VOL. XLVIII. NO, 2046. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 13, 1889. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS, 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the Year 1889, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.J 
PRES. W. L CHAMBERLAIN. 
Private property, 
if wisely invested 
and managed in rail¬ 
ways has its natural 
rights as property, 
to fair interest on 
the investments, in¬ 
surance on the risk, 
and com pensation 
for the skill displayed 
and labor expended 
in its management. 
But such property 
has by its very na¬ 
ture sharp limita¬ 
tions. 
First. Railways are 
by their very nature 
virtual monopolies 
for their “suction 
ranges,” (as O. W. 
Holmes terms it for 
colleges and cities.) 
That is, railways are 
virtual monopolies 
for the belt of terri¬ 
tory for which they 
furnish outlet. This 
is clearly true for 
non-competing 
points, and under 
“pooled rates” and 
division of leceipts 
t here are no compet¬ 
ing points as letwt en 
railways. Natural 
waterways and 
State canals owned 
by the people can 
and do compete for 
slow freights, but not 
for perishable or fast 
freights or for pas¬ 
sengers; and except 
for short distances 
horses on common 
roads cannot com¬ 
pete with steam on 
steel rails either for 
freight or passen¬ 
gers. I assume, then, 
that by their very 
nature and environ- 
inent, railways, 
when once built, nat¬ 
urally become vir¬ 
tual monopolies. 
This point is suscep¬ 
tible of full proof. 
As monopolies, their 
operations should lie 
regulated by law for 
the welfare of soci¬ 
ety. Bor it is a fun¬ 
damental principle 
of our government, 
one for which our 
fathers fought in the 
revolution, that 
there should be here 
no privileged class 
authorized to levy 
unrestricted tax on 
the many. But an 
unrestricted monop¬ 
oly on a necessity 
RVlsccUanccms, 
No. 3. 
“RAT CATCHERS.” 
DRAWN FROM LIFE. See page 247. Fig 91, 
NEW* LEGISLATION NEEDED CON¬ 
CERNING MONOPOLIES. 
(j?W 
10T 1 
^ iTbV' 
means exactly that 
—an unrestricted 
power to tax, a most 
dangerous thing 
with human nature 
what it is. Indeed 
we may as well fix it 
in our own mind 
clearly and once for 
all that it is one chief 
function of every 
just government to 
protect the ignorant 
against the over¬ 
reaching of the 
learned, the weak 
against the violence 
of the strong, the 
simple against the 
cunning of tne craf¬ 
ty, and the poor 
against the possible 
injustice of the rich. 
Even in reference to 
this single function, 
the “ laissez faire ” 
theory of govern¬ 
ment breaks down 
entirely. There must 
be something of the 
“paternal” element 
in government, or it 
cannot be a power 
for righteousness,” 
justice, civilization, 
growth. 
Second. Railways 
are public servants, 
common carriers, 
clothed by the pub¬ 
lic with most valu¬ 
able public fran¬ 
chises. That is, the 
Government, the 
agent of the people, 
or rather the soul of 
which society at 
large is the organic 
body, so to speak, 
the Government 
gives to the railway 
companies its own 
right of “ eminent 
domain” to lay their 
tracks, buying their 
road-bed and right 
of way at a fair val¬ 
uation through pri¬ 
vate property, often 
unwilling,sometimes 
even hostile. For, 
while all of us want 
railways in terri¬ 
tory yet unoccupied, 
none of us want them 
to come, where for 
the good of society 
they sometimes must 
—exactly through 
our farm, between 
our house and barn. 
The true theory of 
“ eminent domain,” 
by the way, rests, 
not upon the as¬ 
sumption that Gov¬ 
ernment does or did 
own the land, but 
upon the fact that 
society must have 
arteries and veins 
for commerce, and 
that therefore Gov¬ 
ernment, the agent, 
executive, brain, or 
personality of socie- 
