The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1910-05-13

each OtnerS pardilet OF competing
lines, and pool your interests, and fix
| up the rates to suit you. For the
commission would have no more pow
er over them than they would have
to control the affairs of the state of
Kansas, and no one knows that any
better than the railroads themselves.
Before you take this step it will pay
you to address a letter to the attorney
general or the corporation commits
sion, and await their answer.
| Section 9. Here is the section that
has caused all this unrest. and stop
ped all railroad building in this state,
and the United States For that matter.
Now notice the wording of this sec
tion closely Neither shall any rail-
road company, transportation COM
| pany, Or transmission company or
ganized under the laws of this state,
consolidate by private or judicial sale,
or otherwise. with any railroad com
Ipany, transportation company, or
transmission company organized un-
der the laws of any other state, or
of the United States"
Now if you will notice the reading of
this section closely you will see that
lit does not prohibit the sale of any
railroad built under the laws of the
state, to any other railroad built or
cooperating under the laws of this
state, but only prohibits railroads that
are not state roads, or doing business
under the state laws from .consolidat-
ing with railroads, who have no char
tiers in the state, but are foreign rail-
roads or corporations, or oil pipe line,
or transmission companies, who wish
to do business in the state without
becoming citizens of the state. Now
there is just one thing, these foreign
corporations can do to become good
citizens, and have the respect of all
good, law-abiding citizens, and that
lis. to take out a charter and domes-
ticate and become law-abiding citk
zens, and then we will extend the glad
hand to them and treat them the same
as all other citizens are treated. You
fought not to ask any more and we
should not accept anything less.
Section 2. Superseded by section
49 if you vote "Yes." No railroad or
other public corporation in existence
at the adoption of this constitution
shall have the benefit of future legis-
Ilation, except on condition of com
plete acceptance of the provisions of
Il this constitution, applicable alike to
all public corporations. Provided that
nothing shall be construed as validat-
ing any charter that may be valid,
or having any of the conditions con-
tanned in any charter. Now If you
can see anything wrong with this sec
tion, your vision of right and justice
lis deeper than mine. This provides
that all roads or corporations who
want to do business in this state, that
are willing to accept this constitution
and laws, the same as you have to do,
my dear reader, whether you want to
or not can have all the benefit Of fu-
ture legislation the same as you or
any other citizen. Now what more
ought any reasonable law-abiding citi-
zen ask than to be placed upon an
equal footing with all other citizens
and business interests of the state.
The sooner railroads come to the con-
clusion that they have the same rights
as all other interests in the state
where they are doing business, and
will ask no special privileges. but
when 'In Rome they will be Romans,
and not undertake to play with mark
ed cards, but will put put their money
into business, and trust that business
to the care of the state laws and Off
GERS and courts in whatever state they |
may go, then and not until then, will
they have the confidence of the peo
pie.
Section IL. This section provides
that no railroad shall transport any
commodity manufactured or mined or
produced by it, which it may own in
whole or in part. except such as may
Ne Necessary for the conduct of its
business as a common carrier. Now
this section was passed to prevent the
railroads from owning or operating the |
coal mines of this state. and was one
of the demands made by the Farmers
Union and Federation of Labor, can
you see anything wrong with it? Or
do you believe that some foreign
railroad, who has its charter in New
Jersey. or some other state, and
would like to do business in this state,
provided you viii allow them to do SO
without domesticating in this state,
and not subject themselves to our
laws, or state courts, but allow them
to mine all the coal in the state. and