The Washington herald., 1906-11-18
OWNERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA.
Correspondents Williams Statement
Regarding Conditions Questioned.

AueHtlOnRus
Editor Washington Herald
Without going into the question Of the
desrability Of government ownership OF
railroads in the United States. which
believe utterly impractica0le. owing to
the political spoils system" unfortunate
ly In vogue, / venture TO dispute many
Of the alleged facts stated by the Wash
ington correspondent Of the Houston Post
as quoted in your issue Of the 18th instant
regarding Australia and New Zealand
railroads.
Il is untrue that mot one OF the State
systems has paid working expenses and
nominal interest" Reference to official
! records VIII at once disprove this It is
I true that under exceptional circumstances,
such as the recent seven years Of drought
which would have bankrupted a less re-
sourceful country, the railways did not
/ pay full working expenses and interest.
partly due to decreased production, and
partly to the reduced rates of freight
made in the interests Of the suffering pas
/ toralists and farmers. on the other hand.
/ during the same years the New Zealand
/ railways paid so much above working ex-
/ Penses and interest that freight and fares
were reduced so as to give the public the
/ benefit Of the increased earning power.
/ II IS untrue that there is only one pas
| senger train a day between Sydney and
Melbourne (576 niles: there are two and
! the only reason there are not more is that
| there is a large and fine feet of steamers
OF a character unknown on either coast
/ Of the United States. which carry by far
/ the bulk Of passengers and freight at
! rates no railroads could compete with.
! 1t is true there is no transcontinental
line. and if Mr. g. Arthur Williams can
md any capitalists who would build a
( railroad across the at-present arid Cbut
not deserU interior. they are bigger fools
! than capitalists ordinarily are.
/ II is. / believe. true that the debt OF
Australia is greater than that Of the
! United States. but in order TO make fair
comparison. it is necessary TO add 10 the
debt of the United States the whole OF
the stocks and bonds Of
/. Every railroad in the United States.
.. Every telegraph company in the United States,
/ 3. Every telephone company IN the United States
4 Every water supply company IN the United states
| s. All the pubic roads ~ JEC United states.
loutside Of municipalities
And sundry other items. including some Of the mos
important street car lines.
| The physical conditions I'm Australia are
so dissimilar from the United States a:
TO render futile any attempt to argue fol
or against State ownership Of railroads
based on Australian experiences. 1t is pre-
pOsterOus To attribute any lack OF prog
ress in Australia during recent years {,
the State ownership Of railways. Such {:
due almost wholly 70 an Unprecedented
drought, and partly to political unres
arising largely from the power of Labor
unions in politics.
The impression this writer gives as Z
Australia being a heavily taxed countrl
is farcical. as any one who cares to com
pare taxation there and in the Unitet
States can readily find for himself, anC
would also find the cost of living mucl
less there than here.
/ could readily deal with other items o
Mr. Williams statements. but feel tn
above is sufficient TO show that his con
tribution TO the discussion is valueless b,
reason of its inaccuracies in some re
spects, and its superhciality in al
CHAS Mcclure
| Alexandria Nov Il