Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1907-11-20
BRYAN AND TIE RAILROADS.

sci for launching the Bryan c1mpaigr,
aud the "Grcat communcr - address
10 the faithful. on that uccasion. viii
b" taken ~ the formal statement Of
his platform. hut /, Is really unncccs.
snrv 20 remain on the gui yi,e - rx.
pcctaiiun So long. Mr. Bryan IL rand
ing out sample planks of his platform
with an entire lack Of any appearance
of reserve. " he has anything up his
slccv" for the nigLt of November %.
u must, indeed. bc strange and start
ling.
IN his speech, recently. ~ the JET
fcrson club celebration IN Milwaukee,
the distinguished Nrbrnskan ran The
gamnt of political issues pretty thor
oughly. Mr.. Bryan il always interest.
ing. whether az not he says ANYTHING
particularly new, AMI most 80. prob.
ably, when he attempts 10 reconcile
states rights with ais views on cor.
poration control. From Government
ownership, he has gone to the other
extreme. demanding. now. that the
black Republican fcdcralists keep their
DESIGNATING hands off tn. sovereign
rights of the states. sub. lie has be.
come a calhounist of the ultra type.
An that is needed to complete the
Characterization II n reasscrtion II the
right Of secession.
Condcmning President Rooscvclt's
plan for national incorporation of rail.
roads, Mr.. Bryan says il il in the in.
t"rcsts of the railroads, which desire no
greater federal regulation, but escap,
from state regulation. This is an un.
warranted conclusion, and has the ear.
marks of plain buncombc. Granted
that II is in the interest Of the rail
roads. The people do not wish 10 in.
iurc or destroy the roads. II IL for tn,
public good that the roads should pros
per. But they must prosper honestly,
and not through unfair cSsctions aud
discrimination.
II does not require AN extreme cXcr.
ton Of the intellect To conceive the
fact that the federal government, with
It's immense power. lransccnding ar,i
fetal state barriers. eau deal more III.
rcrily. and more effectively. with in.
terstaic carriers. or interstate corpora
tions of any kind. toan the scparnt"
states themselves. There may b. a
point at which the federal authority
under the Constitution. ceases. anL ~
which the state authority should be
gin. \ fine example of this is found
IN the pure food legislation. The sep
nrnt" states. with all tncir laws, never
accomplished u 1.-THE Of what the ma
tion has, with the federal pure food
law. Yet the latter. To he thoroughly
effective. has needed experimenting
with the stat" laws.
California, in adopting the identical
pure food statute enacted by Congress
has made the chain complete. We may
have perfect and thoroughly effective
railway regulation on the same plan.
At present. the roads are harrass.d and
distressed by n complexity OF stat,
laws which are in conflict with each
other. What In lawful and man,lniory
on one sid. Of state line is unlawful
and criminal on the other side. This
inconeruous condition will confirm"
until harmony IL established. and thar
is possible only in the manner indi
Gated.
To assume that the proposed federal
regulation viii be solely in the inter.
ests Of the roads, and neglectful Of the
rights of the public, il a wholly gratu.
lions superstition. II presupposcs thai
the quality Of citizenship of the woole
people is inferior to that of the several
sections of the people, segregated into
states. What il Mr.. Bryan's suthorit;
for such an unpatriotie opinionf 4
citizen Of state IL. also, n citizen of
the country. And the quality OF onr
American citizenship i- fairly uniform.
the country over.