Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1910-10-07
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE SAYS
CONTROL OF RAILROADS BY
STATE is MENACED.
WILL FIGHT DECISION IF ELECTED
Believes Action of the Fedora! Master
in Chancery Indicates Serious
Tendency of the
Times.

James Gray, democratic nominee for
governor, made his first declaration on
public questions in an interview com.
menting on the decision of Judge c.
e. Otis, master in chancery, in the
Minnesota railroad rate cases. Mr..
Gray takes occasion in his interview
to sound an alarm against impending
advances in railroad rates, and pledges
that if elected governor he will use
every effort to prevent such result.
The Otis findings, he says, give the
roads the power of control over the
state, rather than the state over the
roads. Mr.. Gray's statement follows:
Mr.. Gray's Remarks.
Roosevelt in his recent western
trip declared that the greatest danger
confronting the American people is the
united effort of the special interests
to control the governments of both
state and nation. He said the duty
of the hour is to drive the special in
terests out Of our public life.
Roosevelt is right: These inter-
and enforcement of the law, and
through the courts, wherever they can,
they are seeking to have the powers
of government curtailed, and laws that
are, distasteful to them declared void.
Tendency Of Times.
"The recent decision by the master
in the federal court at st. Paul in the
Minnesota rate cases is a startling il
Illustration of the tendency of the times.
The court seems to have held in these
cases that the powers of the state are
subordinate to the powers of the rail
road companies incorporated under the
laws of the state.
1T is unnecessary to say that accord
ing to the plan of our government the
states have the exclusive control over
all domestic matters, and the federal
government has exclusive control over
matters which affect the people Of
more than one state. On this basis
the control of railroads has been divid
ed, the states controlling the business
of the railroads beginning and ending
in the state, and the federal govern
ment controlling the business begin.
ming in one state and ending in an
other.
Basis Of Attack.
In the exercise of it's power, this
state, through it's legislature, in 1907,
passed law reducing passenger fares
q tn which
prevails in nearly all surrounding
states. They also passed laws reduc-
ing freight rates to some extent; all
these laws applying only to business
beginning and ending in this state.
The railroads attacked these laws in
the federal courts and asked to have
the state enjoined from enforcing them
for two reasons: First, because it is
claimed the rates are so low as not to
allow the roads reasonable profit on
the business; and, second, because a
change Of the rates in Minnesota re-
ouired the companies to make some
changes in their rates in other states,
and for that reason the state laws con-
flicted with the federal authority.
LAS I have already stated, the laws
themselves did not require any change
of rates on business going into other
states. The claim of the roads simply
is that, in the interest of equality, they
would feel compelled to make changes
in their rates in other states to CORE.
spond with the. change of the rates
here, and that, therefore, Minnesota
must be deprived Of the right to make
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