THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 89 



enormous sum of $450,000,000, or nearly $12 to each 

 inhabitant. 



This enormous sum of $450,000,000 may be taken 

 as a fair annual average of the value of our internal 

 commerce. It comes directly from the earnings of the 

 whole people of the United States, and is gathered 

 into the treasuries of the various railway corporations 

 in the form of sums paid for the transportation of 

 passengers and of the products and manufactures of 

 the country. 



In chartering the railways of the Union, the people 

 have given to the corporations conducting these enter- 

 prises, the sole right to regulate the freight charges of 

 their roads. In some cases there has been a stipulation 

 that the earnings of the road should not exceed a cer- 

 tain percentage upon the capital invested, but, as we 

 have shown, it has been left to the road not only to 

 regulate its charges, but to make such returns of its 

 earnings as it may see fit. The people have surrendered 

 the right to scrutinize the proceedings of the corpora- 

 tion, and the corporation charges whatever rates it 

 pleases, and as much as it thinks the public will pay. 



Men may travel or not, as they are inclined, but the 

 farmer must send his products to market, and the 

 merchant and manufacturer must transport their wares 

 to the point where there is the greatest demand for 

 them. So the road is sure of its freight traffic. Men 

 are compelled to use it, for it is the only means of 

 transportation open to them. They are fully aware of 

 this, and the corporation is equally aware of it. 



The railroads then occupy the position of a body 

 within the State, and almost, if not quite, independent 

 of it, levying a tax upon its citizens. Not one man in 



