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sidious and even dangerous, and glad was I to see that the rose above all the noise and clap-trap which was governor raised about the question, went to the fundamental point of the matter and vetoed the bill. I think his course at that time gained the respect of every thinking man in the State."

CHAPTER XXVI.

The People and the Corporations.-The Rights of the Former to be Protected. The Aggressions of the Latter to be Restrained.— Governor Cleveland's Position Defined.-Several Notable Veto Messages.

In maintaining the rights of the public against the encroachment of corporations, Governor Cleveland was as strong and unfaltering as when, against the clamor of demagogues, he insisted that the public faith must be kept with corporations. And it may be stated in passing, that in the former case of his veto of the five cent fare bill, he was sustained by a majority vote of the assembly. On the other side was his veto of a bill looking to an increase of the powers of telegraph companies to use the public streets. In this message he said:

"The amendment first proposed by this bill provides that corporations formed for the purpose of manufacturing and using electricity for producing light, heat or power, shall not be confined in their operations to the county in which their certificate shall be filed.

"This bill further authorizes said corporations to lay, erect and construct the necessary conductors and fixtures for transmitting and supplying electricity over or under any public road, street or highway, or waters of the State, with the consent of certain local authorities. It also provides for the laying and construction of such conductors and fixtures, by such corporations, under or over private lands, subject

to the rights of the owner to full compensation, which, if it cannot be agreed upon by the owner and said corporation, shall be fixed by commissioners to be appointed by the county court.

"The transmission of electricity by means of wires stretched upon poles, has up to this time been confined to telegraphic and lighting purposes. And this has been regarded as dangerous and objectionable, at least, so far as these wires and poles run within the cities of the State.

"A bill is now pending in the Legislature based upon this report, providing that all telegraphic, telephonic and electric light wires and cables in incorporated cities having a population of five hundred thousand or upwards, shall, after the of this bill, be laid under the surface of the streets, passage and for the removal of existing wires and the poles sustaining the same.

"The report and the bill above referred to, contemplate only the ordinary wires and poles used for telegraphic, telephonic and electric light purposes.

"But the bill under consideration permits not only such wires to be placed above the surface and in the streets, but also conductors and fixtures for transmitting such currents of electricity as may be necessary to produce heat or power. We have no hint in the bill what these conductors and fixtures may be, but it is entirely evident that they cannot be less dangerous and objectionable than the wires and poles now in use and characterized by the Senate committee as nuisances.

"I am convinced that the safety and convenience of the people demand that the conductors and fixtures of the corporations mentioned in this bill should not be permitted upon or over the public streets.

Another fatal objection to this bill is found in the provision allowing the corporations therein named to enter

upon private property, and erect and maintain their structures thereon, without the consent of the owner. It seems to me that this is taking private property, or an easement therein, with very little pretext that it is for a public use.

"If a private corporation can, under authority of law, construct its appliances and structures upon the lands of the citizen without his consent, not only for the purpose of furnishing light, but in an experimental attempt to transmit heat and power, the rights of the people may well be regarded as in danger from an undue license to corporate aggrandizement."

There was another case in which he had occasion to declare the same principle. This was that of a bill to extend the time for the full payment of the capital stock of the Utica Ice Company. In returning this bill without his signature, he said:

"Our laws in relation to the formation of corporations are extremely liberal, and those who avail themselves of their provisions should be held to a strict compliance with their requirements. There is manifestly no propriety in the passage of a special act to relieve a private corporation and its stockholders, as proposed in this bill. If the capital already paid in is sufficient for its purpose, it may, I think, reduce its stock under section fifteen of the act. In any event, the failure to pay in the stock within the time limited, only subjects the company to be proceeded against and dissolved after a judgment obtained against it, and renders the stockholders, until such payment, liable for all the debts of the corporation.

"This company, and its stockholders, have assumed for their own benefit certain relations to the State, to the public, and to their creditors; and these relations should not be disturbed.

"If corporations are to be relieved from their defaults for the asking, their liability to the people with whom they deal will soon become dangerously uncertain and indefinite.”

Thus it was that Governor Cleveland, in his official acts, fulfilled the promise and maintained the principles of his letter of acceptance of the Democratic nomination in 1882, in which he said:

"Corporations are created by the law for certain defined purposes, and are restricted in their operations by specific limitations. Acting within their legitimate sphere they should be protected; but when, by combination, or by the exercise of unwarranted power, they oppress the people, the same authority which created should restrain them and protect the rights of the citizen. The law lately passed for the purpose of adjusting the relations between the people and corporations, should be executed in good faith, with an honest design to effectuate its objects, and with a due regard for the interests involved.

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