Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-06-29
RAILROADS MONOPOLY.
Nine Men Control the Traffic ~
the United States.
DAN PLUMBER SHIPPERS AT WITT,

DAN PLUMBER SHIPPERS AT WILL
ny means of Consolidation Com matt.
ton Has Been Eliminated o,
al Mercy of Northumberland
MUS Pass n LAW to Fix u,.,.w
Rates.
"A great many people think that II ia
impossible for congress to contro, tho
1a'lroads without owning them-that is
~ say the railroads are above all law
ana can plumber shippers and the mi.
TIC at Will because the railroads are on
d par With other corporations that
manufacture and sell their products
lor all they can get for them and M
raw can stop them. Now a railroad
corporation is quite different from an
industrial corporation, as the state i'm
parts 10 the railroad corporation the
d privilege Of her soyereientv-
une right of eminent domain. This
right to acquire the property Of the cit
lien IN spite OF his objection by paying
us value has impaired to the railroads
a semlpublic character, and nearly ev.
cry state has hedged them about with
special laws for their protection and
the protection of the public. n sew
eral states have appointed commissions
70 supervise them and fix the maxi
mum rates which they may charge.
Inc courts have decided that the states
the United States have the power
TO thus pass laws to control the rail-
roads.
Line railroads are a monopoly, thew
nave no competitor for their local BUSH
ness, the people living on the line of
road are compelled to use 1t for the
transportation of the products Of their
FARMS, their mines and of manufactur-
ed products. Their imports must come
over the same line, and it is only
where two or more railroads reach any
gwen point that there is any possibili-
ty OF competition. Under the railroad
consultations that have taken place In
the past few years this competition has
oSSA Ill ~ cFCIN CASE.
and the public are now at the mercy
OF the great Wall street capitalist and
spectators who control the railroads,
and we have, the authority Of a great
railroad president that nine men hold
absolute sway. To say that the people
through their state and national GOV.
. ernmentS cannot protect themselves
from the rapacity Of these multimil
. Lonaires would be to acknowledge thai
popular government is 4 failure. The
only question to settle is to whom
shall the right be given to fix the max
1mum rates the great railroad combina
tons shall charge and the honesty anC
ability the interstate commerce com
c mission has shown points to it as emf
nently fitted for such a task.
President Roosevelt has given in tt
the element Of his party that trai1
with the railroads by postponing tht
time to call congress together to con
slider the railroad rate question. Be
fore congress adjourned last spring
: when the president found he could no
get the Republican leaders Of the sen
i ate to consider the rate fixing bill, b,
was strenuously talking of an eXtr;
session forthwith, but the railroad in
= f1uence prevailed, and the calling O
g the extra session was postponed to tn
early fall. Before the president start
ed OH his bear hunting trip it wa
given out that Oct. 1G had been settled
= upon us the date for congress to meet
But again the railroad influence pre-
II vailed, the Republican leaders in con
gress having again persuaded the pres
ident that it might be disastrous t
the party in some of the states holdini
elections this year for congress to NEE
before the elections were held. Anoth
er postponement followed, and the dat
: quite uncertain if any extraordinary
Is session will be called, for the railroa
to influence is still working for delay
backed by the advice Of Speaker Car
non and the stand patters- This shil1y
shally policy hardly COMFORTS with til
expressed determination that has bee
attributed to President Roosevelt t
relieve the people from railroad extol
ton at the earliest possible moment.
Of course all these for della
I'd have been Matched up by the shar
railroad attorneys and lobbyists an
have been impressed Oh the presfden
: by the Republican leaders who are th
10 willing tools Of the corporations. 1t
ii, pleasant to record that the Democrat
congressman have kept clear of Ties
entanglements and as far as hear
from have declared their willingness
ba to meet when called upon and the
determination to vote to control tn
despotic acts Of the railroads by g1v1n
the interstate commerce commissio
power to fix maximum rates.
in
--Sr EAnhf