The Washington times., 1936-01-28

rates of a corporation, who in
addition pays taxes, and thus less
ems the taxes of other citizens.
The Shannon committee Of Con-
gress made an investigation of
Government in Business" and it
was found that the Army had a
transport system which really be.
longed to the Navy and not to the
land forces. The department, in
an effort to preserve its pay rolls
and it's clerical force, from time to
time reported net earnings, and at
one time reported that they had
made 1000, 900, but it was proven
conclusively to the Shannon COM
mittee that they had lost $1,000
900.
Government Operation
1t was also shown that they
transported a great gun to the
Islands at a cost of
100000 that would have been
carried by private ship or trans.
port company for $25, 900.
We say, therefore, that IL q
government, city, county, State
or national, cannot operate q
business and pay taxes like other
businesses and compete with
private industry, such govern
ment operation should inn.
mediately cease; and therefore,
that to test their ability TO serve
the public cheapIy, they should
be placed on the same plane aS
any private enterprise.
Many people seem to think
that because private enterprise
cannot absorb the unemployed,
that the Government can do so
by entering business; and this
doubtless grows out Of the Gov.
operating the Post
Office Department, which is neces
Sary because of the close, conf,
dental relation of each citizen to
his mails, but even that could be
operated much more cheaply by q
private concern. largely due to the
fact that ths employe Of q Gov
eminent concern does no more
than the law preScribes.
That reminds me Of q policy
pursued by President Leguia, OF
Peru. He leased the postal depart.
ment to an English concern for
Is years, stipulating that 80 per
cent of the employees should be
Peruvian citizens.
Operated With Care
He told me that he did so tO
teach the PeruvianS how to oper.
ate post office, and at the same
time to make it Self-Sustaining.
That corporation operated il
with the same care that the corpo
ration operates the railroad in
Peru.
In Lima. Peru, they kept the
general delivery open from early
morning until 9 o'clock at night.
They advertised extensively in or.
der to increase postage receipts;
in short. they operated on a
method by which it would not
only pay (Which our Post Office
Department has never done), but
would give the stockholders q
profit.
OF course, the Post Office and
Sundry other things, like rail
roads, in time Of war, should be
operated by the Government,
though as it always does, it costs
more because that is the surest
Of safety.
BEWARE OF PROMISERS
6. Our sixth declaration is to
encourage candidates with plat
forms, practical and sensible,
and to discourage others, and
insist that public officials shall
keep their pledges to the
people; and the failure to rec
Ognize the SOundneSS of this
principle constitutes one of the
causes of our present difficult
ties.
The voter must be taught that
the man who makes extravagant
promises is either of low men
tality and would not know what
to do with the office if elected,
or he is an unScrupulouS dema-
gogue, hunting for votes; and the
voter must learn to know that
the man who promises most, in
variably will give the least. in
the end.
!. The seventh declaration In
q most vital one: "The right
to make private contracts and
have courts and other govern
ment agencies to enforce them"
I say to you that there would
not be any safety in private en-.
terprise without that guarantee
1t was the boast of the old
common law Of England that:
there was a remedy for every
wrong" and yet we find our
Congress passing a law that
courts shall have no jurisdiction
to bring suit on certain ques-
tionS.
Gave Up Gold
If that can be done: if the
Supreme Court can be intim.
idated and limited in that class
of suits, even though it involves
the holder of gold, it can do it
in your own claims and wrongs;
and remember. it was not the
banks who had to give up their
gold; it was the person who was
saving gold for future security.
There was one woman in Okla.
homa City who put away every
gold piece she had in the bank
until she had several thousand
dollars for her security in her
S-xAaNI