The news & observer., 1905-11-19
'THE GOBLINS WILL GET YOU 1T
YOU DON'T WATCH OUT"

In their request to the President
to "renig' and beat retreat in his
advocacy of government regulation of
rates, the representatives of labor or
CARNATIONS, so we are told, pointed
out to him (the PresidenO that rail-
road rate legislation logically meant
the lowering of rates. This they con-
tended will be followed by a lessening
of the earning power of railroads and
consequently by reduction eventually
of the wages of railroad employees"
Reduced to it's logical end, the argu-
ment is Il am pulling the chestnuts
out of the fire for the railroad owners
for fear they will reduce my wages"
That is an attitude all the friends of
railway employees regret to see them
take. 1t is not worthy of their record
as citizens. 1t is equivalent to saying
that they are willing for the railroads
to charge the public what they please
and escape all regulation, provided
their wages are not cut. 1t is like
wise a severe indictment of the rail-
road magnates, taking for granted
they will deny fair wages if rates are
reduced to a reasonable basis. AS a
matter of fact there has been no sug-
gestion from any quarter that rates
will be reduced to point that will not
leave fair profit to the stockholders,
after the payment of fair wages and
.t1,
fooled by the bugaboo that his wages
may be reduced will wake up in about
, three years, when he sees the benefits
of railroad rate regulation, and re-
joice that the Federal government was
given the power he is now afraid
may be used to hurt him.
In order to show how needless is
the alarm on the part of any railroad
employe we quote the exact closing
words of the President in reply to the
request of their spokesman. He said:
IF you look at my Raleigh speech
and my other recent utteranceS YOU
VIII see my principles clearly set forth.
| have said again and again that
would not tolerate any injustice by
again that | would remove Il public
official who Improperly yielded 30 any
pupilc clamor against railroad, 10
matter how popular that clamUr
might be. just as quickly Us | would
remove public official who rendered
an improper service to the railroad
at the expense of the public. Put 1
am convinced that there must oe
an increased regulatory and super
ment over the railways. InI"cd.
would like it exercised to Il much
greater extent than | have any idea
of pressing at the moment
For instance. l would greatly like
to have it exercised in the matter of
Ovcr-capitaliZatiOn. L am convinced
that the wages fund would d., larger
il there was no fictitious capital upon
which dividends had to be paid.
need hardly say that this does not
mean hostility to wealth. If you gen
tlemen here, in whom | believe so
strongly, were all a unit in demand
ing that some improper action should
be taken against certain men of
wealth, then, no matter whether I did
or did not like those same men Of
wealth, | would defend them against
you, no matter how much | cared Jr
you; and in SO doing l would really
be acting in your own interest.
would be false to your interest if
failed to do justice to the capitalist
as much as to the wage worker. But
I shall act against the abuses of
wealth just as against all other abuses.
The Outcry against rate regulation is
OF much the same character as that
L encountered when / was engaged in
putting through that car-coupiing
business; or i'm endeavOring to secure
certain legislation i'm which YOU all
have been interested, such as the en-
ployers' liability law.
Most certainly 1 will join with you
in resisting to the uttermost any move
ment to hurt Or damage any railroads
which act decently, for / would hold
that such damage was not merely
to the capitalist. not merely to the
wageWorker engaged on the railroads.
but to all the country. My aim is
to secure the just and equal treat
ment of the public by those CT trust
and believe in a limited number) who
do not want to give it, just DIS much
as by the larger number who 60
want to give it, All / want in a,y
rate legislation is to give the gov
ernment an efficient supervisory pow
er which shall be exercised as scru-
pulously to prevent injustice to the
railroads as to prevent their doing in
justice to the public. Our endeavor is
to see that those big railroad men. and
big shippers who are not responsive
to the demands of justice are reuuir-
ed to do what their fellows who are
responsive to the demands Of justice
would be glad to do of their own ac
cord
The milk in the cocoanut' is that
the railroad magnates wish to earn
dividends on watered stock (every dol
lar of which goes into their pockets
and not a cent in the pockets of the
employes), and it is to get money on
this fictitious capital they set about
to work a scare among the orsanizej
workers who earn their wages i'm tne
sweat of their face. Mr.. Roosevelt
does well to call the attention of The
brother hood men to the fact that
"the outcry against rate regulation"
is the same sort that tried to prevent
life-saving car-couplers and the en-
ployers' liability law. In North Caro-
lima the opposition comes from the
very men who sought to defeat tbe