The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-07

shareholders, shippers and whole COM
munitieS of producers. His road is the
first transcontinental road which was
built without any government aid.
It's owner paid for it. 1t has as
stunned the bonds of roads which it pur-
chased, a large part of which is owned
by the company, but it has borrowed
no money itself 1t has no grant Of
public lands. and paid the government
for all its right of way which passed
through government property. 1t has
always paid dividend, increasing it's
profits in the panic years of 1893 and
afterwards. when other roads were de-
faulting. 1t is capitalized for less than
any other of its. competitors, and now
it and the Northern Pacific, with the
Burlington, strikes every city between
the Mississippi and the coast. with the
exception of Salt Lake City, and it
runs through this iron region in the
east, the wheat region of the Red river
country and of Dakota, the cattle coun-
try along the Missouri, the copper
country of Montana, to the enormous
forests of Puget sound.
1t has built up industries in order
that it may profit by the traffic, and,
in doing so, Mr.. Hill has fixed freight
charges at rates lower than other rail-
road men thought could be profitable.
These roads reach also into the cot
ton fields, and Everett and Seattle are
now among the important cotton ex-
port ports of the country. The state of
Washington furnishes a large part of
the shingles of the country, because Mr..
Hill taught new method of shaping
and of packing, which opened once
closed sawmills. The story of this road
is the story OF individual enterprise 1t
is one of the powerful and rich COM
binations which have expended more
money, given more intelligent thought,
and accomplished more than govern
ment paternalism can possibly do.
The reason is not far to seek. The
road works for itself, for the profit of
those who own 1t. The game in stocks
and bonds on Wall street is carried on
without regard to the true situation
and the real conditions of the road
Its management wants to earn money
for its stockholders. and money is thus
earned only by serving the country
through which it runs; earnings are in
creased only by developing and build
ing UP the country. This motive
carried into execution by intelligent
men does the interested country much
more good than can be done by poll
ticianS, who are both less intelligent
and less interested than are the railroad
men. Moreover, paternalism was never
so truly beneficent as self-interest just
ly and honorably pursued, and 1t never
will be-
Now, to come back to this iron re-
gion. When the lumber was on the
land the government first owned it. and
then cOnnived at the theft and de-
struction of the timber. Many Of the
laws were made for the purpose of
enabling influential men to steal tim
Der lands. Numbered in the apparent
destruction of the public domain were
governors of states, senator's, repre-
sentatives and party leaders here and
in Washington. 1t was the policy of
the party in power to encourage the
waste of the public lands, and the tim
Der lands have produced wealth for
those who took advantage of this pol
icy and who benefited by it.
AT present, the government is en-
couraging the pursuit of a single in
dustry by it's protective policy, and is
denying to the people of the Northwest
the market of Canada and the products
of Canada which would diversity their
interests. There will come time when
the denudation Of the land will be
threatened once more, and when the
iron ore production stops, or when it is
decreased, there will be nothing for
those who are engaged in it but to
leave the place where the ore, and ore
alone exists. This, however, is a re-
mote evil, for the ore will be here for
the mining for many generations to
come.
But the policy which denies free
markets for finished iron and steel
products must hurt the mines, while
the policy which attacks and threatens
with extinction the great corporations
that are developing the wealth Of the
country must greatly injure the COM
munity. And it is to this view that
men who have interests at stake. are
coming in this region of the country.
The labor unions, the mistaken and
the misguided, the thoughtless and the
shiftless, may shout for merger suits,
but those who see what combined pow
err is doing for the country which the
government has mismanaged, are not
rejoicing over the Washington cam
paign and its immediate results.