Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-12-30

which will mature between now anc
the end of next year, and which the
railroads will have to meet in some
way, amount to more t:ian $563,000,-
O00-and this doesn't take dollars
worth of new improvements or bet
terments into consideration. These
are obligations which were incurred
in the past and which must be met
as they fall due if the transportation
companies are to be preserved from
wholesale receiverships and ruin. " :
Manifestly, therefore, American in
vestors, big and little, will have to
come to the rescue-and before they
will consent to do this American rail-
road securities will have to be re-
established as sound, respected and
paying investment-and this, on the
basis of present railroad earnings, is
impossiDle!.
For this reason the railroads IF
Iowa believe the impending crisis
demands that they lay this whole
problem before the people of the en-
tire state-that they have a heart-to-
heart talk with the farmer, the mer-
chant, the manufacturer, the banker,
the laboring man, and all other citi-
zens upon this great question which
SO vitality affects the future welfare
of the commonwealth and the nation.
Why Railroads are Helpless.
In. times of acute financial stress
private industries are in position to
very largely adjust their affairs 10
meet the emergency. They can ad-
vance the price Of their commodities,
cut their payroll in half, or shut down
altogether, and thus permit the storm
to blow over without actual ship
wreck. The railroads, as quasi-pubiic
enterprises, however. are in an en-
tirely different position. Their rates
are regulated by law and cannot be
advanced without the consent Of the
people through their ,law-making
bodies. In order to please the con-
venience of the public and not to
break down; the commerce of the coun-
try they must operate their freight
and passenger trains whether they
carry full load or only a quarter Of
a 1oad-and in view of these facts it
is manifestly unfair to put the rail-
roads in the same class with private
industries in the present crisis and
ask them to shift for themselves as
best they can. When the people took
over the complete making and sregu-
lation of railroad rates they at the
same time assumed the solemn i'm
piled obligation to see that the rail-
roads get square deal-for the
people are the only power that stands
between them and ruin.
d! We believe every intelligent citizen
will agree that agriculture, commerce
and industry cannot get along without
the railroads. On the other hand, The
railroads cannot get along without
the patronage and, what is equally
essential, the good will Of the people.
entrusted with railroad management
That some Of those who have been
in the past are somewhat responsible
for the apparent gulf between the
publlc and y the transportation " cgii1 2
panies is perhaps true. Busy and
harassed by the herculean tasks en-
trusted to their care, there has been
too little contact between them and
the people. Again, It is undoubtedly
true that the world of railroad finance
as we'll as other. lines of Industrial
activity has had its share Of mex.
cusable abuses-but just as the pub
lie does not hold the banking world
or e2ministry responsible as a whole
for the shortcomings of an occasional
black sheep, SO the hundreds Of hon
est railroad officials throughout the
country should not be condemned be-
cause Of the misdeeds Of the few.
Who Owns the KaIlrOads2
In this connection it may be said