Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-07

la.
My Dear ST.; in your chautauaua
speech at Peabody. Kan, on the card
inst. you are reported as saying:
II am not opposed to the railroads.
No man who values the public well
fare can be hostile TO the railroads.
but justice TO all means to pay the
righteous dues as fixed by the laws
of trade by competition or through So
ciety. The railroads of the country
are capitalized at sl7, goo. 00O, 900. The
highest estimate I have ever heard
placed on the actual amount Of inde-
pendent capital put into their roads
was $4,000. 600, 900. There is nearly
nine billion dollars of impure and
adulterated water. You have to nay
more than you ought 20 pay for the
service YOU get in order TO pay divi-
dends on this vast capitalization. The
railroads charged excessive rates ana
accumulated q surplus and this they
put back into the roads in improve
ments, and they now ask You To pay
additional interest on this surplus, Sc
cured by extortionate rates. In ten
years the railroads added $500, 0O0,-
600 to their capitalization in better
ments and extensions without the in
vestment of a single penny of indie
pendent capital.
when congress met a bill came
from the attorney general. / regret
to say that the attorney general for
got that he was attorney general for
80. 600, 600 people. But he remember
ed his long law practice in New York,
when his chief business was to tell
the corporations how to evade the
law. This bill provided for the re-
peal OF the antitrust law under
which the traffic associations were
broken up and allowed all agreements
TO go into effect at once. This was a
plain reputation OF the republican
platform. Aldrich. In the committee
room, said the bill should pass with
out changing Of a letter or dotting OF
an a." but as the bill passed the SEN
ate its own mother would not recog-
nize IL. If II had not been for the
men like Senator Bristow the bill as ii
came from the committee would have
passed the senate.
Senator Aldrich has vigorously OPP
posed all regulation of the railroads
by congress ever since the bill To
create the interstate COM
mission was introduced in 1897. / was
born and always nave been a repub-
lican, but 1 can not and viii not fol-
low the leadership OF q traitor to his
party and the people"
I hold no brief for Senator Aldrich.
The bill he introduced In congress
was i'm no sense in the interest OF the
railroads-on the contrary, 1t was in
tensely disliked by them. According
to your account he has sins enough to
answer for, and he certainly should be
absolved from the sin Gin your eyes,
of having in any manner favored the
railroads. IL Is true that the so-called
! asa4.tra fEAA Atf1fI rIAr.n 10
some of the railroad presidents after
il was drawn; it is also true that they
unavailingly protested against its
terms. Also, the attorney general
should be eliminated from the con-
demnation which attaches, in your
opinion, to every one who is disposed
to be fair to the railroads. IF Mr..
Wiekersham has favored the railroads
in any way IL has been observed by
those most affected. There was in
the bill only n thing that could by
any possibility be considered as fav-
orable 10 the railroads. viz. the
right to make legal agreements
as to rates-a proposition rec
commended by Roosevelt, by the
interstate commerce commission and
inserted, / believe. In our party
platform. A right, also, which all
unprecedented students Of railway
economics realize as being a neeess-
ity. This. the only desirable feature
of the administration bill, was elimin-
ated by you and your friends.
You say that the railroads of the
United States are capitalized at sew
| enteen billions and that you have
heard IL claimed that they represent
an actual Investment of over eight
billions; that the remaining nine bill
lions represents money earned by the
| railroads ("extorted from the people
is YOU way OF expressing I'D and IN
vested in the properties. Also. that
In ten years (you do not say what ten
years) the railroads issued securities
of the face value of three and a half
billions, without the investment or n
single penny of original capital.
If you had cared to make a fair
statement, instead OF an inflamma-
tory and partisan speech, you would
nave stated that of the seventeen btl-
lions of nominal capitalization only
thirteen and n half billions Is In the
hands Of the public; you would nave
stated that substantially 20 per cent
of this capitalization paid no return
and that the entire return on out
standing capital was g 35-lOO per
cent. These figures were Just MS
readily obtainable from the reports
Ol me llltlhldAt 80
sion as those you selected for your
purposes-if you had cared to tell
the whole ruth. l do not think II
would be possible to ascertain at this
date Just how much original invest
ment" has gone into our railroads
Millions on millions have been lost
sight Of; millions wiped out by fore
closure. Yet, / am willing TO venture
my opinion against yours that this
Original investment far exceeds the
eight billions you allow, but even II
we admit this distorted view, the
earnings were less than 10 per cent
on this eight billions. We know (and
Won know, because you have admit
ted I'D that the existing capital prob
ably does not exceed the cost OF re-
production. Your idea, therefore,
seems TO be that the railroads alone,
of all the industries of the country
are not to be permitted to share In
the country's prosperity and growth
though they nave been the chleW
means Of creating It: that those who
risked their money in railroad seeurl-
lies in the early days are entitled 10
no profits beyond simply interest
that although the Kansas farmer has
seen his land advance in value four
or five hundred per cent, due 10 the
building of the railroad, he should
contribute to its support nothing
more than interest on the original
OF II risk