Mexico weekly ledger., 1908-04-30

there was no check to the rates that
might be charged by other public utl-
ity corporations, except the benevo-
lence of the operators of such corpora
lions. Experience teaches that 1t Is
not prudent to trust the generosity OF
the owner Of a monopoly; and every
public service corporation has a mo-
nopoly. With the enormous growth Of
public service corporations 1t has be-
come necessary for some governmental
agency TO regulate their charges In
order to prevent extortion. There is
no necessity for regulating the charges
OF individuals or corporations that en-
gage In ordinary lines of business open
to competition. The law of competi-
Won fixes their charges upon a reason
able basis. With a public service mo-
nopOly, the public must either pay the
rates fixed, or do without the utility.
In such instances the law should step
in and supply the regulation that ordi-
Darily Is done by competition. h
municipalities OF the state already had
the power to grant franchises, but they
had no power TO regulate the rates
charged by the owners of these fran
chlses. They had the power to create
a monopoly, but no power to regulate
the monopoly after it was created.
They were given the right to create,
hut were given no control over their
creatures. If a city is good enough for
a public utility corporation to operate
in and good enough for such corpora
ton to make money in, 1t should be
good enough to regulate the rates
charged the public for the use Of such
utility. Believing that the cities and
towns should have that control, / rec
commended the passage Of an act, In &C
cordance with the democratic platform
of 1906. comforting full power upon
municipalities to regulate the rates OF
street car companies, lighting COM
panies, and all public utilities operat-
ing In such municipalities. This act,
was defeated at the regular session CT
1907. Immediately after the close OF
this session, an extra session was
called, for the purpose of passing this
act and other important laws, with the
result that the extra session enacted
a law, whereby each city and town In
the state Is given the absolute power
to regulate the rates OF public utilities,
and Is thereby enabled to protect its
citizens against injustice or inequal-
tiles. Under this law each city a
fight its own battles. settle Its W
problems. and succeed or fail on its
own merits. If any city in the state
does not secure full information and
proper regulation of public utility cor
porations operating in such city. the
people Of that city alone are to blame,
for they have the remedy placed in
their hands il they will only use 1t.
State Primary Law. '
In the campaign Of 1904. ! urged that,
a man should not only be free as a
birthright, but he should be free polit-
ically, and that all men should not only
have the right OF suffrage. but the
right to aspire to positions of trust and
honor, without the consent OF any one
other than the people. Believing that
that government is best which Is near
\ est the people, and more eflectually to
place the government In the hands OF
the people, | advocated a statewide
primary law. The first session Of the
general assembly during this adminis-
%tration failed to enact such a measure.
although 1t was one of the planks In
the democratic platform Of 1904. Again
1 urged II before the people. and again
IT was placed in the democratic plat
| 10TH Vi ictbs dHQ TIT QNihfNtA ~ HtfA"
eral assembly of 1907 enacted It Into law.
Under his primary system, which has
been sustained by the supreme court. the
power to nominate all state officers Is
II n primary election will be held all over
the state on the same day, by all political
parties, with the same number OF polling
places as In a general election. and the
expenses to be paid In the same manner.
Penalties are provided for Illegal voting
or fraud on the part Of Judges or clerks as
in general elections. This law dispenses
with the political boss. and the vote OF
the humblest counts as much as that OF
the highest. Under the old system, the
political boss, usually a man OF strong
mentality and feeble morality, could ma
~nipulate things so as to thwart the will
of the people. The professional politician
| delights In having many conventions and
primaries. The ordinary citizen, after at
tending one or two conventions or prima-
! ries, becomes weary and gives his atten-
) ton to other matters, leaving the field to
those who have nothing else 70 DO but TO
attend to politics. The result has been
that unless the people are Intensely
!. aroused nominations a been made. not
+ by the people, but by those who have
some selfish interest to serve. With this
state wide primary law, the nominees Of
J. all parties should represent the Will OF
. the people. Under this system two days
" will be devoted by the ordinary citizen to
u politics. one to go to the primaries. and
one to go to the polls and vote on the
general election day. The state primary
y law IA a triumph of popular sovereignty
d over machine rule and bossism.
The initiative and referendum consti-
> tutionai amendment. II adopted. will go
still further In giving the people power to
g run their own government,
: Education. &
In order that democratic government be
i effective the people must be alert and in
r t~ellIgent. In proportion as the education
OF the people becomes more general their
Capacity for self government is enlarged.
1t Is a wise policy for a state to educate
. its future citizens, not only in the Gle
q ments OF knowledge, but to become leaders
r Of thought The people OF Missouri have
n always been generous in their support
T" OF a broad and liberal public school sys-
TEN. The school funds, state, township
and seminary funds, amount to more than
thirteen millions dollars. This Is more
q than the total amount Of the school funds
Of the New England states and more than
equals those Of Ohio. Michigan and Wis
consin combined. The percentage OF
II school attendance In Missouri, according
:, TO school statistics, is greater than that
Of any other state, while the percentage
e OF i~literacy Is less by nearly fifty per cent
/. than the average In the United states,
L There is a schoo house within reach OF
s. every child In the commonwealth. Dur
. ing this administration the appropriations
u for the State University have been double
e what they we're four years ago. Two new
"a normal schools have been established, one
=. at Maryville in the northwest. and one az
d Springfield in the portion Of
ME- -.toR - nnOy tn. nm.