The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-07-15
r. II. G. MINTY,
Post Adjutant.
"FAnUREs OF PopuL1sM.,

Will The Herald kindly give me
space for a brief reply to a critic who
recently used its columns to point out
some Of the alleged failures of Pop
ulism?
I'm the first place, I can hardly be
lieve the writer has read the Populist
platform. AT all events, it is not the
Populism Of the Omaha platform which
he criticises. and this is the only au-
thorita tive declara ton as to what Pop
ulism represents. The utterances of in
dividual Populists or the editorial opin-
ions of PopuHst papers often go much
further than the demands of their
platform, and are entitled to no more
weight than are the opinions of indi-
viduals belonging to any other party.
Referring to the platform, we find
that PopuhSm does not represent a
multiplicity of issues" It says moth
ing whatever about the prevention of
trusts, the regulation of the response
bilities of corporations and trades
lation of vast fortunes for the few and
the disposition of products involved in
the factory system Of production"
Populism represents but three issues
and demands only three reforms. First,
a reform of our financial system; sec
ond. government control of the means
Of transportation; third. the retaining
of the land for the people.
The financial reform is just and most
important and involves not only the
unconditional free coinage of silver at
a. ratio of Is to I. but the issue of all
money by the government direct to the
people without the use of banking cor
porations and an increase of the cir
culating medium to $50 per capita. 1
know Of scarcely a Populist paper or
speaker that does not make free coin
age the foremost issue, but they insist
as strongly, and correctly, I think,
that free coinage will give but tempo
rary relief so long as private corpora
lions are permitted to control the vol
ume Of currency.
The only issue of Populsm which is
| 'sociahstic in tendency" is the demand
that government should own and oper-
ate the railroads in the interests of the
people. But the cry of socialism is no
longer a bugaboo to scare people with.
They know what it means. They have
the example of the postoffice depart
ment, the public school system. NUM-
cipa1 ownership and management of
water-works, sewers. street lighting.
| highways. ETC., and the experience of
other countries in the public operation
of street cars and railroads to show
what socialism is in it's practical APP
| plication They are asking why the so
cialistic idea should not be gradually
applied to all natural monopolies.
The Herald correspondent says the
railroad question could be settled by
establishing fixed legal mileage for
transportation and the prohibition of
corporations from engaging in any
| other business but transportation.
quite agree with him. But since he adj
mits in the next sentence that the re-
suits of the Interstate commerce law
in these directions have been dismal
| failures, would ask him what he pro-
poses to do about it?
| He is right. All attempts at govern
n1ent regulation of railroads will be
| failures. Utah and Salt Lake ought tC
have learned that by this time and as
was pointed out by Mr.. Elijah Farr in
a recent number of The Herald, gov
eminent ownership is the only alter
native. Consider for a moment how
discrimination in freight rates and the
operation OF mines, smelters, elevators
and other enterprises by railway cor
porations has checked the development
of the natural resources of the inter
mountain country. has prevented ths
! investment of private capital and has
diverted business into unnatural chan
nels The possible dangers of govern.
ment ownership cannot be worse thar
! the active evils of the present system
The crushing power of the great trusts
chiefly owes its existence TO the owner
ship, control or favoritism of transpor.
j tation companies.
Our critic argues that the substitu
| ton of a still more powerful corpora
ton is loss of power by the individ
ua1. By the same extraordinary logic
he would doubtless say that the sub
stitution of a democracy for a mon
archy gave the individual less power
The only danger of government own
ership would come through the rail
way system degenerating into polft
! ica1 machine. and I would oppose any
| change in the system unless 1t werv
first placed under a. civil service reg
ulation of the most rigid character.
as proposed by the Populist platform
1t would then be no more a menac'
than is the postoffice department.
The danger of government owner
ship might be lessened and all the ben
efits be secured by limiting government
ownership and mana cement to TIL
road-beds alone, leaving transportation
companies and individuals the use o
the roads ait a fixed rate per ton pc
mile which would pay the cost of keep
ing up the roads. This would give FREE
competition in transportation, lesser
= the number of government employee
required, greatly reduce the cost o
keeping up the roads through a cen
tralization of management and pre-
vent all discrimination. There coul
then be no more monopoly In tn
Transportation business on railroad
than there now is on the highways
There would be little or no danger o
railway strikes, for no transportatio
company could stop traffic-other com
panies would carry the goods over tn
same road-and it would be possibl
for small capitalists, or even railwa
employees themselves, to buy or ieas
engines and cars and go into the trans