The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-10-14

iiiOucrn IletItOuy dilQ DcloTo we dBrec
to insert an S1s,OOO,0O0 clog under
the railroad wheels to keep them
from slipping, we will be older and
more senile than we now are.
am not posted on whether the
Nonpartisan League Is fighting the
tunnels or not, but would suppose
they would, as they show CLEANS of
intelligence on most every other pub
lie question. There is no more anal
ogy between publicly owned coal
mines and public subsidy to railroad
corporations than there is between
day and night. You unI1esftatfngIy
grant that the whole thing is ben
eft, subsidy to individuals and cor
porations and then say it is meritor-
fous because 1t viii incidentally ben
eft the state. And that it will give
such benefit is probTematical at best.
The loss on crops and cattle is. ad-
mitted. 1t will always exist as long
as railroads are run for private gain
instead of public service. How much
benefit will the great San Juan get
from tunnel run just deep enough
under the pass to furnish a dirt and
rock roof for a snow shed, instead of
timber one? That is the proposed
Cumbres tunnel, accurately described.
The Cumbres tunnel is deceptive
proposal calculated to tie some few
votes to the Moffat tunnel PROPOSE
tfon, and the Monarch pass tunnel is
very similar except that it would be
useful if the road would use it.
And, right in this connection let
us call your attention to the specious
argument presented by tunnel sup
porters that legislation will be
passed compelling the railroads to
use the tunnels" Honestly. Alva,
man to man, is not that a brilliant
bauble to hold before inteIlingent men
and women? Can you imagine a
chicken court in Colorado so thorough
ly imbecil that it would not knock
that legislation so high it could gaze
over the pearly gates, the moment it
was brought before them? There is
not reputable lawyer in Colorado
who will hazard his reputation by
claiming for one moment that such
an enactment would stand good.
Does it not occur to you that
claiming that the tunnels will save us
from the blight of an irrigation en-
terprise in the Imperial Valley,
sounds like special and blamed far
fetched pleading? These tunnels were
not projected to carry water. that
was an after thought, and as intelli-
gent as passing laws to compel the
railroads to use something they
might see fit to let alone.
But Alva, are you really desirous
of going on record as at this day
saying anything favorable for Jay
Gou1d's Union Pacific graft while this
nation was in the throes of the great
est civil war of history? Jay was a
1000 patriot according to the record
of the past four years. He served
his country by robbing it of all that
he could. You say that Japs would
have been nibbling off our western
coast. Let me call your atten-
tion to the fact that they have nib
bled the whole blamed Sacramento
valley after the U. P. and several
other railroads had gone in and de-
veloped the country.
The isolation of which. you COM
plain will not be removed by giving
eighteen or any other number of mil
lions to bankrupt railroad company.
We do not want to see the people Of
Colorado give up the amount asked
for at present, nor do we want them
to take your view that five times that
amount is in any way advisable to
guarantee at this time The people
of Colorado will arise all right and
build tunnels and any other improve
ments, when, WHEN remember, they
build them for themselves. The rail-
roads are not going to remain under
private ownership long. Their sun
is setting rapidly now and the grave
of private ownership of crushing mo-
nopolies yawns at their unwilling
feet Private ownership of the rail-
roads will cease long before either
eastern or western Colorado secedes
from the other.
And, Alva, you may con Meade
Hammoid's and my speeches in favor
of the Gunnison tunnel over from
now till doomsday and you cannot
find where either of US ever advocat-
ed anything but public ownership.
There is no more comparison between
the proposed tunnels and the Gunni-
son one than there is between my
ideas of theology and those of the
pona of Popa We advocated nuhlic