The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-10-14
RAILROAD owNERsHIP.
specious Arguments Preseated by Popuifs.-
Orators as tn Government Ownership of
Railroads.

| emily proving his position. Mr. Joseph
Nimmo, Jr., OF Washington, in Il letter
TO the Washington Post, covers this
question in a full and complete man
ner. Being 4 recognized authority on
all railroad and economic questions.
Mr.. Nimrno is quoted at length He
says, speaking Of the ownership and
management of railroads by the ma
tional government:
II can conceive of no proposition
more revolutionary in its tendencies.
But the question has been forced upon
the public attention, and it may be
well to discuss it. In this connection
/ can only state few of the mo re i'm
portant facts bearing upon this sub
ject:
l. The opinions which have been
expressed in favor of government own
ership and management of the railroads
are all characterized by failure to ap-
prehend the overshadowiug and all-in-
portant fact that the commercial and
industrial forces of the. country are
much more potential in determining
rates than are all the railroad man
ayers of the country, either when act
ing separately or in concert. Before
the age of railroads, each commercial
city of the country had Il tradc area de
ternined mainly by it's facilities for
transportation by water. Freight
charges were then in each case deter
mined by the conditions of competition
which characterized such areas. But
changed all this, 1t has provided Il
means of transportation vastly superior
to water lines in the possibilities of
collection and of distribution. and now
constitutes one closely connected sys-
tenn of transportation. ThNs the for
mer segregated trade areas have been
broken up At the sane time the com
mere | and industrial forces of the
whole country have been brought into
instant and intense competition with
each other. This struggle imposes re
straints upon freight charges which the
railroad manage > powerleSs to with.
stand. In fact it has much more to do
with the determination of freight
charges, and especially relative rates,
:han any vOlition which it IS possible
for the railroad manager or for any
traffic association to exercise. Under
this tightening grasp of competition
freight charges have fallen on the great
trunk lines of the country to half what
they were only thirteen years ago
Government management of the
railroads would clearly involve gov
ernmental determination of the rela-
tive strength of the commercial forces
of the country in their constant up
heaval and evolution. The only re-
course from this hopeless task would
be a general leveling process under
horizontal freight tariffs. But the peo-
pie of this free and enlightened coun-
try who carry on its productive and
commercial enterprises will submit to
no such despotic interference with the
course Of the development OF their. in
dustrial interests.
The value of the commodities moved
over the trunk railroads of the country
annually is four or five times the value
of those railroads, including both realty
and equipment This alone indicates
the Overpowering influence of CONNER
cial over transportation forces
''Do not the foregoing facts clearly
indicate that the governmental manage
ment of the railroads would involve
the governmental management of com
merce and industry? But what man in
his senses would for moment enter
tain such a proposition as this?
, The argument drawn from the
success of the government in conduct
ing the postal service is utterly incon-
elusive as to the stability of placing
the railroads under government man
agement. The success of the postal
service would be impossible Were it not
for the fact that private capital and en-
terprise have provided the railroads,
and the cars and the train service. Be
sides, a hard and fast leve!ing statute
determines what compensation the rail-
roads shall receive for the transporta-
ton of the mails Such power exer-
cised over the agricultural, the manu-
featuring or the commercial interests
of this country would create a
revolution within five years. Besides,
the cost of the postal service above pos
tai receipts during the last twenty years
amounts to SS5, 5,O7S, an average an
nual subvention of Sl,21G,75 This is
well on the safe side of the rule that
the government can acquire no interest
for profit in any sort of business enter
prise. The annual cost of operating the
railroads of the country is eleven times
that of conducting the entire postal
service. What, then, would be the
amount of taxation which would be re-
quired in order to subsidize the railroad
system of the United States? Why, we
should be compelled 10 restore our war
tariff and internal taxation in order to
meet the new demands upon the public
treasury.
3 Your correspondent infers the
success of governmental ownership end
control OF the railroads of the United
States from the experiences of Austria
liza. That assumption does not bear
the slightest touch of investigation.
The construction of railroads in Aus
tralia failed as private enterprise.
Then each one of the five colonies took
the matter up separately as govern
mental enterprises. The railroad sys-
TEN of each one of these colonies has
different gauge and therefore there is
no general Australian railway system
The various lines have been so located
as to avoid competition Railway com
petition on the other hand is the pre-
dominant feature of our American rail-
road system. The railroads of Australia
are run almost without profit Their
construction has been a source Of grave
charges of dishonesty, and their man
aGement is 4 subject of popular com
plant, especially among the farmers.