Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-29
YOAKUM TALKS TO FIRENEN
Rock Island Chairman Addresses Con-
vention of the Brotherhood
RAILWAY FINANCE DISCUSSED
Employees Are Urged to Assist In Pre-
venting Alleged Attacks by Law
makers ON Business of
Railroads.

COLUMBUS, o., Sept,@2s.-B. f. Yoakum,
chairman OF the executive committee of the
Rock Island San FRANCISCO lines, delivered
the principal address before the seventh
biennial convention ofSthe Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen today
at Memorial hall. He said on part:
In Wall street there are men whose busi-
ness life has beer, S1i IN co supplying their
own funds and fnntls OF investors of this
in them, to build UP the railroads Of this
country. Ninety per cent of the $4,000
miles Of railroad serving the people of
that great doman lying west OF the Mis-
sissippi river has been built by funds fur
nished by New York bankers Some OF
their Investments have been profitable;
chances and have experienced receiver
ships and foreclosures. On the whole,
were entitled to a profit for supplying the
necessary funds to enable the country TO
grom and its resources TO be developed,
but 100 times more profit has been received
by the owners of lands, of mines, by mer-
chants and manufacturers in the different
commercial and manufacturing centers
than the bankers received upon their in
vestments.
At per cent per annum 1t requires the
investment OF $4,000 TO earn as much
year as the average earnings OF the fire
men. S760. At present there are 100000
men, women, estates, trustees, corpora
tons. banks, etc. who hold railroad Sc
sential for the prosperity and steadiness of
the railroad business to have the man who
invests $4,000 in railroad securities feel
safe and secure as 1t is that you whose
| investment is your time, feel sure of your
employment with the railroads. The
danger which threatens the mans invest
| ment Just as surely endangers your pay
roll. Money is timid. This is natural as
most OF the men who invest money do so
| for others. Those making investments for
others are held accountable for their judg-
| ment by those who own the money.
| If a trustee or guardian or a banker
| invests the $4,000 we are using to Illus
| trate, for an estate, a ward or a client, he
| tries to put it where he Is sure of the S76O
| year for the benefit OF the OWNER Of
the money. He is just careful about
| this as you are in receiving for your time
| S760 per year. The investor hesitates to
risk money In a business which Is being
| constantly attacked by our lawmakers
| Continued agitation makes him afraid for
| that the attacks on the business hit the
/ employer harder than the man who invests
| i'm stocks or bonds, as the railroad en-
| ploye gets AZ cents of each dollar earned,
| while the investor receives 2l cents, Keep
| these facts plainly in mind and you will
see that your interest and that OF the in
vestor are inseparably linked in a partner
| ship, only YOU have twice as much at stake
as the investor In the gross earnings OF
! the railroads OF this country. What can we
hope to gain by our politicians continuing
| to stamp the bankers and capitalists as a
| body as INSCRIPTIONS in their business
methods in dealing with our corporations
| and institutions?