Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-05-26
RIPLEY INTERVIEW
DECLARES PEOPLE
NOT COMPETENT



on hls WBy from santa Barbara "a
his home IN Chicago. President n. r..
Ripley pRasea through AibuqueTquo
tate Saturday AFTERNOON IN iiis nffrafa
car attached 20 Santa 10 train No 4.
Mr.. Ripley has been ri during ihe
winter but = said to BE- H6N muth
improved IN health and Of the npGn-
ION that he Il strong enough to stand
the strain Of his work a. directing
head Of tho longest single railroad
system ln the world. AIR. Ripley wnn
accompanied a. far east AZ Albuqucr-
que by l. Il Hubbard. acting general
manager Of the coast lines.
A. n his usual custom before Ieav.
Ing the Pacific coast each spring. Mr..
Ripley gave out an Interview to Los
Angeles newspaper mon. In an IN
tcrviow printed In the Los AnNeles
Times Of q recent date. MT Ripley
gave decided opinions as 20 import
ant questions which are now conntIn.
ing the country ~ large. He iloclnr-
"a that the nation has made mis-
take in recent years 10 attempting to
cure every evil BY legislation and said
the people are not better equipped 10
make their own laws than they afe
70 make their own shoes.
The Interview IN fun d a. follows.
r. p. Ripley. president OF the Gan
GA Re railroad. says tho people are no
more capable OF making their laws
than their shoes; that efforts 10 cure
an evils b. legislation nnva rosalted
In a sorry mess OF haif-bakod, badly
dlgested laws. and that California has
the worst Hlato government ~ the
Union. He says also that tho Wilson
administration ~ proving a fleap-
pointment and that the action o. tho
present congress 70 FAR does not con-
form with President wilson's promise
that legitimate business would not bo
hurt BY the new administrative policy;
IN consequence. big business Il mark
ing time"
on the eve Of his departure. for
Chicago TO discharge his 1utlas from
the central office. after shs winter
spent in his Santa Barbara home. Mr.
Ripley discussed freely national H.
sues and state and local matters. he
took a pesslmlstlc view Of the state
OF the government, but was IN better
humor as 60 business. snvlnS that all
signs pointed 10 q large crop end that
II nothing happened between now ana
harvest time there would be q great
volume Of business. Tho crops were
the foundation o. prosperity. he said
thus indicating that he thought boun-
tlful nature might offset the bad Of
feet Of unwise legislation and that
the country would not 90 to the dogs
completely.
big business has halted and Is
marking time" said Mr.. Ripley.
Nothing new h being started In the
way Of railroad construction and ex-
tension Of lines and believe the
same condition exists In other large
business concerns. Work under way
in being finished up but no new work
Is being started.
THE Wilson administration 20 far
has been disappointment to me.
was a Wilson man. but am far from
being satisfied with the results OF the
administration. The sundry civil bill
passed by congress with its clause
preventing the prosecution OF farm
ers and labor organizations for vioia-
lions Of the anti-trust law, Il an out
rage. II that II an index Of the adj
ministratlon's judgment, Il Is enough
go make any man stop and think.
Two classes OF people are permitted
TO violate the law and ali others are
10 be prosecuted That ~ nothing less
than rank discrimination and does
not insure confidence In the admlnin-
traitor.
as TO tarlm reductions and the in
come tax. / have no fault 10 ind.
rather believe Il will be we'll 20 give
them a good trial and md out what
they are worth. The investigations by
congress I reeard az largely humDug
n u Is true that the secretary of
commerce hiss said any reductions Ia
wages as the result Of the lifting %
protection Will be investigated By the
government. can only say IL was a
foolish statement 10 mike An en-
pl0yer Who has had the benefit Of a
protective tarin may be absoiutels
forced 20 lower wages OF 30 out 90
business u that protection Is removed
''The Investigation OF wages - not
The governments business, The guess
tion % lhe fc,stlon of the employer
10 the employs IA one that must bc
settled between themselves. The
government cannot ieslslate The dit
rereneea between iabr and capitai.
There arc two obvious REASONS. First.
The employer cannot be Obiisad 10
pay certain wage. and IN the Second
place the employe cannot bo com
PEELED BY law 10 accept a wage less
than he IL willing to accept There
must be free agreement between
them and no amount of Hesitation
can settle the question.
This nation has made a mistake
IN recent years In attempting 90 cure
every detail BY legislation. The result
has been d mass OF halt-baked. badly
dieeslcd laws that are useless. Il not
Injurious
In this respect, California - this
worst Of an. and positively has The
worst state government IN the uniOu
Ia referendum, Initiative and recall
are the biggest frauds ever perpe-
irated on a people Tire one redeem
lng feature OF the new order IL tho
public utilities act and Ia operation
thn....k tt.. ..4IanaI .a.a.. ss.la.t,... nj. 4.