The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-27
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK.

A-A-AN ~ -A--AA 49, >-11zlA0 COolOA
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK
! No Worse than Private Ownership.
To the Editor Of Tho Journal.
Just a word in regard to the editorial in
to-day's j ournal reviewing Captain I'll.
A. Castles recent article opposing govern
mental ownership. You say: ..Altho Cap
tain Castle makes no direct reference in
this article to the present alization
in the postoffice depar trnent with Its mass
of charges of fraud, favoritism, nepotism,
mismanagement, carelessness and lack of
system, the article is strengthened by APP
pearing against such a background"
have emphasized the words above
which particularize charges against the
great government business known as the
postoff1ce department because wish to
contrast each specific charge with certain
defects which some of us see In the sys-
tenn OF private ownership, and to ask you
to state wherein the latter has aught Of
which it can boast over the former.
Fraud.-There is considerable smoke
Just now about fraud. sit. is bad,
most reprehensible that officials having
the: power of appointment and promotion
should accept money for their official acts.
The officials who stole from the public in
Cuba and those who sswindled the govern
nails, we are prone to think Of the deepest
dye: but are our pententiaries filled with
these? Has no. one, stolen or perpetrated
frauds in private business? Thousands
upon thousands to one, is about the ratio
of crimes against private business to those
against the government: Has the Stand
ard OIL trust been built up by perfectly
square dealing and utter absence Of fraud?
How about watered stocks? No fraud in
such transactions! When j. p. Morgan
merges two railroads. each capitalized at
$100,O00,0 900, into new company whose
capital is $400,000000, he sells 5000, 000 900
Of blue sky to the public and pockets $12,-
100000 as q fee for his services, and the
original stockholders get the rest for al
lowing him to soak the public to that ex-
tent using their properties which had
been built up and made valuable by vari-
GUS means, some straight and honest busi-
ness, some crooked. All the frauds that
have ever been practiced against the gov
eminent In all its departments since the
beginning cannot compare with what we
have seen in this country in the last few
years: ..ss.ss
Do servants of railroads telegraph and
express companies never steal and defraud
Does not the Great, Northern. suffer more
every year from incompetency, dishonesty
and crime Of Its employees than the post
office department does?
stFavoritism-Is. 1t possible that The
J o ur ma could not name private cor
poration doing business In this state in
which 1t Is practically impossible to obtain
either employment or promotion unless
the applicant is Of a certain nationality
or belongs to a certain church?
Nepotism-Does T. h g. j u r n a sup
pose that a man however brilliantly pre-
pared could supplant some Of the sons
nepheWs cousins and uncles Of present
day railroad presidents and bank direc-
tors? II any position: is. vacant which no
son Of director wants, he gets it but
| II there Is, q. son who can be put in any
position to absorb. the salaries which the
public as surely pays asst does the taxes,
| then none other need apply
Mismana gement-We are told that at
| least Is per cent of private ventures are
| total failures. No more need be said on
this point. ,.s.7 l-.ssrs
Lack Of system:--Well. a system it
seems to me, is to, be commended which
will carry a letter. to- Nome. Alaska, for
cents all the distance handled and has
tened on it's way by the most Skilled en-
ployes all working i'm unison under the
most perfect system F. know anything
about, rather than ONE we will say like
our express system, which might under.
| take TO perform the .asame service for
l 81 DO, where half dozen. different com
panies would in turn carry tt their part
/ Of the journey and where in case Of loss
each one could charge the blame on some
1 other and the sender could have that de-
| 1ightful experfeneeg ne#erato be forgotten
when once tastedy.bf deaAng with one. not
only mod ern,i upstoFedatsg private business
SYSTEM claim agent, abut vtths six! Pri-
waite business methods are a. wonder for
/ system! No wonder the government Is
nowhere Examples Of y: their; speculia,
adaptabilfties to the service of the public
are often shown up in Th 8 j Q urr Ia
Our street car service is In all things
just what 1t should be and 1t IS so handy
to have one telephone while the person
you wish to do business with has one Of
| 4 different company. In that case yot
can either walk or use the United States
mail.
Lack Of system, everywhere every:
where II you will, but none at all, com
paratively speaking, In the United States
4 postal service. y
Frauds, favoritisn1, nepotism, incom..
| potency in all. all private business and BY
contrast all departments Of our govern:
ment are as the light Of morning which
shineth more and more into the perfec
4 day. They are each and every one ar
argument for governmental ownership IN.
derstood and believed in by more people
to-day than yesterday and growing al
the time.
:, -