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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1914)
MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1911. PAGE 2. plattsmoutii scmi-tt:exly journal. WHY THE COST OF OP ERATING RAILROADS HAS BEEN INCREASED STRUGGLING AGAINST INCREASED COST OF LA BOR, SUPPLIES, ETC., ON ONE HAND RE DUCED RATES ON THE OTHER. I en jog the la.-t few years the advo cates of government ownership of lailro.id-i have been somewhat per sistent in the puhllc press and the matter is referred to here, not with .;.- i.ha of i-oiv.haitin.ir this propagan da, hut iverely that the people may btu-rly ce tM.t'i sides of the picture. S , I . . f -r :k a I it of nu n welcome the v. i -king of ti;e lailroads on the the ory th:.t the pivi-rnment will take thvin ovir ai.i! that such a state of affair-; would ho preferable to private owr,erkip. it will he impossible to o!.-.t:n from then a fair judgment of tin. latter -ystm which now prevails i:i the lnito! States. It is impossible to ' jr.:o this great question at any i-nrth at this time, hut here are a ;Vv tiv.r- worth thinking a'.out. ."!r;-h has born said in recent years ; .1 ii ti e "u . .;.r" contained in Amer ican rai!n:id securities, and, in this i o- ut-ct .r. the valuation of the gov--rrmem -.'.v.: d rail re ids of Europe is v : irto: ir..-. In Germany the .-t.tc "viud roads are valued at .; ) ! I.W. per mile, in Austria at :?12- :. m ILneary at .i:.21, in Italy sl-l-".-;. in Belgium at $11)0.01-1, "p. S-a ::: riand at .1 :!.! 10. in Rou :. :r. i at s:-t).n:j. i Japan at .S'SS.101. in NVv South Wales at .-TLo.'l- il o privately owned lines of the United States, regardless of what water rr.av have been forced into them in s;-ci':e instances- are valued at o-iy s ' 1 1 per mile. Whatever in t'ation may therefore have been put ir.t i tl.- ir properties in the past, the fact remains, that their present valu ation i- much lower than that of the '-' .'-r :'. :v. e."t owned railroads of Eu i. or. ard. what is still more impor t the ::te- charged are the lowest a:i-i t!:e xervice rendered admittedly th. iie.-t in the world. It is also per tinent t- remember th.at the charge of v.at. ;,.! stocks, after all, can be Trade air..i"si but very few American iail:-o."is the lion's share of them hav;-.r incii managed without a bv-ath of scan l.d or criticism. In cr.r.e:-tion. statement cn-taim-d in 'lie la.-t annual report of ti e IV'.ii-- ; Hank of Berlin, which has a vilii'i capital ar.d reserve f. -d of sT.'.op i.o mi. is interesting: "Ami-. v..n ra. heads need higher rates. The present rates are the io.e-t in In..- wo i Id representintr ov.t a f'v.-ti n of the English railway rat -, f. r in tared and this in the face f li e fact that wages in the l"n;ted States on the average are fully twice as high as in Europe." Cer tainly tbi vio-.v of the privately 0- vr.vl lines of the United States, e mir.g i'rpi (Iermany, which has the rno-t ce-f ul state owned system cf tr.:i,.-p rUit io.i in the world, is worthy of g!te consideration. In further confirmation of this .-tateniv-nt wo Uo'e the following sta-i:-tics: It cots 7 mil's per mile on an :.m : v.-i' to haul a ton of freight in the I'ni'ui States while in England it coss an ; vera re of 2.33 cents- in Frar.to !.JI (cuts and in ("iermnny 1.12 cei ts. The average laily wage paid to Afiari-an railroad employes is si. 23. in L'ngl.in.I it is $1. :.", in I : s- rents and in Germany SI t '.'.:'. Are American railroads, there fore, entitled to the wholesale abuse ard denunciation vhich has been Leaned upon them from all sides in re ent years? LETTING WILL ENOlGIl ALONE. In viV.v of these farts, the average eitizen may well ask himself whether i: i- rot host to let v. ell enough alone r:;l!;r than invito other iUs we know :(' of whethrr it is not wiser to cure Mh h defc'-t-; r. s may encumber 'he jre-( f sy.--J.em rather than run the d.-inrer of jilun.tin- this mighty irxiu-tty iido the whirlpool of party p. li'i - for a'l time, with its attendant t pnortuni'y for c-vi! of which the past u 'fords vu-'-h rich variety of experience. The UnitetJ States is still a younjr country, ind in many sections only p:ntialiy devel'poI. Many new lines and extensions are needed here and there 1 jrie a wi.'r opportunity to 'pandirjf a.trricu! me and commerce, and nothing could be more unfortu nate r disastrous than that these fa o;s could henceforth he obtained only 1- y leave of the dominant political fac tions which will reiprn at the national capital in the years to come. Political parties are intensely human institu tions, and the average cautious citizen will prefer to leave the railroad ex pansion of the future to the economic law of epply and demand of the dif ferent communities rather than to jdate such a temptation for power in. the hands of those who rise and fall in the field of politics. Furthermore, should the time ever come when the jrovernment takes over the railroads, it means that the people will have to forego the millions of taxes which they now pay and which . help to support the public schools, public highways and other public expenses and that henceforth these millions of revenue would have to come out of the pockets of the people. Many other thinjrs could be said upon this phase of the question, but 'space forbids. For some time, the pov j eminent, through the Interstate Com- merce Commission, has been enpaced in makiny a physical valuation of all our railroads as a matter of guidance for future rate adjustments. Airain, we repeat- since the people absolutely control and rejrulate the railroads, is that rot cnoujrh? Will it not be bet ter to let well enough alone to clinjr to that which is trood and eliminate that which is bad in the present sys tem which, with all that has been said against it, furnishes the best and cheapest transportatoi service in the world? INCREASED COST OF OPERATION We now wish to refer briefly to an other rhase of the problem. For a number of years the cry of the "hitrh cost of living" has been every where abroad in the land. Time was, not so many years ajro, when the far mer sold his corn at 2 cents per bushel. Now it brings from oO cents to To cents. So, too, he sold hojrs at o cents per pound, which now readily brins: from 7 cents to 10 cents while a prood steer calf, which used to brinjr from .$10 to $12, now sells for from ?20 to ?2". Nobody who knows anything about present land values or the farmer's cost of pro duction will contend that he is not entitled to these increased prices. As a matter of fact, unless he is an ex ceedingly pood manager and utilizes the best of modern agricultural thought he is by no means jyettinpr rich at present prices hiph as they : may seem to people in the cities who jdo not understand the cost attached to present-day farming. To pro hack j to the old prices he used to receive j would bankrupt, in little while, every farmer in the country and the tendency of the future will be for the prices of farm products to po still i richer rather than lower. Apricul- ture is the nation's preatest funda mental industry and society must make the farm pame sufficiently profit able to justify the man who is on the farm today and the farmer boys of j the future to stay by the plow. Much .has been said recently about the fact mat tne larmer uoes not receive enouph for what he produces that there is too bip a waste in the chan- jnels throuph which his products pass .before they reach the consumer, and jthat he has some cause for complaint in this respect is undoubtedly true, i However, the railroads can face such tan inquiry with a clear conscience for an exhaustive investipation con ducted by the Lehiph Valley Railroad some time apo shows that the farmer pets r.O'J. cents out of the averape dollar's worth of products he sells; the packers, local shippers- distributors and retailers pet -14 cents between them; while the railroads receive only ." cents, or one-twentieth of the dol lar, for the transportation services they render. So, too, there has been a steady ad vance in practically the entire realm of merchandise and manufactured products, whatever their nature, and the ever increasing toll in the cost of labor, steel products, lumber, cars, lo comotives, and other supplies has lev ied a tribute of untold millions upon the railroads, which have not only been forbidden to increase their rates, but, on the contrary, in many in stances, compelled to lower them. BIG INCREASED COST OF LABOR. To pive the reader an exact idea of how the cost of labor has advanced in the operation of railroads we quote the followinp increases in the daily wape from 1900 to 1911 a period of only fourteen years: In the case of enpineers if, increased from $3.08 per day to $5.7(5, or an increase of r per cent; firemen from S2.21 to $3.f"2, or CI per cent; conductors from $3.31 to $1.8-3, or 45 per cent; station apents from $1.98 to $2.1(5, or 9 per cent; other station men from $1.62 to $1.90, or 17 per cent; ordinary trainmen from $1.07 to $3.36, or 70 per cent; machinists from $2.72 to $3.52, or 29 per cent; carpenters from $2.31 to $2.59, or 12 per cent; other shopmen from $1.93 to $2.20. or 1-1 per cent; section foremen from $1.51 to $13, or 21 per cent; trackmen from $1.15 to $1.52, or 32 per cent; telepraph operators and dispatchers from $2.25 to $2.05, or 17 per cent. This means a peneral averape increase in wapes of 32 29-100 per cent and all other classes of railroad operatives and ein plo3res in a more or less similar de cree. While these advances have proven a preat boon to the nearly two million men employed in the raihvay serviee and increased their capacity to buy from merchant and farmer, th.'y have exacted many millions annually from the railroads themselves all of which made the peneral public richer, but the roads poorer. In 1900 t 10 railroads paid $1.41 per ton for co il. Now they pay $1.S1. Then they paid 3Sc for ties. Now they pay ?2v. OTHER INCREASED COSTS. But there are many other items which have enormously increased t v cost of railroad operation which vr cannot po into because of a hick of space. The public is constantly de manding a more efficient and a sat a! service, anil hence the railroads iui 'e had to spend vast sums in instaliii block signals, steel passenger cars, ci -ing away with grade crossin; s straightening lines, heavier locomo tives, better roadbeds, and supplyi; i many other precautions protccti: : both their operatives and the public all things very necessary, yet ve.-.1 costly. So, too. numerous states ha v passed "Full Crew" laws which, with out benefiting the public, have com pelled the railroads to pay a toll : miliions to useless employes. Now, while labor, farm pnuiuc s merchandise and manufactures a d supplies of all kinds have steadily in creased in price, the railroads, a. stated before, have been compelled ' reduce their rates in the face of t! is avalanche of ever-advancing cost oj operation and that all but the ir.n--. powerful lines find themseves in ;;r exceedingly critical condition is not t. be wondered at. The farmer, the mer chant, the manufacturer and the la borer justly insist that they would not be able to pet alonp on the prices the received ten or fifteen years ago. How then, can the railroads, which are th.t largest employers of labor and buyers of material in the United States, ': expected to exist on less than they re ceived ten or fifteen years ago? Ir view of these facts, it is no wende: that President Wilson and other pa triotic and careful students cf the sit uation are speaking words of kind! admonition to the American public, to the end that the railroads, through whose giant arteries flows the ve:.. life blood of the nation, may not b? wrecked and destroyed. THE PUBLIC AND THE M ANACFl' On the one hand, for the last twenty-five years the public has demanded the best and highest cfik-iency in ser vice and lower rates in ore and th. same breath. On the other hand stan ' the thousands of men and women wIk. have invested their money in railroa-I securities and who, in common with the farmer, the manufacturer and th merchant, believe they are entitled t a fair profit. Then come the hundred of thousands of employes who are con tinually clamoring for an increase in wages, as well as the cost of all man ner of railroad supplies winch is co.i- stanty advancing and between them, as arbiters, stand the manager--of the roads the big "hired men," struggling with might and main to reconcile all these conflicting interest in the face of reduced rates upon eve: ; hand. That they have at last readied a point where they can continue the unequal strupple no longer should r. be a matter of wonder and in f.i.v of the harsh and unfriendly critici. ir which has descended upon their hea l from every quarter rtiey find thei-:-selves in the menial attitude of the fiddler in the Western mining camt when he yelled out, "I 'lease dor ' shoot, boys; I am doing the be-t can." (Paid adv. To be continu. d next week). Certainly a Good Offer. John F. Cordrr, the imp! erne i' man, has a large ad. in another col umn of the Journal that is well wor:h looking over and the opportunity of fered by him to his farmer friends should be taken advantage of. This is a feed grinder am! engine demon stration and in addition to this lie will furnish hot cakes and coffee on Wednesday and Thursday. December 30th and 31st. Any kind of graui brought in up to eight bushels will be ground free of charge by the dem onstrator. Harness Oiled, $1.00 Per Ket. Now is the time to look after your harness in the way of repairs and oil ing. Bring them in and let us look after the needed repairs now. Our price for oiling is Sl.00 per set. John Gorder. Try a sack of Forest Rose flour. Your money refunded if not sat isfactory. IN P L A TT S 3 1 0 L T H I- FORTY YEARS AGO. Mr. Fred Gorde.-, long known as the "buyer" of the "PlatU-mouth Grain Company,"' and now one of the firm of the new Stock & Grain Com pany, has gone to Fairmont to take charge of the branch houses of the firm established there and at Friend viile, on the line of the B. & M. Pin ;iey fc Keil are tbo gentlemen with whom Fred can be found at Fairmont. On Monday morning several of our best sportsmen went out on the B. & M. some hundred miles west of here, ami judging by the returns and by the chickens that the lie: aid demolished en Tuesday, they must have had goo.l luck so far. The patty, as far as we are informed, eoiisistcd of Dr. Living ston, Mr. Hchircge of the B. & M.. Hon. Sam M. Chapman, his hi other. Hon. John Chapman, and L. 1). Ben nett. We must say such tender, de lightful, enjoyable chickens the lier Ud never ale before. The Herald attended a very plens irt little debate out at Greenwood he other evening. The quest ion was he old one of whether it would be a .etriment or a benefit to the women if th. U. S. to be allowed the pvivi'ege ii" the ballot box. Dr. Boot was pres ent of the society. Our Plattsmouth ritr.d. Joseph Connor, captain en the .Ihrmative and J. D. Bouse oa the :e;-ative. Connor opened the debate, oliowed by P.ouse. Among the gen lemcn who .-poke on the r.iVwmative ide were Prof. Root, Mr. Ge.uy, Mr. dine and the editor of this paper. On he negative appeared, besides the aptain, Dr. Youngstead, Andy Tutt. ;r.d Mr. C Young, who made a very ;ood point when he said that the rea on woman was not taken from man's lead was because lie had no brain.! lor anything else to spare from lure, ;o she was taken from beneath lis arm, etc. The question was de h'.ed in the a.f;rimative by the intcl ;gtr.t judges. We found Greenwood a vo'-y plcas :nt little village di'.ng a tin iving usiness. M r. O.r.nnr tc:!.; us he has .ought a great deal of corn the' e .vithhi a few weeks. From there and shinnd they shirped 19 carloads in ir.e day, a great feat for Ncbrp ka owns. A large warehouse and eievat r was built here last year by tha hange. It v.a:; not successful, how ver. and was sold not long since to Doom & Co. W. T. Ethcridgc is or.e .f the largest merchants there, and .as a well stocked : tore, f : -:r. which ,e supplies the :-:u!oi'nd.ing country, -.r.d has been doing, in spite of hard iruo.-. a very good trade. We h.a 1 th-.-lca-ure of s-t-. yiiig there over r.ight ::id hereby ask to be remembered to Ethcridg.?, whom in the hurry of ig in the morning we di not get o see. M-ssrs. A. and J. Tutt, two : 1 Plattsmouth friends, also keep a ;oed, .-ub-taatial outfit of general toods and have the postoff.ee in their tore. They l ave bought and have low cribbed about P.000 bushels of rood, sound coin. They report, their rade good and seem well ratisiied vith their change. rlhe town also boast" of two good h'.in.h edifices, a handsome drug -tore, kept by Dr. Youngstc-ad, and vhcro oth Drs. Yournrt ead and T.oot lave their offices; two blacksmith and vheeltight shops and other business hat goes to make up a live western own. There' is another crib of corn K?re of about 6, .too hir hels. bought by Mr. Eiheridge, and in which our own -man, Eli Plumme;-, is interested '"he surounding country is as band iiime prairie as we ever saw any vhere. There ate many fine farms in ;iht. The large flock farm of Mr ''itzgcrald is six miles from this sta- ion. Greenwood being the nearest R. a. point. As the sun rose from the -real expanse of level country, F" .irrilar to its apeparatice at fSen, the ight carried us back in memory for nany a long year, when we used to vatch from under our blankets be Tcath the open sky, or from fhe mouth f a tent, to r.ee old Hoi rise, and wc nce more rejoiced a'- the prodigous growth Nebraska has made in the last few years. . REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. : F. II. Urwin to C. A. Eager, lots 4o9 and 470, Louisville. Consideration $ 800.00 F. P. Sheldon to J. A. Dysart, part NE quarter, 31-10-13. Consideration.. 152.00 Tom Bowers to Anna Voj teeh, SE quarter, NE quar ter, 7-11-11. Considera tion 1.00 1915 Calendar Pads at the Journal ollice. mm For the M H-W-CO monkey business." You also know that the biggest part of a Ne braska Winter is still ahead of us. Come early and get the best selec tions. This applies to Boys' Overcoats and Suits; also Mackinaws. C. E. New ties e'ery week LIGHTING PRO I TO It CLOSE The Council Working Energetically to Bring the Matter to a Suc cessful Conclusion. The light committee of the city council and the members of the com mittee from the Commercial club which has the matter of the lighting contract and franchise in hand, are working hard on the proposition with a view of securing results that will prove most beneficial to the city its people and any arrangement that will I e made at the council meeting can be a.-surred will be to the best in terests of everyone, as the committee has been busy for the past month in secuiing figures and facts on which to base their judgment in taking up the 'light question, and they intend to see that the public, which utilizes the service of the light companies is given a square deal all the way thtough. Both the Nebraska Lighting company that is located here at pres ort, and the McKinley interests, ! which are seeking a franchise to do business here, have nut forth their propositions to the city and these will he weighed before any recommenda tion is made as to the action to be taken by the city. The question is one filled with great interest for evecyone who uses the electric cur lent or gas and whatever action is taken will have a very important beaiing upon the future of the city along the lines of municipal lighting ami the committee shows good judg ment in their deliberation on the ou est ion. CLAUD SEIVERS AND MISS CATHERINE PETERS UNITED IN MARRIAGE Another of the Plattsmouth young men has tired of the state of single blessedness in which he has been liv ing and accordingly has taken unto himself a wife, the wedding ceremony occuring on Friday at the home of the groom's parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Stivers, when their oldest son, Claude, was united ir. wedlock with Miss Catherine Peters of Louisville The wedding was a very quiet one and was attended by only the im mediate family and the employes of (he Nebraska Lighting company, with whom the groom is engaged in working. Both of these young peo pie are very popular among a large circle of friends and their marriage will be the source of a great deal of pleasure to their friends and acquaint ances in this city and Louisville, where they are both well known, and where the groom is manager of the interests of the Nebraska Lighting company. The bride is a most charm ing young lady who has eneleared herself to a large circle of warm per sonal friends, and her happiness in the future will be their most fervent wish. The groom has been reared to manhood here in Plattsmouth and his friends are without number and all will join in wishing him and his charming helpmate the best of suc cess and years of happiness in their wedded future. POSITION 13 I ext IS We offer you a straight bonaflde discount of I 5 Per Cent on any Suit or Overcoat in the house except STYLEPLUS. You know the kind of goods wc carry. You know our methods of doing business. You know when we say 1 5 Per Cent that you actually get I 5 Per Cent below the marked price and "no Wescott's Sons Everybody's Store Miscellaneous Shower. There was a very pleasant miscel laneous shower given at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Urish, west of My nard, in Eight Mile Grove, last Wed nesday evening, the affair being given in honor of their daughter, Miss Matie, and Mr. Philip Schafer, whose wedding will take place some time in the near future. The occasion was a very enjoyable one for all those pres ent, and many very useful presents were left with the future bride and gioom. There were in the neighbor hood of fifty guests in attendance, all of whom were nearby friends of this excellent young couple. The evening was pleasantly passed in the usual manner rjf games and music, and at the customary hour refreshments were served. Registered Jersey Bull for service. C. E. Babbitt, Tlatts mouth. l'-2-2mos-wkly Subscribe for The Journal. feniirty OtmiiULlatim liari itie Uqvj Year right in one of our new overcoats! 1 Beginning Tuesday morning, December 29th we offer the greatest Overcoat Values ever shown to the men and young men of this community. Coming now, at the beginning of the winter, this is an opportunity which no man in need of an Overcoat can afford to pass up. All coats come from makers who guarantee their product. This, with the guar antee of our store, gives you double assurance of satisfactory garments. Our entire stock is divided into two classes for quick selling. All $15 and Shawl Collar models made sell for and 46-inch Velvet Collar of All Wool fabrics, wii All $20, $25 and $30 Overcoats, made up ii season s best selling models from all wool materials and hand tailored through out will sell for Make your decision to the best we have. Stetscn Hats Days Every size overall made Make Your Wants Knwon STBAY boar taken up at my place. Black with white spots. Loui-; Friedrich. 12-7-tfw TAKEN UP Black Holstein heifer. Owner may have same by calling at my place and paying for this ad vertisement. Wm. Wehrbein. 10-7-tfw FOUND A black mutE Owner m:iy have same by calling at this office and paying for this advertisement. 12-15-tfd LOST Between Plattsmouth and My nard, mud chains for automobile, size 30. Finder please call 'phone 2212 or notify R. L. Propst. 12-23-tf-dSw FOR SALE I have 20 or 30 pure bred S. C. Rhode Island Red Cock erels for sale. Prices from $1.00 up. W. B. Porter, Mynard, Neb. ll-lG-d&w $17 Overcoats, including 50-inch $10 this $15 buy early and get in on Manhattan Shirt e