Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-08-28
President of Alton and Glover
Leaf Systems Says Railroads
Should Support Ohioan
"soUARE DEAL" is HIS REASON
Officials and Employees Urged to Sup
port Republican Ticket - Commerce
Commission Formulates Rules Com
polling Roads to Give Up Secrets =
Minute Data Asked For.

Chicago, Aug. 2S-Theodore P.
Shonts, president of the Alton and the
Glover Leaf railroad systems came out
Yesterday in an official announcement
favoring the candidacy of Taft for
president. He SAID that a square deal
in the regulation of the railroads could
be expected from Taft and that all
railroad men, officers as Well as en-
ployes, ought to work for his election.
Mr. Shonts based his preference OF
Taft on an analysis of the candidates
utterances on the question OF railroad
regulation. He found that Taft stands
for government regulation but not OPP
Grafton and for full publicity of ac-
counts and an adjustment of rates that
will allow the fair return on the invest
ment which is demanded by the pecu-
liar risks of the business. No honest
railroad man, Mr.. ,Shonts thinks, can
find anything to fear in the policies adj
vocated by Taft.
Mr.. Shonts' Statement.
The statement follows:
Being a railroad man myself I nat
urally stand for and believe in rail-
roads and railroad men. 1 am for Mr.
Taft for president because he stands
for a square deal with railroads and
railroad men so far as the underlying
principles essential to the development
of the transportation interests and the
resultant prosperity of the country are
concerned.
MIR. Taft's views can be readily gath
cred from public utterances, both from
his speech Of acceptance and from the
full statement that he made in his
gust, 1907, and it is upon these that
I rely in what ! say here.
"First-We believe that our national
growth and we'll being depend, more
than any other one thing, upon the
character and extent of our transpor-
tation facilities. Mr.. Taft in his letter
of acceptance says: Good business for
the railroads is essential to general
prosperity and again, New railroad
construction in returning prosper
Gus times is sure to be essential to our
material progress
"Second-We believe that the vast
sums which will annually be required
by the railroads to enable them to pro-
vide the increased facilities necessary to
handle the constantly increasing traffic
of the country can only be secured by
first receiving a remuneration sur
ficient to not only pay fair return
on the cost of the service rendered, but
also to cover the risk incident to the
nature of the business: and by. second
receiving the assurance that they VIII
be ppermitted to operate their proper
ties on business basis-that is to say
operate their properties having IN
mind, on the one hand, the traffic re-
ouirements of the communities
served, and, on the other their ability
to perform the service required.
Quotes From Taft's Speech.
CAS- to the first condition. Mr. Taft
in his letter of acceptance. says: The
question what is a fair profit is one in
volving not only the rate of interest
usually earned on normally safe in
vestments, but also a sufficient allow
ance to make up for the risk of loss