Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-07-14
Government Ownership of Railroads.

our pIdIlDTii says IudI "O uo'i"i'" oi'"o
the government own and run the rail-
roads and telegraph system III the inter-.
est of the people, and of course it has
raised howl of Indignation amongst
the powers that be, and their cringing
tools. Two reasons they advance why
the government should not NEEDLE with
that business. The first is the inability
of the government to run it satlrfactorl-
" to the people, and the second is the
financial inability Of the government,
unless they intend 10 try ana steal the
business, us they say that there is not
money enough i'm the whole country 10
buy the two systems. Now let us see,
(and we will take the postal service TO
answer the first reasOn.) The writer Oh
this article was n resident of New YORK
City for forty years, and thinks ne
knows whereof he is speaking. AT that
time the postal service was owned Dv
three private companies oyd's, Adams
and Hardin's Postal Express, and rec
ollect well when used to hear curslng
loud and deep by the people because OF
the irregular and nOn-delivery OF the
mail. In those days there were letter
carriers appointed by the different COM
panies to DELIVER mail matter ut your
house or office, after it was received at
the private postOffices of the different
companies. and it was not an unusual Oc-
currence to have your mail taken by the
carriers to their homes, and sometimes
kept for days, especially if the weather
happened to be little stormy. In fact
it was virtually at the option or within OF
the carriers whether you received your
4
the parties who received the mail mat
ter always had to pay the postage ana
as there were no letters prepaid, those
who received letters were again virtually
at the mercy OF the carrier, AS he often
extorted excessive postage. AS ne was
governed often by the distance, and Inc
Importance Gas he thOught) or your
mail, and as he would hardly ever refuse
to take our mail we would grumble a
little and pay them their charges. me
different companies were supposed W
10 have sceduled rates. but they could
change them so often Gust as the rail-
roads are now that we really never
knew whether we ought to pay seven
cents or twenty-five cents, us the Carl
er could bulldoze you and threaten TO
take your mail back, which we never
would let them do and as | remarked
before. we would growl a little and put
up with the swindling. But there was Il
day Of reckoning coming. Things were
going from bad to worse, and as Tor
bearance ceased to be a virtue, the peo-
pie arose in their might and demanded
that the government run the business,
and there was just the same racket all
along the line as there is to- day to-WlC
couldn't run it satisfactory to the peo-
pie had no right TO interfere with pri-
vate business; would create horde or
office seekers and make it a political ma
chine and cost the government so much
that the people would be taxed to death,
etc. Well, Uncle Sam took hold all the
same, and tried his hand at the business
Notwithstanding the curses loud ana
deep, and the awful calamity that was
about to befall this great country.
Now. the question is, did Uncle Sam
succeed or did he fail in the new ven
ture? Is our postal system run better
to-day by the government than any pr,
vaie corporation could run it? L Will
venture to assert, without fear of contra
lctiop. that the. most violent opponent
of the measure at thaC time would MOI
go back to the old method. Now whal
has been done in this line can be done III
the other, and our railroads to-day are
in Just the same position with the people
AS the postal system was-in the bands
Of greedy syndicates and extortloners
And as in the times off old we want an6
demand q change, as we have put vi
with the swindling game long enough
and WE the PEOPLE will give the powers
that be TO understand that we have go
some rights tina; we intend to have res
nacte6-that when united and much