The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-12-28
THE RAILWAYS.

The part played by the railways
in the development of our country
has been a very important one. This
will be admitted ever by the most
radical of the element which now
seems bent on throwing every OBJ
stacle in their way. The necessity
and the desirability of the railway
was well understood by the men in
control of our government in the
earlier days. The railway was then
not only encouraged, but was given
immense tracts of land so that it
would be sure to get its just share of
the increased values which were ex-
pected to follow the building of the
steel highways. The mere fact that
the land has become decidedly more
valuable than had been though pos
sible does not constitute any good
reason for striving to take value
from the railway properties as seems
now to be the ardent desire of a
large section of our people. There
are many suits in fact for the for
fixture of the land itself, which il
Illustrates the spirit of the times even
though the suits are ~ostensibly based
on the claim that the railway has
not fulfilled it's obligations under the
government grants.
There is therefore a complete re-
versal of our earlier policy under
which we have reached in a cen
fury a stage of development hardly
to have been expected in a mucn
longer time. The success of the new
policy is yet to be proved, and as we
pointed out a few days since we are
now entering upon a test of the laws
having for their object the regula-
ton and supervision of the railways
and an attempt through the power
of making rates to restrict their earn
ing power to what the public or its
Representatives deem proper. We
do accept the assertion of one Ouf.
contemporaries and say that we have
entered the Metropolis of individ-
ual effort and initiative, and yet the
regulation, supervision and rate
making powers given to various COM
missions will hardly make the build
ing of new railways an attractive
field for the investor, but we are to
give the system a trial, and the out
come must be awaited before passing
final judgment.
The effects of the most drastic OF
the laws passed have become so OBJ
vious that public sentiment in the To-
c~alities directly affected is becom-
ing dissatisfied with condition. This
is gradually taking form in Texas
as it is in some of the Southern ano
Southwestern states. 1t is true also
that right at home public sentiment
has changed in its attitude toward
the merger of the New Haven and
the Boston & Maine railways. New
England, as is pointed out by the ad-
vocates of the merger, is peculiarly
in need of the very best Transports
ton facilities possible. 1t must de-
pend on manufacturing and not only
does it's geographical position place
it at a disadvantage in shipping the
manufactured product, but the raw
material must also be brought in,
so that economical and efficient
transportation is absolutely essen
tial. The tendency now is to consid-
er the matter not from the stand
point of a blind prejudice toward a
possible monopoly, but from that of
securing the best possible Transports
ton facilities.
The railway employees of the coun-
try are quite generally preparing to
make demands on the companies for
wages. The railway man