Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-10-31
Federal CONTROL
RAILROAD PRESIDENTS FALLING
into Line.
Realizing That the States r'e"" OuS'-
ness, the Railroads. Arc Beginning
n Advocate Federal Control Of All
Interstate Roads. Some Opinions
Of rtaln0tcS.

The railroad presidents and rail-
road magnates. just M the World
Herald predicted. are falling over
themselves to support President
Roosevelt In his demand for complete
and exclusive federal control OF the
railroad business. In his historic st.
Louis speech In which the president
made definite announcement OF his
doctrine, he said:
The railroads themselves have
been exceedingly shortsighted In the
rancorous bitterness which they have
shown against the resumption by the
nation of this long-neglected power.
= The control must exist
somewhere; and unless 1t Is by thor
ough going and radical law placed
upon the statute books of the nation,
it will be exercised in ever-increasing
measure, by the several states"
The warning and the invitation
were all-sufficient. The railroads,
without hesitation, have cast their lot
with the president in favor of con-
troll by the federal government alone.
and against control in which both the
federal government and the states
shall share. They fear the states far
more than the nation. The states
respond quickly to popular senti-
ment; the national government re-
spends slowly. The states, in two or
three years, have done much In the
way of railroad control; the national
government, in almost twenty years
has done nothing that is of any real
consequence.
And so the railroads are falling
into line with the president. Says
President Mather of the Rock Island:
"a wise and just regulation is only
possible under a single and central
lied authority. The day is passed for
unyielding opposition to all policies
of federal control of our carrier cor
porations. Nay, more, the day has
dawned in which to welcome that
control"
Says President Ripley of the Santa
Fe:
I'VE have too many masters.
Wouldn't it be better for us If we
had a single, central source of regu-
lation instead of so many?"
10
Illinois Central:
"Mr. Mather's statement, in my
opinion, pretty we'll expressed the
feeling of railroad presidents and
managers. The trouble is and has
been that the states have various
laws which conflict with the inter-
state laws"
Says President McDoel of the
MOnOn:
1.-The point Mr.. Mather made as to
federal regulation and control struck
me as sensible and sane one.
think that most railroad officials will
approve it as l do. The trouble is
that when a road runs through ten
or fifteen states it must operate UNI
der a variety of laws that make ODE
dience will-nigh impossible"
And President FELTON, of the Alton
said he thought well' of federal
control and regulation as substi-
tute for the existing system of varied
laws and regulation as imposed by
the various states
And there you have it. Exclusive
federal control will be better for us,
say the railroads. They welcome the
prospect. They want it so bad they
will fight for it, Why? Simply be-
cause they know the states have on
their fighting clothes and mean bus
mess.
The people of the central, southern
and western states will revolt against
this program Their position is cor
rectlv stated in the platform adopted
by the democrats of Nebraska, which
fayors giving the federal government
all the power that may be necessary
for the regulation of interstate COM
merce without in any way interfering
with or diminishing the power of the
states over traffic within their own
borders.-Omaha World-Herald.