The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-09

extreme; but it's real purposes an'
hopes were clean and strong DIS III
scent of the fresh. moist earth turne(
bv the ploW. or as the aspect OF tn
new. ouiet morning when the ploWma1
fronts it to begin his daily toll. SO
notwithstanding mistakes and extrem'
measures sometimes cruel ana Amos
crushing, the great Granger movement
brought improvement and deVelopee
from chaos order. :,
During the first forty years of rail
road development in this tn
railroads were public and
pets. Their growth was one OF tn
worlds marvels. They were subsl'
died and forced and urged onward
by the Federal government, by states
cities, counties, townships. IN 1851
the railroad mileage Of these Unltec
States was % miles. In 1875. 1t was
1905 miles. After the panic Of 1873
followed a period Of tremendous ex-
pansion and growth, and then the
deluge of low prices and depression
Many railroads had been built with
reckless extravaganza and dlsregarC
for the future. The farmers were
heavily mortgaged and were offered
little or nothing for what they made
were confronted with ruinous freight
rates on all they shipped or received.
The railroads also suffered heavily. AT
competitive points rates were SO low
as barely to meet the cost OF opera
ton and the loss was Wrung from I'M
happy people at local and ~non-compe-
titive points. SO some communities
were practically forced to opulence
and extension of trading territory,
while others were ~strangled and
shrunk.
h Grange, the embattled farmers,
men of the same stock and spirit as
those who rallied to Bunke Hill and
fought there, rose to make war against
the railroads.. At this distance and
after lapse of long time we can see
the rights and wrongs on both sides
and the underlying causes. These men
fought on the facts Immediately in
front OF them and fought as for life.
The Oranges won. Now we railroad
men can be glad they did. Then it
seemed to mean ruin. Here in the
South we were engrOssed with other
matters. The white race was fighting
for it's supremacy and to regain and
hold power. The Western State legis-
latures adopted deadly laws against
the railroads., obeying popular sentl-
ment and the demands of the Oranges.
These measures were intended to regu-
late rates. Probably the most drastic
Of them all was the Potter" law,
adopted in 1874 by the legislature of
w IL 1d14AO dN ~
bitterly, but meanwhile they suffered
heavily. Not a railroad in Wisconsin
paid a dividend in the second year OF
the operation Of this law and but four
of them were able to pay interest on
their bonds. The law, however, was
declared constitutional and valid by
the Supreme Court Of the United States
in 1877; but meanwhile the pendulum,
having swung too far against the rail
roads, swung back. The farmers be-
gan to realize that while railroads
might be ~tyrannical, corrupt and OPP
pressive, they were necessary n
must be allowed to live and to offer
substantial returns to those who ad-
vanced the money to build them.
When railroad development and ex-
tension halted, the country stopped
growing. Therefore, the reaction
came. The farmers understood that
they lac made a mistake somehow.
They could not see it then as we see it
now, because they had not inside facts
and history to guide them. as we have
now. The American people, ex-
ulting in wonderful increases in wealth
and in the lengthening and improve
ment of lines and the opening up of
new country, retained their jealousy
of railroad domination, and continued
their resentment against rank dis
elimination in rates, the fostering of
AAOiopoiIco d1u Ju66IIAS VI SSCuIllIcS
which injured honest stock holders
and patrons alike. They resented and
resisted yet more bitterly the tendency
toward consultations and combina-
tions n the deprivation of competi-
ton. Through a most difficult and
complex tangle they sought the way
toward the safe medium between cut
throat and destructive competition,
and monopoly even more dangerous
and destructive. l believe we are
nearing the line.
Governmental authority can regu-
late the management Of existing roads,,
but it can not compel these roads to
build extensions into new territory, nor
I think it deSira BILE that the pow