The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-09-19


Iallen off. with business steadily in
creaslng in volume and bound to in
| crease still more as the west de-
Velops. This development is pro-
crossing at an incredibly rapid rate,
and 1t is bound to continue because
the rich opportunities of the west and
us openness as a field for endeavor
are almost without limit. But to at
tam its full measure of wealth and
advancement the west must have
more railroads. That is truth that
mas Deen demonstrated beyond all
possible question:"
The West Needs More Roads.
How much new railroad does the
west need ?"
There should be $4,000 miles of
new road built in the country in the
next 1--WE years. even to get a abreast
or current business. and unless com
merce is to be tied up in a hard knot
tnat is what will have to be done. It
MI mean the spendig of S1,1OO, OOO,-
OOO year About sixty-fiVe per cent
of this, mind you. will be for labor,
ana the balance for material which
~ almost entirely labor. Almost every
1oIiar of it VIII go into circulation.
oack 10 the working man. the far
iner, the manufacturer. the merchant.
mat would mean something to pros
perlty' 1t would put labor at prem
iun; 1t would tax every supply shop
III the country. 1t would force the steel
mus 10 run double shifts in every plant
to turn out the necessary rails 1t
would bring about a removal of mil
mons OF people from the crowded CEN
ters of the east into the states west of
the mississippi that are crying for pop
ulation.
How the Business Needs Be Run.
IL is a soothing picture. isn't it?
6ut 10 DO it the railroads must be al
lowed to run their business as any
other business is run. They are the
second biggest interest in the country.
Iney purchase % per cent of every
thing that is purchased. They employ
one way or another very large pro-
portion of the working male populat-
ion; then tell me why every man in the
country, whether he be merchant
farmer. manufacturer or workman,
cannot see that all prosperity from the
ground up, is knit insolubIy with the
prosperity and proper maintenance and
upbuildins of the railroads? Why are
they all led like sheep by a lot of
politicians who will sell them out at
the drop of the hat?
RAILROAD and Mercantile Earnings.
The railroad is the most important
factor in the country's prosperity. and
it makes. the smallest profit A bank
can clear go, so, even 100 per cent so
long as it pays legal interest, and the
government has nothing to say. If a
bank does nos make money it can
liquidate and get out. So can a man
in any other business; but a railroads
profits must be limited to a margin on
which necessary expansion is impossi-
BILE, it must be run in the most expen-
sive way, it must stand the loss of lean
years and make a minimum in the
good ones when every other business is
coming money, and it must keep on
running whether it pays or not. If it
cannot make money enough, with these
burdens. to meet its obligations, a re-
ceiver is put in to run it, and his GER
tificates take precedence of the stock
and the bonds. AS a certain 'distin-
guished statesman said recently, we've
got the railroads.
But how long do you think people
are going to invest their money in a
business that is nailed to the cross in
this fashion? And when they won't in
vest tell me what is to become of the
commerce of the country. The true
measure of prosperity, plainly enough,
is the ability to move products and
merchandise promptly
Half the Rate; Double Wage.
where, Mr.. HILL" 1 asked him,
"does the cure he?''
THE cure lies in an access of COM
mon intelligence among all classes
he answered quickly; land it will have
| to be applied promptly. Ignorance
and malice and graft have controlled
| public sentiment too long already.
Men have got to realize what railroads
mean to them. They have got to
| realize how absolutely superior
| American roads are to those of any
other country in their relation to the
masses. The capitalization of Ameri-
can railroads is about a third that of
foreign roads. They carry freight for
half the price and pay double and
treble the wages. European railroads
run through congested countries. and
our Western lines, at least, through
practically unpeopled ones, yet we
move from twenty-five to one hundred
per cent more freight per mile than
they do, and for about half the price.
American railroads serve the people
better and cheaper than any other in
the world, nevertheless they have
been pilloried as criminals, and the
American people. whose mainstay
they are have stood by and applaud
ed. 1t is the greatest absurdity in
history"
The Cure Proposed.
And again." I said. where is the
cure?"
1.-THE cure" he replied once more.
Lies. as 1 said. in an accession of
common intelligence. We want sound
business sense and not political OPP
portunism in the making of laws. We
want men with some sense OF business
requirements. We want business m
terests solidified, to take coDtrol and
serve the common interests; we want
more patriotism, and a constructive
instead of destructive impulse among
lawmakers, a broader understanding,
more honesty, calmer sense, and ra-
tionaI degree of tolerance.
This means most to the west.
| whose DEVELOPMENT is at stake. but II
means much to the whole country, Tor
| interruption in the development of the
west deprives the east OF tremen-
| dous market and a tremendous source
| of supply. 1t is time for the whole
| countrI 10 eft down soberI-- and adjust
| this matter on basis of common
sense. The development west OF the
Mississippi in fifty years has oeen
! enormous but it is nothing compared
with what will follow, II a sane a.sl-