The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1911-04-28
ON PUBLIC CONTROL
James ], Hill, the Railroad MagHate,
Believes in Publicity of Affairs of
Public Service Corporations.

James J. Hill the Great Northern
Northern Pacific railroad magnate,
sees in PUBLICITY of corporation mat
tres and intelligent public control of
the corporations themselves, long
step towards the solution of the pres
ent era of business stagnation.
"And the United States needs a
saviour" says Mr.. fill. "'The peo-
pie have demanded not only the best
but an improvement on the best, and
they will now have to pay according
ly. If they don't pay in money, they
must pay iu prosperity. The bus
mess of the country increases IL per-
| cent every year; the facilities for
handling this new business increases
! only 1-6 of that. The difference in
the ratio is too great and balance
ust be struck, sometime. else there
will be complete breakdown of SER
vice or prosperity.
"Why don't the facilities for hand
Ing business increase more rapidly?
Because the men behind those faoili
ties ale afraid to spend their money
for extensions and Improvements "
Mr.. Hill has long been an expon-
ent of publicity of corporations affairs
and looks upon that as one of the
means of bringing corporation and
public together.
"The people are entitled to know
what the public service corporations
are doing and the conditions under
which they transact business" he
says. 81 have believed in and have
advocated publicity of corporation re-
ports for many years. When the pub
lie becomes conversant with corpora.
tion affairs and is convinced that it is
seeing from the inside, much of the
feeling against the great business con-
Germs will pass away. That will be
one of the effects of publicity"
In the matter of public control of
quasi public concerns, Mr.. Hill is
firm advocate. but he wants that con-
troll to be intelligent; he wants only
trained men in the places of control.
ga corporation is piece of paper
bearing the sta mp and seal of the
state" he says. "Its life is created
by the people and naturally the people
should have some word in making the
rules under which it transaots bust
ness. That proposition is one have
preached for years aud now I am glad
to see it making headway among COM
mon carrier corporations. Last week
President Nudge of Rock Island rail
road. declared for public control of
railroads; George M. Reynolds, pres
ldent Continental and Commercial
National Bank of Chicago, did the
same thing the week before; 7. N.
Vail, president American Telephone
and Telegraph, recently made an offio
ial report to his board of directors in
which he took firm stand for both
publicity and public control.
"But that control must be intelli-
gently administered. Public control
simply because it is control by the
public is not all. 1t must be intelli-
gent, as have always contended. In
telligent people will ask and expect
nothing more Vail, Reynolds and
the others are right in advocating
publicity and public control. Both
are things which eventually will go
far towards making good feeling be-
tween the col porations and the people,
and will assist in settling much of the
antagonism which now seems to pre-
VAIL"