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The Commoner.
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"VOLUME 5, NUMBER 13
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"roads and from tlio confession of railroad officials.
That nearly all tho railroads havo issued stock In
oxcess of tho money Invested is known, and
tho collection of dividends upon this fictitious cap.
Utilization is unfair to the public. That tho rail
roads havo given rebates is a matter of common
knowledge, and that these rebates are not only a
violation of law but a violation of natural justice
is conceded. That tho railroads havo dlscrlmi
natod between individuals and between places is
also known to all. Tho great congestion of tho
population in largo cities is, to a considerable ex
tont, due to the fnct that tho railroads havo given
tho cities better rates than they havo given to
tho smaller towns. This favoritism has tended
constantly to drive the manufacturing enterprises
into tho cities, and these manufacturing enter
prises havo carried the population with them. Ono
only need to know what has been done to know
what will bo dono, and at present it is not only
necessary to protect tho public from tho railroad
managers, but it is becoming necessary to protect
tho railroad managers from tho trusts, iome of
tho great industrial corporations like tho steel
trust, the oil trust and tho beef trust, direct such
largo .shipments that oven great railroads find it
difficult to resist tho demands for concessions in
tho way of rates and privileges.
Tho railroad managers protest against inex
perienced government officials being given power
to fix railroad rates, but theso managers overlook
tho fact that in reaching a. decision the officials
will have the benefit of the high-priced talent
which the railroads employ. There is no danger
that the railroads will fail to present to the of
v ficlals empowered to fix rates all the facts neces
sary for tho protection of the railroad's rights and
interests. In fact, when tho action of the rail
road managers in regard to rates can be reviewed
and set aside by officials, it is likely that the rates
will bo arranged with so much more fairness than
they are now that the board will have less to do
than now. There is no clanger of injustice being
done to the railroads. Tho great danger is that
tho railroads will bring to bear upon the officials
such a tremendous influence as to bias themin
favor of the railroads. That is the real danger.
Just as city councils have been corrupted by tho
corporations operating under municipal franchises,
so there is danger of federal officials being cor
rupted by the railroads which will be interested
to the extent of millions in the rates fixed by'
tho officials. But just as the cities have been
compelled to risk this corruption rathe'r than leavo
tho municipal corporations unrestricted, so our
state and federal governments must risk this
corruption rather than leave the railroads to, do
as they please. As many of the cities have passed
up through regulation to. the point whore they are
ready for municipal ownership, so the govern
ments, state and national, are likely to pass
through the period of railroad regulation up to
the point of public ownership. But regulation is a
necessary thing, whether it be regarded as a per
manent settlement of the question or as a step
toward public ownership.
The more the railroads oppose regulation, and
the more they abuse their power under regulation,
the more rapid will be the sentiment in favor of
public ownership. If all municipal corporations
operating under franchises had been based upon
actual investments, had been honestly managed
and had exacted from consumers only such rates
as were sufficient to pay good wages, give good
service and yield a fair return on the investment
there would havo been no municipal corruption
and but little demand for municipal ownership!
But greed Is not satisfied with a fair return. It
wants all it can get, and scruples not at the means
employed. Experience with municipal corpora
tions has led to the demand for municipal owner
ship, and experience with railroad corporations
has led a large majority of the people to demand
regulation, while a considerable number even now
go beyond that and advocate public ownership.
Let every democrat who believes in the public
ownership of the railroads join with the democrats
and republicans who believe in strict regulation
and secure the very best laws possible upon this
subject. The president has recommended regula
tion. Let his recommendations be supported: let
him know that the democrats will be his faithful
allies in the fight. The democrats are led to do
this not only by sound principles but by consid
erations of party policy. Tho democratic party
could not afford to array itself against a measure
designed to benefit tho public; it could not afford
to become the champion of the railroads in their
attempt to -avoid public supervision. The mem
bers of the democratic party are citizens, and as
citizens they will be benefited by legislation regu.
lating railroad rates and preventing discrimina
tions between persons and places. And demo
crats as members of the party are also interested
in having the party win tho confidence of tho
country, and it can only do so by showing itself
ready to assist in securing good legislation, no
matter by what party such legislation is proposed.
If any democratic official is so situated that,
for personal or pecuniary reasons, he feels it
necessary to take the railroad's side of this ques
tlon, ho ought to resign his position and not sac
rifice his constituency to advanco himself. An in
dividual has more latitude than an official. -As
an individual he acts for himself alone; as an
official he exercises a power which he holds in
trust, and he can not conscientiously employ it
otherwise than for the benefit of those whom ho -represents.
It is too early to say upon what lines tho
next national campaign will bo fought, but it is
likely that some form of the railroad question
will enter prominently into the campaign. Demo
cratic officials should bear this in mind and make
tho record of the party clear upon the subject;
democratic voters should strengthen tho hands of
their representatives and not only encourage them
in right-doing but warn them against error. The
best of public officials are better for encourage
ment, and no public official is so bad but that it is
worth while to caution and warn him. The sev
eral hundred thousand readers of The Commoner
can exert n wholesome influence if they will be
prompt to communicate their wishes to their rep
resentatives in congress and in the senate.
JJJ
ROOSEVELT VERSUS MORTON
There seems to be a spirited contest between
the president and Secretary of the Navy Morton
as to which one speaks for the administration
on tho railroad question. At the meeting of the
railroad managers Secretary Morton spent con
siderable time praising the American railroads,
and declaring that they were, paying better
wages and giving better service than- any other
railroads in the world. In the evening at a- ban
quet he went still further, and said that it would
not be amiss for him to say something of the
"attitude of the president on the railroad ques
tion," and then he proceeded as reported In last
week's Commoner to praise the railroads again.
He admitted that there were some abuses, but
insisted that they were growing less and less
all the time, and that the president was as -anxious
that no injustice should be done to the rail
roads as that justice should be done to the pub
lic. The entire tone of Mr. Morton's address
was in keeping with the tone of the testimony
given by the railroad managers who are op
posed to any rate regulation. There is not a
word in the secretary's speech iu favor of the
propositions presented by the president in his
message, namely, that the interstate commerce
commission should have power to fix a rate, not
merely to pass upon a rate fixed by the rallrtfads.
Scarcely had the secretary's speech been
published when the president emerged from the
mountains of Colorado and proceeded to reite
rate the position taken in his message. He
said:
"I want to say a word as to the govern-
mental policy which I feel this whole country
ought to take a great interest in, and which
is itself but part of a general policy into
. which I think our government must go. I
spoke of the policy of extending the powers
of the interstate commerce commission and
of giving them particularly the power to fix
rates and to have the rates that they fix -go
into effect practically at once. As I say
that represents in my mind part of what
should be the general policy of this country
tho policy of giving not to the state, but to
the national government an increased super
visory and regulatory power over cornora
tions. "The first step and to my mind the 'most
important step, is thus connected with giving
such power over the great transportation cor
porations of this country. The necessity as
regards that is peculiarly evident. I was go
ing to say when the first pioneers came to
Colorado, but that would hardly be so but
in tho days of the fathers of the older among .
you the highways of commerce for civilised
nations were what they had always been
that is, waterways and roads. Therefore
they were open to all who chose to travel
upon them. Within the last two generations
we have seen a system grow up under which
the old methods were completely revolution
ized, and now the typical highways of com
merce is of course the railroad "
Thore-is a striking difference between lb a
speech made by Secretary Morton and tho speech.
made by the president. -They apparently i00k
at the question from different standpoints ann
Mr. Morton claims to speak for the preside nt and
as Mr. Roosevelt did not claim to speak for Mr
Morton, It is reasonable to assume that ho tnoko
for himself. Now, tho question is whWi ono
knows best what Mr. Roosevelt really wan.o and
which one will have most influence on tho Wiley
of the administration.
Tho keeping of Mr. Morton In the cabinet
has for sometime been an inexplicable mystery
Why so conspicuous a representative of tho mil'.
road interests should be at tho president's coun
cil table is not known The patrons of tho road
have no representative there who stands in any.
thing liko the close relation to the public that Mr.
Morton ytands to the railroads. Why this par
tiality toward the very Interests which is block
ing legislation? But eyen if the retention of Mr.
Morton could be explained on the ground ihat
the president feels that the railroads arc in jus
tice entitled to a spokesman in the cabinet, why
is Mr. Morton permitted to present, as the presi
dent's views, yiews which are antagonistic to tho
views expressed by the president himself? There
ought to be no public joint debate between the
president and one of his secretaries as to what the
president really wants done. It is to be hoped
that the president has so strengthened himself
by his outdoor exercise that, having put the bears
to flight, he will now be able to put to Jlight
the secretary of the navy, whose presence in tho
cabinet is a standing embarrassment to the presi
dent's efforts to bring the railroads under efficient
regulation.
JJJ
THE GARFIELD REPORT
Some of Mr. Garfield's friends are defending
his beef trust report. They point out that that
report showed that profits on the capitalization
ran as high as -eighteen to twenty per cent in the
case of one company. They also say that Mr.
Garfield's critics "seized upon the 2 per cent and
ninety-nine cents per head' figures jalone and
derided the suggestion that the p'ackers were
making so little money. The fact that the 2 per
cent profit is a .profit on gross sales, not on
capital invested, and that it means that the pack
ers are making immense sums annually, was ap
parently lost sight of."
Mr. Garfield's friends now point out that "the
report says that while the profit on dressed beef
was ninety-nine cents a head, the profits on the
by-products brought the profit per head to $1.50;
and when it is considered that the packers handle
millions of cattle each year the yolume of their
earnings is apparent"
But even $1.50 per head is at wide varianco
with the figures presented by Cuthbert Powell,
who for more than twenty-five years has been
commercial editor of the Kansas City Journal.
Mr. Powell's statement has been given wide pub
licity. It showed that the average net profit to
the packers is $7.41 per head. Mr. Powell con
cluded his statement in these words: "Apply
the average profit of $7.41 on cattle, 20 cents on
hogs, 50 cents on sheep and 50 cents on calves,
to the total number of head killed in a year by
the 'combine' packing houses, gives a total profit
of $47,727,412. Figuring upon their total capi
talization,, undoubtedly heavily watered, of $1 10,
500,000, we have 43 per cent, which is ten times
what such money would produce if-loaned in largo
blocks upon the open market. Besides this, tho
trust is heavily interested in the stock yards at
Kansas City and Chicago and owns outright stock
yards at numerous other cities, together with pri
vate car lines, the profits from which are un
doubtedly large."
JJJ
TRADE AND THE WAR'
A: reader of The Commoner says that the peo
ple of the United States united in driving tho
Spaniards from the West Indies and that one of
the objects was to get the trade of those islands.
He calls attention to the fact that, notwithstand
ing the money spent in securing the trade, sugar
is considerably higher now than it was at that
time. He wants to know how the taxpayers Jme
been benefitted by so large an expenditure for
the purpose of securing an opportunity to buy
sugar at a higher price. If the purchase of trade
was the 6nly, or even the best excuse for tho
Spanish war, the result would illustrate the follv
of trying to purchase trade by war. Where a
principle is involved there is" "some consolation
in having established the principle although the
commercial advantages may not always conio
up to expectations. - -.
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