STATE AGBICULTUIIAL SOCIETY. 107 



cies is to resist the irresistible force of nature. Now let it be 

 understood that the modern agencies of transportation are impor- 

 tant factors in all the processes of civilization. They are a part, 

 in fact, of the looms which weave cotton fabrics in Manchester, and 

 of the anvils upon which is wrought the world's iron work at Shef- 

 field and Pittsburg. They are a part of the sunshine that helps to grow 

 cotton and sugar in Louisiana, and corn and wheat in Wisconsin 

 and Illinois. They are not separate and apart from production; they 

 are merely departments of the one great whole. The_ railroad is but 

 a single cog-wheel in this universal commercial machine — an instru- 

 ment of distribution in the world's exchange. It moves with the rest 

 of the machine in human activity, and with all other factors only 

 will it stoi). It is a producer and distributor of wealth. It is a pro- 

 moter of hapi^iness, and makes it possible for more men to reach an 

 elevated plane of civilization. For several years just past, a contest 

 has been maintained between the producing class and the agencies of 

 transportation, as to the right and expediency on the part of the Gov- 

 ernment to regulate the tariffs of transportation. That contest is 

 happily settled, and, as I believe, justly settled, in favor of the right 

 of the people to regulate the rates of freights and fares on transporta- 

 tion lines. At the very foundation of all human society lies the 

 maxim, " So use your own property as not to injure the property of 

 others," as well as to exercise your right of liberty of action as not 

 to interfere with the liberty of others. All property and its owner- 

 ship is held and owned and controlled with reference to its relation 

 with all other property and the rights of all other individuals. The 

 ownership of property can have only such exercise, and the rights of 

 that ownership must be so interpreted, that the ownership of all 

 other property and the rights of all other individuals will not suffer. 

 The bearing of transportation upon all other divisions of industry is 

 such that, unregulated and uncontrolled, it would possess an undue 

 advantage over them — an advantage which is such in its nature as to 

 call for governmental regulation as the only adequate protection 

 against abuse. The right of such regulation is now finally and fully 

 established. The precedent just established admits of the right of 

 regulation as applicable to any other interest which by reason of its 

 influence on the rights of property of others is liable to abuse. Men 

 are not fit to be trusted with irresponsible and absolute power over 

 the -[property or liberties of other men. From the menace of such 

 power the people may seek protection in governmental regulation, 

 whatever the property or interest to be regulated may be. In the 

 exercise of this newly acquired right it becomes necessary now at its 

 threshold to remember that the interests of production and trans- 

 portation are so interwoven that injustice to either is injury to both. 

 Transportation is not only a distributor, but a creator of wealth. 

 iVs its facilities are increased, production becomes more profitable. 

 If, in the exercise of this newly acquired right, the people attempt 

 to defraud transportation, the injury will react upon production by 

 reducing the facilities of transportation, and arresting the extension 

 of transportation lines. Nothing is ever finally settled, except upon 

 the basis of equal rights and exact justice to all parties. Recogniz- 

 ing the unity of these great departments of industry, let us enter 

 upon their equitable adjustment in that spirit of fairness which alone 

 affords the guarantee of justice in our conclusions and our judg- 

 ments. 



