The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-12-11
WHAT THE RAILROADS
DO WITH THEIR INCOME,
Why They Are Considered the Great
Business Barometer of
the Nation

the Nation
In contemplating the crisis when
confronts the railroads at the present
time, and which was briefly explained
in last weeks article, it is important
for tho reader to realize that the
railroads and the public face each
other under radically changed condi-
tions today from those which pre-
vailed few years ago. The abuses
and scandals which have been aired
before the Interstate Commerce COM
mission during recent months were
perpetrated for the most part under
the old regime of dozen or SO years
ago. and can never be repeated under
the conditions which now prevail On
the one hand, the Interstate Com
merce commission and the different
states, either through. their Public
Utility Commissions or Legislatures,
say what rates the railroads shall
charge for service. In addition to
this, proposal is now pending in
Congress to give the government the
right to investigate all new interstate
securities before they can be placed
upon the market, while similar au-
thority is already being exercised
within the states by the different
public utility commissions, including
Kansas. This means that the last
vestige of control over their finances
will have been taken away from the
railroads and that henceforth their
fate will lie absolutely in the hollow
of the peoples hands. In this con-
nection, we wish to again remind the
reader that the hundreds of honest
railroad officials throughout the
country-men who have managed
their properties without breath of
scandal or public criticism-should
not be condemned because of the mis-
deeds of the few. With an aroused
public conscience on the one hand
and scores of railroad officials
throughout the contry sincerely and
actively cooperating with the differ
ent public authorities on the other,
we can safely let by-gones be by
gones-wipe the slate, and, with a
square deal for the people, the in
vestor and the railroads alike, start
over again"
The Presidents Anxiety
In last weeks article we quoted a
portion of President Wilson recent
reply to a group of Eastern railroad
executives. That the President has
become profoundly concerned over
the present crisis which confronts
the transportation companies is once
more made strikingly apparent in his
letter concerning the Inauguration OF
the new banking system to Secretary
McAdoo a few days ago. In this les-
ter he referred to this matter in the
following language:
The railroads of the country are
almost as much affected (by tie
war; not so much because their bust
ness is curtailed as because their
credit is called in question by doubt
as to their earning capacity. There
| is no other interest so central 10
the business welfare of the country
as this. No doubt, in the light OF the
new day, with its new understand
ings, the problem of the railroads
will also be met and dealt with in
a spirit of candor and justice"
Like utterances have come from
scores of other prominent public mel
and fnanciers during the last few
weeks-men who are above making
selfish plea for any private or cor
porate interest and whose sole desire
is that American Business shall
emerge from the present precarious
| Situation with diSaStar Under
these circumstances it is the merest
folly for any citizen to treat the
present crisis lightly or fippantly,
for we are passing through period
in which the financial resources of
every nation in the world will lie
tested as never before.
Where Railroad Receipts Go
In order that the reader may real
| lie what a tremendous factor the
railroads are in the every day bust
ness life Of the nation and what they
mean to its prosperity, we wish to
analyze briefly what becomes OF an
average years railroad income. Just
as the idea has prevailed in the
minds of many that the railroads are
owned by few rich men, so the
thought has also found deep root
that they collect millions of dollars
from the public which go into the
Golfers of a handful OF millionaires,
and which are permanently with
drawn from the thrift and industry
of the people.
At the close of the fiscal year end