The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-07-28

pie OF the United STATES, tolerate THIS unjust Oh
preston upon their farm products and upon every
article they ship out of Florida, or ship into
Florida. 5t@kti n th
These railway companies and the express CON-
panies are private property 1t is true, but they
have public character and use stamped upon
these excessive rates OF freight IL the people are
only determined to put stop to it.
The Hepburn Bill provides, or will as soon as
1t becomes law in August, that the Interstate
Commerce Commission can, upon complain,
change an unjust and unreasonable rate and sub
stitute for 1t just and reasonable rate. And it
Is highly important to the people of Florida that
even more power be given to the Hepburn Bill
by amending 1t in future than is now conferred
by that bill.
1t is necessary to take the railwa Interests
both In Congress and out of 1t off tn tnroats OF
the people, and to remove the heavy load frol
their productions, of unjust freight ra U.s. | will
show In other letters to follow this exactly how
this can be accomplished In the Congress Of the
United States, II the people Of the United States
only desire to do it. | will content myself in this
letter with the subject Of OVERCAPITALIZA
TON, because when the people understand this
matter they will understand then how completely
they have been "heeced" In the past and will be
"ieeced' in the future by this OVERCAPITALI
IATION OF RAILWAYS.
1t Is well known rule Of law that railway
companies are entitled to earn JUST COMpEN.
SATlON upon their LEGITIMATE CAPITAL IN.
VESTED. But the trouble Is, the railroad compi-
MES are earning compensation upon FALSE and
FRAUDULENT and FICTITIOUS CAPITALIZE.
TON OF THEIR PROPERTIES. They estimate
their properties two, three and four times their
value and then charge freight rates upon LeConte
pears, cotton, corn, and upon every other article
that the people raise In order to pay this unjust
compensation upon this fictitious capitalization.
They wiring out of the pockets Of the people, two,
three and four times they should, In order to pay
interest and dividends upon this wind and water
In their stocks and bonds. How long will the
people submit to this oppression?
| desire now to quote from a high authority In
the United States upon this question o. overcapl.
taiization. What the writer says about the rail
roads In New York applies, in principle, to the
railroads In Florida. One of the ablest author
Prof Parsons of Boston, Mass Testifying some
years ago before the Industrial Commission ap-
pointed by Congress to examine this question,
Prof Parsons said:
Inc prevalence of water In the railroad system
Is 80 Well known that 1t Is not necessary to do
more than touch upon the matter. Vanderbilt
set the pace In consolidating the eleven roads be-
tween Albany and Buffalo and increased the CAPT
tanzatlon by nearly 100000 In doing 1t, then
a t o. per cent to the stock capitalization *
'he Huuson road, or which he was president; then
extending his control over the Central and adopt
ing the same tactics there he added 80 per cent to
the New York Central; then ne consolidated the
TWO roads, and in doing 1t inflated the Central 2.
Il $50 Aho.0 anu Tie duQSOn 90 per cent; 81
.hat IN the four years from 1866 to 1870 nc
Drought the capitalization up from $54,OOO,OOO
wnicn was little more than the total cost on the
cIoa $50 OF the company-about $4OO0OOO more-,O
slVoOOoOOO The total cost on the books in 1870
was under $4,000 per mile, while under his CAPT
'arzation 1t was $122,0O0 per mile.
lhat example has been followed to a great ey-
et an over the country, so that our railroad CAPT
.ailauon Is now about half water or water and
vino. The figures Of construction and equipment
Sost gwen In Poors Manual from time to time Ill
o.te tnat the railroads of the United States
S Sapltaiized at about double what they could be
Du ms and equipped for at the present time.
III, vi course his estimate applies to all the rail
ways OF the United States considered as a whole
Instead OF Florida railroads costing thirty thou
sanu dollars l$3O,O00) or $4,000 per mile to coz
ss. uct tnem they only cost about ten, twelve or
- ' tt thousand dollars mile take the figures
S .ne increase and overcapitalization OF the Sea-
uoard AR Line Railway Company from the re-
port OF the Florida State Railroad Commission,
Seohnon 20 'nat commission by the officials Of the
'T % AIR Line Railway.
,rTaently this $4,000 per mile of the Seaboard
All Line Railroad wrings out of the pockets of the
pseope Two or three times the amount It should
S"aise the people The very object of making its
M A.