The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-26
THE LAWS ARE BAD
CONCLUSIONS OF FISH OF ILLINOIS
 CENTRAL.
Railroad President Discusses Measures Which He Declares are Not Drawn With an Eye to
 Economy.

Louisville, Jan. 25.--Steuyvesant Fish of New York, President of the Illinois Central Railroad, was the principal speaker at banquet tonight given by the Board of Trade F. IL Bowen. President of the Board. presided. Mir. Fish responded to the toast Economy saying, in part:
 ''No one can examine the appropria- tions made by Congress, by the State Legislatures and by our municipal gov ernments without appreciating that there is in each conspicuous and growing lack of economy. There is not only waste and extravagance in admin istration and what is now commonly called graft which is combination of bribery and larceny, but what is eco- nonically worse, the laws are so framed as not to get the best use of the taxes paid by the people. What we have to fear Is not so much the magnitude or the appropriations as that our laws re- quire that an uneeonomical and, there fore. bad use be made of them.
 By way of illustration, permit me to cite some figures from the recent report of my very good friend, Post n1aster-GeneraI Cortelyou, on the de- partment which, so far as existing laws admit he is administering most admir- ably. The Postmaster-Genera report for 1905 shows a deficit of $14,572, ,5S4 against a similar deficit in the preced- ing year of $S,779,492. Government free matter carried in the mails constituted fully eighth of the entire weight carried, and involved d loss of nearly 320,O00,00 Had this been prepaid, the hostage thereon would have far exceed ed the deficiency.
 SecOnd-CIass Mail Matter.
 Rural free delivery costs $20,S19,9l4 and the loss in rendering this service is safely and conservativelY estimated at more than SI5,OOO,00O. In like manner in the carriage of second class matter newspapers, etc, at rates lower than othAr printed matter which return to the Government from one-ffth to one eighth only of the cost of rendering the service, there was a further loss which cannot be figured below $270o0,- O0O The free delivery of newspapers in the county of publication costs the covernment more than one million.
 NOT is it avoidable that under such methods of carrying on business there have come to the surface. even in the Administration of the Federal Govern ment. which We have been disposed to look upon as honest and thorough, q condition of inefficiency and dishonesty Tn various branches which, to say th' least, calls for halt. am not one ol thosc who, here at the South and 70 . Ta,,,ocratic audience, or elsewhere s,orld be disposed to criticize the Fed "roI administration for this On th' contrary, MT. Roosevelt's well-knowr charactcr and the vigor with which nc bas eyer and again taken up matters nS tbjS sort. is one of the most helpful and bv all means the most hopeful con, "idarstion which we have for the future in this regard.
 Our Finance system.
 Let us also look into our hnahc' system. We hold not only the larSeS stock of gold of any country m th' world. and are, with the possible cN n.ton of south Africa, the largcs nraduoAr thereof, but our small supply ras eapita, though somewhat smalle thsa that of France. is larger thar