The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-11-14

uOne, anu dilnUuBH BeuerdHy KNOW II
to be done, were tolerated by the gov
eminent and the public, which should
never have been permitted. But dur
ing the second administration and up
on the courageous initiative of Presi-
dent Roosevelt these evils and abuses
were absolutely tackled, and a defn-
lite and effective stop was put to the
most Of them. Means were provided
by salutary legislation, fortified by
decisions of the supreme court for
adequate supervision and regulation
of railroads. The law enacted under
President Roosevelt's administration
was not allowed to stand for a suffi-
cient length of time to test it's effects,
The enactment Of new railroad legis-
lation in 1902 established, for the
first time in America. paternalistic
control over the railroads.
| Hampered, confined, harassed by
multfarious. minute, narrow, and
sometimes flatly contradictory regu-
lations and restrictions state and
federal, that great industry began to
fall away. Initiative on the part OF
those in charge became chilled; the
free flow of investment capital was
halted, creative ability was stopped !;
growth was stifled; credit was Grip
pied
The theory of governmental regula-
| ant oil
right. No fair-mnded man would
quarrel with that But the practical
application of that theory was wholly
at fault and in defiance of both eco
nomic law and common sense. 1t
was bound to lead to a crisis. 1t is
not the railroads that have broken
down-~it Is our railroad legislation
and commissions which have broken
down. The government, in the emer-
gency of war, probably wisely, and, IN
view Of the prevailing circumstances
necessarily, has assumed the opera
ton Of the railroads. The director
general of railroads, rightly and cour-
ageously, proceeded to do Immediately
that which the railroads for years had
again and again asked In vain to be
permitted to doonly more so. The
freight rates were raised rs per cent,
passenger rates so per cent, many
wasteful aud needless practices here
tofore compulsorily imposed We're done
away with. The whole theory under
which intelligent, effective and sys-
tematic cooperation between the diff
ferent railways had formerly been
made impossible was thrown into the
scrap heap.
The question of the disposition to
be made of the railroads after the war
is one of the most important and far
reaching of the post -bellum problems
which will confront us. My concern
Is not for the stock and bond holders.
They will, | have no doubt, be prop
erly and fairly taken care of in case
the government We're definitely to ac-
uuire the railroads. Nor do l speak
as one who believes that the railroad
situation can be restored just as it
wass before the war The function,
responsibility and obligation of the
railroads as whole are primarily to
serve the interests and economic re-
quirements of the nation The dis
jointed operation of the railroads,
each one considering merely its own
system land being under the law
practically prevented from doing 9TH
erwise), viii, | am sure, not be per-
mitted again.
The American System.
The REIMBURSEMENT of certain fea-
lures of our existing legislation, the
addition of Others more clearly de-
fined and purposeful relationship of
the nation to the railroads, involving
among other things possibly some fin
ancia interest of the government in
the results of railroad operations, are
certain to come from our experiences
under government operation and from
a fresh study Of the subject, in case
the railroads. as hope, are returned
W private ildNdS1llleH'. CfSolftiy L
believe that in its underlying prlnci-
pie, the system gradually evolved in
America, but never as vot given a fair
chance for adequate translation into
practical execution. is an almost ideal
one. II preserves for the country, in
the conduct of it's railrraGs, the ines
Unable advantage of private initia-
financial responsibility, while al the
same time. through governmental reg
ulations and supervision, it e,ulha
sizes the semi-public character and
duties of railroads, protects the COM
munity's rights and just claims, and
guards against those evils ana eX-
cesses of unrestrained individualisn
which experience has indicated
1t is, am profoundly convinced, a
far better system than government
ownership Of railroads, which. wher-
ever tested, has proved its interiority,
except, to an extent. in the Germany
on which the Prussian junker plaint-
ed his heel and of which he made
scourge and horrible example 20
the world; and the very reasons which
have made state railways measurably
successful In that Germany are the
rpn sons which wnuld nnalsa ynyern-