The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1910-10-06
THAT RAILROAD COMMISSION.

The republican state platform pledges for a state railroad commits
sion, non-partsan, and the members appointed because of their especial
ing for a vote OF N amendment to make it IN elective office.
Idaho needs mor and better railroads; just now there are many To-
calnies that arr handicapped for the ack of the railroads that would pay
the builders a big profit 1t is tobe suspected that ome of these To-
caltes would now be a lot better off if the lines that have been project
ed, by rumor o otherwise; for with a railroad prospect, and n definite
location or time for building establ she'd, there is a feverhsh unrest that
stops rational development-such is tie influence of the railroad on bust
ness life. 1t may not be a bad guess that some IF the railroad building
that is talked of If for the purpose tuencng 1egislaton-hs has
been done in other states until it is a by-word. The country must have
railroads; promise a man, or community, d nw railroad, n you can
have all the support that financial oft Will ever bring.
The Recorder is firmly convinced that both the railroads and the
people will be better for a capable railroad commission; if not now, at
the railroads, unchecked, unregulated, subject only to the perhaps sordid
will OF the "a whose demands for larerg and yet larger dividends put
him into the dangerous class; and on the other hand the sleeping but
potentially resistess people who in TIER awakening may use all their
strength in a Berserker effort to de troy rather than govern-and you
have all the elements of a French Revolution in finance, a disaster that
would stain the pages If history forar time. etBter head off these con
could now do the state great harm by a nagging interference with the
railroads which are as much a part of the state ad its prosperity a the
roads and farms and towns. And a weak CT venal commission might
only hasten the day of disaster. But there are good men in Idaho who
could be fair to both sides; check the railroads on n hand, and the
people o n the other, and steer both into a mutual prosperity that will
last, being founded on equal justice and not on "an the traffic will
bear" or how cn we cripple II gouge the company"
The oppointve feature is a desirable II The board must be non
son. or rather bipartisan. and 10 governor, or set of conditions re-
sponsible for him, could ever control more than onethird of the board.
This makes for justice and fairness
Since the plank is in the platform, and the republican party is sure
to win, it may be reasonably agreed that the railroad commission is an
assured thing To make it fair to both sides. so that it shall esab-
lih permanently prosperous relations between the railroads and the peo-
pie, is now the great need. It maybe that we need this commission
right now, to guard against evils that have not yet all come tic light; it
IS certain that the commission idea is going to win. The people want
TO be fair; few of them believe in confscauon of railroads or killing of
railroad men; also, few railroad owners actually believe in the "the pub
lie be damned" theory of rairoadfng If W e are to have a commission,
make it a credit and an asset to thestate and to the railroads which are
a vital part of the state. Idaho without efficient, prosperous railroads,
and lots of them. is and will always be a wilderness. Help make this
commission worthy the state.