Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1912-01-18
Socialism or Sense?

Socialism or Sense?
The Republican prints in another
column a letter written by Mr. Will
liam White in favor Of government
ownership of railroads and telegrs phs.
The letter is 50 completely divorced
from the usual bombast that char
acterizes the utterances of the dema-
gogic press and politicians on that
subject that it is a pleasure To prin5
it. Furthermore. Mr.. White presents
the subject probably as well as it
could be presented; and since II is
mere child's play To show the fallacy
of his arguments it is evident that
the whole government ownership
structure rests upon a foundation of
sand And it isn't even good sand.
at that.
The Republican correspond ent' 5
description Of the quality OF the Ger
man railroad service is the best pos
sible refutaJion of his own argument
Is that the best that govern ment
ownership has to offer? According to
his description the German railroad
service is about on par with the
old time desert freighting outfit,
whose motive power was mules. And
that description is actually offered as
an argument in favor of government
ownership.
Now. compare that with the ser
vice in this country-a service that
carries California oranges three thou
sand miles across the continent and
delivers them in New York. fresh as
the hour they We're picked from the
trees We might as well try to grind
our wheat crop with coffee mill as
handle the freight business Of this
country with the German govern
ment's railroad system
Mr.. White also forgot To say tina:
the American railroad employe lives
infinitely better than does the Ger
man railroad employe. He forgot the
question of wages altogether
The whole argument is that rates
will be cheaper under government
ownership. But it happens that all
our experience is against that theory.
Ii is notorious fact that the gov
eminent always does its work IN the
most cumbersome and expensive way.
and you don't have TO go out Of the
Salt River valley To find a demon
stration Of that fact There is hardly
a day but complaints come to The
Republican office Of the waste and
extravaganza practiced in the reclama-
ton work on this project 1t has
been said that parts of this work
of the cost under government man
agement This sort Of thing hardly
makes one enthusiastic on the sub
ject Of government ownership.
The Republican holds no brief for
any railroad company. 1t is just as
anxious as any one can Ice for lower
freight rates And it feels sure they
are coming. II happens to know
that even now there is plan to
establish interior rates on an indie
pendent fOoting-a plan that will save
millions Of dollars To the people Of
the inter- mountain section The
movement toward this plan has been
taken irrespective of the government
attitude
If Mr. White will examine the rail-
road reports he will find the h story
OF the freight business has been the
history Of ever cheapening rates And
this decline ante-dates the Int state
Commerce commission. 1t is cock
istent with the life of the railroads.
But granting everything claimed for
government ownership. Granting that
the government would handle the
business as cheaply as il could be
handled Granting that all profits
would be eliminated and these profits
saved to the people. which is the
best any government could do. The
Republican would still be unalterably