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head, but I shall add only that the pur
chase of the roads by the government,
under such circumstances, would sad
dle onto the country an enormous
debt, much the larger part of which
represents only greed and graft; and
that the sooner this proposition is def
intely abandoned by those who insist
that the people shall secure for them
selves fair treatment from the rail
roads, the sooner will the pending
problem be solved.
But suppose the nationalization of
railroads determined upon, and the
purchase effected, some kind of gov
ernment board would have to be con
stituted to unite —all at once —into one
system, the Pennsylvania, the Vander
bilt, the Gould, the Harriman, the Hill,
the Morgan, the Moore, the Sante Fe,
the Southern systems, and hundreds
more of minor groups and single
roads, operating many scores of thou
sands of mileage. And the matter
would be made still more difficult by
the fact that no light could be ob
tained from experience anywhere else.
According to Poor’s Railroad Manual
for 1906, the entire railroad mileage
of the United States on June 30 of
that year, was 206,960 —whicn was
owned by approximately 2,000 corpora
tions, and operated by about 600 com
panies. At that time, the entire rail
road mileage owned and operated by
all of the nations of the world aggre
gated less than half that number.
Moreover, each of the nations that
own or operate a part, or all, of these
roads began with one, or only a few,
short lines —and added others from
time to time. It would be no easy
matter, at short notice, to find a
sufficient number of the right kind of
men to operate even one of our great
systems—but to do so for all of them
would be simply impossible.
A large part of the men holding re
sponsible positions on railroads are
personally honest. But the conviction
is universal that graft is common
among leading officials, in all depart
ments. And such a belief necessarily
tends to demoralize subordinates, and
to quiet their consciences when tempt
ed t ©appropriate something that does
not belong to them.
That this is the situation all ob
serving men know. And yet the new
governing board would be absolutely
compelled to continue in charge of
the roads the most of the grafters
who are now exploiting them —hoping
to weed out the worst from time to
time —and the longer and more ener
getically one thinks along this line,
the more difficult will such a task
be seen to be.
There are many high class business
men who would willingly undertake
the reorganization of one large, mis
managed business concern —because
they feel sure they could soon secure
the right kind of subordinates to run
it properly. And the man who does
well in one such case might also be
able to do as well in others; but if
asked to —all at once —take charge
of, and become responsible for, a thou
sand such establishments, scattered all
over the country, willingness to do so
would create a presumption that he
had no conception of the magnitude of
the task, or was too reckless to be
trustworthy.
For a long time, at best, political
pulls would, under such conditions,
necessarily be powerful and demoral
civil service rules ensure the selec
izing; nor could any possible set of
tion of the right kind of men for the
most Important positions. Examina
tions can be made to show fairly well
the clerical or mechanical skill of ap
plicants, but no set of questions or
tests, can be made to throw much
light upon their executive ability, judg
ment or Integrity. To separate the
sheep from the goats in the present
force, would require an army of de-
tectives—and, as a class, detectives
are themselves not above suspicion.
Practical men know that they would
prefer—very much prefer—to take a
new establishment, and operate it with
men of their own selection, than to
take an old, mismanaged one, filled
with various grades of incompetents
and rogues, who would have to be
weeded out.
In short, the more thoughtfully one
asks himself, If such a responsibility
were thrown upon me, how would I
go to work? the more serious is it
seen to be. Consequently, when the
proposition comes before the people
in such away that they realize it is
really imminent, the discussion will
be carried on much less superficially
than it has been up to this time.
And now, while the people are open
to reason, and before they decide to
enter upon a task of such enormous
magnitude, the press ought to publish
all the facts that will help them to
reach a wise conclusion.
I have touched a few of the facts and
reasons, why the present system of
railroading by private corporations
cannot be made to promote justice and
the interests of the people as a whole;
and also why a simple transfer of
the roads to the nation, to be oper
ated by it, would not solve the prob
lem satisfactorily; and I propose, in
another article, to outline a safer and
saner policy than either of those here
in considered. But before doing this,
I must say that the perpetuation of the
present system is unthinkable. Con
ditions already unendurable are con
stantly growing worse, and must be
improved—in some way.
Any remedy that would be effective
would necessarilly work hardship in
some cases, but paying for the roads
the price asked by their owners would
also work both hardship and gross
injustice upon practically everyone.
Even confiscation would be preferable
to the permanent retention of the pres
ent system—and so would the pur
chase of the roads by the nation, at
their own valuation —but I submit
that, before becoming inextricably in
volved, it will be best to consider dis
passionately the question, Cannot this
problem be so divided as to make its
solution easier and safer?
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