Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-08-23
Railroads and the Federal Judiciary.

two cents per mile passenger rate
then why should there be 80 much
ado made over the position taken by
GOV. Glenn. Of North Carolina. in
contcnding for the enforcement of
the two and one-uuartrr cents mile
aye rate in that State? In Alabama
the situation seems 10 he somewhat
intensified over the enforcement of
the local railway law, under some
what similar circumstances.
! BY what is termed, in common
parlancc. the Granger cases. about
twenty years ago. the United States
Supreme Court decided that the
matter of fixing rates for corporate
service to the public was one of local
concern in which state sovereignty
was supreme. Since that ruling was
made, the same court has reccdcd
from its former position, by holding
| if railway traffic and passenger rates
are placed at too low Il figure, pur
suant to any State law, and the
corporation cannot make profit on
its investment, such enactment is
unconstitutional and void, in that
the corporation and its stockholders
are deprived of their property with
out due process of law, and are de-
MED the equal protection of the laws.
The former position of the Federal
tribunal and the present contention
of Gov. Glenn, advance the argu-
ment that these corporations are of
statutory creation, do business with
in the boundaries of a State by grace
OF its sovereignty, that the action of
the State in that behalf is supreme,
exists as one of the reserved rights
under the United States c0nstitu-
ton and the amendments thereto.
1t is claimed, if the power of the Fed
eral courts be once granted to exist
in such cases, the railroad companies
and other public service corporations
having their own peculiar systems of
bookkeeping and financiering, can
make any sort of q showing to suit
their purposes, may show that rail-
reading is a losing undertaking, while
their high officials receive princely
salaries, suddenly become financial
magnates, spend millions of dollars
annually in corrupting legislatures
and obtaining immunities. The out
come of this important controversy
will be watched with great interest.
Gov. Glenn has already put the Fed
eral judiciary on trial.
1t is inaccurate to assert the old
doctrine Of State rights is about to
be revived; a different and a grander
principle is involved; individual ini-
tiative is coming into the foreground.
Political action in this respect is the
expression of economic conditions.
The actions of Gov. Glenn and the
Alabama officials merely afford fore
ible examples of the workings of
this underlying principle. Our states
men will do well to catch the breeze
and adjust their sailing apparatus
accordingly. The barriers against
honest thought cannot long be main
tanned. Truth the eternal years of
God are hers; error is fleeting and
finally succumbs amid its votaries;
the place thereof knows it no more.
Applying this postulate of indi-
vidual initiative in the concrete, it
does not signify that the State as q
political entity is trying to get the
upper hand of our centralized gov
eminent at Washington City, but
the people, through State agency
nearer their own firesides, propose to
reach forth and correct whatever
evils may menace their well-being,
keep watch on their own local Of
ficials, see that they respect their
trust and perform their duties. I'm
less signs fail, this movement is
bound to gather momentum, and we
will see that the trust and corporate
greed have passed the acme of their
power.