Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-08-03
THE GERMAN RAILROADS.
Owned or Controlled by the Government.
Military Spirit of the Management.

Owned or Controlled by the Government.
Military Spirit of the Management.
The railways of Germany are. for the
most part, owned by the state. Such as
are not owned out and out are controlled
by the government in such a manner as
to practically attain the main object of
ownership. The government looks upon
the railways primarily as a means of
bringing money into the treasury; lastly,
as a convenience to the people. AS you
travel in Germany you notice that all the
officials about railway stations not only
dress like soldiers, but have much of the
gruffness and precision characteristic Of
that class; and the very porters, who
carry your luggage, remind you of the
barrack room, and you are not surprised
to find the station master strutting about
with much of the swagger and conse-
quence of the parade ground.
Follow the railway management higher
up and you find that the military spirit
pervades every department. When a
railway is projected the first question re-
lates to its value in the time of war, the
second to its usefulness to the people.
The war office must first approve before
the civil branch of government can take
a step. Thus you will see on the map of
Germany many railways leading no.
where, SO far as commerce is concerned,
and somewhere, only in the event of a
a Lines are radiated from important
centers to every point of the frontier,
without reference to whether the traffic
is sufficient to make such a road a paying
investment. So also you find a railway
running parallel with a frontier line,
purely as a military %precaution. a cir
cular railway has just been completed
around Berlin, so far from the center as
to run most Of the way through a desert
OF sand. There is scarcely any travel on
the road, but the government maintains
it SO as to have it handy in case of a
siege.
The political power which the govern
ment exercises through owning the rail
ways is very great. In the first place it
comes in contact with manufacturers of
almost every variety of machinery goods,
for it has nearly 5000 miles in opera
ton; it has thousands of locomotives,
freight cars and passenger cars to build;
it has stations and bridges to construct;
clothing, lamps and instruments of vari-
Gus kline to furnish. The government
railway officials favor manufactures ia
vorable to the government, and CORE
spondingly injure the trade of those in
opposition. Then at thousands of rail-
way stations are restaurants, the food
for which is supplied from the neighbor-
hood-and here is another chance for the
government to influence votes in its
favor. Then then is an immense amount
of money spent yearly in advertising the
new time tables in the local newspapers
along the lines of road. This money, of
course, can only go to such papers as the
railway officials deem suitable-and do
you suppose that a German official will
look with favor upon a newspaper that
ventures to c~riticise any government
measures?
Then the railway officials can with
hold the building of a railway in this
neighborhood if they prefer some other;
they can make rates of freight different
from n point to another without refer
ence to the mileage; they car depress the
trade of one place and make trade brisk
in another if they choose; and some
times they may be tempted to do so to
show people how much safer it is to vote
for government representatives in par
lament han for Liberals. OF course the
government does not intend to do this,
but it is done by government officials and
the government does not care to look too
closely into the matter.
Finally comes the great army Of rail-
way employees, laborers, porters, signal
men. conductors, engineers, mechanics,
masons, carpenters, officials of all kinds,
particularly the large number who are
expecting situations. London Cor. New
York Commercial Advertiser.