Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-06-10

union. The state legislatures are
nearer to the people than congress is.
A congressman represents some 2O0.-
Ouo people and is personally known to
out lew of them. A member of the
state legislature represents a smaller
constituency and is nearer to the
voters. The influence which the rail-
ROADS can bring to bear upon a con-
sressman or senator is much greater
than the influence which they can
bring TO bear upon members of the.
| legislature, while the influence of the
| people over their representative de-
creases in proportion to the population
of his district.
railroad development is not COM
| plete, 1t is but in its infancy, and the
surrender by the state of all power
TO regulate means an enormous extern
sion OF the powers of the federal gov
eminent, and paralysis of the power
OF the state. Jefferson presented an
| unanswerable argument in favor of
the dual form of government and the
| argument is even stronger now than it
was In his time for the dangers of
Capitalization are even greater than
| they were then.
Instead of saying that efforts at
| state control are sure to be nullified
IN one way or another sooner or later"
the president should JON with the
Democrats in demanding the enact
ment of legislation which will protect
the states from the gradual extension
OF the power of the federal courts. He
refers to the Minnesota and South
carolina decisions. as illustrating ''how
impossible is dual control of national
commerce" The Democrats propose
remedy. They say that the district
and circuit courts of the federal gov
eminent should not have jurisdiction
10 suspend state laws. Let the rail-
roads deal with the state courts first.
III the state courts deny justice they
can have their appeal from the highest
court IN the state to the federal court
IL Is not the attempt to separate the
control that results in grotesque abb
Surdlty. The abSurdity is in permit
ing federal judge to suspend a state
law while he looks up the question of
its constitutionality. 1t is absurd that
the railroads should be given the pre-
sumption as against the people of a
state
| The Jurisdiction of the federal court
mas been extended on the theory that
IL was necessary to protect vested in
terests. but that is false issue. The
property rights of the citizen are pro-
tected by the state courts, and no one
can complain that the protection is not
complete. The corporations have
gone into the federal courts in order
to secure an advantage over the indi-
V1dual, and the real question is
whether the man-made giant, called
corporation, shall exercise rights de-
MED TO the God-made man. 1t is not
hostility to corporations that leads the
democratic party to oppose the de-
mands now made by railroad corpora
tons. The Democratic party believes
in the corporation as a legitimate or
ganization. The great majority of the
corporations are advancing the public
interest and contributing to the public
welfare, but few of these corpora
lions have asserted rights that are in
imical to the public and these corpora
tons must be restricted, restrained
and controlled. 1t is enough that the
| corporatlon-a creature of law
should be equal to the individual who
makes the law; it should not claim
superior rights. The presidents posi-
ton is not only an untenable one, but
it is one that menaces the welfare of
the nation.
/ In submitting this criticism The
Commoner does not reflect upon the
good intention Of the president, but at
tributes the presidents error to his
leaning towards the Hamiltonian idea
of government. Hamilton distrusted
the masses and favored centralized
| government. The president is Hamil-
tonian rather than Jeffersonian in his
ideas. He has never advocated the
election of senators by the people al
though even the Republican party in
congress has declared for it three
times. He must know to what extent
predatory wealth controls the United
States senate through the present
method of election, and yet he has
never raised his voice in favor of the
popular election of senators. Unless
the rank and file of the Republican
party is strangely blind to the influ-
ences which are at work, there will be
an overwhelming protest against the
presidents plan for the absorption of
power by the federal government.
/ - -