HON. w. c. FLAGG S ADRRESS. 347 



kind. The Illinois Central and other western roads had been simi&amp;lt; 

 larly assisted. In all these cases, the right of government to control, 

 and the obligations of railway companies to serve the public, were 

 correspondingly increased. 



Government intervention was practically sought in all of these 

 kind of roads. Difficulties and disputes arose only in reference to the 

 chartered and subsidised roads. Where private gain was antagonistic 

 to public welfare, something must be done to cure the avariciousness. 

 They had conspiracies against the welfare of the people in other 

 shapes, but in none so mighty as that of the railways. He wished to 

 notice the confused conceptions that have existed as to the nature of 

 railways and railway service. With all the changes that the railroad 

 had brought about, they could not appreciate what they might ac 

 complish in the future. Before fifty years had passed, narrow-guage 

 or horse-railways might occupy the principal country roads ; and thus 

 most farm houses would have railway access. The railroads of the 

 country were its highways, that must carry its travel and its com 

 merce. This was what the Constitution of Illinois meant, when it 

 declares the railways of the State public highways free to all persons. 

 The people, after a little disastrous experimenting, forty years ago, 

 resolved to leave the management of railways, their building and 

 operating, to private corporations, with more or less regulating, and 

 this had caused the function of railways to be lost sight of. The 

 necessity of protecting the rights of travelers and shippers was not 

 appreciated. Feeble attempts had been made in the beginning to fix 

 maximum rates, but the prevailing idea had always been to rely upon 

 competition. 



But that was a delusion, and as a rule a railroad had a practical 

 monopoly of the country through which it passes. &quot; There are many 

 cases,&quot; said John Stuart Mill, &quot;in which the agency of whatever 

 nature, by which a service is performed, is certain from the nature 

 of the case, to be virtually alone ; in which a practical monopoly, 

 with all the power it confers of taxing the community, can not be 

 prevented from existing. 



&quot; The community need some other security for the performance of 

 the service of corporations than the interests of the managers ; and it 

 is the part of government either to subject the business to reasonable 

 conditions for the general advantage, or to retain such power over it 

 that the profits of the monopoly may at least be obtained for the 



