Norwich bulletin., 1919-12-22
Especial to The Rulletin.a

< Especial to The Bulietin.)
 | Washington. Dec. 21.-Senator Mc4 Leans address in the senate on the
 railroad bill, which has attracted wide
 attention. is given below;
 MT. President: -s 's l. fully realtze and appreciate the great ability and thorough knowledge
 of railroad matters possessed by the <, chairman Of the committee on inter
 state commerce and his associates of l the committee who are largely 1 responsible for this bill. They deserve | every consideration for the conscien- l tious services rendered in their endeaV- or to solve the most difficult problem,
 in many respects, that has ever been | presented to an American congress. l There is only one important provi- sion in this bill to which cannot sub
 scribe, and that is the provision in sec I ton S which takes large portion of l the earnings of the strong and self supporting roads. above certain per centage, and appropriates 1t for the
 benefit of the non-paying or weaker 1 roads.
 l It is quite probable that some such -expertment as the one to which ob- l ject, is unavoidable for causes beyond l the control of the committee, and if
 vote for this bill 1t will be because and 1 only because there is bare possibili- l ty that a few years Of experiment
 under its provisions will stop the gov-
 ernment ownership procession this side ] the dead inc. I With me it is not a question of the I;power of congress to do what section Is proposes to do. It is the effect of this plan upon the cost of transporta- tion that interests me. What the Am erican people want is safe and adequate transportation at constantly decreas- 4 ing cost. as far as that is hunanly pos
 sible. It is not a question of the pow :
 CT of the state to exploit the individual, ! and I have no controversy with the socialist who insists that private prop i erty rights are sometimes alloyed with ! injustice. It is question of utility
 the greatest good, to the greatest num-
 Der, an all important consideration
 which those who question the right of
 private property generally ignore.
 Titles to property may be too easily
 obtained in many instances, but the
 question remains: what will be the
 benefits to society as whole when the
 state substitutes communal for indi- ! vidual ownership, incidentally robhing 1 Peter to pay Paul. Section s of this
 bill is a step in that direction, and not so short a step as friends of this bill may imagine. When the state fix es price which an individual may charge for his wares, and the wages
 he must pay his employees, and then
 takes all profits above certain per- centage, and turns them over to the man who is doing business at loss, the state has administered about all
 the deadly anodines known to pater-
 'nalistic allopathy.
 It is my opinion that cheap, safe
 and adequate transportation Is more
 likely to be produced by those who have an incentive to-doi it, than by those who are told by the state that the public will be compelled by law to pay rates sufficient to maintain their properties and give them a small mar gin of profit however extravagant and non progressive their management may be.
 In other words, the provision in this bill to which object substantially ig- nores the forces which, in my opinion lie at the foundations of all social and industrial progress, namely the spur of competition, driven by the promise of unusual rewards. 4 The opportunity to make legitimate profits in railroads, gave to this coun- try the best and cheapest. railroad service in the world. Remove that op- portunity because somebody has made an illigitimate profit and in due course of time the result will be the worst and most expensive transportation service in the world.
 The law of self preservation is as stable and memorable as gravity, ani it will not become imperative at the fiat of congress or constitutions mak.
 CTS. Men must have food and raimen and shelter, if they want to live. and when society said to the individual If you produce surplus of the nee. essities of life the law will protect you in the possession and enjoyment O. ] that surplus" civilization began. The right of private property may have it's faults, but the fact is tha everything we have that the prehistor.
 ic man did not have, is due to it's re cognition by the state. And when ". deny to the American boy the oppor