Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1906-12-07
PLAN To PREVENT
RAILROAD REBATING
Judge Gaynor Wants U. S. to
Appoint Freight Agents.
NAY HAVE TO DO so, HE SAYS


gcsts New York Justice. but to See
That All Pay Prescribed Rate, No
More and No Less-DecIsres Favor
iiism In Freight Rates Greatest
Cri.ne of Our Day and Generation.
Justice William j. Gayuor OF the
New York supreme court In speech
at the Economic club dinner in Bos-
ton the other night made n novel sug-
gestion for the prevention of railroad
Relating, says the New York Ameri-
can.
Judge Gaynor's remarks were recelv-
ed with grave attention.
1T Is my belief" he said, that the
government should appoint the general
freight agent OF every railroad, and II
may have to do 80. for he, through his
subordinates, could stop the abuse at
once.
Some one will say, Yes, but he
could be bribed' Yes, OF course, for
that is always possible. But let us
remember that IL is not the rule, but
the exception, for high officials APP
pointed by the president Of the United
States or government to accept bribes
"As Hamilton said, contrive as you
may, in the last analysis you have 10
repose power in some one, and would
rather see the power in this instance
In the hands of a responsible and an
swerable government official than In
the hands OF individuals seeking their
own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
Il am not suggesting that the gov
| ernment through such freight agents
fix the rates. | would leave that as it
Is. The duty of such officials would
. not be to fix rates, but TO see that ev-
cry one paid the prescribed rate. no
more and no less"
At the outset of his remarks Justice
Gaynor pointed TO the degradation Of
the national house OF representatives
from deliberative body TO mere
puppet of its speaker and his commit
tee on rules"
Think OF the great railroad legisla-
ton OF last session being passed upon a
discussion limited to few hours in
the house Of representatives" he said.
"a discussion of six months would not
have been too long to work out TO the
last analysis SO great subject. and
the last analysis is what legislation
I should always he"
Judge Gaynor then said In part:
Let no one he under the deiusion
that there is any prejudice or hostility
to honestly acquired wealth. however
/ great. in this country.
1T used TO be a saying that you could
| hire half the people to shoot down the
/ other half; but. while that Is no longer
/ true, owing to the education Of the
many and the consequent shifting Of
| the center OF thought from the few to
the many, we must still consider the
Immense power of combined wealth
especially for evil
Gladstone thrilled the people of
Great Britain In his last successful
campaign by saying, Let us put our
trust not in titles nor In squlres nor In
peers nor in acres, but I'm the honesty
and intelligence OF the nation The
same sentiment should throb as a five
coal in the minds Of our public men.
There Is no danger Of the conflsca-
ton Of private property in this coun-
try any more than In England. But
the acquisition Of private property by
the dishonest use~of public franchises
and the aid Of cunning statutes Is Il
very different thing 1t is more than a
menace to our republican institutions;
1t Is fraught with their destruction II
suffered to continue. The moral odium
Of 1t would In the end debase us all.
and no base people can in the nature
Of things remain free, self governing
people.
ut has been difficult to get some peo-
pie to understand that our railroads
are not private roads, but our public
highways, just as much so as our roads
which run alongside Of them.
"Mr. Bryan recently suggested that
the government should take over the
railroads and run them. He based this
on the assertion that railroad is a
monopoly and that there should be no
private monopolies. His conclusion Is
sound, but | do not see that his pre-
mise is although there Is nothing nov
el or startling in his suggestion Of gov
N nj t;nn ,1,,,
three -fifths of the railroads of the
world are owned and operated by gov
ernment.
ANY favoritism in railroad rates
is absolutely unlawful and always was.
"The only new laws we needed on
that head was to enable lis to put in
prison railroad officials who should be
found guilty Of such favortism.
"Inasmuch as we now have such
laws the prosecution of the corporation
itself, a mere name which has no phys.
lcal body to he put in prison instead of
the guilty officials, is not having good
effect on the public mind, to say the
least.
1T is the guilty railroad official. how
ever high and even though he may
have arisen to a high place in the coun,
ellis or government Of the nation or
if he be only the local station agent in
village or the loneliest place, who
should be prosecuted.
:. This favoritism in freight rates is
the great test crime Of our day and gen
GRAFTON.
"To allow one man or set Of men tC
have their freight carried over the pub
lie highways at rate so much lower
than that which their rivals In bust