The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Railroad Question, by William Larrabee

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Title: The Railroad Question
A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and
remedies for their abuses

Author: William Larrabee

Release Date: July 2, 2009 [EBook #29294]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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The Railroad Question.

THE RAILROAD QUESTION

A HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON
RAILROADS, AND REMEDIES FOR THEIR ABUSES

BY

WILLIAM LARRABEE,
LATE GOVERNOR OF IOWA.

_Salus populi suprema lex._

NINTH EDITION.

CHICAGO:
THE SCHULTE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1898.

Copyright, 1893,

BY

WILLIAM LARRABEE.

PREFACE.

The people of the United States are engaged in the solution of the
railroad problem. The main question to be determined is: Shall the
railroads be owned and operated as public or as private property? Shall
these great arteries of commerce be owned and controlled by a few
persons for their own private use and gain, or shall they be made
highways to be kept under strict government control and to be open for
the use of all for a fixed, equal and reasonable compensation?

In a new and sparsely settled country which is rich in natural resources
there may be no great danger in pursuing a _laissez-faire_ policy in
governmental affairs, but as the population of a commonwealth becomes
denser, the quickened strife for property and the growing complexity of
social and industrial interests make an extension of the functions of
the state absolutely necessary to secure protection to property and
freedom to the individual.

The American people have shown themselves capable of solving any
political question yet presented to them, and the author has no doubt
that with full information upon the subject they will find the proper
solution of the railroad problem. The masses have an honest purpose and
a keen sense of right and wrong. With them a question is not