The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-05-01
Minnesota and Her Burden.

tise their res pectivc lines to secure as
much travel as their competitors. and
agents and solicitors are paid | am
informed twenty-five per cent for sale
of tickets. These are all unnecessary
expenses which must ultimately be
paid out OF the pockets OF the people,
an expense which would be saved
were the roads operated by the gov
ernment.
One OF the star arguments of those
who oppose this system is that if the
government takes control of the
roads, new inventions will cease and
progress or further development
and improvement of the railroads will
stop. We are directed to Europe and
told that the inferior railroad service
is due to government ownership, that
the only incentive to improvement is
the rivalry of competing lines, and
that il this is removed, no new inven-
tionS or improvement will be made.
This is not correct The inventors of
this country know that any new de-
vice they can suggest, which will be
an improvement on old methods, will
be as readily adopted by the govern
ment as any private party. In no
fields has the Improvements and new
inventions been coming in with such
astounding rapidity as in the imple-
ments Of war. The best navy atloat
ten years ago is only fit for scrap iron
today. And yet wars are certainly
not private undertakings. In the
postal service new inventions are dis
placing old devices every day. 1t is
only short time since machine for
stamping envelopes was placed in the
post office here which does the work of
ten or more men. So on throughout
every department. When the Europe
an roads are behind the American
in point of efficiency, it is not because
they are European. Not all the rail
roads in Europe are public property.
Many of them are private, but the
private ones are no better than those
owned by the government. Europe is,
in everything pertaining to practical
business, behind US, whether it be in
private or public affairs. The greater
efficiency of the American railroads
are due to the fact that they are
American and operated by American
genius and enterprise, and not to the
fact that they arc private property.
Whatever the Americans took hold Of
they improved. Whether they cid it
as a nation or individuals. When the
Civil War began, we were without
arms and without navy. Before
four years had passed, we had revOlu-
tiOniZed the manner Of Warefarc and
we had a navy one-half of which could
have sunk every English manOfwar
atloat; and rifles that could do cXecu-
tiOn for more than a dozen Of those of
the European pattern; and all this in
spite Of the fact that war is q part of
the business nearly constantly carried
on by European countries. a few
years ago we started to build new
navy. We were told we knew nothing
about that business. but today Europ-
cans come and get their models for
cannon and their cruisers. All these
are public undertakings. American
genius and American enterprise
which has SO reyolutionized the world
does not consist in the ability to in
vent but ia the ability to appreciate
inventions and the Importance Of inn
proyement and progress. John Erics-,
son was as good an inventor while he
was in his native land as after he
came to .ths country, but he had to
come here to be appreciated. This
ability to appreciate Inventions and
the courage and enterprise in putting
them into use have shown themselves
no less in public than in private un-
dertakings. 1t is the American spirit
Of progress, the spirit whose face Is
turned towards the future and not to-
wards the past, the spirit and genius
which does not consent to lie suIienly
and sickly in the stagnant and turbid
waters Of the bygone, but sails boldly
forth upon the opeh sea. towards un-
explored coasts, ready to meet ANY
emergency and assume any responsi-
bility. The spirit and the genius
which hundred years ago in the
midst of superstitious and supersili-