The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-01-03
THE RAILROADS ASK FOR FAIR
PLAY

/ AdS Deen sent TO us for publication
and following out the custom of this
paper to give all sides a fair hearing.
We give it a prominent place in our
columns:
This paper thinks that it is wrong
to treat the railroads as if they were
/ a common enemy.
The railroads constitute one of the
! great civiizing forces Of the century.
/ The railroads, more than any other
/ factor. have contributed TO the rapid
/ development of the resources Of the
country. While we abuse them, We
patrOnize them, delight to ride on
them. and would not do without them
for any consideration whatever.
To do away with the railroads and
return to the dreary Flooding ox-cart.
We had almost as soon close our
school houses. blot out our literature
and go back to the windOwless and
foOrless hut and begin the slow pro-
cess of civilization over again.
Specially is the interior section Of
country dependent upon the rail
roads, and this being true, the rail
roads, if they make any discrimina-
/ ton at all, should favor the interior
! towns and cities. Say. for example,
/ that towns in the nterior-Ocala
/ Gainesville, Orlando. Barlow, Live
/ Oak, etc.-were built up as big as
/ Jacksonville and Tampa. how much
/ better it would be for the railroads
/ Every particle of freight coming in
and going out would be so much grist
/ for the railroad hopper; there would
| be no competition with steamers or
any other motive power. The rail-
ways would have a sure snap.
We are hopeful in the belief that
some day the railroads will not con-
tinue to stand in their own light and
persist in a suicidal policy.
Hereto attached is the article we
have been requested to publish:
An interesting and rather astonish-
ing array of statistics is given by LO-
gan G.. Mcpherson in the North Amer
lean Review for November. He
points out with a clearness that must
surprise all those citizens who are in
the habit Of blaming the railroads for
all their ills. that figures that will not
lie are saying lot OF good things for
railway corporations. The United
States census, the reports Of the in
terstate commerce commission and
the records of the yearbook Of the de-
partment of agriculture, are placed
side by side for the purpose Of tell
ing just what they really mean. TAX
ing the good American dollar as the
unit of measure Of value, it is found,
among other things, that the net re-
turns to the railroads of this country
for the year 1905 ($616,34 $50 were
less than One-third the net returns to
the cOuntry's manufactures, with near
ly the same total capitalization, and
less than one-fOurth the net returns
to the farmers Of the nation.
If it be claimed that the low net re-
turn to the railroads is because of
their inflated capitalization, the reply
is made that the present total capital
ization. including all initiation, is only
about $4,000 a mile, far less than
that Of the roads of any other cOun-
try. as shown by President Hadly Of
Yale, President Roosevelt and other
authorities. And to make the profits
the railroads have TO spend more mon
ey than either manufacturers or far
mers. TrUth-telling figures again
show here that to get one dollar back
in net returns it costs manufacturers
SG.G2 Of capital. farmers S944, and
railroads, $3.50.
All deductions show that while the
administration Of the railroads is far
more economical than that Of either
manufactures or agriculture. the re- /
turns to capital are far less. and this
means that the prices for the rail /
roads neutrality-suspicious. rates
are relatively lower than the prices .
for the other products compared. /
Again, interstate commerce commits
sion figures show the average railway
rate per ton per mile for 1905 TO have
been decrease Of SIS per cent over
the ten-year period between 1890 and
1899.
That piratical spectators have
brought about an unreasoning preju-
dice against the railroads the writer
but he urges the necessity
for fair play if the nations general
health and prosperity are TO be as
sured, and suggests the wisdom and
good sense of readjusting popular i'm
DressiOns to fit the facts that the fig