Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1891-12-19

"1AAN0 CO8fO8AIAO0 81OCk&
rad in . late issue Of The Praixse Farm
% what pufports to be Mr.. Mortimer white
heede relation" to the watering OF Cor
Roration Stocks" In quoting from R c.
Hawkins be endorses Mr.. HAWKING state
ed stocks is one of the greatest burdens Of
unfair taxation under which We
are suffering" Mr.. Hawkins assumes to
give the s'cost on paper" of the railroads of
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 q
single glimmer. even, of evidence to prove
the statement 80 boldly made. That it is
false has been shown a hundred times IN
courts and Congress and in the Legislature
OF dozen States, and yet these demagOgues
keep on repeating it and thus force thousands
to believe a Inc. 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 we're taken into
consideration. The fact is that the officers
of road who make the rates have as rule
no knowledge whatever as to the cost OF the
property-how much stock 1t has issued or
how large mortgage is OH 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 ne had any, in making his
tariffs.
As far as the public is concerned-and by
the public l 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 a half or 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 q
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 it cost or would sell for, any
more 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 make any differ
ence as to the price of wheat whether the
farm it grew on was mortgaged tor hum
dred dollars per acre or that it was not
mortgaged at all. Tho 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 Ia the value of real estate in the
moon. 1t is plain to outsiders that it Mr..
Whitehead or Air. 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 non sense as
have quoted above and no one knows OF Its
utter wor5hlessness 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.