Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-12-24
WATERING CORPoRATION STOCK

I read in late issue of the Prairie Farm
er what purports to be Mr.. Mortimer White
heads "relation" to the watering of Cor
poration Stocks" In quoting from r. G.
Hawkins he endorses Mr.. Hawkins state
ment as truthful" and then says: "Water-
ed stocks is one of the greatest burdens of
unfair taxation under which we
are suffering" Mr.. 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 up
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.
single glimmer, even, of evidence to prove
the statement so 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 demagoRues
keep on repeating it and thus force thousands
to believe 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 a 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
the public I mean the patrons of 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 a thousand or a million dollars
per mile, or whether a half or a quarter OF
that stock represents water or gold. In
neither case are its rates affected and its
patrons would not be called on to pay a
fraction of a mill more per mile If its stock
was at the rate of million dollars per mile,
than they would if its stock was only a
thousand dollars per mile.
Railroad rates are not in any way con-
trolled or based on the value of the prop
erty or on what 1t cost or would sell for, any
more than the price per bushel of wheat is
dependent on the value of mans farm.
No farmer is fool enough to claim that wheat
grown on a 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 hYe
dollars per acre, nor does 1t make any differ
ence as to the price of wheat whether the
farm it grew on was mortgaged tor hun
dred dollars per acre or that it was not
mortgaged at all. The question of the
vo.ume 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 MIR. Hawkins would tell their
hearers the truth about these things, their
occupation as lecturers and writers 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
have quoted above and no 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.