Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-14

have not had his heartiest and most cffec-
tive sympathy and support, and the policies
for which / stand are his policies as much
as mine.
II is not possible in the space of tliis
letter to discuss all the many and Infinitely
varied questions of moment with which
Mr.. Taft as president would have to deal;
let him be judged by what he has himself
done, and by what the administration, in
which he has played SO conspicuous a part,
has done. But to Illustrate just what his
attitude is let me touch on two matters
now prominent in the public mind.
Mr.. Taft can be trusted to exact justice
from the railroads for the very reason
that he can be trusted to do justice to the
railroads. The railroads are the chief in
struments of interstate commerce in the
country, and they can neither be held to
a proper accountability on the one hand
nor given proper protection on the other,
save by affirmative action Of the fed
eral government. The law as laid down
by the federal courts clearly shows that
the states have not and cannot devise
laws adequate to meet the problems
caused by the great growth of the rail-
roads doing an interstate commerce busi-
ness, for more than four-fif of the bus
mess Of the railroads is interstate, and
under the constitution of the United
States only the federal government can
exercise control thereover 1t is abso-
lutely Necessary that this control should
be affirmative and thoroughgoing. All in
| terstate business carried on by the great
corporations should, in the interest of the
whole people, be far more closely super
vised than at present by the national gov
ernment: but this is especially true of the
railroads. which cannot exist at all save
by the exercise of powers granted them
! on behalf of the people, and which, there
fore, should be held tosa peculiar accoun-
| liability to the people. 1t is in the interest
of the people that they should not be per-
mitted to do injustice; and 1t is no less
| to tbs interest Of the people that they
| should not suffer injustice Their prime
purpose is to carry the commodities of
the farmers and the business men: they
could not be built save for the money
contributed TO them by their shareholders;
they could not be run at all save for the
money paid out in wages to the railroad
employees. and. finally, they could not
be run judiciously. or profitably to any
one, were 1t not for the employment by
them of some masterful guiding intelli-
| gence, whether OF one man or of a group
of men. There are therefore several sets
of interests to be considered. Each must
receive proper consideration, and when
any one Of them selfishly demands ex-
elusive consideration the demand must be
refused.
Along certain lines all of these groups
have the same interests. 1t is to the in
terest OF shipper farmer wage-worker,
business man, honest shareholder, and
honest manager alike that there should be
economy, honesty. intelligence. and fair
| Of oil To ant N aff af
to stock watering would be benefit to
everybody except the swindlers who profit
by stock watering; 1t would benefit the
honest shareholder because honest invest
ments would not be brought into compe-
tition with mere paper; 1t would benefit
the wage worker because when the money
earned doesgnot have TO 80 to paying in
terest on'twatered capitaL more OF il ''is
left, out of which to pay wages; 1t would
benefit the shipper because when only hon
est stockholders have 20 be paid interest.
rates need not be improperly raised; 1t
would benefit the public because there
would be ample money with which to give
efficient service. Similarly the preven-
tion of favoritism as among shippers does
no damage to any one who is honest. and
confers great good upon the smaller busi-
neness man and the farmer, whom IL re-
lieves of oppression. Again, such super
vision of accounts and management as
! will prevent crookedness and oppression
works good. directly or Indirectly. to all
r honest people. Therefore everything that
r can be done along all these lines should
> be done; and no mans legitimate interest
/, would thereby be hurt. But after this
. point has been reached great care must
D be exercised not to work injustice to one
t class in the effort to show favor to an
! other class. and each class naturally tends
q to remember only its own needs. The
/ stockholders must receive an ample return
on their investments, or the railroads can
Z not be built and successfully maintained
and the rates to shippers and the wages
: to employees, from the highest to the low
est, must be all conditioned upon this fact
. On the other hand. in a public service
= corporation we have no right to allow sucl
: excessive profits as will necessitate rates
being unduy high and wages unduly low
, Again, while in all proper ways rates mus
y be kept low we must remember that We
have no right and no justification TO re.
duce them when the result is the reduction
of the wages of the great army of railroat
men. A fair working arrangement mus
be devised according to the needs OF the
several cases. so that profits wages and
rates shall each be reasonable with refer
ence to the other two-and IN wages
include the properly large amounts which
: should always be paid to those whose mas
terful ability is required for tte success
full direction OF great enterprises. Combi
s nations which favor such an equitable ar
n rangement should themselves be favored
s. and not forbidden by law: although the!
Il should be strictly supervised by the gov
h ernment through the Interstate CONNER c,
y commission, which should have the powc
& Of passing summariy upon not only tn,
Is question Of the reduction but the raising
Il OF rates.
IS The railroad problem Is itself one OF tn,
IS phases OF one OF the greatest and mos
s intricate problems Of our civilization; 70
q it's proper solution we need not merel.
honesty ard courage. but judgment. goo,
r. sense, end entire fairmindedness. Dema
= gosy In such matter Is as certain to worl
evil as corruption itself. The man VIII
. promises to raise the wages Of railroa,
. employees TO the highest point and at IN
same time to reduce the rates to the loves
point is promising what neither he nor any
= one else can perform; and II the effort 4
, perform It were attempted disaster woul
&c result to both shipper and wage worker
y and ruin TO the business interests OF tn
Is country. The man to trust In such a mat
le ter as this is the man who, like Judge Taft
l. does not promise too much but who coul