Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-08-27

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Newspapers hsasera President T. y.
Rsna*y. IL the Sasia o.. asad aAose
vas Disagree Gtsh his iaras regard
Ia tie EsaAti0a of that syszeEn 90 the
gsopie al kanAAs. In Answer 10 Nj,
Gsaplegs Eeoeaa letter ". n. SaRhA.s
t.an the f0llawiRS cai0rie onslaught In
aAe topeka Capital.
Mr.. Ripley statement. Which Mp
EseSFg"s In ahs press yesterday. thar the
saasa ~ railroad Ii n0s over capital
tGsd Ii indeed n very surprising me
The stocks and tsonds of this road
aaaosana 10 upwards of sssAsse per mile.
aGd OF the asia miles Of road In
Kansas. there are In rough figures =
t"as miles II branch lines aud so
~. es of t"e main liaa.
All the branch lines can be rcgrs-
diced lor lass than 50, asG per mile
a3d the 500 miles Of main line esa
Ae reproduced for less >! al S. l0fsj
~, mile and give a handsome profit
'a the contractor. lndeed. . Would te
Pc ssesl 10 have such a cbntEact aLi
would give the best bond IN earth for
tsa faithful performance. tbs Ia In
Guide all tracks. right " way. building
bridges. water service. but n O in
gliding terminals and equipment.
Certainly the terminals and equipment
0f railways are large items of es-
pense, but could not possibly. under
the most eNtravagant estimate. cost
tn exceed si5!a~so per mile. The San
ta Pc road I'm Kansas can he reproduc'
Cd In Its entirety Including cost III
equipment and terminals ut Kansas
City for less than 10000 per mile.
and give the contractor millions Of
dollars profit.
Mr.. Ripley does not deny and will
not deny that the common stock Of the
Santa Fe. aggregaiine upwards oil
one hundred millions Of dollars. was
practically all pure water and did not
represent any value whatever. In cash
or otherwise. that entered into the
cost Of construction OF this property.
Mr.. Ripley's statement that the rail
road company furnished free transpor'
tation 10 national. state and county
officers simply and merely as a cour'
tesy seems innocent enough to the
casual reader, but what are the facts!
The members Of the legislature are
overwhelmed with free passes for
themselves. their families and their
friends, individual members using as
much as 200.0 600 miles Of free trans
portation during one session Of the leg.
islature. The board Of railway asses.
sors and practically every prominent
public official In Kansas. Is also nj lib.
erty II they SD desire. 10 use almost
an unlimited amount Of free transpor'
tation for political purposes. In ad-
dition TO this the general political at
torney for the railroad furnishes free
transportation to a few prominent men
under some pretext or another. In
nearly every city and village In Kan
sas. together with an army OF political
henchmen. who are servile political
tools Of the railroads. selecting the
right kind of men for delegates to
the county and state c0n,Sntions.
looking out for the members of the
legislature. etc. This courtesy. II in
deed 1t be such. must cost the rail.
roads OF Kansas annually hundreds
of thousands Of dollars .
Mr.. Ripley says further: we have
the same interest in good government
as any other citizen. and the same
right to display that interest"
Can Mr.. Ripley suggest the name Of
any other business institution i'm Kan
a that maintains a political depart
ment with high salaried political at.
torneys. whose principal business Is
to issue free transportation, furnish.
ing money to every member Of the
legislature who will accept the same,
manipulate politics generally and In
a general way supply the sinews Of
war for a machine political condition
In this state that Is demoralizing. de-
grading. disgraceful and a stencil in
the nostrils of the decent people of
Kansas? Does Mr.. Ripley believe
that it is a wise public policy and that
the railroads should have the right
&c subsidize the public press of Kan
va by offering to pay as much as
5 5000 for control of the editorial pol.
icy of a great newspaper like the To-
lie la Daily Capital. Was this action
in the interest Of good 20. eminent. I
would like to ask? Can a. Y earnest
citizen. who has a reasonable regard
for the future welfare Of his Country
and his children. contempla- e this 81.
uation. where practically all of the
great transportation lines of America
are controlled by a few men. who also
control the steel industry. the oil in
dustry. the sugar, the salt, the lum-
Der, the coal. and practically every
necessity of life. without protesting to
the full limit of his ability against
the methods which makes this situa.
ton possible?
The system of financing, which re-
suited in the present condition of af.
fairs, may have been to some extent
~excusable in the early history of our
country, but it certainly will not be