Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-07-11
R0OSEVELT'S LATEST.
Ma Ask That Government Take Stock
 in Railroads. .-.

Washington, D. C., July 11.-Pre- sldent Roosevelt is considering the advisability of making to the next ! congress recommendation on the l railroad question that will excite uni
 Versal comment and attention. It is nothing more or less than that the government become a small stock holder in some of the large railroads
 of the country with the view to hav-
 ing a representative placed on each
 board of directors. By this process
 the government would become
 thoroughly informed as to the inside
 facts of every railroad and be in .
 position to force such reforms as it
 might desire to make.
 All thatis known is that the pro-
 position has been laid before the pre-
 sident and that he is giving it most
 careful consideration. It has been
 represented to him as a step in the
 direction of accomplishing reforms in
 the railroad business that could not
 be secured in any other way. The
 most serious objection to it is that
 it is really the first step toward gov
 ernment ownership and that it was
 the step taken by Germany before
 that country went into nationaliza-
 tion of railroad properties. After
 having gotten this sort If a foothold
 in the railroads, Germany went a step further, bought trunk line, re- duced rates and clubbed all the other roads into submitting, the ultimat te result being government ownership.
 If made at all, the recommenda- tion of the president will be thSt con- gress provide an appropriation for the purchase of small number Of | shares of stock in certain railroads that may be selected. When these | shares have been acquired, assuming | that congress would fall in with the | plan, the administration will know | how to proceed to force the roa6s into the government a director on each board. It is not thought l there would be much difficulty in ob- | taining director, as the government; | would know how to use its great | strength to secure its desires. Once a part of the inside of the great | railroad combinations, the govern ment's representa- tives would have no | trouble in becoming acquainted with | every detail and would be in position | to quickly report violations of the | laws of the country by the carriers |
 If the president does not advocate the proposed plan, it is said to be certain that it will be put forward in | congress by democratic leaders, act ing under the advice of w. J. Bryan, who has for some time been consider ing similar scheme. and is believed to be at work upon its development. It is in line with Mir Bryan's ideas that the government will ultimately | be compelled to purchase and ope-. ate the roads. It is likewise in line with his views that the government should exercise the fullest sort of 1 supervision over the roads until the period comes when there will be a popular demand for government ownership. In this respect the pro- position is likely to appeal to Presi. lent Roosevelt. who stands for gov srnment supervision and control. but Is not yet prepared for ownership. By means of directors and the inter- state commerce commission the gov ernment would have a pretty firm hold on the affairs of the railroads. That, at least, is the argument of the men who have laid the suggestion before the president and believe he will adopt it as his own.