The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-07-15
AS To RAILROAD METHODS.

Inc Bowen family has a utilization
eveEy Independence day at Woodstock,
OOnn,, and 1t usaslly aVails Itself Of TINT
Ocotselon to turn attention to matters Of
nalional Interest. At yesterdays cele-
orstiOn an address was delivered by
henry Clews, the New York banker, uD.
on our Railroad Methods The sub
lect Is broad and important one, and
10 discussing IL Ar, CieWs expressed the
views OF man who has amsssed i'm.
nense wealth by reputable means, who
mas spent the best of his life in the
Whlrl OF New YJIk's most intense ac.
tlVlty, and who has acquired an lntl-
mate knowledge of the financial poll
cles OF our vast transportation inter-
! ests.
Mr. Clews plunged with his opening
sentence into the dept of the subject,
be oegan by declaring that 10 the whole
range OF our law making there Ia no one
branch In which there has been such an
inter lack OF judgment, foresight and
Just regard for the rights Of the citizen
as In the legislation provided for our
railroad companies. Then he discussed
deceptiVe-Or as he called it Immoral
-hnsnciering, the rObberies of con-
s!rqctiOn companies, the watering of
railroad securities to the extent of over
S3.OOO,OOO,O00, the bankruptcy and re-
construction of three-dfths of all the
railroad mileage Of the country, the
losses entailed on the pub &c By overcap-
ltallzatlon, the bad reputation of our
railroad securities on the European
0Oarses, and the creation of a powerful
9rlstocracy of wealth originating In a
diseased system OF finance and threaten
~ m fnIv 70
social and political disorder that will
strain our political Institutions to their
very foundations. CHANGING into the
future Mr.. CleWs said:
The descendants of the mushroom
millionatres OF the present generation
Will consolidate into broad and al.
most omnlpotent money power, whose
sympathies and influence will conflict
with our political institutions at every
point OF contact. They will exercise q
vast control over the larger Organiza-
tiOns and movements of capital; mo.
nOpOlies will SEX protection under
their wing, and by the ascendency which
wealth always cOnfers they will steadily
broaden their grasp upon the legisla-
ton, the banking and the commerce Of
the nation.
The natural law of competition is a
terrible foe to the Ylolators of CONNER
cisl justice. 1t is the ineVitaLs q police
power of trade. Its working nay be
eVaded for time: Its final CONQUEST
over wrongs and m0nopOlies may some
times be delayed beyond the limits of
human patience, and men may at such
times lose confidence in Its power to
right the wrongs of society; but its ul-
innate success In the restoration of
equity and fair play is as certain as the
rising of the sun.
At no very distant period the wrongs
practiced In the original construction
OF our railroads, and In the subsequent
watering" Of their stocks, will be COM
pensated through compstition adjusting
the profits of the companies to the
equivalent of fair return upon true
valuation of the properties; that Is, a
value measured by what they are able
to earn under the conditions of free
competition and the now current cash
cost Of prC Viding like facilities.
Mr.. Clews asked whether legislation
has any duty In the premises, to him 1t
appeared to have very weighty one.
The State Legislatures should enact
laws requiring that the bonds issued
against any railroad hereafter built
shall In no case exceed In the aggregate
the true cash cost of the property; the
issue OF mortgages should be restricted
within sixty per cent. Of the true cost;
incorpOratOrs should be prevented from
becoming the constructors of the road,
directly or Indirectly, and all contracts
for construction or equipment should be
made upon open competitive bids Reg
ulatiOns should be provided prOhib-
iting issues of stock for any
other than construction or equip.
ment purposes, fOrbidding the
payment Of dividends not actually
earned, and enforcing the 8mplest pub
licity of details relating to current traf-
flc and the financial affairs of the COM
psntes. Had our original railroad laws
Incorporated provisions of this charac-
ter our railroads would have all along
ranked as the safest and most stable in
Vestments of the country, the discredit
that hangs over our co.. .orate enter
prises would have been aVeTted trans
pOrtatiOn would have been done at
lower and more Uniform charges, and
we should have been SAVED the Ocial
and political eXcTescence Of an aristoc-
racy based upOn ilI-gOtteR wealth.
With the prevailing and steadily in-
creasing public feeling az list the
methocs of railroad capitalists and the
working of our railroad system, what
assurance can there be that when a
remedy for these corporate wrcngs
comes to be clearly prOpounded 1t will
not be eagerly urged upon the attention
of the legislates, adopted without much
ceremony and ratified by the dash Of a
Governors Denp Ia this view of the
case, Mr.. Clews thinks that our railroad
sristocracy stands on trescherOus
foundation.