Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-05
FIFTY YEARS AG0IN
THE.STAR. =,

| When railroads were first projected
in this country. and for q number
OF decades follow
Consolidating ing. they were small,
p.:,- independent lines.
"oys' originally serving To-
cal communities and as links between
large cities not many miles apart.
Gradually these lines were extended
and then came an era of consolida
4 tons in the course Of which many
or the separate companies were
brought together. In The Star OF
August %, 1870. is a reference. as
follows, to this ns..er:
| The Chicago Tribune is exposing
with a vigorous hand the evils of
the system Of consolidating railway
companies in this country and in
England. A striking popularity of
this consolidation of railway cor
porations is that it is wholly illegal,
4 There is no warrant of law and no.
| principle of law by which it can be
| sanctioned or sustained. 1t is rank
assumption and usurpation. These
| corporations arc chartered for spe-
| cific purposes. These charters can
L
| state governments that issued them.
The consolidated corporations-eN-
l cept SO far. as they rest upon their
| several acts Of incorporation-have
| are frauds upon the public. So well
| established il the legal inability Jefs
| railroad companies to consolidate
| their charters that no case involving
that question has ever been allowed
| to be brought to a final decision.
The consultations have been accom-
plished by silencing every person OBJ
| jecting, and this process has cost
vast amount of money. which the
public have in the end been ooAgeo
| to pay Fortunately. the work has
been so overdone as to bring about
direct issue between the people and
1 the monopolists. That issue has to
be tried at the polls. in the Iigisia
ture and before the courts. In illiF
nois the people have already taken
| ground in the matter. BY the new
constitution no further consultations
| can take place in that state, nor can
a dollar of fictitious stock be issued
After every census there has been
a feeling that some people have been
missed Sometimes this
Incomplete feeling is SO strong that
entire communities have
/ Vensus' as ked for recounts.
There was something Of that idea
prevalent here fifty years ago. as
this paragraph in The Star of August
20, 1870. indicates:
There is ground for apprehension
that the whole population Of the city
census takers. In Conversation on
| Saturday with two gentlemen re-
siding in different parts of the sec
ond ward they both averred that 90
far their premises had not been
visited and that they had reason %
believe that their names and those
of the other inmates had not gone
| on any list. 1t is possible they may
be mistaken. but too much care can
| not be taken by those charged with
the important duty to see that every
name In the city appears on the list.
| II the census was deficient in the
recording Of all the human beings OF
| the capital fifty years
Live Stock ago there was no doubt
that much live stock
n Large. was in evidence that
jcould have been enumerated by any
lenterprising census taker. One Of the
Conspicuous features of the capital.
Ieven as late as the early seventies.
was the presence Of these creatures
wandering through the streets. But
better times were to come. In The
iStar of August 80, 1879. is this para
igraph;
Hitherto the owners of the pigs
land cows and geese pastured In the
istreets of Washington have had 1t all
their own way. in spite of law or de-
lcency. And since Mayor Emery has
undertaken to enforce the law some
'of them have had the assurance 10
!send protests to the councils. asking
THAT the law be repealed or that sec
!tions of the city be set apart for pas
Iturage ground. They do not seem
likely to receive much countenance
from that quarter. Several OF the al
tdermen took occasion last night b.
characterize the nuisance in proper
terms. We trust that the police will
now feel encouraged to proceed WHIP
1.-THE execution of the mayors order re-
Iquiring the enforcement of the law.
They have already seized at least
dozen of the vagrant pigs and geese.
and if they proceed with zeal they
may. before they are gray-headed,
make considerable fnroads upon the
thousands Of animals at large. 1t is
to be hoped that they will be at least
able to keep up with the natural in
crease, as the pasturage, including all
the gardens, grass plats, shrubbery
and shade trees Of the city. is barely
ample for the present stock"
~ ,
In the course of TIL dispatches fronnJ
France telling Of the progress Of the
military campaign refer
Argonne ence was made to q GER
.. tain woody region" in
Ho1ess' which an important series
Of the fights occurred. A paragraph
in The Star of August 81, 1870. thus
Identifies this section:
1.-The woody region, in which the
latest series of fights are supposed to
have taken place. is probably the wax
ley of the Argonne. in the depart
ments of Meuse and Ardennes. 1t was
formerly a forest. and is still heavily
wooded in parts. 1t forms plateau
extending from Toul to Mezieres and
separating the basins of the Aisne and
Meuse. The French still hold some of
the advantageous points upon this
wooded plafeau and If officered with