The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1919-08-27
SEASONABLE SERMONS

/ 1.-THE cancer. takc thvs gizzard out. Let
us do a clean job. sAG.Ss X "a
The writer stands for . the great
common people. They are always
handed the hot. end of the poker. The
railway magnates do not care a red
cent for the people-only insofar as
the people put up billion dollars
each year to pay railroad losses. :, The
order of railway trainment, and the
striking shopmen, do not care a dern
for the public. The public can walk
and freeze as far as they are concern
ed 50 they get raise in pay. The
trainmen are afraid the government
is going to cease control of railroad
lines, and that theyFill have a harder
time to get ther pay raised. So they
are striking and raising the devil
while the governme ent is in control.
so politics and pull can get their wage
sky high before the railroads are let
60 Of. The railway employees want
the government to take over all rail.
way lines. Then they will have a
cinch ON getting pay raised. All they
will have to do in that day is to
threaten candidates with their votes
and the pay will be increased, - =
As a matter Of fact there has been
too much "monkeying' with the rail
roads during the past ten or fifteen
Years. Politicians have got to the
top of the ladder by opposing the
railroads and demanding lower rates.
"A recent article in the daily papers
says that since 1915 ninety-one rail
roads, operating more than $4,000
miles, have paid no dividends what
lever and he declares that since 1910
the American railroads have been
kept in the "bread line" before the
door of the interstate commerce com.
mission, and that relief by the com.
mission has either been denied or
grudgingly and sparingly dealt out
because a few railroads seemed to be
able to make some money during the
time mentioned.
Fair minded men know the rail.
roads have not been given a square
deal as to rates for some time. and
that is proved by the fact that all
railroads were ina crippled condition
at the outbreak of the war. The
democratic party's stock in trade has
been "cussing the railroads" and yet
when that great party took over the
lines in 1917, on account of the war,
the first thing they did was to appro
pirate $25O,O00,0 900 from bond money
to equip the lines so war materials
could be shipped. In 1918 the gov
ernment spent an added $500, 0,000.0 900,
and in. this year the sum will be a
billion at least. II, under govern.
ment control, the authorities at Wash.
ington have found these big expendi.
lures necessary, what shall we say of
railroad incomes before the war? 1t
is a cinch if the roads did not pay
under heavy government shipments
Of war materials, they surely did not
pay before this added income was
had.
For years we have been hearing
such men as Clifford Thorne and
Senator Cummins roast the railroads.
They have tickled the public ear with
anti-railroad talk until both have at
tanned great heights of political pre-
ferment. Most of what they have
said is evidently bunk" if we now
find it necessary to finance the rail
roads in order to keep them turning
wheels. Thorne, has been so mani.
festly unfair in his talk that the pub
Ilic is rapidly getting "hep"S to him,