The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-07-16

ny the HiohOpOllStS. IL Is the trust
magnate. not the opponents of the
trust VINO Is striking at property
rights. He trespasses upon the prop
erty rights of the small manufacture
er and the retailer and heartleSsly
drives him into bankruptcy He tres
passes upon the property rights of the
consumers. who have a right To pur-
chase what they need i'm a free mar,
ket at reasonable price. The mono
polist simply appropriates the proper>
" of others. The trust magnate Of
ten trespasses the property rights oil
the employe, whose skill and muscle
he utiliZeS. He encourage the en-
ploye to invest In a home and then he
sacrifices that home II he engages In
war with his laborers or finds IL
profitable TO dismantle his plant. Even
the property interests of the stock
holders are not safe in the hands OF
the trust magnates for he has been
known to depress the market for the
purpose of freezing out his associates
or in order to buy more stock at
low price.
The railroad presidents are also very
much concerned now lest their par
ticular form of property will be In.
jured by legislation, and they are
quick 10 describe as demagog1c all
arguments that are intended TO in
form the public intelligence and TO
arouse the public conscience on the
railroad question. What is the posi-
ton taken by the railroad presidents
They deny the right of the public act
ing through government officials. to
fix rates. or they deny that these Of
ficialS are competent TO nix rates. AS
to the right there can be no question.
The rates charged by a nilroad to a
large extent determine the value OF
the land contiguous TO the railroad.
When railroad manager materially
increases the rate on an important ar
ticle of commerce he increases the
revenues of the road, and in increas-
ed revenue increases the price OF the
stock. He therefore has ii in his pow
er to increase the value of the rail-
road property by increasing the trans
portation rate, he lessons the returns
of the farmer and, in SO doing, lessons
the value of the farm. which neces-
sarly depends upon the value of the
product.
Can any one seriously question the
right of the patrons OF the railroads
TO protect their own property? Or Is
railroad property the only property To
be considered? Because comparative
ly few persons enjoy the benefits of an
increase i'm the value of railroad stock
while the evil effect Of exhorbitant
rates is distributed over a large ter
ritory, many seem TO think only of
the beneficiaries. But in the discus
sion of property rights we are not NJ
liberty to ignore q small loss brought
to each of a large number of people
and think only of the considerable
gain secured by a few.
Neither do the railroad presidents
take "a tenable position when they in
sist that only railroad officials are
competent TO fix rates. If they WOULD
but apply TO this question the rule
which they apply to other questions.
they would know that the railroad
managers, instead of being especially
fitted to arbitrarily fix rates, are In
reality specially untitled for the work. |
The bias caused by pecuniary interest
is everywhere recognized. A judge is
not permitted to sit in his own case.
and II juror Is excused If he has the
slightest pecuniary interest in the re-
suit of the trial. And yet railroad
managers impudently assert that those
who have the largest peeuniary inter-
est in the fixing of the rates are just
the ones to be trusted with this inn
portant task.
If competition was free to work in
the fixing of railroad rates, the pa
irons Of the road could protect them> !
selves. but there is no competition at
all between intermediate points, and
the rates are often fixed by agree
ment at competing points 1t is as
absurd to say that the patrons should
depend upon the railroad managers
for justice i'm rates, as 1t would be to
say that "a plaintiff should submit his
case to a jury made up of defendants
in the case.
And So no matter what question is
under consideration, the reformer is
always misrepresented by those who
find "a profit In the existing conditions.
Not only is the reformer the real
defender of property rights, but he is
the best friend of the very persons
who abuse him. Just as that physi-
clan is the best one who points out to
his patient the dangers of the dis
ease from which he suffers and pro-
poses the best remedy no matter
how severe. so those are the hes,
friends of the rich who attempt TO
restrain excuses and TO correct abus,
eS.
jefferson In his first inaugural adj
dress describes the right OF election
by the people as "a mild and safe cor
receive of abuses which are Topped off
by the sword of revolution where
peaceful remedies are unproVided." |
The reformer seeks by peaceful means
to correct abuses which, if not re-
formed by legislation are sure sooner
or later to lead first. to bitterness be-
tween the classes and finally to vio-
lence Dickens in his Tale OF Two
Cities give his readers a picture of
the French revolution and points out
that the horrors OF the revolution !
We're but the natural result Of the
cruelties which the masses previously
suffered at the hands of the aristocra-
cy. This is his language:
Along the Paris streets. the death
carts rumble, hollow and harsh Six
tumbrils carry the days wine to La
Guillotine. All the deyouring and in
satiate monsters imagined since inn
agination could record itself, are fused
in the one realization. Guillotine. And |
yet there is not in France, with its
rich variety of soil and climate. a
blade, leaf, root. a sprig, pep
percorn, which will grow to maturity
under conditions more certain than
those that have produced this horror. |
Crush humanity out of shape once
more, under similar hammers. and i. |
will twist itself into the same tortur-
ed forms. Sow the same seed of ra-
pacious license and oppression ever
again, and ii will surely yield the