The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1914-12-23


535 ,G53 more. But heavy as this bur:
den was before, the great struggle
across the seas, carrying in its wake
the destruction OF untold hundreds OF
millions of dollars worth of all kinds
of property, renders the situation a
thousand fold more serious. 1t means
in short, that for a number of years
to come Europe will have no surplus
money for Investment in the United
States or elsewhere, and that Ameri-
can railroads will have to finance their
future needs at home. How hercul-
can this task will be, saying nothing
about protecting themselves against
the dumping Of foreign securities. may
be judged from the fact that the bond
and note obligations which will ma
ture between now and the end OF next
year, and which the railroads will
have to meet in some way, amount to
more than $5G3,000, 000-and this does
not take a dollars worth of new i'm
provements or betterments into con-
sideration. These are obligations
which were incurred in the past and
which must be met as they fall due il
the transportation companies are to
be preserved from wholesale receiver
ships and ruin.
Manirestly, 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 rees-
tablished as q sound, respected and
paying investment-and this, on the
basis OF present railroad earnings, is
impossible.
For this reason the railroads OF
Iowa believe the impending crisis de-
mands that they lay this whole prob
lem before the people OF the entire
stute-that they have Il heart to heart
talk with the farmer, the merchant,
the manufacturer. the banker, the
laboring man, and all other citizens
upon this great question which 50
vitality affects the future welfare of
the commonwealth and the nation.
Why Railroads A.e Helpless.
In times of acute financial stress
private industries are in position to
very largely adjust their affairs to
meet the emergency. They can adj
vance the price of their commodities.
cut their pay roll in half, or shut down
altogether, and thus permit the storm
to blow over without actual ship
wreck. The railroads. as quasi-public
enterprises, however, are in an entire
ly different position. Their rates are
regulated by law and cannot be adj
vanced without the consent OF the peo-
pie through their law making bodies.
In order to please the convenience OF
the public and not to break down the
commerce of the country they must
operate their freight. and passenger
trains whether they carry full load
or only quarter OF load-and in
view Of these facts it is manifestly
unfair to put the railroads 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 regulation OF railroad
rates they at the same time assumed
the solemn implied obligation to see
that the railroads get a square deal
for the people are the only power that |
stands between them and ruin.
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.
That some OF those who have been
entrusted with railroad management
in the past are somewhat responsible
for the apparent gulf between the
public and the transportation compan-
les is perhaps true. Busy and harassed
by the herculean tasks entrusted 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 inexcusable abuses
but just as the public does not hold
The banking world or the ministry
responsible as a whole for the short
of an occasional black sheep,
so the hundreds of honest railroad Of
ticials throughout the country should
not be condemned because OF the mis-
deeds of few.
Who Owns the Railroads?
In this connection it may be said
that the railroad world is incumbered
with lot of phantoms which exist
only in the popular fancy. For in
stance. because there have been some
half dozen so-called railroad magnates
whose names have figured prominently
in Wall Street. many people have
come to believe that the railroads OF
the country are largely owned by
lew rich men. AS Il matter OF fact.
nothing could be farther from the
ruth. Out OF the colossal sum OF
.wenty billion dollars invested in
American railroad securities less than
) per cent is now. or ever has been,
II the hands of these men who have
figured prominently in the newspaper
ieadlines-w while the other 50 per cent
s in the hands OF nearly two million
investors. large and small. who in
many instances have put the modest
savings of lifetime into these secur-
ties in order that they might lay
,way a competency 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
,itizens upon the frugal mechanic in
/ New England factory. the widow
With her life insurance funds, and the
Countless other citizens in every avo-
alton and walk of life than upon the