The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1894-08-24
Ninteen Reasons for Government
Ownership of Railroads.
BY HON. THos. E. WATSON.

BY HON. THOS. Z. WATSON.
First. 1t would give death blow
to the "reign of corporations. !"
The people would be boss again.
Second. 1t would stop corrupt
legislation in their behalf. The
motive would be gone.
Third. 1t would unshackle trade
and commerce from s9the trust"
and /" the ring" They cannot
operate without the aid of the rail
road.
Fourth. 1t would stop discrim-
nations against certain persons and
certain places. The movite would
be gone. The postoffice treats all
alike. So would the government
railway.
Fifth. 1t would stop speculative
railroad building. The government
would lay out new road where
needed and nowhere else.
Sixth. 1t would to a great extent
destroy the tyranny Of Capital over
Labor and render strikes well nigh
obsolete.
Seventh. 1t would enable the
cotton planter to exchange products
with the corn planter ON fair terms,
which would leave a profit to both.
At present the railroads impoverish
them both.
Eighth. 1t would remove the
causes of the hatred of the people
to the roads and harmonize all in
terests.
Ninth. 1t would equalize all avo-
cations and shippers and would
take away the power the roads now
have to destroy a business, Sec
tion, or an individual.
Tenth. 1t would put into the
hands of the people a weapon with
which they could destroy any COM
bine among capitalists in any
article of commerce.
Eleventh. 1t would save enOr-
nous sums now paid in fancy
salaries.
Twelfth. 1t would save the 5000
lives lost every year for lack of
safety appliances.
Thirteenth. 1t would bring about
absolute free trade and cheap traf-
fic between all sections of this great
country destroy "the pool" "
knock the pins from under the
stock broker put an end to the
insolence with which so many
officials treat the public; remove
the leverage which English capital
has on our labor and its products !;
give death blow to this Internal
"booming" of towns and cities at
the expense of the country and for
the benefit of few capitalists over
many laborers. 1t would be giant
stride in the direction of equality
and manhood rights and to the
destruction of our class system OF
special privilege.
Fourteenth. 1t would stop land
grabbing and would restore mil
lions of acres to the public domain.
Fifteenth. 1t would, to great
extent, stop the builing up of towns
at the expense of the country and
would entirely stop the speculative
"boom" which attempts to build a
city where commerce does not call
for it.
| Sixteenth. 1t would remove
from public life, from journalism,
from politics, and from business,
some of their most corrupting in
flunces.
u Seventeenth. 1t would remove
one of the bulwarks of plutocracy,
and knock one of the main props
from under that den of thieves
known as Wall street.
Eighteenth. The railroad corpor'
, ations are gathering into theil
, clutches the coal supply, the iror
} supply, the oil supply, the grair
elevators, and the timber supply.
} The only way to check the re
morseless despOtism which thi;
} policy will establish, is to have thu
, government possess itself of thu
) public roads. Then the people viii
be masters of transportation, ant
: thus masters of the situation.
With the corporations owning
5 the sources of supply, and also tn