Arizona republican., 1906-08-31

nous power in the hands of the com
 mission appointed by the president in- | troduces a new danger. If an appoint l i've board has power to fix rates and
 can, by the exercise of that power. in l crease and decrease by hundreds of millions of dollars the annual revenues
 of railroads, will not the railroads feel ! that they have a large pecuniary in- ] terest in the election of a president 1 friendly to the railroads?
 ! I have already reached the cOncIu- | sion that railroads partake so much
 of the nature of a monopoly that they
 must ultimately become public prop i erty and be managed by public officials in the interest of the whole commu- nifty In accordance with the well de- fined theory that public ownership is 1 necessary where competition is pos sible. I do not know that a majority
 of my own party favor it. but that an | increasing number of the parties see in public ownership the sure remedy for discrimination between persons and politics and for the eXtOrtionate rates Tor the carrying of freight and pas
 sengers. I prefer to see only the trunk lines operated by the federal govern ment and local lines by the several state governments Investigation in
 Europe has convinced me that dual
 ownership is entirely practicable In
 those states where the people are ripe
 Tor a change the local lines can be pur-
 chased or new lines be built at once
 while private ownership can continue
 In those states in which the people still
 prefer private ownership.
 If any one of you question the pro
 priety of my mentioning this subject. hnc fn ind E,of q,
 could not have secured passage of the rate bill had he not appealed to the fear of the more radical remedy of government ownership. and nothing will so restrain the railroad magnates from attempting to capture the inter- state commerce commission as this same fear. The high handed manner in which they have violated the law, and ignored authority, together with the corruption discovered in high places, has done more to create senti- ment in favor of public ownership than all the speeches and arguments of the opponents of private ownership.
 FEDERAL EXPENDITURES.
 On another occasion I shall call at tentiOn to the rapidly growing expen- ditures of the federal government, but at this time l desire to center your thoughts upon the overshadowing evil of the day-the trust with its pluto cratic tendencies that result there from. It demands a remedy and the people are prepartd to administer hc- rOic treatment. The democratic party offers a solution which is both reason- able and adequate-a solution in which time-honored principles are applied to new conditions.
 The democratic party is not the ene- my of property or property rights; it is. on the contrary. the best defender of both because it defends human rights. and human rights are the only foundation upon which property and property rights can rest securely. If We can repeal the laws which enable men 10 reap where they have not sown-laws which enable them to gather into their overflowing barns the harvests that belong to others-nO |. one will be able to accumulate enough ! to make his fortune dangerous to the country. Special privileges and the | use of the taxing power for private gain-these are twin pillars upon which plutOcracy rests. To take away these supports and to elevate the beneficiaries of special legislation to the path of honest effort ought to be l the purpose of our party