The Globe-republican., 1891-12-17
WATERING CORPORATIONS STOCKS.

WATERING CORPORATIONS STOCKS
or what purports to be Mr.. Mortimer White
heads relation" to the ''WaterinQ of Cor
poration Stocks" In quoting from r. C.
Hawkins he endorses Mr.. HAWKING state
ment as truthful" and then says: "Water-
ed stocks is one Of the greatest burdens of
are suffering" MI. Hawkins assumes to
this country, and then without any proof
whatever asserts sit is perfectly safe to as
sert that two-fifths of that amount =
represents water" He then asserts substan-
tally that these railroads fix and keep MP
their tariffs for the purpose of robbing the
public of enough money to pay dividends on
this water" No lecturer or writer has ever
propagated a more untruthful statement
Neither he nor any one else can show a
single glimmer. even, of evidence to prove
the statement 50 boldly made. That it is
false has been shown . hundred times In
courts and Congress and in the Legislature
of a dozen States, and yet these dem agogues
keep on repeating il and thus force thousands
to believe Il lie. Neither Mr.. Whitehead nor
Mr.. Hawkins nor any other person can show
that railroad rates now or at any time have
had any relation whatever to the cost of the
road, or the value, real or face, of the stock
or to the value OF the bonds that have been
issued. These things do not now nor have
they ever been taken into consideration in
making Of railroad rates, nor could they
be used in any way if they were taken into
consideration. The fact is that the officers
Of a road who make the rates have as q rule
no knowledge whatever as to the cost of the
property-how much stock it has issued or
how large mortgage is on it. These things
do not pertain to the functions of his office
and he neither knows nor cares anything
about them, nor could he use his knowledge
as to them, if he had any, in making his
tariffs.
As far as the public is concerned-and by
the public mean the patrons of a road,
those who ship freight by it or travel on its
transit makes no difference whatever
whether the New York Central road is
stocked for thousand or million dollars
per mile, or whether q half or a quarter of
that stock represents water or gold. In
neither case are its rates affected and its
patrons would not DO called On to pay a
fraction Of mill more per mile If its stock
was ct the rate of a million dollars per mile,
than they would il its stock was only a
thousand dollars per mile.
Railroad rates are not In any way con-
trolled or based Oh the value of the prop
erty or on what it cost or would sell for, any
moro than the price per bushel of wheat Is
dependent on the value of a mans farm.
No farmer is fool enough to claim that wheat
grown on farm that is worth one hundred
dollars per acre is, or should be worth any
more than the same quality of grain grown
on farm that is worth no more than five
dollars per acre, nor does it maze any differ
ence as to the prlce of wheat whether the
farm 1t grew on was mOrtraged Tor hun
dred dollars per acre or that it was not
mortGaged at all. The question of the
volume of stock that a road may issue, or
the face value of its mortgages Is OF interest
alone TO the owners of those evidences of
ownership or values, and to the spectators
of Wall ST., and Is of no more concern to the
farmer than is the value of real estate in the
moon. 1t is plain to outsiders that if Mr..
Whitehead or Mr.. Hawkins would tell their
hearers the truth about these things, their
occupation as lecturers and writer's would |
soon be gone and that they would have TO
come down to honest ways of gaining their
bread and butter. Their whole stock in !,
trade consists of inst such nonsense as l
have quoted above and 10 one knows of its
utter wOrthlessness better than the dema-
gogues who keep them at the front with
orders to fool the masses to the fullest extent.
An Ex-TARIFF MAKER.