The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1906-09-16


GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP AGAIN.
AS an addenda to a recent editorial
ca the subject of government owner
ship OF railroads we copy the follow
ing figures and estimates from The
New York World
The total assets of these railroads
are placed at $15.495, 900, 300 Their
gross earnings for 1904 were 1891
s2 2s.l s.s a sss the operating expenses
1t will be noticed that the gross
earnings Of these Lego companies are
saua, 70 the total appropriations of
These railroads have 327,S51 stock
holders. to say nothing of the bond
holders. One single road, the Penn
other, the Santa Fe. has 1888. and a
third. the Union Pacific, has 1926.
Ineidentally, these roads carry up
year-and h haul more than i,s7S. ooc, 900
tons Of freight
It requires little matter of 1885,
600 employees to do this work. Rather
a Dig business to turn over to. group
or any number of groups Of profess
sional politicians. is 1t mot?
1t will be seen that the total value
OF railroad property in the United
States Is placed at something over
fifteen billions of dollars. This Is an
immense sum. so large that the mind
can hardly grasp 1t. but that is what
the property Is valued at. No one can
be so simple as to imagine that the
roads could be bought for that sum, or
anything near it. Where is the money
to come from?
But how about the management of
such an enormous business and such
an army of employees? Mr.. James w.
Hill is big, railroad man. Whatever
else may be said of him. he under
may belfVe him when he declares that
no railway management would for a
moment tolerate condition of affairs
such as has been disclosed by the re-
peated Investigations of the conduct
of governmental departments" and he
is right. The Panama Canal is a small
affair compared to the control and
management of even all the trunk lines
In the United States. How long would
these roads be effective or profitable
under such bungling and mismanage-
ment as has marked the canal enter
prise from its inception? When we re-
member the many charges and scan
dals connected with the army. and
when we call to mind the numerous
Investigations and exposures in the
government postal department we can
form a dim idea of what will be likely
to happen when the government takes
charge of the railroads. If such a mon
Say what we may about our govern
ment, we are compelled to admit that
1t lacks very much of having its bust
ness always conducted honestly and
economically.
But that is not really the worst or
most Objectionable feature of this
proposition. There would ibe' one and
half or two million employees prob
ably many more, IL the government
had control--and as The Kansas City
Journal looks at 1t, IF all other details
were settled with Justice and to the
satisfaction of all concerned, American
politics would not stand the test of
such a gigantic temptation. No polit-
ical party could resist the tendency to
make such a vast department the
means of rewarding political service,
and that would mean colossal disaster.
1t need not be declared that dishonesty
would follow. The railroad business
can only be run by railroad men. 1t is
only because politics and everything
but competency have been sidetracked
that 1t has been developed to its pres
emit proportions"
In short, from every point of view
the proposition is a bad one and good
Democrats everywhere, and without re-
gard to differences of opinion on other
policies. should prevent the govern
ment ownership policy from becoming
part of the Democratic faith, or get
ting into Democratic platforms.