Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-15
SMITH ON RATE CONTROL
Governor Of Georgia Addresses Cincinnati
Shippers on Transportation.
COMMISSION SHOULD HAVE MORE POWER
He says ft should he Given
Authority TO Regulate stock
and bond Issues and
Service.

| CINCINNATI March 14.-The danger in
Unrestricted management Of railroad prop
critics and the necessity for government
control to prevent Discrimination in rates
were urged by Governor Hoke Smith of
Georgia in an address on "Transportation"
at the third annual dinner Of the Cincinnati
Receivers and Shippers association here
tonight. Governor Smith said:
Left without restraint. the railroad COM
/ panies can fix the value of lands. They
/ can determine the profits of merchants
| They can control the business Of the manu-
! facturer. They can make and untnake
towns and cities. The condition. OF de-
| pendence by the public upon them In
creases from day to day.
panies were controlled by many and varied
| interests. Now they are largely CONSOLE
dated and several interests control nearly
| three-fourths Of the entire railroad mileage
| of the United States.
These Interests may be designated as
Morgan and Hill, Vanderbits, Moores,
Gould, Pennsylvania and Rockefeller.
While they conflict at times, their strug-
giles are in the matter of acquiring prop
critics, not in the operation of properties,
| and their conflicts result not In better or
cheaper transportation, but in more stocks
and bonds, upon which the public must
| furnish money to pay dividends.
! The control Of the railroads Of the coun-
| try has passed from trained railroad OPP
orators to bankers, who speculate in rail-
road stocks A notable result of this con-
dition is the withdrawal Of authority from
| the local mana cement and local supertn-
! tendence, the reduction of salaries to those
| actually doing the work of transportation,
and the dwarfng OF the power and capacity
public must Immediately depend To this,
at least In part Is due the recent tendency
toward less efficient service.
stock JObbinE Paramount.
The interests controlling the railroads, as
a rule, study the problem of making im-
mense fortunes at once out OF Increased
a just income on the actual Investment in
the properties does not interest them. They
are careless of the, duties owed by. the
transportation companies to the public.
The railroad properties of the United
States are capitalized at over $4,000, 900 900
, show them to be worth less than Sc, 900. 600.
900. The public, therefore, is being called
on to pay excessive rates for transportation
| to make interest and dividends on $1,000.
! 100000 Of watered stocks and bonds These
bonds and stocks rest like a permanent
mortgage on the Industries of those en-
gagged in the various avocations of life
The transportation company is public
enterprise. The railroad is built by the
use of the states power of eminent do
main. The public is entitled to a voice IL
the charges which are made by the rail
road company for carrying passengers anC
] freight. These charges must be REASONABLE,
and free from determinations.
> The duties Of q railroad company ar,
t dual; First to the public; second, to III
The public must look to the states an,
1 to the nations to protect their rights. WheI
we realize that over half the stocks ant
bonds issued by the railroad companies o
the United States are spectators, and no
based upon money actually invested in IN,
' properties, we see how recklessly the right
:. OF the public have been dlsregarded.
Legitimate Rights of Public.
: l present to you no struggle of labo
g against capital. 1 urge no contest of pov
? erty against property. 1 plead for tn
d rights of the property owners and thei
employees Of the United States, of the mel
tul
: terprises, of the men owning agriculture
t interests and of the great body of the PEG
pie dependent upon their efforts. 1 plea
I for the legitimate rights of the publ
r against the mismanagement of quasi-publi
/ Instead Of exhausting the capacity o
e our transportation companies to pay divi
/: ! dends on watered stock and bonds, tn
. public is entitled to have all the none
invested In the properties. Thereby tn
, | facilities of the transportation companie
= / should have been improved The publ
;, was Furthermore entitled to a reduction 4
transportation charges as the volume O
!. business Increased and the cost Of servic
: That there is trend of thought more an
more favorable to government OWNERSHIP
}, OF transportation companies do not doubt
g advantages to be derived from govern
e ment ownership Of all the railroads, 1t 1
5 hardly more than an academic question a
e present. Anything approximating whole
sale government ownership would be impOs
| oADlS lOI many years 10 come, ana tn
: remedy Immediately before us must neces
sarily be to perfect the legal authority 4
properly constituted agents to regulate an
: CONTROL and then to enforce, through thes
agents, the rights Of the public.
The rate making power has been give
TO the national railroad commission. w
should not be afraid to place upon tina
commission men sufficient in number I
n handle these questions. Their pay shout
d. be ample and a seat upon the nationa
railroad commission should be regarded a
Il one fully as exalted as a seat upon tn
t supreme court bench Of the United States
s Additional Powers Needed.
i Additional powers should be given TO tn
=, commissioners. Bonds and stock issue
upon Interstate railroads should be sub
i mitted for their approval, and none Shout
r be permitted unless the money derive
n from their sale is, to be spent upon tn
. properties made liable for them.
q Transportation companies should not b