The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-30

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therefore. Intelligent progressive govern
|tmcnt must necessarily be more or less
empirical. It is admitted that the peo-.
! pie should be conservative in their ex..
but rasnn
i II municipalities have suffered at the
hands Of private corporations. they
sh,oud begin to own and operate Mats tha !,
They need not do 1t all at once, but
take one at n time 20 that they might
retracc without serious loss u they
This too, would furnish the opponents OF
! the plan an opportunity to verify the as
sumption that the people cannot operate
such enterprises aucsessfal,y; In nses sh,ne
5inRs. II the government cannot success
fully compete with the telegraph and tele-
phone companics why should they OBJ y, >
and operating the telegraph and telc-
| phone in conjunction with the postal SER
4ice? II express companies arc more e.
fective why should they object TO me
| Federal government operating p slf
| post? 1. :, 2 =
Government ownership 4of railroads Is
a moro serious matter. They are monop-
olistic in character and government "a as as.
L
cusIon; therefore tho government should
first try regulation IN order TO see x II
could reach the desired results In this
way, and, II not successful, its I, expert -
! operate them moro successfully u II mao
to take them. I fall TO SEQ IN any OF
these things any violation OF the princi-
pies upon whlchaour Republic was found
| ed In proof, submit that our Consti--
tuition enuncintes the principles and It
permits government ownership and !oper-
alton Of telegraphs, telephones and rail-
roads. Under 1t we already owl, a raj,
road in Panama, and are digging an,
| ocean anal. iy5Ss
The easiest way the opponents Of PRO r,
gfessiye government could turn i: me i.ue
tion and let the people try the expert
ment and satisfy themselves OF its I'm.
practlcability. suspect, however. tnat
IN many cases the fear ina. we ,e dnsiro
Ito prevent the trial. The charge that
such action would be revolutionary does
not necessarily Imply that IT would % %
was obtnined by revolution. The process C,
| seems 10 DO ono OF evolution Tho
rapid TRANSFORMATION Of products and the
almost Instantaneous transmission q
ideas have destroyed competition, made
lit SO destructive that the, princip pie OF
cooperation had to be substi tuted. rms
necessarily placed In tho hands OF a. low
lindustrial and commercial magnntes
| practically unlimited power to tax the.
IsAmerican people. 1lhe history OF all
ages proves that such power In private.
| hands results In abue and tyranny. Hu-
man nature Is too weak to stnnd tho
end In plutocracy. I. 4.
Il You cite tho postal scandals. How do
| they compare with the insurance steals;
1.-The steel steals. he ship trust steal, the
copper and oil steals? The difference
liseerns to- be that the postofflce the was
mere trifle, In connpa rison IL and . for!
which, r1hbetg were guy
under the systel which now obtains are
still .8at large. enjoying their, millions
Of -gotten gal ms ana. Tor q ug ~ =
know, still plying their nefarous trades!
Your reference 70 charges against mem.
| bers of&the United States Senate Is un-:
fortunate. How many are IMPLICATED pc,
cause OF government functions It Is
lreputcd to be5sflled with men many OF
whom have millions gotten from the peo-
lpeIunder a system; thnt permits the fcwsto
robtthe many. How many Senator's are
there because Iofs tho millions they have
| made out OF the postal 8systemG Not one
In reference to the power that govern
ment ownership of railroads, would give,
the party In power. It may be said that
| far greater to-day than 1t has ever been
| yet as a political factor it Is less potent
now than 1t was a quarter OF a century
ago. Then, even tho fourth class post
| mater felt that he must do, his duty Z. for.
ent. Admitting, alphabetically. that the
| employees would be pnrtisans would 1t
not be better,t to have this 100000 em-.
| ployes in the service Of q party rather
than In the service Of a few people?
| Fl 1T developed in a recent investigation
that 100000 miles OF the 100000 miles rail-
rohd In this country were controlled by
| five interests and the remaining $4,000
miles were feeders Now. with the en-
| tire railroad interests In practically five
| hands, who no doubt co-opcratcs. would
It not be quite as safe even in the hands
we have plutocratlc olIgarchy in power
now and the rights of the people are
| trampled under foot. The question Is
here. Politicians may dodge It, the press
may refrain from discussing II, the
! people may deplore It, but. like Banquo's
|nnd solved. It presents q choice OF plu-
|tocrncy or democracy. The first means
retrogression and destruction of Anleri-,
can ideals; tho second means the prescr-
lfyation OF equality Of right, the guarnn-
tee of Republican institutions and the
| freedom Of man.
If America fails, the cause OF free.
| government will be set back Il thousand
years. But she viii not fail. You have
! truly said that I'VE are men and Demo-
Gratis. The free schools are open and
1.-the mind force of our country Is being
| deyeloped and there is no power under
the sun. that can enslave our people. Pub.
| lie opinion is king and WOO unto the fac
ton. be It rich or poor, that undertakes
| to defeat Its effort to retain the price,
less heritage of American citizenship.
4. IS. THOMAS.
Slenlp'S CHARGES Denied