The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-11
THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. Issued Thursday. One Dollar n Year
"MoxEY MAKES THE MARE CO.,

Tn the course or the lnVeSugat1On being made by the Public Utilities Commission of New York into the af- fairs of the traction companies of New York city, and in particular into the affairs of the Metropolitan Securities Company, it transpired at the hearing Wednesday that the latter company financed the National Civic Federation in Its study of the municipal ownership problem to the extent of $20, 900. Neither the directors, the stockholders nor the members of the executive com mittee knew a thing about these dis bursements. August Belmont, who is the president of the Civic Federation and one of the bosses of the traction business in that city, directed the man. agement of the property to send him from time to time checks on the com pany in the amount, of $5,OOO Some twenty thousand more came from un- known corporate sources yet to be dis closed, but probably from sources controlled by MT. Belmont The re- maining thousands came from individ- uals interested in the proposed study of the problem.
 So much for where the money came from. The purpose of the federation in undertaking a careful and scientific inquiry into municipal ownership, which Is merely another use of words meaning government ownership, was to do this work without dictation from either capital, on the one hand, which may be assumed to be in favor of pri- vate ownership, or from labor, on the other hand, which may be assumed to be in favor of government ownership. That an institution, which includes in its membership and directing forces representatives of distinguished men in private life, of men engaged in man. dSiiA6 b1CdL COl pOAdI1O1lS anu O1llCldlJ of recognized labor organizations, should undertake to dispassionately examine into one of the perplexing problems of the day appeared con- vincing. Because of the character of the movement and of the agencies back of it the various subcommittee were received cordially wherever they went in search of information. The committee sent to this State to in- quire into corporations privately and public controlled and managed was cordially received and given such in- formation as 1t desired. The commit teemen were more or less expert in their training and were well adapted to do the work required of them. Their reports, which showed a differ ence of opinion as to which is the bet ter plan for conducting public utilities, were read with respect and given widespread circulation by the news papers.
 It is now learned that instead of be- ing financed as dispassionately as the committee of investigation was chosen impartially the expenses were largely met by private corporations which @have one of two interests at stake, either the continuance of the private ownership principle or the sale of their properties at an enormous price to the purchasing governments. This fact in no way detracts from the time Illness or importance of an inquiry of that character but 1t throws a strong suspicion upon the motives of MT. Bel mont and his friends who urged it to be undertaken. It is impossible to be- lieye under the circumstances that they were earnest students of the sub- 5ect either when they undertook the investigation or now when the investi- gation is concluded. It is entirely war rantable to believe that they consider the money well spent, or would have considered the money well spent since the report of the commission showed a wide divergence of opinion as to the government ownership principle, had the disclosure not been made that they put up the greater amount of the money needed. It would be slightly different had they taken the money from their own pockets, thus display ing 8 commendable patriotism on the part of swollen fortunes, but they took 1t from corporations which they con- trolled without the knowledge of di- rectors or stockholders It is the same old philosophy on their part which the insurance sharks only too gladly adopted, namely that money makes the mare go"; provide plenty of that and there will be few if any one tc ask whence it came.
 When the proposed law was under discussion in the State of Connecticut for the first time forbidding public service corporations to contribute tc