The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-24
JUDGE GAYNOR
At KANSAS CITY
New York JuriSt Addresses
Knife and Fork Club at
Monthly Dinner.
SOME RAILROAD ABUSES
FAVoRITisM THE BASEsT CRIME
OF THE DAY.

Kansas City, May 23.-Judge w. D.
Gaynor of the appellate division of the
supreme court of New York addressed
the Knife and Fork club here this even
ing at it smonthly dinner. Judge Gay
nor spoke on freight rate abuses and said
that while the actual payment of rebates
is now seldom done. favoritism is still
practced in many ways. He spoke of
the rS'lways as public highways and said
the fact that they should be used TO
enable a few men TO destroy their bust
ness rivals is the basest crime of our
day lie did not favor government own
ersh1p, but said that because of this ia
voritism it was no wonder a growing
number Of people wanted the government
to take over the railroads. He said in
part:
Prosperity Defined.
There is no prejudice in this country
against hOnorably acquired wealth. how
ever large. 1t is wealth acquired imam
ously which is under the ban of the
splendid intelligence and integrity of the
people of this country. The prime object
of government is to promote distributive
justice to all Without this object being
fulfilled there can be no true prosperity
Prosperity is the highest production which
community is capable of consistent with
the physical and mental welfare of its
members, accompanied by just distribu-
ton of the total product among the pro-
ducers. This does not mean share and
snare dtllNe. DQI according 10 the DlO0uG-
tive capacity, physical or mental, or both,
or each. If a few are getting each year
and constantly, by hook or by crook, the
total product of all who work, then the
condition is not one of prosperity. If GER
tain individuals in short lifetime be
come possessed of so much property that
they can make abnormal gifts to charity;
If one man can give away for instance.
the vast sum of So, 900, coo i'm one gift with
out feeling it any more than you would
miss 81, we make a fatal mistake if we
ascribe such condition TO prosperity.
A Dangerous Condition.
''If we find the railroads being used
to allow few to acquire such fortunes
at the expense of their fe1lowmen BY hav-
ing their freight carried at a lower rate
than others have to pay. so that they are
able TO create mOnopOlies in themselves, /
our condition is not one of prosperity, but
II Is dangerous to the perpetuity of our
free government. From the beginning of +
the world the public highways always 1
had been built by the government. In the !
same way the government could have 1
built our iron hfghways-the railroads. /
And even though privately built, the rail- I
reads OF the country are still public high (
ways. This is the decision of all the +
courts in the land. The corporations, nor /
the individuals who control them cannot 4
do with them as they will They are
ment TO run them as public highways for /
the benefit Of ali and without any favor
itism or discrimination to any one.
Unlawful From the Beginning.
Every free pass issued, every favor 1
in freight rates granted. is in defiance /
of the law. Some people are under the 1
delusion that recent statutes made these /
things unlawful. Not at all; they were /
unlawful from the beginning. We only
need statutes to make it a criminal Of /
Tense to grant them and to jail those
who should grant them. That these pub I
lie highways should be used to enabls a /
few men to destroy their business rivals /
Is the basest crime of our day and gen. I
Grafton.
Some have come to the conclusion that |
the government should take the railroads
and run them in order to end the abuses. |
For my part [ would not see the gov
do il. Private enterprise is too /
valuable to be eliminated from railroad
building and management if it can, be
avoided.