The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1881-08-05

vation in express terms Of the tight u
repeal the act. IL Is license 10 do
certain things on certain conditions
during the will Ind pleasure Of the
Legislature. In case the public de-
cides TO revoke this license, IL will
make the compensation specified in the
license. IL the license be called con-
tract, that complies with all that The
contract requires the public 10 do.
A railroad franchise IL valuaLIe
property often Of great ysine land il
costs the corporation nothing II il
gift by the public; bat.in nmkinls Tim
gift, the public provides mode of uI.
timately having some desres Of com
pensation, and limits tho gift in such
manner as TO secure this compensation.
iftheinorsase OF population and bust.
ness shall bring tho corporation an In
come exceeding ten per cent npon its
investment, the excess was % 20 direct
ly TO the public by such reduction Of
charges as would keep the income down
70 10 per cent. The public do not
grant 10 the railroads the exclnsiv ve
ownership of an unlimited incr ease Of
business and corresponding increase
OF the profits Of the road, but claim as
the share OF the pnbiic, that charges
shall fall AS business rises, and that
corporations shall be- content with a 10
per cent income upon their actual in
vestmsnt. The whole future Of the
country is not quit claimed to the cor.
poration. The people are to have some
share Of the gains.
INCREASE OF BUSINESS DECREASE ~
oHARaEs
Mr. Atkinson has prepared tables Of
hgures 10 show that under the manage
ment Of the railroads there has been
large increase in the number OF tons
carried and decrease in charges. He
selected for his especial nse the statistics
OF the Hudson River aud New York
Central Railroad, aud gives the bnsi-
ness OF this road Tor the decade ending
in 1879.
From 1869 TO 1879, the toms carried
increased from Csc, 9,3G2,si9 to 2,29J,-
s27, 1897, or 2s9 per cent. and the
charges decreased from e. IS TO O.79, or
67 per cent. Yet even with this de
crease Of charges. the net earnings
were increased ~ l,sr cent His own
TABLES show that this corporation, Ia
stsad Of decreasing their charges, ~ AZ
10 keep the income within the limits of
their charter. bad an income largely ex-
ceeding the amount agreed upon lie.
tween the public aud the corporation.
This corporation has bern very rest.
ive under this restraint, an 1 unwilling
TO comply with tho law, by reducing
IT'S charges. Commodore Vanderbilt,
with his accustomed boldness. cut the
knot shich he could not unite. lie
waterel the stock. IL was only TEN
.orary islief, for the watered stock
sells for over 80 per cent premium aud
must be watered again. La short, nil.
der no circumstances will this corpora.
tion share ilS profits with the public
in other words pay the agreed price for
this great franchise. The one or two
hundreds Of millions of dollars which
this family has acquired is largely made
mp Of profits which were gained by q
use and misuse OF this franchise, anJ
which are as justly the property of the
public as if they had been taken int
the State Treasury,
The delnge of watered stock and the
cloud OF bonds forming the bloated
body at which this road is capitalized
and which it calls lis property. and upor
which 1t exacts frem the public its vas
income, is notoriously more than doubl'
the cost of the road.
BY capitalizing its profits it has real
ly capitalized its franchise. The fran
chise represents not investment, for i
was free gift to the corporation. Th
value of this franchise can be measure,
by the profits which it brings to th
corporation. THIS value will continu
to increase, and win be appropriate
by the corporation, il it can issue ne,
stock fast enough to absorb the excei
sive profits.