The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-04-12

tween the people of different sections Of
the country" said ne. THE government
owns and controls the navagible rivers OF
the country. and it is within the power.
and it is the duty Of the government 10
control the railroads, as they are public
highways"
The second point in his argument was
that at the present time the railroads
are not conducted on lines for the benefit
Of the pubic generally. but for a few IN
dividuals VINO own the roads. He spoke
Of the tendency Of the great railroads TO
destroy competition and their general
tendency toward consolidation. We must
break up these consultations he said.
as they destroy competition and because
these public utilities are controlled by
private corporations and conducted for
their own ends, and not for public bene-
1T"
Railroads WELD great influence on
politics and the political corruption
caused by the influence of the railroad
officials on the things that mould public
opinion. was the third point taken up
by the speaker. He spoke Of the CIV
ing Of passes by the railroads TO the edi-
tors Of newspapers ana 70 the politicians
so that those who may he influential in
making laws may be sc for the benefit
Of the railroads themselves. This pO-
Itical corruption can only be eliminated
by removing the cause and this By the
ownership OF railroads by the govern
ment."
9Ir Ward Is a clear, forcible, speaker
and his points were brought out with re-
markable force. His delivery was not
what It should be with the arguments
he had to present.
Mr.. Guy Findley OF Paramount, was the
next speaker. He has very good voice
and his delivery was Of very high
order. His first point was the paying Of
better wages 70 the employees in this
country over those Of countries where the
roads are owned by the government He
compared the wages of an engineer in
America, with those Of Belgium. In
America. an engineer receives 1896 per
day. while the Belgian mechanics receive
at the best. $1.25 per day.
I'm America. time is money" he said,
"and the travelling public must have the
best time possible. In France. the highest
speed per hour, IS forty miles. while in
the United States. the average speed is
forty-seven miles per hour"
Government regulations would better
the service OF the railroads and make
more equitable rates" said the speaker,
The banks are regulated by the fed
eraI government, and WY not the rail-
roads II the government successfully
(
railroads and better service would be the
result and the government would be
saved q great deal of expense. The rail-
roads combine to save expense. and why
should this great expense be on the gov
eminent"
John Ross Ferguson took up the argu-
ment for the affirmative along the lines
of financial benefit to the government
Ee stated that he had five points that
70 17or azsr1s
ownership would be the best for America.
He said.
The railroads nay princely salaries TO
attorneys and have agents in the larger
cities that have elegant offices, and thus
adds to the expenditure Of the COM
pauies. Then when there are competitive
lines between two points and one is
longer than the other. the business be-
tween the points Is divided up and when
cars are hauled over the longer line there
is an economic waste that amounts to
thousands of dollars annually"
Unjust manipulation of stock causes
a loss to society of many millions of
dollars annually and when a part Of So
ciety is made to lose. It IS time to take
the stock out Of the hands Of private
parties and place it in the hands of the
government
THE amount expended by the govern
ment for handling the mails IS about S36.
00801 and if the roads were owned by
the government this amount would be
returned to the federal treasury. Also
the bis dividends that are paid to the
owners would be added TO the treasury
Of the United States
lie showed that national ownership is
a success bv comparison with the
countries which now own their railroads.
FIR. Ferguson was generally thought 10
have thc best argument presented dur