The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-05-07

| heard OF strike among Uncle sam
employ ees?
George Stephenson the inventor of
railways clearly fOresaw they would
become public highways and earnest
ly advocated government control.
He went before Parliament and urged
that railroads be constructed and
operated exclusively by the Govern
ment. He argued that competition
would in no wise regulate the price
of transportation, because as he said,
"Where combination is possible,
competition is excluded The cor
rectness of his theory is proved every
day. Traffic associations and COM
| binatiOns make rates and impose
severe penalties upon companies, who
charge a less sum. They thereby
absolutely crush out competition. Do
those who are reaping the harvest of
another's labor expect a free people
| to continue to submit while they
manipulate prices, shut out COMPETE
ton, block up roads to market, take
possession of the peoples Government
and make the people their depen-
dents? How long will this continue :?
Already they are so regulating the
| business of the States that men and
| legislatures, in order to carry on a
successful business, must bow to
them.
One of the most commonly urged
objections to the Government owning
the railways of this country is that it
would be an injustice to owners TO
confiscate their property. In con-
sidering that question we must not
lose sight of the fact that corporations
exist only by the authority of law
and that they are subject to whatever
regulation the Government may seek
to impose upon them. They are
intended for the benefit of the whole
people. And railroad corporations
are no exception to this rule An
other objection urged against Govern
ment ownership is its impracticabili-
| ty. Yet those who argue this grow
eloquent i'm their praise of the energy
and ingenuity of our people. They
declare, ard truly, that no people on
earth are so far advanced in arts and
science and all that distinguishes
civilization from barbarism as are the
Americans. Other people and other
governments have tried this plan and
found that it works admirably. Are
| the opponents of Government owner
ship willing to admit that the people
lOfGermany, Austria, Belgium, France
and other European countries are
more capable and honest than we
are?
The people pay the railroads about
| 5000, 100000 annually. The same ser
vice would have cost them less than
$500, 900, 900 if the Government owned
the roads free Of debt.
Who built the railroads? No one
disputes that the proceeds from
land grants and bonds given the
companies, if they had been econOm-
ically expended, would have built
every mile of railway actually needed
in this country. Over 20O,000,0O0
acres of land and hundreds of millions
OF money have thus been given to
railway companies. Allen county
gave one company Sl50,000 to build a
line across the county. The Govern
ment gave the same company nearly
one third Of the land in the county.
Haven't the companies been well paid
for their property?
Another argument against Govern
ment ownership is the immense Off
cial patronage an administration
would have under such a system.
This argument is of weight only to
those who believe ''that to the victor
belong the spOils.'
can do no better in closing the
argument upon the affirmative of this
question than to use the words of
Prof. Parsons. "OutSide of North
America, all nations of consequence
but Turkey, Spain and England own
their railways; and England's control
is so severe as to amount almost to
cOnfiScatiOn. The experience of Aus
tralia, New Zealand, Germany Aus
tria, Hungary, Switzerland, etc,
demonstrates the truth of our reason
ing; that public ownership Of rail
ways will stop dissemination, stock
watering and other frauds; diminish
the materials of speculation and
gambling in stocks; destroy two of the
great foundations of practical cor
ruptiOn; weaken the perniciOus mon
OpOlieS that drive support from the
railways; create an absolute economy
Of hundreds of millions a year; re-
duce rates one half; largely increase
facilities of business; adopt new in
ventiOns without delay; carefully
guard the safety of the public; benefit
the employees in every way; aid the
diffusion of wealth; the development
of the people, the movement toward
cooperation, and the attainment of
civil service reform; and it will do all
this for two reasons: first because it
will remove the antagOnism of inter
ests that causes the evils of the
present system; and second, because
the magnitude Of the interests in
VOWED in such a public enterprise
will compel the best people to see
that it has Il wise and honest manage
ment.
NEGATIVE.
Ehn r;a.ht of n,.-,,i1,n n,al nn,,t,.nl IN Or