaus like
JeiTris, for example, who think tho
people don't know what they want or
what they are doing, and who IL re-
ply 10 public sentiment liz this state