Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-05-03

In the past have often urged, in
written articles and lectures, the SYM
pathetic consideration of justice to the
worker. The conviction has been
growing upon me recently that the
whole institution of private capital is
becoming unjustly discredited in the
mind of the public in general and of
employees in particular by the unfair
propaganda of many prominent self
styled progressive" politicians whose
aim is to ride into power by heading
an agitation to nationalize the rail-
roads and other big industries of the
country. Not only private capital, but
labor as well, that is to say, the whole
nation, is in need of friends and de-
tenders against these INSCRIPTIONS agi-
tators, among whom are even few
United States senators.
These agitators deceive the people
both by fattery and by partly igno-
rant and partly dishonest misrepresen-
tation of facts.
They f1atter the dear people by pre-
tending to work for the operation of
the railroads, the mines and other big
industries by the people themselves.
That seems to imply the extension Of
more and more power to the people.
1t is called progressive
The progressive politicians tender
rather dubious fattery to the people,
however, in assuming that the latter
do not perceive that the transfer of
industry from private owners to the
public really means the management
of industry by the politicians. Private
capitalists have their faults, but they
are paragons Of efficiency in serving
the public compared to the majority
of politicians. The latter are too lazy
or incompetent to care properly for
the streets and alleys Of small city
like Madison.
Public ownership and operation of
the railroads and Of other big indus
tries would indeed be a calamity in
America, where professional politicians
are grounded in a tradition of graft
and incompetency. If the politicians
Of today, given authority and man
date from the people, are so grossly
incompetent in the business of gov
eminent that they cannot keep the
streets and alleys in proper order,
how can they be expected to manage
competently and economically the
greatest highways of the country, the
railroads? It is not really question
of public or private ownership of the
railroads, but of public or private man
agement Of the railroads. Under pub
lie ownership and operation the poll
ticians would do the managing, or
rather mismanaging, and the public
would be compelled to pay for the
economic waste incurred by men who
additionally do not know or care
enough about business to run a peanut
stand successfully.
The senatorial and other demagogs
in our American political life who are
coveting their neighbours goods, are
not only attempting to hatter the peo-
pie into the extravaganza of public
ownership, but they are deliberately
misrepresenting the facts regarding
the railroads and other big industries.
Many of them are shameless liars in
their propaganda for socialism in
which they hope to be dictators and
bosses. A few examples of such lying
will suffice to justify my rather blunt
statement.
We are constantly told that the
Esch-Cummins act guarantees the
railroads a return of 5sz per cent per
annum. Since August 81, 1920, there
has been no guaranteed return of any