Willmar tribune., 1922-01-04
RAILWAY LANvLESSNESS

a.zs5f RAILWAY. .LANvLESSNESS Ssssss1...#
BY The Cornfield Phi1osopher
#s There. is, probably no sing class or
business in this country, not even ex-=
cepting the booze interests, that has
been guilty Of so many infractions of
the law as the railways. This comes
partly from the anomaly Of a great
public utility, and necessity as it were.
being turned over to- private individu-
ais as a means of exploiting the public
The people of this nation built the
public highways, that is, the common
roads, but when it came to the rail
roads which are nothing but improV
ed public highways, the statesmanship
OF the times was not equal to the EN-.
ergency or. else the private exploiters
were. able to hypnotic those in power.
The matter was certainly not made an
issue in the 30's@ or 40's, when the
building of*railways was in it's infancy.
Our. government officials probably
felt that the power of Congress to
regulate common carriers and "com-
merce between the states" was ample
to prevent extortion or unreasonable
charges, and compel equal treatment
of all travellers and shippers.
The bright, keen witted and far
seeing men who early embarked in the
construction and operation of rail
roads in America are to be commend
ed for their foresight but for little
also 1o1 nf INN
ed into the game, the government it
self through it's power and duty 'to
construct post roads, would have
built the railways. -
The first step in railroad building is
to obtain what is known as a Charter
from some state or the National gov.
ernment. If the line is to be built be-
tween points in the same state. it is a
state affair, otherwise the Charter
must come from Congress.
This so-called Charter is a contract,
between certain designated individ-
uals and the public represented by the
government in which both parties
agree to do certain things.
Among the most valuable rights
granted to the railroad board is the
right of eminent domain as it is
technically known in law. Without
this privilege or power it is doubtful
if any railroad could ever been con-
structed by private enterprise.
The government, so to speak, loan
ed this great right or power to the
railway charterers. and under its op.
GRAFTON, the surveyors could go Where
they pleased despite the protest or
opposition of the land owners. They
could survey the line right across his
sheldss OF growing grain or even be-
tween his house and barn, if neces-
sary, and the owner or occupant was
poWerless to interfere. @
Not knowing the law, some owners
did use violence in a few cases, but
when arraigned in court they learned
that: the state had higher right to
their property if needed for public
purposes" than they did themselves.
and a railroad crew was immune if
acting under charter.
Among the things the railroad
builders agreed to do was to make on
ly reasonable charges for transporting
freight and passengers and to ''treat
everybody alike" r.
Both, of these latter provisions were
nOt0riously and Systematically disre-
garded. Railway managers construed
"a reasonable charge" to be :'all the
traffic would bear," that is, all the bu-
siness could afford to pay and live
They Disseminated in the passenger
service by furnishing free transporta-
ton or ''passes'' to all law makers and
other high public officials, newspaper
|'edltors and other persons of influence.
It. was proven in court that at one
time indeed on many occasions, the
great Standard Oil Co., not only got
q rebate or refund on all it's own ship
ments, but also on the shipments of
its competitors in the business, all of
which was q violation of the charter
or agreement under which the railroad
was built and operated.
+ But SO far as l know no charter was
ever revoked or annulled for this rea-
son. Public officials everywhere were
apparently hypnotized by the free pass
system. At any rate for nearly forty
years from their beginning in about
1880 till after 1870, little or no effort
was made to regulate the charges or
practices of the railways in this coun-
try by law. Many members of Con-
gress were actually on the payroll Of
the railroads as agents or attor-
neys.