New-York tribune., 1908-10-11
can be caught in such numbers as was possible
ten or fifteen years ago seems 10 be Impossible.
vR SHOETSS PARADOX.

Mr.. Shonts should have gone further away
from home than Chicago 10 launch his charge
that the creation of the Public Service cohlhis-
sions killed transportation development III thlS
city In Kamchatka or Africa such perVeISloH
of +he saouence between cause and effect might
have passed unchaIlenged. But the people OF
Chicago and of every other city Of any C'hSe-
Uuence in the United States are familiar enough
with the processes which have wrecked the
TRANSFORMATION system here TO be moved 70
smiles at Mr. Shontss dislocation of antecedents
and conseuuents. He could not have kept Il
stra irht face himself If he had tried to tell a
New York audience that the passage or the
Public Service law Of 1907 was the cause OF the
breakdown Of the local transportation system
Mr.. Shontss logic would make the receiver or
a bankrupt concern the author OF all us MIS-
fortunes The transportation system OF New
York collapsed of It's own weight. AS has been
abundanty shown, the various CONSULTATIONS eI-
fected entaiIed vast imitation Of securities and
obligations and an excessive outlay in polltico-
legal and brokerage and construction ex-
penses The city surface railroads were long
operated more rs a stool. jobhing venture than
as transportation enterprise. The service WAS
starved and strangled. valuations were depressed
and inside profits were distributed among q
small number of operators, who took no interest
whatever in developing the system leGitlmately
in fulfilling Its fraNcnlSe ODllGatiOhs W Iht
travelling public The first hearings before the
Public Service Commission for the 1st District
exposed the methods used in exploiting the sys-
tenn They merely unlocked the closet and ex-
posed the skeleton.
II is absurd to say that the moderate regula-
ton aimed at under the law Of 1907 killed trans
portaton development here That regulation
compelled a reckoning and uncovered the wreck
ing of the surface lines But 10 that extent It's
effects were eminently wholesome, for 10 sound
development was possible under the old condi-
tions, and further development will he helped
not hfndered by the introduction of new meth
DDS and better standards of operation. Pub
lfcity. economy in management and the proven
ton Of stock watering will contribute largely to
increase the efficiency and earning capacity or
the roads and to attract investors, who need not
fear being defrauded by high finance mlnipula-
ton.
Mr Shonts misconceives entirely the purpose
Of the Public Service laws If ne thinks that they
will interfere with legitimate business. They
are meant only 10 guard the publlc's interest in
the conduct of semi-publiC enterprises ana to
insure fair treatment of the community ny
virtue of whose franchise railroads operated.
The public wants only fair deal, and If the
railroads live up to their obligations they need
fear no annoyance or oppression The courts
will protect them In all their legal and constl-
tutional rights and the people Will never sane
ton the persecution Of a railroad disposed TO
deal openly and equitnbly with Its patrons
Governor Hughes's reply to Mr. Shon's Is
complete and convincing. He said in Missouri,
when hearing Of the attack on the Public Ser
vice law
The Public Service commissions law does not
interfere with legitimate enterprises. on the
contrary, II makes needed provision Tor the en-
fOrCement Of the rights Of the public, and those
who are willing deal with the public fairly
visions
Only badly managed and grasping railroad
corporations have anything Ia lose under the
new system Of state supervision and control