The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-01
poosEvELT's CHANGE OF TONE,

PoOsEVELT's CHANGE OF TONE.
Judging by the tone of the presidents
Indianapolis address, he has been get
ting returns from the business men of
the country and learning of the results
his policies of the last year have
wrought. Instead of the rampant, in
discriminate hostility To corporations,
the dire threatenings, the spear that
knows no brother" talk, he roaFs as
gently as any sucking dove and an
nounces that he is after none but pi-
rates of finance.
Instead of accusing all railroads of
being capitalized excessively and rep
resenting a large proportion of IVA
ter instead of actual values, he says:
There has been much wild talk of
oveTcapitalization of our railroads. The
census reports on the commercial value
of the railroads of the country, togeth-
er with the reports made to the inter-
state commerce commission by the rail-
reads on their cost of construction. tend
property of the country is worth as
much as the securities representing it,
and that in the consensus of opinion of
investors the total value Of the stock
and bonds is greater than their total
face value, notwithstanding the water
that has been injected in particular
places"
Reassuring, isn't it? Quite a change
from the attitude of the president when
congress was in session and inspired in
terviews represented the chief execu-
tive as about to exterminate the dra-
gon or pickle the octopus or do some
thing awful to the "watered" securities
Of the nations railroads. Curious, isn't
II, that this sort of certificate should
ances gave the impression at home and
abroad that the railroads OF the coun-
try held comparatively little in actual
values to support the enormous capital
ization in stocks and bonds held by in
vestors here and in Europe?
Remembering the terrific depression
in railroad securities which resulted
from the presidents official and un-
official utterances, one is sorry. Roose-
Welt did not see fit to make as careful
a study of facts before he spoke last
winter as he has in preparation for his
indianapolis soft-soap speech. It is
moderate to say that his policy of the
past year has cost the railroads and
the people of the country hundreds of
millions in depreciation of securities
which he now says are actually worth
more in the aggregate than their face
value.
In spite Of an unprecedented era of
prosperity, of enormous earnings and
of an outlook that promised to break
all records, the railroads of the country
have been unable to borrow money on
favorable terms for extensions and i'm
provements in roadbed and equipment.
Such as have been compelled to borrow
have secured money only on short-term
notes at extravagant rates of interest.
The reason has been plain: Lenders
did not care TO advance money to rail-
roads so long as the presidents attitude
was hostile to all railroads. and no one
knew TO what lengths his hostility
would take him. Every effort to get
assurance of fair treatment from him
was futile Alike to Mr.. Morgan. Mr..
Schiff and the other financiers who had
supported him in his campaign. he re-
fused 10 say what he would or would
rot do In the future. Knowing his dis
position, realizing his almost irresisti-
BILE power TO secure legislation of any
kind, the financial interests of America
and Europe hesitated to go ahead with
their program of improvements in rail-
road facilities, many railroads suspend
ed all new outlay. none undertook any
but imperative new work.
x *
Only when he had begun 10 see the
fruits of his policy did the president
assume his new role of the friend Of the
good" railroads. Unfortunately, all
ne railroads had suffered much before
the discovery that only a few of them
deserved the reprobation of Roosevelt;
and in the suffering the good and bad