The herald., 1895-01-01
GOVERNMENTAL PREROGATNES.
Ownership of Railroads by the
Government.
Arguments in Favor of the PROPOSE
tiOn.
Attsn tion Called to the Results OF Gov
eminent Ownership OF Railroads
In Other COuutrIea


government owIerHhip of railroads.
From his address the following extracts
are made, aa presenting oonclusiona
drawn after full deiiberation and care
full inveetig alton Of facts gsrmene to
the question now go greatly interesting
the public:
We are persuadsd-as no doubt is
svery member of this board-that COM
merce ia the life-blood OF o nation.
Waterways and roads are the arteries
and veins where that llfe-blood Gibbs
and flows. You would deem that man
= }unatic who should commit the keep.
ing of his circulating system into the
hands of a vampire. Equally inesns is
that body politio which commits it's
commercial arteries into the hands of
any private corporation.
| From time immemorial it has been
cne of the prime functions of govern
ment to provide means Of conmunica-
tion for it's citizsnB. Roads are smong
the frat factors in transforming barpar-
ism into civilization. Government ben
etitg the farmer OF today and comes
home to him chiefly in its capacity ae q
roadmaker. The railroad is simply an
extension OF and outgrow.h from our
ordinary highrosds. 1t is the high
road OF today. AS such it ehould be
held and utilized for the public benefit
snd for that only.
Statesmen in other lands had the fore
aight to oct en- this principle. But gov
arnmantH are not always wies and pre-
seient, and politicians are not alwayn
statesmen, go that America hiss fallen
behind some other countrea in this
matter.
Belgium wac the first European king
dom to reeognize in practical manner,
'the good results TO bo derived from q
well established system OF railroad com
muniaation throughout the country.
! Lines were accordingly laid ont ny emf
mont engineers throughout the most
populons districts. conntructed at the
expen6s Of the state, subject to the com
plete control of tho legislature. The
end aimed at was not tha gain OF the
operator, but the extension of the
traffic and com municatiou of the coma
try, to the utmost limits OF the pabifG
capacity, at the lowest rate ct charge at
which the origins! outey could bo reim-
! hursed. Tha project undertaken by the
/ government was en- establish hmant
~ waich should be mother 8 burden nor q
that it should o0var its own expansss,
consisting Of the charge for raaiutenancs
aud repair, with luther sum for the
interest and gradual redemption of the
invested capital" Sucn wore tho !eEms
in which the minister of finance as
early IS 1886 reported on the eystem
este blighed in Belgi1m. The project
wap first introduced into tho Belgian
chamber OF commerce in 1884, whom
there we're not wanting thoae who
wished 10 adopt ey stem OF competition.
INC !" said Mr.. Rogier (and msrk hie
words), ''the state Of Gfflirs in which
competition arrests the evil dOea rot
apply here; whoever hoida tho railways
holde monopoly, and that should ouly
be allowed 10 exist il possession OF the
state"
You will perceive by this that the
question of todsy--tho question OF how
to deal with monopolieE-wG fore
Swallowed go years ago. even ia Eng
land in 1874, Mr. Gladstone, as mem
ber of parliamentary committee. asked
Chaplain Lave this question:
O. Does the consideration thar the
railroad companies possess in many
respeGta something in tho character OF
q monopoly, enter materially into the
grounds OF your opinion?
A. Yes, it does, and not only mon.
opoly now. but every extension 10 cal
culated to increase immensely that
monopoly and "a continuation Of monop-
oliss.
@. Do you anticipate that there viii
be tendency among the railroad
companies to smaigamate TO consid-
able extent?
| la T har ,.ko "a
that there is much more extensive
combination than probably the commit
tee have any idea OF.
Let me produce the testimony OF O
modern American to prove how clear
was Captain Laws' foresight; E. Porter
Alexander, president of the Louisville
and Nashville railroad. speaking as one
opposing Rnti-pooling legislation, used
these words: "Should it be enacted,
there can be but one result. All wars
end in peace, and peace between rival
railroads can only last when there ie
some community OF interest. That
may obtain in two ways, by pool, or
by consol lidation under one ownership.
The best that O pool can accomplish,
otter all, is but partial community OF
interest and, where the rivalry is bit.
ter, consolidation is very apt to result.
Now, let pooling be orbdden, or let it
fail, and consolidation must be- the in
evitable result. 1t will become simply
a comm mereial necessity, as resietless as
the downward flow Of the Mississippi to
the sea. 1t may be temporarily checked
in any manner theorista think good,
but 1t will have its way in the end"
Such is the argument of an advocate
OF pooling. l can adduce no stronger
argument in favor of government owns
ership. Such an overwhelming monop-
oily, welding q power go immense, can
only be safe whom q creature of the
people, operated for the people, and
owned by the people. For my part,
believe there will never be a time more
opportune than the present for the
people to acquire such ownership.
Stocks are depressed, securities low,
but government credit is unimpsired.
One recent instance OF a nation pur-
chasing its railroads ia that OF Prussia
In 1878 Prussia owned 3066 miles OF
road, while IL ,066 miles were in private
hands. In 1892 the state owned 10, 969
miles, while but 1854 were in private
hands.
A very large revenue is now derived
By the state from these roads. From
April, 1891, to April, 1892, the gross re.
ceipts were s67, ,624, 900 marks; the ex-
penses 6O6, Sl6.S .S27 marks. To cay that
what has been done in Prussia s inn
possible here ia to insult republican in
| atitut;nua The ohia cti0ns raiaad IN