East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-04-06

| lFrom the San Francisco EXaminer.)
Recently we were all greatly inter-
ested by the telephone monopoly's
achievement in linking the Atlantic
coast cities to the Pacific Coast cities.
An organization, styling itself the
Postal Progress League, has used
this achievement of private ownership
to belittle public ownership.
Through it's vice president-one
Ffllette, the Postal Progress League
compares the telephone monopoly $
management of the parcels post by
the government, and asserts that pri-
vate ownership has proved it's super
iority over public ownership of public
utilities.
Now, every well-informed man
knows that had the United States
government, instead OF. the Bell tele-
phone monopoly. been operating the
telephones, the Atlantic coast would
have been talking to the Pacific
coast long ago.
Compare the government enterprise
with private corporation enterprise In
this very parcel post matter. The
/ express companies, established for
half a century and earning enormous
dividends, would not deliver express
packages anywhere except in the lar
ger cities and towns. The national
government within three years after
its entry upon the parcel post busi-
ness, is carrying express packages TO
the remotest villages and han.lets,
where no express companies. however
large and prosperous, would think Of
delivering package.
Who built the Panama canal? The
national government.
Who failed to build it? Private
enterprise.
Who built the first great railway
that opened up the Western plains
and reached the Pacific? The ma
tional government.
Who built all our great canals? The
national and state governments.
What money built nearly all our
railroads? The money appropriated
by cities, states and towns.
Everybody who knows the history
Of our railroads knows that they have
rarely benefited the men who built
them. The inventor rarely received
any advantage from his invention
The public money which enabled the
construction Of these railroads was
stolen by fraudulent reorganizations.
out Of which have been built up the
great fortunes which threaten this re-
public today.
The process Of building railroad
and wrecking 1t is fully understood
by men who have studied the history
of these enterprises Cities, counties
and townships appropriate money to
ray the cost Of constructing the road
Inscriptions men get into its man
agenent, deliberately run the road 80
badly that II shows a loss, the stocks
which represent the money That built
the road begin to fall, and these dis
honeet manipulators and speculators
quietly buy the stock at bargain
prices. When they have thus stolen
tn, road, they begin to run II more
efficiently and to pour water into the
stock, thus making their millions by
a transaction as dishonest and ten
thousand times more harmful than
any for which the worst thief is now
confined in state prison.
Poverty insanity and suicide have
followed in the wake of this railroad
wrecking by manlpulators and stock
gamblers. The American people to-
day are paying hundreds Of millions
Of dollars every year in rates and
fares on stock which is as fraudulent
as any counterfeit bill.
Our American public life has been
corrupted until we have almost ceas-
ed to have confidence in the honesty
OF anybody. Many Of our business
men have been made towards and
our courts have been caused to for
ieit putlic confidence, AMI thouBhtfEl
men made to fear for the existence OF
the republic Itself by reason Oi the
unequal distribution Of wealth ana
power through the privat' operation
of our railroads and other public SER
vice corporations.
In Germany, where the government
owns nearly all the public utilities, we
have seen wonderful progress in
nearly every direction. Switzerland