The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-06-30
ogden, Utah, June IS. 1895.

a
contributed so wonderfully and mate
rally to the development OF our COM
uerce and civilization, there Is none
that have been so active and potent do
the railroad industry. 1t STANDS ou'
i'm characteristic eXclusiVeness 10 al.
industries. by the bOundless power anu
influence it Yields on every Qepdi :
1nent of orr organic anatomy. II Is -
nonnDrebensive in its extensive ramitl-
cations that it actively perVades the
domestic home, and affects very mate
riaIIv persons in the humblest walks
of life. 1t arbitrarily dictates the
sweep of empire, and determines What
geographical fields shall be hXed DE-
the abode of man. 1t can Destroy d
town or build one up, and transform
the physiognomy of our commercla:
situation. Il can sway the trend OF
social institutions. In a word, 1t can
dictate to the republic.
Various Phases.
The railroad industry is purely the
creature of the Nineteenth century,
and purely characteristic OF the III
ventive ingenuity of this most phe-
nominal of all ages. To properly dIf
Dreciate it's present status, the VaSt
possibilities within the compass OF It's
achievements, the ultimatum OF the
problem of public and private owner.
shin. an examination of the phases OF
its development as evidenced by the
experience of various governments, Is
indispensable Experience is the great
teacher of mankind. With Gladstone
THE pilgrimage Of mankind through
the shaded valley of life and deatn
could not have an been in vain. Inc
application of steam to inland trans
portatiOn has revolutionized the indus
trial world.
EngIand's Work.
England in 1880 took the initiative
in railroad building, and TINS yeaI
properly marks the railroad era. ROD
ert Stevenson. the enthusiastic invent
or of the railroad engine in 1880, ap'
plied to parliament for an approprlar
ton to develop his invention. A com'
rnittee appointed regarded his repre-
sensations as TO its possibilities eXtraE-
agant and visionary. He then sought
assistance from the merchants ana
manufacturers of Manchester. He was
successful and from this circumstance
the railroad in its inception became
private instead Of a public enterprise
They adopted the Kings Highway the
orv bv which one party owned this
rolling stock and another the roadbed
The industry under this theory sui
= fered but a short duration, for 1t scot
became apparent to the owners of ths
: roadbed that the monopoly Of the
roadbed and rolling stock would ne
4more remunerative. So the King
Highway theory went out OF use.
important and PerpIexinS.
The r. ilroad industry in England
had assumed such important, get per
plexing proportions that no t. 1873
having passed $500 legislative acts
for their regulation and expended the
vast sum of fS0,000,C10 in enforcing
them. a parliamentary committee wa4
appointed to inVesti8 lta the rallroac
system and report the result o. then
Conclusions. They found thai discrim-
lnation had been a most Objectionable
feature underlying private ownership
and that many mOnOpOies had been
occasioned thereby. They analXzeC
tzc King High way theory, and cor
Guided that it had been diScreetTy elm
mated. They examined what they des-
ignated the Enlightened Self Interest
theory, according to which events
were to pursue their natural order I'M
INSTRUCTED by governmental. inteTIer'
ence. It was cOntended 10y the adVO-
Gates Of this theory that the interests
Of the people are mutual and substan-
tally the same. that the railroads
' ouid refrain from doing anything
that antagOniZed the industrial devel'
opment of any section, because the
success and prosperity Of the people
was their success cOntending also
No doubt this theory could be success
fully prosecuted f there were only one
company, but where there are a num-
Der of companies operating in oper
competition. it is to the individual in
tereSt of each to utilize their forces in
tie development of their particular
district and running those of their COM
petitors. The efficiency Of state own
ership was next considered. This, like
the two preceding theories, was ulti-
mately rejected
England had back Of her centuries
Of coercion and cruel monopoly
through which there had been a per-
sistent struggle for the realization OF
personal liberty. It was thought that
the eXtinguishment of private owner
ship would be a retrogreSion from the
exalted conception of individual free
dom.
In imperial governments where in
dividualism in industry is curtailed.
state ownership of railroads, as in Ger
many, can be maintained without SER
iously encroaching upon what the peo-
pie conceive TO be the just limitations
Of their liberty. The committee in their
report to parliament recommended
control by special commissions. and
that policy is well settled in England
as being the nearest solution of the
railroad problem.
In Belgium.
In Belgium, a representative gov
eminent, the theory of state ownership
was inaugurated shortly after 1890
From its inception it met with strong
opposition and was destined to be
overthrown. Those who favored this
system argued, as against private
ownership, that as the railroads were
superior to the control of competition,
they would inevitably lead to monop-
hat ---I7a II 10 ba iy1il e-f
OF competing lines to combine they
would do so, and though competition
would result temporarily to the indus
trial betterment of the people, the en-
during consequences would be disas-
ter.
In Belgium the industry was sup
ported and maintained from a fund
collected by taxation, the burden fall
ing universally upon the people. Lines
were Immediately projected in various
parts of the state and naturally
through more densely populated dis
tricts and those specially endowed by
nature; the result naturally to be eX-
pected was, those districts not repre-
scented with Lines soon entered re-
rnonstrances, contending it was I'M
just discrimination; that they ought
not to be compelled to pay Tor the
prosecution of a public, enterprise in
which they received no benefit. Legis-
iators from the DISCONTINUED sections,
By concerted action, succeeded in Sc
curing change. The government
found it necessary to construct a vast