Mexico weekly ledger., 1908-07-16

4 our merchant marine and again OIL us
seas with merchantmen. the business "
the shlpyards would be increased a nun
) dred fold. But beyond that. as a ma.
! tionaf proposition, the value OF a great
merchant marine can hardly be esumateu-
0 Aside from It's enormous value as a COZ
mercial agency, II would afford a. wide
! feld for the investment OF capital ano
: the employment OF labor. The shipyarus
! would not suffer, but, on the contrary,
would be the chief benehciaries OF a more
, liberal policy. In Japan, that mastertul
!, young nation Of the Orient, they have
the policy OF free ships, supplemented
with subsidies. / visited some Of the
s~hlpyards Of Japan a year ago. and al
anywhere and fly the nag OF their coun-
try above them, hat policy mas not IN
jured the ship-building interests OF the
visited, saw thousands Of staiwart men
employed, and scores OF vessels OF DIFF
feront types Inc dimensions In the docks
In course OF construction. and ! was told
that the repair work In volume and value
was not greatly inferior to the work OF
construction. Whenever we adopt n pol-
icy by which cheaper ships can be had,
supplemented by other policies OF a con-
OF at least approximate equality with
other countries, / will be ready to talk
about subsidies as a part Of our mari
hope for any forward movement under
Republican auspices. That party has
demonstrated both its ability TO destroy
and its incapacity to reconstruct, In
chant marine; in Republican days we
have seen II waste away. II the people
care to revive this great interest In a
large way and on intelligent lines, and
make II once more a mighty force In COM
mercial development n in the augmen-
tation Of national prestige, the work must
be again committed to Democratic hands.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP.
Senator Stone next discussed the reRu-
lation of railroads. In dealing with
railroads and the question Of transport
tatlon, he said hat absolute justice to
both the corporations and the public
should be the guiding rule. Railroads,
the business world, but had been a
mighty force In the up-buifding of great
states, and he believed they ought not
to be dealt with in a narrow spirit or
with prejudice. but should be dealt with |
IN a broad and generous way. He de-
clared that men who invested large
sums in building n e%quipping railways, |
and men who devoted their talents ms
energies to the arduous task Of operat- |
ing them, were entitled to fair returns
for the money n labor expended on |
the other hand, he said. railroad cor
porations are quasi-public bodies.
clothed with special privileges. and are
not solely as a source OF profit
TO investors, but also to perform a
service, n hence are subject
10 regulation by law. While a generous
Profit honestly earned should be allowed
m every dollar l~egttimately invested, ex-
.ortfon from the public should not be
permitted. Railroads should not be made
o snner a wrong, nor permitted TO do
wrong. Asking Justice Of the public,
hey must do Justice to the public.
proceeding on this line, the Senator
Therefore. / believe in the supervision
FRRIil0 Tim IF raflraoa~ -, .ahft- -.
Whenever the managers OF rail-
Dad corporations shall learn to cheer
uliy obey Just laws and conform 70 lust
eguiations. and whenever they deal, as
ls their duty to deal, tmpartially and
discrimination, not only with the I
ublc as q whole, but with men and {
'cahties also, and whenever public au- {
lority, which itself Is often not without /
iult, comes to the point OF dealing with !
IN a spirit OF fairness and with a
w prejudice, the time will be al hand 1
" amlcable and kindly relations be- I
veen the corporations and the people. I
ale, The public should deal fairly by !
10 roads. and the roads must deal fairly Q
Y the people. II a company undertakes l
increase Its stocks or debts for specu- /
1--WE purposes, Intending to exact profits J
? fictitious values, or undertakes by :
determinations to build up one person, I
or locality to the detriment OF |
mother, or undertakes to do any wrong !
the public injury. IL Is the duty OF !
egulate, 70 step In and stop Il. i be- !
eve that the power OF regulation, when
,r9perly applied. IL ample 10 control the
ailfoads ana 70 adjust all differences
etween them and the people. have I
been favorably impressed with the J
lea OF government ownership. / fear /
l .. ahs evis OF ownership would be /.
Z that policy TO cure. / believe II ade- a
iate laws regulating railroads should {
, enacted and rigidly enforced, practi- {
ah the greater evils OF which the y
'untry complains could be ~eradlcated. q
should he mistaken as to that, and q
aiter the country has tested regula- n
TO the limit, and II should fail, c
zen IT Will be time to discuss the ques- a
} need to do that now. il Is NOT a s
Of Immediate concern, and v
snce it has not been made the subject t
a platform reference. No one pro- !
Those who believe that policy I
ractieable or advisable, speak OF il n
MY in a tentative way, as a possible z
ultimate solution of the problem OF I
-om discussing and developing the idea. y
)r In time the country may conclude !
? Try 1t, and 1t is the part of wisdom !
az every phase Of this complicated !
he discussion is Of necessity more aca- {
emic than practical, and hence 1 do J
ot care to enter upon 1t at length. In '
'assing, however, | will say a word con-
erning the criticisms that lave been I
made of Mr.. Bryan for what he has said
ipon that subject. He is apprehensiye
hat the regulation of railroads and rail-
oad traffic will fail in the future as it
ias In the past, n he has expressed I
he belief that public ownership will be
nally resorted to as a more effective {
.emedy; and he does not look with that {
read that others do upon the policy Of
ian can be worked out to so divide {
ownership and responsibility between the '
.tates and the general government as to .
argely obviate the objections usually
made TO the proposition. But, highly as
esteem Mr.. Bryan and his Opinions. /
but doubt both the wisdom and
feasibility of the project. Still, he has
salu nothing, done nothing, to invite,
nuch less to merit, the harsh partisan |
showered upon him. He has
simply acted the part Of a statesman, as
ne always does In fearless manner, by
discussing a great question Of paramount
He does not expect nor even
desire that the public ownership OF rail-
roads should be taken up as a question
Tor immediate action. He Knows II it
he says himself that for the present hi
favors exhausting the power OF the gov
eminent In regulating the roads before
attempting the. more drastic remedy Of
NAttEHAPf alh ne says II ItkOldIlOn |
can be made successful, there will be no
need of considering the question Of
ownership. What is there about that TO
his enemies to cock their ears and
sound a loud alarum7 They talk as II
they had never heard of government |
ownership before. 1t Is not a new Ques- I
ton, but an old one. jeremiah Black,
the great Pennsylvania Democrat, dis
cussed 1t favorably and with signal
ability twenty-five years ago, and
Thomas II. Benton discussed IL hfty
year, ago. when he made his memorable
night In Congress for a railroad from the
mississippi to the Pacific, TO be con-
structed, owned and operated by the ma
tional government. II was talked about
n written about before Mr.. Bryan was
born, and II has been experimental with
by many governments In different parts
of the world. Still, Republicans speak
OF 1t as II It were some new and hor-
rible thing that Bryan had contured to
alright the country and menace the
liberties Of the people. AS a matter of
fact, on this subject there IL huf Uttie