The National tribune., 1891-03-12
THE RAILROADS. AND THE FARMER,

gTieVously oppressed and robbed the farmers
and manufacturers is beyond successful de-
NAL. 1t Is by no means sufficient answer
to this to say that the railroads have greatly
benefited the farmers, have in fact created
millions of farms out of what was before
wild lands, and opened to those already in
existence new and immensely valuable mar
kets. This is undoubtedly true, and it is
equally true that but for the railroads the
people would have little of the wealth and
few of the comforts of civilization that they
now have. Nor should there he any dimi-
mutton of the credit given the euterprising
railroad-builders, who have pushed their
lines into new sections, and in advance of
settlement, and given the incoming settlers
the advantages Of rail communication, trust
ing to the future for a profitable return
upon their investments.
But because they did this is no justifca-
ton whatever for a chronic system Of ex-
toFtion upon the parties so benefited. That
one man hastens to perceive and relieve
another's needs gives him no sort Of right
to fasten himself upon his beneficiary for
ever, and pluck from him the fruits of his
labor. The fatal defects in the arguments
of the extreme railroad advocates is that
they assume that if those particular men
had not built shat particular railroad, and
put their money into it, no other men would
ever have built the railroad there, and con-
sequently the community would have been
for ever deprived Of the advantages of such
communication. Consequently, as those par
ticular men, with their railroad, were the
creators Of the wealth of the country, they
are in fairness TO be allowed to manage their
property as they please, and make the COM
munity pay forever what they choose to
assess it This reasoning is totally falIa-
ciOus. Every man who builds Touring
mill or blacksmith shop, or starts fac
tory, could say the same thing. The truth
is that when the present or prospective
needs of a section demanded a railroad
! somebody was bound TO build it. That
somebody is entitled to a fair return
upon his money, and with a substan-
tial recognition Of his enterprise in being
the first in the field. He has no shadow of
right, however, 10 demand, as many railroads
do, that the community shall pay for all time
a big interest on four or five times as much
money as be put into the enterprise, and that
in this way he shall be the perpetual arbiter
of the value of their farms and the products
Of their labor.
If all the swindling, extOrtiOn and Unjust
ice practiced upon the farmers and other
citizens of this country by railroad project
ors, builders and managers could be set forth
it would make a startling exhibit. 1t would
show that we are the most dumbly-patient
people under the shears Of the fieecer that
this world has ever seen. The farmers have
built thousands Of miles Of railroad with
money taken directly from their pockets.
Then these roads, which belonged to them
rs absolutely as the acres to which they had
title-deeds, have been gobbled up without
any consideration whatever by shrewd man
ayers, heavily stocked aud bonded, and the
farmers been compelled to pay big interest
not only on the money they put in them
selves, but upon all the water that the man
ayers injected into the stock.
This sort Of thing, with other wrongs
equally grave, must come 10 an end. The
people are entirely willing that every rail-
road Aall earn fair return upon the money
actually invested in it, with liberal allow
ance for an increase in value on account OF
the development Of the country. Bat they
demand-they have a right to demand, and
they will see that their demands are COM
piled with-that they shall not be taxed
upon fictitious values; that railroad man
ayers shall not have the power to constantly
add 10 their burdens without let or him
drance, and take what portion they will of
the proceeds Of their toll under the pretext
Of necessity Of paying dividends upon dis
hOnestly-innated stock.
Railroad-building has long since passed
the experimental stage 1t is as nearly an
exact science as any mechanical art can be
in this era of progress. There is no more
reason now for exorbtant prices for trans
portation than there is for barrel Of flour,
or a ton of pig-iron. The whole colossal
fabric Of fraud and extortion built upon our
railroad system must be swept away, and
the system reformed upon the solid, bust
ness basis of right, justice and common
sense Nothing less than this will or should
content the people.
WHAT nSF MAN HAS nn<E