Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-05-13
GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS.
Lesson to BE Learned From the Com
bination of Many Lines.

Lesson to BE Learned From the Com
bination of Many Lines.
Mr.. Stuyvesant Fish declares that
the combination of many railroads in
the hands Of one man Will be very
good thing for the railroads. Mr..
George Gould, hereditary owner of
railroads, says:
81 predict other and greater COM
binations than have yet taken place.
l believe the public will be benefited
thereby. The unity of interests among
railroads is desirable primarily for the
reason that uniform and equitable
rate basis can be maintained"
These two men. and especially Mr..
Gould, are experts In railroad manage
ment. They, together with many
other men. Pierpont Morgan. Wander
bilt, ETC., have formally expressed
their conviction that the old idea of
competition being necessary in indus
try is all nonsense. They declare that
the days Of competition have gone by
and are to be replaced by days Of COM
bination.
These men uncOnsciously are the
strongest and ablest advocates of gov
ernment ownership. II there Is no
harm in combining all the railroads
under one management, paying all the
profits to one set of men, why not
combine the roads under government
management, using the profits to re-
duce the taxes and increase the public
advantages Of all citizens?
The value of the railroads consists
entirely, apart from individual man
agement and competition, in the grow
ing population Of the country, its re-
sources, agricultural and industrial
products.
In other words, railroad is valu-
able property because there are mil
lions Of human beings who travel on
1t and other millions whose labor EN-
ploys the railroad in hauling freight.
The old theory was that individual
owners and competitors improved the
railroads and reduced the cost. But
Mr.. Gould and the other great authori-
ties assure us that there is nothing In
this theory. We wish they would tell
us II there is any good reason under
such conditions why the people who
make the railroads valuable should
not own them. This is of course no
suggestion in the line Of confiscatiOn
or any other extreme or impossible
idea. We merely suggest that public
| properties should be publicly owned
and that steps to this end should be
taken at once, either by national pur.
| oh h,, la hI,t. ok
| the end of n certain number of yenrs
shall turn the public franchises over
as government property.
1t cannot be said that the govern
ment would be incapable of managing
the railroad systems, for those systems
are managed by intelligent men who,
under the present trust arrangement,
all work for salaries. These men could
be hired by the government as well as
by Mr.. Gould. AS regards the minute
workings of the system and the eco
nomical management there should be
no question, for the management Of our
| postoffice is far superior to that of any
private concern In the world, more re-
liable, more economical, more public
spirited. In fact, the only big leak In
the postoffice is due to private owner
ship Of railroads. The men who own
the railroads bribe the officials, directly
or indirectly, and compel the people to
pay for mail cars and for mail trans
portation an utterly dishonest. extrav-
agant rate. If the railroads were own
ed by the government, nobody would
be Interested in overworking the men,
thus causing wrecks, or in underpaylng
the men, thus causing strikes and riots.
The service would be better and cheap
er, and the employees would be better
pnid.-New York Journal.
LnbOr Men Profe.f