The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-23

William j .TN3n. more Enah aaS
man living or dead. has forced 10 the
front sf,. question al governmental
supervision ~ common carriers
mas been accomplished up To this tna-
bv mgr and the Executive prob-
ably to but little. out Tor that
little. whatever II may u" worm. t"e
people of this republic are more IN
Iebt-d ~ NJ. BRYAN than To ans eth~'
statesman II - said that when tue
59th Congress was struggling Win
the rate bill (Which * now Il laNl
President HooSpvelt tol = prominent
Republican .aato that II the pati WIS
not passed By = Republican congress
IL would lie by = Democratic congFe%
The President is q Nonoerfut po4lIacfttI
and correctly read the signs 81 the
Times. lie has brushed aside The oiu
leaders II his parry as II they were
men of straw. has r~epudiated thttt az
vice and accepted Democratic polltlt~
and measures. Mr.. Bryan position.
in respect To this legislation at lea~,,
has been vindicated by the man who
defeated him for the presidency. II
remains to be seen what additional
Democratic measures and demands he
President VIII adopt. The country
need not be surprised If in some mo
ment OF indignation the President shall
snatch a pen and write i message TO
Il Republican Congress declarint. that
il is robbery 10 permit the trusts y
sell their monopoly-rn0de stun cheap
er TO Hottantots than they do 70 u
own people.
Those who supposed that the meas
ure passed by the 59th Congress was
the end Of legislation regulating com
mon carriers will probably find that
II is merely the beginning OF leglsla-
ton of that character. The masses
of the people are studying this queS-
ton more closely than ever before.
The people of the country may be di-
1 ,tlAl tor ~ 81 GaE
l.. Those who believe that our COM
| mon carriers should be let alone en-
tirelS.
,. Those who believe that the Gov
should exercise not only sup
erViSiOn, but, to Al certain extent, con
troll over these arteries Of commerce
between the states
3. Those who believe that the only
solution of the question consists IN
Government ownership.
The first group is not entirely MADE
IN Of those who are either directly or
indirectly interested in some common
carrier, but the number of persons
| who entertain this opinion and are not
! influenced BY such interest is so Snali
that their influence amounts TO but
little in either promoting or preventing
legislation. The great question of the
future is whether there shall be gov
ernmental control or ownership OF the
4 CURRIERS' tlISdStd III ~ a o''Af
merce. The respective contention of
! these two classes may be summed UP
! as follows:
Those who favor Governmental con
troll insist that all rates and charge
! must be reasonable. thai the carrier
may eXact such charges as Will YIELD
q just and reasonable return upon the
investment. that there must be no DIS
elimination AGAINST one town or COM
munity in favor Of another own or
community, that the giving Of rebates
must be abandoned, that there must
be no Observation-Disclosures
/ The advocates of Government owner
ship contend that it is i'm impossible I'M
der the Constitution to accomplish
these ends, that Congress derives It's
powers from Section 6 of Article ] of
the Constitution which confers upon
that body the power ito regulate
commerce with foreign nations. and
| among the several States, and with
Indian tribes that there can be no
efficient control over our common car
rierS so long as this clause IN the
Constitution is the sole authority for
congressional action. 1t is urged that
a statute has been in force since 1893
making the giving of rebates unlawful,
that this statute has been continuously
violated in secret. that the powers o.
Congress are SO Indefinitely defined
by the Constitution hat it is almost
impossible to predict what laws VIII
| run the gauntlet VI Tie COult - tiIdb
common carriers are constantly APP
p~ealing to the curt that the person
mel of the courts is constantly chang
ing and that it is impossible to pre-
dict whether a decision Of one year
will be the law of the land if the
personnel of the court is changed the
next succeeding year.
No question which has engaged the
attention Of Congress since the days
of Reconstruction is Of equal import
ance. Whatever may be the force
of the various contentious those per-
sons charged with the management of
our various systems of transportations
will make no mistake if they proceed
hereafter upon the assumption that
people of all classes and of all parties
are determined. either in one way or
another. to put into effective opera
ton these four reforms:
1. Reasonable and just rates and
charges-based not upon the capital
stock of the corporations, but upon
the actual value of the investment.
.. No unjust discrimination between
shippers, towns or States.
8. Greater safety to passengers and
employees.
4. No more watered stock panned
off on the public.
If these four reforms mean Gov
eminent ownership then Government
ownership will come.
Only as a last resort, only as a final
and necessary effort to secure justice
and to prevent the "plundering of
our people py the corporations could
the South afford to commit its future
to the experiment of Government own
ership. Out of 21e.341 miles of rail
way in operation in 1904 in the whole
country, only 1888 miles We're in
operation in thirteen Southern States.
while the five States of Ohio. Michigan.
Indianna. Illinois and Wisconsin We're
traversed by 43,251 miles.
Southern Congressmen we'll know
how easy it is to induce Uncle Sam to
help some States and how hard il is
to induce him to help others.
The contention of the railroads that
the Inauguration of these reforms
would tend to depress values does not
seem to be well founded. Such iegiS-
lation should rather tend to strength
en- railway tOcks and securities. The
history Of the last twenty years does
not make a very good showing for
~inancia railway in tn.
United States. From 1876 to 1905. OFT
railroads., a-ggregating 113.577 miles.
capitalized at 36,S69, $4,000 We're o
under foreclosure.
Let us examine these four reforms
with which the SiXtieth Congress will
almost certainly be required to Crap
pie.
First. charges and rates must be