The Dickinson press., 1905-10-14
prot Meyer Does Not favor 6overamS
sss 0wnership of Rsllroads. Ss

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bumper wheat crop Of 1905 have found
its way to market as cheaply under
governmental control Of freight rates as
il will under present conditionsl Would
the farmers Of Minnesota, North Dakota
and Montana have profted by the re-
,duction in freight rates under govern
.ment control? ~
These are questions in which every
?farmer:of the northwest is vitally inter-
1ested. The members Of the Interstate.
Commerce Commission want the power
to regulate freight rates. Congress will
be asked to bestow that power upon
them. Will it BE 10 the interest
Of the farmers of the northwest Ifthis
power will result in the arresting Of the
decline of freight rates, it itcertainly will
be Of no benefit to the farmer. And the
following statement by Prof. Hugo r.
Meyer, assistant professor of political
economy at the University of Chicago,
would lead to that belief.
'One of the results Of the adoption Of
the plan to have the government fix
railway rates, judging from the expert
ence of foreign countries that have tried
it,.would be to arrest the natural decline
in rates." said Professor Meyer.
@"F or the purpose of comparison con-
tinued Prof. Meyer, II shall point out
what followed the adoption Of govern
ment control lin Germany, and compare
the situation in. Germany with that in
! theeUnited States. In. the period from
1880, which we call the first year Of
government ownership in Germany, to
1880. the average receipts per ton mile
on German railroads declined only IS
4 percent and prices on the average fell
I18 per cent. falling more rapidly than
Transportation charges. which lis to say
that the German railways did nothing
toward enabling the producer u adjust
himself to the new level Of prices.
"In the United States, however, the
succession Of events has been quite
different. In the period between 1886
and 1899. railway rates declined AZ pei
cent, but prices declined only IS pei
! cent, the difference and the consequent
advantage to the American producer
over the German producer being appar.
ent. The advantage to the American
! producer relates not only to his home
market but to competition in interna
tional markets and hasIplaced him in
position farmore advantageous than tha
J. tof any foreign country in which govern
: fment ownership of railways results il
the controlling Of rates.
"In France the conditions are some
4 what similar to those>of Germany. Til.
4 advantages that might accrue from tn.
E private ownership of railways have beer
eliminated by the governmental contro
Z Of railway rates and the history of tha
countr forsthe same period has beer
u similar ar1ess u the decline
Of railway rates which resulted from
conflict of interests. Neither Franc.
nor Germany promote their industrie!
as do the people of the United States
: and in part this lack Of enterprise is du'
I to the harrassment resulting from gov
: ernmental control.
, ut does not take: a prophet to tel
y what would happen to American indus
e tries should they be subjected to tn
y influence of governmental control o
{. railway rates in the future.
t 1T seems the world is not old enougl
u to know that nations should not weigh
q themselves down with needless burden
and in attempting to solve the industria
problems which are presented to then
by each succeeding decade. To folio,
d in the footsteps of these eminent Euro
d pean failures in industrial problems i
3 not fitting course to be chosen by
y b. . . r