Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-16
BANQUET OF IOWA SOCIETY
Hawksyes in New York Hear Speeches by
Shaw and Shonts.
FOR MERCHANT MARINE
4 Chairman Discusses Railway
Finance and Says Magnntes should
Take Public Into Their
Confidence.


NEW YORK. Feb. 15-The second annual
banquet OF the Iowa society of New York
was held at the Waldorf-Astoria tonight.
The society had as its guests Secretary of
the Treasury Leslie NJ. Shaw and Theodore
=. Shonts chairman Of the Panama Canal
commission.
Secretary shaw's speech dealt chiefly with
American industries. He said, in part:
We grow three-fourths Of the cotton Of
the world and our surplus of this staple
VIII always sell itself. The world never
has six months food in advance. and we
need have no anxiety about market for
our surplus food products. 1t, therefore,
requires no international merchant to dis
pose OF our surplus agricultural products
TO world that needs them and has no
other place from which they can he OBJ
tanned.
I'VE seem to be slowly awakening to the
Imperative necessity of Increasing our mar
kets for the surplus product of the Amer
lean artisan. Many of our people seem to
think our sole anxiety should be to increase
our foreign purchases. They take the bold
position that If we will buy of Europe
things which we now manufacture we will
have no difficulty in selling to Europe any
possible surplus output OF our factories.
| This being a partisan question, l content
myself with the plain statement of the
proposition as II appears when stripped OF
verbiage and exhibited IN its badness.
The United States government has done
much to foster foreign commerce. II has
improved our harbors and IT Is now build
ing an isthmian canal. Let the good work
go on. II has given the exporter of the
product OF American labor opportunity TO
use the cheapest material obtainable any
whore. Let this policy be amplihed and the
restrictions liberalized In addition to all
this. we must have a merchant marine,
How this shall be accomplished is rela,
lively immaterial.
J have learned that good things are in
variably high priced, but at whatever cost.
a merchant marine with which to exploit
/ the product of American machinery ana
American handcraft is an absolute neces>
| sity. Countries which consume imports
| equal in value to our aggregate manufac>
| tured products, which in turn equal the
| manufactured products of any other three
| countries on the map have scarcely heard
| of the United States as a commercial coun-
| try Let our flag be exhibited in their
| the danger of Industrial stagnation will
be materially minimized.
ShOnts Railway Finance.
Chairman Shonts spoke on the general
subject Of railroads He said in part:
our president speaks of me as a son of
Iowa, but the designation is not strictly
accurate. I was born of Dutch parentage
/ in Pennsylvania / was brought up in
Iowa and educated in Illinois. My business
! headquarters are in Ohio and the only
home 1 own is in Alabama. l have drifted
into the Interborough company here by way
| of Washington and the isthmus of Panama.
| l shall briefly state the conclusions to
4
problem have led me. Railroads have made
possible our continental expansion, and our
Industrial growth. Had it not been for
railroads our population would now only
fringe our navigable streams. and our COM
merce would be limited TO such traffic as
! would protitably be carried on its water
! ways, Railroads could not have been built
! without money, nor could they be main
tained without remunerative rates Had
the present proposal 10 limit profits to 6
per cent on the capital invested held sway
! during the early DAYS of railroad
| ton. but few miles OF railroad would have
been built. The pioneer railroad builder
who risked bankruptcy and usually found
it, was to a larger extent entitled to the
increment resulting from the successful
venture than the pioneer farmer who pre-
empted government land at fifty cents an
acre, and saw 1t rise In value to $50 an
acre because of the construction Of the
| railroads.
Conditions have changed. Whereas the
struggle few years ago was to secure a
traffic to fill the railroad facilities existing,
the struggle today is to provide facilities
properly TO handle the traffic proffered.
But does this change in conditions Justify
a complete change in financial methods?
Is II just to say that the stockholders who
have stood firm through many years OF
storm and stress and fought the long battle
through to victory, stand on equal footing
with the mere outsider? Does public policy
now require that these stockholders shall
relinquish all claims to preferential priv
ileges and allow the public to bid for new
themselves?
In view of the enormous risks which
always come with the construction and
operation of railroads and of the vast
sums required TO Keep adequate facilities
for promptly handling, the constantly grow
ing traffic, personally doubt the wisdom
of placing limitations on the amount of re-
turns to stockholders who put their money
into this class of investments should re-
ceive.
The attitude of the present national ad-
mlnistration on the question of rates has
not been to secure their reduction, but to
prevent unjust discrimination. Railroad
rates In the United States are lower than
anywhere else In the world, while the
service under normal conditions is better.
do not think that the public is demand
ing cheaper transportation so much as II
is demanding safe, reliable and adequate
transportation. In the matter of improve
ments the railroads OF the country almost
without exception have been pursuing q
hand TO mouth policy which has proved
costly to themselves and Irritating to the
public. The result is that the railroads
are confronted also with a. state of public
mind extremely hostile 50 that the rails
ing of money to provide facilities that will
enable them to meet demands upon them.
Conference is Suggested.
IL any government whether national
state or municipal, permits any Injustice
20 be done TO corporations simply because
they are corporations the real sufferer l.
Let US compromise on the best available
and the most practicable. Let the railway
/ managers lay aside all subteFfuee and
come out in the open. Let there be a maxi
mum OF publicity and minimum OF Iegfs-
lation. Let emlrent fnanciers and cap
tains OF industry" Cooperate with the
Z president TO bring about better corporate
practlces Let them lay their cards on
the table and say to the president: 1--WE
Will uphold your hands, not only in en-.
forcing existing laws. but in asking such
others as are necessary to prevent wrong
doing. but you in return must protect Us
from the irresponsible agitatoT, whoever
he may be-"
Let us convince ,the public that we viii
give II the best facilities American in,
genuity can devise and In my Judgment
the funds required will be forthcoming
AS to labor, treat Il fairly and Il will
meet you half way No sane citizen OF
/, emplOye desires hard times and N they
realize what our latest statistics prove
absolutely that the margin between pros,
pertty and bankruptcy is no broader thar
, a 10 per cent increase In the cost of trans.
portation and 10 per cent decrease in ths
revenue received they Will Join the con
sentative forces OF the country In seeinl
that no steps are taken for bringing or
the crisis
ro1OgEam 70 Allison.
! A resolution was adopted and tsle
graphed TO Senator William b. Allison a
Washington, which said I'm part:
We gratefully acknowledge 20 you oul
profound appreciation of your long anC
distinguished service 10 both state and ma,
ton and express To you our wishes tina
there may stu be for you many years OF
: JOY and happiness.