, 1902-06-07
HILL AS a PUBLIC SPEAKER

President Hill of the Great North
ern railroad has lately taken to the
Iostrum, ana it must he confessed that
he makes considerable Roadway in
this line. Who knows but that our
great railroad men may shine forth
in practical oratory? In an address to
the Manufacturers Association of Hi
nois at the Auditorium. Chicago. Wed
nesday night. Mir. hin said, Land
without population is II Wilderness.
population without land is a mob"
ership of railroads. naturally. being
largely Interested in such ownership.
Government ownership means the
control aid operation of railroads by
government officials. A mere state
ment of the proposition arouscs in the
mine of every thoughtful man the fear
that such power would end in the de
struction of the government itself. 1t
would mean the political appointment
of an additional million of public oil
cials and the exercise of Il power suf-
ficient to imperil If not destroy free
government in the United States"
Regulation by he interstate com
merce commission. he said. not only
would be adequate but was proving it
self to be. The evils of recent agree
n,ents between roads and shippers in
the form of private contract, pools.
and mergers. he declared. had been
corrected by the commission. Dead
letter laws" he said the statutes had
been until they We're viviticd by pub.
lie sentiment and enforced by the
commission
The merchants %applaudcd most Wig
orously his championship of Oriental
markets n his statement that rates
by water from eastern ports through
the Suez canal to The Orient would be
met by rates across the country and by
water from the western coast.
1.-THE policy of a broad. comprchcn,
sive, national plan OF irrigation" con,
tinued Mr.. Hill. has been urged upon
congress with but little success i'll the
past. However. an enterprise of such
magnitude and Importance to the ma,
ton as a whole anhot be turned aside
or lost sight of for the reason that ev.
cry citizen of every state in the union
is deeply and vitality interested in the
question, and President Roosevelt. too,
is lending his efforts to the cause.
For the first time III the history OF
this country thousands of our farmers
are seeking homes in the Canadian
northwest, owing 10 the cheap lands
offered in that country and to the diff
iculty of securing such lands in the
United States.
"A wise system of irrigation by the
general government can be made not
only self%.sustaining but 4 source OF in
come. Lands that without irrigation
are given away or sold at a nominal
price can be sold as fast rs they are
furnished with water at $40 an acre
or upward, and the cost would be lit
tie. il anything. more thar half that
sum-.
considering the question from a
broad. national standpoint, the next
in Importance to agriculture is the rail
way interest of the country. While the
railways have to answer for many mis-
takes of judgment, or OF intent. on the
whole the result has been to create
the most effective. useful. and, by far
the cheapest system OF Ian transpor
tation in the world.
In England the average amount
paid by the shipper for moving a tor
of freight 100 miles is $2,35; in France
$40; in Austria, $3.50: i'll Germany
where most of the railways are ownsi
and operated by the government
s1.S4: in Russia. also government
ownership, where the shipments are
carried under conditions more similar
to our own than i'll any other country
as respects long haul. sl.70. In the
United States the average cost is "a
cents, or less thar 40 per cent of the
average cost in Europe. And this is
done while every article used by the
railroads, including labor, costs more
in this country than it costs in Europe,
with the exception Of coal and right of
way. Wages in the United States are,
as a rule, more than twice as high. and
this high cost in the United States il
constantly increasing"
Having pointed out the dangers OF
public ownership Of railroads. Mr.. Hill
pointed out the wide powers possessed
by the interstate commerce commits
sion to regulate the roads.
"a party having been injured need
not complain to the commission in or
der to obtain Justice" he said. The
commission may proceed. of its own
motion. without complaint. Any per.
son, firm, or corporation may make
complaint On account of an injury