New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-02-16


the almost without sxceg{ioq have er6 6ss9
costly 10 themselves and irritating TO the pubic
conditions recurring more compreheusive improve
ments than ever before In their history, and con
seqUenty greater utilization of money than ever
before they are confronted also with state Of
Hat - ~ none. tl pr0viSa facilities so
urgently needed is, under present conditions Well
tons have sought 70 do so at the risk OF almost
The Situation Is a grave one. If the various
states continue arbitrarily 70 reduce rates as some
I'm ar , ,,U,S' anu ."t VII 49, S13 Ia f, IN
creased wages and shorter hours the next unprece-
dented crop harvested in this country will be a
record breaking crop of receivership5-
am not here TO say that the railroad corpora
ucns have not done a great deal to justify the
hostile feeling which exists against them: Neither
should not be punished by the law: bat I do wish
70 and With all possible emphasis, that. in my
time has como for v.bat tho Prosilst 1 ''e
square deal but want It all around.
is meant by the term sfockRoer 10 o S sf My
stating fact We all know. but which some seem
70 forget. when say that by stockholders" is not
and the RockefelIers whose holdings large a ; they
may be, Inhntesimal az compared with the vast
sums winch ne tens " thousands Of our citizens.
represen,ing the savings Of their lives. have IN
tecurites En- the belief that tbe ove=rna viii
gogtsm on the one hand and financial piracy on
Again. there is no doubt the attitude OF some
ralroad oflflais mas had u4cn 70 90 Win the
ago some railroads We're operated apparently for
OF them. The idea that owners had any rights the
officers Of those properties were bound 10 respect
Tic having any appreciahle interest in railroad prob
ems was S94eeFea ms, inns was 10 them an IN
OF greater control in fewer hands. and the conse-
owners much larger voice in Corporate TIaae
ment, and the sentiment which President Roosevelt
s-u+JlS. ngI Wieh ne ald not create. IS securing
Tor the puzzle the consideration and trsatmeut that
apparent that these officials Who best s ,' '' r
public best serve the stockholders they directly
Let us cempromi7e on the best available and the
most PTacuCa1.e. Let The railroad managers lay
there be maximum of publicity and minimum
~ industry cooperate with the PresiJen+ brir
aooHt ueiter corporate practices. Let them lay
we will uphold your hands not only I'm erforcirg
eNtStinE Jaws. nut IN passlug such others are
turn must protect us from the Irresponsible arit7-
public that VIII give the best fciIitis5 4rr
can hscnui1y can an, deylss and IN my Judgment the
However. in order 10 accomplish these res,,1ts All
agitation which is not necessary for the snf6rSe
down 10 a basis where the railroad investor will no,
invested. but VIII also feel that his capiai t II
Let the owners OF corporations make In fLof- e..
themselves. ''S' serve
Secretary shaw who spoke before Mr. Shor,s
also talked Of the proposition 10 limit tt, -. ,
on railroad investments. and asked the -
tion to whether the owner Of land sbo,I1 -.
allowed to profit by the unearned ucrter,a,+
and not tho owner OF railroad stocks 10 ~
country's matchless wealth he said thar of oil
that had been accumulated at least tbr,s-
fourths was due to the unearned increment III
said that the need for greater railroad f,cilt+ta
made a problem almost as grave as that Tho
country faced before there were no railroads
Leading up TO the proposition to suhsidize a
merchant marine. he said the public had in prac-
tice taken money out of the Treasury To enable
men TO go into businesses Of other kinds
I'VE have spent millions in dredging riva-s
and harbors-some OF them uavigable" he said
we have pursued policy of IiberaIit- - The
promoter, saying, IT you VIII build a factory we
will take care of you, We viii see that the man
abroad does not come In and compete with ,o,, 4.
but we have not gone forth. as we should IN
search out the markets of the world
He went on to speak OF the nations prosnarit,
of the millions Of immigrants coming to yvorr
on American shores and the fact that factori,s
were increasing faster than the farms on,
added: gnu
We are reaching the parting of the va,.s
If know anything l know we are reaching =,
time OF great stress The world will nor co,,,o
after the surplus of our factories. When :,
begins TO pile up on the wharves there win he
trouble This century will see great strif.
Tor markets, God grant it may he bloodless bpt
1t will be none the less severe"
l want to warn you to get ready for this 1t
doesn't make any difference whether a man is
born In Missouri, Iowa or in Italy. If he has had
no breakfast and expects dinner Whether
he Is armed with a ballot or with something
else he is none the less dangerous We have
taken care of everything else but our merchant
marine. and that has gone glmmering"
Secretary Shaw said the Panama Canal would
not profit the country much unless 1t could take
advantage OF u by having large merchant
marine.
The Secretary referred TO the fact that the
navy while made up of the best men i'm the
world and as good ships as any had no trans
ports or Golfers. "A navy without these auxfi-
aries he said, lis as worthless as a navy with
out guns" He closed with a reference to the