The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-03-04
By LINCOLN sTEFFENs.

i
one OF the sources OF the corruption OF
the men and OF the government OF at
least one OF the New England States.
Politely. honestly. excellently. Messrs.
Lodge, Mccall and Littleneld represented
the systom
And, so far us the system Is estab-
lished hare. that Is tho way 1t is served
politely, Honestly" most exccllentiy.
oh, tho House .'gets scared before cleo
tons. but even then 1t is not bribed.
"rhe House is too big to buy" ! hear.
AS In state legislatures. the System, hav-
| ing the Senate. leaves tho lower branch
to be handled by the discipline Of party
organization or checked UP" ny the
Senate. And. as for tho Senate. Senator
Aldrich said Che told colleague who
| told mel that there were In TINT body
only some hal; dozen men who took
money. SO we are through with bribery
at last; when we came to Washington
we rose to higher plane.
But we arc not above business. And VI,
should be above business. can hear
the good business man exclnim why
And | think / can answer him: Our
government should be above oil OF w.
II Is sovereign and 1t should dominate
all other interests not absolutely, but
genially and Justly and finally. II we
clash, either as individuals or as inter-
ests, and II the laws and tho courts In
the course OF their routine, cannot and
do not Judge fairly between us. we should
appeal to tho Representatives of all OF
us hero and in our states, for better
laws and better enforcement OF laws.
Even the railroads should be FREQ to
come here to get laws or to prevent
legislation, but--and hero Is the point
the railroads shou.l find hero not rep
NJ rail reDreHpnf-
atlves OF I'LL OF us. AT this very mo-
nent. the hired counsel of railroads
should be free to come here to ask
that the Hepburn-Dolliyer bill be not
passed. But that isn't what / see The
spectacle, as see it-and II is spec
tacle-is this;
We. tho people OF the United States.
are the petitioners. We arc coming here
asking through tho President that thai
bill be passed so as TO relieve us from
certain abuses practiced everywhere by
our chartered common carriers. the rail-
roads. And the representatives OF those
railroads and their allied corporations, sit
here enthroned; and they decide upon our
case. They may decide in our favor. but
the intoerable fact of 1t all is-thoy de-
eide. They rule; they may be good rulers;
but they rule.
Take the rate bill, which we have fol-
lowed through the House Maybe It should
be defeated; maybe 1t is bad to let Il
government commission fix the prices of
transportation. But somebody must. The
railroads have failed TO do 1t properly:
they have failed purposcly and intelli-
gently. And they have failed because.
having corrupted our politics, they lave
dominated our government; and because.
having put themselves above government
control, they have been unable to SUBJ
ject themselves and their agents to self
control. In brief, they have abused their
power, and they are abusing their power
now, over men and over cities of men.
Among the petitions before Congress-
is one from 'the city of Danvlle," Vir-
GINA, which illustrates this pretty we'll.
The Southern Railway IS the common
carrier down there. and Samuel spen-
Ger, its president. Is the man who man
aged tho railroads fight till futile"
appeared. Danville was all right up to
1856: 1t had two railroads In compete
ton But In that year the Southern
Railroad purchased tho Virginia Mid
land. and" says the petition, deprived
Danvile Of the competing line and OF
Its equal freight rate Advantages Dam
Vile had some spirit. however and in
1880 1t subscribed large sum to help
build new competing railroad. 'Then.'
says the petition, after operating few
years as an independent line, 1t was pur-
chased by the said Southern Railroad,
and since said purchase the petitioner,
the city of Danville, has been subject
to the will and mercy OF said Southern
Railroad Company"
There we have a city OF 1900 jnhabi-
tants confessing itself In the power OF
a railroad. What does the railroad
do with Its power? The petition tells.
1t says that the railroads In agreement
established favored points" to which
they deliver goods for less than thew
demand and receive for the transpor
tntlon OF similar commodities under SINH
lar conditions to other points In tho
state OF Virginia. the haul to said other
points being shorter than to the favored
points Two OF these favored potnts
are Lynchburs and Richmond" COM
petitors with Danvile for trade In the
same territory. Then the city gives ex-
amplcs OF rates: by the long haul.
through Danville to Lynchburg the rate
on sugar is 2l1a cents a hundred weight:
to Danyile. 261a cents on leather, al
cents to Lynchbnrg; to Danville, 81 cents!
lhe president Of a railroad in tho
northwest got mad' at a CITY on bIs
limo once, and he declared that he would
make tho grass grow In tho streets OF
that town, and he came pretty near doing
It before he died, don't know what
Samuel Spencer has against Danville.
c!tizons OF the town say the rail.
road men "got mad at them for build
Ing their independent line and trying TO
ne free This may be ina ginatlon; the
true reason for the discrimination
against Danville may he merely a mat.
ter of the business convenience of the
Southern Railroad. But that doesn't
matter. That doesn't help Danyiile. 4
Danville doesn't want grass to grow In
Its streets. and tho city's petition saws
that the advantage given by Its common
carrier to the rival cities. sis deprivlng
It {Danville) of Its trade, cutting down
It's population. increasing tho cost OF
living to It's people, furnishing the
value of Its real estate, and increasing
the burden of taxation on Its citizens.
New business Enterprises and capitalists
seeking Investment will not look at Dan
Vile on account OF the freight discrimi-
nation against It." Therefore the city
of Danville asks Congress- to empower
the Interstate Commerce Commission to