East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-09-07

Ieuual ages ana cOnqueStS Oh klnBs
Today III persons own nearly 60 pc
cent Of its area, and out of its 5000,
900 population only about 1890,
own any land at all. The Laird o
Sklbo, Andrew Carnegie, some time o
New York and Pittsburg, possesses {
preserve about his castle approx
mately 20 miles by eight miles in ex
tent. Scotland is but a type of prev
alent conditions throughout the most
of the old world, and Thomas Car.
isles grim prediction that Americas
real social troubles will begin when
her public lands pass to private own.
ershlp was founded upon the sure
rock of racial experience.
This is a government of the people
We are the Moses and from out this
Red sea Of retardatlon we must
emerge. In the ultimate analysis the
people are usually right. Sometimes
they seem swayed by passion and
prejudice, but given time for consid-
Grafton they have solved correctly the
great questions presented in the
period of our national life. 1t is
time, therefore. that discussion Of
remedies for existent evTis here was
begun. Ultra conservatism, the doc
trine of laissez faire, always means
depression and ultimate decay. The
race moves forward by impulses, eth
er upon the blood waves of revolution
as with the Latins, or upon the
thought waves of agitation as with
the Anglo Saxon.
In the hope Of then arousing pub
lie interest and popular discussion,
offer the following tentative remedies
for the unjust and fateful conditions
which oppress our people and re-
tard the states development. With
the adoption of direct legislation Ore
gon became a pure democracy, and
In the prerogative to make laws and
amend the constitution may be found
the necessary weapons of self-preser-
walton.
The railroads are public service
they are creatures of
the state and owe to It a large duty.
Among their obligations may Justly
be regarded a requirement to utilize
, fare share of their profits as COM
non carriers within the state in such
extension of their lines as may be
to accommodate the people
md develop the commonwealth. The
common law is the expression of the
experience of English speaking peo-
Die for n thousand years, and neces-
iarily it reflects the changing con-
litions of the race. Courts have been
wise enough to adapt it to the needs |
# the centuries, so the law of public !
ervlce corporations with the new |
problems they offer must be made |
o adapt itself to new conditions as
hey present themselves.
None of us can countenance any |
cgislation confiscatory in character, |
- which would jeopardize property |
= investment, but the rights Of the
tate and of the people, who are the
tate, must always be maintained
upreme. The rights of the ere
ted can never be greater |
kon those of the creator. 1t
'ould certainly be just to every inter-
st. to provide by law that the rail-
Dad companies in oregon should first
ay their fixed charges, maintenance
nd operating expenses, interest upon
onds and a fair dividend upon capi-
n stock, and then that the surplus
ct profits shall be used in the con-
.ruction of new lines within the state,
uch legislation would be reasonable
I'd properly within the purview of
he recognized right of corporate
equation by the state.
Excessive Land Holdings.
I approach the solution of the prob
w of excessive land holdings with
'me hesitancy, because many of them
re in the hands of individuals and
ostensibly organized for
rivate purposes, and under the guar
ctees of the federal constitution the
lestions presented are, from legal
andpoint, complicated ones.
link 1t Will be admitted, however,
lat there can be no moral right by
hich lands essential to the comfort
nd contentment of the race, needed
n homes, can be indefinitely with
ED from settlement and develop
ent. The state surely must possess
me remedy. Reason is justice, and
stice must be the basis of all law
he American people can never per-
1t old world landlordism to be fas-
ned upon them.
The general government is now ap- '
.aling to the courts to compel the