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The Commoner.
VOLUME 7, NUMBER 11
i
ROOSEVELT ON CENTRALIZATION
Tho Chicago Tutor-Ocean prints the
following Interesting dispatch from its
Washington correspondent :
President Roosevelt Is more (irmly
convinced Hum over (hill Hie best way
to restore public confidence in railroad
securities, which will enable flie roads
(o diHpnHe of their slocks and bonds
to raise funds wllh which io increase
their facilities, and to slop the attacks
of the state legislatures upon transpor
tation lines, Is to enact a federal li
cense law.
Ills Ideas In this direction have been
strengthened greatly as the result of
his. conference with J. Vlerpont Mor
gan, James Speyer, the New York
RUPTU
New Scientific Appliance, Always a Perfect
I'll Adjustable to Any Size Person
Easy, Comfortable, Never Slips, No
Obnqxious Springs or Pads
Costs Less Than Alany Com s
moil Trusses Alade for
Men, Women or
Children.
w tv too
SENT ON TRIAL
T luivo Invented u rtipturo iippllunco that I
can sufoly suy. by .'10 yours' uxpnriunoo in tho
rupturo UiiHlnosH, Is tho only ono thut will ub-
T
I
C. E. BROOKS. Tho Inventor
Holutoly hold tho rupturo und novor slip nnd
yot Is lluht, oool, oonifortublo, conforms to
ovory movomont of tho body without olmtlnjr
or hurtlimhiid costs loss thun limiiy ordlnnry
trusses. Thoro uro no sprlnus or hard, lumpy
PurtHuudvot It holds tho rupturo sufolv and
ilrmly without pain or Inconvenience I have
put tho prion so low that any porson, rich or
poor, can buy. and 1 absolutely uuiiruntco It.
I make it to your ordor end it to you you
wenr it, nnd if it doesn't intUfy you send it buck
lo me nnd I will refund your money.
That Is tho fairest proposition over niado by
n rupture specialist. Tho banks or any respons
ible citizen In Marshall will toll you that is tho
way I do business always absolutoly on tho
KCiuaro.
If you hnvo tried most ovory thintr olso, como
to mo. Whoro othors fall Is whoro I have my
U'reatest success. Wrlto mo today and I will
spud yon my book on Kuptnro and Its Curo,
Miowliifrmy appllanoo and nivlni? you prices
and names of people who have tried it and been
cured. It is instant roliof when all others fail.
Kemomber I uso no salvos, no harness, no llos.
Just a straight business doal at a reasonablo
price
C. E. Brooki, 4771 Brook. Bldcr., Marshall, Mich.
FOR AGENTS-AN OPPORTUNITY!
"THE OLD WORLD
AND ITS WAYS"
HY
William Jenmngsjjryan
3K0W READY FOIt SOLICITORS."
70 Imperial Octavo Pages. Over S0O Simerb En-
aravmas from photographs taken by Mr.Jirvan.
i!!5c?uni! w?, tr,p arou"l tho wond nnd hia
visits to nil nations. The KroateBtbook of travel
ever written. Tho nconle nro wnitin- f? r V,?
h ncent's harvoht. Ouifi pdfpo.?.i n. ' . ' u
to cover mniliufr und handling.
The Thompson Publishing Co., St. Louis, Mo.
PATENTS
SKOUK15I) OK
JtliTIJRNHj).
VISE
SSS, SnMt' oV1?BUMJ!,-. fa
li Ahb, W1LICJ5NS& CO., WuhIiIiii-Iov' 0
banker; President Sticknoy of the Chi
cago Oi'CMit Western railway; Presi
dent Mellon of the New York, New
Haven & Hartford; President Yoakum
of the Chicago, Hock iHland & Pacific,
and fJovornor Denecn of Illinois.
No Hlatcinont of Ills position will he
issued hy President Roosevelt, but he
will confer with railroad otilcials, the
governors of states, and other persons
familiar with railroad matters, and
when he reaches a conclusion on some
specific branch of the comprehensive
railroad plan he is working out lie will
announce it in a public address, or in
Ills annual message to congress. The
president is studying this question, and
it may be a week or two before ho
reaches any definite conclusion, or it
may not be until congress meets.
There is not likely to be an extra
session of congress lo embody his ideas
in legislation. If he has digested any
of the particular problems he is work
ing out, he may set them forth in the
address he will deliver to the Southern
Editorial association at the James
town exposition some time in May, or
mey may be announced in Ins Decora
tion day address at Indianapolis.
When the president does deliver Ills
address on the subjects lie will have
an important announcement to make,
and tho country may expect some new
ideas.
President Roosevelt has boon study
ing this problem for some months, and
his mind Is still open on tho question
of giving more nower to tho. foiloivil
government over railroads, a national
license law, an appraisement of the
property of railroads for the purpose
o.P -squeezing tho water out of railroad
stocks and bonds, so as to protect the
public, which Invests its money In
IIioho securities, and tho best means
to bring about a condition of public
sentiment which will put a stop to the
hostile railroad legislation by tho
stales.
There is grave fear on tho part of
some of the loading railroad officials
of tho sentiment developing in favor
of the government ownership of rail
roads. Some of ' tho governors of
states have expressed their belief in
writing that the president stands for
such an idea. Governor Johnson of
Minnesota is ono who takes this view,
and a short time ago tho president ic
eeived a loiter in which Governor
Johnson indorsed tho alleged govern
ment ownership attitude of the presi
dent. Mr. Roosevelt does not entertain
such ideas. What ho desires is con
trol by tho federal government which
will put a stop to the high finance
methods in which many of tho rail
road officials have engaged.
President Roosevelt believes tho
railroads would be benefited and the
public protected if his ideas of a fed
eral license law should be placed on
the statute books. Details of this plan
have not yet been worked out, but in
general the president favors a scheme
which will guarantee to the public
uiul money it invests in railroad se
curities will be used for increasing
the transportation facilities of the
roads, and that the proceeds of bond
sales will not be put into tho pockets
of tho promoters nor squandered by
tho payment of dividends which are
not earned. In other words, he desires
a plan which will enable the govern,
ment to supervise a bond sale.
If, for instance, a railroad should de
s re to construct a branch -lino, pur
chase new locomotives, extend Its
switching facilities, buy new cars, con
struct tunnels, or reduce its grades
those facts should be set forth inn
statement to tho interstate commerce
commission, which would make an in
vestigation and approve tho plan i
convinced that tho scheme was for the
good of the road.
When SUCh a SCllOllin rnnn?,ln,l i.
approval of tho commission, tho invest
ors would know that their monov
would be used for the betterment of
the roads nnd that it would not find its
way into the pockets of tiic promoters,
except a small specified percentage,
which would pay them for their la
bors in engineering the scheme. This
small amount the promoters would get
would be what is known in England
is the founder's share.
Such a plan the president believes
will meet with tho approval of the
railroad officials in general, who are
now panic stricken by fear of the hos
tile state legislatures.
GOV. SMITH ON RAILROADS
The New York Herald prints the
following dispatcli from Cincinnati, O.:
"The daniror In nnrosrHornn mnnmrn.
iiient of railroad properties, and the
iiui;i:Hii.y ior government control to
prevent discrimination in rates were
iubuu uy uovernor iioke smith, of
Georgia, in an address on 'Transpor
tation' before the Cincinnati Receiv
ers' and Shippers' Association, tonight.
Between three and four hundred busi
ness men of Cincinnati and vicinity
heard the iUldrnSH. whlnli tuna rlo1!irM.!l
at tho annual banquet of the organt-
"Left wlUiout restraint," he said,
'"the railroad companies can fix the
Value Of lands. Tlinv nnn rinfmMrtliin
the profits of merchants. They can
jimirui uiu Dusinoss or the manufac
turer. They can make and unmake
towns and cities.
"A few years ago the transporta
tion companies were controlled by
many and varied interests. Now they
ar largely consolidated, and several
interests control nonriv tiimn.-rnm.fiiu
of tho entire railroad mileage of the
u mum ocaies.
"These internata mnv ho rinoifrnnfi.-i
as syndicates under the names of Dlar-
mimii, luorgnn ana mil, Vanderbilts,
Moores, Gould, Pennsylvania and
Rockefeller. While they conflict at
times, their struggles are in the mat
tor of acquiring properties, not in the
operation of properties and their con
flicts result not in better or cheaper
transportation, but in more stocks nnd
bonds, upon which the public must
furnish money to pay dividends.
"Tho control of the railroads of the
country has passed from trained rail
road operators to bankers who specu
late in railroad stocks. Tho interests
controlling the railroads, as a rule,
study the problem of making immense
fortunes at once out of increased stock
and bond issues. They are careless of
the duties owed by the transporta
tion companies to the public.
"The railroad properties oj! the
United States are capitalized at over
.H3,000,fj00,000. Careful estimates of
their actual values show them to be
worth less than ?G,000,000,000. The
public, therefore, are being called on
to pay excessive rates for transporta
tion to mak6 interests and dividends
on $7,000,000,000 of watered stocks
and bonds.
"The public are entitled to a voice in
the charges which are made by the
raiiroad company for carrying passen
gers and freight. These charges must
be reasonable and free from discrim
inations. "Instead of exhausting tho capacity
of our transportation companies to pay
alvidends on watered stock and bonds,
the public were entitled to have all the
money realized from the sale of stocks
and bonds invested in the properties.
"That there is a trend of thought
more and more favorable to govern
ment ownership of transportation com
panies I do not doubt. While there
are advantages, as well as disadvant
ages, to be derived from government
ownership of all the railroads, it is
hardly more than an academic ques
tion at present. Anything approxi
mating wholesale government owner
ship would be impossible for manv
years to come, and the remedy immed
iately before us must necessarily Do
to perfect the legal authority to regu'
late and control, nnd then to enfo?en
me rignis of the public. I
"Additional powers should be given
to the commissioners. Bonds and
stock issues upon interstate rail
roads should be submitted for their
approval, and none should be permit
ted unless the money derived from
their sale is to bo spent upon the prop
erties made liable for them. Public
sentiment should sustain state and
national commissions in the most vig
orous enforcement df the duties con
fided to them."
NOT "BURNED OUT"
Tho Louisville, Ky., Times, edited
by William B. Haldeman, prints fills
editorial:
'"It is not probable that it is Mr.
Roosevelt's purpose to steal Mr. Bry
an's federal ownership of railroads
thunder, nor is It probable that the
heads of American railway systems
have any kindlier feeling for Mr. Bry
an's latest theory than thev evidenced
toward his first, but, for all that, Mr.
Bryan has at preseift no stronger al
lies than Mr. Roosevelt and the heads
of the railways with whom Mr. Roose
velt is at war.
"So far as the war is concerned, Mr.
Roosevelt has all " the better of the
tisrhting, but if he presses his advant
age to the point where, as a good re
publican, he believes that pressure,
ShOUld StOU anil'tllPn nnrlnnim,.a !.
, ease up, his work is likely to be taken
uij iiuu iiu iuli oil auu leueral own
ership of railways made a plank in
the national democratic platform of
1008. The great majority of demo
crats are now opposed to such a
plank, but anotller year without a
concerted, effort on the part of the ,
railways to remedy existing conditions
will see a spirit of hostility to them
which will not stop to consider the ef-"
fects that may follow on legislation
tended to put an end to present
abuses.
"Should the unexpected happen nnd
the railways force Mr. Roosevelt to
recede for fear of the consequences
of a panic prior to the election, a sit
uation the railways can compass, if
they are so minded, Mr. Bryan's plan
wiir appeal to many, who are acad
emically opposed to It, as offering the
only effective check that can be im
posed. It is to the credit of Mr. Mor
gan's reputation for intelligence that
he recognizes that, unless Mr. Roose
velt and the railways can reach an
agreement that will be in the nature
of a promise on the part of. the rail
ways to be good, the worst for the
railways is yet to come. Unfortu
nately for the reputation for intelli
gence of the average railway magnate
or president, Mr. Morgan so far ap
pears to be somewhat alone in his way
of thinking many of his conferees
holding to the opinion that threats of
...w uicm lusiuuug m interior ser
vice will be sufficient to frighten off
Mr. Roosevelt and the people, who, in
tins i Instance are with Mr. Roosevelt
The position of this faction is fair
ly expressed by a rodent interview
with E. P. Ripley, president of the
Santa Fe, who is quoted as saying
I can see no good to come after a
meeting with President Roosevelt such
as has been proposed by J. p. Morgan,
If the press dispatches on the subleet
are correct. The president must bo
held responsible for having started a
brush fire which now apparently has
become a conflagration, and while I
always have felt his motives to be for
the best, to me it appears to be too
late to stop the fire that is now pretty
nearly burned out.' vy
"Mr. Ripley may be a practical rail
road man, but he is a poor judge of a
fire if he believes that It is now prett?
nearly burned out.' " Unless he and
his associates lose no time in forming
a bucket brigade, the fire is fairly cer
tain to get beyond their and Mr.
Roosevelt's control, and when the peo
p e finally put it out, if is likely to be
discovered tlint tim fw ! l
heavy.
; . AaA&aajfo tiiMiiHMihifcftt,