Evening journal., 1919-08-04

The Indifference Of the public to the
deliberate destruction OF The great
properties that serve the people OF this
country with those commodities that
must IN the nature OF things be sup
piled by great Industrial organizations
electricity, rapid transit telephone
! communication, gas and waler-has al
ready cost the United States dear The
bill, which must ultimately be paid by
( the people, will be tremendously in
creased If something is not done TO Off
I set the influence OF the men In politics
! who are riding the public service cor
| poratioDs TO death in order 30 serve
their own petty ends and justify their
! pose as friends Of The people,
For there Is no reason in the world
why the public service companies
should not have been preserved to their
owners and TO the service OF the people
/ through the simple and just process Of
allowing new standards Of prices TO
apply 20 their rates as they have ap7
piled TO every other commodity that
men buy and sell-eXccpt that poll
ticians have found profit in denouncing
them and that the men who use poli-
ticians for their own profit have seized
the opportunity 10 drive great insti-
tutions into bankruptcy that they
might plunder them Corporation-bait-
ing has, been one Of The finest fields
for proGteering presented during The
war-and an because the people have
not seen their own interests; have ac-
cepled the policy Of the plunderers and
l.. 10,
object OF attack IS an Institution that
collects fareh, or tolls, or presents a
monthly bin for service rendered
under charter
More than year ago the President
Of tho United states called attention
to the necessity for taking steps to
save the public utilities from destruc-
tion. The then Secretary Of the Trea-
sury pointed the great distress that
would follow q policy OF checking the
progress OF the utilities companies. The
Comptroller Of the Currency pointed 10 |
the fact that nearly eight hundred mil |
lions Of The securities OF The utilities. /
owned by the people. were held by /
banks as collateral and il necessary. !
Congress should make provision for The /
protection Of those properties with I
their millions OF security holders.
Those warnings were generally un-
needed In March 1913. this paper in
a series Of articles on The public serv-
Ice corporations and their condition
warned the people as to the necessity
for conserving the ulllities-and This
warning was effective in many com
in which il was carried di-
rectly to the people AZ times the great
dailies rose superior 10 the limitations
imposed upon them by an evil state Of
public opinion and pointed to the need
for increasing public service com
modify rates 10 something like the
levels that We're being reached by other
commodities, from labor 10 ready
money. Generally the newspapers stood
by the theory that u was the better
policy To encourage their readers In the
fallaciOus and destructive theory that
public service corporations did not re-
quire relief. that they could live on
their past earnings. Those same news
papers found It necessary and possible
and profitable 10 raise their own sell
ing prices 100 per cent. or more, but
hey were vigorous in espousing the
'ause Of the people by denouncing the .
street car company or the telephone
company or the electric company that
sked for a rate that would serve to :
meet increasing and arbitrary costs q
rom which they could not escape. 10 q
; tue that some newspapers were big p
nough TO forget the immediate profit
Or them in tickling the ears Of their s.
eaders who urged relief for the public n
ervice people. But II was generally n
greed that the public service corpor- u
lion was fair game to attack, that it n
'as friendless among the mob from U
'hich 10 collected daily or monthly. GO
In this atmosphere the political cor p
oration batter has fourished; he has
ood sturdily for the rights Of the p'
eople' and he has raised himself IN ~
lbllc esteem by declaring his abiding e
18th IN low prices' for public service u
nd high prices for labor-as though ~
e cared what labor got so that he got =
Ie applause JIe was inclined TO =
link that a three-cent fare was the l,
ght thing for a street car ride; that IL
fve-cent fare would provide an opu-
ut Income for the traction company
Id he would give his life blood be III
re he would stand for any further TX
lposition on his friends among the IL
and oppressed. lie work l.
more insidiously when telephone