Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-10-01

the country are largely owned by a
few rich men. AS a matter of fact,
nothing could be farther from the
truth. Out of the colossal sum of
twenty billion dollars invested in
American railroad securities less than
five per cent is now or ever has been
in the hands of these men who have
figured prominently in the newspaper
headlines-while the other 95 per cent
is in the hands of four million invest
ors, large and small, who in many
instances have putt the modest savings
of a life time into these securities in
order that they might lay away a com
potency for old age.
When, therefore, the value of these
securities is depressed or perchance
destroyed, the hardship is ten fold
greater upon thousands of every day
c~itizens-upon the frugal mechanic in
a New England factory, the widow
with her life insurance funds and the
countless other citizens in every avoca-
ton 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 Fe system has over 49,
900 stockholders and the same ratio
holds good in nearly all the other
lines. But that isn't all. The hum
dreds of millions of assets of our great
life insurance companies and many
of our banking institutions large and
small, are invested in railroad bonds
and the moment, therefore, the
soundness of these bonds is affected
the financial solidity of these myriad
institutions is menaced at the same
time. Carrying it a step farther, it
ean that every holder of an old line
life insurance policy and millions of
depositors in savings and other banks
are directly concerned in the integrity
of these securities. This only goes
to show how vast and overshad-
owing our railroad industry has
become-how they are not merely
the giant arteries of Agriculture and
Commerce, but how closely their
welfare is woven into the wool and
fabric of the entire 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 mistaken zeal we destroy those
who, like ourselves, need whatever of
this worlds goods the toll and sweat
of years has brought to them.
The Public and the Stakeholder
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 stand
the thousands of men and women who
have put their money into railroad So
curities, pleading that the value of
their investments may not be confs-
cated-and between them, as arbiters,
stands the managers of the roadside
'hired men," struggling with might
and main to render the good service
which the public demands and at the
same time, in the face Of reduced rates
and an ever increasing cost of opera
ton, to have something left over at
the end Of each fiscal year for those
whose money has gone into the
property, and who, in common with
other normal human beings, believe
they have a right to protection and a
fair return upon their investment.
This, in a nut shell, is the trip9
relation and attitude of the public;
the owner of railroad securities and
those entrusted 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 suspicion or prejudice from
this time forward is the ardent hope
of the average railroad manager who,
Tor some years, has been in the mem
tai attitude Of the fiddler in the
western mining camp when he yelled
out, "Please don't shoot, boys, Pm do
ing the best / cam Adv. Go be
continued next week.