The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-01-19
Follow In Chains

r.
when they have spoken up the fun
damental principles of government
have been populists. James A. Car
field in congress in 1874 said:
"Since the dawn of history the great
thoroughfares have belonged to the
people, have been known as the kings
highways, and have been open to the
free use of all on payment OF small
uniform tax or toll to keep them in
repair. But now the most perfect, and
by far the most important roads known
to mankind. are owned and managed
as private property by comparative
ly small number Of private citizens.
cit is painfully evident from the ex-
perience of the last few years that
the efforts of the states to regulate
their railroads have amounted to III
! tie more than feeble annoyance. In
many cases the corporations have
| treated such efforts as impertinent
| meddling, and have brushed away leg
islative restrictions as easily as Gull
|liyer broke the cords with which the
r. / .:s,,inutians attempted to bind him.
In tlxza.. contests the corporations
have bec0me ~0SpsciOus of their
strength, and havexertelSa upon the
work OF controlling theAstates Al,
ready they have captured some or thf
oldest and strongest of them, and these
discrowned sovereigns now follow IN
) chains the triumphal chariot OF thell
conquerors. And this does not imply
: that merely the officers and represen
: tatiyes Of states have been subjected
b | to the railways, but that the corpora
q i lions have grasped the sources ant
S fountains of power, and control tn
v choice of both officers and representa-
r / lives
John Stuart Mill made as strong
t statement of the populist theory con
n corning the government ownership O
. railroads as was ever made by an
4 man He said:
q in attempting to enumerate the nee
essary functions of government, "
8 find them to be considerably NOR
: multifarious than most people are I
i first aware of, and incapable of bein
9 circumscribed by those very definii
III lines which 1t is often a.
tempted to draw. around them. w
r. sometimes, for example, hear 1t sal
4 that governments ought to cOnfir
"a themselves to affording pr0tecti0
: against force and fraud; 81
i why should people be protected
III their government; that is, by their ow
Il collective strength, against: violena
# and fraud and. not against other evil
III except that the expediency is moi
s obvious
! ssEhe third exception which I sha
8 notice to doctrine that goyernmel
: can not manage the asfairs OF indivit
= uals as we'll as individuals if1sgAselye
% has reference to. the great class Of cast
!. in which the individuals can only mai
= age the. concern by delegated agenc,
- and in which the so-called privai
= management is, in point of fact, hare
4 ly better entitled to be called maj
agement by the persons intereste
than administration by public 0
~ ficer. This applies to the ca
=. of road. canal, or railway. Thes
AZ are always, in great degree, pract
o cal monopolies, and governmel
- which comedies such mOnopOlies III
70 reservedly to a private company do
rs much the same thing as if it above
a. an Individual or an association to lie,
: any tax they choose for their ov
: benefit, etc"