The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-11-11
I'm THIS COUNTRY
THE PEOPLE RULE
SO Says President of the Santa
Fc Railroad at Waldorf
Astoria Banquet.
NEW YORK CENTRAL TO
EXPERIMENT WITH FARMS
Six Hundred Men Discuss Mat
terS at Dinner of Railway
Business Association.

NEW YORK. Nov. 10.-Legislation
enough for tho present. argued men
who manage railroads, further federal
control, pleaded legislators; co.opo:a.
tiou in the interest of fair dealing, urg
ed shippers and others. These varied
views werc expressed tonight nj tho first
annual banquet of the Railway Business
association at the Waldorf Astoria.
f; The association, which is sort nF
self constituted medium Of conciIiaiioh
between the railways aud tho pubic,
had as its guests az table tonight moro
than 600 men interested in railroads.
George A.. Post, president. was
toastmaStcr. and after n toast TO PrcSi-
dent Taft no jumped TO the question
of what would bc done with Mr.. Taft
as an cX-presidcut.
- lie IS not much Oi hunter, - said
Mr.. Post, ''and IT. COSTS money TO pay
golf, so perhaps, siHr" he is good
travelling man, he II become conn Ctcd
with some railway
Government Control Good
Former Representative Hepburn Of
Iowa author of tho Hepburn act, sug-
gestcd that there arc yet railroad mat.
tcrs over which the government should
have control.
''For instance - he asked, "wbat
serious hurt could come 10 railroads
If their capital could not be increased
until upheld by government autnCr.
ity?'
William c. Brown p.osidcns Of the
New York Contra! lines declared "thIt
IN times of depression our unemployed
viii be numbered by millions. - and he
suggested the increased purSu; Of agri-
culture as a means o io"ostail such cnu.
ditiouS. He said he intended 10 recon-.
mend 20 tho New YORK Central lines
that the road operate at its own oN.
pcnsc, under ausp'ccs OF III" state dgri
cultural college. series of experimental
farms.
"This would return TO the rural dis
trlcts the prcpondcrancc of political
power. he said. "whcrc it can be
more safely lodged than in congcstcd
centers of population, already ominous-
ly powerful in many of our states.
The People Rule.
With ''Thc Railroads and the Pub
lie Approval . as his subject, Edward
=. Ripley, president Of the Atchisou,
Topeka 6 Santa Fe railway. after
reviewing the history of rate lcgisla
tion and touching on the impcrfections
OF the interstate commerce law rs first
passed, SAID, IN part:
Whatever sins NAV be laid at our
door. however much VIC may have once
believed that ours was private
business, TO be controlled exclusively
by its owners, however much we have
resented or still resent the intcrfcr
ence of the public as manifested in the
various governing bodies it is. after
all, the public that is master, and we
must all recognize this In this coun-
try the people rule, and in the long run
that system, that method, or that per-
sonality that does not meet the appro-
baton Of the public cannot succeed -
The Railway Business association
was organized one year ago with the
view of ascertaining what the railway
supply industrials can do to create pub
lie opinion more friendly to the rail
roads.
''Wc have taken no part in the af
fairs of any party or faction, or in the
discussion of any question except rail.
road regulation, and have maintained
complete Independence of the railroad
officials. - said one OF the speakers.
''It is our settled conviction that no
real benefit can come from q general
of obstruction to regulations
Regulation has come TO stay There
will be commissions whether railroads
like it or not. The railroads, through
special magazines. bulletins and other
wise. are urging their men TO meet the
public desires.