Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-08-10
FATION
kGAINST THE
| RAILROADS
|an Address by Col. II. g.
N, General Manager Union
/ Switch and SlgnaI Go.

Switch and SlgnaI 60.
.,.nd face to face with a situ-
l. our national life of great
- We are at this moment In
,vsment of an historical epoch
significance to us as indi-
70 our nation and to the
race. The situation which |
mind is created by the atti-
the American people toward
atoms of capital, Great indi-
brtunes, corporations. trusts
a any devices by which a few
IN control large amounts OF
have become objects of
an and of active hostility to
mart of our fellow citizens.
the resentment of the mass
y American people go so far as
Aroy great property values, to
prIsh those who have been so
as to make a little money
4 invest Il in the securities of
ttiye enterprises? They have
i the process without knowing
Ithey are doing. VIII they so
Eh It?
j IS the most solemn question
Has confronted this nation
the civil war. If we stand
land allow the answer to the
|bn TO be determined by that
4 class of politicians and editors
h to sit on the top of the wave
pular feeling and drift with &,
hope Of being landed high and
! some sunny slope of personal
lrIty; II, / say, we allow the
i to this solemn question to be
hlned by that selfish and ire
Die class, we deserve the
Ey that will no doubt overtake
hngest of Social Phenomena.
attitude of the people of the
y States toward the railroads
United States is one OF the
best social phenomena within
bseryation or reading. Consid-
moment what the railroads
|done In the history of this ma
The building of the United
was the most colossal real
enterprise the world ever saw
Pr dreamed Of. Nothing like Z
yer happen again; nothing ap-
hing II. II would be impossible
Innate the value OF the part
by the railroads In this r'8l
operation which we call the
ng Of the nation. II would be
! impossible to overstate II.
pride and with amazement !
OF the enterprise, the courag, :,
snius OF the men who risked
iion and fortune in pushing
IDS over the unlnhabited lands
thinly peopled areas of our
y In the second and third
OF the century just closed.
Sc were the heroic days when
lad dreams and saw visions.
we're the glorious days of the
OF the nation. States and
IS and towns stood and beck
% the railroad builders, and
hem franchises and rights of
I'd local bonds. That is why
tour-track railroad runs
at 90 miles an hour over a
crossing at grade through a
e''y' II is not because the
Z men Is deprayed or reckless,
'eeause the phone RS said:
, help us build the city; help
get rieh;" and the men and
OF this land and Of England
Holland, who had saved up a
money, yentured their savings
: colossal speculation, lost
ay'ngs very often, and made
'o'e TO build us the cities. 10
'uF continent with a network
roads.
not strange that under the
oas OF our railroad buildings
'h'hgs and wicked things
0me'imes done. We are all
and wicked more or less. and
.SsuFe Of our folly and of our
'-'ssiy a question of oppor-
ana OF the moral atmosphere
~ We live. The building OF
! ,.oaas and OF the cities ana of
S'es OF this continent, the
= !, up OF the great industries
. : aud oil. in packing and in
I. save ave, abundant opportunities,
~. \ builders aid not have very
'''Ae 10 stop ana th,nN y.