The representative., 1901-04-04
GOES A LITTLE
BIT FURTHER
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF RAIL-
ROADS COMING.
II Consolidation and Combination Is
Such a Good Thing as Gould &
Co. Says, Let Uncle Sam
Manage the Business.
. New York Journal.)

New York Journal.)
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, a hereditary owner of railroads,
says: a
Il predict other and greater combi-
nations than have yet taken place. 1
believe the public will be benefited
thereby. The unity of interests among
railroads is desirable primarily for the
reason that a 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, Vanderbilt, etc.,
have formally expressed their convic-
ton that the old idea of competition
being necessary in industry, is all nom
sense. They declare that the days of
competition have gone by, and are to
be replaced by days of combination.
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 reduce the taxes and
increase the public advantages Of all
citizens?
The value of the railroads consists
entirely, apart from individual manage
mcnt and competition, In the growing
population of the country, its resources,
agricultural and Industrial products.
In other words, railroad is valua-
BILE property because there are millions
of human beings who travel on it, and
other millions whose labor employs the
railroad in hauling tons of freight. The
old theory was that individual owners
and competitors improved the railroads
and reduced the cost. But Mr.. Gould
and the other great authorities assure
us that there is nothing in this theory.
We wish they would tell us if there ie
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
purchase gradually, or by laws which
at the end Of a certain number Of years
shall turn the public franchises over az
government property.
1t cannot be said that the govern
ments would be incapable of managing
the railroad systems, for those systems
are managed by Intelligent men who
under the present trust arrangement, ali
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 econom.
ical management, there should be nc
question, Tor the management OF Oul
postofice 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 II
the postofice is due to private owner
ship of railroads The men who owl
the railroads bribe the ofncials, directly
or indirectly. and compel the people t.
pay for mail cars and for mail trans
portation an utterly dishonest, extrava
CANT rate. II the railroads were ownet
by the government, nobody would b'
interested in overworking the men, thu
causing wrecks, or in underpaying tn,
men, thus causing strikes and riots
The service would be better and cheap
er, and the employees would be better
paid.