Omaha daily bee., 1905-07-09
How ITLOOKS TOAN ENPLOYE
No Good Excuse for Railway Rebates
and Preferences
EARNINGS THAT SHOULD GO TO WAGES
Greater Publicity and Complete Cow
ernment Supervision the Only
Feasible Remedies for Fla
grant Existing Evils.


he editors of the Outlook from which
the subjoined article is reprinted. says that
It's author. who signs It simply Railway
Employe," holds an important position in
the administrative oflces of a well known
American railroad:
l have been the executive officer of an
interstate railroad since the passage Of the
interstate commerce act February, 1887.
Many of the men employed as managers
Of traffic and operation, men who are in
immediate contact with and understand
public sentiment, disagree with the purpose
and tenor Of the resolutions passed at the
international Railway congress- on the 18th
of May. The experience Of many with
whom have discussed the issue does not
differ in principle from my own, and /
offer these statements and suggestions as
representative, not of my individual opinion,
but of a considerable class of those em-
ployed in active commercial railroad
service.
In more than one year the net revenues
of the company by which l have been en-
ployed would have been increased by more
than Is per cent II all the money legiti-
mately collected for transportation service
had been retained-had not been returned
to favored customers in various forms OF
rebate. These hundreds of millions of
money which the transportation systems of
this country have, during the period, 1887
to 1906 earned and repaid, belonged legally
and equitably to the employees and the own
ers OF these properties. These sums have
been converted from the men who per-
formed the service, and from the bond and
stock holders, to the men who controlled
the large Industrial products of the coun-
try--coal, iron, grain, salt, sugar, Oil, pro-
visions and lumber. The conversion of
these vast sums was without indirect or
remote advantages TO transportation inter-
ests. The history of this period may be
repeated whenever the whim or the interest
of a traffic manager or owning director
prompts or requires.
Penalties for Rebates UnavaiIing.
Notwithstanding the violation of the
commerce law has been open and
notorious, and indictments have been
numero- ad prosecutions not infrequent,
no railroad officer has ever been incar-
cerated For my own part, the penal la
bllity for such disobedience has never in
any wise deferred my purpose to secure
my companys share of tonnage by what
ever means competitors employed. have
the reputation OF a law-abiding citizen in
my home city-am well known-of good
personal character. fatter myself that a
nit me as a felon because 1 directed the
payment of a rebate to a shipper-a trans
action which did not inure to my financial
advantage. Could a jury be found that
would exact felon's punishment for such
men as Stuyvesant Fish or Secretary Paul
Morton or Marvin Hughitt for disobeying
a statute in order that the revenues of the
company by which he was employed might
not be decimated?
The demand for a more severe penalty
and for the rigorous enforcement of the
statute impels the public to doubt the sin
cerity and fair purpose of the distinguished
railroad presidents who make 1t. The more
vigorous the law the more eondign the
punishment the more unlikely its enforce
ment. There 5 a we'll settled public con-
viction that preference through rebate can
be forestalled and that a statute which
makes the offe- SO penal cannot and should
not be effectual.
have never heard an intelligent and
sincere answer to the suggestion that the
accounts of common carriers-compiled now
in conformity to government regulations
rhould be subject to publicity in the same
manner of those OF the national banks
(Revised Statutes $40 and $3.50. and that
the secretary OF the interior 'shall have the
power to make a thorough examination OF
the analrS OF the company asSOclatloni ana
in doing so to examine any of the officers
and agents thereof on oath" A simple and
effective method of preventing discrimina-
tion by rebate-of giving the employe and
the owner OF the property the money hon
estly earned and, above and before all, of
restoring public confidence and relieving
the companies of the punishment inflicted
by courts and juries and of the blackmail
imposed by legislators-is free access to the
books of the railroad companies by an
agent Of the federal government-publicity.
Some UnansweFable Questions.
One uniform answer is offered to this
suggestion: such a statute is inquisito-
rial and deprives us of the unrestricted
right TO manage our own business" VIII
Mr. Fish. president OF the international
Railway congress, or some accredited rep
resentative of the railroad interest tell the
public why a statute which ipso facto de-
bars rebates (under whatever strategem)
and tends to create public harmony and
confidence in the statements and accounts