Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1908-09-30

trate 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 the 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 caus-
ed by the great growth Of the railroads
doing an interstate commerce business.
for more than four fifths of the business
of the railroads is interstate and under
the constitution Of the United States only
the federal government exercise con-
troll thereover 1t is absolutely necessary
that this control should be affirmative and
thoroughgoing.
All interstate business carried on by the
great corporations should in the interest
of the whole people be far more closely
supervised than at present by the national
government, 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,
therefore, should be held to q peculiar &C
countability to the people. It is in the in
terest of the people that they should not
be permitted to do injustice. and it is no
less to the 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 contrib
uted to them by their shareholders. They
could not be run at all save for the money
paid out in wages to the railroad employ
ees, and. finally, they could not be run jul
RI r a n yInY-
not for the employment by them of some
masterful guiding intelligence, whether of
one man or of a group of men. There are
therefore several sets Of interests to be
considered. Each must receive proper con-
sideration. and when any one Of them
selfishly demands exclusive consideration
the demand must be refused. Along GER
tain lines all of these groups have the
same interests. 1t is to the interest of
shipper, farmer. wageworker business
man, honest shareholder and honest man
ager alike that there should be economy.
honesty, Intelligence and fair treatment of
all. To put an effective stop to stock wa
tering would be benefit to everybody
except the swindlers who profit by stock
watering. It would benefit the honest
shareholder because honest investments
would not be brought into competition
with mere paper. 1t would benefit the
wageworker because when the money
earned does not have to go to paying in
tereSt on watered capital more of 1t is
left out Of which to pay wages. 1t would
benefit the shipper because, when only
honest stockholders have to be paid inter
est, rates need not be improperly raised
It would benefit the pubic because there
would be ample money with which to give
efficient service. Similarly the prevention
of favoritism as among shippers does no
damage to any one who is honest and con-
fers great good upon the smaller business
man and the farmer. whom it relieves of
oppression.
Again, such supervision Of accounts and
management as will prevent crookedness
and oppression works good, directly or in
directly, to all honest people. Therefore
everything that 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 be exercised not to work
injustice to one class in the effort to
show favor to another class. and each
class naturally tends to remember only
| its own needs. The stockholders must re-
! ceive ample return on their invest
ments or the railroads cannot be built
| and successfully maintained, and the
rates to shippers and the wages to en-
| ployees. from the highest to the lowest,
| must all be conditioned upon this fact.
| On the other hand, in a public service
corporation we have no right to allow
such excessive profits as will necessitate
rates being unduly high and wages un-
| dulydow. Again, while in all proper ways
rates must be kept low. we must always
remember that we have no right and no
| justification to reduce them when the re-
suit is the reduction Of the wages of the
great army Of railroad men. A fair work
Ing arrangement must be devised accord
Ing to the needs of the several cases, so
that profits, wages and rates shall each
be reasonable with reference to the other
two, and in wages I include the properly
large amounts which should always be
paid to those whose masterful ability is
required for the successful direction Of
great enterprises Combinations which
favor such an equitable arrangement
should themselves be favored and not
forbidden by law, although they should
be strictly supervised by the government
| through the interstate commerce commits
sion which should have the power of
passing summarily upon not only the
! question Of the reduction, but the raising
Of rates.
THIS railroad problem is itself one of
The phases Of one of the greatest and
most intricate problems of our clvlllza-
lion. For its proper solution we need not
merely honesty and courage, but judg-
ment, good sense and entire, fair, minded
ness Dema gogy in such matter is as
certain to work evil as corruption itself
The man who promises to raise the wages
Of railroad employees to the highest point
and at the same time to reduce rates tC
the lowest point is promising what nei-
Their he nor any one else can perform
and if the effort to perform it We're at
tempted disaster would result to both
shipper and wageworker and ruin to the
! business interests of the country. The
man to trust in such a matter as this is
The man who. like Judge Taft. does MOI
promise too much but who could not be
swayed from the path of duty by an
argument, by any consideration, who wi
wage relentless war on the successful
wrongdoer among railroad men as anon
all other men, who will do all that can b
done to secure legitimately low rates t
| shippers and absolute evenness anon
the rates thus secured, but who will nei
Their promise nor attempt to secure rate
| SO low that the wage Garner would los
his earnings and the shareholder, who's
! h11i1