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MAY 3, 1007
The Commoner;
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W'. -v
to move the traffic along the different lines of a
railroad compauy, as the requirements of the ser
rice may greatly and rapidly fluctuate f ronr time
to time. A large discretion In such cases jnust
be left -to the management of the road and the
supervision of the state tribunal charged with
that duty.
22 The provisions of the railroad commis
sion law afford a remedy which appears to be ad
equate to enforce the performance of the duty of
a railroad company iis to furnishing sufficient
motive power and cars and as to transporting
freight; therefore mandamus is not always a
necessary remedy In such cases. As tfie law does
not afford another adequate remedy to enforce
the duty of a railroad company to maintain Its
roadbed and track in a safe and efficient con
dition for the public service, such duty may be
enforced by mandamus upon proper allegations.
23 Hie proceedings by mandamus can only
b6 resorted to when there is no other adequate
'legal remedy to accomplish the purpose sought
. thereby.
24 When the court will not enforce the man
date of an alternative writ as it is framed, a .per
emptory writ will not issue thereon, since the
writ must be enforced as a whoJe if at all.
25r-An alternative writ of mandamus may be,
amended.
'betters from the people ,
,T. A. Bent, Colorado Springs, Colo. Senator
Elkins' minority report5 shows interest rate under
public ownership of railroad in Europe, as twice
as high as United States private ownership. This
is a He covered up by Including in the calcula
tion all the freight roads handle for themselves
fully one:fourth the entire tonnage; also on pas
senger rates, the poor pay morev The rich get
cheap trans-continental tourist rates.
W. H. Willech, Maxbass, N. D. -I wonder
how t would strike- the republicans to see on the
statute books of the nation, something like this:
First That all property that is taxed for.- less
than its real taxable value shall pass Into the
government possession at its listed valuation.
Second That any person or persons manufacture
ing or selling foodstuff injurious to health to be
Imprisoned and punished as a capital offender, not
to be released on bond or bail. Third That all
children to attend th6 public school from the, age
of six years till sixteen, or graduate from the
public school. Fourth Bribery should by all
means be a capital crime. It is simply a betrayal
of trust and any one that betrays that trust
should die the death of Judas. A man of that type
Is like unto a Bnake; should be scorned and'
shunned by all; get the story of Montana that
Is a disgrace to any nation. Fifth That all mort
gaged property be exempt from taxation to the
extent of the mortgage, said mortgage to be
taxed. It looks reasonable that a person or per
sons that have money to lend are more able to
pay tqx than the borrower.
W, H. Allen, 700 Franklin avenue, Brooklyn,
N. y.r-Tho enclosed resolution on trade balances
was introduced in the last congress by Congress
man. Calder at my request, but owing to the rush
of business it failed 5f adoption. It. will be
brought up again In the next congress. However,
if the press of the country would take up the
matter and show the need of such an investigation
the secretary of the treasury might be induced to
begin it without waiting for authority from con
gress: Joint resolution, relating to the disap
pearance of our foreign trade balances. Resolved
by ..the senate and house of representatives of the
United States of America in congress assembled,
that the secretary of the treasury be, and hereby
is, authorized to appoint a commission of Ave
persons whose duty it shall be to investigate and
ascertain what disposition is made of the balances
due this country in settlement of Its yearly ex
cess of exports of merchandise.
that, ""wages increased not too rapidly, but just
enough to keep the laborers content. Why, tills
is' a period of tremendous prosperity."
S. T. Stewart, New Sharon, Ja.I have heard
It stated many times that farm Implements and
other American manufactured goods are sold in
European countries for. less than they are sold
for at home and as you have traveled extensively
and have had opportunity to know, will you please
give us the facts of the case througTi tho columns
of Tho Commoner and oblige? (It is a fact that
'such goods are sold cheaper abroad than In Amer
ica. Secretary Taft charged it with respect to
Panama canal supplies, and many republican lead
ers have openly admitted it, seeking to justify
it on the theory that such a course was necessary
in building up tho foreign market.)
A. J. Sellers, San Angelo, Texas. I beg to
enclose you herewith a page from King!s Finan
cial Bulletin of issue of April 13, giving account
of-a meeting In which six prominent speakers dis
cussed financial conditions. It is a little strange
that these great educators should flatter them
selves that the common people have either "for
gotten or like themselves do .not want to remem
ber that whatMr. Bryan advocated in 1890 and
1900 was more money, and that free silver coin
age as advocated would bring the needed pros
perity, or relieve rather the condition of prevail
ing hard times. While wholly unexpected to Mr.
Bryan and all, the increase in gold production -came
and brought the results which these great,
so-called financiers," at that time so much feared..
You will note . that Professor Johnson states .
E. L. Smith, Castleton, N. Y. In regard to de
termining the value of railroads for tho purpose
of compensating the present owners under a sys
tem of government ownership it would seem 10
me to be one of the simplest things In tho world
to ascertain. In the town in which I reside, which
is In Rensselaer county New York, a few years
ago, the assessors made a slight raise In the as
sessment bf the New York Central railroad which
passes through this town. The assessors were met
by a protest from the officials of the railroad com
pany and at meetings which were held by the
assessors the officials and experts of the railroad
company gave testimony as to the cost of build
ing a railroad which was according to the cvidencd"
furnished by the railroad company a great deal
less than was generally supposed to be the case.
Now I should suppose that there must be a groat
deal of evidence of a similar nature scattered
all over the United States, possibly some In nearly
every county which is crossed by a railroad- and
it would seem to me that the railroad companies
could not have any ground for complaint if their
estimates of. the yalue of their property were ac
cepted by the public, allowing for a proper rise
or fall in the value of material since estimates
were made.
A. F. Parker, Grangevllle, Idaho. The say
ing that the American people -have proverbially
short memories was never better illustrated than
in" the recent talk of certain" democrats suggest
ing Roosevelt as a suitable nominee for tbo demo
cratic nomination for president next year. "It Is
not so very many years since Roosevelt went
around the country declaring that "DEMOCRATS
ARE COWARDS AT HOME AND TRAITORS
ABROAD." I have watched the career of this
gentleman pretty closely, but I have thus far seen
nor heard nothing to indicate that he has revised
his opinion of democrats or democracy. What the
democrats of this country need and must have is
a presidential candidate who, if elected, will nn
force tho criminal clause of the Sherman anti
trust act against the frenzied financial criminals
who are daily and hourly violating the laws of
ouir country without let or hindrance from the administration.
Gr. F. McMurchy, Vicksburg, Miss. We fre
quently sec figures on exports and imports show-'
ing the "balance" 1n favor of the United States.
As a matter of fact are the figures representative
of any "balance" in favor of tho people of the
United States? Do not the export figures rep
resent the total and final sum of the product ex
ported and include all the profits to labor contrib
uted to its production, while the import figures
simply represent the initial cost to the people of
the United States? The sum total of cost to tlis
people of the United States would be the final
price paid by the consumer on Imported stuff.
For instance if England buys $50,000,000 worth
of raw cotton from the United States and sells
the United States $40,000,000 worth of cotton
goods, Is the United States $10,000,000 better off
than England by the deal? What constitutes a
true "balance" of trade? .
rights of tho ''common herd." Tho principled
all right but why lot tho public be deceived as to
the results that have been actually attained? Now
take a few of tho investigations and acts thatliavo.
been made Into laws under great noise and shout
ing off the hilltops. Where are tho actual results?'
Where are the benefits?
The beef trustAre stock raisers obtaining
higher prices? Ask them, rias moat cheapened"?
,Apk the public. ,
Standard Oil Has oil and other proucW m
that, line cheapened? Ask tho public. Ilavo they
discontinued sharp practices In order to drive out
the small man? Ask the competitor.
The above applies to various Investigations
in other lines conducted by tho present adminis
tration at a heavy expense to tho public.
'Railroad legislation Has tho new rate law
equalized freight ratqs? Have rates been reduced
to a reasonable basis? Ask tho shipper and ask
the public; They will tell you Unit in some in
stances rates have been advanced and that there
is discrimination.
Now there is all this cheap agitation about
reduced passenger rates. Ninety per cent of Uie
public do not care whether tho rate is two or five
cents per nitlc. When they travel an excursion
rate Is most always available. ' What the public
does want Is better coaches, better service, better
stations, better sanitary conditions at stations and
In coaclias, enforcing of laws for a better operator
service (dispatching), more civil treatment by
railroad employes and have trains on schedule
time.- Noue of the above Is agitated by our pres
ent model administration. Thus it works right
Into tue hands of the railroad companies who find
it much cheaper In the long run to reduce fares
and cut service thnn to provide good equipment
and assure safety, comfort and right service to tho
public. Further, why are express and telegraph
companies not molested? Why are they permit
ted to charge the public exorbitant rates? In fact,
can you point, out a slnglo Instance where the
.present administration has accomplished anything
that. Is or will bo of some benefit to the general
public?
'
VENGEANCE"
For the purpose of wrecking vengeance ,'on
the people, the railroads of the country are going
to refuse to make extensions and improvements
that would add greatly to the earning power of the
roads. .This is another proof that the old groun
of real railroad men has disappeared to make way
for a bunch of men who think railroads were In
vented for the purpose of floating stock and bond
Issues.
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J. S. . Woods, Kaufman, Texas. I am now
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through the medium of The Commoner, enlighten
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plishments of President Theodore Roosevelt and
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