The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-06-05

The fences to keep off cattle and the sign
posts to warn people Mt railway crossings
cost over $3,6OO,OO0 per annum, or more
than the legislative branch of tho ma
tional government. Even the newspa-
pers and printers are deeply interested
Tor SS,oOO,OOO was spent in printing and
advertising. The United States Postofiice
Department Is considered IN important
business, and yet the aggregate expenses
OF that department in 1895 were $0O,-
o44.322, while for repairs and renewals Of
locomotives, passenger and freight cars
our railways expended In the same year
S93, OI.9So. A moments thought will
make 1t clear that nearly all of this vast
sum Is annually spent for mechanical Ia
Dor or all kinds, for nearly every branch
or industry enters into locomotive and car
building. In times normally good you
may safely figure on upward of 500, OOO,-
OOO per annum for this purpose as regu-
lar part of keeping the rolling stock of
railways up to date and in good repair, to
say nothing of an additional ten million
for other mechanical work incidental to
Keeping the plants of transportation in
good running order. only refer to these
facts for the purpose of showing how in
timately the successful conduct of these
great properties is interviewer with other
industries of the country, and how i'm
possible II is to injure our railway prop
critics without at the same time seriously
injuring almost all other occupations and
curtailing the prosperity of the entire ma
ton. 1t has been aptly stated that unless
the people are prosperous the railroads
cannot flourish. Is not the converseceuual-
Iu frttn . he Il
large an industry languishes. when its
oOO,OOO employees are working only part
time and its forces are reduced to the
lowest possible limit-repairs and replace
ments postponed to better times?
Disturbance of Com nercc.
Not only do the continued attacks on
railways thus fall heavily upon the indus
tries of the country at large, but they
bring about disturbance of commerce.
and cause men who would otherwise mt
their money into cooperative industries
to withhold 1t, and thus cripple existing
and prevent new enterprises of all sorts.
Instead of benefiting the public, much of
the so-called railway legislation has been
a decided detriment. 1t creates uncertain
~ where certainty should exist. 1t breeds
many of the ills (such as discrimination
In rates) which II seeks to remedy. and
has doEe much toward bringing bankrupt
cy and ruin 10 nearly half the railway
mileage of the country.
Protection to American industries" has
ever been a cardinal principle In this coun-
try. They have almost invariably receiy-
ed fair treatment at the hands of the m
tional Legislature. Why should nm in
dustry employing more labor-and great
er proportion Of American-born labor-in
which the capital invested Is greater.
which expends for supplies in this country
alone sums far in excess of any other In
dustry, be debarred from fair and legiti-
mate treatment and become the prey of
INSCRIPTIONS demagogues and dishonest
politicians. and the target for newspaper
abuse? In a new country, under new
conditions, and with n rapidity that has
astonished the older world. we have built
up a railway system equal In mileage TO
oil the railways Of the rest of the world
combined.
The men responsible for the work have
used their best judgment, given their best
thought, and many of them the best years
of their lives, in honest endeavor to make
the most of the enterprise in which thew
have embarked. Are not the purposes
of this industry as necessary and iegiti-
mate, are not its owners entitled to as fair
return upon their Investment as other
industries? Are not Its officers and en-
ployes as honest, efficient and patriotic
as those In other avocatlons? Why not
give them fair chance? Out Of the COM