Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1907-01-02
GOVERNMENT CONTROL.

Much the most important move the
President has ever made is the one he IS
now reported contemplating, that Of sub
jechng the physical operations Of the rail-
roads to the Interstate Commerce Com
mission. This plan cannot actually be
credited to the White House, but the
rumor is aHoat in tolerably definite shape
and it is important enough to warrant
serious notice. 1t is known that Judge
Cowan. counsel for the Texas Cattle
Raisers Association, had a great deal to
do with drafting the recent rate bill.
Now it is said that he has drafted an
other measure and submitted it to the
President Of vastly more important scope.
1t is nothing else than that the Interstate
Commerce Commission shall have the
power in time like that of the present car
famine and freight congestion to step in
and manage the railroads # they cannot
or will not give efficient public service
themselves. 1t is said that draft Of this
bill has been submitted to the President
and that he has passed it up for consid-
Grafton to the Interstate Commerce Com
mission. There is reason to believe this
is so. The Chairman Of the Commission
when asked about the report would not
say anything on the subject but speci6-
cally refused to deny it.
Now if this report is true, it means
government ownership with vengeance.
1t is more effective and more likely Of
accomplishment than anything Mr.. Bryan
has ever proposed. 1t means simply that
the government, not by avowed owner
ship and the appropriation Of a large
lump sum shall take over the railroads,
but that it will be able to direct their
operations without the expenditure Of a
cent Of money.
Leaving politics out of the question,
there are reasons why this is one of the
most important suggestions ever made. 1t
is matter Of Official record that there
was more graft and corruption in the dis
tnbuton Of cars shown during the inves-
hgahon Of the Pennsylvania railroad last
summer than in all the other forms Of ex-
tortion, graft and blackmai combined.
The question Of car distribution is at the
root Of nine-tenths Of the trouble that
shippers have with the railroads.
1t is matter Of common knowledge
also, especially among the employees Of
the Interstate Commerce Commission
and those who have had to do with the
railroad investigations Of the past two
years, that what was shown to be true Of
the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio
and their allied lines is true also of all
the railroads Of the country. The men
who have control Of the car supply are
the men who are making the money and
who have practical control of the growth
or starvation Of any business community.
there are notorious cases that have come
to the knowledge Of the commission IN
the past year Of men not subordinate Of
heals but employees Of the railroads on
$50 or SIS month who are getting
nca and buying rows Of houses off their
positions. The special investigators in
the field have found this out for the COM
mission and it is possible that it will be
brought out in evidence at some of the
hearings in the near future. If it is not,
then it is the fault of the commission. |
Anyhow, the suggested move Of govern
ment control Of the car supply is well
worth serious consideration.