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Show GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP. Tiie late of ,1. I'. Morgan, t ho master spirit in the formation of a number of the so called trusts, once remarked that the e:;s having been scrambled they could not he unscrambled. .lie was wrong in his assumption that the feat could not bo pet formed and that the giant corporations .wore immune for all lime to come. The government has uoi been cry successful so far in its attempts to dissolve tlv.1 trusts, but i iie i e is good reason to believ e that when the war is finally over new conditions con-ditions wili prevail a!! over the world and that monopoly will no longer be tolerated unless it i exercised by the government in behalf of the whole poo-pie poo-pie and not for the favored few. T!ioe are the surface indications at t he present moment. But the overshadowing over-shadowing question just ::ovv is government govern-ment control and operation of railroads. The president has issued his proclamation proclama-tion and Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo is now in charge of all the 1'iies in continental United States as general director. Methods long in vugee haw been abolished and all the roads in the country have been merged into one j;rear svston. (. ompoiition is a tiling of the past and the traffic is to be handled in the most efficient manner man-ner possible. There w i'l be no such thing as freight congestion on one line to the seaboard while another line is open and ready to move trains. Kout-iuu Kout-iuu by shippers will not be aliowed to -land in the way and freight w ill go through oer the shortest and most divert di-vert route. In i':iet the railroad business will be situ; lii'ied and co-ordinated to such an extent that hundred of million-ef million-ef ..b.'Mars will be saved to the roads themselves while they are being operated oper-ated by the government. In view o f I h esc f ac t s and at the very outset of goveiuuiciit control the opi .lion seems to be general that the r "dad- will never be returned to the v a rums companies, some of the presi-ionts presi-ionts of the grea' system holding to :his view. Uiu'.er the pro-cut arrangement arrange-ment the United States guarantees a n income equal to the average for the three years ending June 1017, and onsideraticn will be shown the lines ..hose books reveal a deficit instead of u-iit for these years. If federal oper ation Li sU'''P--f ,jl it U r-v pc;ted thai the -tockliohbrs, f.-iq.: t;iuv who have here; r,forc been a bio 1 o manipulate tiling- to 'hit. riicjiMc!'. i-s and ma!-:e big money in addition to ling.' salaie-, will in-isf flint I lie government retain control con-trol for all time to come. Then the people of the country, c-spccial!;. the farmcis who have long been at the mercy of the elevator companies backed np by the ra: iroadn, will also demand that the chrt nge be made per ma nent. Small shi ppers in the cities who have nev.-r been able to get any favors will al -o joi u in the g ran d chorus for gov-ernmeit gov-ernmeit rout in!. Heretofore the four great brotherhoods brother-hoods ha ve been M rongly agai nst f ed-r-ral owner-hip or operation of the rail-road-. Now the leaders of the union? expect the change and even take a favorable view of it. Secretary Me-A Me-A doo has been in c har'e only t liree da s and yet the question ' has been very thorough! v discussed and a eon-d eon-d ii.-ion rea'hed by practically ail of t hose v. ho hav e voiced an opinion that Government, ow nership is now almost a certainty. Opposition is expected and politics may cut some figure, but if the question becomes a political issue the senators and reprcsen t atives who go into the battle to fight for a return to the old conditions will come out plucked of every feather, whether they be Republicans or Democrats. This is the outlook at the beginning 0f the Xew War and those of us who have always looked askance at government ownership may be compelled to revise our opinions if we care to go with the j tide. I |