Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-11-12

QUESTION TO ANSWER.
The Governments and the Railroads-shaIi
tho People Own the Railroads or Shall tho
Railroads Own the PeOplef
In the late convention 1T Sedalia the
f. & L. U. OF Missouri modified their
previously formulated demand on the
United States Governments in regard to
railroads, by substituting for the words
Government ownership aad control of
railroads" etc, the idea that the Gov
eminent should control but not own the
public highways The control Of them
to involve the remodeling Of the stock
companies to the extent OF eliminating
all the water from the stocks.
We do not doubt that this latter idea
will fully cover the ground sought to be
| covered by the farmers in their de-
mands, provided it proves to be feasible.
Hon. Cassius NJ Clay recently reduced
the railroad problem to a brief ques-
ton which covers the whole case:
"Shall the people own the railroads,
or shall the railroads own the peo-
pie"' And this is the proper way to
look at this matter Up to this time
the Government whether State or
National, has not been able to exercise
| any very thorough control over the
railroads, and it is really matter of
doubt whether government can exer-
else control that is efficient without
| ownership, and if such proves to be the
case. we should unhesitatingly advocate
Government ownership. Indeed, we be-
lieve that while 1t might be impolitic to
| urge the putting Of any radical change
into Immediate practice, the ultimate
ownership of the railroads and tele-
graphs by the Government will become
necessity. There are great many
arguments in favor of such ownership,
| and so far as we have heard, not one
valid one against it We will refer in
the first place to this one argument
against government ownership. which
| seems to have much weight 1t is this:
The vast amount of patronage in the
hands OF the Government would enable
political party to perpetuate itself
We confess, that as things have been
going in this country, the argument has
some weight, but by slight change in
the method of distributing patronage
| and the strict enforcement of . good
Civil-Service law. this question will
cease to cut any figure. The old max.
i'm, now in control, ito the victors be-
long the spoils, " is vicious in eyery
sense of the word and should be up
rooted from the unwritten law of the
country. Properly, there are no victors
and no spoils- In the filing Of appoint
i've Offices there should be law, and it
should be str city enforced. that the So
lections should be made according to At
ness and from each of the political par
ties in proportion to the votes they
polled at the last preceding election. AS
to tenure OF Office, every efficient man
should be retained in Office, regardless
OF his political belief, and 1t should be
as much crime to dispossess man of
position he filled capably, by the Gov
ernment, as it is regarded when done by
an indldual employer. This would set
tie the patronage question entirely.
Now to consider the quest on Of Gov
eminent ownership of railroads as as
business proposition involves several
propositions: so.
L The ability of the Government to
buy the roads. al
q The efficiency of the service it can.
render. 49,
g. The benefits to the people. tre
The Government is amply able to buy
the railroads, 'water" and all, and
make good investment Of It Let Us
look at the figures. From Poor's Man
ual for 1889, the acknowledged author
ity on such matters, we find the follow
ing facts:
Total track (including sidings), z;
miles. ............................ I9l l97
Number OF engines. 29 396
NUMBER OF cars. passenger.
Number OF cars, freight. .......... ,0O5 1l6
Number OF cars. baggage. etc......... 6.s25
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock (includiny no es). .$4 43s IlI, ,s42
BONDED debt. ................. 46!th ,O23
Unfunded debt. sO6 $50 5s4
Current accounts. 2ss. .OSs. s55
Total liabilities. SO 6O7 As7, ,SOs
ASSETS 81
Cost of roads and equipments :. s.. .sI4 8O4, 500
Real estate, stock. bond, and
other investments .-......-... L LOG. 2s1, l99
Oluer assets. .....'''.'...'........ 23l,676,sH
current accounts. 49, 757 2O9
Total assets. So s7s $40, 372
Excess of assets over liabilities $268. lss, ,O6s
Net earnings and total revenue
iOr 1ooS. S362 76l, 667
From these figures some interesting
facts may be gathered. In the first
place. the railroad property of all kinds
exceeds their liabilities by nearly $780,
600, 600, this reckoning all the capital at
par. But much of the stock, even of
those roads paying good dividends, can
be bought in the markets much below.
80 that If the Government were to take
all the railroads at the valuation
fixed by the market to-day. it is likely
that their assets will be fully q third
more than their liabilities But even
on the basis of the figures given, it
would be good investments for the
Government for figuring the liabilities
as given it will be seen that the net
revenue would pay dividend of nearly
or quite four per cent on the whole
amount 1t would be perfectly safe to
say then for the Government to buy all
the railroad stocks and bonds at the
prices prevailing at this time, and issue
its own bonds to be denominated rail-
road Government bonds. and on them
guarantee four per cent, they would
be taken as fast as they could be print
ed, and not one dollar of tax would ever
have to be levied on the people to pay
principal or interest This is a brief
sketch of how the Government can buy
the railroads We will now consider
the probabie efficiency Of the service
rendered
Let Us loak for moment at the Ma
tional postal system. Does any one say
that it is not as rule efio:entq Or
does any one think for a moment that a
private corporation or individual could
rena, as good service for as little
money? We beIle1,cc not. The United
States postal service is satisfactory, and
it has gradually been cheapened, until
it has ALMOST reached the possible
limit. Had it been in the hands OF
company or companies, we believe il
would cost at least Ave cents te-daY to
send letter to any point now reached
foF two Private corporations do not