Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-10-31
Railroads Want Only
 Square Deal."- "---Stubbs


 the Seas" by the efficiency of her mer
 chant marine; while I believe witl
 Raleigh that Che who controls the ship
 of the world commands the trade O
 the world''; while think that nun
 erous fleet of domestic high-class sea
 going merchantmen will furnish {
 needed and tremendously effective aux
 il'ary to our navy, l also hold the opin | ion that within United States territory
 lying west of the Mississippi river, ir
 the forbidding soil of arid plains, in tho
 bosom of the rock-ribbed hard-face cd
 mountains, and in the shade of forests
 of giant trees that no other country can rival, there lies an undeveloped untouched, practically unknown wealth awaiting the open sesame which just union of labor and capital will evoke This opinion is not original with me- Far seeing statesmen give it better ex- pression in the organization of the high. ly commendable forest service of the general government and the organiza- tion and prosecution of the United States reclamation service. But after all has been or can be well done by the general public by Legislation, there will remain the essential need for transpor- tation, which, for by far the larger part of the country can be supplied only by railroads.
 It will not be denied that the work nd ant nf bs far hA ,tpa the manufactures and the merchant would have been fruitless if not impos- sible without the a;d of artificial means of transportation. Their markets were east of the great river or across the seas, and distance was the least of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles to free exchange between producer and consumer Railroads entered the terri tory, overcame these obstacles, and it may fairly be said were and will be the chief instrumentality in uncovering the wealth of this Trans Mississippi eoun. try. By no other known means could its prosperity have been builded; by no other known agency can it's possible growth be realized Great as has been the increase of wealth in the past, there les in your mind and in mine the hope, aye the promise of greater future, and think that all will agree that to full fill that promise it will be necessary to improve, to enlarge and to multiply our railroads.
 In the year ended June 30, 1906 for every 100 square miles of it's area New Jersey had 3l miles of railroad, Mass achusetts 26, Pennsylvania 9, Ohio % Illinois 2l, New York IS. Tn the sams year for every 100 square miles of its are Missouri had 12 miles of railway. Kansas II, Minnesota lQ,- Nebraska 2 Nevada l. These figures show how railroad development there must be west of the Mississippi before the states in. this section will possess as ampel transportation facilities as those east of the river.
 It seems to me plain that the first step toward providing this growing de- mand for transportation is to improve the efficiency, to increase the working capacity of the roads now in use. The reason is simple. What can be done in that way will be done with much less money than to build wholly new lines, the building of double track; the re- duction of curvatures; the lessening of grades; the tunneling of mountains; the enlargement of terminals--many of them accomplished and to be accomp- hshed at an almost appalling cost-are all undertaken for the purpose of in- creasng the transportation facilities of the country and their public useful ness It can be done in that way at Jess cost than by building new rail roads, with the advantage that the greater number of those who use rail roads will be benefited thereby.
 Gentlemen: We want, we need, the continuous growth and improvement of this wonderfully promising territory de- mands more railroads and enlarged and improved facilities in the existing rail. roads. The expenditures necessary to these ends are capital expenditures. The needed money will be obtainable when confidence in the productiveness of rail road investments is restored; when CO., operation and good will is manifest in the relations of the people and the carrier; when it is promoted by the in diyidual citizen; when it so pervades the public mind as to find expression through legislative bodies; when it dom mates the purpose of those charged with the investment of the enormous sums needed for such great works, and when it energies and Eliminates the spirit of those charged with the man. agement of the railroads.
 Some may say that l am optimistic. We'll, that is true. I am looking for the substance, not the hole, in the "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen" This is divine proph- ecy that may well be applied to hu-