The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-02
r,r~rNt,s or q TIriIsN EsU
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: as gwen al FHA#-EtN#sE
sen ne tells 3 eoass~ny h"at A"f
| MUGS He ls>ee isis I4ztiFe >raiEA3nu-
. ri~ nccr.t5 Il go ~apssrea, ta4t "i+-
] lou@e + <,,entaacga@ whoa he talks
i,.f me troub1c- y ;ae T~allrass ana
ihoa. hard il j. Tor tasu T. 60 aton&
! H. ,alkS - fccIinsiy that yea tnv9i3n-
irarliv feel like going down ia S"ur
! por.e-- and chipping ~ r. raise g re-
!llrf f8nd for the poor railroad pFe@'-
dents.
Mr. finley. ike the late AR spencer,
col Andrews and the other officials
al the southern and other big rail
roaI systems. - charged with q very
difficult task The men wh" own the
road ia UPON 1he'n the burden II
.arnsrc interest or as-trrtd bones ana
earning dis1denGs IN ~atcred stock
liz. tncse southern officials had ne dun
III. rs earn good ~disidend~ up'n me
a1cu2l NONE. iaHc tel. they coul ea-i-
ry II, this ana give tho best service -
greatly reduced rates Hut their ~"id-
RE. ana their rise in the railroad
,-orld is conditin.eI upon CARRYING our
me plans ma2e by b J PierponI
Morgany sho tell them that the road
must earn big money 50 a. 10 make
uatc-cd stock valuable They had lit
tie or 20 voice in pouring the water
into tho stock Or bonds.
Theirs no; TO reason why.
Theirs but to d. and die.
and to succeed They arc the agents TO
do the people. NATURALLY. therefore.
these officials cannot talk on but one
side Of tho railroad question OF see
out one side. The bondholdcrs have
refused to add equipment % keep pace
with the business because they thought
TO convert them into rich crcam by
The magic OF high prices and poor SER
vice. And it was the duty OF Mr.. Spen-
Ger. as II IS the dut. Of President Fin
lev. Nice-Prcsident Andrews n other
officials, to find ways ~ composing the
public while it is plucked TO make va
ter Is as valuable as cream. II taxes
their ingenuity and skill. and that they
hayc succeeded 50 well is at once a
tribute to their skill and TO the gull
ibility OF the southern people. Many
Of them in North Carolina have gone
along paving twice as high freight
rates as were: given Virginia because
10 kick was to be called q "dema-
-c-uc" and an enemy Of the business
interests" But recent events show that
the business men and others are wax
ing up, az witness the speech OF
Charles II. ireland. Of the odell Hard
ware COMPANY. the complaint Of the
Hieh Point manufacturers 10 the Cor
poration Commission. and he demands
OF business men ~ the North Carolina
Legislature for relief
But, though Mr.. Finley and other
railroad officials only give n side Of
the railway matters. the other side
shows that they can afford to give bet
ter service at lower rates, as the fol-
lowing editorial from the Birming-
ham .AGc-Hcrald, a Very conservative
paper. shows:
Gross Earnings Of Southern Railroads
The four chief railroads Of the
Southeast are the Southern. the Louis
vile and Nashville. the Atlantic Coast
Line, and the Seaboard. From 1902 to
1906 the passenger traf1ic receipts of
these roads were increased So per
cent: the freight earnings, 53.6 per
cent and the total gross earnings 500
per cent. The fou roads have III -four
years added 40I3 miles to their track
equipment, and they have put on thcIl
track 1921 additional locomotives, COS
passenger cars. and 1885, freight cars.
The increasing business OF the South
j. made apparent in these figures. 4
the four roads tap every state in the
soa,hels,. IcrhaPS ~ oet.el nf1auIS
ibtn thG gross earninrs Of railroads.
ana the four railroads mentioned GER
talnly represent the southeast
me So"'Hcas' = ~ o1iei ~
"i.-ilali oi6se' anu S'ioii5e - mr.
dctNt IMAM u vas III l'V- ne NJ
ures represented are those ior the car
y year 1000, 7 they are COM