The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-04
Tho President and the Atchison
Scandal.


far more Interested in discussing the
large amount Of money which the de-
parted gentleman vas found TO have
left than IN dcplcring his taking away
The president of the railroad himself
was conspicuous among those present
and was particularly affected by the
dimensions of the fortune which the
decedent had amassed All through the
funereal function he continuously muir
INJURED: where did he get it? Where
did he get it?' and when his ceremonial
obligations were discharged he departed
still repeating increasingly: Where did
he get it? Where did he get it2'
Traffic managers of great lines have
been observed to prosper in ratio
wholly disproportionate to their salaries
In fact. very many OF them have become
exceedingly rich, matter which has
not altogether escaped criticism. Some
of them have made money by going
long or short Of the stock OF the cor
poration employing them, accordingly
as their information and Judgment
prompted and IN respect of THIS practice
the public censuro has never been severe
1t is not unlikely that the course which
Mr.. ROOSEVELT has pursued toward the
management OF tine railroads may pro-
woke a more minute and attentive scru-
tinv of the practices of their officials,
in which case it may appear that the
sources of their wealth were far more
questionable.
We venture to think that Mr.. RoosE-
WELT * BY this time satisfied that the
really grave charge against the rail-
roads of the country is not the high
rates charged for transportation but
the giving of secret and criminal re-
bates We have never INDUCED the
belief that rate cutting was inspired
solely by desire for increased tonnage.
The rebates and cut rates enjoyed by
the Standard Oil Company cannot be
explained solely by the competition
between rival roads for the oil COM
pany's traffic. No one who is conversant
with the railroad business could be hood
winked into such a belief. There were
certain phenomena connected with the
growth of that company which are,
indeed. inscparableSfr the history Of
all great corporations during the last
quarter OF a century, but which have
escaped general notice and have never
been brought out into the light.
If President ROOSEVELT persists in
the direction which has led to the late
revelations touching the criminal man
agement of the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad, some of the phenom-
ena will see the light beyond a doubt and
if. in consequence, some Of our leading
railroad men find themselves in the penl-
Tertiary they will have only themselves
10 blame, and the public may fifty con-
graduate itself. Then and in that
event there will no longer remain any
illusions Us to the nature and causes Of
railroad acknowledgement, and they will
be found to have been at least as pref
judicial to the interests Of the people who
actually own the railroads as they have
been detrimental TO The public welfare.
The profit and advantage of the secret
rebate have not accrued solely 10 the
CORPORATION for whose benefit it was
apparently created.
The late Mr. JAMES AICHENRY often
complained 10 US that what he described
as ghost trains were run upon the Erie
Railroad, trains which performed their
due function upon the operating sched-
ules OF the road, but of which the results
never penetrated into the traffic returns.
Had he lived longer and become ac-
ouainted with these later revelations of
the methods Of railroad management
we believe he would have hit upon a
more practical and adequate hypothesis.
There are two sides to the question, and
both are of grave Importance; and the
plundering of the public has proceeded
par passu with the defraudng Of the
railroad investor We are informed that
one railroad which freed itself from the
rate cutting and rebate system showed
an increase of earnings IN the first twelve
months of its emancipation of something
like SIC. 600. $50 Certain Industries which
were involved were less profitably con-
Quoted. perhaps. while ertainindividuals
concerned found their personal emolp-
ments subjected 10 a severe shrinkage.
We hope the Atchison scandal will be-
urobed TO its uttermost depths and that
the President will let no guilty mar
escape. We could wish that the duty
of doing the necessary work dcvolvec
upon a body Of better repute thar
the Interstate Commerce Commission
which for incompetence and peryersitJ
is without a peer and which enjoys
in an equal degree the contempt ot
the courts and the indifference Of thu
railroads Perhaps, too, the President
will be convinced that in the pursuit
of his amb ition he has found a weapon
more effective than Congress and less
doubtful than an appeal from the Con
stitution. We mean public opinion. II,
has certainly enlisted it as it never wa.
enlisted before, and we think that viii
its aid anything that is desirable can b'
accomplished. 1t were better far thai
the public continued to suffer for a time
and that railroad owners were robbed %
all they possess than that the principle
and spirit of our theory OF govcramen
5000 fro,, Vur., ,-reDus lun