Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-08-11
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ONE EFFECT OF TOO MUCH
LEGISLATION.

LEGISLATION.
Minot Optic: With the stopping OF
work on the new Ayr-Minot line, about
all of the vast improvements planned
by the railroads in North Dakota and
the northwest have apparently been
brought TO dead halt. The policy
of retrenchment seems to have reach
ed the limit and it would appear that
all expenditures that are not abso'
lutely necessary are about to cease.
The reason given for the suspension
of work is that the railroads, like
other large corporations, fear that the
crop situation does not warrant the
further outlay of large sums of money
for purposes of branching out, and
that they have decided to keep ex-
penses down to the lowest notch I'M
til conditions become trifle more
clarified. This appears to be an ex'
cellent reason on the face of it, but
to those who have given the matter
a trife more thought than the aver
age man it is not the whole reason.
During the past few years the SEN
timent against the railroads has
grown unreasonably out of proportion,
and politicians and so-called party
leaders, quick to grasp what appeared
to be excellent campaign material,
have kept up a continual hammering
with the result that considerable legis-
lation, adverse to the railroads, has
been introduced and passed. Today
it is hotter than ever, and it would
seem that the moment that certain
candidates for legislature and con-
gressional honors can find no issues
affecting the home interess of their
constituents they straightaway start
of with an attack on the railroads.
The great majority of these agitators
know nothing OF the value of rail-
road properties, know nothing of main
tenance, or of the cost of operation,
and know nothing relative to the huge
sums which must be spent each year
to Offset depreciation. All they know
is that agitation against the railroads
appears TO strike a popular chord
amongst a certain element, and is g
means of getting votes.
From recent agitation it looks a"
If very few Of those who are against
the railroads have ever given the sub
ject they expound the thought it de-
serves. Even such supposedly high
authority as Senator Cumnins of Iowa
has been brought to task and tripped
ND because when several of his
speeches were analysed it was found
that he had been touching upon gilt
teripg generalities, and that when it
got down to brass tacks he knew moth
ing of the real value of the properties
he attacked. As a matter OF fact,
there is probably no one who knows
the real valuation of the railroads OF
this country, and until proper COM
mittee is appointed to ascertain their
real value they should receive the
same consideration as other property
interests, and, above all, a square
deal.
The time has come for reckon
ing. Because of the great agitation,
foreign capitalists have frightened up
their purse strings and refuse further
financial aid to the railroads of Am
erica until they are assured that they
will at least be protected in their in
vestments. If they are to be entitled
to no dividends outside of small In
terest on their money after taking all
of the risk, they desire to make no
further investments along this line.
They believe that they should share
with all other industries the general
nrosperity of the land and that they
should not for everlastingly be the
..ubiects of unreasonable attacks and
laws. Their contention has merit.
While railroads and other like semi
public corporations should be subject
to laws and regulations, they should
mot be hampered by unreasonable