Arizona republican., 1920-06-09
Remedy Lies In Production

Remedy Lies Tn Production
 The most potent remedy of all against advances in the high cost of living, however. lies in production, which cannot be reached directly by statutes If production begins to fail and fall off, the cost of everything will be advanced by the simple force of scarcity which inevitably drives prices upward. The most essential remedy for high costs is to keep up and in crease production and particularly should every effort be made to ad- vance the productivity of the farms Just how much the government can do in this direction is uncertain, but it can aid and support and if anything can be done it must not be omitted or overlooked. At the same time it must not be forgotten that there is a vast difference between the powers of the national government in time of war and those which it possesses in time of peace. The normal limitations of times of peace restrict very much the powers of the general government and in help ing to increase the productivity of the farms, which must be done through government action, the Republican party promises to use every power in this direction whether within the state or federal jurisdiction.
 I have touched upon this matter of prices and the high cost of living be-
 cause it is altogether the most import ant domestic question now before the country and one to which the Repub- lican party should address itself with out delay in every direction where help is possible. There are. of course. as have said, many other important eco- homie questions to be dealt with. as speedily as may be, but the time all lotted to me makes it impossible to touch upon them all
 A Record of Achievement
 There is, however, one measure which cannot be passed over, a single great law which has been enacted and which in any period would be sufficient to distinguish a congress as one of high accomplishment This is the Railroad Act. For six months able committees in both houses, committees where no party line was drawn, toiled day after day upon this most intricate of prob lens. There was much serious debate in both senate and house and then the | bill, signed by the president, became law. No doubt time and experience will show that improvements in the act can be made, but in the main it is a remarkable piece of legislation and | in general principles is entirely sound
 and nothing could be more unfair than l to criticize the present owners con 1 tending with the legacy of mismanage-
 ment, waste and confusion bequeathed | ny llC EOf WttGtt II ICLuAiGl 1 the roads only three months ago. The
 railroad law possesses also an import ance wholly distinct from its provi- sions, which have been framed with eX- l treme care. This act declares a na- tional policy and, so far as any law can do it, establishes that policy as a
 rule of action. The policy embodied in the bill comedies at the outset that
 1t is of course impossible to return tC the old system or lack of system in the 1 management of railroads. They mus
 henceforth be under thorough govern
 ment supervision and also the govern ment must have over them a large tion system of the country can nc
 longer be suffered to continue with
 out such supervision and control. Blu
 the policy also represents the prin.
 ciple that the government must not as
 Sume the ownership of the railroads
 Their operation and management
 must be left in private ownership
 The phrase government ownership
 means not only that the governmen
 shall own the railroads but also, i
 is to be feared, that those who rul
 the railroads shall own the govern
 ment. General government ownershil
 under our political system would in
 evitabIy bring about the mastery of tn government by those who operate tn
 machinery of transportation or of an, lother industries which come into gov ernment possession. The rights of tn general public, for whom all industrie exist, would disappear under thi scheme and nothing would be left t l the people except the duty of payinl
 taxes to support the roads. That is r very perilous position for a represent ative democracy. Our governmen l must not be dominated by any one ma,
 or any class or any selected body O ? men who represent a part of the peo 5 pie and not the whole people. More ] over in the United States governmen ? ownership wherever applied to an in t. dustry, whether it involves transpor ] tation or telegraphic and telephon ? communication or shipbuilding o 5 manufacturing, is a very inefficier ! and wasteful system badly manage l. and certain to be intolerably burden some to the taxpayers. This point I is not necessary to argue because tn I country through the demands of wa s turned the railroads over to the gov 5 ernuent and we have had the painft . privilege of observing the perform Q ance which followed. The govern l ment management which ensued wa e inefficient the railroads were wretch q edly conducted and money was speT k and wasted with a prodigality whic l nothing can defend. During the tim f in which the government undertook [ r manage Ehe railroads they sustaine f. despite a generous increase in freigf - rates a loss of over a million dollar a 9 day and the total payments out ( y the treasury to support the railroad n have reached the enormous sum of or Il and three quarters billions of dollar
 There was universal dissatisfactio