Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-05-14
SERVICE or THE RAuROADs.


The danger OF every genuine reform
| is that il may be carried to an unrea-
sonable extreme by the unthinking in
certain cases. This has unquestion-
| ably happened in connection with the
| reform of certain abuses which had
| grown up in connection with the de-
velopment of great railroad combna-
lions in this country. After the pro-
hibition of rebates had been brought
about and other measures in this ii
rection instituted it became popular
with certain thoughtless individuals
to hit a railroad head wherever one
made its appearance.
The injustice of this becomes fully
evident when we recall how the great
West was developed by the pushing
Of transcontinental lines to the Paci-
fic ocean. Wherever these railroads
touched favorable location, new
towns sprang up as IL by magic and
vast farming regions were transform
ed as result of the transportation
and market facilities thus afforded.
This illustrates what the advent of
railroad means to greater or less
degree for every community
THAT there are two sides to the rail-
road question we'll as to other stor-
les is indicated by the following OK
tract from an article contributed to
Leslie's Weekly by Gibson willets:
Kansas farmers needed 10000 harvest
Lands. What would those farmers have
done II the railroads had not produced
the 10000 by means of special rates? The
railroads brought 100000 visitors to
Saratoga last summer and 5000 900 to
Atlantic City during the year. and 40O0O
to the Maine woods. and 100000 to n G. A.
X. encampmcnt and 5000 to a Chautat-
qua assembly. Those people put a hcap
OF money into circulation. That travel
created jobs galore. We all benefited be-
cause the railroads hustled and got the
people out. That's how the thing works
positively Now see how it works mega
lively | was in the Northwest (opcncd.
built up, developed, and populated bv
Iills railroad) last fall when there was
so much freight to be moved that ship
pors complained because they couldn't
get cars Unreasoning anti-ralroaditis hit
the Northwest soon after that-and now
up there are nearly 100000 empty, idle
cars. There's nothing to move. | was in
Florida this winter when the anti bust
ness compelled the Southern railroads to
take off some of their crack trains and
to shut up most of their big shops
Travel was only half what it was in
other winters. Result. only half the
number of jobs open to you and to me.
A year ago the railroads themselves
employed 100000 mon. Three hundcrd
thousand Of those men have been thrown
out of jobs by the anti" How many
other fellows jobs have been affected
by that laying off of railroad men? The
Pullman people alone a year ago gave
employment to 1900 men. with 80 900. 600
in wages. couple of thousand men
were dismissed. 1t was not only that the
railroads held up" orders for Pullman
cars. but also because the 1900 600 pass
engers who travelled on 5000 Pullmans
did not represent enough business. An
IT, again railroad development itself
gives jobs and circulates money to an
extent not dreamed of until YOU get the
facts. Ex-senator Clark. of Montana,
spent 500 ooO.o out of his own pocket
building the newly completed Salt Lake
railroad. That employed 5000 men for
three years. II. NJ. F'lagler paid out
nearly 100000 in wages on his new
Florida railroad. TIL. Pennsylvania and
New York Central together are spending
$1,000 900 on their new terminals in New
York. These and score of other de
velopments' in the railway world have
been checked by the anti" Public hy-
sierra on the subject OF railroads has
caused head ranroaders to order their
engineers TO stop work wherever posi-
BILE