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THE OREGON SUNDAYS JOURNAL, . PORTLAND. - SUNDAY f MORNING DECEMBER 2. 1803.
Opposes
. Iw the Editor. Government owner
ship nur IM supported a C P. Strain.
STTisatiii county, say, -upas
pHttlr grounds" end It may b P
" aibl to urge "poelUva advantafea" as
feeing la it lavor. out ino ... .avemB
reader will be unable to discover any
argument la Mr." Strain' article In last
Sunday' Journal proving either state
ment. He enumerates nigni prominent
points of advantage to accrue from
government ownership, but fall to dem
onstrate wherein these advantages are
to be achieved through It. He begins
by making- the usual cheap clap-trap
statement that railroad "cannot be -.
petted to grant popular rlghta," because
' private control Invites warfare between
public and private interests. Were. It
, not that a great many who. have. not.
coveted those things which the otner
have there would be no reason for this
warfare, and In fact tt would never
Jtlst. Tet this warfare Is simply the
natural result of m4' ambition and
desire to advance. ' - ..
Mr. Strain says that rate regulation
'does not a-o to. the root of the dls-
ease, but the question Is, Is what we
are aiming at really a diseaser, is it
something to be entirely eradicated or
js It simply something to be modified?
' If a disease, then lty.ahould.be entirely
radicated and that would mean the
absolute abolition of rates of every
character..Jlf it Is a matterjrtmply for
rnooincauon men 11 is nut a uukwm,
and herein lies the crux of the ques
tion. Our government ownership advo
cates declare that private control (which
means under almost any circumstance
and condition a certain Inequality la
rates 4s ' Between comparative points
and larger and smaller shippers) Is a
disease, which to bo cured at all. must
- entirely done away wtlh by etriklng
at the "root," as they call It, and which
they pretend to be the matter of pri
vate ownership itself.
: The ordinary man of affairs and busi
ness ability, however, recognises that
all things cannot bo equal and that It la
neoessary that certain physical and po
litical conditions be taken Into consid
eration la the formation of prices and
value on the different articles on which
-they may be baaed. - r
Oapltal - rts OwmVi ervaat.
Capital Is sure to bo the servant of
dt owner and is sure to serve the In
terests which own and direct it; and any
public opinion which would compel re
sistance of this principle becomes an
rchlstie and is entirely out of keeping
with our Institutions, our laws and our
Ideas of right and Justice.
The question of popular rights Is
rather a broad one and on which Is be
coming entirely too popular for the
demagogue and the politician,: to rant
about. It Is a term of about as much
value as they use It, as la that other
J erm'jtho,jconinon . people", which I
note, by the way, that air. strain mas.es
what he presumes to be effective use of
where be says that -plutocracy employs
foul means In the exercise of privilege."
Mr. Strain declares that a distinction
should be made between corporate In
vestment and private Investments be
rceuse the 'corporation is. purely a money
making device; In this Mr. Strain cer
tainly showa a great lack of knowledge
of corporation and general business prln
cipes. because while tt la perhaps a
money-making device. If you please,
what is any other business Investment?
He pretends that a private Investment
le simply that Investment which would
buy a house and "furnish" It for one's
" family, which be says la a possession
susceptible of sentimental association,
and here Mr. Strain drops Into poetry
And not the tepee: for we are not Indians, but agents for Council
Crest Park where we are selling lots; choice building sites, from
$300
Als:.iSwee:
South Portland
MAIN 550
Govcrnmcnl Ownership
and tells how the artistic aide of man's
nature may "blossom from the buds of
els. tree
vine." Duti surpass that
this same man entera Into the manu
facture of lard or cotton cloth. How
much less of the sentimental to him Is
there In- his"-Investmenf-rn that par
ticular? And again, why should his
business be considered any the less a
money-making device aimply because he
has entered singly Into this manufue
turing enterprise than If be were to
Join hands with two other or more In
order that they might, by combining,
aupply sufficient capital for their pur
pose and oven, form a corporation for
their purpose?"-.-; .
, .Why Toi Zztend Claim
While the home may truly be said
to be too delicately sacred -to permit
of publio Interference, why should we
not also claim that the lard factory
and the cotton mill were of the same
character;1 the same private capital
goes into all other, investments no less
than in the home. Mr. Strain, however,
her departs from this line of reason
ing and comparea the -railway and the
wagon road, declaring that there la no
fundamental difference between the two
and that they are merely extensions of
the public highway. All the distinc
tion he doe find 1 that the Individual
using a wagon road supplies his own
equipment, while government railway
relieve him of. this and charge a fee
In lieu of itT And here, fortunately for
Mr. Strain "apace forbid the demon
stration." In fact. Mr. Btraln would
have had to (train a good deal to have
demonstrated the point which he pre
tends to hare made in this particular.
In the first place wagon roads have
never required the great amount of ex
penditure which ha been required for
the laying of the steel rail which now
thread our country, and they have been,
unlike tlre-rallway, the development of
year. They begin by . the entrance of
the settler Into new terltory. who, for
hi own convenience, hews out a way
over which h can move his wagon and
thua haul to hi newly estaoiisnea nome-i
those supplies which are necessary to
support the life of himself and family.
It would not be possible to lay a rail
way to supply this man's farm and hi
small demands nor for the publio to
build him aT macadam -road. In -the
course or time a neignoor joins mm.
and they together Improve a half dozen
places on this road to make It passa
ble for their teams, and passable, only,
perhaps. A time goes on, however.
the nsw country become settled, the
wagon road become more and more
the scene of traffic and then a little
money I spent occasionally to maintain
the road, hut how incompetent would
this man and hi neighbor be, both
physically and financially, to build a
railroad Into that country , and main
tain it. Agalnjgovernro!ntonerahiB
precludes toe construction 01 railway
line into newly opened and, undevel
oped territory because of the very rea
son which Mr. Strain advance for
government ownership, and that Is the
construction of roads where they are
not needed, or where the apparent in
come doea not warrant the investment.
He pretends that rival Interests dupli
cate facilities. But the writers defies
Mr. Strain or any other man to ahow
wherein the country ha been damaged
by thl duplication of facilities. On
ths contrary one may go Into Germany
where these facilities are owned by the
government and find readily the .lack
of development In certain portion's of
that country due entirely to refusal on
the cart of the government to extend
railwallnes Into- the remote districts
to
MoWo
Sixth
because the Diet cannot see "where It
will pay." Aguin, there, I forever that
anlrlt if niirrlmlriHMon nr local rivalry,
and it will not down.
. Beault la Germany,
Mr. Strain "If that-unr--fre ah8
natural conditions there will be a dis
tribution of industries and economlo
distribution to -commerce, out history
proves quite the contrary. Thua In
Germany it baa been absolutely dem
Onatrated that government ownership
not only doe not distribute commerce
or the Industries but concentrate them,
aa It also concentrates trade and popu
lation.
Hugo R. Meyer, an authority On gov.
ernment ownership And government
regulation, Mr. Sympher. who, ' aa i
representative of the German govern
ment in 101. spoke of the . well-known
fact that such manufacturing enter
prises ' aa were not established In the
immediate vicinity of coal - and - iron
mines were forced to seek location upon
the waterways because the water ways
enabled manufacturers , to obtain their
raw material at prices not materially
higher than those current in the coal
and Iron districts. "One of the leading
objects of Prussia's nationalisation of
the railways," saya Meyer, "was the
realr to abolish or minimise' railway
discriminations. This should result ac
cording, to the Diet's understanding and
effect in decentralising trade and in
dustry, as well a putting largo' nnd
small shipments on a footing of qual
ity. There was the immediate object
of doing away with certain railway
rate-makiag practice and there waa the
ultimate object of attaining thereby
certain ; essential economical results.
The evidence now before us shows that
Prussia has succeeded on the whole In
the first, but has failed completely In
the second." They have not only failed
to " produce decentralisation, but-thai
very opposite condition has been inten
sified. Mr. Strain talks about carrying
on the manufacture of iron, for in
stance, where a preponderance of these
elements exist, but Mr. Strain over
look the fact that the existence of
the elements In any particular place is
not the basis of economlo control. He
further says that -the cost of labor,
power .and market are the factor, but
many Hhl n g manu featured-- from -Iron
require other element which must be
often times transported, and which,
being more bulky than the iron, are
transported with ' greater difficulty,
making it necessary to take the Iron
ore where othnr element can be more
readily secured. Then, again, the lo
cation of the Iron and coal mines 1 not
usually, or in fact. Is seldom the most
convenient location for manufacturing
institutions.
Concentration, sTot Distribution.
Therefore, the results will be, and are
duntry,' Instead of being distributed.
will be concentrated at point of feasi
bility, of concentration of population, so
that . the labor may be easily secured.
and where may be had the best possible
transportation facilities, looking to the
quickest distribution of . the manufac
tured products. Thus, that city from
which two or more railway act aa dis
tributor will stand the better chance of
being a manufacturing center than a
place confined to but one route of
transportation, even though the latter
la at the point of production of the raw
material. It, In addition, there are two
line, parallel with, each other, or nearly
so, they offer still better attractions to
the manufacturer than where one single
route has the power to make and con-1
trol the roads, even though thl route '
50
n
sieves
and Washington Streets:
may be owned by the government, km
for example la Germany. No one pre
tends that the government railway fall
to make discrimination In ratee where
the waterways touch the same point of
shipment. This matter of discrimina
tion Is sure to be considered by any rail
way as a necessary feature In business
and for this reason competitive rates
mtlsTe'HaewTlBTWrawrr-ncsr-arrd
water routes touch, the same fields. -
Again, the matter of discrimination
as between the small and large shipper
will ever be made, whether the carrier
be the government or be private parties,
as it will also be in tha future, a it
has In the past, that tha long haul rats
will be proportionately less than the
same service for a short distance. Also
the carload must be the unit of trans
portation by railways, and we may . be
sure that whether it be the government
or private parties that operate the rail
ways, this feature or transportation
will be recognised. :", .. f -.
" Physical Xoonomy. '
: Again, touching the matter of physical
economy, Mr. Strain contends that the
duplication of facilities, depots and ter
minals are not only sxpenatve In ma
terial and labor, hut that -they raise
rates In the end, because they pile up
capital to be supported and divide traf
fic with existing roads. Does Mr. Strain
pretend to say that the atate of Oregon
and Washington, will not be benefited
greatly by having a railway along both
banks of the Columbia river f ' Tet I am
willing to believe that had we govern-
moub uwiirnrup bi cms lime, sucn m
thing would not only be Improbable, but
would really be impossible, a the repre
sentatives .or the. government in Wash
ington .city for the atate of Oregon
would certainly oppose transferring any
portion of the traffic which now passes
through Oregon to the rival state across
the river. Likewise, the representatives
or Seattle, Tacoroa and Spokane would
be heard on tha floor of. congress) ve
hemently protesting against the con
struction of any further railway lines
Into the city of Portland.
Again, does- Mr. Strain believe that
under government ownership of railway
lines the Union and Central Pacific rail
way would have been paralleled across
what Daniel Webster wa pleased to
call an absolutely barren and. desert
waate by at least six or seven other
lines? Does he believe for a moment
that It would have been possible to have
secured government appropriations at
sufficient capital .to have built railways
iDta coun trie today rich In their out
put of agricultural products, but which
berore the advent of the railway lines
liad not a house wherein the hunter or
trapper could seek shelter from the In
clemency of a northern winter? i. he
does, let him read his history and- he
will find evidence that should make htm
recognise the contrary tp be a fact.
- Tnero are in Germany today two
great iron producing districts; one in
tne north and tha other In the south.
Midway between 1 an undeveloped dis
trict, said to be rich In iron ores, await
ing transportation; but when it wa pro-
tiiin, inn reicnHtagLhat tnm n.
trict be opened by the construction of
railway lines, this was vehemently and
conclusively opposed by the delegate
from both these districts. Do we "doubt
that. the same' spirit of local competi
tion would not have It effect on the
American congress uader like condi
tions!
Another thing which ha operated
against developments in Germany and
which would be pretty sure to find its
counterpart her Is the failure on the
part of the government to provide the
most modern equipments, through an
effort to keep the surplus earning suf
ficiently above the cost or maintenance.
that the railways would be able to main
tain their share of the government. In
the first place taking over railway 'prop
erty by the government would mean
30 Per Cent
lids
immediate and absolute loss of taxes to
every state, county and city, through
which these line would pass, yet they
would demand a i greater government
outlay of money constantly aynd,.there-
juro, uiv uurawu wouta vau again ai1
rectly upon the people. It ' Is easy
enough to talk aboht issuing govern
menl bonds, but government 7 bonda are
ptiljr yainablo.ag.iong. . Jthay fan h
reuilzml on the same a other aeourttlea.
The united states, even, might over
burden Itself with debt. The one thing
also which ha mads tha difference In
Interest rates between government
bonds and railroad bond la thl very
matter of focal-taxation, and the sav.
Ing of 1 per cent to which Mr. Strain
refer would only be apparent because
that 1 per cent would have to be male
up in taxea on other properties by the
various states, etc., In which the bonds
are owned. ... Mr. Strain, flnda that. rail
way property ha been increasing in
value through Increasing population, but
doe Mr. Strain pretend that, thl in
crease in value doea not mean an In.
creased wealth in the whole country?
But, there have been year when rail
way properties did not Increase . in
value and thl might also be taken Into
consideration. For example. In Ittt,
when IS per cent of all railway "bonds
rsnea to psy any interest, and in 18,
when ths non-paying bonds amounted to
17.Z per cent.
Again, the amount of railway stock
wnicn have t, not paid dividend ha al
ways been Very large. Thus. In' 18SJ
18M and 1S7. to exceed 70 per cent of
an the railway storks of the United
States failed In dividends. It Is true
that since l0i there ha been a con
stant Increase In vslue of railway
stocks, because' In 10 the percentage
of non-paying stock wa only 44 per
cent of the whole, while in that same
year but 4 1-S per cent of tha bonds
failed to pay their Interest. These are
statistics which any student may gather
for himself if he will but read the- re
port of the Interstate eotnmeroe com
mission, r
stealth of Wroeperlry.
Todsy we are at the senlth of our
prosperity, but tt la only a few year
since many of our business men suf
fered reverses which had their affect on
the transportation lines and sent a great
many of them Into the hand of re
ceiver. It waa at thl time so large
a percentage of railway lines found it
impossible to earn even operating ex
penses, to say nothing of paying divi
dend on their stocks or interest on
their bonds. These things-should be
taken Into consideration by the student
of commercial economy because they
are not only liable but almost ur to
occur again.
, So far as the matter of speculation 1
concerned, take away the power of spec
ulating in railway or other industrial
stocks or bond and the peculatlv in
stinct will find Its vent in real estate
speculation.' mining speculation or buy
ing and selling of wheat, other product
of the soil, etc Any effort to remove
the speculative feature of commerce
will prove a failure because man was
ever prone to take tha long chance. We
nndTTnirPOland veh today, where
men are buying Iota, not because they
have need for the little plot of ground :
incloaed within their imaginary lines, I
but because. of the desire for specula-1
tlon. To earn money without labor la a
natural Instinct, and It will continue to
be a part of man's makeup. Sale on the
stock market are not more short of ordl-
nary gambling nor lea than are theie
effort to make money through buying
and selling of properties, and thus giv
ing to these properties fictitious value.
Mr. Btraln worries about plutocracy
fattening upon the privilege which pro
ceed from our American railway sys
tem. Should-he nut look also -u poBToiif
rapidly growing official aristocracy
civil service? Would not the national-1
Down, Balance Liberal Terms
5
nn
Entire Second Floor
(r
"Mislrd
Alfred Benjamin's Correct
Clothes are not high priced
they arc very reasonable
considering the high quality
of the materials, the finish
and fit, etc ,
$20.00 to $40.00
Found in Portland only at
t
As to Valut None
Ixatjon of our railway aervtc only add
to that, aud thu give u another class
of aristocracy for the on which he
attempting to do away with? , I think
The question of the division of wealth
ts a truly great one, but what would
constitute an equable division I a dif
ficult to say aa.lt would be to secure
an equal division. Every man I born
equal only in hi right to the pursuit of
happiness, and. many have proven th-i
fact that they are not born equal in
business - ability, or in those qualities
which would lead to amassing a fortune
or to the directing of great enterprises.
The "privilege," another very euphon
ous word, by the way, to which - Mr.
Btraln refers, at the beginning of life 1
aa much a part of one a it is of the
other. aiTs evidenced ny The f aoTThal
many of our so-called plutocrat of to
day were born without even a pewter
poon In their months, let alone silver.
0V8 (W
a v no a
311 MORRISON ST, Opp. Postofnci
Can Give Better
Their capabilities and their recognition
of opportunities have gone hand In hand
to aid them in the development of great
enterprises which have also developed
thl wonderTul country of ours, and have"
made life worth the living for all the
people of thl part of , the twentieth cen
tury. They have lived live of streriu
osity, hut these lives will some day ter
minate and the scatterment of their
amassed fortune will begin at the
bands of their sons.
So far a Mr. Strait.'' suggestion that
the postal aavlngs bank and the issu
ance of government bonds would re
quire the private banker to "Increase bW ''
capital to tha amount of hi loans"
concerned, the writer prefer to tear
thl without taking up your valuable
pace, because he feel that there I no
hecessTtyTBr-mttffiptlTS, howfhe"
fallacy of hi suggestions, there. They
are too apparent to be opposed by any
writer. - ' ISAAC A. MANNING.
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20 Per Cent Down
Balance LIBERAL TERNS
MAIN 550
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