The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-07-11
BRISTOW IS HEARD.


eerded the Recommendations of the
nresident in behalf of vital reform
measures.
Longs Connection With the PLATFORM.
Long in his speeches takes great
credit to himself for the RepuDiicai,
platform and claims to have remalhe "a
over in Washington a week to aid IN
ira nreparation have been renapiy
IN formed that his real business III
yVasbineton for the week after con-
gross adjourned was to prepare MS
answer to the newspaper article OF
william Allen White ana ina. tts s
connection with the preparation OF the
platform was merely incidental. But
be that as 1t may. there is no douot
that he Is now making .frantic enoit
to get away from the PLATFORM Oh me
record and onto the platform OF ene
marty. which endorses a NUMBER OF
things that Long has always opposed.
The senator should remember tnat
while declarations of party platforms
IN favor of right measures are good,
votes in the senate in favor OF enact
ing these measures into laws are
much better, and that the peoPie wiz
fudge him by the votes he cast more
than by what the Republican
national platform may or may not
contain.
Is Long Trying to Confuse the Pubic.
Long. while loudly proclaiming
that he is making this race upon ms
record, is in fact trying to appro-
pirate to himself the popularity WIZ
the president has acquired by ao-
vocating the things that Long mas IN.
variably opposed. Long persistenty
refuses to discuss the merits OF
single question that his votes SHOW
that he stands for, with the exceptioii
of his vote upon the 'long ana snun'
haul clause Long refuses to advo
cate the policies which RooseVeit
stands for because, doubtless, II
would be offensive to Aldrich ana ms
reactionary senatorial colleagues. me
Aldrich crowd cares nothing ABOUT the
atmospheric condition that Long may
create in Kansas by shouting tne
praises of Roosevelt, IL he Will only
vote with them in Washing-
ington, and this Long willing
" does. The senator pro-
poses now to create such confusion IN
the noise and buster which he ana
his cayalcade of federal officeholders
are making in shouting FOR Roose.
Welt and Taft as to divert the minds OF
the people from his real record anu
the votes he has cast instead OF as
cusing the merits of the propositions
for which he voted. he SPENDS
greater part of his time in his
speeches in narrating with great gusto
how at Emporia he compelled Mr.
White to cringingly bow before MN
and take back and apologize TOT
everything that he had said; while.
as a matter of fact, Mr.. White only
admitted that he was wrong in three
of the thirty-five counts. of his indfct-
ment The case was aptly expressed
by Mr. Dawson. the assistant attorney
general of this state:
Did Long really vindicate him
self?" Mr.. Dawson was asked.
well. it is just this way replied
Dawson. When we begin proceedings
against a jointist on thirty-five counts
and he is able to explain away four
or five counts. we still think we nave
made a pretty good case against him.
Long did explain to my satisfaction
at least three or four Of the charges
made against him by White, but he
was certainly stuck on the other TWEEN
ty odd counts. To my mind he gave
explanations that did not explain in
these cases.
Evils of Over capitalization.
Now let us see wherein the senator
is in harmony with Roosevelt and
Taft. They are in favor of limiting
the amount of stocks and bonds that
may be issued upon public service
corporations doing an interstate bust
ness to the cost or value of the prop
erty. In this am in hearty accord.
when Thomas F. Ryan, the rail-
road magnate of New York, said re-
Gently in his testimony before New
York grand jury that 95 per cent of
the railroad stock of the United States
represented no investment but was
wholly water. he stated what every
we'll informed man knew to be true
Railroads are built from the money
received from the sale of the first
mortgage bonds and the roads in Kan
sas cost originally from to Is thou
sand dollars per mile.
After a road was built, if it shows
1fw1er 6ear,1 4.
1t can pay interest upon a larger
bonded indebtedness than it has, the
men who control the line, greedy for
wealth and desiring money. probably
to invest in other railroads or coal
mines, or some subsidiary enterprises
or to amass vast personal fortunes,
proceed to increase the roads bonded
Indebtedness.
The Missouri Pacific.
This system of bonding and re-
bonding railroads has gone on in this
country until today there are roads
bondedsfor three times what they cost.
Take the Missouri Pacific railroad.
that is, the original line constructed
under that name. which includes be-
tween 100 and 1900 miles of track.
This does not include its subsidiary
lines. cite the Missouri Pacific be-
cause IL seems to be over capitalized
worse than any other road in Kansas,
anu lheIeIofe HlOre IOrclDfy Illus
trates the evils of the system that we
are protesting against. The Missouri
Pacific railroad is bonded, according
to the statement 1 have here from the
Interstate commerce commission, for
$74,939 per mile. In addition it has
an equipment obligation of sS.646 a
mile, making almost $4,000 per mile
of Understanding Indebtedness In
addition to this 1t has a capital stock
of $6S.59S mile. making a total in
debtedness of over S152.000 a mile
According to the report of the
state board of railroad commissioners
for the year 1904. the entire cost of