The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-01-28

IWU0r0dS III EuSlduu II COSts LOO SSAAeS'
i in Germany 1.42 cents, and in France
| LII cents, In the United States the
average wages paid to railroad en-
ployes are 1928 per day, in England
$1.16, and In Germany and France not
over 81 per day. The English rail-
roads are capitalized at S265,O00 per
mile, in France at $4,000 per mile,
in Germany at $114,1S5, while in the
United States the stock and bond cap
litalization averages only $4,000 per
mile. In view OF this remarkable com.
parison, do American railroads de-
serve the wholesale denunciation
which has been heaped upon them?
FACING GRAVE PROBLEMS.
Unquestionably we are facing some
LOT the gravest problems that ever
confronted us as nation-and these
problems grow largely out of war
which is without precedent in history.
True, with q rapidly increasing cost
of operation on the one hand and re-
duced rates on the other, It was mere
|ly a matter OF time until the railroad
question was bound to become press
ing-but the great tragedy across
the seas has suddenly resolved into
an acute crisis problem which might
otherwise have been solved gradually
and without any far-reaching indus
trial disturbance.
The United States Is a heavy DEBTOR
nation. During the average year our
balance of trade against the rest OF
the world amounts to approximately
$500, 100000, but on top of this we
always owe approximately another
$500, OOO, 900 which heretofore we have
been able to stand Off by selling Eu-
rope Industrial securities to that
amount. Now, however, the great
warning countries have served notice
that they not only expect US to pay
our debts above our trade balances in
gold, but that In addition they look
to us to buy back from them hundreds
OF millions Of dollars worth Of Amer1-
can securities which are now held
abroad. It was to deliver this grim
message that Sir George Paish, OF the
english exchequer, paid his recent
visit to the United States, and when
he got through making his statement
to group OF big New York bankers,
an old veteran fnancier who has sur
vived many q financial storm re-
marked to his profoundly silent aud
itors, "the sheriff, with writ, Is on
the doorstep.
In the present instance, the railroad
crisis Is of tremendous importance
because In IT. iI s,inyolved the still
greater problem OF the integrity and
safety Of the whole superstructure OF
American business. That we cannot
shove 1t aside by broadside Of dem
agogic platitudes or minimize 1t by
employing the strategy OF an ostrich
is apparent to every man WHO Is ser |
iously concerned in his own and his
country's future welfare.
UP TO PEOPLE OF IOWA.
In few other states have the rail- |
roads had larger share in progress
and development than I'm Iowa
state which stands without peer
agriculturally and which has within |
its borders greater diversified per
capita wealth and less of poverty |
than any other state In the union!
Surely such q great commonwealth,
the observation-disclosures Of whose peO
pie is a byword throughout the nation,
cannot afford to treat unfairly the
millions OF outside capital which have
been invested in her network OF rail
roads and without which her position
among the sisterhood Of states would
have been impossible?
Splendid as has been our progress
In the past, Iowa still stands merely |
upon the threshold of her true pos
sibilities, and during the next twenty
five years our farm and Industrial
wealth should be increased by many
Of millions Of dollars. That
we however, still need millions OF
outside capital and that these millions
will not be forthcoming unless we
treat fairly every dollar which has
been honestly invested in our indus
tries should be apparent to every
citizen.
In the end, all the people and the
industries Of q state, great or small,
must rise or fall together-for In the
final analysis we. are all dependent
upon each other. Thus, the welfare
Of the town and its surrounding I
arms depend upon spirit OF kindly
between those who live
in town and those who live upon the
farm without splendid inland towns
we would have a rural atmosphere
which would soon drive every bright
boy and girl to the cities
while without the farms the towns
would wither and die. Even so 1t is
With all the other interests of our
great commonwealth which should
contribute its full share toward the
New Day "a day fraught with a
broader understanding and Justice for
every man and every interest whether
large or small.
At this moment there are a mil
ion idle men who stand in the bread
inc" and depend upon soup houses"
in every city OF size in the nation. A
year ago the American Steel Corpora.
ion had 100000 men on its payroll.
Today the number has been reduced
% 100000 state Of affairs largely
attributable to the impoverished con-
1ition of the railroads. That this
vast .army of unemployed is depress-
ng the Price of farm products and