K- : v 'v. '
. . .
' > < , 4J _ . JLi t. . .
6 Cbc Conservative *
or later it will find itself in the bankrupt
court.
KullrimdH and Population.
How baseless this last assumption is ,
becomes apparent when wo consider the
development of railway mileage. The
business commenced in 1820. Today
there are about 190,000 miles of railway
in the United States. The business has
far outstripped population and other
business in its growth. Every line is
paralleled at important points by other
lines of railway , not directly , perhaps ,
but through branch lines and by lines
taking their business at other points.
Over-capitalization invites this kind of
competition. It either prevents the
creation of necessary facilities for
proper service to patrons , or requires
rates so high as to make it profitable for
other railroads to compete for its busi
*
ness.
Not tliu End.
Nor does bankruptcy terminate the
mischief. A railroad in the hands of a
receiver is always recognized as the
most destructive competitor ; and under
our laws , when a bankrupt railway cor
poration is reorganized , it generally
means only a change in the forms of
capitalization , and the new company is
left to stagger under its old weight un
til after a few years it passes through
the sumo process.
How detrimental to morals and how
wasteful of capital such a condition of
the railway business has been a bitter
experience has proved. Many railroad
stocks are mere instruments of gambling
and the fruitful source of conspiracies
to rob the public , while sometimes the
railroads represented by these stocks
pervo no purpose except to demoralize
business.
Slatuto Spawned.
As these corporations arc purely crea
tures of the statutes , the law is partly
responsible for this condition of affairs.
It should exercise strict supervision over
their organization , and reorganization
when insolvent , and over all consolida
tions of independent lines. As to or
ganization , by the act of 1887 , Pennsyl
vania has led the woy toward reform.
By that act directors are forbidden to
issue any stock for less than the full
amount paid in of the par value of the
stock either in money , labor or material ,
and are forbidden to issue bonds for less
than their market value or to an amount
in excess of the capital stock paid for.
This law is enforced by severe penalties.
In Texas organization , consolidation
and reorganization are all subject to
rigid supervision in order to prevent
over-capitalization and its attendant dis
honesty , demoralization and waste. In
most of the other states the laws are
very lax. Nor is the complaint that
such laws may prevent the development
of the business worthy of much cousid-
F-T
I
oration. Actual capital will always bo
found for legitimate enterprises.
From these beginnings may have
some hope for the future , and in the
meantime may trust that a bitter exper
ience has taught railway managers that
conservatism in finance as related to
economic laws , is the best security for
investors , and that while it preserves
their capital will in the end lead to the
largest amount of profits.
Franklin , Pa. , April 22 , 1899.
" walkin' into the gang wid his
sword , like Diarmid of the Golden Col
lar , barrin' ho hadn't a stitcli av clothin'
on him. "
This passage , from one of the modern
classics , has caused many readers to
wonder who the Diarmid in question
might bo. His name is not familiar , nor
is it to bo found in any of the common
books of reference. But as it is Mul-
vaney the great who thus refers to him ,
it is probably safe to assume that ho is
the Diarmid who figures largely in the
early Celtic ballads and narratives , the
hero-tales of Ireland which arc so
strangely like the stories of the ancient
Greeks found in Homer. The only
doubtful point is why Mr. Kipling calls
him Diarmid of the Golden Collar , as
that appellation is not applied to him in
any part of the Celtic literature with
which the writer is acquainted. Ho
was the best man among the Fena , or
followers of Fin MacCool ; remarkable
exploits are attributed to him , and ho
was vulnerable , like Achilles , in the
heel only. Ho is called Diarmid of the
Women , of the Bright Face and of the
White Teeth , but never , so far as has
come to the writer's notice , of the Golden
den Collar. One title given him in the
Ossianic poems is the Well-skilled Shield ,
and ho is regularly called besides by his
patronymic , O'Dyna , or sou of Duibhno.
His name appears to bo properly spelled
Diarmaid in the Gsclio , but in the trans
lations there is a great variety , ranging
from Dermat to Yeearmoud ; these may
perhaps indicate a diversity of pronun
ciations , or perhaps it is only that they
come from the laud where , as the say
ing is , you spell a man's name Smith
and pronounce it Jones ; as a certain
family is called Sinclair or McKolta , ac
cording as you happen to bo speaking
English or Gielic. Diarmid was the
supposed ancestor of all the Campbells ,
and the direct forerunner of course of
all the McDormats , McDerniotts and so
forth ; and ho lived , if ho lived at all ,
somewhere about the third century.
A VAKHKIfB
THOUGHT.farmer , whom Tins
CONSERVATIVE : has
known for forty years , called to ex
change views on the condition of winter
wheat and taxation the other day. And
just as ho was leaving the office ho re
marked :
"Tho notion that a majority is always
right is wrong. The multitude of men
neither read much nor think much.
The majority in Jerusalem were for
crucifying Christ. The majority , unin
telligent and thoughtless , make a more
despotic , dangerous and cruel master
than a czar who is educated to govern.
"Tho of self-
majority are not capable -
government unless educated , honest and
bravo morally.
"How many men and women of your
acquaintance among the best and most
refined are constantly capable of self-
government ?
"How many of them control temper ,
appetite , passions , perfectly ?
"And if the per cent is small among
the educated how much smaller is it
among the ignorant ?
"Who are the majority in New York ,
Chicago , Philadelphia and Boston ; the
cultured and refined or the ignorant and
brutal ? I am tired of the twaddle
which deifies majorities. "
HUSINKSS HIKN KICKING AT KAIL-
WAY OIM'IIESSION.
At a mass mooting of the citizens of
Dallas , Texas , the railway commission
was most vigorously denounced for
their hostile and unjust attitude toward
the railway industries of that state.
Funds were raised and a committee of
business men sent to Austin for the pur
pose of showing the commission that
such an attitude was most burdensome
upon the whole community , and would
not bo tolerated by the business men of
the state whoso property and commer
cial interests wore being jeopardized in
an indirect way by railway oppression.
St. Louis Sentinel.
KAILIIOAI ) 1 < 'IGI1TI3K3.
For the past twenty-five years every
ropresoutativo of obscure note and men
tality who craved public bombast from
the people in various states introduced
some windy measure to cripple the rail
roads. Ho always warned the people
that possibly before the next legislature
could moot the railroads would have all
the valuable land in the state con
demned , and the owners despoiled of
their homes and living. Anyone who
will care to inquire can find out that
there were miles upon miles of railroad
track laid in all the great states of the
West long before the first echoes of the
manufacturers' or jobbers' enterprise
had been heard , and thousands of people
ple who lived in sod houses on the plains
and would still bo , are living in sub
stantial houses since the advent of rail
roads. It has often been remarked that
the devil is not half as black as ho is
painted , and the same thing will apply
to the railroads and men who run them.
Our Standard , Indianapolis , Ind.