The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-04-05
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Government Ownership of Railways
Has Two Sides-Only One Dis
cussed but Other will be
Heard From. :.

James 5. Mccarthy.
Washington, April 2.-Whcthcr or
not government ownership of rail
ways may be advocated in the na-
tlonal platform OF their Of the great
political parties next year, the pro-
position has been brought forward so
prominently that il is certain to he
widely discussed before the national
convention il not aftrrward Plenty
OF material for intelligent discussion
Is afi"rdcd by the experience Of 9TH
cr countries where government and
municipal ownership have been un-
dertaEcn on Il greater or less scale.
Up to the present time the American
people have heard principally
from the advocates of public owner
ship and have only the beauties Of
the system presented to them. There
are, however, two sides to the story
and both will probably be presented
before the conventions meet.
One Of the first things the Ameri-
can pcoplc will want to know will be
whether or not government owner
ship is profitable as Il business pro-
position. They will find much valu-
able evidence on this point in the eX-
paricncr Of the Australasian Colon
les of Great Britain with public
ownership and management Of indus
tries Of all kinds and in the expert
cnce Of British cities with the own
ership and management Of public
utilities. The claim has often been
made that government ownership is
profitable and that the profits can
be used for the reduction of taxation
A careful investigation Of the fact
will show that about the only enter
prise owned and managed by gov
ernmcnt that yields net profit is
the imperial railway system of Ger
many, where the railways are tax
gatherers and where transportation
charges are deliberately kept up to a
level that will yield revenues to the
imperial government in excess of
those voted by the imperial parlia-
ment. Railroad rates are kept so
high that a constantly increasing
proportion of the traffic in Germany
moves by water, and the only low
rates in the empire are those in the
making of which the government de-
librratcly diScriminatcS in favor Of
the export business Of certain German
industries as against The great body
"f shippers.
Public ownership and operation
have been carried to the greatest eX-
trcmcs in the Australasian Colonies
Of Great Britain. and if the system
is Il rood one the best results ought TO
be found here. The advocates Of
government ownership have very lit
lie to say, however, about the results
in these colonies. None Of the Aus
lralasian Colonies is burlcncd with
the expense Of regular military or
naval establishment. They contri-
butte nothing to thc support Of The
British imperial government and they
have never been saddlcd with war
debts Of any kind. Their public in
dchtcdncss ought to be the lowest in
the world, but they have embarked
on expenditures for public works Of
all kinds to such an extent that, in
proportion to population, their in
drblcdness is enormous. Without
taking into account municipal indcbt
rdnrSs the debts Of the colonies
amount to $300.GG per capita, against
but &11.91 per capita in the United
States and $01.G9 in the United
Kingdom. AT an average OF four
per cent the annual interest charge
averages for all thc colonies $l2.39.
In Queensland the debt per capita is
$393.G0 and The interest charge per
capita is 1852. In this comparison
between the australian debts and
those Of the United States and Great
Britain it must be borne in mind that
practically all of the debts Of the
United States and Great Britain are
war debts. while those Of the col
onics are almost entirely public own
crShip debts. The effect Of this en-
ormous indebtedness is to make taxes
very high. The burden Of taXatIo
rlllS heaviest on the working classes,
anl this, taken in connection with
the effect Of government ownership