The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-03-03
o
THE FARMER, THE INVESTOR AND THE


Those familiar with the history Of
the last sixty years, will not question
the great benefits resulting from the
construction of railways, nor grudge
the men who have carried forward
these undertakings a rich reward.
By the aid of the railway the wilder
ness has been made productive, count
less farms brought within reach of the
great markets; mines opened, mills,
factories and FORCES built; villages,
towns and cities brought into eXis
tence, and pOpulOus States carried to a
higher development than would have
been possible without such aids.
While the builders of the railway
have been exploiting a continent, and
plllng up the, greatest fortunes ever
known, the farmer has taken an I'M
productive wilderness, and literally
hewn his way through the great forests
which clothed SeabOard and central
region to the open prairie, there devel-
Oplng the most productive of States,
he continued his tOilsOme march up the
arid slopes, scaled the mountains and
planted orchard, vineyard and farm
by the shores of the Western Ocean.
Ills IabOrs have enabled the nation
to flood the markets with a plethora of
bread, meat and fibre, to meet the
enormous expenditure of a devastating
war, to repair the losses and havoc Of
those bloody days, and then to turn
the balance of trade in our favor.
Willingly has the farmer performed
the labor, expecting to share in the
prosperity of the country. vet not
always content with his share of the
rewards, and coming to believe that
the carriers Of his products were exact
ing as toll O than a just proportion
thereof. He has seen the carrier yearly
adding to his property, building new
lines from the tolls collected on the
old, increasing his wealth and power,
and leaving to the grower Of farm
products, a constantly lessening pro-
portion OF the proceeds arising from
their sale. AS population has increased,
railway property has grown in relative
value, n this increase has been very
largely made from revenues derived
from tolls levied to pay interest and
dividends on the water in the bonds
and shares, hence made at the expense
OF railways users, a large part of whom
are farmers.
All are fairly prosperous except such
as T engaged in the basic industry of
civilization; the one cloud on the in
duStrlal horizon is the unsatisfactory
condition of a large part of an agri-
cultural population, numbering some
25, 900, GOO, and the railway is charge
able with so mnch of this as results
from the eXactiOn of unjust tolls.
On the basis of POOr's calculation, it
appears that from traffic earning alone.
the holders of shares and bonds have
received six per cent. per annum for
every dollar invested, and have, within
fifteen years, been enabled by the
Watery fiction to eXtOrt from railway
users the enormous sum of 81, 592, 2S0.47
Ito which should be added about half
as much more from miscellaneous
earnings with which has been built
50, 706 miles of railway, for the use of
which it is proposed to forever tax
those who have furnished the money
for it's construction.
Is it possible that no remedy can be
found for such evils? In the National
Bank, the State has created another
form of public trust, but one whose
relations to the people are less intimate,
and with the services of which the
public could dispense without serious
results. Can there be any sufficient
reason why the railway corporation,
with infinitely greater power and
p11f hCSCS) PCLO4 IIl14S q 1ulICU1OL q
thousand times more important, and
directly affecting a hundred persons
for one affected by bank administra-
ton, should not be subjected to control
quite as stringent and quite as far
reaching?
Shares and bonds being the basis of
tolls, should a railway company be
permitted to issue share or bond until
its par value in actual money has been
covered into the corporate treasury?
Should the basis of tolls be laid until
it has been shown that a proposed line
is necessary to public cOnveniences,
and will make fair returns on it's cost
Should a railway company be per
mitted to collect tolls until it has shown
the exact cost of the instrument of
transportation?
Should it not be q penal Offense for a
railway official to pay an unearned
dividend?
Shonld not railway accounts, stock
and bond ledgers, and assets be sub
iected to like inspection as those of
national banks?
Would not rate wars cases, were
railways once having reduced rates,
debarred from ever again advancing
them without governmental permission?
Should not railway companies be
taxed on the capitalization as shown In
issues of bonds and shares?
Should not railways be appraised at
present cash value, and earnings, from
all sources be limited to what would
afford a given or maximum return on
such appraisal!
Or should the nation the
ownership and operate the railways
through a nOn-partisan commission, as
the Province of Victoria, Australia,
has shown to be both practical and
economical!
There is no longer any question as to