Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-10-20

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country many times more. If there had been no
capitalistic system, no system Of profits, there would
have been no Ford income. Neither would there
have been anything to correspond. to the service
which the Ford enterprise has performed for the
general public.
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE RAILROADS.
The threat of a railroad strike has brought to
the front again the widely spread demands from GER
tain sections of our country for the government own
erstip of the railroads. That demand is re-echoed
in this state. The Fargo Courier News, for instance,
the chief organ of the state acknowledgements
it's solution of the railway problem Immediately OF,
the announcement Of the strike, and that solution
was, of course, government ownership. We are told
that during the time when the government actually
did operate the railroads, it was getting along very
we'll and that the roads never should have been re-
turned to their owners.
The fact. is that the governments management
of the railroads was one long uninterrupted record
of financial failure. 1t would be unfair and n1islead-
ing to charge all of the difficulties which the gov
eminent encountered to its own incapacity. Nothing
can be gained by claims of that kind. 1t is a matter
of common knowledge that the entire activities OF
the country were necessarily conferred and directed
toward one point, that of military success. and
whether railroads or factories or anything else made
profits or sustained losses was for the time being a
matter of no concern. The important thing was to
VI OAlAC LIN AAl1fAa ' VI lin XIV II 1lAANAl
no matter what the cost.
Eliminating that feature, and making every pos
sible allowance for it, the government lost money
during peace times when traffic was heavy and when
business generally was good. 1t lost money not
merely on the basis of interest on railway valua-
tons, but on the basis of actual operating expenses.
In other words, the government paid out more mon
.ey for the operation of the roads than it received in
freight and passenger charges. The people are now
paying taxes to make up a part of that deficit. Had
the oOvernn1ent'o u,nerShio -heen continued 1onoer
the bill would have been larger. These are facts
which cannot be controverted and which it is scarce
Unnecessary at this time to repeat. &,
The Socia1istic element insists on government
ownership of railroads, making a special feature of
that just now because the railroad situation is under
consideration Government ownership of railroads
differs in no essential from government ownership
of anything else. The railroads are no more neces-
sary to- the well-being Of the country than are the
farms and factories. If it is desirable that the gov
eminent shall own and operate the railroads it is
equally desirable that it launch out into a system of
government ownership of everything of a produc-
tive nature.
We will be told as many have been told that the
farmers of North Dakota need not fear the confisca-
ton of their property because they are in the major
ity and have control. That is an argument address,
ed to the selfishness and cupidity of mankind. It is
an insult to the farmers of North Dakota to assume
that they will favor the principle Of confiscation as
applied to other industries, and reject it when ap-
piled to their own merely because they have the
power. If the principle is right, it ought to be equal
''ly applied, and fair minded men will advocate its
equal application.
But even assuming that our farmers are the sell
fish and unfair men that they must be if the Social
istic appeal is to have force here, as a matter of ex-
!pediency they are in1periling their own interests in
advocating the policy Of government ownership.
Farmers are in the majority in North Dakota. They
are not in the majority in the United States. In
many states they are very greatly in the minority.
Less than one-third of the inhabitants of the United
States live on farms, so that if we apply the policy
of brute force, we must assume that whenever it
becomes desirable in the minds of the two-thirds
who are not farmers that the property Of the one
third who are shall be taken over by the govern
ment, that thing can and will be done. And it is a
TACT that because those of the non-farming group
live in the more populous c%enters, are more accessi-
BILE and can more readily be organized, it is evident
that a program of farm confiscation such as was en-
..ployed in Russia can be operated in this country
more quickly and successfully than opposition to it
on the part of farmers can be organized. The farmer,
therefore, who is invited to support a program of
government ownership Of railroads is invited to kick
out the props from under his own business, and
make himself the servant and the hireling of the
state, a member of a minority whose affairs can be
directed and dictated by a vast majority whose inn
mediate interests in many respects run counter to
his own. OF all the people in the country to whom
the program of government ownership ought to be
most distasteful from the standpoint of immediate
personal interest, the farmer stands at the head of
the list.
BANK OF NORTH DAKOTA LITIGATION.
On the application Of citizens Of Stutsman couh-
ty, the Bank Of North Dakota has been temporarily
enjoined from the transaction of banking business,
the plea Of the plaintiffs being that the institution
has no legal existence as a bank, its organizers hav-
ing not complied with the laws Of the state govern
ing the creation and operation of banks. The effect
Of the decision, unless it is modified, overturned or
defied, will be to discontinue the operations Of the
bank until the time fixed for the formal hearing on
the application.
II issnot. at, all unlikely that the order will be
iidefed. Insthe government of North Dakota as now
lc0nstifi1fed there is- Scart rescect far fho a..Gl.os:4..