Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1914-10-07

D who have figured prominently il
: the newspaper headlines-whil
i the other 95 per cent is in tn,
hands of four million investors
large and small. who in many in
stances have put the modest say
> ings of life time into these Sc
surities in order that they might
lay away competency for old
age.
| When, therefore, the value OF
these securities is depressed or
perchance destroyed, the hard
lship Is ten fold greater upon
thousands of every day citizens,
upon the frugal mechanic in a
New England factory. the widow
with her life insurance funds
land the countless other citizens
in every avocation and walk of
life than upon the handful of
millionaires, good or bad, who
have figured prominently in rail
road circles. Thus, for instance,
the great Santa F'e system has
over 40, ,OOO.stockholders and the
same ratio holds good in nearly
all the other lines. But that is
not all. The hundred of millions
of assets of our great life insur-
ance companies and many of our
banking institutions large and
small, are invested in railroad
bonds-and the moment, there
fore, the soundness of these
bonds is affected, the financial
solidity of these myriad institu-
tions is menaced at the same
time. Carrying tia step farther,
it means that every holder of an
old line life insurance policy
and millions of depositors in
savings and other banks are di-
rectly concerned in the integrity
| of these securities. This only
goes to show how vast and over
shadowing our railroad industry
has become-how they are not
merely the giant arteries of Ag
riculture and Commerce, but how
closely their welfare is woven in
to the woof and fabric of the en-
tire nation. Among other things
it should remind US how inter-
dependent we have come to be in
this mighty Republic of ours
that each is in truth becoming
more and more his brothers
keeper and that we need to think
and act carefully lest in our mis-
taken zeal we destroy those, who
like ourselves, need whatever of
this worlds goods the toll and
sweat of years has brought to
them.
The Pablo and the Stookholder.
On the one hand stands the
public demanding the highest
efficiency of service and lower
rates in one and the same breath.
On the other hand stands the
thousands of men and women
who have put their money into
railroad securities, pleading that
the value of their investments
may not be confiscated-and be.
tween them, as arhiters, stand
the managers of the roads-the
hired men," struggling with
might and main to render the
good service which the public de-
mands and at the same time, in
the face of reduced rates and an
ever increasing cost of operation,
to have something left over at
the end of each fiscal year for
those whose mOneV h a s
gone into the property, and
who, in common with other nor
NAL human beings, believe they
have a right to protection and
fair return upon their invest
ment. This, in a nutshell, is
the triple relation and attitude
of the public, the owner of rail
road securities and those en-
trusted with railroad manage
ment at the present time-and
that the public and the investor
may soon come to realize that
each has rights which the other
should respect and that they may
regard each other without suspi-
cion or prejudice from this time
forward is the ardent hope of the
average railroad manager who,
for some years, has been in the
mental attitude of the fiddler in