The Washington herald., 1914-03-15
The Question Of Government Ownership Something About
Mr.. Prouty, Who Has the Art Of Listening IN
Silence He Gardens N Newport.

go on" Mr.. Prouty remarked. when
stopped In the hope that he would
elaborate some of the views he holds at
this time.
The whole question Of public owner
ship, you likewise told me, was then
more interesting to the student than to
anyone else but that II would be argued
TO conclusion some day because the
railroads are monopolies, SO made by
law, and were and would remain the
most powerful Of all agencies in Ameri-
can commerce, industry and agriculture.
No other interest. you said, was SO large
or vital"
II do not deny the accuracy Of your
quotations" Mr.. Prouty observed. What
else did i say?''
You said that in early days men built
railroads with the proceeds Of bonds and
kept the shares as their own profits"
Has any one ever denied that we'll
known fact?" Mr.. Prouty asked.
Railroads would not have been built
on any other basis. you declared. En-
terprise and hazard had TO be rewarded.
The rewards, however. were often pretty
large. You recalled the merger Of the
New York Central and Hudson River
railroads, in 1863. by Commodore Wander
bilt. His reward in that transaction, you
said. was si5.0Oo.0o0 of stock, which was
very acceptable to the English nobility of
a later generation"
But didn't I say that such financiering
had practically gone out of fashion, Mr..
Prouty asked.
You did answered. New mileage
nowadays. you explained. Is usually an
extension Of mileage previously in exist
ence and is paid for commonly by the
sale Of bonds or stock with no bonus to
any one in the way of free shares. II had
come to pass, therefore, that no securi-
ties were safer or better than were those
put out by our greatest railroads"
He Can Listen for Hour,.
Mr.. Prouty continued to look at me.
but he made no comment. He can listen
for hours and say nothing himself. That
has been his practice ever since 1896, in
which year he was made a member of
the Interstate Commerce Commission by
President Cleveland at the suggestion of
the late Redfield Proctor. the Senator
from Vermont. Back in those primeval
days the commission was body OF little
power and. therefore, of little importance.
THAT was a delightful period for the
student of railroad questions MIR.
Prouty said TO me. The commissioners
could travel about the country or sit at
their desks and investigate our trans
portation problems. II was a scholarly
and statistical employment.
'Rebating had been made unlawful,
but the Lake Shore, now the rich prop
erty of the New York Central paid back
10 per cent of the revenues II received
from a large part of its freight to favor
ed shippers. The Santa Fe Railway gave
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company a
monopoly of the coal business in certain
rRQinnS hV nf
from its published rate
Up in New England. where he was
bern and reared. Mr.. Prouty. as an at
torney for the Vermont Central Railroad
and the general counsel of the Rutland
Railway. though he devoted half Of his
time to his own practice, had learned
many things about the transportation
conditions Of the country. Once a men,
ber of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, he did his share of travelling
about and sitting at his desk and study
ing and figuring over what he called