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Show B UI.ROAD TAB:r73 It now i-iia tu be e...r.i y vi--:c Uxi tiuit Sutc k-giolaliirta iiav the right to regulate l-y atauue inv ,:g,T and freight Lirif a of raiiruJwL-, tilliioiigh the uiistitutionadly of the lawn on this subjeet i-nartid in if the -St.t,s has not been paMil up-,n up-,n by the court of lant report; but ill id duuhi.'ul, when tho m-.tion is ruled upuu, if the supreme Court ofj the I'niud Ht.ics will n.vcTdc the udgmeuts jf tiie State courts in this respect; and the latter, wii-re they nave reiidf-reil decisions, Jiave univer-laliy univer-laliy held in favor of the constitu-tiuaahty constitu-tiuaahty Ot tho laws. W'b fH-n no reajn why tho h-giola-ture-s .ihou'd not ronlrol railroads and their charge?. u one questions the rUht of municipal lrgidaturcs to ilx the prices to be charged by local common earners, liacitmen, draymen arid expressmen, and in almost every city of the Union U it done. But owing to the immense wealth of railroad rail-road corporations, and their extraordinary extraor-dinary powers, they have practically lived .above the law and awed if not controlled tho law makers themselves, tutho West, whera tliis grinding oppression op-pression by railroad companies has been mat severely exercised and moot deeply felt by the people, there is another cause why these kdant corporations cor-porations have been permitted to so long bleed the masses who maintain them. The people of the west were comparatively few; they were also poor, and were willing to relinquish many of their rights to obtain tho roads which were required to open up ar.d develop their vast country; and thus tho moneyed men who have built the roads have taken advantage of the conce.-sious of the people, an'i have not only held fast to the vantage ground willingly reJinqidhed, but have uraurpul mure until the people, feeling outraged , and illegally oppressed, refuse to grant any favors to railroads nut belonging belong-ing to them; and having grown wealthy they now iroprde to take what is their own. The Iowa mil-roads, mil-roads, though still fighting the Stato law on its constitutionality, have virtually vir-tually conceded, that it is within the powers of the Legislature to pass such a law, by issuing tarill rates in accordance therewith; and wu doubt not that in the ctid this constitutionality constitution-ality will be definitely settled by tha United States Supreme Court. When it becomes established thai State Legislatures can control the acts of these grasping corporations, the country may expect to soon reap the benefits of tho exercise of such! power; for we arc confident that rail j road tarill rates can be reduced from one-third to one-half of the figures now charged and yet the companies will pay fair dividends on the money invested. And the sooner that day comes the better it will be for tho masses in all parts of the country, and more especially the great West and Northwest, sections whose wcaU-li ia jtiet beginning to bo found out, and which wealth cannot be utilized to advantage on account of the high pricei charged for getting the crude products of the country to market?. |