Truth. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1901-1908, 1905-12-09

be owned by alien interests were 1t
not for the fact that 10 single interest
separated from the interests of the
people themselves could or would
have brought about the tremendous
development of the past fifty years.
Every mile of railroad which is built
| in the United States is monument
| to hopes, aspirations and energies,
| and tangible response to the needs
and desires of a community. Thus 1t
| represents far more than a mere eX-
| pendture and the details of construc-
| ton.
There is overwhelming testimony to
| the effect that this interest of the
| people in the railroads goes beyond
the mere fact of securing transporta-
| ton facilities; that it continues in the
| form of subsequent ownership of the
same through wide diffusion of GER
| tificates which represent title to the
| right of way and equipment.
The investment of money in the con-
struction of railroads is finally certi-
| fed to by the issue of stocks, bonds,
| and mortgages. The people who own
these securities are the owners of the
| actual railroad property. The owner
| ship is not absolute, however, in that
there are now many laws, national
| and state, which regulate railroad
| conduct; and public opinion is always
| I formidable factor in railroad man.
| lgement. Even actual railroad own
ership is, therefore, a public trust
rather than autocratic control.
The Extent of Railway Interests.
This trust lies in the hands of the
| nnOplp tbam a1uoc for tho ci ,pla ran
son that railroad ownership is so a.
vided among the individuals who con-
stitute the American nation that there
is no bank, no trust company, no col
lege, no savings institution, no organ
| ization holding accumulated money
for investment or endowment and not
a single life or fire insurance COM
pany but which now owns and regards
as safe collateral some form of rail
road bond. Every stakeholder uepus-
itor or patron of one of these institu-
| tons, and they include or touch upon
practically every activity of the Amer
| lean people, is either a direct OF .-G..
rect owner of railroads to the full ex
tent of his interests in the institution
or institutions of which he is a part
or which he may patroniZe.
III duulllOH W lHlS ulTeCI interest III
railroad ownership the capitalist, large
or small, whose returns upon savings
or investments are based upon rail
| road values, shares with every other
individual in the country an indirect
interest in AMI ownership If the rail
roads in that they bring to him and
he brings to them opportunity for
growth and prosperity. So much for
| those who feel their share of railroad
ownership through their personal in
terests in the value of these railroads
when expressed in printed certificates
| carrying with them losses or divi-
dends.
The Revenue of the Railroads.
How about the men who pay the
freight, the men who furnish the sup
plies, the men who operate the rail
way system and man the right of way.
Here is where the railroads enter into
the daily life of the American people
to an extent seldom realized. Whence
comes the vast aggregations of money
included under the head of gross in
come? Where go the millions upon
millions checked off under the head
of gross expenditure? The great mer
chant, as he pays his daily freight
Dill OF thousands of dollars; the
wealthy tourist, who contracts for the
transportation of his private car
across the continent, these men can