The Washington herald., 1914-03-06
The Poor Railroads Again.


lterstate Commerce Commission OF
the railway freight rate question,
which has now, for months past,
been pending before it. Herewith
we present another phase bearing
upon the same general subject
namely, are our railroads to be al
lowed to prosper?
| We hold it to be truth that IT
| is almost as necessary in we'll
lordered state of society, erected
upon permanent foundations, for
means to be provided for the
proper investment of money as for
pure air or pure water or suffi-
Client supply of food.
A man or nation that is to live
comfortably must save money; and
If money is saved there must be a
place to put the savings. The
savings must be SO placed that they
will earn additional money, and
this in turn implies that the earning
power of the industry shall be rea-
sonably constant and secure.
All of this was taught by the
Saviour of mankind in the parable
of the talents 1000 years ago. 1t
is an elementary principle of the
social structure and everybody so
admits it as matter of theory.
But everybody does not so admit
it as matter of fact. In our own
country it seems almost to have
come to this at the present time
that no sooner does a business or
Industry develop sustained and rea-
sonably permanent earning power
than the people become ignorantly
jealous of it and seek to destroy
its earning power or at any rate
greatly 10 reduce the rate of earn
ings. One of the reasons by
which the existence of a national
debt in a. country was formerly
justified was that the debt would
provide an outlet for the savings
investments of the people. This
reasoning is no longer thought to
be conclusive, because OF the tend
ency everywhere for national
debts to rise disproportionately
with the increase in the wealth and
population of the country, and be-
cause the rate of interest borne by
this national stock is so low as to
only be attractive to people who
have very large sums to invest
The great mass of people who in
vest money want TO receive more
than the 2 or 3 per cent interest re-
turn given, for instance, upon
United States government bonds.
Up to a few years ago in the
history of our own country railroad
stocks and bonds were regarded as
one of the choicest, if not the
choicest practical field for invest
ment. The supply of ore in a mine
could run out and almost any man.
ufacturing or commercial industry
could be so affected by changing
circumstances as vastly to decline
in prosperity. But great railway,
running through prosperous
country, had solid basis in the
current business of the community.
The chances were overwhelming
that its business would increase
steadily from year to year. Its Sc
curities were easily marketable and
their general value was usually
matter of common knowledge.
But the public or political hos
tility to railroads has run to such a
length with us and the railway
companies have been subjected to
such an impairment OF their earn
ing power by continuous State and
national legislation that the people
will no longer buy railway stocks
for investment. There is fear SO
widespread that it would be foolish
to ignore it, that the railroad busi-
ness will soon become so unre-
munerative as to be relinquished by
those who now conduct it. This will
force the business into the hands
of the government and it will then
have to be conducted at a national
loss.
We do not desire at this time to
60 into a consideration of the sub
ject in detail, but we only ask our
members of Congress and our
thinking people to consider. just
what will be the state of affairs
with us if saving and investing
people as whole get it into their
heads that there is no industry in
the country whose position is safe,
that the country no longer affords
secure fields for savings, and that
our State and national Legislators,
having eaten of the root of some
madness, are bound to reduce the
earning power of every industry to
merely nominal basis, with
state of socialism as the end of it