Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-25
ESSENTIAL TOOL OF INDUSTRY.
Railroad Power 90 Make or Unmaks
Individuals and Communities.


all-important railroad question appears in
the current number Of MeCiures. The
| author Is Ray Stannard Baker, a student OF
| Industrial problems, whose contributions
to this publication show deep research,
impartality and good judgment Mr.. Ba-
ker sees small hope for justice for the
small shipper as long as the power OF the
railroads TO AK rates remains in the hands
of individuals.
Among other things he says;
The railroad is, indeed, the essential tool
OF industry throughout the world. It is
the regulator Of business II holds the
scales OF destiny. It decides where cities
shall be located, and how fast they shall
grow. II marks out in no small degree the
wheat and corn areas, It sets boundaries
for the business Of the coal miners Of Inl-
nois as against those of Pennsylvania, Il
marks definitely how far the lumber of
Washington shall go, II decides whether
flour shall be manufactured in Minneapolis
| or Buffalo, and whether the chief export
business in grain shall be done at the port
of New York or at the port OF New Or
| leans.
And the great fact arising out OF these
conditions, the overwhelming fact, is that
these enormous powers. the control OF the
very instrument Of business destiny is in
the hands Of comparatively few private
citizens who are handling the tool not to
build up the nation properly, not to do real
justice as between Chicago and New York,
or between Rockefeller or the independent
refiner, or between wheat and flour, not to
make the rate system simple and time-sav-
Ing, but to NIL their own pockets In as short
time as possible.
When citizen or shipper who thinks he
Is wronged attempts to get relief he must
submit his case, not to an impartial tribu-
nal but to his adversary in the case. What
| Justice can be hoped for2 He is poor he
does not understand railroad conditions. he
does not dare, single-handed, to make a
fight for the whole community and take
the chance of earning the further enmity
OF the railroad; his adversary is rich, en-
ploys the best legal talent, is entrenched in
power out OF hopelessness Of justice has
arisen the present widespread demand
voiced by President Roosevelt, for some
| tribunal which is at once impartial and
powerful enough to do justice as between
the railroad and the citizen. The people
have asked that the government. through
| the Interstate Commerce commission be
made such tribunal; in other words, that
| in case of a dispute over a rate the govern
ment of the United States shall say, once
for all. what is right and reasonable. They
believe that such great power is better in
the hands of the government than in the
| hands Of individuals This demand the
railroad owners are opposing with all the
ability, legal acumen, money power and
political influence that they can command.
Railroad managers are not fools, nor are
railroad rates the results Of mere caprice,
or spite or vindictveness. No one feature
Of the congressional investigation was
| more marked than the testimony to the i'm
mense complexity OF rate-making as it is
now conducted. Nearly every important
witness on both sides had something to
say of the difficulty OF determining what
any one rate really should be- let alone all
the rates in the country.
As for science of alternating, there Is
no such thing. rate today is merely a
| compromise resulting from the operation
| of thousand different competitive forces
| Scores of railroad managers, hundreds OF
cities, thousands of merchants and manu-
facturers. all with selfish personal interests,
are operating to influence every railroad
rate. For the very life OF industry depends
| on the rate, and every farmer. miner, lum-
herman, merchant and manufactures knows
\ 1t. great clamor arises, each man de-
manding advantage for himself, for which
| he offers any inducement he can command
money. power, political influence social
! position-anything. so long as he can get
| his rate down, no matter what any other
citizen has to suffer for it. As a compro-
mise between all these bitterly selfish
| forces arises the rate as it now exists
with all Its absurdities it's injustices, its
merciless cruelty. A railroad rate today
may be defined as a compromise Of greed.
When the big shipper gets a low rate
on oil or steel or beef, the small shippers
and consumers who pay the small freights
| have to make it up. II oil is carried at
| cost or below, by the railroads, as It often
| has been, then other patrons OF the road
| must pay enough more to yield the great
profits which the railroads earn. There
| fore, you and who buy food Shoes hats
houses-against every item of which there
stands a freight charge-have paid part
| toward the enormous fortunes OF the trust
promoters.
I have gone thus into the subject of
| the trusts to show that the blame for
present conditions of utter Injustice and
immortality is not due wholly to the rail-
road men. The big shipper. the Trust,
has forced and is today forcing all sorts
OF changes in rates. He also is to blame
1t was signifcant-and amusing-to see the
| biiii6 III supper dlttI
| to the recent congressional investigation,
to prove by them that the railroad was
without fault, that everything was all
right. that there was no complaint as to
rebates. or course. the larger shippers
stand with the railroads and will stand
/ with them as long as they can by caiolery
or force get favors from the trafic Of
! hclais or as long as they fear the enmity
OF the traffic officials.
Still other factors enter into the prob
| lens OF rate-making Under present con-
/ ditions the railroad president is a sort OF
| overload OF his territory. II his road Is
! to succeed, he knows that the country
| through which IL operates must be pros
porous, Consequently we find James ].
! Hill doing wonders to develop the far
northwest, not because he loves the north
west-which he does with undoubted sin
cerity-but because a developed northwest
| will make his road pay better dividends.
| For a time, he carried lumber at a loss
! ION operaton) 10 help build up his bust
! ness-but be II remembered, that loss
came not out OF Mr.. Hill and his asso-
clates, but out Of the other patrons OF the
road who paid higher rates that lumber
might be shipped at lower rates.