The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-03-01
SOME PLAIN TALK
Ccontinued from First PaSe,)

NlllCu dI UGSl llluGL clN 19fo w SS Q oNS7' and upon no two railroads alike.
 When the subject was first agitatedi by the President in his message it was with qualification I thought I saw a new era dawning in railroad manage ment and an improved relationship possible between the reasonable DOT tion of the public and the carriers.
 What was needed was regulation, not restriction; protection, mot persecution; but when the act was available for ex- animation it was found to be revenge full and punitive, drawn either in ig- norance or prejudice, with less thought of fairness to the railroads or the in- terest of the public than to concentrate tremendous power in the general gov ernment not necessary for the regula- ton or the elimination of abuses com plained of, and which, if constitutional, gives power to derange established markets to an extent that, if exercised, will produce little short of revolution.
 The power to favor one section of the country and punish another, (as conferred by this act) is too great to entrust to any set of men, and may be abused more than has been that power to levy indirect taxes through our tar riff from which many of us are suffer- ing at the present time, and may yet produce as great inequalities in the dis tribution of wealth.
 The necessity for such a law as en- acted was more than questionable, and that there has been no trouble is be- cause practically nothing has been done under it; nevertheless, the power to cause trouble is there. All that has been accomplished has been under the provisions of other laws, the enforce ment of which had not been attempted before, presumably that there might be excuse flor the new legislation.
 All complaints could have been sat- isfied under laws we'll known to be in existence, but which there was no eff fort to enforce because of the desire to secure greater power for purpose not yet disclosed. When the new law was enacted the powers of old laws not the new, Were invoked, and all improve ment has been nendaciously accredited to this unnecessarily drastic legislation, not even the idea of which was original with the present party in power but was borrowed from the opposition, tin- kered by every crank who temporarily came to the surface, encouraged by all the powers of unrest, log-rolled into en- actment by the most irreconcllable el- ements of both parties, with accusa- tions of treachery and mendacity so frequent and forceful an honest man was in doubt whether the membership of the Ananias Society itself were not in danger of, secession and disintegra- tion,-all showing to what extent mal- ice, hatred and political necessity may go when mistaken public opinion blind- ly strikes out for relief, fostered and promoted by politicians ready to con- sent to every sacrifice, so long as they. be immune for the purpose of contin uing themselves in office.
 The public cry has been against dis elimination, and yet those who have to handle the business of the railroads know that in private it is one strenu- ous effort on the part of the public to secure that very thing.
 Some of the loudest shouters for raik- road reform are those who were once favored, but never successfully weaned,
 It has been a surprise to me that railroad men have not publicly dis closed the reasons that have actuated many of the attacks by those who pose as so Nearnest for reform, but whose earnestness neglected to manifest itself until the sources of revenue ceased. If we were able to cease discrimina- tion in the passenger business we could further very materially reduce our ta- riff rates. The reason you are paying two cents per mile is not because the railroad wants you to, but because the commuter insists he shall ride for less. You pay more to help him out, not to help the railroad. If you all paid the same rate our tariff could be made one and one half cents per mile easily.
 ! If a man ships a carload of freight every day in the year he pays the same rate of freight as the man who ships similar carload once month, but,
 If q man rides every day in the year he must have a less rate than the man who rides only once a month.
 You will note, therefore the public is bound to stop discrimination, even | if it discriminates in doing so.
 Permit me to call your attention to one fallacy in railroad statistics re- garding which much has been very learnedly written, showing how com parisons of the operation of railroads in widely separated sections of the country may result in serious error. Particularly I wish you to note the | following comparison of rates per ton per mile between two we'll known systems of railroads.
 The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Companys average haul per ton of freight is approximate | ly 94 miles. The Great Northern Rail way Company's average haul per ton of freight is approximately 260 miles. The New York, New Haven & Hart ford Railroad Company's earnings per ton per mile are 1407 cents The Great Northern Railway Company's earnings per ton per mile are .791 cents.
 If the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company had had the same average haul for it's freight as did the Great Northern Railway Company, its earnings per ton per mile, on it's present rates, would have been .520 cents as against 1.4O7 cents
 If the Great Northern Railway Com pany had had only the same average haul at present rates as The New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- road Company it's earnings per ton per mile would have been 2,1SS cents. l M .n,..n l,.ic,l,4 t ,,,n,, l,n... .,,,hisn1.. |.