The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-04-12

lHlOIHldllOn III many years. IN IaCl
he admits in the interview that rail
roads have left to their lawyers the
task of obtaining by whatever means
might be most effective the legislation
which they deemed essential, and that
they have left to subordinates the job
OF explaining to the public the rea-
sons. He has come to recognize as
he never did before, and as many an
other railroad as well as other bust.
ness men never have before, the value
Of taking the public into confidence
and the value of publicity.
| Nebraska comes in for share of
attention at the hands of the speaker,
and perhaps this may have had some
thing to do with the resolutions re-
Gently passed by the state legislature
endorsing the stand of the president
as against Hartman No matter, how
ever this quotation will be of interest
to NebraskaDs in view of laws that
have been passed at the recent legis-
lative session and which will be called
upon to stand the test of the courts:
In all the laws propounded by the
states there Is the question of consti-
nationality. do not propose to dis
cuss that here, because 1t Is for the
lawyers to determine to what extent
a state, by means of some specific
measure, can interfere with interstate
commerce which Is placed under the
control of the federal government.
But one thing Is obvious, and that is
that the railroads have got to fight
these measures as they come along
and at the same time undertake to ed
ucate the public on the primary ques-
| tons involved
What that means may be judged
| from the attitude of the railroads to-
ward the two-cent rate bill in Nebras-
ka Perhaps the people there will
realize whether the roads have been
rendering them service when they are
cut off from some of the benefits that
the roads have afforded gratutously
even before the law is tested in the
courts.
Mr. Harriman's plea is for public
cooperation instead of public hostil-
ity. He admits that he and other rail-
road men have in the past neglected
a duty in too much Indifference toward
must be government supervision over
railways and he comedies in view
with President Roosevelt in the belief
that federal supervision instead of
conflicting state regulations, is the
need of the country, inasmuch as nine
ty percent of the nations railroad
work is for interstate commerce.
Mr.. Harriman's theory for the i'm
provement of conditions is that the
federal government should supervise
all railways and that, under federal
supervision, trackage agreements
should be allowed, for the good of the
public.
His argument is that competition
can not be forced by legislation; that
trackage agreements will render mer-
gers unnecessary; and that for two
railroads to join their funds to build
one track into new country, both to
use that track, will allow better SER
vice over that track and will also al
low the surplus funds which would be
required for building two separate
tracks to be used in further extern
sions into other countries that must
otherwise remain unopened
He 6iccnccac fra;nnt nDet ond cow,
that tendencies are for higher rates
instead of lower; that the public de-
mands faster service and bigger cars
and more tracks; that this means an
immense outlay of money and that
money, because of hostile legislation,
is expensive. He says electricity
alone will settle the speed problem
for freight trains, and that this costs
more money because it means revolu-
| tionizing the present system.
Mr.. Hartman thinks that shippers
should consider the car shortage and
unload as quickly as possible: that
the public in this way should coop
crate with railroads to relieve the sit
uation. He goes into the coal shortage
complained of last fall ant says:
You can find example in the coal
| troubles out on our lines, which have
recently been in the newspapers.
Those troubles would have been al
most entirely eliminated if the users
of coal had only allowed us to carry
it for them in the summer season when
we have an opportunity to handle 1t
eXpeditiously. But no, although we
make substantial inducements to them
to move their coal in the summer they
don't want to move it then. They
want to wait until the busy season
comes, and then want their coal in
hurry. You see there are two sides
to that proposition.