The Washington times., 1905-10-19
PRESIDENT OPENS UP
ON THE RAILROADS
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F, ished in value we thereby prove our
unfitness to stand in the forefront of
| civilized peoples
One Of the greatest Of these heritages
/ Is our forest wealth. Ii is the upper
attitudes Of the forestcd mountains
/ that are most valuable TO the nation
as a whole. especially because Of their
| effects upon the water supply Neither
State nor nation can afford 10 turn
these mountains over to the unrestrain-
/ ed greed of those who would exploit
them at the expense OF the future. We
cannot afford TO wait longer before as
suming control. in the interest of the
public. Of these forests. for il we do
wait. the vested interests of private
parties in them may become so strongly
intrenched that IL may be a most Sc
rious as We'll as a most expensive task
10 oust them II the Eastern States
are wise, then from the Bay OF Fundy
to the Gulf we will see. within the next
Few years policy set on foot similar
70 that SO fortunately carried out in
the high Sierras Of the West by the
National Government. All the higher
Appalachians should be reserved, either
by the States or by the nation. / much
prefer that they should be put under
national control, but IL is mere truism
10 say that they will not be reserved
either by the States or by the notion
unless you people of the South show a
strong interest therein.
such reserves would be a paying in
Vestment, not only in protection To
many interests, but in dollars and cents
TO the Government. The importance TO
Southern mountain forests IS obvious.
These forests are the best defense
against the floods which. in the recent
past. have. during single twelfth
h. dpGiTOXG1 ri al lll- val
ued at nearly twice what II would cost
10 buy .he Southern Appalachian re-
serve
The maintenance of your Southern
water powers is not less important than
the prevention of floods, because If they
are injured your manufacturing inter-
ests VIII suffer with them, The per-
petuation OF your forests, which have
done so much for the South, should be
one OF the first objects OF your public
men,. The two Senators from North
in this movement. But i do not think
that the people of North Carolina, or
of any other Southern State. have
quite grasped the Importance of this
ment and prosperity OF the South
Praise for Confederates.
The position of honor in your parade
today is held by the Confederate vet
Grams. They by their deeds reflect credit
upon their descendants and upon all
Americans. both because they did their
duty in war and because they did their
duty in peace. Now If the young men,
their sons. will not only prove that they
possess the same power of fealty to an
ideal. but will also show the efficiency IL
the ranks of Industrial life that their
fathers, the Confederate veterans,
showed that they possessed in the
ranks of war, the Industrial future of
this great and typically American Com
monweaith is assured
The extraordinary development of in
dustrialism during the last half century
has been due to several causes but
above all to the revolution in the meth
DDS of transportation and communica-
tfon; that is. to steam and to electri-
city. to the railroad and the telegraph.
When this Government was founded
commerce was carried on by essentially
the same instruments that had been in
use not only among civilized. but among
barbarian. nations. ever since history
dawned; that Is, by wheeled vehicles
drawn by animals, by pack trains. and
by sailing ships and rowboats, On land
this meant that commerce went in slow.
cumbrous. and expensive fashion over
highways open TO all. Normally these
highways could not compete with water
transportation, IL such was feasible be-
tween the connecting points.
All this has been changed by the de-
velopment of the railroads. Save on the
ocean or on lakes so large as TO be prac-
tically inland seas, transport by water
has wholly lost its old position of su
Instead OF the old highways open to
everyone on the same terms, but of a
very limited usefulness, We have new
highways-ra are owned
by private corporations, and which are
practically Of unlimited, instead OF
limited, usefulness
The old laws and old customs which
were adequate and proper TO meet the
old conditions need radical readjustment
in order to meet these new conditions.
The cardinal features in these changed
new highway, the railway, Is. from the
commercial standpoint Of infinitely
greater Importance in our Industrial life
than was the old highway. the wagon
road; and, second. that this new high
way, the railway, is in the hands of
private owners. whereas the old high
way. the wagon road. was in the hands
of the State.
Railroad Management.
The management of the new highway,
the railroad or rather of the intricate
web of railroad lines which cover the
country, is a task infinitely more diff
cult, more delicate. and more important
than the primitively easy task of ac-
quiring or keeping in order the old high
way. so that there is properly no anal
ogy whatever between the two cases 1
ship of anything which can with pro-
priety be left in private hands, and in
particular l should most strenuously OBJ
ject 10 government ownership of rail-
roads. But l believe with equal firm
ress that it is out of the question for
the Government not TO exercise Su-
pervisory and regulatory right over the
railroads; for 1t is vital to the we'll
being of the public that they should be
managed in spirit OF fairness and JUS
tice toward all the public.
Actual experience has shown that it is
not possible to leave the railroads un- |
controlled Such a system, or rather /
such a lack of system. is fertile in
a buses of every kind. and puts a prem
ium upon unscrupulous and ruthless cum
ming in railroad management; for there
are some big shi~~erS and some railroad
managers who are always willing to
take unfair advantage of their weaker
competitors, and they thereby force
other big shippers and big railroad men
who would like to do decently into sim
liar acts Of wrong and injustice. under
l.. 1.fr ,F-.,g IL, Q