The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, July 20, 1906, Page 14, Image 14
' jJtvtr' t:1 .tfV " '?- 14 The Commoner, VOLUME 6, NUMBER 27 " - i It Si K- V. I'-.' & !- - r v- w i i j r WMi 't :at tOJ3 1Mb- hi- T MJ ij, " P f n ','hi f,i 1 ' ,1 i. it . : ji i Ij!' t Editorials by Commoner Readers 'Samuel Johnstone, San Francisco, Calif. Curront Topics of December 1 shows how the beef lords were fined for fencing and using 212,000 acres of our public lands for ten or more years $G00 and- sl?c hours in the custody of the United States mar shal, and no costs of suits, some thousands of dollars, which are always paid by the guilty, while a poor devil, for stealing a few chickens, would bd locked up from three to six months at least. Let me ask: In proportion to these cases, what would the fine be for the Standard Oil company, -when It owns in the same way all the United States? This is a broader farce than Garfield's beef trust report, and such seed will eventually bring a worse crop than the czar has on his hands to harvest. I quote the following from the San Francisco Star: "It is authoritatively announced In the press that the United Railways Investment company, the holding com pany of the United railroads, is to pay a deferred dividend on the pre ferred slock of the former company of six per cent. This sum. Is to be paid out of the proceeds of a bond Issue of $900,000. The. announcement does not state whether these bonds are to be issued by the United Rail roads of California or the New Jersey holding company. This is an outrage ous proceeding, and should be given Immediate attention by the proper au thorities. Do the people of San Fran cisco realize what this company pro poses to do? Borrow money issue bonds to pay dividends on watered stocks. We can not believe' that such action is legal, and we hope that stops will be taken .to prevent it." This tells only Dart of -the storv nf n fiiipv. &$' street railroad company who com- Cisco, save two, one of- which Is soon to-be rebuilt by the city. These roads cost to build under six million dollars and they have been watered to equal wsuiy minions, and this holding com (States supremo curt decision ofh Smyth v. Ames, October, 1897, page 46G, from which I quote: "The pub lic can not properly be subjected to unreasonable rates in order simply that stockholders may earn dividends ' If a corporation can not maintain such a highway , and earn dividends for stockholders it Is a mis fortune for it and them which the con-f stitutlom does not renuire to bo rem edied byimposing unjust burdens upon. the public, we hold, however, that the basis of all calculation as to the reasonableness of rates to be charged by a corporation maintaining a high way under legislative sanctions must be the fair value of the property be ing used by it for the convenience of the public. And in order to ascertain that value, the original cost of con struction, the amount expended in perr manent improvements and the sum required to meet operating expenses, are all matters for consid eration, and are to be "given such weight as may be just and right in each case. What the company is en titled to ask is a fair return upon the value of that which it employs for the public convenience. On the other hand, what the public is entitled to de mand is that no more be exacted from it for the use of a public highway than the services rendered by it are reas onably worth. "But the rights of the public would be ignored if rates for the transportation of persons or prop erty on" a railroad are exacted with out a reference to the fair value of the property used for the public or the fair value of the services rend ered, but in order simply that the corporation may meet operating ex penses, pay the interest on its obli- gallons and. decln ""'iiviaends to storVsSluai-b. "if a "railroad nomnanv i"has bonded its property for an- amount that exceeds its fair value, or if Its capitalization is largely ficti tious, it may not impose upon the public the burden of such inoreasfid rates as may be required for the pur- comparison between the petit crim inals who are convicted and the great criminals who have been immune from the law. I have shown this ar ticle to a number of my friends, and I would thank you to mail me four or five copies of this number of The Commoner for distribution. N. P. J., Davenport, Iowa. What do you think about the enclosed edi torial from the Washington Post, en titled. "Why parade that hoodoo?" If one had not read the article in The Commoner one would be led to be lieve that the whole editorial of two anrd one-half of its wide columns were wholly devoted to the free silver question, whereas, only nine .lines of these wide columns touched upon this matter. Taken all in all the criticism is insincere, and its writer betrays that he is no such a friend to de mocracy, although he tries to pose as such." "A Commoner reader," -Kingfisher, Okla. The packing houses say they kill and put on the market for use nothing but wholesome, well and healthy animals. Will you please in vestigate and publish, for general in formation, what becomes of the de seased cattle and hogs that everyone knows goes to the markets, also what becomes of those that are crippled and killed .in transit?" (The various publications made with respect to fhis subject, appear to cover the bill quite fully. The Commoner.) nanv is in hnahln M,ic TvvotV 7 ,i7 ruwa " raay ue required ror tne pur to take tte BuiSiiim i?2 JJ pose o realIg profits upon such ex S,,5iJ! sH?lus earnings of the I cewlye valuation or fictitious natiltnl. Philadelphia. Pa., roads fawned vv this band) over, or In excess of the amount they are allowed by their , charter to collect and pay the interest on this water, so they can market (unload) their securities, that are rot& ,a se?ond mortgage, upon the small investors of the United States' and are busy doing so, by paying a - big commission to brokers, etc. One flucli company out here lias been pay ing 30 and 40 per cent to sell out in that way. This is a sample of "high finance" of the New York Life In surance company and others style, and should be illustrated by Tom Lawson. The way to remedy this evil is simple and plainly shown in the United xjessiye valuation or fictitious capital. ization." Let the American neonlc wake up; no, longer sleep on their usuLa, uuafHe. counts to tne present centralization oT capital, or serfdom as in Russia, is in sight. ' A Sign ul iJi0U .flnd . tucso symptoms present, von a boui?ofneClCCt thCm' but at onoe Dr. Miles' New Heart Cure It will cure and at a verv utiin nvrnn,, pared with doctors' J8 Wo arc ?sn m; it, that If lirst bottledbcs riot henUTLot druggist will return youSmSnc? it wm 5i f Jlor two months I walked on the edeo of 8? mb ?rom weft,c beftrt Poor blood Brcu latlon und nervous prostration. Dr mw REV. W. A. ROBINS, Port Elgin, Ont. C. H.' Weiss, Wentworth, S. D In reference to the president's re marks regarding coal and oil deposits I hand you horewith printed copies of House and Senate resolutions No. S?f.7?nd No' 7901' respectively, of the fiftieth congress, dated May '14, 1888, and June 23, 1888. Being the insti gator of this bill, which was framed by Congressman Smith of Milwaukee, I am sorry, more so today than eigh- lu years ago, that it did not become a law, and sincerely hope that Mr. Roosevolt's recommendnHnn win o. -complish, in what Mr. Smith failed. iiow much would this bill, had it become a law in 1888, have saved to the constituents of those who killed it in committee on public lands? I hope that the honorable membors of the present congress and its commit tee, before which such a bill may come, are made of better flesh and blood, than those of the committee of public lands of the fiftieth congress who voted it to its death. Ubres3' W. B. Phipps, Medford, Ore.I have been a subscriber and a 'close reader of your paper since it was first started, and have, from time to time, sent in quite a number of subscrip tions thereto. I want to express my especial appreciation of Mr. Met calfe s article in the number of May 18 entitled, "Ben Daniels at 'The Door , TH?P- T1" People will read such interesting articles as this, and, in consequence, must make a mental J. W. Shea; Syracuse, N. Y.-Your article on the "Chicago platform" was good. The fact that the president and those in the senate who were friendly to the railroad rate bill ap pio.ed lor about a month the inter ference by injunction or otherwise therewith by the courts, made it clear that the .courts are not above the sus picions of persons in high places, Where they are, no doubt the best known'. If this condition of things was argued in 189G by the advocates of the Chicago- platform, what a howl would go up from Wall street? The people are getting wise, even; though late. It is perhaps, in time. James B. Bebb. Lake City, Ark, As my subscription for The Com moner has expired I will send you $1.00 to renew it. I see a letter from a Commoner reader referring to the effort to enlarge the Commoner's cir culation. I highly approve of this, for Whenever I can speak a gopd word for The Commoner, I always do so. I was interested in the suggestion made by G. W. T. Conrath Bowling Green, Ohip, as a plan of, creating a fund to place one or more Commoner's in every barber shop where the would allow it. I have been thinking some- uiiug aiong xnac line myself. I tried to get a democratic campaign commit tee in Oklahoma to adopt that plan when I lived there. A great deal of money collected for campaign funds is wasted. I suggest that .campaign committees appropriate, say $3.00 in every voting precinct, for five yearly subscriptions, in order that The Com moner may be sent to five republicans. I thinlc the money could not be spent to better advantage." s. Charles Devine, Philadelphia, Pa, I am deeply interested in Mr. B.ryan and I hope he and his wife and family are enjoying what they went abroad to see God's creation and the abode of man. I see by his letters that he fully enjoys the vastness of the Crea tor's works and what the Creator has prepared for His creatures. He has made plenty of provision for all man kind, but we have got the selfish man who cares not for his fellow being, not evuu ma muicer, and his idea is that everything was made for him. But I can see that in the future the day is near when in this country we will put down those hateful beings and estab lish a country of righteousness, t could name you a Columbus of thiJ new era, and all the good people ad mire him, and he is the one who is destined to give us a regenerated country- We have to be careful how this is to be done. Sometimes great ne?ihav,lt0 act as Jacob did to his brother Esau I would not encourage it, but I see the good we have received through Jacob's seed. We have re ceived the Immaculate Mother who gave us the Saviour of the world So God must have; approved of Jacob cheating his brother, Our president, Mr. Roosevelt, is a Jacob. He kept quiet until he got the people's blessing and then ho came out and declared he would not be a candidnte for the presidency again. He directly went back on the people who put him there and his actions now show that he is not the man that the trusts thought he was. Now he is acting for all tho people, he is letting the cat out of the bag and when the cat is entirely out won't the people have their eyes opened? I have a man that . stops with me sometimes and the poor man cannot see through the window. I often pity him. We have had plenty of blind men. who could see but did not want to have their eyes opened, but the light will bo so strong that they will have to dee. Mr. Roosevelt is doing what the democratic party LOW ROUND TRIP RATES TONEWJERSEY.LONGISLAND and Maw England Coast Resorts. The Lake Shore will sell "excursion tickets to Ashbury Park. Atlantic City, Iiong Branch, Sag Harbor, Newport, Block Island and all principal Coast Resorts. Return limit Oct. 31st, 1006. Stop-over of ten days at New York, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls etc. For full particulars call on or write A. G. Burrows, T. P. A10th & Walnut Sts., Kansas City, Mo. W. J.Lynch, Pos sencor Trafllc Manager, ChicagoT Subscribes' Admitting Department This department Is for the exclu sive use of Commoner subscribers, and a special rate of six cents a word per insertion the lowest rate has been made for them. ' Address all communications to The Com moner, Lincoln, Nebraska. 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