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Show 'Congress and the Railroads i 1 fader the heading "Th Bilrod Outlook" some interesting and authen , tic statements ss to what may be ex-pactsd ex-pactsd of thf nat'Q.""1 conrcs in re-gard re-gard to railroad legislation in the next two years are included in an editorial of recent date in the New York Evening Even-ing Mail. Th statement i made that "American "Ameri-can railroad interests may sufei through the 'locomotive ataxia of red tape,r" The legislation which will be attempted attempt-ed will compass one or both of two propositions: First, giving the inter-state inter-state commerce commission authority to supervise the issuance of new Btoek and bonds; second, providing for physical physi-cal valuation. Th first proposition was In a hill at originally drafted which waa killed during dur-ing the last session, because of Democratic Demo-cratic oppasition in the senate; opposition opposi-tion on the theory that railroad supervision super-vision is vested in the state. If it la revived and rnacted it will meet with little opposition from th great railroad rail-road svstems of the country, it being approved bv moat of their presidents last year and will mean that hereafter all railroad building will be done aa extensions to the systems instead of a new line. The other proposition, the physical valuation, will do but one thing. It will undoubtedly show that the railroad rail-road of the United Btatea are greatly undercapitalised, instead of overcapital iced, aa aeema to be the popular idea at the present, time. ,Thi is borne out by th fact that In thi country railroads rail-roads ara cpitliied for about $57,000 per mile, while in Europe they run a high aa $300,000 per mil. Thar is little to be feared from coming com-ing national legislation in regard to railroad, V according to tha oditorial, other than an overabundance of it. An opportunity should be given the railroad rail-road and th internist commerce commission com-mission to get the present aituatioa shaken down, rather than give them more to contend with. The defect in the present policy toward to-ward the railroad are two aad they ar fundamental. On ia that through tba interstate commerce commission act and th anti-trust.law th people ssv in ens breath that railroad are monopolise which must not compete, and in the next that they are rival undertaking end must compete. The other defect ia that while the government assume to protect the public from railroad extortion, ex-tortion, it doe not, aa ia tha ease ia all European eountnea, assume also to guarantee th railroad against loss. Theee should be remedied before further fur-ther legislationisenacted |