34G MANAGEMENT OF RAILROADS IN OPERATION. 



2. That the consequent right, and the necessity of control, are 

 nowhere in doubt. 



It appears that the right of the State to exercise supervision over 

 railway corporations, has been recognized wherever the subject has 

 received material consideration that it has been asserted by cham 

 bers and parliaments in all the countries of Europe, as well as by 

 the legislatures of this countiy, and that it has been sustained and 

 confirmed by the higher courts. Such conclusions are unavoidable, 

 having their foundations in the common law, and in the very nature 

 and relations of society. 



3. That control is demanded by the public interests. 



This proposition is now so well established, that there can be 

 none to dispute it. The people have rights which inhere in the very 

 nature of the case, and are inalienable. No legislature conferred 

 them, and none can take them away. Governments may define 

 these rights, and throw around them the safeguards of law, and this 

 much they are bound to do. They are also bound to do it wisely 

 and justly. 



The facts which demand the intervention of public authority are 

 enforced and multiplied by all experience and investigation. Not 

 merely in the theory of law, but as a practical fact, railways have 

 become public highways, and all classes of our people are as de 

 pendent upon their w r holesome management, as upon the wholesome 

 management of any other public property. The assumption on the 

 part of the advocates of non-intervention, that the public has a 

 choice between other methods of transportation and transportation 

 by rail, is without actual truth. If the choice exists, that choice 

 cannot be exercised, except upon such conditions as to render the 

 privilege nugatory. As to large masses of freight, and a consider 

 able portion of passenger travel, rapid transit by rail is the only 

 available alternative presented. And were the fact otherwise, it is 

 impossible to presume, under any known axiom of good govern 

 ment, that interests so vast and manifold as to involve the funda 

 mental conditions of public progress and prosperity, should be 

 surrendered to the undisputed determination of a personal discretion, 

 based solely upon considerations of private or corporate profit. 



4. That control is demanded in the interest of capital. 



Most assuredly, the relations of our people to capital are not to 

 be ignored. We are not under any circumstances to overlook the 

 grave fact that the material interests of our State are vitally depend 

 ent upon the safety and ample remuneration of future investment 

 in railway construction. A consultation of the comparative sta 

 tistics of this report will show that the industries of the State are 

 far more dependent upon future investment than past expenditure 

 in this direction; and we know of no consideration of material in 

 terest or public morals which can counsel indifference to the honor 

 able claim of capital to ample consideration for all legitimate ex 

 penditure. 



Protection of capital from mismanagement. 



It will not be assumed, however, that the interests of capital itself 

 can be best promoted by the mismanagement of railways, or by the 

 imposition of extortionate rates, or unjust discriminations. And 



