The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-02-27
TELEGRAPH AND RAILROAD.
The Difference Between Private and
Public Ownership.

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Public Ownership.
In 1857 the capital stock of the West
ern Union Telegraph Company was
$358,O0O. An investment of 81, 1000 in
the stock at that time had increased in
1890 to $50, 900, besides earning for it's
owner in dividends the sum Of 800, 900.
The first line ever built was built be
tween Baltimore and Washington by
Congress and in I847 was given to the
Western Union for nothing. Since
then the latter company has had a
practical monopoly of the telegraph
business and has exacted tribute from
the people to pay dividends on it's
stock, three fourths of which are
Watered. It has crushed or bought up
all opposition lines and under the re-
gime of Jay Gould laughed at all at
tempts at legislative regulation.
Besides this it has built up great
press monopolies, which are controlled
by the daily newspapers of the coun-
try, and through them corrupted pub
lie opinion and strangIed the free press.
1t discriminates in rates against the
people and in favor of the few, and by
furnishing Congressman and State
Legislators with the privilege Of send.
ing messages over it's lines free it bribes
the servants Of the people not to do
anything in the direction Of bringing
about public ownership of tele graph
lines. The telegraph lines should be
owned and operated by the govern
ment- The same reason that applies
to the government postal system is
equally applicable to the telegraph
the people have just as much right
to cheap telegraph and telephone com
munication as cheap postal communi-
cation-and the people should let Con
gress understand in no uncertain terms
that they must have government own
ership of the telegraph.
The Cleveland Leader. in it's issue of
Dec. %, points out the tendency Of the
government to control, through re
ceivers, the railroads of the country.
Two or three railroads are being placed
in the hands of receivers every week
by the United States courts, thus as
Stunning that they have entire jurisdic
tion over the railroads by virtue of the
laws of Congress.
There are at the present time over
100 railroads in the hands of receivers,
including the Union Pacific, Northern
Pacific, and Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe, which are the three longest
lines in the country. This condition
of affairs indicates that, with misman
agement, watered stock and useless
competitive lines built where they are
not needed, the railroads cannot be
made to pay dividends on their aggre
gate capital. The aggregate capital
ization of the railroads of the United
States is over so, 900, OOO,O 900, but they
could be duplicated for less than a.
600, 900 900. Is it any wonder that
railroads are going into the hands of
receivers9 Parallel lines are built
where one line could carry all the
traffic, thus dividing between two lines
what one line could do, and when the
traffic must be made toyield dividends
on watered stock the rates must be
kept abnormally high, while compe-
tition tends to keep them down.
The result can easily be foreseep.
Sooner or later one or both of two COM
peting lines will have to go into the
hands of receivers unless they com
bine to protect their own interests.
The tendency of the railroads to com
bine into great trusts, like the sugar,
oil and iron trusts, must eventually
form the railroads into the hands of a
few great trusts unless the govern
ment takes them into it's hands before
that time has come. The authority
which Congress now exercises over
railroads through the courts need only
be extended a little further to place
them in the hands of the government.
-CEeUeLG1ad CItiseG,