Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-03-28
A Government Railroad.

| 'HO Pun PuSe VI puDllSnlng articles COM
batting the general sentiment among
the people in favor of government reg
ulatiOn of railroad rates, and it may
be expected that articles will appear
from time to time giving a one-sided
view of the situation, and endeavoring
to quiet the people in this popular
movement for relief from excessive
charges and unfair discrimination.
In recent article the information is
given that decrease of one mill mile
on the one hundred and seventy bill
lions tons of freight moved per mile
in 1908, would amount to enough to
wipe out the whole dividend surplus of
the railroads and create deficit of
nearly fifty million dollars.
1t certainly will be interesting news
to the people to realize that there is
no hope for any further reduction in
railroad rates, for such a reduction
would rob the stockholders of any divi-
dend whatever.
1t is true that in many cases part of
the earnings has been put back into
betterments, so that the railroads rep
resent considerable more actual money
invested in proportion to the stock and
bond issue than they did years ago,
and therefore the public are not quite
so badly mulcted as they were then,
but it is still true that the railroads
earn an income on much inflated value;
for instance if a road originally cost
in actual money twenty or twenty-five
thousand dollars a mile, and its bonds
and stock represent seventy five or one
hundred thousand dollars a mile, and
it's rates were fixed to earn an interest
on the large sum, it is plain the rates
are too high and the public seriously
overcharged, therefore if the railroads
now say that no further reduction in
rates can be made, it seems to place
before the people the necessity of some
effort to help themselves.
If the government would start the
building of a railroad line say straight
away from New York TO Denver, there
to connect with the Western lines, and
this government road give no prefer
ence to any city, but go in practically
straight line from one point to the
other, with spurs to the nearby cities
for instance the first spur to run down
to Pittsburg, another to Buffalo, then
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit,
Indianapolis, Chicago, st. Louis and
say Kansas City, st. Joseph and Oma-
ha-the method of procedure might
be something like the following:
Appoint a railroad commissioner, a
irst-class man experienced in railroad
construction; make surveys, and sub
NIT careful, practical estimate of
cost; then if the plan appears feasible
and practical, begin the construction
and establish the rate of wage for the
actual labor that would not be high
enough to attract workmen from other
positions, but would establish a semi
permanent opportunity for the employ
ment of the unemployed to obtain liv-
ing wages to tide them over periods Of
industrial depression when so many
men are thrown entirely out of work.
This would furnish a sort of safety
valve at such times, and il is the opin-
ion of many people that the govern
ment should, in sensible manner sup
ply some sort of means to enable idle
men to help themselves during periods
when they are helpless.
The construction of such a railroad
would probably extend over a number
of years. 1t would be built by the peo-
pie and paid for by the surplus in the
government treasury, and would set up
another wise principle, that is-to tax
the luxuries, and thus earn enough sur
plus above the actual need Of the gov
ernmeut 10 supply reasonably large
fund to furnish work for the unem-
ployed, and thus distribute among the
people the public money.
It would mean simple plan OF
gathering a volume of money from
those who could afford to contribute it
in the way Of taxes, to be paid back
TO the people for work, and the gov
ernment would acquire ultimately a
great property, which would add to the
actual assets and value of the govern
ment every dollar that it cost There
fore no loss.
Then when the railroad was finished
and fully equipped, the managers-to
be expert railroad men-would fix
rae for freight and passenger trafie
that would in the first place take care
Of a suitable four or five per cent in
come on the investment and would be
paid into our United States treasury