Show men rato railroads for nj purpose bufa to makal money andin and in hey agrenot unlike other people of a company not nofre burch s s the road of another in order to avoid i s competition but the strongest reasons for railroad con soli dut ions are convenience and expedition in moving traffic and economy in operating A singla line operated may not pay enjoined to a m its business may be profitable and t ibo name time the net earnings of the whole may be increased there are advantages to the public out of enlarged tou of railways it figures dispatch steadiness of rates and as it material ty reduces expenses cb urges for transportation should be logs unreasonable charges can hardly be more injurious especially to merchants and dealers than fluctuations aim kato asis which ara usually of short auratin du ratin and ara cuore disastrous to railroad companies than to the people an embarrassed railroad is very much like a lame or sick horse used in drawing by t aking such into a solvent and strong system it is made to ive the public a bettor service twenty civo board ago thero was no uniformity in the gauge of railroads at first tickets were sold to passengers and freight was billed only I 1 or the length of a particular road through ticketing and billing were the first steps and the adoption of a uniform bauge which permitted jhb transfer of cars from one road to another wad the second toward the and consolidation telegraphic communication is so perfect and prompt that it 15 possible to place railroads in a large extent of country under ono management experience establishes the fact that largo systems aro as well managed as tho shortest lines so thoroughly ha it bom that extensive and complicated can be operated more cheaply and as safely and as smaller ones the nationalists advocate placing all the railroads of the country in the hands of the general government 10 be operated under a single direction it is common and nob unpopular for men to talk about the dangerous influence of grat railroad corporations no more money is invested whether railroads aro consolidated or remain separate nor does it tend to concentrate capital in fewer hands whatever may bo the magnitude of corporations they are equally amenable to the laws and subject to the power of iho courts and juries in judicial proceedings the people are safe unless their courts and juries are corrupt and in legislation their rights are secure unless they I 1 fail to elect honest and capable men to represent them As a practical factor railroads are not dangerous because they employ large numbers of men it is established by experience that tho employed emp loyes vote as intelligently and independently as their employ ors if so disposed railroad managers are too wise to attempt the use of corrupt or coercive means to control the political action of their em aloyes they are the last people in the world to escate antagonisms and violence the stupendous fortunes of railroad men have not been acquired in operating but in constructing and in operating in the bonds and stocks of roads purchases of new lines and consolidations are not done with the money of the railroad men but with money acquired by selling securities which pass aiuto numberless hands whatever objection there may be to the possession by the few of mammoth fortunes one fact is comforting for ting and that is our laws tend to distribute rather than per great estates |