Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1907-05-03
R. R. men TALK TRAFFIC
Interesting and Valuable Talk Of
Hieh Rail Road Officials at
Meeting Of Maenates.

ingalls,. chairman OF the board OF di-
rectors of the Big -Four system, said:
Now, what OF the future2 And it
is one of the most important questions
that the American republic has ever
faced. You may abuse the railway
men-you may by chance force into
bankruptcy railway lines, but you can
not wipe out the great transportation
industry, the great business represented
by the railways, without destroying
the business Of your country. There
is nothing else that know of that so
permeates the life, the health and the
happiness Of the nation as its transpor-
tation interests Over million men
are employed directly by the railways;
at least five millions are employed by
the railways and companies which are
subsidiary and producers for the rail-
ways. Twenty millions Of people, or
one-fourth Of all the inhabitants OF this
land are dependent for their daily bread
their health and their happiness upon
the prosperity Of the railways.
Therefore, he is very careless
man and no lover Of his country if he
tulns in and joins the crowd of dema-
gogues who today are bowling and
abusing the railways. Your congress,
your legislatures, your courts, must
consider that this is an enormous
question and one Of those which goes
to the very vitals Of the life Of the
country. II the present condition Of
affairs is prolonged, it means dull
times, long hours and poor wages for
the working people. Never is the
country so prosperous as when the
railways are prosperous. The talk that
their tariffs must be reduced and that
the railways are charging too much, is
the mos. foolish OF all. Your railway
rates are less than those of airy country
known to civilized man. A trifing re-
duction which you would be able to
get would not secure happiness or
comfort to the great mass of people,
but might cause great suffering to
those very same ones. 1t might mean
trihing sum of money to some ship
pers, but it would be productive Of
less to the great mass of workingmen.
If you can get public rates and
the same rates to all that is what you
need. What you desire for the good
Of the country at large is more good
tracks, good equipment and good
service; and you can only get them by
allowing the railways to charge fair
prices for their services.
You have to trust your lives daily
to the employees Of the railways-to
the men who manage down to the
lowest employee who flags at the cross
ing. Are you willing to trust your
lives to this large class Of men whom
you abuse continually? Do you sup
pose you can abuse the managers and
still have the ordinary trainmen or en-
ployes loyal? Do you suppose you
can have the railways run without
accidents if the great mass Of employees
are to read daily in the newspapers
and magazines, and listen to the
speeches of public men saying that
the men over them are unworthy of
conidence-are wicked and criminalsa
No, all this must stop.
Neither can you settle the con-
dition of the railways by different
people and different managers run
ming to Washington and claiming the
protection Of the president. In fact,
we have got so hysterical and frantic
that we seem to appel to the presi-
dent for almost everything, like the
peasant Of Russia. When we find a
train late. we say we will write to the
Great White Father in Washington
and he viii regulate and correct it.
Il admire the stand taken by the
president of the Pennsylvania railroad,
when he said he had no cause to go
to Washing ton to confer with the
president-that his company desired
to obey the law.
This is what all the railways must
do-submit to the law. This is the
first sine qua non. You must decide
and indicate that your railways shall be
managed according to the law. Wall
street must learn from the bitter ex-
perience of the last few months that
the railways are not playthings that
their securities, as have said before,
are not counters in the game of specu-
lation, and that they are entitled to
legitimate dividends.
The resentment of the politicians
in time will die away. The shipper