PAGE 8
Nebraska. Independent
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
ESTABLISHED 1889
J. M. DEVINE, Editor
FREDERIC O. BERGE, Business Mgr.
Published Every Thursday
1128 O Street
Lincoln, Nebraska
Entered at the postorfice at Mncoln.
Nebnutka, us second-cluns mall matter,
under the act of Cong-resa of March 1. 1J7.
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THE INDEPENDENT,
Lincoln, Neb.
JUST AND REASONABLE
The railroad rate, bill that recently
passed the house of representatives
provides that a "JiiBt, reasonable and
fairly remunerative rate, be fixed as
a maximum charge," meaning, of
course, that the charge should be just
and reasonable as regards the rail
road and the shipper.
Suppose the house bill passes the
senate unamended m any essential
particular, and the force of law is
given to the purposes of those who
framed the measure, then, in that case
is there a shadow of a chance of ob
taining under It a rate that will be
fair to the shipper. Not at all. Why?
Ilecause public opinion Is not suffi
ciently enlightened on the subject.
In the first place the people, whose
necessities called railroads into exist
ence and from whose use they derive
all the value they possess, have a right
to the use of them at a charge just
sufficient to meet all expenses, Includ
ing betterments and repairs, and pay
a liberal rate of Interest on the In
vestment. - It Is to be feared that public opin
ion Is not sufficiently enlightened upon
the railroad question to demand that
rates be fixed upon the basis of actual
Investment. The danger is that the
$7,000,000,000 of water Injected into
railroad securities, that do not repre
sent a single dollar Invested in rail
road property may be counted In de
termining upon a rate.
In case the bill now before the sen
ate becomes a law, and the intersiate
commerce commission fix a maximum
rate under it to which the railways de
mur and appeul to the courts, will the
courts consider the actual Investment
In railway property the basis of a rate
that will be Just and reasonable, or
will they consider oul standing bonds
nnd stocks representing 50 per cent
water, ns property that the court must
protect by fixing a rate that will pay
Inerest ami dividends upon the pres
ent Inflated capitalisation.
The question of railroad discrimin
ation la a quest iou between localities
and Individuals, It has been the prac
tice of the railroads to build up favor
Ite cities and towns along their lines
through rebates, and to destroy other
cities and towns and Injure large sec
tions of the country by discriminating
against them in freight rates. It has
also been their practice to build up
favorite corporations and other busi-j
ness enterprises at the expense of
their competitors. But regardless of
what locality is favored or discrimin
ated against, or which individuals are
favored or persecuted by the railroads
through the foul system of rebates
and discriminations, the burden of
paying Interest and dividends on The
stocks and bonds, DO per cent of which
are water, falls upon the entire con
munity. The railroads of the United
States collect unjustly In this way be
tween two and thrne hundred millions
annually. The people who bear thin
burden fear that public opinion is not
sufficiently enlightened and ripe upon
this val question to Insure a decision
of the courts that will do them!
Justice, in the matter of determining
what Is a Just and reasonable rate.
Public opinion makes new laws and
interprets old ones. Courts are mere
organs of the public and their deci
sions from time to time, mark sta
tions in the progress of the public
mind. An enlightened public opin
ion Is always just and reasonable, but
we must not expect a decision from
any tribunal representing the public
very much in advance of the enlight
enment of the public, on the question
at Issue. The demand of the hour Is
for the dlHsemlnation of light upon the
railway question.
WON AND LOST
"What does It profit a man, if he
gain the whole world and loose his
own soul?" Does the solemn warning
of holy scripture burn with consuming
force the consciousness of John D.
Rockefeller as he cowardly slinks
away from the light of day, and the
faces of men into his subterranean
hiding place to elude the process serv
er of the law? Is his soul crushed
with remorse over his merciless plun
der of God's children? Is hla spirit
withering within him In convulsive
despair over the consciousness of the
methods he employed to get money?
Is the blight he put upon the lives of
thousands of his fellow beings being
reflected back upon him from infinity
and haunting him to madness? If true.
he Is, Indeed, an object of pity.
But, on the other hand, If he is
merely playing at his old game, and
evading a court of justice while his
minions carry out some deep and
damnable plan to thwart justice, and
save to him further opportunities to
outrage the laws of God and override
the laws of man in the work of plun
der, It makes him an object of loath
ing, as sickening as It Is monumental.
Why should the richest man in the
world, In this era of money worship,
bo in hiding? None is seeking to
arrest him and deprive him of his
liberty, or even of any part of his
billion or more of wealth. What, then,
drives him, hone wealth would make
a thousand millionaires, from the en
joyment of all that civilization can
offer, and the applause of the hosts
of Mammon, Into a hole In the ground
for safety after the fashion of a
gopher, or a prairie ilog?
If the answer must be, more money,
and the protection and perpetuation
of his methods of money getting, then
money to him is a curse. It brings
to him, perverted being that he Is,
only wretchedness.
Contemplation of the vastnesa of his
possessions, beggars the dreams of
avarice. With an Income greater
than could be consumed by a score
of families in luxurious and even riot
ous living, yet the maker and posses
sor of this colossal wealth is report
ed to be skulking back and forth
through a subterranean passage that
connects his own residence with that
'of a near relative, to escape, being
summoned to the witness stand where
his testimony,' at most, would only
contribute to prevent him from con
tinuing unlawful methods of plunder
ing his fellows. And in this instance
his testimony would interfere with
only one of his -many money making
machines, and with this one in a
single state, that, of Missouri.
In his hiding, he Is more conpicu
bus than be would be on the witness
stand. His conduct is a confirmation
of the charges against Standard Oil
His going into hiding, to avoid a legal
process which seeks only to make him
a witness in a case where Standard
Oil methods are called In question,
Is accepted by the world as a confes
sion or guilt, and attracts to him In
his present hiding place universal at
tention. If he were a willing witness
he would attract only passing atten
tion, and altogether escape the notice
of millions of our people.
Is it a part of the divine plan to
mass the capabilities and rascalities
of a thousand average men In one,
that the success of the one may be
so striking as to compel universal
recognition of the evils In our systems
or methods, as the primary and neces
sary condition of their overthrow?
Rockefeller has only done in a large
way, what thousands have done In a
small way, and thousands more were,
trying to do. But what Rockefeller
has been able to do, and has done,
makes It easy for the millions to see
not only the immorality of the meth
ods employed, but to realize that they
are a menace to civil society and pop
ular government.
The example of Rockefeller, the
most successful money maker of all
time, in hiding and skulking through
his undei ground tunnel, teaches a
lesson much needed In this age of
money madness. It teaches that he
is most successful, after all, who pos-
sesses only a just equivalent of the
services he has rendered to his fel
low men, and who commands the re
spect, love and sympathy of his fel
lows so far as his name and fame
extends.
A PROPHECY
Make a note of the prophecy here
recorded. It may be convenient to
refer to, a few years hence.
An Irrepressible conflict between the
people and the railways for supremacy
is now on. The mutterlnga of the
past have been but the casual skir
mishes between the pickets of the op
posing armies. The railways, the ag
gressors, have been thus far in poses
slon of the Held. They have omitted
no preparation, and have covered
every polut of vantage even to cap
turing lKltilral organlatloiiN and die-
. y.i.-H . ft
tating nominations Th.- -litical
bias but seirin,.-,..:, "f
tales different iici, ,
calities on grounds of , ,,,mm
The greatest graft of ,h,
been perpetrated by ,.. luj!dt.rs
manipulators of ur rdllw " '
graft has yielded fortune in ,
! "me. that dwarf,, m cm
the greatest fortunes in ,h, oM Wor!1
built up through gem-ration, 0f 2
presslon under the M ron.ee of
potlc governments. The mrmm
this graft offered wer..
and attracted the most .laring ilirit,
iuc age.
The work of plunder was iurov,n
ui. mai or territorial development,
that In the benefitx of .w-i.,..-,-..'
the graft was oar;K ,...!... ...
r . "... .-.urn aoij
r&rtly condoned. Tn .t ..v....
correct wrongs was impassible during
certain .stages of development. The
day of reckoning could not come until
certain stages of development were
passed, which have at las; been at.
The great and powerful miniU ihyt
planned and executed the work nt
building and manipulating railroads
and making such tremendous fortune
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