The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1920-04-02
new RAIL BILL !
BLOW TO farmer.
Wall Street Millions Massed
to Gust Public From Road
Operation.

The Farmers National council has
issued the following statement from
its headquarters i'm Washington:
There has never been II better H.
nanced, more strongly organized drive
upon congress to secure II big subsidy
than the riilruadS are now making
through the Cunmins and Esch bills.
Farmers should remember the essen
tial facts about the railroads. They
received land grants of over l:'5tNN.-
600 acres. besides valuable terminals.
and Il cash subsidy OF over three quar-
ters of Il billion dollars. i'm order to.
keep down rates for the benefit of the
American people. Instead of doing
this the railroads have been looted by
the big financial interests and heavily
ovcr-capitalizcd. With the result that
freight rates We're constantly increas-
ing, and service becoming poorer be-
fore we entered the war. When we en-
tered the war the roads were in such
Il dcmoralizcd condition that the gov
ernment had to take them over in
order TO win the MAR.
OF the total present capitalization of
the railroads of about twenty billion
dollars, about eight billion is w;ltered
stock. Fifty per cont of the stock is
owned by one and onethird per cent
of the stockholders. The government
has been paying the railroads about
$3.50. 100000 i; wear more than they are
morally entitled to. while tho whole
WALL Street crowd which has remained
in control of the railroads under gov
ernment operation, has been con,inu-
ously mmpering operation, iniuring
service. an.i wasting tho peoples
money in an effort to dIscredit govern
ment ownership. I'm spite of all this
unpatriotic effort by Wall Street, rates
have increased less ON the railroads
than in amy other important utility i'm
| private ownership or i'm public, less
| than wages, and less than the made
quate increase i'll prices for farm prod
| ucts. Even under these hard condi-
tionS government operation is showing
q net profit nj the .ute of over $1HS,.
100000 Il year.
The director general OF the railroads
and Interstate Commerce Commissions
or Woolley, have shown that the Cum
Minis and Escll bills, which Wall Street
is now attempting to drive through
congress, will require that freight
rates be increased about one-third,
compelling the public to pay the rail
roads Il subsidy of about IL billion dol
lars a year, which will be reflected i'm
an increase i'm the cost of living. of
we'll over four billions. These bills
will compel farmers to pay at least
2OO,OOO,O0O IL year more for merely
carrying their products. and on n most
conservative estimate. $1,000, ,OOO,0OO a
year more for what they buy. than
they would if the roads continued nm
der government operation.
I'm order to drive these bills through.
Wall Street has perfected its plans to
spend ten million dollars on the cam
paign of advertising, to return the
roads to private operation with bill
lion dollar subsidy.
II The return of the railroads under
pending legislation will be serious
blow to agriculture. Not only will II
compel farmers to accept less for what
they sell, but because of the tremen-
dous increase in the cost Of living
which will result. the farmers wheat
will be greatly restricted The city
consumer will be unable to buy 81
much farm produce.
Farmers should ut once write or tcle.
graph Senator A. b. Cnmmins and
Congressman John ]. Escl I'm charge
of these bills. opposing them. and also
wire their own senator's md congress
men, asking them to work to defea,
Joth bills.
FARMERS MUST ACT AT nNCF
FOR WALL STREET is WORKING
OVERTIME TO PUT THOSE BILLS
THROUGH.