Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1921-12-14
THE RAILROAD ISSUE:
u TO Qoxinla "a Tht1ealolpi1,er..

Theodore Roosevelt well said:
Transportation lies at the root Of all
Industrial prosperity. Heawho con.
trolls the transportation of a. country
controls both production and consump-
ton and is master of alEitsS material
interests" = /
i wish Z could burn these two
thoughts into the minds and hearts OF
every citizen of this Republic If this
could be done a political revolution
would speedily follow. - ~ 49,.
Today about two dozen men through
interlocking directorates and support
ed by great law Of Congress prac-
ticaHy control our great railway lines.
They. fix their own salaries, run
their business about es they. please,
responsible to nobody and are author
lied by law to collect from the public
not only enough to cover these ex-
penditures, no matter how u Wasteful
and extravagant they may be, but are
guaranteed net profit of six per cent
not only upon the money they orig.
inally invested in building the rail
roads but also upon all the watered
stock they have issued which, in the
aggregate, is known to1be much great
er than the original cost of the rail
ways. This statement explains why
the freight and passenger tariffs have
been nearly doubled. =
Not long ago since a. farmer was
protesting against the rise in the price
of coal which jumped from. $l1 to SIS
per ton and denounced the miners for
demanding such big wages. Upon in
vestigation it was learned that the
miners received only SO cents of this
increase and the railroads the balance.
The kept press" has been telling
us that it was the high wages paid to
the train crews and construction. men
that forced the great increase in
freight rates and a credulous public
accepted the statement as true.
But now comes Henry Ford and ut
terly disproves this assertion >by &C,
tual experience that can neither be
gainsayed nor denied. Ford bought
outright an ordinarily managed rail
road of some 400 miles long and EN-.
p!oyed an efficient manager at $4,000
per year which is enough for any
railroad manager. although some oil
them get 10 times that figure.
Under Ford's direction the manager
has simply worked wonders. He has
raised the minimum wage for an S-houl
day to Sc. He cut the freight rates
20 per cent and wanted to cut it more
but the government would not consent
He reduced the Operating expenses
in the gross returns from LII on the
dollar to only SO cents, or by more
than one half.
This means that Ford made AZ cents
net profit on every dollar taken in fol
transportation which, according to my
best advices, makes the Ford line the
best paying railroad in this country
And yet, when taken over by Fore
this railroad was losing II cents or
each dollar collected on account o.
inefficient management.
Have not the American people the
right to demand that every railroad
! shall be managed just as economically
and efficiently as the one" owned by
Ford? Do you, my farmer friends
know just how much freight you pay
Well you are caught both ways. Yo,
pay the freight, not only on what 20,
sell, but also on all you buy. Expert
have figured out that the Cummins
Esch act by Congress. doubling the
! freight rates, added 81 per day to tn,
cost Of living of the average family O
five persons.
That statement ought to surely in
terest all working people, both in tn,
cities and in the country. Many farm
ers do not comprehend that they pa,
the freight to their ultimate market
In future articles the writer will en-
deavor to make this plain
| Let us make transportation the obi
ISSUE in the coming campaign. If W.
do this. victory for the progressive
forces is almost assured. Our friends
the enemy have made this issue TO
us. Let us accept it and win.
SOCIAL AMI op0coAaa