The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-03-24
RADICAL RAILROAD REGULATION AND IT'S
EFFECT ON BUSINESS.

To the Business Man:-With enor.
nous crops commanding the highest
prices ever known; with every kind of
business on safe and sensible basis;
with merchandise stocks of all kinds al
most at minimum; with everybody
DESTROYS of making good all the neces-
sary improvements which the past two
years depression would not permit OF,
and to fill up stocks which have been
almost depleted. with plenty of money
and credit to do all these things, there
Is a hesitation by the greater part of
the business community, for the
reason that something has appeared
calling a halt IN the progress which
had so fairly started In the latter half
of 1909 The one great and most APP
parent element which has caused this
hesitation, Is that the railroad cor
porations of this country have stopped
the purchase of anything beyond their
immediate necessities, so much so
that betterments which had been
projected, (Which are not only better
ments, but in a great many cases are
almost, or soon will be necessities)
amounting to over one thousand mil.
lions of dollars, have been held up. II
is customary for railroads to prepare
their budgets of expenditures January
LIST. If these budgets had been pre-
pared on the lines of necessities the
outlook for general business, particu
larly among manufacturers, would be
exceptionally good for 1910. These
| budgets have not been presented, and
| are not within the call, or even within
| the sight of those who would gladly
welcome them, and 1t Is doubtful wher
| we will be able to make any reason
| able forecast In the manufacturing ant
commercial world. 1t is unquestion
| ably true that the railroads would
| gladly enter into year of liberia
| expenditure, but as matters stand now
it is quite possible that they will b.
compelled to drop back into the con
dition they were in the latter part o
1907 and during the year 1908, that is
purchase nothing except that whicl
is absolutely essential, and the reasons
are exactly the same as those tina
existed in the early part of 1907, tina
Is Radical Railroad Regulation"
Our Legislators seem to be unmind
full of the causes of the depression o
1907 and 1908, and give every indi
cation of re-entering the field witt
even more laws to interfere with an,
discourage the investment of money II
railroad enterprises, whether 1t be 70
increases or improvements in existing
lines, and absolutely calling halt Of
new projected railroad enterprises
And the railroads have not reache
the position that they now occup
through any concerted plan; they al
realize and appreciate the necessity @
renewing their tracks and equipmen
that the recent depression would NO
permit of. This in the face Of a yer
general actual or threatened deman
for large increases in the wages G
their employees, and knowing that tn
only way they can grant these az
vances will be by corresponding az
vance in their revenue, and the onl
way in which they could increase thei
revenue would be by raising thei
rates, and certainly the outlook fo
this is far from promising. They hav
no certainty as to the character of LEI
islation to come; they are in positiv
fear of Congress, and are warrante
in that fear by special bills alread
introduced, which is sufficient caus
for them to hesitate. They are nc
certain that the people general
would favor any increase in rates, an
they are equally uncertain as t
whether the public would not side wit
labor In it's increased demands upo
the railroads. They feel as all owner
of property naturally would feel, tha
the earning capacity of their propert
is now absolutely dependent upon tn
manner in which they shall be go
erned. They do not know what ths
government is going to be; they al
almost positive that there will be n
legislation which will cause an II
, (dap,