Arizona republican., 1905-04-17
ANOTHER VIEW
Of the Proposed Railroad
 Rate Legislation
UNCONSIDERED PHASE
Those Affected Would Be not Merely the Great Capitalists but AIse Thou sands of Smaller Holders or Stocks Throughout the Country.

New York, April 16-"It strlkes me that there is one phase of this pro- posed railroad rate regulation by cou- gress that is being overlooked.- said General Thomas l.. Watson. a lead- ing banker of Bridgeport. Conn and of this city.
 We have read of the complaints ol shippers and the responses oT the rail- way managers, but in the busy manu- featuring city of Bridgeport. whesa q live, are large numbers of small hold CTS of railroad stocks and bonds. many railway employees and an army of ds.- pOsitors in savings banks. stockholIers in other banks and trust compauies. holders of life insurance. accident or fire insurance policies. and members Of fraternal insurance societies rr1ar whom We have not heard It Is the same in every other prosperous conn munity. Everyone of these is directly interested in the effects that an Inter ference with the earning power of th- railroads will have on the value of the railroad securities that theSs u.-o- pie and their hduciary institutions EaIl either as collateral or oan outright as investments.
 should the next congress follow the lead of the last house ln pas-la- ] the Townsend bill. or one similar tn 1t, it is certain that these people uiII not be benefited by the legislation. f,.r the popular idea that rate regulation by political body is only a synonym for rate reduction seems to b. the i correct one. and that the earning Pow CT of the railroads would be mate rially lessened and the value of their securities reduced in consequeuct- ls | a certainty.
 "Now, in 1903. according to the last available report of the interstate conn merce commission. the net dividends | of all the railroads Of the U-ui-s.l | States (eXcluding inter-corpor1re pay ments) was S166 1765sS That y.as , between 3 and 4 per cent on the total capital stock held outside of the car- ! pora' ion treasures
 Now, as q nation We nave come ta | insist on better terminal facilities. bet | ter passenger cars. speedier service .,rl both passenger and freight trains ad- ditional safety appliances and Inn provements in a hundred different di- rectiOns. All these things cost money and the railroads have to yield to thr public demand for them Th= p-apr- ] A than ever for railway supplies. and 1 the railways are paying a higher rate of wages by something like eight Der cent, taking all classes Of vase earn CTS into account than they did Iu | 1899.
 | Should such legislation as was proposed at the last session oS coa- gress be adopted. and the commisssn-i- CTS be empowered to fix specific rates. to take effect virtually at once. yau will not see their offices crowded sl-irh shippers asking them to issue orders to the railroads to raise the exist ing freight rates The sugg-zrfa7 fs too manifestly absurd for consider tion. Shippers and complaints u-f! clamOr for a reduction in rates An ] the alleged abuses. either granting af rebates and the payment of unreas- onable allowances 10 terminal and | switch lines. the interstate cosnu-r-..
 commission has power To correct un-
 der existing laws The fact that tha
 interstate commerce commission has
 said repeatedly in it's reports that
 freight rates are in many instance taa
 low, will, l am certain. not b-. reulrn-
 bered.
 Tt is popular to be against th- cor poratiOns, even to the extent of dem
 agogy, in these days That same m-
 huence would surely make itself frIt
 before any commission that ls appoint
 i've and particularly in the case of one
 with a distinct political or sectional
 backing.
 With the members of the boar,l
 made traffic managers for every raiI-
 way in the country. by giving them tha
 power to arbitrarily fix rates that
 would at once become operative. com
 petition would be stuffed. chaos r-ieu
 in transportation matters and railroad
 earnings melt away. So that the ar
 4 per cent dividend margin might en-
 tirely disappear.
 How largely this would affect ths savings banks insurance coIupanIe=
 educational and charitable institutions
 where investments and endourn-u--
 are largely in railroad securities as well as individual holders of ral.rag securities is wholly Q matter of spec . ulation. The natural conclusion. how
 ever. is that the adoption of any I--- ; islatiOn of the character of ths. Town send bill will certainly neIsher incr-aza , the dividend earning power on railway
 stocks nor the rate of wages pad ts
 railway employees