The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-08-24
4 PANIC PREVENTIVE.
nCWTO MORE MONEY
MILLIONS MAY BE ADDED To TIL
CIRCILaTIoS THROUGH TBE GOV
TRSHE>T OWNERSHIP OF
KAILEoA
1t will Deeone@ntrHts MONEY. Prevent
stock Spectators and Break MP
Gambling.
Especial TO TIE CAUCASIAN

NASHINGTON, Aug. l6.-ln this
poll-parrot age OF second hand poll
teal opinions II Is refreshing 10 find
man belonging to either of the two
old parties with an idea of his own,
and, what is equally rare the courage
to express it. The government own
ership Of railroads is not new ques-
ton, but the application Of the prin-
ciple involved in the agitation and
contamination Of it has a spice of
originality about it.
PANIC PREVENTIVE.
In talking the other day with Mr..
NJ. l.. Mott, n prominent young
North Carolina Republican, | was
struck with the force Of his observa
ton on this line of thought. We
maintained the position with great
clearness that government owner
ship Of railroads would absolutely
prevent the concentration CT the
vast capital, which is the direct re-
suit of railroad earnings at the
money centers, a constant menace to
the business interests of the coun-
try. 1.-The Peoples party position
on this question, which has subject
ed it to great deal Of ridicule, in my
opiDion', he said, ''goes to the very
root of the evil Of the money fam
me- 1t is the solution Of the prob
lem, congress has been called to-
gether to solve. To destroy or i'm
| pair the use of either the currency
and absolutely control the legisla
ton of the cOuntry-state and ma
tional. OF all the "solutions.n offer
ed, none of them, in my Judgment.
meets the case so completely as the
proposition Of governmental owner
ship of railroads. Free coinage does
not do it. You may not only estab-
list the free and unlimited coinage
of silver and gold, just as we had it
under the act of 1887, and on top of
that you may issue legal tender trea-
sury notes ad intinitum, as was done
during the war, but in the outcome
you will find that the agencies of
transportation have gobbled up the
lions share Of the money, and are
ever ready to cry out, "the public |
be damned" But if the public thro'
its government. should resolve to
own the roads, paying only fair
valuation for the same, that course |
would not only secure it against ex-
tortlon, discrimination and spoila-
ton, but would also throw into the
current of circulating medium such |
volumn of money that no more !
would he needed, and since the in
land carrying trade would no longer
afford fold of investment and spec
ulatIon as at present and since there
Is no other kind of enterprise in the
world that could take it's place in
that respect, the holders of the money
thus paid out would be obliged to
lend it to the industrial classes for
use IN material development at a
low rate of interest, otherwise it
would be dead capital in their hands.
Moreover the public would then be,
as 1T ought to be, the beneficiary of
tn elunearned increment in the value
of the roads arising from the increase
of population and business-a value
that is created solely by the public.
How great that unearned value is
may be judged from the fact, that
the estates of almost every great
millionaire like Stanford Gould or
Vanderbilt consist almost entirely of
railway stocks. They did not earn
this vast wealth amounting to bill
lions. The public created the values,
and legislation bought and paid for,
transferred them, without considera
ton, to individuals, giving them
upon false pretenses a monopoly of
the highways of the country. And
so long as this monopoly is allowed
to operate as at present, both the
kind OF money and the quantity is
sued are matters of little moment in
the long run, since whatever the
kind or quality, the monopolists will
soon gather the whole of it. as thew
have done IN the past.
Congress ought to provide means
for the gradual naturalization of all
transportation lines. or in other
words for the restoration of "K ings
highways" to the public as matter
of indefeasable right as we'll as a
measure of safety against robbery
and oppression. | would only change
one word in Vanderbllt's famous Ut
terance: would simply say "the cor
porations be id" and | mean TO
maintain this position on the stump
in North Carolina.
The discussion and ventilation of
this subject may be slow as the press
which which the people ac-
qulre information upon public poll
cles are subsidized and owned by
this resistless and unyielding rail
road monopoly"
When asked if he meant
this as a declaration of party
he replied:
mo, l do not. 1t is too big a ques-
ton for party politics. l advocate
it as a great economic question, and
If that is treason to the Republican
party. why make the most of it. OF
course | know that it is one of the
planks In the Peoples party plat
form and | expect the little newspa-
per fellows will jumpon me with both
feet and say that l am a Crank, or
that am out fishing for votes, but I
am not candidate for any Office
have just resigned one, because |
couldn't very consistently maintain
my self respect and hold office under
a Democratic administration-and
shall not be deferred from following
my earnest convictions on this ques-
ton. know that objections are
suggested, but they can all be sue
cessfully met. The main idea is TO
distribute the enormous wealth
among the people through the legit-
innate channels of trade and invest
ment, break up stock gambling and
peculation and prevent p anics.