The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-05-05

5 business, to a greater extent than a
Z present, each transaction was a mat
J. ter of special bargain. The prices q
Il all commodities and of services wer,
g everywhere determined by what Adam
VI Smith called "the higgling of the mar
ket." 1t was not considered criminal
for shopkeeper to sell a suit OF
clothes to one customer at a certain
price and to sell to the next customer
at price substantially lower, rather
than permit him to patronize a rival
across the street. Charges for railway
service were not recognized as stand
ing on a different basis. The shipper
who was a skillful bargainer, and who
was in a position to divert traffic TO
rivalline, generally obtained con-
! cessions in rates. AS the peculiar "a
ture of the railway business has come
| to be better understood, and as IT'S
economic relations to all other lines
of business have been studied, it has
come to be realized that such dis
examinations between shippers similar
ly situated are economically wrong.
They are wrong because the railway
company is a common carrier, and, as
such, should avoid unjust discrimina-
lions between its patrons, and also be
cause it maintains a public highway
to which each individual the corn
munity is entitled to access on equal
terms.
If regulation for the correction ard
prevention of abuses is to be bene-
fetal, certain fundamental truths must
be kept in mind. 1t must be recog-
nized that transportation is essential
to profitable production; that the rail
ways of a community are an indispen.
sable factor in its progress and devel-
opment; that they are built by private
capital and operated by private indi
viduals, and that they have property
rights in whatever remains to them as
the next result of their operation. 1t
is their property, in the use and enjoy
ment of which their owners are pro-
etcted by the fundamental law of the
land, and should be protected by pub
lie opinion, to the same extent as any
citizen is protected in the possession
and enjoyment of his home his farm,
OF his factory. 1t must be recognized
that, when public regulation has been
carried to the extent of preventing
unreasonable charges and unjust dts,
elimination, the owners of a railway
are entitled to have the same liberty
in its management as is enjoyed by
the owner of any other business. You
cannot put a great business such as
this, on the success and prosperity OF
which all other lines of business are
dependent, in a strait-jacket of legisld-
tive and administrative restrictions
and regulations and expect it to thrive
and keep pace with the demands Of
the country for increased transporta-
ton facilities.
An intelligent understanding on the
part of the public of the effect of reg
ulatory policies upon the railways and
upon all those interested in adequate
facilities and efficient service is the
more important for the reason that |
on account of the character and loca- |
ton of the property of a railway com
pany and the nature of its business,
it must depend, probably more than
any other business enterprise, upon
public opinion for the protection af
its property and its rights, and for its
ability efficiently to perform its ser.
vice for the public.
1t may not be improper for me to
point out that if your arilways are to |
increase their carrying capacity as
your demand for transportation facili
ties grows, they must have the sup
DOl VI puDllC OplllOh III lllllSo VI |
prosperity as well as in times of ad-
versity. 1t should not be withdrawn !
as soon as an improvement in railway
operating results is apparent, for the
inevitable effect would be to retard |
that development off transportation
interests which is essential to the
industrial and commercial progress Of
the United States. The railways of
the country cannot provide increased
facilities if they are to be held down
to the level of bare existence, and II
the first sign of an increase in net
income is to be the signal for de-
mand for cheaper service.
1t is important, therefore, that, in
considering policies of railway reg.
ulation, we should look beyond their
immediate objects to their ultimate re-
suits. Any reduction in transporta-
ton charges, if it is obtained at the