Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-31

nous power in the hands of the COM
mission appointed by the president ms
| PRODUCES a new danger. II an appoint
ed board has the power TO fix rates ana
can. by the exercise of that power, M
crease or decrease by hundreds OF mil
lions of dollars the annual revenues Oh
the railroads, will not the RAILROADS.
feel that they have a large pecunlary
interest in the election of president
friendly to the railroa DIS? Experience
has demonstrated that municipal cor
ruption is largely traceable to the fact
.hat franchise corporations desire to
control the city council and thus IN
crease their dividends. If their man
ayers adopt the same policy the sentl-
ment In favor of the ownership OF tne
railroads by the government is likely 10
increase as rapidly turnout the country
as the sentiment in favor OF munlclpai
ownership has increased IN the cues.
Public Ownership.
Il have already reached the cohciu-
sion that railroads partake SO much OF
the nature of monopoly that tHey
must ultimately become public prop
erty and be managed by pubic OIL
Gals in the interest of the whole COM
munity in accordance with the well
defined theory that public ownership Is
necessary where competition is I'M
possible. I do not know that the coun-
try Is ready for this change. l do not
know that majority Of my own party
favor it, but believe that an increas-
ing number OF the members of all par
ties see in public ownership the sure
remedy for discrimination between per-
sons and localities and for extortionate
rates for the carrying Of freight and
passengers.
believing, however, that the opera.
ton of all the railroads by the federal
government would result In a central
ization which would all but obliterate
state lines, / prefer to see only the
trunk lines operated by the federal
government and the local lines by the
several state governments.
."The ownership and operation Of the
local lines by the several state governs
ments is not only feasible, but II suits
itself to the conditions existing In the
various states. In those states where
the people are ripe for a. change the To-
cal lines can be purchased or new lines
built at once, while private ownership
can continue in those states in which
the people still prefer private owner
ship. Some states have been more
careful than others to prevent the wa
tering Of stock, and In the acquiring of
roads each state can act according to
the situation which 1t has TO meet.
"As to the rights OF the government,
federal and state, to own and to oper-
ate railroads there can be no doubt. II
we can deepen the water in the lakes
and build connecting canals in order to
cheaper railroad transportation dur
ing half Of the year, we can build a
railroad and cheaper the rates the
whole year; il we can spend several
hundred millions on the Panama canal
to lower transcontinental rates. we
can build a railroad from New York to
San Francisco to lower both trans
continental and local rates. The United
States mail is increasing SO rapidly
that we shall soon be able to pay the
interest on the cost of trunk lines out
OF the money which we now pay to
railroads for carrying thru mails.
IF any Of you question the propriety
Of my mentioning this subject beg to
remind you that the president could
not have secured the 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 that
same fear The high handed manner
in which ley have violated laws and
ignored authority, together with the
corruption discovered in high places.
has done more to create sentiment in
favor of public ownership than all
speeches and arguments of the oppon--
ents of private ownership.
Trusts and Politics.
Just word more in regard to the
trusts, Some defend them on the
ground that they are an economic de-
velopment and that they cannot be
prevented without great injury to our
Industrial system. This may be ans
swered in two ways. First, trusts are
a political development rather than an
economic one land second, the trust
system cannot be permitted to contln-
ue even tho it did result in net eco
nomic gain. 1t is political because 1t
rests upon the corporation and the
corporation rests upon statutory
foundation The trust, instead OF pc
ing natural development, is form
of legalized larceny and can exist only
SO long as the law permits 1t to exist.
There is a point beyond which the eco
nomic advantage of large production
ceases. The moment an industry APP
proaches the position OF a monopoly t
begins to lose in economic efficiency,
for a MONOPOLY discourages invention,
invites deterioration in quality and de-
stroys a most potent factor in pro-
duction, viz: individual ambition.
"But the political objections to
trust overcome any economic advan-
tage which it can possibly have. No
economic advantage can justify an In
dustrial despotism or compensate ma
ton for the loss of independence
among it's producers. Political liber-
ty could not long endure under an
industrial system which permitted
few powerful magnates to control the
means OF livelihood of the rest of the
people.
Socialism.
"The man who argues chat there is
an economic advantage in private
monopoly is aiding socialism. The So
cialist, asserting the economic super
iority Of the monopoly, insists that Its
benefits shall accrue to the whole peo-
pie, and his conclusions cannot be de-
MED If the superiority of monopoly
is admitted. The democratic party, If
I understand its position, denies the
economic as well as the political adj
vantage of private monopoly and