The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1922-07-27


tain work regarding the most eco
nomical way of performing it. Or
ders that could have been put in eff
feet during the operation of the
roads by the government, and which
saved "private" owners many dol
lars which could have been saved
for the government and the public
is general. WHY WASN'T 1T
DONE? Because the officials of
the roads were determined upon a
course that was to convince the peo-
pie that the operation of the roads
by tn government had been "farce"
and what terrible expensive"
thing government operation is. Why
doesn't someone show the public
what an awful expensive thing the
operation of the postal service is?
Why don't someone show the people
of England and Canada how awful
expensive it is to run their roads
under government control? The
roads of these two countries may not
compare in some ways with our.
Mr.. Cuyyler says in his article, 1T
is to be borne in mind that our con-
dition is not similar to that exist
ing in Great Britain. 1t has been
the custom of this country Great
Brittany for long years past, to put
large portion of their earnings
back into their property" "In my
opinion, if the roads are returned
upon such lines as above suggested
government operation will have been
worth all it has cost"
Mr. Cuyler and his associates had
an opportunity TO endorse such a
plan as that followed by Great Brit
ian, when the Plumb Plan was
brought to their attention, but OH
NO! They denounced such a plan
as too much like "Bolshevism" and
too "Socialistic" in nature. Things
have drifted from bad to worse un-
til we have our present troubles. |
We have railroads who will promise
the farmer anything under the sun
and then stick him with high freight !
rates, that make his profits on the
years work dwindle down to moth
ing. Likewise the man who works !
for wages not only railroadmen but
others, must give their bit to the
roads in the exorbitant rates charg-
ed for carrying the necessities of |
life from one place to. another. The !
writer has been informed by businss
men of Liberal that when the roads
reclassified various articles that came
under the ruling on this subject,
they caused these articles to become
higher than ever in price. One man
says he could reduce the price Of
almost every article in his store, ,
with one or two exceptions, almost
% per cent if the roads would re-
duce their freight rates to compare ,
with the reduction of wages of rail-
way employees.
These same roads had a guar
antee" from the government through /
law enacted by congress, which
enabled them to pilfer the wealth
of the nation, and they still howl
their heads off for more in the way
of increased rates. They are not
satisfied with having one hand in the
treasury, they want to have the
other hand in the pocket of tie pub ,
lie and they practically have.
Who dominates the roads and die
tates to them during such times as
these as to what metods to pursue !
and what to do at other times? Who
manipulates the roads and brings
about such labor troubles and indus
tria unrest as the country is now
in? The big insurance companies,
the big banks of the east. P.
Morgan and company mostly. This
company has directorships in IA
other banks and trust companies.
Namely: The Bankers. Trust. Co.,
Equitable Life ms. Co., New York