The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1904-11-11
Why Railroad Rates Are High.

Why Railroad Rates Are High.
That government ownership of great
public utilities is steadily forcing itself to
the front as an issue in our country,
where the tariff, by its repeated resurrec-
ton campaign after campaign, has been
worn threadbare by long usage, for the
purpose of keeping in the background
live issues which have grown up through
the changed conditions of the times, can
no longer be successfully refuted, for the
subject is becoming one of careful con-
sideration and interest to those who refuse
longer to'pernlit themselves to be blinded
by party bias in all things political and
are doing their own thinking along these
lines in place of allowing the party bosses
to dictate to them, as in the past. Once
free from this yoke of party slavery,
which is the winning card of the polite
ians, the people will take up this great
subject of government ownership, and
after acquainting themselves with the
benefits to be derived by cheaper rates,
better service. ETC., by the application of
the system, will, by their votes, deter
mine that the railroads, telegraphs and
similar public service corporations shall
be taken out of the hands of private in
dividuals aud placed under the control of
the government to be run for the good Of
the whole people, and not those few who
have gathered immense riches by unjust
Determinations and tribute levied on the
people by charging the highest possible
rates for every service rendered. An adj
vocate of government ownership in dis
cussing the present high rates of travel
and freight charged by the railroads
shows in the following paragraph how
they are kept up under private owner
ship as at present prevailing in our coun-
try, while at the same time gigantic
system of virtual bribery is prosecuted
which wields powerful influence and
enables these concerns to operate under
favorable legislation and collect exorbi-
tant tolls from the people, who have
absolutely no redress. The extract in
question reads:
'Under our present transportation sys-
tenn you 60 TO the depot to buy ticket,
or you go there to pay freight, and you
think you are paying for your own ride
only. You are not doing that. You are
paying for somebody's else ride also.
Look at this !: Every telegraph company
has its dead-heads. Every telephone
company has its dead-heads. Every ex-
press company-every railroad company
has its head-heads. All of this dead
headism is charged up to the expense
account. The cost of the private car
which is used without pay is put on the
expense account. The travel of a con-
gresham who has free ticket is put on
the expense account. The travelling OF
the governor and the senator and his
telegraph privilege and his express priv
ilege and telephone privilege is charged
up to the expense account. Then what !?
After they have found the sum total Of
the expense account they put up the
rates on travel and the rates on freight
and the rates on messages so as to make
the business pay profit over and above
the dead-headism. Do you catch the
lpoint? Therefore when you go to buy a
railroad ticket, you are not only paying
your own way but you are paying the way
in proportionate part for every dead
head that travels without paying. And so
it is all over the land. The men who are
ablest to pay don't pay and the men who
are least able not only have to pay for
themselves, but pay for the dead-heads
who ride free. The great utilities ought
to be owned by the government The
telegraph company ought to be part of
the postal service. The telephone line
ought to be part of the postal service
The express companies ought to be part
of the postal service. In other words those
great public utilities which are too great
too powerful to be left in the hands of
private men to be used for their private
gain, ought to be bought by the govern
ment, taken over by the government,
owned by the government and operated
by the government for the equal benefit
of us all-rich and poor.''
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