Putnam patriot., 1910-09-02

can trust If it had not been for this financial expedient. the industrial his tory of Connecticut would have been much number. To test this proposi- ton one has only to imagine what any city or industrial village in ConnecH- cut would be today without corpora tons. Where would the wages paid in Connecticut come from, if there were no corporations to pay themY Who. if these wages were not paid. would be the customers of the mer- chants. and where would be the mar ket for farm produceg
 In the country at large there are also appearances indicating the in- fiuence of particular prejudice against railroad companies. wish very much that every man. before m dnlging in any vague prejudice of this sort. would stop to think what a rail road really Is,
 In the first place, t k an enormous physical plant specially adapted to the performance of services Of great general importance, which has been created by the money of investors and the earnings of that money. In the second place, t Is an enormous and complicated human organization
 The New York. New Haven and Hartford railroad company is an or. ganization of S6,e00 men. every one of whom plays an ssential part In the operation of the railroad Acts of omission or neglect, often slight and ! fa... .l. sxt any one of thousands of these men may cause discomfort and often dan ger 10 considerable number. Bad judgment or i'll temper shown by indi. xiduals may be very annoying. Ex. perianees ef these kinds do occur. as they must always where human agen. cy Is relied upon. Yet ignoring en. tirely any personal contribution of my own. may with pronriety say of this great organization. taken as a whole, that It's results will bear careful com. parlson with the results achieved hy the organization of any railroad in this country. or of any similar body ot men in the world,
 The plant of this Company is not perfect l can sec. perhaps more clearly than any body else. how much money needs to be spent on it in order Ia make lt fully adequate. Yet | am not aware of any railroad in the country which has plant on the whole more adapted 10 the service Of the public.
 Since early colonial days the gov. ernment of Connecticut has been char aeersed by exceptional steadiness and iastness of judgment, There is today no more thoughtful people in the world than the people of Connect. teat have right. therefore. te hope that the legislation regarding which you inquire wlll not he promoted or framed in response to anY pepalistic clamor against railroads Over twenty thousand stockholders of the New York. New Haven and Hartford railroad company hold less than fifty shares ef It's stock Moat apparently large holdings are really for the hene- fit os many indiydusls.-men. women and children. None of the investors in the securities of this company re eeiyes more than an fair return on the money which they have paid for these securities.
 Is there to be clamor against the operating erganixationt If so. it Is fair to ask against what element of the or ganiEatton this clamor is directed l presume that very many can suggest some particular trouble caused by some individual or individuals in this huge organization. Is Il fair 10 hold ail the rest of the organization respon- sihle for thiss Leaving myself again entirely out of the question. l can tes- ufy from personal knowledge that the officers and employees of this rail. read company are hard.workinK. duty performing men.
 Is there elafnor against the direct. ors of the corporations A majority of the directors of this company are cisi- sens of Connecticut They do not own the railroad Their private inter ests outside of the railroad and as eft isens cf connecticat are greater. and generally far greater. than their inter 1 est in the railroad. They occupy . DO 1 sitioa of trust toward all the great in