Annual Address by the President. 
S 
people should have encouraged to the limit of their capacity the develop- 
ment of their property and the advancement of the country’s good, and 
the latter were indeed to be commended, but is it to be wondered at that 
as a result abuses of the most flagrant character crept into the early 
managements of railroads, whose officers had unlimited and unrestrained 
powers in the matter of regulating transportation rates and dispensing 
patronage. 
Mr. A. B. Stickney, for a long time a railroad manager and a writer 
of considerable repute upon subjects of railroad economy, graphically 
describes the practice of railroad promoters in Minnesota during the early 
days of eonstruction, in his book on “The Railway Problem,” the follow- 
ing extract from which will serve to illustrate the methods then in 
vogue. He says: “Notwithstanding the value of the land grant (six 
sections per mile) had now been demonstrated and by law exempted 
from taxation, Capital still demanded more. Finally Congress granted 
four additional sections of land to the mile, but yet more was demanded. 
The Constitution must be amended so as to secure the immunity of 
these lands from taxation. The concession was made. Congress 
granted right of way through public lands. Then said Capital, “Con- 
gress has granted to the State millions of acres of swamp lands for inter- 
nal improvements. What internal improvements are more useful than 
railways ? Give us these swamp lands.” They were given. “Individuals 
donate the right of way through their private tracts; we must have 
station grounds in the towns and grounds for the shops and terminals 
free,” continued Capital. If the citizens demurred, they were threat- 
ened with change of location to such a distance from existing towns as 
to destroy them and build up rivals on the prairie; and in case of refusal 
this threat was ruthlessly carried into execution. It is needless to say 
that few had the temerity to refuse. 
“By this time the power of the railway constructor had become almost 
autocratic. He demanded that towns and counties should vote bonds 
and under the pressure of threats of the same kind as have been men- 
tioned, the bonds were authorized by the Legislature and voted by the 
people. But it should be stated that other means than threats were 
employed to produce these results. A paid ‘lobby’ attended every session 
of the Legislature. Judges of all grades, from the supreme to justices 
of the peace, the executive officers of the State, the members of the Legis- 
lature, the county and town officials, the ‘striker’ at caucuses and the 
‘pot-house’ politicians, had free passes. Caucuses were ‘packed’ and 
laborers in construction gangs were compelled to vote as their ‘bosses’' 
directed, at least once, at each election. Thus early was the corrupting 
influence of money used to sap the foundations of public morality.” 
Such corrupt practices introduced into railroad management an 
