Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-09-12

/ propose that the Progressive party
shall undertake to abolish all the big
are robbed of the fruits of toll to enrich
the few. The national government should
take over and operate the great natural
monopolies which are national in their
scope-the railroads, the telephones and
the telegrnphs. This will save the PEG
pie hundreds of millions of real money,
which under priyately-owned monopoly OF
these utilities we now pay a out sn Ior m =,
will save them many other millions by
breaking the monopoly power of every
trust which now controls the prices OF
the necessities of life through secret
transportation favors.
Evil of Monopoly.
The evils of monopoly, which are
entrenched and buttressed by the private
ownership of the railroads with their
be reached by regulation. Regulation
| has proved utterly futile to prevent the
secret favors which help great trust to
destroy its competitors. The only way
and operate the railroads, the telephones
and the telegraphs and for our munich
palities to own and operate their troll
ley, electric light, gas and water ser
vice These are all natural monopolies.
No natural monopoly should be pr1-
vately owned.
The question of trusts and monopolies
economic question; It is n moral ques-
ton just as slavery was a moral ques-
ton. The hatefulness of slavery was
the power of the slave owner to take
away from the slave all the fruits of his
labor except a bare subsistence, and
whatever today takes away from men
any portion of their earnings without
And this industrial slavery of our time,
growing out of the power Of the trusts
to take away from the people, in the
prices of necessities an increasing por-
nf on n q q M h.
! lem just as African slavery was, and a
much bigger and more dangerous prob
lem. The only way to break up indus
| trial slavery and give our workers the
J fruits of their labor Is to abolish the
! private monopolies which are now rob-
! bling them.
| l would not attempt to solve the prob
lem of industrial trusts by breaking up
! the great business organizations. There
Is no crime in size and | would let
business grow as big as It can get by
away their power of monopoly and let
any business grow as big and rich as 1t
can get with unrestricted competition.
The public ownership of railroads and
personal property will take away the
! monopolistic power of the great indus
trial trusts that now prey upon us,
and restore the power of competition as
the all-sufficient regulator of prices; and
a proper revision of the banking tariff
and patent laws will take away the
monopolistic power of every other big
industrial trust.
Ready for Government Ownership.
l believe that a big majority of the
ownership of railroads and these other
utilities, and 1t is my hope that the Ma
tional Progressive party will declare for
that principle before entering the Con-
gressional campaign next year, but
propose that the Progressive party In
New Jersey shall begin the war on priyi-
lege now by declaring for law that
will give every municipality the power,
by majority vote, to take over and oper-
ate. its gas. electric light, trolley and
water service.
favor public ownership Of these utili-
ties not only because 1t will reduce the
cost of living but because public own
ership will remove the greatest source
of political corruption that now exists.
charge all the traffic will bear" and
prevent the taxation of their franchises.
these great utility companies have for a
generation, through alliance. with lead,
nominations to Congress, Legislatures
and executive offices, and to control
judicial decisions through the appoint
ment of judges. They have spent mil
lions to control nominations and cleo
tons and to maintain Hobbies.
Mr. Colby and l are as wide apart on
the question of railroads and trusts as
Lincoln and Douglas were on the ques-
ownership of the railroads and other
utilities; In his platform he recognizes
evidently regards it as a necessary evil.
He Is as fatty opposed to the abolition
of monopoly as Douglas was to the aboli-
ton of slavery. He would allow the
railroads and other trusts 4, to continue
other remedy for the evil of monopoly
than the futile policy of control by
regulation.
In four years the Public Utilities Com
mission of New Jersey has spent about
$500,000 of the peoples money and, in my
opinion, demonstrated the utter futility
of regulation as remedy | think they
have not on their own motion reduced
a single rate. They reduced gas from
81 to 30 cents as the result of the suit
brought by George L. Record for the city
of Passaic. In this proceeding they al
on s5,OOO,OOO when the books of the com
pany showed the property to have cost
only about $1,000 00O thus saddling per-
manentIy upon Paterson and Passaic
81, 900, 900 of watered stock on a So, 900, 600
investment, and an excess charge of over
5000, 900 a year.
Hereafter fat failure of this commits
sion, for four years 10 afford any sub
stantial relief, and after their failure for
four years even to investigate the rates
Of utilities in Essex County, my oppon-
ent comes to. their defense, In his plat
sonaily ' committed to tSs the theory cor Pot Of
regulation. at least until the present
commission is defeated in its efforts to
properly safeguard the interests of the
Mr.. Colby propose to wait upon the
commission, while the Public Service
Corporation takes for gas alone an ex-
cess price of 100000 a year in Essex
These utilities companies and the trusts
are finding that regulation doesn't hurt
as badly as they thought it would, and
hDNr inf IN oil rafa.r ID b
tive of public ownership, because through
their control of the political machinery
they have almost invariably secured con-
fore, all the. great public utility and
regulation" as the statesmanlike method
of dealing with monopoly, they neither
seek nor hope for anything better than
regulation, and with this policy my OPP
ponent now is in hearty accord
l propose that the Progressive party
shall start out to abolish the great
T monopoly privilege Of the public
this means war with the powerful pub
lice service corporations, which neither
of the old political machines dare to
this proposition, then you have got to
make up your minds whether you want
as your leader in that fight man who
advocates exactly what the Public Ser
abolishing the privileges of that great
But we will not make any great perma-
nent saving for the people who need It
most II we stop with. taking over these
PUBIC utility companies, even II we do
greatly reduce the prices for these serv-
Ices, for the landlords will soon absorb
the savings Of their tenants by increas-
ing rents. If Newark, for instance, takes
over these utilities and greatly reduces
the price of the services, the population
OF Newark will he abnormally inerea sed
by these attractions, the demand for
housing will increase, and the landlords
win speedily put up their rents to the
point where they will absorb the savings
only way to leave this saving in the
pockets of the nonrest nennle whn mead