other hand, the common welfare requires that the
commerce which is carried on between the States should not be hampered
by local interference, but should be regulated only by Congress. Our
experience as a nation has shown that such a quality of sovereignty is
not inconsistent with strength or efficiency, nor need it be productive
of rivalry or friction. The fact that a certain mode of railroad
management has been successful elsewhere is not sufficient proof that it
would be successful here, nor is the fact that it has not been
successful elsewhere sufficient proof that it would not be successful
here. The more the conditions which exist here resemble those under
which it was tested, the greater is the probability that it can be
adapted to our circumstances. Independent thought and action is an
essential element of progress, yet it is the part of wisdom to profit by
the speculation and experience of others.

The following are the principal methods that have been tried or proposed
for the control and management of railroads:

_1. Publicity of the railroad business._

It is held by some that the secrecy with which railroad business is at
present transacted is the source of all evils. It is contended that if
railroads were required to report to the public every item of income and
expenditure, discrimination and extortion, as well as bribery and
corrupt subsidizing, would soon cease. If the companies were compelled
to render an account of all receipts, special rates and drawbacks could
not safely be granted by railroad managers, or, if granted, would soon
lose their charm for recipients, for it would be but a short time until
others would demand and even exact the same privileges. An attorney
would, as a member of the legislature, be slow to accept a retaining fee
if the amount of such fee were made known to his constituents.
Publishers would hesitate to apply for railroad subsidies if the
companies were compelled to render periodically an itemized account of
such expenditures, and railroad companies would, under similar
circumstances, hesitate to pay subsidies, for the subsidized journal
would soon be without patrons. If the items annually expended upon
railroad lobbies were reported, these lobbies would soon be frowned, or
even hissed, out of legislative halls. There can be no doubt that full
and complete publicity in railroad business would correct a large number
of existing abuses, and it should therefore be insisted u